The Irish standard., 1907-02-16


early as 1854, Lincoln contrasted free
labor with slave labor in a word pic
ture of wonderful power. Equality in
society,"" he said, beats Inequality. We
know that southern men declare that
their slaves are better off than are
hired laborers among lis. How little
they know Of what they speak. There
is 10 permanent class of hired 1aborers
amongst us. Twenty-Five years ago ]
was a hired laborer The hired labor
er Of yesterday labors on his own ac-
count today and will hire others to
labor for him tomorrow. AS labor is
the common burden of our race, SO the
effort of some to shift their share on
to the shoulders of others is the great
durable curse of the race. Free labor
has the inspiration OF hope. Pure
slavery has no hope"
Horace Greeley, later the stormy pet
rel OF the civil war period, wrote of it:
From the point of view Of the can.
vasser (convincer) it was the best
speech to which l have ever listened,
and I have heard some of Webster's
grandest. I'm this speech, dwelling on
the right or wrong of slavery, he
warned his hearers not to be deceived
'by sophistical contrivances, such as
cropping for some middle ground be-
tween the right and the wrong; vain
as the search for man who should
be neither a live man nor a dead man."
He concluded this address sin these
words: Neither let us De slandered
from our duty by false accusations
against us, nor frightened from it by
menaces of destruction to the Gov
ernment, nor of dungeons for ourselves
Let us have faith that right makes
might, and in that faith let us to
the end dare to do our duty as we ,1n-
derstand it,
The last farewell to his fellow citizens
Of Springfield, as he left for Washing
| ton, in February, 1861, impressively IL
lustratesS Sthe reliance on divine guild
ancc which inspired his administration.
The last two sentences Of the fare
we'll read: '"rrusting in him who can
go with me and remain With YOU, and
be everywhere for good, let us con-
fidently hope that all will Vet be we'll.
10 his care commenting you, as hope
in Your prayers you will commend me,
[ bid you an affectionatc farewell"
This spirit Of consecration to the
great work unto which he had been
called is further exenlplified in the
closing sentence OF his speech a few
| days later. in Philadelphia, where his
text was taken from tie declaration,
all men arc created equal.' Speaking
| inpromptu he expressed the fear that
he had said something indscreet
But" he added, II have said nothing
that AIN not willing to live by and if
die by
The future proved how prophetic
were his words. In his first inaugural
address, in speaking OF the heresy of
secession as q constitutional right, he
really disposed of the whole question
in d few concrete sentences: 1T is safe
to say that no government proper over
had in its organic law a provision for
it's own termination. One party to a
contract may violate il, break it, so to
speak, but does it not require all TO
lawfully reScind it?' "Plainly the CEN
trail idea of secession is the essence Of
anarchy" "T'hc chief magistrate de-
rives all his authority from the people
to fix terms for the separation of the
states 10 the soutlerners lie said:
''Toll can have no conflict without be.
ing yourselves the aggressors. You
have no oath registered in heaven TO
| destroy the union. while 7 have the
most solemn one to preserve, pro, ect
and OeLeDu IT,.
Like the first inaugural his message
To the special session OF congress in
July. 1861, is filled with sentence arsu-
nents against the right Of secession
such as this: "Our states have ncith-
er more nor less power than that re-
served to them in The union by the
constitution, no one OF them ever l,av-
ing been a state out of the union"
Other automatic passages in refer
ence to slavery and secession could be
quoted indefinitely, but these two, from
the second annual message must suf-
fee: 'There is no line, straight OF
crooked, suitable for a, national boun-
Diary upon which to dtvide.'' without
slavery the rebellion could never have
existed; without slavery it could no,
continue
;oSo 7