Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1868-05-15
5i9fGllangollG.
LABOR THE BASIS or REPUBLI-
CAN INSTITUTIONS.

CAN INSTITUTIONS.
II. as has been said, idIeness is the mother
Of mischief, occ ccupation and industry are the
progenitors Of virtue and good order The
universal haste for wealth, coupled with un-
willingness to toll for its acquisition, Is fruit
fUl Of crime and destructive of business in-
tegrity Throughout the whole country
the cities and towns are througed with idle
Olclwbers, waiting for something to turn
up by which they may become possessed of
a fortune and pass their lives In luxurious
ease. Such men are the bane Of society
They seem 10 believe that labor is degrading
and think nothing more honorable than
sumptuous dependence. And yet society Is
filed with them Not reader Of this para
graph but can point TO those within his i'm
meaiate acquaintance.
The folly Of the present age is its want Of
appreciation Of true manlinesS. He Is not
the best type Of American nobility who apes
the foreign aristOcracy aud considers honest
labor degrading and unworthy. The genius
ofour democracy Is the exaitatiOn Of labor
and the laborei; aud its triumph is the vim
dicaJion Of toll from the contempt Of an
etfete nobility that cIngs with the tenacity
of life to ancient ideas and obsolete distiuc-
riOns We are a great and a progressive
nation because we are shaping ont our own
destiny by the iron hand OF labor. We
have been singularly successful in our expe-
riment Of self-goYernmeut because we made
IL the first principle Of conduct to depend
upon ourselves for results, and not to hope
for anything from ancestral title OF inheri-
ted wealth The founders ofthe American
republic we're men otindcpeudeDce When
they landed on these shores they shook off
the trammels Of European customs, they
laid aside forever the pride of family that
had euervated the youth of their native land
and with an answering fidelity to the great
principles of Democracy, laid the tounda
tl0ns OF a government whose cornerstone
was pcct for honest industry
It was the law among the ancient Jews,
that every man should learn a trade. He
was not bound By any obligation to follow it
for IL his incllnations prompted him to after
ward seek another profession, he was at
liberty to do So The wisdom Of this law
commends itself to every mind. If, in ad-
verse times, misfortune should lay its hand
upon them, and they should be compelled
to leave their chosen pursuits, they were
provided with an occupation which was a
safeguard agaIut extreme poverty or want
Ii such a law existed in this countryit would
prevent many Of the evils that now prevail,
and render orr people more prosperous and
happy. However true to the principles OF
democracy our fathers may have been, we
are fast leaving them behind Instead of
honoring labor we are attempting to degrade
it, Parents, ambitious for their children,
often express the hope that their lot will
not be so arduous or tOlsome as their own
has been, forgetting that by their labor the
country has been blessed, and because of the
industry of their sons, generations yet to
come will be grateful that they were born in
republican America.
Il is the frst duty Of parents to iustil into
the minds Of their children the necessity
and the dignity of labor To be useful in
any sphere Of life should be the ambition of
our youth Oar vast fields Of enterprise in
yite competition and promise satisfactory
rewards. The producer is be whose loss is
most felt by society. Success in mechanic
art is as honorable as professional eminence;
agricultural industry Is far more profitable
to the nation than ambitious statesmanship.
The watchw0rds Of democracy are that all
honest labor is honorable. 1t is not what
one does, but the manner Of doing it, that
dignifes the man. Nothing can be more
degrading than quack in medicine, petit
logger in law, or q bl0ckhead IN priestly gar
mentS-nO one can be more honorable than
2 an luuNStlAOQo 0Na ChAilAut dA Aladu VI a
faithful and intelligent tiller Of the soil
II is a mean and worthless spirit that de-
spises the garb of the laborer and scorns to
welcome him to places of equity. Nothing
can be more false that our usual idea and
definition of a gentleman. 1t is not the
dress, it is not the employment that permits
this appelation Ii is the kindly heart, the
Industrious virtuous life that makes the
gentleman. a career ofidieness is generally
"a career of crime 1t is not family or wealth
that entities one to honor. 1t is the intelli
gent manhood that entities him to respect.
VIZ honor those who have risen from hum
bic spheres of life to places Of trust and
usefulness, net because Of the riches they
possess, not because Of the position they
oecupy but because Of toe energy and in
dustry which they manifested in the attain
ment Of what they have. Fortune smiles