The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-08-27

OF rigorous calculatlQr, ana that IL Is IN Il con
siderable degree purely experimental. As
IN experiment, therefore, it is liable to the
general objection against all unnecessary
sudden, and abrupt transitions in affairs IN
volving great and complex interests; and 1t Is
incumbent on those who advocate this change
in the face of the undeniable general pros
perity of all great public and private Ameri-
can interests, to show uncqulvocally, that the
system now in force is morally iniquitous, that
its operation is partial and oppressive, beyond
those moderate limits of individual sacrifice
for the common veal which wise rulers toler-
ate as unavoidable conditions Of every system
Of human government, or to prove to the rea-
sonable satisfac ton OF all whose interests the
change threatens to affect, that it will aug
ment to still higher degree the general pros
rorltv we now enjoy.
That we are IL Cot blessed with an extra
ordinary degree Of such prv,rority, wbatey
er partial evils may here and there v.-;st. I
suppose no intelligent man will dispute. Its
true, no doubt, that the acquisition of wealth
is more difficult than formerly; that it re-
qures greater frugality, and longer continu-
ell and more laborous industry; but this very
fact is itself an evidence of greater diffusion
and more equal distribution Of the elements
Of thrift. Labor economy, and SKILL are still
sure Of their reward; but there are two rea-
sons why large accumulation is no longer so
easy or SO frequent. The one is that the
growth Of our population, which Is more rap
id than the increase Of our capital, brings in
to the field new competitors in the pursuit Of
wealth; the other is the great Improvement
in the habits and condition Of the productive
and manufacturing laborer by which he too
participates in the enjoyment of the wealth
he creates. Under the operation Of the pro-
tective system, and the comparative stability
it insure5 to all industrial pursuits, the GER
tainty Of constant employment and punctual
payment has made the laborer more regular
IN his habits Of industry; occupations more
varied in character, requiring the exercise of
higher and more active faculties than the old
routine of rural labor, and constantly borrow
ing from the progress Of knowledge improve
meats in both processes and results have rem
dered him more observing thoughtful, and |
Intelligent, and temperance has bestowed up |
Oh him frugaity and thrift. HE'S therefore,
in less degree the mere instrument Of his
employer, less frequently plundered and strip |
ped by those who prey upon the vices or the |
weaknesses of their fellows, and a larger pro- |
portion of the riches drawn from the bosom of
the earth, or gathered by the tolls Of the an
vii and the loom, remains with him, the sweat |
Of whose brow has earned them. Thus, with |
few instances of the sudden accumulation of
wealth. or even Of such q competence as re-
Ieges its possesSor from the necessity oflabor,
we undeniably enjoy a more general and
equal prosperity than this Or any other coun-
try has ever before known.
The modern invention and use of compli-
Gated machinery is one Of the most remarka-
bic and important facts in the history Of our
understandable and important both in an
economical and psychological point OF view,
as almost the only fact which gives any coun-
tenance to the visionary theory Of the perfec-
liability of the species. Invention and contri-
vance, the conscious adaptation Of means to
ends, as distinguished from blind instinct, are
essential powers and characteristics Of men
in all ages and all forms of social existence
but the modern talent Of mechanical combi-
nation, if not the development Of a new fac
ultv, is at least the awakening Of a dormant
power in the human mind. The fundamen-
tai princip pie of all proper mechanical contri-
vances is the subjugation Of the mute uncon-
e.ious forces Of inanimatG nature to the con- {
troll Of human will. Mans researches into
the laws Of inorganic nature have taught him
to command those forces; for here "knowl-
edge is power" and he may now boast with {
out profanity, that since the invisible powers {
which sleep in the thin air neutralized and
balanced by each other, Or lie quicscent in
the floating vapor have been evolved and {
conquered by him. the winds and the waters
obey him; that he has now fulfilled the great I
command to ''subdue the earth" inasmu:h as {
he has learned to control those forces Of inor- 5
ganic nature by whose ministry Almighty {
power built up and still sustans it. Although a
what are technically called the mechanical
powers--the lever, the wheel and axis, the Il
Inclined plane, the screw, the wedge, and the e
rope AMI pulley been long known, it is l.
only in very recent times that any of the o
forces of inanimate nature have been made c
available for mechanical purposes, except in q
eu2h simple applications as that OF wind to 1
propel ships of the current of running water t.
to turn wheels, Of the elasticity OF the bow, o
and perhaps that also of metallic springs, to +
project missiles of war. The employment Of e
the weight of falling water, of the alternate II
eb5 and flow of the tides, and of the wind n
for driving mills--of that union of rcpulslon II
and attraction which constitutes elasticity, and
gives alike to the vapor of water and to coil P
ell springs of hard metal the power of pro- Il
du2ing continuous or reciprocating motion t
of the forces Of gravity and electromagnetic Il
ism as motive powers--all these, and many +
other like instances, are wholly modern a
The acknowledgements well as all other branch. a
es of the industry Of the ancients, were car c
ried on by organic forccs--thc unassisted a
strength Of man and beast; but it is the tri- G
un7h of our era, almost Of our generation, k
that man is no longer the superstltious slave a
OF the irresistible elements, but that even "
deaf nature has heard his imperious voice, t
submitted her mighty energies to his sway, d
and allowed him to employ at his pleasure, II
whether for tajhioning a pin Or for rearing II
palace, the same force with which she shakes "
q continent or upheaves mountain. The h
subiugation Of the certain and calculable Il