Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-03-27


teIligent and we'll distributed, it can vic.
toriously battle its own way. The pub.
lie will always be secured from over tax
under this absence OF law, by healthy
competition. 1t is the interest OF labor
10 have intellectual, social, and benev.
olent organizations to compass some
part Of oil its market product consump.
tion at first prices, though labor should
suffer very little in this direction if il
was rightly employed. The crowning
interest Of labor is, by the combination
of-all its movements to enable itself to
stand alone, dependent on no extraneous
aid, its own governor, and master Of its
own fortune.
THE DUTIES OF LABOR.
The duties of labor relate mostly to
itself. Why has tho worker been for.
ever and everywhere comparative bond
man IA suppliant at the great mans
gate, and crumb.eater at the rich mans
table ? Largely because he has not com.
pretended anh vindicaled his own worth
and importance. By ages OF habit and
education, and often by seeming mad.
ness of subserviency, he has held him.
self reverent, with hat of, and head bow.
ed, of the "great," and the "rich," and
the "titIed," whose greatness. wealth,
and titles were born OF his sweat and
tears. and blood. He has ftnced, per.
chance. that every man whose hands are
whittier, or whose garments were coml er,
or Of better slufs than his own, or who
made noiser pretension, was rcall great.
er or better than himself. He did not
pause to reflect that white hands may be.
long 10 villain, fine garments to mo.
raj lcper, and pretension to knave, a
fool, or a sham. He forgot - or never
knew-tha, priests have desccra,ed holy
altars; that judges have taken bribes.
and that kings have murderously balhed
in human blood. In short, he was un.
conscious of that great, hopeful, and en-.
nobling truth, bee coming more and more
potent every day, that intelligence, vir.
tue. and industry are the great elements
Of the model man-the man who is be.
ginning to rule the earth.
The worker is slowly ridding himself
Of his old reverence for, and slavish
Difference to, hlehandel, finely dressed
men. He must be rid Of those letters
altogether 1t is his duty to educate
himself and his children to comprehend
that "a kinsly heart may beat under a
PEASANTS vest :" that the gentleman and
true man are not the creation ortalors,
or the result Of complexion; that lords
and kings-fast disappearing-are but
fruits Of feudai craft and accident, and
that the worker, in this free land, where
every man is sovereign, may be gen
tleman, though toiling and swarth.han
ded, and may hold his head high as the
highest by light, and aspire to whatever
good is possible TO man. 1t is the duty
Of labor to educate and ada pit itself
to be virtuous. temperate, and frugal
10 stand not only param cunt in its own
peculiar field, but prove itself the equal
Of whatever calling or profession in the
great social and intellectual feld.-
There are many lesser duties that mighl
be named, but their discovery and 'ulfll.
ment will follow that of the few greater
ones, without the fulfllment of whic h
all others are comparatively as nothing,
Yet, there is one duty more not to be
overlooked-a practical, easo, and noble
duty-and that the duty of labor o
every nation to stand by itself, and pa.
tronize its own products in preference ce
to those Of other lands and foreign la.
Dor. This is duty urged by self re.
! spect and patriotism, no less than by
pecuniary policy. Our workers have
every year consumed the products ofmil
lions Of days and weeks of foreign labor
when they could and ought to have pro
duced it themselves. This should nc
longer be. American free labor want.
no tariffs but individual ones to arm i
against all the batteries OF free trade
provided the labor be intelligent, vel
directed, rightly distributed, and self
patronized. The freer trade is the bet
ter for the we'll employed laborer. In
deed, his highest welfare demands tha
labor and trade shall both be unproppe,
and unshackled by legal enac,menis.
Finally, the labor question is a yer.
simple one and in the presence Of create
intelligence and reflection, and less Law
aud demagogism, all its dificultie
would bo soon seen and solved by work
ers themselves. There is no panace
for the cure Of wide spread forced idle
ness. The evil may be momentaril
patched over with charitable and phil
, anlhropic rem sdies, but while the labo
F. surplus exists the evil remains ready Il
break forth when the patch. work is re
. moved. Neither Federal Government
8 nor municipal, nor free.land bills, ca
e do more than lend a partial, temporar
:. aid. The evil and the remedy lie deepe
+. than legislative skill, in the very heal
!. Of labor itself--in its disposition, direc
:. tion, and distribution. Right these, an
# idleness can never be forced, and happy
:, independent labor, will learn to look o
: Government ss what it is-a tax rathe
s than a pecuniary helper. Schemes ma
Q be devised to alleviate present indus
trial distress, but its permanent abol
+ tion must depend on fixed principle
J. carried into earnest practice. Labt
10 must suffer more or less until it is free
,. from ignorance, improvidence, and fall
fel distribution. The remedies here promo