The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1869-02-10
DIGNITY OF LABOR.

Dignity and Value of Labor-Dr. Adam
Smiths ssWeaith of NatiOns.'
p OF all the blind and ignorant prejudices
that influence society, that which leads to
the contempt of the working man, is the
most injurious and tile most unjust
re- The productive laborer not only supplies
those articles required for the subsistence OF
men, and the comforts of life, but he ele
Yates and rcines society by providing the
means of innocent enjoyment, leisure, and
mental improvement. By the innumerahle
inventions of modern science, one mau can
do the work of twenty, and tue beautiful
and curious machinery employed. demands
and proves the exercise of the highest facul-
ties OF the workman and the engineer. In
fact we owe everything valuable in the ma
terial elements of happiness and comfort to
the labors of the working man, and no small
portion also of our mental pleasures could
easily be traced to the same source.
DIR. Adam Smith, nhis great work, "'Tle
Wealth of Nations" has clearly demonstra-
ted that the only source of the opulence of
nations is Labor. at
That the natural wish to augment our for
tunes, and to rise in the world, is the cause
of riches being accumulated.
That labor Is productive of wealth when
employed in commerce and manufactures
as well as ir agriculture. r "
He then traces Gut the various means by
which labor may be rendered more et-
fective: l5 sas, b }44s a1ass3 . has S''
1st. By division among many persons.
Z 2d. By change of place to different coun-
tries. Y flt..i2 ~ gtifr
Sd. By the use of capital in industrial un-
>. b
He then shows that wealth does not con-
sist in the abundance of gold and silver. but
in the abundanee'of the various necessarles,
conyeniences and enjoymcnts of life.
He argues that every one shouid9be left
free to pursue his own interestssin his own
way, for in i,enefitting themselves they also
benefit the public ii. ylig pe
He maintains that every restriction on
free trade" is impoitic and injurious.
No protective tariff should be tolerated, but
every nah sbe ut liberty to buy at the cheap.
est and to sell at the dearest markets in the
world. ,s ia4sr-,s.t.f sIfs s,lftis ysfPY
q Such is the substance of the, most impnr-
tant work eyer published upon Labor. its
dignity and value. 1t is the Textbook in all
colleges where the science of political econ-
omy is taught, and has materially influenced
the laws and commercial regulations of all
the civilized nations of the earth. M ''F
Whatever difference OF opinion may ex
ist about the, doctrine of i'free trade,'
all will unite, in approving the authors
theory of the Importance OF skilled and gri-
ded and enlightened labor and therefore,
in theurgent necessity for providing schools,
of Agriculture and Applied Science, in our
| Universities, in order to afford the mechanic,
the farmer. the miner and the manufacturer
all the aids which modern science has pro-
vided for enabling them to carry on their
various and most important employmcnts
in an efficient and profitable manner. Eiu
Gated men ought to be appointed to fill the
chairs of science IN our colleges; and their
business should be,to instruct the youth OF
our State in the theory and practice of the
various trades which minister to the neccs-
sities and comforts of life, and from which
alone the national prosperity and riches OF
State can be provided for. ..s g,5 Z Z
The University of North Carolina, re-
duced TO the brink of Insolvency by bad
management and folly. now asks from the,
Legislature All appropriation of public
money for its support, notsfor abstract sci
ence aud the ancient languages alone, bat
for technical schools of applied science, which,
will soon repay an hundred fold the required
outlay, and whose pupils VIII be ableto de-
velop the vast industrial resources of this
noble State. DELTA.