Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-11-26
A SOUTHERN SPEECH.

southern speeches on politics. This address Is
not destitute of the usual monomania of South
Carolinians in regard to the Republican party.
On the contrary, it goes so far in that direc-
ton as to win the cordial appreciation of the
Mercury. But Col. Aldrich, who is native
born South Carolinian, utters so much good
sense on one or two topics, in which the wei
fare of his state is deeply interested, that the
effect of his words must be wholesome. He is
unequivocally opposed to re-opening of the
African slave trade, because "it is wrong
as a matter of policy, wrong as matter
of economy, wrong in every sense of the
word" And his views of flibustering
on the one hand, and honest labor on the other,
are expressed with great earnestness. He has
no desire to fight for Cuba; he thinks there is
no need of more territory, and that the people
of the south have an abundance of room and
work within their own borders. He says -
"Look at home look at your immense
swamps undrained; look at your forests, in
which the woodlands ak has never resound-
ed; look at your rushing rivers, spreading
over the land; and then look at your bound
less prairies, where thousands of buffalo and
wild horses and deer Craze without the fear of
man-all inviting you to fruitful fields of labor
all opening rich resources for your country
all waiting to be developed-and tell me
why it is that you wish to conquer more land,
before you have finished the conquest of this
Why, just look here at home-South Carolina
one of the oldest states of the confederacy-
hundreds of thousands acres of the best land in
the state are now lying in the primeval
swamps and forests, waiting to be reclaimed.
And yet we talk of new lands, new conquests,
when we have not had the energy and the en-
terprlse to conquer that which the good God, In
his kindness, has placed within our grasp.
why this feeling of unrest? Why this anx-
iety to rush forward into new fields of excite
ment and conquest much fear me there is a
fatal error IN the education Of our people. We do
not bring up our sons to toll and labor persist
emily Every man of moderate fortune rears
his children as if each one was to be worth all
his fathers estate. A fatal error. When the
estate comes to be divided, that which sustain
ed the head of the family in comfort and re-
spectability. is mere pittance among the sons
1t Is soon exhausted and then, too proud to
work, too Ignorant to do any thing, ashamed
to beg, too honorable to steal, they are ready
for any enterprise which may lead to fortune
or death. | tell you this is a solemn truth,
mechanics, tradesmen, overseers, why many
OF our young men turn up their noses at these
and all other useful employments. 1t is be.
meath the dignity of their ancient families to
engage in such occupations-for that it
is the man that dignifies the occupation, and
not the occupation that dignifies the man.
And because they cannot live upon the reputa-
ton of the father, and ancestors who are
buried in the dust, they must either starve, or
become 1lbusters, or adventures in any en-
terprlse which promises speedy fortune or
speedy DEATH"
That is wholesome talk for any place; and
it is greatly needed wherever Senator Ham
mond's doctrine of "mudsills" finds encourage
ment. Here is more in the same spirit
81 hope the day is far, very far distant,
when our young men will cease to venerate
the names of their ancestors, and be proud of
their deeds and virtues. But / do deprecate
and denounce that false and sickly pride which
makes man ashamed of physical labor. How
honorable is it for the educated workman,
with his upturned brow and hard hand, to say,
like them, l, too, have conquered my indepen-
dence How mean and contemplate it is for
the descendant of a noble sire to say | am
ashamed to work, because my father was a
great man Be We sure when it comes to
that, the blood has run out. Work-labor.
"Six days shalt though labor" is the command
of Gbd and he who would perpetuate the glo-
rious name of his ancestor must work He who
would keep up the family infence, must work.
All men are not gifted alike, but every man is
fitted to do something, and he who neglects to do
the something which nature has fitted him to
perform, and is satisfied to live and lounge on
his fathers reputation, will be sure to wear
that reputation out. Labor is honorable, dig
niied, whether of the brain or the hand, and
the purer the blood which runs in the veins of
the laborer, the more dignified and honorable
does he become. am not mincing matters
tonight. l stand here and speak to my coun-
trymen, on the soil where | was born, and |
am telling you the the truth. do it respect
fully, atfectionately, with the earnest desire
that 1t may do good. 1t is well, occasionally,
to let the people know the causes of their de-
cay. do not talk of the mechanic as the bone
and sinew, and all that sort of clap-trap, which
they despise as mnch as much as do ; but l
am talking to sensible men and to their chill
dren, in the earnest hope that it may make
them think and work"
The fact that such things can be spoken in
Charleston, by such man, to such an audi
ence, and with such approval from the recog-
nized organs of opinion, indicates a new ten
dency of thought and feeling in that part of
the country,-a tendency which can hardly
fail to produce good results. There is fatal
error in the education of men who are trained
by the institution of slavery to despse manuel
labor, and to believe that the habits and proro-
gatives of idleness are essential to superiority.
When there is more pork,--more steady and
successful application to manual labor-among
the white inhabitants of South Carolina, the
people of that state Will become less morbid,
and, consequently, more reasonable, in the
matter of politics. Then there will be among
them less lonnging and political talking at the
various head quarters Of idleness but they
will have more prosperity and more influence
on the rest of the country.
We must add that large part of this adj
dress is devoted to the impending political de-
feat of the democratic party, and to what he
regards as the duty of the south, when that de-
feat comes. or course, what he says on this
subject is based on a misrepresentation of the
principles and aims Of the Republican party.
We say "of course" because nobody in that
quarter seems candid enough to make fair
statement of the matter Col Aldrich says:-
"This Republican party, with its platform of
principles, The main feature Of acIich is the aboh-
ton Of slacery and, therefore, the destruction of
the SOUTH" He is evidently very intelIi-
gent gentleman, and, therefore, must know
that the Republican platform has no such
main feature" and, also, that Republicans do
not believe the general government has power
to abolish slavery in "the south" But he is
uncandid he cannot afford to state the truth :.