Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-02-03
N LABOR.
A LECTURE.
ny HORACE GREELEY

HNlNf ItHl VI
was A difference between some of the viows he
would present and Scmc Of those presented by the
last lecturer, Ward Bccchor but, ON closer inspcc-
ton, it would he found that there was no diver
genco-only n view taken from n different point ::
one. too, which would be, probably, found to he
more fundamental than that taken by Ward
Beechcr. In a course designed to give room for all
the views taken by the dislikers Of Slavery, both
these discourscs would he found to have all appru-
pirate place. Mr.. Greeley then proceeded to rep
resent the hcalthful influence of labor ON the hui
man mind, in giving it an upright, honest, and
manly tone. All Natures operations arc earnest
and honest, and the true workers must, Of neccs-
sity, however I'M his aims, acquire some
iinge OF these qualities in prosecuting his work.
blessed is he who has found his work let him
ask no higher blesscdness," says Carlyle. Tue
drama OF mans h,e-struggle is not being perform
cd before any Scvastopol, nor in any Crimca, or
Bcssarabin but in Iowa AMI Kansas, and among
the wildcrncs ses of the West not with the sword,
but with the woodlands AK. What wonder (said
Mr.. Greeley that |, the son of many generations
Of cotters, should ponder on the elevation of labor
80 something like the dignity and esteem which its
merits and its utility demand Tie peer stands
ly his order, and why not the peasant by his ?
According to the common wisdom, labor is a course
from which escape is sought as the highest good.
Human Slavery seems to he the logical result and
culminiOliOn Of the popular IDEAS respecting labor.
If | can conquer in the battlefield, take q captive,
spare him by my cclclncncy, make him my slave,
and place him to receive my share of the primal
curse, it is natural that | should become to him
Church, State, and Providence, Law, Conscience
and Divinity; and this is an arrangement very
useful and agreeable to the Cnslaver. Laughter
and applause But though this breach of the
laws OF heaven may be perpetratod, and perrotu-
atcd, there is a Nemesis behind fol- in such a re-
Iation the cnSlavcr and cnslavcd cannot grow up
together in q happy mutual home. If the master
try to direct his family and life by the golden rule,
the presence of n degraded and brutal lot of
slaves makes \ constant distas.c to his design. Art
and science die where Slavery prevails, as is fully
seen in the Southern States, which are our Italy,
Grcecc, Asa Minor, and Carthage. This is not
stated with exultdtion, but only to show that there
cannot be happiness or prosperity without labor.
We're q dozen slaves apiece offered TO every free
man alive. probably nine tcnths would accept the
gift yet better for them to be burnt out of house
and home than to receive such q Trojan horse as a
present. The Shareholder cannot respect the labor
or he must look or him as a mere commodity
Every one Mho really wishes fer the day when
honest labor shall be justly considered, and duly
rewarded, must be hostile to Slavery. Slavery
tends to debase even in free labor the worker,
though not much priced in the fashionable circles OF
Boston and New York, is still less so in those of
New Orleans and Charleston. The necessity OF
labor makes its humiliation the doctor, or lawyer
chooses his profession to fulfill his destiny the
wood-cutter and hod-carrier TO fill his stomach
and the necessity with the slave is the lash.
Speak of the dignity of free labor, and the slave
owner says: ~ can buy q better man for q thou
sand dollars" 1t is this view which chiefly aids
in u~pholding the system in America. The argu-
mcnt that slaves are better provided for in slavery
than they could provide for themselves in freedom,
was considered The question of right should come
in before that of expediency the frs question
should be, Where is your commission from the
Almighty to hold in bondage your adult fellow
men and women p The duty of Anti-Slavery
men to provide for the less fortunate in their own
community was dwelt on. Should they be able 20
say to the STAKEHOLDER, Send on those whom you
call your slaves, and they shall be provided with
work, and paid wages, the inducement to the hold
es OF slaves to resign, voluntarily would have
much more effect than it now has. But such as
surance cannot be given, and this truth shows q
deep wound in society, for which charity is but
small patch. The great, urgent want Of :e civil
lied world is some system by which a-day's labor
and some wages for it, may he assured to the vii
ling worker: by which, while potatoes and corr
can always command a price, the labor that pro
duccs them shall not be without some price, and b,
which labor may not be the only commodity whicl
cannot be sold. Society needs some engineer
skillful enough to bridge over the gulf that serer
ates starving and shivcring men and women iron
the food and clothing which are displayed in super
abundance all around them. Goods cannot b'
sold, because those who want them have NJ
work and these have no work because tn,
goods cannot be sold. Thus it is call n middle.
The clue to all this difficulty is the organization Q
industry and the remedy is in the logic and meth
OILS of social reconstruction. The man who find
the way to dignity labor will give the death bio,
to human bondage then IT'S existence is not to b
counted by generations, but by years. But BleccR
e. st. or Fifth.av. may say, 81 pay my servants an
w~oodsawycr their wages what do you mean b.
Identifying labor ?" This queStioner would go int
Il rage if he knew that his daughter was engaged
to marry n dry-goods clerk in Grand st.-not to
any meaneSs of the man, but of his social position
as it is regarded While this feeling is cherished
the cherishcr is in heart an ally of the slave
holder; and when Wall s+.has next to save the Uniol
he will find Il place on the Committee. Laughte
and applause. If Il company of northern emf
grants were to establish n working colony in
slave State, and there to practice economy, thrift
persevering industry-establ shing schools, eacto
ries and churches, in the place of rum-houses, race
courses and negro-quarters-the best results nigh
be expected from this inoffensive, silent method o
showing practically the great superiority of fire.
labor over slave labor. The effect would be mos
beneficial on the poor whites of the slave States
who are the most d~espised of all classes in til
United States whom the very negroes c%ontemptu
ously call 1.-THE mean white folks" Much goO'
could also be done, through example, by the color
ed race themselves in the northern cities, by
steady effort to raise themselves into a condition o
independent thrift and labor. They need no
leave their homes to do this. Liberia is very well
hut Liberals are needed wherever there are blacks
This they could do by purchasing a township, form
ing themselves into an Industrial community, an
practicing the arts of peace. Let not this view b
deemed onesided and merely mechanical ; j: j
but one view of the subject, one link in the chat
of argument against the system. 1t is well t
consider the subject in its moral bearings, but a
connected with labor, it is also to he considered a
now presented. Mr.. Greeley concluded with
e~ulogium on the brave column of soldiers for free
dom who are now fighting her battle in Kansas
with a glory ~eclipsing that of the Grecian phalan
or Roman legion. Whatever temporary check
thpv NAV rpcpiva from punfanian nr periurv Ih
cause is hopeful while their free hearts remain
There shall be no slave Kansas admitted into tn
Union while the North retains her asccndancy i
The Lower House. Hold fast (he said your intcl
sity. and permit no momentary reverse to driy
you to a;quiescence or us to despair. Yet a it'll
while, and the olive-leaf shall he brought to you
window, the bow of promise shall adorn you & you
c'osing years be irradiate by the consciousness tina
in the hour of disaster and peril, you were faiti
full to principle and duty, to freedom and to mar