Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1860-08-17
Farpning--Tts Dignity and I'm.
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sowing the different kinds Of grain, and the
! implements suitable for husbandry, as il would
, be for the farmer TO undertake TO instruct us
in our editorinl duties But there are some
/; things about farming which we think ourseif
as vol acquainted as any farmer in the coun.
y. and Of these We intend 10 write At the
present time ..trt ...
There Is no class OF men 1--WE say il without
intending the lenst disrespcct) who have so
lntle realized the importance of the pursuit in
which they are engaged as the farmers Nor
Is there class who have avaed themselves TO
so limited an extent, Of the opportunities Of
improvement which have been thrown in their
way. NtW"
Some years since n commission issued from
the British Parliament, directed to certain Of
us own members, commanding them TO inyes-
tgate and report upon the conditions and com
Pensation paid to the laboring classes through.
out the kingdom. Previous to this time sim
ilar commission had been sc Mt out TO inquire
into the condition of the laborers employed in.
manufacturing, to which publicI atton ton had
been directed (through ignorance of that law
Iof political economy by which labor is distrib-
uted equally throughout all the various chan
nels OF production,) as the class subjected to
peculiar hardship and suffering The Com
rnissioners, in obedience to their instructions.
Instituted very minute and searching inqui-
ry into the condition Of the laboring classes-
and the picture which they draw Of the starya.
ton, misery, Ignorance aud vice of every class
OF lAboreTs in England, is heartrending in the
extreme. The compensation paid to each be
ing barely adequate to prevent actual starya
ton, while the amount Of labor required to be
performed for this meagre and miserable re-
ward, would be deemed absolutely incredible
If It was not attested beyond the possibility Of
contradiction. One example, furnished by the
Commissioners, will perhaps throw more light
upon this subject than can be impaired hy
mere words. In the cutlery establishments of
England n large amount Of labor is employed
In fashiOning and furnishing the metal for use
fine particles of steel dust are continually
thrown OIL, which being inhaled into the lungs,
cut them so as to produce inflammation, and
Eventually death, within an average period of
about two years. In order to remedy this evil,
Sir Humphrey Davy invented mask of magnc-
tized wires, which attracting the fine particles Of
steel, intercepted and prevented their passage
into the lungs Thus rendering that employ
ment as harmless and free from danger as any
other Yet strange to say, the Commission
ers report that the workmen uniformity refuse
to use these masks, because they say that COM
petition viii come into the business, the rate
of wages will be reduced; and they prefer
short life with plenty, to life of protracted
suffering
| Thank God, the horrors of poverty are not
experienced in this country to so frightful an
extent We have no such terrible pictures of
human destitution and misery, as these Com
misioners describe But we have ali seen
enough of the effect of poverty, to know that
the bodily suffering which it causes, is the very
least of the evils which attend upon il; for it lis
the profile source of ignorance, Immortality
and crime Look, for example, at the unhap-
py women who walk the streets of our cities,
whose subsistence is derived from the wages of
their own pollution, and who had better
thousand times, have been starved into the
grave, than to have been rescued from it by
so fearful a sacrifice of all that woman should
most dear. Most of these have been the vic
tim Of want Look again at the men and BOYS
who crowd our jails and penitentiaries ri
poverty has not been the immediate, it has
been the remote cause of nearly all the degra-
dation and crime in which these people have
been involved, and which has resulted in the
loss of both liberty and character.
Now, it is evident that mankind are depen. |
dent upon the proper culture of the soil, and |
the judicious development OF its resources, fos N
the means of escaping these .calamities--ca-
lamites which affect both body anA saal drag |
ging the one down to the grave and the other |
to Perdition. 1t was the remark of wise |
man, that he should be considered public |
benefactor who Causes two blades of grass to |
grew where only one had grown before"
"he.l men can procure sufficient food and
1 clothing to meet the demands Of future, they |
are not apt to engage in criminal pursuits;
neither are they so Indifferent to the welfare
of their children as TO suffer them to grow up |
in ignorance and vice, if by any effort of their
own it can be prevented. But when tortured
with the pangs of hunger, they hear only the
cries of their offspring for bread, they must
become reckless and desperate; distrustful |
of their fellow-men, at whose hands they re-
ceive only the means of protracting a misera-
bic existence, as the reward of increasing
toll, and haters of world in which they ex-
perience only sorrow and suffering Such a
frame of mind, we need scarcely say cannot |
be favorable either to the development of the |
intellect or the affections of the heart
Do our land owners and practical farmers
realize the morallas well as physical effects
consequent upon the abundance or scarcity of
foOdS Do they recognize this great truth, that
when God gave the earth to man for an in
heritance forever, he intended it for the whole |
human family, and although governments may
parcel it out among individuals and suffer
them to appropriate it to themselves, yet that
they are only Trustees for the general good,
and as such bound to develop all its treasures,
so that they may be ready to supply the phys
ical wants Of humanity