Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-05-19

To he poof, who hnvc unromltilug
toil from morning until night, exposed
10 the lnclemencics Of The feasont u
they arc employed W The open aeldp,
or TO corrodinr damp scorchlng heat,
or the poison Of bad air, " their labor
lulls indoors, it will bo diflicult 20
cNtol the advantages Of work, for
they see only its tyrannics and It's
excess. But, if even these could read
our article, and follow our idea closely,
they would, perhaps, fnd that in
maintaining the dignity Of labor, and
showing ils importance TO national
and individual welfare we would pro
mote such condition Of general
activity as would soon render unnc-
cessary all extremes OF excrtion, by
removing the extremes Of want
The present condition Of society
imposes terrible burthens on one class,
because other classes have, so to speak,
no burthcns at all. The entire work
OF the community has to be carried on
by only part Of the population,
Were the whole number equally busy,
half MS many hours Of labor in the day
would procure far more even distri-
button Of the comforts Of life than wc
now behold, and thus not merely re-
lieve the condition of the bulk Of man
kind physically, but give them oppor-
tuhtics for intellectual and moral
improvement that are now impossible
Huge armamon,s Of men for land
and sea service; hungry shoals of
government officials; mere specula-
tors on the flesh and blood of their
fellow men, would find their occupa-
tion gone. and we should no longer
see one man in Il palace, while another,
equally deserving, was at loss for
ordinary shelter. In fine, the chan
nels through which non nproduction
saps away tho lifcblood of nations
would be closed, and each man, in
taking deeper concern in the condi-
tion OF the country, would feel the ties
Of his patriotism strengthened.
There have been and still exist Ba-
tions in which the general paTticipa-
tion in toll became the general glory,
while history is full of records to show
that the growth Of classes who simply
lived upon the toll of others was tho
commencement of national decline,
Whilo our own people were united in
common exertion as farmers, hunters,
and mechanics in the earlier days Of
our history, our life as people and
as individuals occupied its highest
plane. and it will be only by rotracing
our steps in many things that we shall
ever be able TO regain the proud posi-
ton.
But, let us take two peculiarly stri'
king instances 10 illustrate our views
"Behold," says one, whose eloquent
advocacy of honest toll will not be
forgotten by the impartial ehronicler;
"Behold, upon n narrow and unstable
patch of soil continually swept and
diminished by the waves, few thou
sand courageous men. They rear
strong dykes; they push back the
raging billows, ana even snatch from
them portion of their bed, to turn it
into fertile fields, on which to build
the cleanest and best kept cities in The
world, and transform these vast, I'M
wholesome marshes TO laughing poid-
erS, where their cattle grow fat on
uxuriant herbage. Formerly, deei-
mated by the scurvy, which their
damp abodcs engendered, they now
keep off that terrible endemic by the
marvellous care they take in the con-
struction of their houses. Farmers,
fishermen, daring navigators on the
high seas, they recoil from no fatigue
or risk, and, united by labor, they
unite, also, for the independence of
their country, and Holland exists in
spite Of the difficulties Of nature"
But it is not merely at home that
we have seen the Holandcrs display
those qualities. They made of tho
Island Of Java, far away in the tropi-
cal seas, the most beautiful ofcolonies.
Setting an example of interchangeable
industry to the natives, they trans
ported TO that spot, and there intro
duced tho richest productions of the
globe; the spices of Ceylon, the tea
Of China, and the excellent barks and
drugs of the Andes, which, thanks to
them, are now TO be had abundautly
in the United States and Europe.
Suoh were the external results of
labor, accompanied by other blessings,
upon which we need not dwell.
Spain. so full of natural resources
of every description, sadly illustrates
the effect of national lislless. In the
18th century Spain ruled the finest
portion OF the world In Europe, sho
had the Kingdom OF Naples, and the
Duchy OF Milan, Sardiria, Sicily, and
Flanders; an immense range of the
African coast whole Kingdoms in
Asia, and all the ocean shore of the
Indies, in America, Mexico, Peru,
Brazil, Paraguay, lucatan and New
Spain; upon the sea, numberless
islauds, among which were the Balearic
Isles, the Azores, tho Canaries, the
PHILIPPINES, Madeira, Cuba, Porto Rico,
and San Domingo
But with all this, labor at home was
abandoned, and what had we butyes-
tcrday in Spain Three hundred
villages desolate in the two CASTLES,
and thousand in the Kingdom of
Cordova. The superb agriculture in
troduced by the Moors, and kept up
by irrigation, has, in many districts,
given place to dry and almost soli-
tary waste. A proverb OF the time
says that "even swallow docs not
fly over Castillo without taking his
grain with him."
Only . year ago, previous to the
Revolution, a cry Of distress, long and
loud, asccndcd from Spain, and at
the very time when the returns of
agricultural wealth in Holland and
Belgium were the most hattering.
But, il is needless to oNpatiate upon
these contrasts. A working people