The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-11-11
n<nse Pspslasoou.
Mr.. johnson, In his address to the citizens {
Scott county. uses The following language:


pose7 What Is it that they wantf Is II a NOR
bid love AID admiration Of Ohio aud Massscha-
setts2 Who has ever before considered dense
population the essential eiemeD: of haPpi-
nessp Heretofore II has been considered an
evil! ID is one, most certainly, when the popu-
lation press closely up TO the means Of support
| would think If each had more land, he
would be better off; and If he had better wages
he would be more Independent. Wealth, through
all time, will have followers TO persuade man
Kind into measures which subject labor 10 CAPT
tai. This has been effected in England, and ey-
cry patriot must regret that the system is hast
ening TO perfect its growth in America
Mr.. Johnson reminds us of the man who'
having discovered that excess in eating produces
many bad effects, resolves to give up eating al
together. He has learned that "when the pop
ulalion press closely up TO the means OF sup
port" this state of things is an evil, and he
seems TO infer that every country should do all
in its power to prevent any increase Of popula-
ton. He probably has before his mind some Of
those crowded countries of the old world, IN
which the overtasked earth refuses TO furnish
what is demanded of her. Because a neghbor
has burned up his house by having ire all over
the floor he would refuse TO leave IL even in the
fire. place, and would freeze TO death for fear OF
a confagration.
But we beg Mr.. Johnson's pardon. Ii is not
merely the dense population Of some Of the
countries Of the old world that he fears-he
shudders when he looks at Massachusetts and
Ohio. The love of such degree of denseness
of population a. exists in those States, he con-
siders insanity--"an insane love Of Massacha-
setts and Ohio" He looks across the river
where thriving cities are springing up from the
earth, where an industrious population is COW
eriug the ground with gardens, where railroads
groan under the weight of The produce which
is carried over them, and his heart is filed with
gloom. He sees Death making himself COM
Portable in every new building, and Famine
hiding herself in the fields of waving wheat
The apparent prosperity of the State is bauIi
full only TO the eyes Of ordinary men; he look'
through the diguise of the vile Duessa, anc
sees her as she is-a foul, ill-fsvored witch
Some goddess has unsealed his eyes, as Venus
did those of .fneas-in our own vernacular
"his eye has been skinned"
]
Gus manner; but we will make the attempt In
regard to population, as well us everything else
there is ga golden mean" There is the "toC
little" and the "too much" Ii is an evil &c
have country so crowded with inhabtant:
that il cannot furnish the means of subsist-
ence. But man is social being, and requires
the aid of society for the cultivation of his
higher nature, and for the attainment of thos,
things which contribute TO the enjoyment o.
life. No sparsely settled country can enjoy tbs
advantages of civilisation, or, of itself, become
civilised. The light of civiIisation consists o.
rays reflected backward and forward from on,
body TO another through an infinite number
Each ray is at first faint glfmmeI, but, unlike
the rays Of the sun, il acquires new splen.
dor by being reflected. II was in the pop
ulous country of Greece that philosophy anC
the arts fourished in ancient times In coun
| try with few inhabitants there can be NJ
schools, which are the fountains of knowledge
Such country must be destitute Of facilitie:
for travelling, which is another means of increas
| ing knowledge. IL is in populous countries
that "men shall run &c AID fro, and knowledge
shall be increased
| According to Mr.. Johnson's principle, Robin.
soc Crusoe's island was the most prosperou.
country in the world, and Robinson Crusoe the
hapPiest of men. He had land enough, and no
one could have persuaded him, like Olivsr
Twist, 10 ask for ''more." He was so ignorant
of what constitutes true prosperity and happi-
ness, that he would have been willing TO give
away some of his land TO "actual settlers. -
Mr.. Johnson's principle is expressed in the
most absolute way:-'I would think If each
man hac more land, he would be better off,
We "would think so, too; for some men have
so much land thai they would be better Of the
LAND than on it. This is very poor Joke, we
confess; but IL Joke cannot be made of such
doctrines, we 90 not know what else can. We
wish our readers TO bear in mind, too, that II the
Joke is very poor one, we had to make il Of
very poor material.
The proud baron of the dark ages believed
that IL he had more land, he would be "better
off," and he strove to acquire more land, and
covered it with degraded serfs. A change took
place his land was distributed, and intelligence
and happiness took the place Of ignorance and
misery. Too much land in the possession of
few is the cause of much Of the misery in Eu-
rope. When few individuals in country be-
gin TO get "more land" those who surround
them are generally "off," whether they are
"better off," or not This process of getting
"mOre land" has been going on for some time in
Kentucky. We know Of places where fifteen
or twenty years ago there were many small
farms. and where they have all been swallowed
up, one after another by the large farms around
them, which were continually crying for
"more."