Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1859-11-30
The Working Hen.

WJi MO touIucu m q mlScOncep-
ton of what constitutes good society; and
that rule which excludes the aoorking man
originates in a narrow and ill-founded preju-
and sheer ignorance of what society needs.
Work IS a part Of mans curse. yet under
the guidance of right principle it digniics his
being and is one Of the richest benefits which
enjoys. Without it man grows up an I'M
beetle being, dwarfed in his corporal, intel
lectual and moral powers. condition, there
fore, 50 essential to mans proper develop
ment, ought not to be made the occasion Of
his repatriation from the associations of the
wealthy, the refined and the intelligent, but
rather entitle him to first position in the So
ciety of right-thinking communities.
Again, the necessity which exists in all
communities for worIiag men, in order to
the production of the necessaries, conEenien-
cies and Injuries of life, constitute them the
most valuable and important members of So
ciety. Without them no community could
long exist. They are the .sbone and sinew''
of society-upon their shoulders rest the bur
den of supporting community, and on this ac-
count they are entitled to all the privileges
and immunities of society. Indeed, they
ought to constitute society itself, and control
and regulate public sentiment
1t has, however, been a complaint of work.
ing men, that their vocations and devotion to
labor rendered them, in the estimation Of
those who do not labor, a sort of under-class,
and hence the provisions of law, as well as
the rules of society, subjected them to hard
ships and injuries which they do not merit.
We grant, as society is constituted, there is
too much ground for the complaint-but it is
not a necessary or natural condition, arising
out of mems vocation, but has. grown out of
q class of causes for which every individual is
more or less responsible.
The sober sense of society is not opposed
to aoorb or to s0orking men. Leisure and
idleness are contraband in all well-rcgulated
circles. No man is esteemed the more be-
cause he is a gentleman of leisure or an idler.
None are so worthless, and hence none arr
so little entitled to the consideration of COM
munity. But there are other considerations
to be taken into account besides work and
ldleness. Work, of itself, can in no sense
lower a man-but the surroundings or asso-
Citations of labor affect more seriously the pe-
sition of working men than labor itself.
We do not confine the term WORKING men
to that class of laborers who perform manual
labor. Every man is a acorking man whose
labor is directed in a legitimate: vocation by
his W intellect, to the maintenance of him
self and his dependents, and the acquisition
of a competency or of wealth. Idlers-or
what is NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of
all classes, apprentices or slaves are not in
cluded-for the obvious reasons, they pro-
!, duce nothing for the corporal, mental or
: moral works of man by their own hands or
~ their own intellects.
= Now every woKkIN clergyman, physician,
i lawyer, editor, merchant, farmer, miner, mai
: ufacturer, mariner, clerk, officer or mechanic,
we call a working man. Every man whc
pursues diligently any lawful vocation is
:. aoorking man. Yet the positions of these sew
= $500 LIZ 0tiiNiLf daO NCly 0lHCi
ent. Now, LABOR cannot be the cause, no
can the vocation in which they labor contro
the matter In any good society a mechani
. or mariner is as we'll received-all things els,
being equal-as a clergyman, doctor, lawyer
. merchant or farmer. And why not? Wha
better are they than he? 1t is not the voca
II ton, but the other surroundings of a man
that give him consequence in society, W
~ know that tops and hirts think otherwise
y and treat better persons than they are, light
: ~, because of their vocation-but arc the,
"a society? Do they control the sober thought
= of society? If so, how rotten it must be.
NC The truth is, if mechanics or others labo
under disability in society, they are great
chargable with it themselves. Iftrodden u,
on or Sighted, they have shown a willingness
to submit without complaint, or dispositio
u to remain underneath. Let them hold u
Tho their heads, andby %virtuous lives, high mor'
oro bearing, and by their industry aspire to tn
! intelligence and worth in society, which the
,rs position opens to them, and how soon woul
society place them differently.
Perhaps, nothing in North Carolina
deeply affects the position of mechanics,
the lack of a properly regulated apprentic
be ship system, and the low standard of intel
It is gence which prevails among them. The pl
r. ~valence of ~intemperance and the lew NOR
and and social standard which prevails-especi
any ly among journeymen mechanics-have be
the ruin of thousands.
for Let mechanics and laboring men raise {
dan. standard of apprenticeship-provide me
sci. amply for Their education, and elevate the II
raj and social position ofthe different Graf
as and a mighty change will soon come over t
Car public mind.
,un-
.ook Coon ADvIcE.-Lord B~rougham, in a l.
ant speech upon the dubious relations betwe
De- France and England, said: 1--WE don't d
the trust our neighbors--very far from it
f in trust them but zoe trust ourselves a gr
,5r, deal more-6oud applause)-Gnd ae do