National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1871-09-22
LABOR-aRISTOCRACY.
In n recent article attention was

labor by Modern Society showing
it's dcn,oralizing and .nrrNhling ct-
feet upon the present aua coming
generation. II may hot be unprolit
able to consider anoiher phase at
this subject, AMI apply test :" H.
Dor. Judge it by It's operations,
benefits, and effects, asking the
question: What has labor done aud
what it il now doing for man !
The people are clothed and fed,
conveyed by land and water, shell
tered from storm. and warmed 10y
our flresides, instructed, amused and
refined by the productions OF labor.
Labor builds roads, bridges rivers,
tunnels tho Hoosac, and Thames
Converts granite and Clay into
stately edifces, builds the humble
cottage, the home of the peasant,
and rears the magnificent palace Ct
royalty-with patient toll it bores
down into the bowels of the earth
and brings marble, iron, coal, cop
per, silver and gold to the surface.
Labor manufactures the products OF
land and sea into every conceivable
article that the want of man requir'
es or his taste desires. A few strong,
thinking minds, work away in the
laboratory of science, and wind,
water, gas, caloric, and electricity,
become the ready servants and pow
erful agents of humanity, perform
ing such wonders as the feeble gods
of antiquity never eqnaled.
Labor stretches forth its hand,
! and from ocean to ocean, the waters
are covered with the fleets of COM
mercc, cleaning wealth from torrid
sands, and everywhere gathering up
the riches of nature and civilization.
The earth brushes aside her wild
wood forests, and spreads out the
broad, fertile fields of plenty, cities
with churches, and schools, libraries,
and picture galleries, merchandise
and halls Of justice, in fact all the
comforts, refinement, and elegancies
of civilized life, spring into active
existence, concentrating intellectual
. energy and stimulating ambition.
!. Labor walks forth III its inperi.
Gus might and pyramids Use in ev-
j, erlasting grandeur, the Panthenon
crowns the Arcopois with unc-
=. qualed beauty. and the majestic ca,
thedral of st. Peters revrrcntly
points its spire leavrnwa,d. Cali
tornia and Australia reveal their
golden treasures, and Golconda un-
busoms her richest jewels, aud the
:. great Kubnoor flashes forth its
mountains of light, sparkling and
. bright.
p Labor also chiSels the marble OF
our quarries, by the genius of a
| masters art.
!. Labor works patiently at the ca
sci, and the canvas is radiant with
almost divine sweetness. 1t brings
! up pearls glistening with fresh beau
ty from the ocean bottom of truth,
and on the wings of thought pene
trates the heavens. In fine, every
thing beautiful and useful in art
and valuable in science, is the result
of labor. Were the earth at this
period of time brought back 10 its
primitive state, entirely stripped OF
: the works of man, with its vast
; population, starving and freezing in
Russian SHOWS or scorching in AT
RIGS Observation-Disclosures,
Starving, despairing-huddlcd to-
; gether in naked misery, the appall-
inc spectacle would but partially
impress on the present generation
the value and Importance of labor
Who then shall say i'll this day OF
demoralizing tendencies and wonted
degradation Of labor, on the part OF
. the leaders of modern society, that
labor is not Gignified or reputable
f that labor which supports, refnes
I and elevates the race ? Let the top
pish and sentimental adhere n,s and
advocates of the glOries of that
modern fashionable society which
despises labor aud the labrOer, and
would ostracise them from partlci-
\ patton and enjoyment of the so
+ called higher circles, look around
e them and see what labor has done,
u is now doing for man, and then
Il shrink into their own butterfly
nothingness, beside the dignity and
power of labor.-[ Rutland Herald
= There are ia lumber camps ol
IL the st. Croix river, Wisconsin, ard
y its tributaries, employing 300 men
: and 1900 oxen and horses. The av