THE SOURCE OF PROSPERITY. 205 



is but little employed and capital has largely depre- 

 ciated in value. 



Therefore the real bearings of this question of labor 

 are not confined to the industrial classes, but vitally 

 affect every interest and class of society. To be sure 

 the workingmen appear prominently in the discussion, 

 for the simple reason that they are the " mudsills " of 

 society, and can not be eliminated, unless it is possi- 

 ble to build without a foundation, or from the top 

 downwards. 



u No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which 

 the greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is 

 but equity, besides, that those who feed, clothe, and lodge the 

 whole body of the people, should have such a share of the pro- 

 duce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, 

 clothed, and lodged." 



" The liberal reward of labor, therefore, as it is the necessary 

 effect, so it is the natural symptom, of increasing national 

 wealth. The scanty maintenance of the laboring poor, on the 

 other hand, is the natural symptom that things are at a stand, 

 and their starving condition that they are going fast back- 

 wards. " ADAM SMITH, Wealth of Nations. 



Now the question is, shall the welfare of society be 

 sacrificeji to the gratification of blind, ignorant class 

 prejudice and arrogance, or shall we be guided by the 

 simple dictates of intelligent self interest, which, no 

 doubt, will prove the wisest philanthropy ? 



If we adopt intelligent self interest for our guide, 

 we can again restore prosperity to our country and 

 people as quickly as it came upon us in the first years 

 of the war of the rebellion, and that in the midst of 

 profound peace, and make the prosperity permanent. 



