Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-12-04

General Mcclellan d therefore in a
considerable degree ihe aoIection OF the
country az we'll os Of the Executive, and hence
shere Is better reason to hope there will be CIV
On him the con1dence and cordial support thus
4 by fair Implication promieod, and without
which he cannot with 90 much efficiency serve
tho country. 10 has been said that one bad
General is better than two good ones, and the
saying 70 true, II taken 70 mean no more
than that an army 10 better directed
by 4 single mind, though II be Inferior,
than by two superior ones a. variance ana cross
purposes, and the same is true In ell joint ope'
rations wherein those engaged can have none
but common end In view, and can difier only
az TO the choice of means. In . storm at sea
no one on board can wish the ship 70 sink ana
yet not unfrequently all 60 down together, DC.
cause too many will direct, and no singie MIND
can be allowed to control. It continues TO do.
yelope that the insurrection is largely, II not
exclusively, war upon the first principle OF
popular Government, the rights Of the people =
Conclusive evidence Of this 10 found In the
most grave and maturely considered public
documents as we'll as In the general tone
of the insurgents. In these documents We
find the abridgment Of the existing right OF
suffrage, and the denial to the people Of ell to
participate In the selection Of public officers,
except the legislative body, advocated with L.
bored arguments to prove that large control oi
the Government In the people is the source OF
all political evil. Monarchy itself 10 some
times hinted at as possible refuge from the
power Of the people.
In my present position could scarcely be
justified were to omit raising warning voice
against this approach Of returning despotism.
Il is not needed nor fitting here that general
argument should be made In favor OF popular
institutions, ,but there is one point with it's con-
nections mot 90 hackneyed as others, to which
ask q brief attention. Il 10 the effort to place
capital on an equal footing with. If not above
labor, In the structure OF the Government. 1t
Is assumed that labor is available only In con.
necdon with capital; that nobody labors unless
somebody else, owners Of capital somehow, by
the use ef 1t induces him 10 labor This as
sumed, it is next considered whether 1t Is best
that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce
them to work by their own consent, or buy
them and drive them to it without their con-
sent.
Having proceeded 90 far, IL 10 naturally con-
cluded that all laborers are either hired laboreFs
or what we call slaves; aud further, IL Is assum-
ed that whoever is once q hired laborer, Is
fixed In that condition for life. Now, there Is
no such relation between capital and
labor as assumed, nor is there any
such thing as freeman being fixed
for life in the condition Of hired laborer. Both
Of these assumptions are false, and all infer
ences from them are groundless. Labor is
prior to independent capital Capital is on.
ly the fruit Of labor, and never could
have existed IL labor had not first existed.
Labor is the superior Of capital and deserves
much the higher consideration. Capital
has it's rights, which are as worthy Of pro-
lection as any other rights. Nor Is II deem.
ed that there Is and probably always will
be relation between labor and capital pro-
ducIng mutual benefits. The error is in assum-
ing that the whole labor Of community exists
within that relation. Aiiew men own capital
and that few avoid labor, and with their capital
hire or buy q feW to labor for them large
majority belong to neither class--neither work
Sor others nor have others working for them.
In most Of the Souteern States majority OF
the whole people Of ell colors are neither slaves
nor masters, while In the Northern large ma.
iority are neither hirers nor hired men, with
their families, wives, sons and daughters, work
for themselves on their farms, In their houses
and In their shops, taking the whole product to
themselves and asking DO fayors of capital on
the one hand nor Of hired laborers or slaves on
the other.
Il is not forgotten that considerable number
Of persons mingling their own labor with capi-
tai, that Is, they labor with their own hands and
also buy or hire others to labor for them, but
this is only mixed and not distinct class.
No principle stated is disturbed by the existence
of this mixed class.
Again, as has already been said, there is not
of necessity any such thing as the free hired
lsboreg, being fixed for that condition for life.
Many independent men everywhere 10 these
States, few years back In their lives, were
hired labOrers. The prudent, pennilees beg
gar in the world, labors for wages while, and
saves surplus with which to buy tools or land
for himself; then labors on his own account,
and at length hires another new beginner to help
him. This is the jdst and generous and prosper
GUS system, which opens the way to all, gives
hope TO all, and consequent energy, progress and
Improvement of the condition TO all. No men
living are more worthy to be trusted than those
who toll up or on from poverty, none
less inclined to take or touch ought
which they have not honestly earned. Let
them beware Of surrendering political power
which they already possess, and which, If sur
rendered, will surely be used to close the door
of advancement against such az they and
to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them
till all Of liberty shall be lost. From the first
taking Of our national census to the last
are seventy years, and we find our population
at the end Of this period eight times as great
as it was at the beginning. The increase Of
those other things which men deem desirable
has been even greater. We have at one view
what the popular principle applied to Govern.
ment through the machinery Of the States
and the Union has produced In Q given
time, and also what If firmly maintain.
cd Il promises for the coming future.
There are already among us those who, If the
Union be preserved, will i've to see It contain
$50, 100000 The struggle Of to-day lie not al.
together for today, Il Is for vast future also.
With firm reliance on Providence, all the
more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the
great tack which events have devolyed upon
US. FH M
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WAsHIRoToE, Dec. 3, 1851.
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