The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1860-03-22
No Is.

arms and hearts OF An independent yeomanry
are 4 surer aud more impsagnable defense
than bastlement. vail. OF tower. While tho
! population OF q country ase the prcpretors
Of the land which hey ell. they have an in-
tsrest TO surroun their firesides with comfort
and make their homes happy-ths great in
csntive to industry. frugahty. sad sobriety.
Ii is such habits alone that give security to
government and form the real elements OF na-
tional greatness and power
National disasters are not the growth oil .
day. but the fruit OF loag years of injustice
and wrong. The seeds planted by false. per-
nicious Legislation. often require ages to ger
inmate and ripen into their harvests Of ruin
and death TO most pernicious Of all the
5aleful seeds of national existence is a policy
that degrades its labor. Whenever ayricul-
tural labor becomes dishonorable, it will, of
course be confined to those who have no in
terest IN the soil they till; and whenever the
iaoorer ceases to have any interest in the land
he cultivates, he ceases 10 have . stake in
the advancement and good order of society,
Tor be has nothing to lose, nothing to defend.
nothing to hope for. The associations of an
independent freehold are eminently qualified
to elevate and ennobls the possessor. 1t is
the life spring OF msoly national character.
and OF a generous patriotism; a patriotism
that rushes to the deinese Of its country and
the vindicstion of its honor with the same
zeal and alscri,y that it guards the hearth
stone and the fireside. Wherever Freedom
has unfurled her banner. the men who have
rallied around To sustain and uphold it have
come from the workshop and the field. where,
Injured to heat and to cold. and to all the in
ciemepcies OF the seasons. they have acquired
the hardihood necessary to endure the trials
and privations OF the camp. An iniepeni.
ent yeomanrv, scattered over our vast do
main, is the best and surest guarantee for the
perpetuity Of our liberties; for their arms aro
the citadel of a nations power. their hearts
the bulwarks of liberty. Let the public do
main. then. be set apart as the pa,rimonv Of
labor. by preventing its absorption into larys
estates by capital. and its consequent cultiv.-
ton by "tenants and slaves" instead OF inde-
pendent freeholders.
The proposition to change our land policy,
SO as to accomplish so desirable a result. by
securing to the pioneer home on the public
domain at tba bare cost OF survey and trans
fer. is often rejected by those who have given
but little thought to the subject as leveliny
and ayraran. When was there ever an ef-
fort made. since the world began. to wrest
from power its ill gotten gains. or TO restore
to man his inalienable rights. but it has met
with the shout of leveling and agrarian?-
That Is the alarm cry of the devotee of tho
past. with which he ever strives to prevent
all reforms or innovations upon establishe
usages. Behind such bulwark old abuses
intrench themselves. and attempt to maintain
their position by hurlng At every assailaut
terms of odium aud reproach. made so by
the coloring Of the adherents of prerogative
and power. Until within q very recent pe-
riod the chroniclers Of the race have been,
for the most part, sycophants of power; and,
being the allies of the State. have CLOSED
over its cotemporsneous dsspotism and
wrongs, while they have written down the
true defenders of the rights Of the people aud
champions of honorable labor as the outlaws
of history.
Because the Roman Gracchi proposed to
elevate the Roman citizen. by disnifying his
labor and restoring him to the rights Of
which he had been upjustly deprived by tho
oligarchy who controlled the State. their
name was made synonymous with infamy;
as arch disturbers Of all that was good in So
ciety, till Niebuhr tore of the veil Of two
thousand years of oblo ,uy. and vindicated
to future times their memories Is true de-
lenders OF the rights Of the people. and ad-
vocates of the best interests and glory Of
their country. Such has been the fate OF the
worlds reformers. Is it not time that we
learned wisdom from the chronicles of the
past and cease a blind reverence for customs
or institutions. because Of their gray age?-
Why should not the American statesman
adapt the legislation Of the country to the de-
vslopment Of its material resources, the pro.
motion Of its industrial interests. and there
by dignity its labor, and make strong the
prime elements OF national power2
Let this vast domain. then. be set apart
and consecratei forever - = pstrimony to
the sons Of toll; close your land Office forev-
er against the speculator. and thereby pre-
vent the capital Of the country from seeking
that kind Of investment, of absorbing the
hard earnings Of labor without rendering an
equivalent While the lnborer is thus cru shes
by this system established BY the Govern
ment, which abstracts SO large an amount
from his earnings for the benefit Of the spec
ulator. in I'D iition to all the other disadvsa-
tages that ever bsset tie unequsl struggle be
tween the bones and sioews of men and dol
lars and cents, what wonder is il that misery
aud want so often sit as his 6reside. and pen .
ury and sorrow surround his death bed.
While the pioneer spirit goes forth into the
wilderness. snaiching new areas from Inc
wild beasts and beqaesthing them a legacy
TO civilized man. lie. not the Goyernmefi:
dampen his ardor and palsy his arm By le.is-
la,ion that places him in the power Of soul
less capital and grasping speculation; for up
on his Wild battle field these are his only toes
that his own stern heart and right arm can
not vanqusb.
Is Doc BAsGAeE?-We Witnessed .
debate in the Cleveland depot not long since
when tbs question was settled BY couple
of Emerald Islanders, one Of whom was