North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1864-04-20

i
eternal account without repentance or par
! don, to stop bereavement, woe and tear
around every firrslde; TO brighten the NOUN
| full face of the land with the radranc. "f
peace to reconstruct and restore a iraternal
and harmonious Uaior will meet the approx
al OF the Father and 90 far toward relieving
the new,y liberated and trembling spirit of
the terrnrs which surround 1t. '
But, Mr. Chairman, what other declared
purposes of the Constitution for the accom-
(; plishment Of which this Government was e>
iablished have been carried ont by the poll
cy and administration of the party now in
pnwer2 Do they promote the general aret
| ure2 With the principles Of Justice every
where suppressed, The blessing of liberty an
initiated throughout all our borders, and
the domestic tranquility utterly DESTROYED,
1t is almost needless TO inquire what is left
to consti ute the general welfare. Butt j.
nv painful duty on this OCCASION not only to
show that the principles of free government
are dying, rapidly dying before our faces, but
that the material prosperity, the absolute
| physical resources of he country are perish
ing also. The welfare, the strength and glo
| ry of nation are dependent in a vast meas
ure nppn the extent Of its population, and
| the amount Of It's wealth. Next to the vir-
tue and intelligence OF the people, their nu
bers cHlsti'ute the power aud dignity of
a State. The ancient commandment aud the
blessing delivered To the original founders pi
the human race was to be fruitful. mutlpIy
and r-pienish the earth. And one of the
! richest promises TO the Patriaich~ of old was
! that their tribes and their descendants should
increase until they became as the icaves of
| he forest and the sands of the sea ,hlre-
Every public ruler who by wise political and
SOCIAL economy has rapidly swclled the pnpn
| iauion Of this country, holds a place in llistn
~ a. a benefact"r of his kIud. Every -hu
man being Is a machine Of labor L ,ch heai
and each hand producer, The busy brain
AMI active muscle are perpetua'Iy adding to
| the storeh"usn, the granarles, and the mer
chant ships of the world. 1t was blessing
and not IA curse II was in mercy and not in
wrath that man was commanded 10 eat his
bread IN the sweat of his face. By obpd-
ence to this command tue glory of ctvIhza
| tion adnrns the earth, and commerce pe.le
| trates the most distant seas. The fu!fijlrnent
of tins decree rrdeems the savage face Of ma
ture, Guilds up IN" great marts of trade, pat
runizes sciences and letters, erects temples
IN ar AMI progress. and is fnrernnncr ("
the Christian faith. LAbur is the foundation
of all wealth, and of all happiness. Nations
and individuals are alike utterly and entirely
dependent upon for their prosperity. And
nati'mal prosperity Is supply the result OF
individual labor. The hu l,be and obscure
toll OF the honest pl"ughlnan, who
Homeward pods his weary way"
at nighfall is The source of all the natl on'-
greatness, the foundation Of all its vast en-
terprlSeS, the support of all its hna>ret reve
uue< it is the small spring breaking into a
rIvulet from The hull de, which Fl owing on
and mlnglug with the other waters Of its
kindred al last swell> int 0 an ocean on whose
! bosom the destInes of the world ere deter
mined. All the great authors who have writ
ten On the subject of the wealth of nations
have recognized tins as fundamental rrut b.
Adam Smuth embraces II in the first sea- ence
of this immortal work He SAYS:
1.-The annual labor of every nation is the fund
which originally supplies it with all the necessari-s
AMI couvenieuces OF life, which it annually con-
sumes and shich consists always either in the immc-
date produce of tn 1T labor in what is purchase
with that produce from other nations"
Locke, IN his eqraIIy celebrated treatise
on civl government is still more explicit and
clear upon this ooint. He uses the follow
ing langua ,e, which covers the whole phlo
ophv Of labor:
otis labor then which puts the greatest part Of
the value upon land witho I which it would s.arely
be worth anything. lis to that we the great
part or all It's uSe1ui all tnot lne
straw. bran, bread of tnat acre of wheat is m IRE
worth than The product Of Of goo1 lanl which
lies WI te is II the effect of labor. For tits not
merely the ploughmans pains, the reaper's and the
thrashers toll IND the bakers sweat. is to be count
ed into the bread we eat the labor Of thn'e who
broke the oxen who digged and wrought the iron
and stones who felled and framed the timber en-
poyed about the plougl., mill, oven, any other
utenS lis, which vast number, requisite to th
CON- from is being seed to be s1wn to its being
,la al all he CHARGED in tha OF
labor AMI received as effect eff that nature and
{ earth furnishing only the almost worthless ma -
rials s7 IN themselves. 'TwOuli he Il strange cata-
ngue of things thar in lustry prOv led and Ide uses
of about every ioof Of bread before it came our
use If we could trace them From wood, leather,
barks timber, stone brik CO.. Ils, lime, cloth dyeng
dru s, pitch, tar. masts, rope and all material
M e use of in the ship that brought away the com,
moditier made use of w of the workmen to any
part of the WORK, all which 'twoud be almost tn ,s-
sible. at lec t to long to rccken up.
SIR as de then from motives of humanity
what shall be said of an administrative poll
ry which is unneces SariIv depopulating the
nation Every, unsangniDed field of strife
covered win the noble aud once anima' ed
forms Of American citizens, is an rreparabIe
inss To The true wealth OF the cDdn' ~
When the last call for troops wtrch has been
made upon the !abnrers OF the land, by the
Executive, shall have been complied with,
| more than two millions Of men will have
gone 10 the fields of death In the year
1860, the number of voters in the United
States, including all the sectinns Was 4 66l
l89 The States which renamed faithful To
the Union contained, at the commencement
nf this war. about hree millions. This NAV
fairly be computed as the number Of labor
ers in the Ioyal States three years ago, for
while many who vote are too old To work.
vet, perh,ps an equal number are capable OF
labor who are too Young to vote.
tt wi. thus be seen that two-'hIrds of the
laborins population of the country have al
ready been levied upon by this remorseless
administration and drawn away from the
bnsipess of production. Figures cannot lie,
and the census tables do not deceive. The
prosperity ef this government Consists III the
| IL e 10 .,n,rln This Is its only CAN'T al