Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-02-08
RISE IN rnE VALUE or MAN

I
II slavery bad not been abolished, itwouid
be difficult to guess what now would have
been the value Of good field hand, with a
steady demand for cotton at its present price.
But thing which is perhaps more worth
thinking ABOUT IS, that great as Is the infla-
ton of prices within the last few years in
regard to property of every kind, il is not
only IN this country, but in England and
throughout the civilized world, far greater
~ the advance in the price of man and all
his labor. That is TO say, great as is the in
creased price Of imported goods and raw
material, to say nothing now of homemanu-
Iactured articles, the price of labor, and es-
peclatly skilled labor, exceeds the rest III
Is great taet-perhaps the great fact of the
age. In this country II has been Thought
that II was simply an expansion in the chr
rency, but in other countries it is somewhat
due to the rapidly increased production Of
the precious metals. The disbanding OF a
million men from our army, and the immi-
grafton of 200, 900 to 300, 600 persons a year.
have supplied 10 some extent the demand
for labor in this country, but il has not
brought down wages to the old price. For
every species of skilled labor the demand is
greater than the supply, not only In this
country, but in England The London
Times especially complains of the falling off
OF the supply of candidates for holy orders,
and for the positions of army and navy sur
geons. ''Seamen are scarce, and all ranks
and professions are faring alike y In one
sentence, there is demand for man, and
higher price is ready to be paid for the hon
est work OF human hands, human skill.
brains, integrity and trustworthy efforts,
than ever. LII at particular times and In
certain dar,npfF,.aVfe 4h, 20
supereedes physical effort, if a single rail-
road passenger train does the work of
hundred stage coaches with their horses and
grooms, and one sewing machine makes
more stitches in day than a score of needle
women-still it is all rather felt as increas-
ing the demand for more slcilLfill labor than
diminishing that for other poorer kinds of
efforts. The more intensely human and ed
ucated, the greater the demand and the
more deficient is felt to be the supply.
The fact Is, the production of gold and
silver has increased the supply to an enor-
nous extent, to say nothing of the expan-
sion of paper currency. This is producing
the same effect now on the world that the
discovery of Mexico and its gold did on Eu-
rope three hundred years ago, when a simi-
lar disturbance of prices took place. 1t
makes all former wealth change relations
before the newer forms of present industry.
1t will make all those who live on pensions
or fixed salaries, OF the interest of their
money, but who do nothing but draw upon
the dead past, poorer and poorer, while liv-
ing present energy, industry and education
will obtain a larger share of this new and
increased values than ever
Besides this, itmakes man less of a drudge
and machine, but better educated, wiser
and unhlar lpwnlowoI T.,
time was when there were only three rec
oguiZed liberal professions; we might now
roovsuiau thirty, and what Is OF more lmpOr-
tance, any one of these is thought lust as
hberal-that is, just as becoming to a gentle
man-as any other Nowadays, young
gentlemen 60 into commercial life as readily
as they would 90 into the Guards, and are
thought none the worse Of There is an
immense field of employment, and no preiu-
dices to interfere with anybody's choice.
The necessary consequence is, that some of
the old professional callings suffer little F"
In this country the newer forms of industry
and educated energy rise much faster. All
kinds of mechanical skill and ingenuity are
demanded as never before wise parents
seek to give the intellectual education of
their children practical Development, and
those whose education is most naturally
practical thirst for knowledge OF the sci
ences on which their arts and labors are
founded
All these thirty new professions draw off
the most energetic spirits of the age from
the old, and create an ever increasing de-
mand for manly energy everywhere, while
the great law, that he who viii not work
iao v..t, Slsly liiUIc lllalIhTsS
There is constant rise in the value OF man
on the EARTH and all past labor and posses
sions and property keep diminishing rela-
lively to his ever advancing education, geni-
us and scientific power, united with present
industry. In England, the middle classes
have long united education with industry,
but their idle gentry on one hand and poor
laborers on the other have got to make this
union or suffer In the United States all
that promotes an increasing education and
application of it to industry, both in man
and woman, is advancing us as nation, and
is the only means of saving large classes from
being crowded out of existence by the in
creasing pressure of the age.