Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-06-30
| CONCLUDED.


CONCLUDED.
But, Mr.. Chairman, what other dccar-
cd purposes of the Constitution Tor the ac
of which this government
was established,., :, haye-becn carried out by
the policy Nid ad,Hmistratiou of the party
now in powex? DO they promote the gen
eral welfar67 With the principles of jus
tice everywhere suppressed, the blessings
OF libcrty-annihilatcd throughout our bor
ders, and the domestic tranquility destroy
cd, it is almost needless to inquire what is
left to constitute the general welfare. But
it is my painful duty on this occasion, not
only to that the principles of free govern
ment are dying, rapidly dying before our
faces, but that the material prosperity, the
absolute physical resources Of the country
are perishing also. The welfare, the
strength and glory of nation are depend
ent in measure, upon the extent Of its
population, and the amount of its wealth.
Next TO the virtue and intelligence of the
people their numbers constitute the power
and dignity of State. The ancient COM
mandment, the blessing delivered to the
original founders of the human race was to
be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the
earth. And one OF the richest promises Of
the patriarchs of old was that their tribes
and their descendants should increase until
they became as the leaves of the forest and
the sands of the seashore. Every public
ruler who, by wise political and social
economy has rapidly swelled the population
OF his country, holds place in history as
a benclactor Of .his kind. Every human
being is a machine Of labor. Each head
and each hand is q producer The busy
/
ding to the storehouscs, the granaries, and
the merchant ships of the world. 1t was II
blessing and not curse it is in mercy and
not in wrath that man was commanded to
eat his bread in the sweat Of his face. BY
obedience to this command the glory of civ
ilization adorns the earth, and commerce
penetratcs the most distant seas. The full
fillment of this decree redeems the savage
face of nature, builds up the great marts
Of trade, patronizes science and letters,
erects temples to art and progress and is a
forerunner of Christian faith Labor is the
fountain of all wealth. and of all happiness.
Nations and individuals are alike utterly and
entirely dependent upon it for their pros
perity And national prosperity is simply
the result of individual labor The humble
aud obscure toll Of the honest ploughman,
who
"Homcward plods his weary way"
at nightfall is the source of the nation,
greatness, the foundation Of all its vast en-
terprises, the support. of all its boastec
revenues; il is the small spring breaking in
to riyulet from the hill side, which, fow
| ing on and miugling with the other water
Of its kindred, at last swclls into an oceal
on whose bosom the destinies of the worl,
are determined. All the great authors VIII,
have written on the subject Of the wealth o
nations have recognized this as a funda
mental truth. Adam Smith embraces it il
the first sentence Of his immortal work. Hi
says
"rhe eannual labor of every nation is the funC
which originally supplies it with all the noces
saries and conveniencies Of life which It an
either in tho immediate produce OF That labor
or in what is purchased with that produce from
other nations"
Locke, in his equally celebrated treatise
clear upon this point. He uses the follow
ing language, which covers the whole phi
losophy of labor:
of the value upon land, without which it woe
scarcely be worth anything. 'Tis to that W,
| for all that the straw, bran, bread of that acr,
| of wheat is worth more than the product of al
acre of land which lies waste is all the eject q
labor. For tits not merely the ploughman'
pains, the reapers and thrcsher's toll, and th
| bakers sweat is to be counted lnlo the breu'
we eat: the labor of those who broke the oxen
who digged and wrought the iron and stones
| who felled and framed the timber employed
| about the plow, mill, oven, or any other uten
Sls, of which are vast number requisite L
this corn, from its being seed to be sown, to it
| being made bread, must all be charged in tn
account of labor, and received as an effect c
| that; nature and the earth furnishing the almos
| worthless materials as in themselves. 'Twoul
hp n
provided and made use of about every loaf q
bread, before il came to our use if we cou
trace them, from wood, leather bariS, tim
ber, stone brick, Goals, lime, CLOTH dyeing
drugs, pitch, tar, mas;s, ropes, and all material
! commodities made use of by any of the work
men, to any part of the work; NIL of which i
would he almost impossible, at least TOO long L
reckon up"
Sir aside then from motives of humanit.
what shall be said of an administrative pol
icy which is necessarily depopulating tn
nation? Every ensanguined field of strit
covered with the noble and once animated
forms of American citizens, is an irrepara
bic loss to the true wealth of the country
When the last call for troops which ha
been made upon the laborers of the land
BY the Executive, shall have been com
piled with, more than two millions Of me
will have gone to the field Of death. |
the year 1860, all the voters in the Unite
States, including all the sections, was tou
million six hundred and sixto-one thousan
one hundred and ninety three. The State
which remained faithful to the Union col
tanned, at the commencement OF this wa
about three millions. This may fairly
computed as the number of laborers in tn
loyal States three years ago, for while man
who vote are too old to work, yet perhap
and equal number are capable OF labor VII
are too young to vote.
1t will thus be seen that two thirds
the laboring population of the country hay
already been levied upon by this remors
= less administration, and drawn away frol
the business Of production. Figures cal
not lie, and the census tables do not d
ceive. The prosperity of this goyernmel
consists in the labor of its people This
its only capital. In proportion as the 20
ulation is diminished or diverted from pr
ductive pursuits, in the same proportit
is the general welfare destroyed. And I
. nation ever long survived the shock whit
90 the abstraction of two thirds of its popul
ton inflicted upon every branch of indu
try. A paralysis will seize every healthf
function Of government The sap of Ii
will cease to ascend, and the green tree W
!. wither and die The fountains will be dri
up, and the river will cease to flow.
=, Sir, | am dealing in no imaginary pictul
!. Go to the regions of agriculture. on viii
i all else depends. You will there hear t
: cry that the laborers are few One m
i cannot do the work Of three; and two a
|, gone and but one is left to SOW the seed al
: reap the harvest. | have seen the wife a.
mot her tillinp the soil in nv own distri,