The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1873-10-16

virtually two o. the fathers of modern politi-
Cal economy. The former never spent an hour
OF nls life In practical mercantile business,
while the latter left it in disgust at the end of
Few months, regarding himself wholly un-
suited for its requirements Yet each laid
down principles and maxims of trade which
In some things revolutionizsd the comm ercial
world
What the people really desire in their re-
representatives. Of ali grades and classes is fdel-
lty, courage, industry, integrity and cap lcity
for public affairs. They do not desire all rich
men, nor all poor m en-, all lawyers, or all far
mers, all talk or no talk at all; VIII at they do
want is reasonable and safe combin alton of
all these elements; and what they especially
want at the present time, and what they
cry out for in anguish of spirit unceasing, is
men, who, If they are determined to lay out
the Goddess Of Liberty cold and straight
e0on't steal the cents from off her eyes,
erstand me not as joining in any indis
crlminate raid against men in public life
believe there are men in our Congress to-day
who have been there for years, some of
them, | regret to say, wantonly and
m AllcIously assailed, whose answering
integrity end untiring industry entitle
them to an appreciation and reward which
such men do not always receive from the peo-
pie.
do not understand that the farmers pro-
pose to dispense with all middle men in the
conduct of their business, or that they cham
pion any agcarian ideas, looking to the equal
distrlodtion Of property. They expect each
m IN aud all classes to be rewarded according
to their merits What they concede to others,
that do they earnestly ask for themselves.
In the excitement of the hour we have much
talk about producing and nonproducing
classes, and many arguments are addressed
directly to class prejudice
Now this is all wrong; if you are to combat
common foe, then, any division of your own
forces Is sheer madness. The relations which
different kinds of labor bear to each other are
founded In nature, and cannot be too thought
fully considered Let us examine some of
these for a moment, elemental though they be-
DIR. Adam Smith, as l have said, one of
the fathers of political economy, defines
wealth to be: "the value which skill and labor
can add'to the raw m aterial" We can neither
add to nor take from the quantity Of the material
universe. As it existed in the beginning so it ex-
lists to-day 1t is only when mans labor or
sklll mlngles with the raw material that it con-
tributes to his wants and constitutes wealth.
There is another law equally fundamental, it
ls the law of supply and demand, which regu.
lates prices and values. Where these condi
tions do not, and cannot meet there can be no
price, no value, no wealth If man dig coal
from pit in the midst OF forest, lift it to the
surface and leave it there; if there be no de-
mand for it on the spot, and it is never
to be removed to where there is q
demand, then his labor has contributed moth
ing to the wealth of the world. If there be
no demand, the coal might as we'll be at the
bottom as at the mouth Of the pit. Now, if in
order to realize any value from his labor thus
far, 1t will be necessary for him to take his
team and haul the coal to his dwelling where
he car burn 1t, or to a market town where
Others can burn it; then the act of hauling, be-
ing necessary, is as much "productive laborn
as the Muscular labor which uncapped the
coai and lifted it to the surface. Again, if
at the m lrket town it becomes necessary to
store the coal, and watch the market in order
to obtain fair price, then the act of waiting
and watching. If necessary, is as much o
source of production as the strokes of labor
applied to the mining of the coal. And yet
again, if knowledge, experience, and skill be
necessary to so judge of the market as to sell
to the best advantage and for the highest price
then the knowledge, experience and skill thus
utilized, contribut as directly to the general
product as any item involved in the interme-
date stages And the labor necessary 10 &C.
quire such knowledge, skill, or experience. ia
as much productive labor as any blow applied
directly to the raw material, provided always
that such labor is essential and indis pensable
to the process.
Surprising the miner falls sick, and knows
nothing OF the theory of disease or the appli-
cation of remedies, but that another has de-
voted days and years to such study, so that by
the application Of sovereign remedy
he can restore the sick man speedily to health,
has he not contributed directly to productive
industry In the same measure that we'll man
is better able to produce than sick one
Hob
savage sitting by q waterfall with pestle and
mortar, can, by persistent labor, grind his
bushel of corn indifferently we'll, while the
white man, by his quicker wit, has in the
meantime so attached the water-power to his
machinery, that while he sits Quietly on the
river bank his mill will grind thousand
bushels to impalpable powder, has not his
superior knowledge contributed Just one
thousa and times moro to the wealth of the
world than the savage with his mortar
knowledge is power" saith the old proverb.
So with all che other scientific and learned
professions Men by persiste at and protractei
labor have stored up knowledge, 50 that by
the uttsrance Of word they may impart us g.
full information; but the word thus spoken, if
of true value, represents their previous toll,
just as two silver dollars may represent the
laborers' days work. The dollars can impart
no value to his labor, but the labor has given
value to the dollars, just as the brass check
which you receive at the railway station can
give no value to your trunk, but your trunk
and its coatents may render the check i'm
mensely valuable to you while you chance to
hold it. You say the man spoke the word
without an effort; precisely SO; just as you can
expsnd your silver dollars in an instant
and without ali effort. But real
knowledge, acquired by faithful in
dustrY and stored up in the mind and brain
of its possessor, is as much his capital, to be
drawn upon for ready use, as the silver dol
lars in your pocket-bcok are your capital, and
the proposition is not disturbed particle by
the fact that there are pretentious and bogus
men In the world, just as there is counterfeit
and bogus money In circulation. In short,
diversity Uf labor is one of the agencies of
civilization which can never be dispensed with
1t appears everywhere. 1t is said that you