Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1844-04-30
ASSOCIATION.
i S s

your calm and deliberate attention to the
views we are about to present. Let no hasty
impression-lct no prejudice isnbibed in a
thoughtless moment or under the force ofwil-
ful or unwlful srepresentation-deter you
from the perusal of the few and brief words in
which you are here accosted. The object
we have in view we know to be elevated.
our motives are sincere, we harbor no MERGE
nary and sinister designs, and we appeal
alike to men Of all classes, and of every shade
of Political and Religious opinion.
No maucaR have observed the tendencies
of1he age in which we live without perceiv-
ing that there is every where restless unea-
siness under the present circumstances of
society, and an earnest desire for Advance
EaeAt and Progress. In the efforts which
benevolent men of all civilized Nations are
making to meliorate the condition of their
fellows, we see the Eacvings Of conviction
that Mankind is not placed in such relations
as ~ be, and of Hope that it is pos
sBuORhs TO attain to much better state.
How many are the ways, how various the
methods in which this Conviction and Hope
find an expression! Reformers, Teachers,
Missionaries, Statesmen, Ministers, of every
kind and degree, confess, by the very nature
OF their efforts, the intolerable weight of mis-
cry which hangs upon Society, and the deep
need there is of prompt and vital improve
ment.
II is obvious, however, from the results
ofall these Improvements, beneficial as many
of them are, that they do not 90 to the root
of the evil. In the midst of all the excite
ment and agitation which they occasion. we
discover a great deal fgood, it is true, but
on the whole an evident inadcquacy to ac-
,complish their aims. We honor the motives
of all who are engaged in conscientious
effort at Human Improvement: we acknowl-
edge the Indebtedness or the world. for much
that makes life valuable, to those noble and
generous spirits who take upon themselves
the task of instructing aud eleyating society;
we thank God that he raises up, from time
TO time, wise and good Men as instruments.
in His hand, for the lettering and expansion
of their race. While, therefore, we take
position of antagonism TO no party or sect,
we are compelled to affirm that the state of
Society requires deeper and more uuiver-
sal Reform than any that his yet been applied
No mere change in the administration of Gov
cmmen', no Legislative amendment of the
Jaws, no projects for the alienation, and not
the prevention of pIuperIsm, no schemes of
Public education, no slbbath-Ily pIeachngs
without practical realizatons, are sincIy or
collectively equal to the removal of the vice
under which society llbors. The reason is.
that the remedy must be adequate to the dis
ease; and these remedies arc local or tenn
porarT, while the Diseases deep seated and
chrome This we shllI proceed to show
IL. THE DIRECTS OF SOCIETY ARE ORGANIC.
The evils which the benevolent agencies
Of The day are intended to remove have their
origin in no accidental circumstances or tran
slent cause, but are inherent in the very
structure Of society.
Mankind suffers so terribly even in the
most favorable condition in which it is pla,
red, not because there is any great want at
intelligence, or art, or industry, or wealth.
ar goodness in the world, bat from he fact
thatdhe form of society is such that the mass
of men cannot avail themselves of the adj
vantagcs Of life, already created, and that
the bOuntlcs of heaven are mostly conf
ned to an nconsiderable portion of the race.
There are food, clothing, and comfortable
habitations enough in every civilized nation
To feed, clothe und protect all its people !;
there is knowledge and love enough in the
heads and hearts of certain classes of every
civilized nation, could they only be made
available to direct and render happy all elias
SEES; vet the mass of the people every where,
are miserable, i'll fed, halfclothed, ignorant,
and debased beings, whose bodies are bro
ken, and whose souls are ground out of them
by hard work. How great soever the gene
raj improvement of any society, one foot re-
mains permanent-the poverty and conse-
quent suffering of the masses.
This result is sometimes ascrbed to the
voluntary imprudence or vices Of the in
diyiduals who feel it; and no doubt, ii is
aggravated By individual deIinquencies;
but the real cause of it is in the actual form
Of Society.
The relations instituted among men, By
the present form Of Society, are those of cr-
ircme indiridgal Sclfssness, and lc.1a di-
rectIy to Indulgence, Fraud, Oppression,
War, Disease aud False and delusire
Doctrines-cfccts rhich cannot be prcrrntcd
by any change short Of a thorough Re-or-
gGni=ation.
We might. were this the proper place,
got into thorough demonstration of this
proposition: but we shall content ourselves
with brief statemept of the characteristics
OF our present S0SiaI arrangements. In
doing so. We shall follow the popular Po-
hllcal Economists, in the classification Of
Social process under the heads of Produc-
ton, Distribution and Consumption. We
believe that Society, in all these respects,
Is detective or pernicious.
AS ic ITS methods of PPoDucrrox.
ISL engenders and gives occasion for
large ooaies OF men whose functions are
either Directly destructire of wealth. or en-
urely Hnprod"ctirc-such as Armies whose
business il Is 10 waste the encrg;cs ~ ,bo
People: the various Glasses Of ;dIers ~
drones, who arc found in great abund, 80
N every community; officers of ms,ics
magistrates, constables, shsriffs, &c. who
however useful in certain respects, would
notbe required in more perfect state of So
al. L