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Miscellany: Notes On Political Economy: Inducements To Indus...

Miscellany: Notes On Political Economy: Inducements To Indus... image
Parent Issue
Day
16
Month
January
Year
1843
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

and labor liave nevcr been employee!. While süme nations grow wcaithy, others are stalionary, and others have grown poorcr The most fertilesoils of Europe nnd Asia, undcr the Turkish despoiism, scarcely support a spirse popuhition. li s important, thercfore to ascertain tlic condil.ions upon which men can be induced to labor íor the production of wealth. God hascreated man with physical and intcllectunl facdtiesadnpted to labor. No valuable object can be attained without ir. IntellectuDl power cannot bc had without intcllectual discipline; ncitber can physical comforts or even necessaries be obtained without physical labor. Labor is necessary to the hnalthful conditiun of our powors of body and mind. Without intellcctual exertion, the niind becotnes enieeUied; r.nd were this labor wholly to cense, it would bink into idiocy or madtiess. Without chysical labor, the body bccomes a prey 10 pain and diseasc. That labor in tself is plens int. it is not sary to as-sert. It is sufiïcient ihat it is Icss pan J'ul tkan idlcneas, and the results óf idleness. - The laborer complains of h:s toil, but deprive hiin of employment, and lie becomes miíenilili;. : Those persons uho consider hibor degrading. ' ennnot be hnppy witliout exertion. Henee thcii ' hunting, shooti;:g, riding. travelling, írymnasiic I exercisos, &c. are only expcnsive modes of labor. ( The poor man exercises himself, the rich man ( cmploys a horse to exercise him. Both yield f obedience to the same taw oí' natu,re. t Besides, those who disobey this law, suffer i sezeral poi.alties wiiich ïhe Crèatër ha affixed to iis violation. He who will not labor with liis i. mina, must be ignorara. How great a penalty this is, may be estimated by coinparing tlie ■ ditionofthe most enüghtened pcople with the degradad savage. Tlie physical ciToits of a age may be equal in amount to thosft of a P tial furtner; yet how gieat is the dirFcrence in ll their intellectual and physical joys! On the other hand, God has ussigned to P dustry, rich and ibundant rewards. lliches.. '' intellectusl and physicai. are its sure results. Al the fust there existed nothing in our woild, but i the carth, with its spontanaous ptoductions and t( capabilities, and hclplcss and defenceless man. - All that ai ihe present time exists of capital, oí tj convenience, of comfort, of ititelligence - gJ ciüus dwclli ïgs, cultiv i'ed pliins. beautilul cities, . rich fleets of merchandize, aiid all the elegancies ol social üfe, are the result of tnan's industry, and are the rcward which God h:is bestowed on us for obedience to this law of our bcing. If these positlons be true - if God has excited us to labor by sufficient rewards, and de terred us Fro'rh iüdolence by sufficient pennhics, it would ieein that our business must be, to give tl-cs-j rea' ivaK.'sand penalitios tjieir Jrce operation. These, sv t any rate, sliould b tiied. in It may, therefore, bc laid down as correct, that ui men will cxert themselveSj both intellectunlly hE ind ])hysically just in prpportion as tJiey dre'pér w mittcd to enjoij.in the most unUm'ted, degree tl.e [0 advantages of Libor. and nlso, iü projwrtion, %s thttj suffer the conscqnn:es of idlcness. And where these are equa!, the greater the propor.ion )f capital to the nuinher of laborers, the greater an .vul be their índustry, and vicc versa. Lastly, f he greater the intcliigence of a community, the ' greater will bc the amount of labor performed. ch DIVISIÓN OF PROPEKTV. 01'Tt is unnaturnl for men to labor without r} ng any benefit from their labor. Heneo, the ;reater this benefii, the inore active and of ïeous will bc their exeitions. ji( In order tbat every man may enjoy, in the g, reatest degree, the advantages of liis labor, it is lecessary, (provided ahvays he does not viólate he rights ofhis neighbor. ) 1. Tliat he be nlluwd t) gam uil ha can; and 2. That, having IC ;aifted all he can, he be allowed to t use t ná kc üill. That every man mny be alile to render his l' ibor profitablc to hir.isellin the gieatest degree, or t is nccessary that property should br. dizidcd. an Vh'en prupcriy is heltl in conimon, every one is i t überty to take whut he will. and labor as little th s he plecses. Under such an arrangement, iheie „v i no conr.ection beiween labor and the reioards ï labor. The forest of an Indian tribe is held i comnion. and a few hundred Inmilies barely on :ubsist upjn a leriitoiy. which, if divided and lied,' would support a niillion of civüizcd men. P ' Jut tlic bow and arrows, wigwam and clothing " fan Indian, are in the fullest sense bis own. - SU( ere these 'o be held, like liia lahd, in common. pr ie whole race would soon perish, from want o dei ie necessariea of life. ftV( On the coiKiaiy. as soon as land with all othfm ■ property is divided, a motive e.ists for regular pa id voluntory labor. He raises an annual projrjduuu' 1J)s ui mercases, and lic begins 10 convert lus gains into fixed capital lnceosed produciion atimulato mdüstry, and increuscd I iry enlnrges his profits. Tl.us divi.smn of property lies at iho foundation of all ceunmiation of wenlih, and ofnll progress in civiliznt ioti.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News