New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-09-21
MR. GREELEY's EXPOSITION ADDRESS.

solitary soldier equipped aud pluned for war,
is not an imposing spectacle Surrounded by the
agencies and incidents of Peace, he seems lncon-
RruOus and fantastic-a relic of some by-eOne agea
representative Of social order long since fallen into
decay But mass one hundred thousand such as he
into an army, carefully ranked, thoroughly disci-
plined, and supplied with all the requisite engnery
of DETACHMENT and destruction, and its majestic
power its terrible significance. are plain even to the
awed, admiring gaze of childhood
So the work of the lonely pioneer buried deep in
the primitive forest, wherein his rude log cabin has
Just been thrown up around which he is slowly beat
ing back the empire of shade and savagesm by dnt of
ak and fire, seems petty and casual when regarded
by itself but could we, from some commanding
hight some ship of the air, look down at upon
tie whole body of pioneers at their daily labor,
should recognize in their desutOry array the srmsh
line of advancing civilization the harbnger
Of intelligence, comfort thrift, humanity religion.
The wolf, the bear, the serpent peTishing vanish
ing as the pioneer host slowly. irregulary, yet mex
orably moves on are now TO be types of moral
order which civilized society is destined TO supplant
and replace.
take this to he ore chief end of Industrial Expo
sitiOns, to make the workman realize the essential
value and true dignity OF his work. The infinite d.
vision and subdivision Of labor exacted by modern
these inspiring considerations. The artisan arti-
cer devotes his days to making, not a whole watch,
but wheel or pinion-at most a spring. He may
give his life to Matchmaking yet never see one
watch perfected, as the most sl1illful and valued
worker in o factory may spend his years in setting
up looms OF ccmpounding dyes and never make one
yard Of cloth The Exposition is needed to insprit
each with q thorough, cheering consciousness of
what has been effected by the combined labOrs and
efforts OF all.
l gazed with interest the opening of the
first Worlds Exposition i'm London, twenty-One
years ago. Apparently, specifically, the procession
of Queen and Princes of Dukes and Garter Knights,
in honor of the efforts and products Of smiths and
weavers smackod of grimace and afectatiOn How
could they truly honor mammal industry who had all
their lives Stunned it as degIadationi And yet
that parade lOf feUdal trappings aud gewgaws did
honor productive labor, however blndly and even
insincerely No prophecy OF the auspicious day
when swords shall be beaten into plOwshares and
spears into pruning hooks was ever clearer than
that procession of royalty and aristocracy, of peni
potentiares and gold sticks in waiting to usher in
the display of all nations products in the domain
of Art and Industry at the Crystal Palace in Hyde
Park. April so, 1851
Our work too generally cOmpels us to look down
to fix our gaze something petty and minute-to
shut out the view of stars and mountains and CON
centrate our thoughts on bits Of metal few
pounds Of Wool or Cotton. We work with bowed
heads and bent frames we need occasionally to
straighten up to expand chests with full inspi-
ratiOns of the free air of heaven. We need to
realize that Work has other and nObler ends than
tho highly needful replenishment Of basket and
stOrethat its best result is the sklllful, modest.
upright faithful arge-sOuled workman. Such is the
lesson which this Exhibition is teaching to tens of
thousands The material recOmpcnse Of labor is in
dispensable; but the honor paid TO the achievement
of the highly deserving workman is beyond and
above this as the sky is above the EARTH
Nor is this all. see in every great Exposition an
Indictment TO that Industrial Cooperation which
seems to me, even though distant and difficult,
nevertheless inevitable. Strikes for higher wages,
strikes for shorter days, lOckouts, trades unions all
suggest to the radical vice of our mode of deter
mining the wOrkman's compensation. He should
manifesty be paid in proportion to the value or ex
cellence of his product he is oftener paid in pro-
portion to the time he manages TO consume in ere
ating fashioning it. Hence eye-service, dawdling
and the production of fabrics wares that look
well but fail to wear serve well. This cannot al
ways endure.
You need not tell me that any essential change is
difficult for know already that oil genuine re-
forms are exceedingly so-that they are only
achieved through suffering and sacrifice, and after
repeated failures. You do not frghten me by assert
ing that Cooperative Industry involves complicated
Troublesome aecount-keeping; for know that
Desp0tAm is the simplest form of government,
and Slavery requires less reckoning, and
bargaining, and bookkeeping, than any system of
Free Labor DO not oak me to say iust how Co