Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-01-03
MISCELLANY.
THE HIRED MAN.


We haze al last established one thing IN the
progress Of the world, AID that IS the right of
every man to the profits Of b.. own labor
You may point M to the despouc employers
that are to be found on this side and That, ex-
ercis.ng a tyraary little less severe ihan If they
were absolute masters, Or YOU NAY iaunt me
with the meannesses and cruel wrongs iha; are
known to be inflicted by the apprenticeship sy--
ten and the factory system, and viii cOncrde
the existence OF both. Bot You cannot star,
from It's solid base. hy any such qualifying Al
legations as these, the fact that a, the North
man may freely gather all the advantages Of
his own ministry.
With Northern and Eastern asricul,urIsts i
is not all, by any means. that are horn with 4
farm in their hands Many. and the most OF
them, are obliged to strain every nerve. and
study closely all the economies, in order to Sc
cure the prize at ALL Placing this possession
as the goal before them, they think OF nothing
els,, and they care for nothing else. except to
reach the end of their aims as speedily Is they
can. Early and late. in season and W. Of sea-
son, 10 sickness and IN health, by sacrifices and
self-dsnials without number, By patience and
long perseverance, through want and through
privstion, they labor for the prize they have
sot before them, like gold-diggers toiIing for a
fortune. They are as tenacious Of purpose as
cat is Of life. Nobody can tell hsm how
many cents make dollar, nor how many dol
lars they will have to up before they can
buy the farm on which they have SC, their
hearts.
SAGE the great West has opened wide its
gates, the laboring men who are obliged to
fight these haud.to-hanl battles with fortune
have mos, uf them become cncrants. seeking
the easier road to competency that lays open to
them that way still enough are left behind to
keep the character oil the old class good, and
to serve as Illustrations OF the description am
about In write.
When working man lets himself to our
NoriherR farmers, he contracts generally for
the season of farm-wofk winch includes hay
ing and harvesting; or else he makes his bar
gain By the year. In the first instance. he
gets from twelve to sixteen dollars month,
with his board or, If known in the neighbor-
mood as uhconmonly "likely help" he can
command even more; for a good mans seryI-
.ces are worth more N having tine than in any
other. Bu, if he LET'S himself by the year, as
good share Of farmers help do. he rarely
goes above twelve dollars month with board.
and generally even below. There IS much oi
the winter lime when workingman's help is
of small value The most he can d. i to
milk, go 10 mill and the employer usually
prefers 10 do that himself 50 as to get his grsl
and the news at the some ime-chop wood
and to do odd chores about the house The
ostt nd
.iorestick, or roll in backlog. Sometimes hd
churns for them Sometimes i, is one thing
and sometimes another Though he Is always
more OF less busy, his wor, is nowise hard
and, in fact of little actual profit to his en-
Ployer. And this is the very reason why his
wages rule SO much lower than if he hired on
for only the summer season.
A great part Of farmers help now-a-dayl
consists OF Irish laborers-the genuine, una
dul,eratei, hindside-foremost bog trouers o
ther native land They have moi crowded on
Yankee laborcrs fion their Legitimate places a
all, for that they never could do, they hav
only stepped into the vacancies created in tn
ranks by the Western fever that has carried :
many valuable men or. Ii is the best our IA.
mers can do to hire them Occasionally on
turns out prize but the bulk OF them ale a
ready to plant their potatoes 10 pits on the da
they leave, as they were on the day they land
ed. They are a necessary evil. They nee
oversight almost perpetnally. They are a
apt to throw the breeching over horses hea
in harnessing him as any other way. The
seem to know scarce anything unless it is tol
them; ond even then they forget it as soon
they happen to hear Of something else.
1t is not exactly Of snch that am writing
but of the real, odfashioned farm-labore
working to lay aside enough to buy a farm, q
married WITH and commence life upon in d,
nestle way.
The life Of the hired man, dtudsing an
hard as il looks to the careless observer. is sti
full of hope and buoyancy. He is not ii
fuendless, melancholy, piiful creature you TAX
him for. While he sits there in the chimne
corner Of the old Kitchen telling stories 10 Il
boys, in low tone so as not to he overhear
the honest blaze of the fire shining ont ov
his bronzed face, he is as much king and
lord as he who hires him lie has no car
on his mind. So that he can take candle, ar
go off TO bed in his stocking feet, with the ce
iainiy Of sleeping as sound the house dc
before the fire. Perhaps he thinks of HON,
but it only makes him more determined al
resolute, and his resolve is to lay up every 81
gle cent he can.
His future is mapped ont in his mind as di
tinctly as any mans. He counts over his 81
ngs every day, without one solitary excep,io
He knows just how much he put aside Ia
month, how much he will this month, al
how much still stands between the presc
day and the realization of his desires. He
hopeful always, aud being hopeful, of cour
cheerful The children love to hang arour
him, aud you cannot drive them away. I
has cheslnuts. or walnuts, or something of II
kind for all of them. He eniertains them wi
stories, with singing and with whislling.
Ghost stories and tales of the supernatural
his special hobby, as they are likewise the d
light of the younger ones, who crowd wi
open mouths and staring eyes around him.
They think him a wonderful hero, and belle
that his past experience is of kind that new