The Leavenworth weekly times., 1878-06-27
1.-THE DIGNITY OF LARoR. >,

the people OF the State, We give herewith
an argument On the other side, being an
extract from an address delivered by the
Hon. Jacob Winter, of Leayenworth, be
fore the Kansas State horticultural Soci-
ETY., in 1874
1t is fit that the Governors remarkable
address upon this subject should be re-
piled to by Senator Winter We presume
that no man in Kansas, who is acquainted
with these two gentlemen, will accuse us Of
doing injustice TO either of them when We
say that in point of intellect and statesman
ly qualities, each is the peer OF the other,
and the discussion is therefore not one that
can be objected to as an unequal contest
But while the Governor has no "sympathy
for the debtor class" the Sepator is in full
sympathy with the poor and the oppressed
everywhere. The Governor thinks that the
command to labor was not given to man
for mans good but was a curse pronounced
| upon him by the Creator because OF his dis
obedience; the Senator shows the failacy of
this reasoning by proving from holy writ
that the first command to labor was given TO
Adam before the fall and that when God
first placed him in Eden, pure and sim
less, he directed him to "dress the garden
and keep it." proving conclusively that Ia
Dor came before sin, and thus knocking out
the keystone of the Governors arch. The
Governor argues that labor is debasing, but
the Senator shows that it is elevating. The
| Governor says that hard work drives all
the poetry ou; of the farmers nature,
depresses his spirits, clips the wings
OF his fancy and plucks out his tail
feathers, but Senator Winter shows by his
arguments as we'll as by the Example of his
own life, that the reverse Of all this is
true.
But we append here :he remarks of Sen
ator Winter, on this subject; our readers
can peruse them at their leisure, can COM
pare them with the expressions Of the Gov
ernor on the same subject, and judge for
themselves as to which Of these gentlemen
represents the spirit Of the age:
IIr. President, Ladies and Geademen:
When the Creator and Sovereign of the
Universe studded the armament with the
| twinkling stars and the moon with her pale
light, to illuminate the night; and the sun,
| the king of day, with his refulgent light
and genial heat, to tighten the day, and re-
suscitaie the sleeping vegetable kingdom !;
and when lie beautifed and adorned this
earth with trees, fruits, vegetables and odor-
ferrous flowers; and when He created and
placed upon this globe all animate beings
man the last and noblest of all, with do
minIon over them ALLIE also ordained
certain fixed laws by which they should be
governed. All inanimate matter and beings,
that have neither the power TO think nor TO
| will, must absolutely obey such laws, for
their existence depends on a strict conform
ity TO them. But man, being endowed
with reason and free will, and the faculty
| by which he can discover the purport OF
| those laws, the Creator gave to him direct
| revelation for the government of his actions.
| The first precept which God gave to man
was when he was in a sinless state, when he
basked in all the beauty and glory of the
| Garden of Eden. "And the Lord God took
the man, and put him into the Garden OF
Eden, to dress it and to keep it." From
| this law We learn two important facts. The
| first is, that man in his primeval state was
a horticuiturist; the second and most i'm
| portant is that the Creator ordained that
man should work-that he should be active,
| industrious, intelligent and watchful ITO
, dress it" certainly required action, industry
and intelligence. But whether that dressing
| was pruning the fruit trees or extracting
| the borers, | will leave to our horticultural
doctors to decide. The definition of the
word dress" is ''to put in good order, as to
dress the beds Of garden; sometimes to
till or cultivate And the command that
he should also "keep it." implies that he
should be watchful-"to maintain, as to
keep a watch or guard" to keep intruders
out, as we'll as to "tend or have the care
Of" And when man violated the law of
God, lie 'sent him forth from the Garden
OF Eden, to till the ground from whence he
was taken, and gave him this supplemental
law: an the sweat of thy face shalt thou
eat bread till thou return unto the ground"
From this supplemental precept we learn
that it is mans duty to labor, earnestly
labor, even unto the sweating OF the face, to
earn his bread. "This we command you,
that If any would not work, neither should
he eat"
Upon this law OF nature and its violation
/ shall now offer a few practical thoughts
and suggestions. Every man and woman
who work do not only obey the law of the
Creator, but add materially to their physi-
cal, social and moral happiness. Every
acre or square rod of ground that the far
mer or the horticulturist brings under
proper cultivation, every fruit tree that be
grows, every horse, COW, sheep or hog that
he raises, every bushel OF wheat, corn, oats,
barley, potatoes, turnips, etc, that he pro-
duces, and every fruit-vine, fruit shrub,
every flower rnd ornamental tree or plant
that our wives and daughters cultivate, do
not only add beauty, comfort, health and
happiness to the possessors, but contribute
substantial wealth to the country. All such
are real benefactors to mankind.
But what shall we say of those who vio-
late those laws of their Creator ?-who re.
pose in the shade, and seem to dread the
light and heat of the sun? who "toil not,
neither do they SPIN" A false philosophy
has ruined them; they were taught by in
dulgent parents and deluded friends that to
labor is disreputable; that brawuy hands
and sun-burned face are disgrace to the
possessor. Poor, deceived mortals! Such
add no true riches, financially, morally nor
physically, to the world. The natural ten
dency of their course is physicrl disability,
mental imbecility, vice and immortality,
and the end, ruin.
One of the wiseet and most humane
schemes to counteract the baleful influence
of that false philosophy upon society was
the beni6cent donation BY the Government
of the United States OF ninety thousand
acres of public lands to the State of Kan
sas, and a like number of acres of public
lands to each of the States of the Union,
for the purpose of establishing agricultural
colleges in all of them. The cardinal fea-
ture in those colleges is to form . rural
school, in which the chief element to be
taught is that tabor is honorable, requiring
only intelligence and proper application to
make it command universal respect and
become pleasant and remunerative; hence,
the siadents are taught some of the princi-
pal laws which govern the physical world;
the elements which are necessary for the
growth of trees and plants, as nitrogen.
hydrogen, oxygen and carbon; also, geology,
mineralogy, chemistry, botany, and zoology:
also some of the laws of mechanism, to.
gether with the laws of trade and commerce
and political economy. Thus panoplied,
the laborer with brawny hasis and sum
burned face will command respect not only
on his farm, in his workshop, or in his
vicinity, but in any official position to
which his fellow-citizens may call him.
Mr.. President AK your in
diligence, and the patience of my courteous