The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1894-09-14

as ah essential part OF the states and
tic experience of the last war has
shown, that their being in the pos
session of the enemy, did not neces-
sarily draw on the subjcction of the
country which bravely continued to
maintain its freedom and indepcnd-
ence Notwithstanding.
has been computed by some
political arithmetician, that if every
man aud woman would work, for
four hours each day OH something
useful, that labour would produce
sufficient to procure all the neces-
'saf.ies. and comforts of life; want and
misery would be banished out of the
world, and the rest of the twenty
four hours might be leisure and
pleasure. ~ '--
What occasions then so much want
and misery ? 1t is the employment
of men and women in works that
produce neither the ncccssaries nor
convcnienccs of life; who, with
those who do nothing, consume neccs-
saries raised by the laborious. To
explain this:
The first elements of wealth are
obtained BY 'labour from the earth
and waters. | have land, and raise
corn. With this, if feed family
that does nothing, my corn will be
consumed, and at the end of the year
[ shall be no richer than [ was at
the beginning. But if, while feed
them, employ them, some in spin
ming, others in making bricks, &c:
for building, the value of my corn
will be arrested and remain with me,
and at the end of the year we all
may bc better clothed and better
lodged. And if, instead of employ
ing man | feed in making bricks, |
employ him i'll fiddling for me, the
corn he eats is gone, and no part of
his manufacture remains to augment
the wealth and convenience of the
family; | shall, therefore, be the
poorer for this iddling man, unless
the rest of my family work more, or
eat less, to make up the deficiency
he occasions. R.. (
Look round the world and see the
millions employed i'll doing nothing,
or something that amounts to moth
Ing. when the ncccssarics and con-
vcnicnccs of life arc in question.
What is tic bulk of commerce, for
which we fight and destroy each
other, but the toll of millions for
supcriluitics, to the great hazard and
loss of many lives, by the constant
danger of the sea j.? How much labour
is spent in building and fitting great
ships, to 90 to China and Arabia for
tea and coffee, to the West Indies for
sugar, to America for tobacco?
These things cannot be called the
ncccsSarics of life, for our ancestors
lived very comfortably without them.
a question may be askcd-Could
all these people now employed in
raising, making, or carrying super
fuities, be subsistcd by raising ncccs-
saries: l think they might. The
world is large, and a great part of it
still mcultivatcd. Many hundred
millions of acres in Asia, Africa, and
America, arc still in a forest and Il
great deal even in Europe. On n
hundred acres Of this forest, man
might become 4 substantial farmer
and II hundred thousand men en-
ploycd in clearing each his hundred
acres, would hardly brighten a spot
large enough to be visible from the
moon. unless with Ilcrschcl ) tclc-
scope; 50 vast are the regions still
in wood.
1t Is, however. some comfort to
reflect that, upon the whole, the
quantity Of industry and prudence
among mankind exceeds the quantity
of idlcncss and folly. Hence the
increase of good buildings, farms
cultivated, and populous cities filled
with wealth, all over Europe, which
a few ages since were only to be
found Oh the coast of the Mcdtcr-
rancan; and this Notwithstanding
the mad wars continually raging, by
which arc often destroyed, in one
year, the works of many years peace.
So that VIC may hope, the luxury Of
a few merchants on the coast will not
be the ruin of America
One reflection more, and | will end
this long rambling letter. Almost
all the parts of orr bodies require
some expense. The feet demand
shoes the legs stockings the rest
of the body clothing and the belly a
good deal Of yictuals. Our eyes,
though exceedingly useful, ask when
reasonable, only the cheap assistance
of spcctaclcs, which could not much