Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1853-01-18

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ed in am cunt. yet the value of any arti
is in proportion to the amount OLA
Dor, employed in producing it. But
there is no self employment for labor. it
is dependant upon capital; it is u hired
comm Modity; il is lor sale, and as it is the
creator Of wealth, it is necessarily the
first thing sold; without it, as have bo.
fore said, there can be no capital; be.
cause nothing has value until labor is
intermixed with il; it must therefore be
the first thing in market; the first thing
bid for, the first thing sold. Buy cheap!
buy cheap; buy what cheap? buy la
Dor cheap, says capital, in the cheapest
market; it must be sold because the
man who has il to sell must live by the
produce thereof, and thus capital takes
advantage Of the necessities oflabor; and
obtains it for great undervaluc. Then
il sells, sells dear! sell labor's produce
dcar--and to whom? Who is the pur.
chaser? There are but two classes; the
capitalist and the laborer; the capitalist
is not the purchaser, for he is the seller.
The laborcr then Of course must be; thus
labor is bought cheap and sold dear,
sold dear to the laborcr himself. BY this
means the laborer pays a premium on
his own labor; which premium not un'
frequently absorbs all the reward he re.
ceivcs for his labor. THUS the employ.
er is proftcd, who is the non n.produccr,
while the laborer,--thc producer, is i'm.
povcrishcd, and capital draws in its
thousand channels, all the profit of la.
Dor. Thus labor sinks through eternal
loss, that capital may rise through last
ing fraud. And now the antagonism of
labor and capital may be clearly seen.
This system must be broken up, and
such an one adopted as will secure to
the laborcr a fair distribution Of his
earnings, labor must become in mea.
sure Independent of capitals; it must be
self. employing, or else it must forever
be enslaved. This desirable result ca"
only be consummated by general sys-
tenn of association and combination a.
mons operatives themselves, they must
become their own employers, and free
themselves from their present absolute
dependence upon capitalists, who are
not un(rcqucntly capricious, un(eeling,
and relentless, task masters; wherever
this system has been tried, it has been
found to be highly beneficial, securing
to the laborer all the profits of his la
Dor, and raising him from his present de-
graded and dependant condition, to One
of comparative comfort and indcpen-
dcncc, He must also be restored to
those rights which God has given him,
but of which the avarce Of his brother
man has most unjustly deprived him; he
must have free right to the occupation
of the land, so far as may be necessary
for his comfort and happiness, he must
be the owner Of the soil, and be so Sc.
cured in the possession Of it, that no re.
verses Of fortune can ever deprive him
of its occupancy, but that it may ever
be to him a sure refuge when other modes
of subsistence have failed. When these
two idcns have become iundament al
principles in our social organizations
the lnborcr will be emancipatcd, he will
become more and more lightcned, and
the authority Of the few over the many,
the distinction of classes, the dcspotism
of capital, and the degradation and de-
pendcnce of those who work with their
hands will finally disappear.