Los Angeles daily herald., 1873-12-05

to himself; the stately railroad
magnate, who counts his wealth by
millions laboriously earned in railroad
construction with government hands
and money; then commissaries,
suffers, government contractors, shod-
dy manufacturers, senator's and repre-
sentatives, governors and treasurers;
custom officers and city and county
officials; stock brokers, and specula.
tors; bulls and bears all in regal splen-
dor and more than regal vanity, faunt.
ing their Ill gotten gains in the face Of
q staring multitude! Such imposing
exhibitions have ruined thousands O1
young men just entering life. DazzleC
by the splendor around him, he sees
but little use In delving into the earth
in search of treasure, or of entering
the workshop to build up fortune by
the slow process of faccretion, and boldly
and recklessly strikes out into wild
irregular paths and fails, as nearly all
fail. Like the gambler at monte OF
faros, ne sees the golden treasure
almost within his grasp, reaches forth
with desperate energy and-fails. The
treasure Is still there--that tempting
pile of golden eagles, no farther from
him than before, he grasps again and
fails. Time and time again he renews
the effort and so often fails, until his
brain reels under the tension and he
is swept away In the surging current.
This Internal lust for wealth-fol
vain and empty pageantry-for ease
and luxury, spares neither age nor sex
and rushes thousands year by year in
to the great maelstrom into which
whole nations and peoples have been
drawn and forever swallowed up.
1t is difficult to bring the mind tc
the indulgence of the hope that the
time will ever come when men will
universally regard labor as the noblest
employment OF life, and wealth only
desirable when honestly acquired, and
valuable only for the substantial COM
forts 1t affords and for the good to be
accomplished by its use. T 81
Go where you will In the old world
and the new; glitter and glare, lux
ury and licence, immortality and
crime, idleness and contempt for hon
est labor, meet you at every turn with
a bOldness and dash difficult of com.
prehension.
Young men and young women
should always be taught that the only
true way of life and only path to hon
orable success Is constant, energetic,
cheerful toll in whatever station oryoca-
tion their lot may be cast. All are born
to work, II not to fortune. If riches
come Of faithful labor they may be
enjoyed and used In the fear Of God
and with the blessing Of mankind.
But If, after the battle Of life is over,
fortune khas been invoked in vain,
the thread worn and wasted mantle
may be cast off without regret, and
the soul pass away as the hero goes
down with his ship after gallant,
though fruitless struggle for the vic
tory. zts.-.
10 my mind the world does not af-
ford an example 40 worthy Of monu-
mental honors as that Of the man who
bravely, patiently and cheerfully
passes through long life Of toll, priv
alton and pitiless poverty. Calmly,
trustfully he meets the summons to rest
from mis- labors, and enters the dark
valley with conscience clear of crime
and soul free from the stain Of op-
pression. He Is more than a soldier
he Is a conquerer over combined
powers that have slain the most re-
nowned generals and vanquished the
mightest armies!
Since the days of the Patriarchs,
recall no period in the worlds history
when the cultivation of the soil wasuni-
versally regarded as the noblest occu-
cupation Of life, except in which the
renowned Cincinnatus was called from
the plow to the salvation Of Rome.
Then it was honored as it should be
honored everywhere always, because
it is the primary interest and the
great life-giving strand to commerce,
to mechanism, to manufactures and
to aggregate greatness, wealth and
power. Without 1t every rill, every
stream, every fountain Of prosperity
would dry up. and the whole world
would return to tribal and nomadic
life.
It Itpeoples countries, 1t cultivates and
brings forth from the soil untold
wealth; 1t buildscities, withmagnificent
palaces, and enriches them; it sustains
towns and builds them up into cities:
it causes railroads to be constructed to
carry away It's surplus wealth; at its
call ships float on the ocean and
steamers on the rivers; on its arm the
government rests in security,
for 1t wields the sword as
well as the plow. All this
and much more does 1t do, and yet ut
Is patient, slow to anger, long suffer-
ing" The crowning glory is, that in
its pursuit, the generous soil gives up
its wealth without ringing a
tear from the widow and fatherless,
not sigh from the poor and helpless;
not protest from any living soul.
Wealth thus acquired Is the usury OF
labor-the tribute Of munificent nature
to faithful lover.
But all cannot and should not be
cultivators Of the soil. Pursuits must
be diversified. We must have labor
ers, mechanics, manufacturers, mer-
chants and ell forms Of labor, mental
and physical by which wealth may be
evolved, mankind elevated, morally,
intellectually and physically. The
law Of comfy demands that all these
interests should be in complete har-
mony, and all mutual aids. But that
law Is not obeyed. The great strug-
gle of capital is, to swallow up the
profits and more than the profits
whenever possible, Of oil other inter
ests. Agriculture, the primary and
most important Of all. is made to car
~ burdens such as are imposed on no
other interest.
Never aggressive, always submits
sive, 1t is compelled to pay tribute to
the manufacturer, the merchant, the
banker and the public carrier.
1t receives no adequate legislation to
promote and protect 1t; while 1t pays
directly and indirectly the bulk Of the