Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-11-03
LABOR ANp Liberty.


Prom the Philadslphia Press
The cause of free labor is one of the
most important invOlyent in:this war.
Labor is the element of every nations
greatness All things that are mighty
and prosperous spring from it It is the
seed Of true liberty. Commerce. agricul
ture, manufactures, the cotton we grow
and spin, and send to Europe aud Asia,
all represent labor. The end Ofall govern
ment is the peoples happiness; the peO-
pies happiness is only insured when the
blessings Of life are equally and generally
distributed; and these blessings come from
T labor as naturally as the ear of corn comes
from the kernel The meaning Of republic
nanism is that labor shall be independent;
that every man may earn his dollar. in
the way that best pleases him, without
the tyranny of the taskmaster or the res
trictions Of the capitalist We sit under
our own vine and fgtree, with no one to
modest and none to make US afraid
How is It in Northern community p
Any village on the line Of our railroads
may be taken as type. A hundred men
are thrown together by the freaks of for
tune. They are men of general endOW-
ments. Some have talent for mechanism !;
others for the finer arts; others are famil-
lar with the times aud changes of the sea-
sous, and note all the phenomena of tho
harvests. Each follows his calling. The
wants of all In regard to clothing. machin-
cry, instruction, and excitement become
sources ofindustry. One man makes boots;
another cuts cloth and sews it into coats;
others bake bread and prepare beef, and
shoe horses aud make plsughshares, and
bring coffee and tea from a neighboring
town aud sell IL In small parcels. There
may be others oflarger ambition; so they
open public school or practice law,
or minister to the diseases of their
neighbors, or preach sermons, or buy a
font Of type and print weekly neWspa-
per. The mental aud physical wants Of
all are supplied. Life comes and goes
with its little cares and exeitements. The
laws of political economy gradually be-
come operative; there are the laws OF sup
ply aud demand, profit and loss; some are
thrifty, aud become rich; others are extraV-
agant, and remain poor; one generation
passes away; another comes upon the
stage, and Weary-footed time walks hand
iu-hand With impatient progress. Houses,
aud mansions, and wide streets, aud beau
tiful temples, where God is worsbiPped; i;
magazines and daily neWspapersj thea
tire, a railway, a prison, an almsbouse, an
uOHpltult Auu kN1aAAAAy AHHGlEs
The census is numbered by tens Of thous-
auds, city charter is granted, and meme
Der of Congress is chosen. The village
has become the metropolis, and doings Of its
stock exchange aud grain market are ca
geTly canvassed In the couutiug.ro0ms Of
London.
On the banks Of Virginia river n young
man comes IN possession OF large farm
and number Of negroes. He has inherit
ell lOrdly revenue aud luxurious tastes.
He is compelled to assume, a certain degree
of state. and. to maintain It, he must tease
and torture the earth to give forth its rich-
est harvests. He has no time to observe
those gentle laws of nature which must al
ways be observed, or barrenuess and deSO.-
latiou will surely come. The demands Of
an expensive Me-the WiueeuP, the dice
box, the horse-Face-0r the fancy Of some
beautiful woman must be satisfied. So be
plants cotton or tobacco from year TO year,
until, at last. the exhausted earth refuses
its tribute. Then the negroes are sold into
the more distant South, the lands fall into
decay, the mansion becomes warped and
ungainly, aud in a flash Of false aud uu-
natural splendor the glory Of the planter
expires. He has lived for q certain
number of years-he has titled the earth
and bartered its produce, but the labor Of
the huHdFed men who lived with him has
ended in nothing bat bonds aud mortgages,
an old house, aud number Of unteuanted
shanties where the negroes had lived be-
fore. In the meantime fortune has thrown
q number of white men into the neighbOr
hood. They are anxious 70 tive aud be
happy, 70 earn their bread and at the same
time worship God-keep progress with the
world around them by Communication aud
association, and educate the children that
may cOme 70 them. They will make shoes
or clothes, or plOughshares, or do anything
that handicrafIOr or genius may suggest They
know that labor is the great law Of lifs-aud
they desire to labor. They desire 70 do
so with o high purpose, and for the object
of eleVating and advancing one another.
But they find an antagOnism they cannot
overcome. Il disheartens, aud crashes,
and dWarfs them. IA hundred black men.
instead Of labOring for themselves and one
adother, IS men should do, labor for one
who holds their liberty, their energies, and
their lives at his command. They must
not read nor search into the cause Gud
purpose Of their existence. They must be
slaves, and no influence eau exist that
teaches them otherwise, or attempts 70
give them strength which no chains
can bind. Artificial aud unnatural
laws are made-and caste is engendeTed.
Labor becomes capital, and capital can on
ly be strong when labor tS degraded. So
the hundred white men who have no mo-
ney, and the hundred black men whose