226 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



would be fallacious to attempt to protect it by restraining its 

 freedom, or by loading it with taxes. 



The American Union presents the best practical illustration 

 to be found on a large scale, in the history of the world, of the 

 benefits, from freedom in business pursuits, in labor and trade, in 

 producing abundance. From the hyperborean borders of 

 Maine to the spicy groves of Texas ; from the frozen coasts of 

 our upper lakes to the burning sands of Florida; from the 

 genial shores of the distant and broad Pacific to our immediate 

 Atlantic borders ; over this wide expanse of the earth's surface, 

 embracing different climates, various soils, and diversified re- 

 sources, our citizens are left free in choosing their industrial 

 pursuits, and generally untrammelled by duties and restrictions 

 in exchanging with one another, for the purpose of increasing 

 their abundance, the varied products of their lands and their labor. 

 This entire freedom in selecting the channels of industry, this 

 unshackled system of trade and commerce, is a primary cause of 

 the universal and unrivalled prosperity which has marked the 

 progress of this people during the period of their national 

 existence. 



If, then, the object of our labor be abundance, if it be to place 

 abundance within our reach, it becomes as important to hus- 

 band our resources, as to increase our productions. The great 

 and good Dr. Franklin, one of the best thinkers in the world, 

 among the earliest and best writers on political economy, 

 and perhaps the wisest of mankind, exceeding every one in 

 plain, practical common sense, tells us, that a penny saved, is as 

 good as a penny earned. Hence the value of economy, as well 

 as of industry. It would be labor lost to produce, and waste 

 what we produce ; and it would be vexation to find the fruits of 

 our labor drawn from us by insidious means, through hidden 

 channels. While we keep watch over all our personal expen- 

 ses, we study less into the effects of our social institutions upon 

 our personal resources and relations, than their importance de- 

 mands, or prudence requires. 



It seems quite apparent then, that, as labor alone produces 

 wealth, so labor only can yield it; and that hence all the expen- 

 ses of society are drawn from the earnings of labor. It would 



