Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-11-24
THE WORKING MEN.

This nation owes everything to her work.
ing men. Idlers, men of leisure or drones,
have been an incubus, which must have
held her back and ruined her, but for the
powerful intellec.s, the stalwart arms and
the enterprise of our working men. They
are the true nobility of the land, whose wise
counsels, untiring industry and indornitable
energy, have pushed her forward with giant
strides, among the nations of the earth. In
this classification we include men of all work ;
whether it be the labor of the intellect or
the physical man. Degradation of position
does not inhere necessarily to either class.
The man who labors with his hands, or del.
YES and tolls under the pressure of manuel
labor, is as much man, nay, as much gen.
tlemau, other things being equal, as the man
who labors with his mind, closed in from
the burning rays of sun, or sheltered from
the chill winds and rains of mid-winter.-
Both are working men, and are equals, if
they be men of sound principles and virtu-
GUS habits; or both are equal if alike degra-
ded by vicious conduct
. The conventional and irrational rules of
society, unsound as it has become, We know,
make distinctions where there is no differ
ence; stamping with honor and position men
who belong to that class Of working men,
whose employments are intellectual, and
too often branding with disgrace those who
labor with their hands, and from whose brow
flows the sweat of toll. But who does not
see the injustice and baseness of this? Does
the vao6tion of a doctor, lawyer, mer-
chant, possess any intrinsic excellence per
Sc, over the vocation of a mechanic! We
think not. All are essential to the well.be-
ing of society, and equally so-yet superior
wealth have raised the one, while the lack
of these have depressed the other. Yet the
poor laborer is more important fixture, IN
some respects, than either of the others
His hands feed and clothe and provide the
conveniences and luxuries of life for them.
Without him, time and means would be de-
MED them for the pursuit of knowledge, or
wealth. Indeed, if there be wealth and in
telligence and happiness and prosperity in
the land, we owe it to that class of men who
are not too indolent or too much ashamed
to obey the divine command, to work with
their own hands.
Livery man should work. His own health
and virtue, aud happiness, and the good OF
society, demand it. Labor, in no sense, is
degrading. But there are disabilities con-
nected with manuel labor which often lead
to degradation and ruin. Men whose lot or
choice may be to engage in the mechanical
or agricultural pursuits, should be placed
in position in early life to acquire iutelli-
gence, to receive the bias and bent of vir-
tuous education, so as to fit them to take
positions in society, which they can rightful-
ly claim, because of their essential impor
tance to mankind Intelligence and virtue
are as precious in the rude sailor, the black
smith, the shoemaker, the tailor, and all
other laboring men, as in the more privileged
walks of life and these should entitle me-
chanics to positions of honor and influence,
and as high as any other living men. Let
the working men of the land look TO these
objects, and labor to promote them.