The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-04-25
surplus Labor and the Only Man.
ner IN which &c Can be Em.
ployed-.farming The safety

surplus Labor ana inc JIM Wan
ner IN which it Can be Em.
pioyed-.faFming the safety
Valve.
We observe that the same view Is taken
Of the labor question by a correspondent
Of the St. Louis Republican as that recent.
IL pu. forward by the ISTEIIIoEsCER-
yii-that the only real solution Of the
p,oblem IL a Redistribution oflabor. The
labor Of the country has been largely
drawn into a few leading emPloyments-
such as the iron, cotton and WOODEN man.
utas.uring business, and into occupations
more or less related to the meteexchange
Of commodities. These last comprise the
numerous army employed about citie',
and include clerks, statesmen, draymen,
s~teyedores, street laborers, railroad en-.
ployes,~ Telegraph operators, expre'smen,
s~erysnts, artists Of various kinds, fancy
vorkmsn Of all kinds, and q retinue too
numerous to mention whose modes OF
living are irregular, but who depend on
the prosperity Of cities and towns in or
der to secure the means Of livelihood.
Thee people number millions 10 the
aggregate, and at this time at least half
Of them are out Of employment, or 80
n.., ont mat their earnings do not sup
port them.
Now what II one half Of these IN.
employed persons were tillsrs Of a few
acres ofground each-how immensely bet.
tered would be their condition and the
condition Of those who are competing
with them for Acknowledgements to which
they have been accustomed. In the frat
place, they would lift a load from their
V shoulders, and, in the next, from
that Of their competitors, and, third,
they would contribute TO society val
liable results from their labor.
Tilliog the soil cannot be ovefdone In
the sense Of taking away its ability to
ruppor. those who engage in it. In this
respect 1t differs from all other indus
tries. On q few acres Of Indifferent soil
the farmers Of New England have raised
large and respectable families-educated
each child at the COMMON schools, and
ann. If ,bsm at the academies, colleges
and s~eminaries, and, in many instances,
have given each child a small portion
wherein to commence life. This is done
BY ~intslliseutly e~ultivating the soil and
BY studying and prasticing domestic econ
omy.
A the 81. Louis Republiean eorrespon-
dent says, there Is but o fed that is
alWays open. "This field is an almost
boupdless territory Of soil spread around
us. which Mr.. Webster so aptly charac.
teiized as the great reserve OF nature, and
Which II ",ickied with a hoe will laugh
with a harvest" Its making the most al
Turing offerseyer..madet TO man.sincehs was
driven from the garden Of Eden. How;
ever distasteful or repugnant the work oil
farming may be, there is and can be no
other alternative to q large proportion OF
these unemployed persons than to accept
II with the best grace possible" Va.
rious other interests will DO directly pro-
NOTED by this movement and everyone
filling the land will require, and be able
to puPchase with such Of his products as
be does moi consume whatever Is neces-
ary for his comfort and conve-
nienee, thereby furnishing employment
to others OF this now idle class. II may
be- objected that any large addition to
the agricultural class will result In the
same surplus that all other industrial
departments exhibit. Be II 80; but should
there be 90 glutted a market IS to cause
wheat and corn to be sold ut ten cents q
bushel. and beef and pork three cents
pound. all these would be equally nutri-
iious and palatable for the farmer and
his family as II they were selling at Ian
eied prices. The pressing question with
these two million Of idle persons o Is,
moi how they shall make \ fortune, but
how they shall make q living; and q lit
10 reflection will surely show them that
the initial step. must be taken right here;
and when the. are made and carried out
10 any considerable extent they will In
augurats a readjustment Of our whole
Industrial interests, nov sadly disorgan.
lied. The only trouble Of any special
Importance in our country is the want oil
employment. Whenever these two mil,
lions Of idle persons are at work all will
DO we'll, for never in the world's history
has labor yielded greater returns than
now. Property has shrunken in value,
but real capitalists who owned 1t when 1t
was inflated own the same property or
could own II still. The effect Of thissur-
plus, created by u increased facilities
Tor producing Il, will be the discovery or
invention Of new wants, the supply. Of
which will absorb the labor not needed
for our present and past ones. Fifty
years ago people worked harder than
they do nov to gain q living, compared
with which the present style Of living is
luxury in the extreme. But "a manual
labor has been supplemented BY ma.
ehinery, new wants have been created
sufieient to absorb the supeiauous labor,
and this process will be carried on when
the industrial interests Of U country,
now fearfully disorganized, shall be COM
pletely re'adiuSted and move steadily on
vnnd!