True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1855-05-01

! as the hlgnost py flgat, ana aspire 70 WHIT
ever good is possible tc man. Il is the.
duty oflabOr to educate aud adapt itself,
Ito be yirtuous, temperate, and frugal; to.
stand not only paramount in its own pc
cnliar field, bur prove itself equal Of what,
ever alEug y profession in the great So
cial and intellectual Geld. There are many
lesser duties that might be named, but
their discovery and fulfilment viii follow
that of the few greater ones, without the
fulflment Of which all others dre compar-
atiycly as nothing.
! Yet, thereis one duty moro not to be
ovcrlooked-a practical, easy, and noble
duty -and that is the duty cf the labor
of every nation to stand by itself, and pat,
. rohizc its own products in prefertuee to
those Of other lands and foreign labor.
This is a duty urged by self respcctand pa
triotisni, no less by pecuniary policy. Our
workers have every year consumed the pro-
duets Of millions oftlays and weeks Of for
Il n labor, when they could and ought..to
have produced it themselves. Thi should
no longer be. American free labor wants
no tariffs but individual ones to arm ii
against all the batteries of free trade, pro-
vilel the labor be intelligent; well directed
rightly distributed, and self-patronized.,
The free trade is the better for the vel
employed laborer. Indeed, his highest
welfare demand that labor and trade shall
r both be unpropped and unshackled by le-
; gal cnactments.
Finally, the labor question is a very
simple one, and in The presence ofgreatel
a intelligence aud reflection, and less law and
; demagogueism; ali its difficulties would be
/ soon scenand soLScdby workers themselves
There is no papacea for the cure of wide
!. spread forced idlencss. The evil may b'
G momentarily patched over with charitable
/ and philanthropic remedies, but while thu
labor surplus exists the evil remains read.
y to break forth when the patchwork is re
G. moved. Neither Federal governments no.
+ municipal, nor free-land bills, can do NOR
g than lend partial, temporary aid. Th
J. evil and the remedy lie deeper than legls
|. lative skill, in the very heart of labor it
S self-in its disposition, direction, and dis
/, tribution. Right these, and idleness ca
< never bo forced, and happy, independcn
at labor, will learn,,to look on Government a
he what it is--a tax rather than pecuniar
,c helper. Schemes may be devised to allC
:. yiate present industrial distress, but its PEI
,s 1nanent abolition must depend on fxe
to principles carried into earnest practice
IN Labor must suffer more or less until 1t
j. freed from ignorance, improyidcEce, ar
Or false distribution. The remedies here pr(
tn posed may seem too distant and gonert
I'd for the present case; possibly they arc
Ii, the present be born as it best can be, br
e. by beginning the application of these rem
II, dies now-aud they will apply UNIVERSAL
to they will very soon be potent.
petty, individual, local view of the subjc
ne will suggest no near or prospective help
N, the larger view discovers the principl
ic- and laws that govern labor, for good OR j
". and which, if followed for the good, W
IN emancipato the individual by mancipatiI
by the class. 4a-1