The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1878-10-03
From the n. Y. Times.
The New Aristocracy.

| w = nave nSdTu lOF 50 Ol the dIlS-
tocracy of labor that it is rather refresh
ing to find that caste now about to come
into its rights and privileges. Hereto
fore American society has been singularly
free of castles. The boundary line between
those who sell at retail and those who
sell at wholesale has never been very
sharply drawn, unless it may be in the
case of vendors Of spirits. a distiller or
large dealer in whisky has decidedly a
more sure social footing than he who
sells his liquid damnation" by the glass
| But occupations, professions, and voca-
| tions do not, as in older countries, largely
determine a mans social status. And
| the so-called arlstocracy of wealth is a
very vague organization. There is a rich
pawn broker in Chatham street, whose
business name is a tower of strength. but
who would be avoided in the parlors of
the middle class of New York, should he
happen to find entrance there. The only
high caste American, it seems, is the
working man. 1t is not necessary that
he should know anything To him the
boundaries of the States and the political
structure of the Republic may be as in
comprehensive as the mysteries of the
solar system. He is only required to
prove that he is a laborer.
1t appears according to the leaders of
this new aristocracy, that educated men
are, for the most part, mere college con
sumptives" They became weak and
effeminate by toiling at the oar and play
ing foot ball. 1t is notorious that educa-
tion in these two great fields of human
learning has engrossed more time and at
tention in Yale, Harvard, and Columbia
than any other. Princeton has chosen
the manly art of self defense for the main
Zoo oF to- oYrrio,,l,,,, nj
graduate from that estimable institution
of learning unless he can show at least
five theological students who have been
manned for life by his prowess. Never
theless, it is notorious that we have been
too long ruled by the college consump-
tives," and the day of the working man
has now come. Books and book learning
are declared to be the merest rubbish |
What tie country wants is sinew and |
muscle 4 man who has worked early |
and late to secure an ed dZcation, and who |
has, a. lcs1, stepped out upon the plat |
form o. L-cnan activities with a fair |
equipment, is to be despised. Perhaps, |
while he was elbowing his way through |
college, he sawed wood, or taught dis |
trict school, in order to exc out his slend-
er finances. No matter for that let him
stand aside for the horney- handed son of |
days, and who has no higher ambition
than to hammer granite, unless it is to
90 to Congress or sit on the bench Of the |
Supreme Court.
According to the new theory of Amer
lean aristocracy, a mans occupation de-
termines his position in the world. The
college consumptiye" is a fraud, of
course; and next below him in the social
scale is the man who employs men. One
who carries on q mandatory or a large
commercial business, giving useful and
profitable employment to hundreds of
other oppressed men, is a hoary- headed
vampire, or hell born and he'll. bound
viper, it does not much matter which
he is very bad fellow, anyway. Law
yers, editors, and professional men gen
orally, are classed as Shiny imps of very
wicked place. Small traders and farmers
are not worth mentioning, while artists
and those who pander to the luxurious
tastes of mankind are reckoned as para
sites and suckers" Capitalists are un-
doubtedly the most thoroughly corrupt
of men. Being capitalists, they are bond
holders, and therefore they are lecherous,
bloated, tyrannical, and, usually, given
to orgies and midnight murders. The
only genuine man and perfect pattern of
patriot is the working man and day la
borer. There have been some conspicu-
Gus instances of American working men
who have achieved greatness. Andrew
Johnson was tailor, who learned to read
and write after he was married But it
was not until long after that that he was
sent to the United States Senate by the
people of Tennessee and subsequently,
was chosen Vice President of the Repub-
lie Henry Wilson was a shoe maker,
who, by dint of hard work and native
force of character. secured seat in the
Senate and filed notable and honorable
place in the history Of his country. Abra-
ham Lincoln was another horny-handed
son of toll who fought his own way up
from poverty and obscurity to the high
est place in the gift Of the American peo-
pie, as well as to one of the highest pla-
ces in the affection and admiration of the