Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1860-07-20

h'0A y ~ lilIlNiN NAiiN hiANA III Nulss
"Bome began 10 be the capital N Nh the states N the
OF Rome More hnn this did NOT care 10 De-, and with
opulcnt indifference satisfied itsch with carrying
merely passive commerce, such az every city vhi i'
nothing hut capital city must carry on they had mon-
cy enough, no doubt. pay Tor every thing which they
needed and did not need ON the other hand 'c most
unWoducuVe ~ al occupations, brokerage ana money
collecting lHe1wgSrcgeuJ, were Nc tuc scat aud t'n
citadel II Roman my."-Mo1mseu, Vol. l. p. $50
It was fatal delusion Of Rome, that she
thought t possible 20 live without doing her
share Of the worlds production Hence that
horrible oppression Of the subject provinces
which were forced to send the products Of
their lands to Rome, and limit Themselves 10
bare Subsistence. Hence the largesscs To
the peoplo,-which could be well afforded
when the corn cost nothing, and the deep
demoralization which resulted The peasants
had been driven to the city, and were now to
be fed by those who had their lands.
Mommson censures the government at this
iuncture for ncglecting to protect Italian far
mers against competition from without, by
dutios on the importation Of foreign corn, and
dcsignatcs the sale of such corn at nominal
prices and its free distribution among the
people as one cause of the decline of agrcul-
ture and the decay Of the peasantry. That this
had much to do with the corruption Of the
city population there is no question but its
influence on agraran relations is Moro doubt
iul. To be sure, the competition was an un-
fair and unhealthy ono for it brought slave
grown products cxtorted by oppression into
competition with those Of free and individual
labor But the remedy lay further back, in
putting "a stop to the expressions and exac-
uons in tho provinces. especially in Sicily
Or ii no remedy could be anplicd and it was
pro''u tnat corn could not be grown 10 ad'
'In'%se 'h l'"'y' tne aI'erha'''e was lcl'' "
Wn'ch many nation mas been driven ol turh.
I'S i's INDUSTRY III another aitecu'n' iIau
'n's "ooiem oeen presented Two hunuro'
years Garner, Wnen ltaly was inhapitcd oy aL
energetic ana independent people, they "ould
nave solved II as easily as d q the people OIL
new hhS'ano' When driven ny tine tar'li 20
engage VA manufactures. 80 lar as lroauo-
uyo energy sun remained tn'S was done. -
N'"~'ns was tho resort OF most as giving nlgr
p'""'S WIN iittie laoor ana where c"itl,a-
uon was sun carried on the oH'e ana th1
'lne 1opN 'ne P'ace Oh corn lne AIn'n'ean
",'' S'ot t"'', ''s"n TO oe henllon d! tn'
''le "l inc n',l'n anu Ohl"n' ana WIZ
VIM anu Oh 'ilaly 'oBether WIN Nreeoe sup
P,'.u almost exclusively the "hoie territory
o' Sue Mo0l'err"ncah.
men we say 'ha' Italy had ceased to be
producing country we mean IN comparison
WIN us natural powers and ITS consumption
IL sun produced and exported but ITS com
heIce was on the whole passive, that Is t'
say as Is the case with the United states n
inc present day, ITS imports largely exceeded
ITS exports while the balance was not icit
as IN TINS country, to form constantly IN
creaslng debt, but was plundcrod with higt
hand. Had not the habits OF the people
ceased to he productive we might have look
ed for still moro fundamental change in th'
Development of manufactures, which nevc
] occupied the place in antiquity that they hol'
/ IN our day. That no such development wa
made, which might have almost ncutralizc'
/ the destructive changes we have described, Il
[ due partly to the simple habits of the mass o
the people who did not demand large sup
ply OF manufactured goods, partly to the wan
OF machinery, which Is essential to any eXten
slve manufactures. but chiefly to the rotten
ness OF the social fabric and national charac
ter for neither simple manners nor rud
implements could long restrain really inSe
/ NOUS ana productive people
! No have Traced the destructive influence
! slavery ON the common veal and think w'
~ t'
cilcI instrument hy Whlch lhe economic atfuc
turo Of the Roman state was shaken w,
,,,, do..,, L.. l;.,io -, g.. ..L;l;,;,.. a,
N"" VI, N'N ""' 'lt'ie sl"0' w NN"'"'N"H '''
equally destructive effects on the Roman char
acter. No doubt many causes were at worl
IN tins direction, especially that which W
nave already mentioned, the inordlnate an'
unregulated passion for gain But says wal
Ion I'm order that public depravlty coul'
reach TINS point, there must be IN the bosom
oil society being similar to a man, ana lree'
by pubic opinion from all the moral oblga
uohs proclaimed by the human conscience
oelhg VINO can be turned TO wee as well a,
TO virtue without outrage to hls nature al
whose eNcosses are lawful as soon as com
manleu' Sueh was the slave IN homc' ne
detahs oi ms character VIII De recalled nl
I any one ialniliar with Tue Latlh comedy
In other ways also, slavery was productive
oi similar results Inc common praeuce o.
emancipation hardly less advantageous to the
master than the slave, because the freedman
was nearly as much under his control as tho
slave created thousands OF e'uzehs oil 10"
character ana oil iorelSn oirth' so tha' inc
people oi home was no longer hohah'
"The true Roman people, that plehan and free race
which a id the foundation OF the greatness Of Rome
had long ceased 10 exist: and slavery had not only en-
feebe and degraded IT, il had ia some sort transformed
IT, Whom scipo Emilianus was resisting the inurnnr.
OF the crowd saviug you will not friphtcn mo, un.
- I'D. tI.