Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1851-09-25

view OF the WnOio COuHti AnO NSo
now exerts, and for long time Il
come must continue to exert, con
trolling influence over both north ant
south. II must be borne in minC
that legislation is an affair of bust
ness, intended not merely to protec
what we have Of life, liberty, anC
property, but to bring its effective
aid to the great work Of -progressiv,
civilization, OF the development bott
OF the social and individual man
For this great business we in thi'
country are surrounded with pecu
liar difficulties. In the first place we
have two distinct and social systems
two forms of civilization, one based
on free, and the other on slave labor
going on, side by side, each working
out gradually their own peculiar re-
suits, and esch having wants Pecu-
liar to itself. In the next place we
are composed Of communities that
have made very different degrees oI
progressive civilization, some parts ol
the country being at least half Gen.
tury in advance Of others. In some
parts, and, for example, in Massachu-
setts, already great division oflabor
has taken place; it is applied 10 the
business of production in many va
rieties OF forms. Capital has its
many corresponding modes of invest
ment. MANY forms OF social organi-
zation have sprung up in aid oil the
efforts Of capital, of labor, and oil
intellectual development. On the
other hand, along the Atlantic, at
the extreme south, as in South Caro-
lima, for example, capital and labor
are for the most part devoted to one
pursuit and applied in one form only.
There, of course, that pursuit and
that mode ofinYestment is paramount
TO all others; It controls all others,
makes ali others subServient TO il.
Now, fortunately for the whole coun-
try, it so happens that as in the other
respects already pointed out, the
west holds, and for a long time TO
come will continue TO occupy a mid
die ground between the two extremes.
If we look at western Pennsylvania
and western Virginia, both lying on
the waters Of the Mississippi, at Ohio,
Kentucky, and at the whole Of the
grain-growing section Of the west,
with the exception OF the very newly
formed settlements, we shall find that
labor and capital have already assu-
med many forms, and are daily
seeking new modes OF application
and investment. In all this, howev-
er, they are and will long continue
to be far below the standard of Mas
sachusetts, but quite in advance Of
that of Carolina, where, as | have
said, capital and labor are
devoted TO one pursuit
only. Indeed. | have been told that
il is only within a month or two past
that the first steam cotton press has
been put in operation in Charleston;
that till now they have gone on with
out the aid Of this great labor saving
machine, which has been in full op-
Grafton in the valley of the Missis-
sippi for many years past. We have
in this country many degrees OF civ
ilization, and every stage Of it re-
quires a system of laws adapted TO its
own condition. We have also, as |
have already said, two distinct sys-
TENS of civilization, each calling for
legal regulations suited to IFS wants
and condition; while the laws that
we make here must Of necessity be
general and uniform in their applica-
lion TO the whole ol these different
states of society. And here lies the
great difficulty in our path; a diff
Guilty, the pressure Of which felt
the first day that | took my seat on
this floor, twenty-five years ago,)
and which I still continue TO feel
with increasing force as the old COM
munities become more complex, as
new ones spring up almost daily, and
as two systems, based on free and
slave labor, gradually disclose and
develop their own peculiar wants
and results. The question how we
shall legislate for such a country is a
problem Of very complex and difficult
solution. We cannot come up to
the standard of Massachusetts,, nor
can we come down to that of Caro-
ina; and hence it is that, for more
han a quarter of a century past,
both have complained of the neglect
and injustice of the general govern
nent; both have blamed each other,
both have labored under excited feel
ng; both have inveighed against each
other; both have occasionally indul-
red in threats of the dissolution Of
he union. Now, if we were to
adapt our legislation to The condition
,f Massachusetts, 1t would be to the
lew settlements like putting the gar
nents of the full grown man upon
he infant child; and if we legislaied |