1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



269 



LABOR AND LUXURY. 



No question at present more interests thinking 

 men among us, tlian that of the high prices ol 

 provisions, and especially, of our own farm pro- 

 duets. We have already adverted to it, in former 

 articles, and suggested some of the causes which 

 may have tended to produce the present extraor- 

 dinary state of affairs, such as the diversion of la- 

 bor from the farm, by the raising of armies en- 

 gaged in the war in Europe, and the emigration 

 to California and Australia. But beyond such 

 causes, and deeper in the constitution of society 

 itself, may be found another and more important, 

 because more permanent agent in bringing about 

 this startling condition of things ; for we may 

 well so deaomiuate a crisis like the present, where 

 the necessaries of life have in a few months in- 

 creased two-fold in their prices, and that, too, in 

 a country where millions of acres of fertile land 

 are oflered for sale, at one dollar and a quarter 

 an acre. 



It is plaia that the labor which should be ap- 

 plied to the soil, is in some way wasted, or be- 

 stowed in a wrong direction, for we all know 

 that the well directed labor of a small part of our 

 population, upon the land, would produce a large 

 surplus of all the common articles of food. 



All eiUravagant style of licing, a taste for what 

 are properly called luxuries, and a withdrawal of 

 labor, which belongs to the soil, to produce these 

 luxuries — these may, we think, be regarded as 

 profliinent among the causes of what may bo 

 termed the permanent and gradual increase of 

 prices. Let us give a simple illustration of 

 the working of theSe principles in society, and of 

 our meaning in the foregoing remarks. Suppose 

 ten men, with their fimilies, should estaljlish 

 themselves upon adjoiaiug farms, on good soil, 

 apart from the rest of t\\Q world, and with tlieir 

 wives &ii(k children, devote all their labor to the 

 most judicious production of cattle, grain and the 

 other common products which directly or indi- 

 ly support lifi. It is evident that at the end of 

 a few years, this little society would be burdened 

 with a surplus of such provisions, useless, so far 

 as their own consumption is concerned. Again, 

 sup^Kise that, finding they required less than the 

 whole of their crops and animals, for tilieir own 

 support, they exchange with other societies a 

 part of their surplus, for better clothing and fur- 

 niture and implements tiian they had before 

 used ; so far as better clothing and furniture and 

 implements give them increased power to produce 

 the necessaries of life, they would not lessen the 

 annual surplus of their farms. They begin to 

 give more attention to education, and the time of 

 the children, and of some of the female adults, is 

 taken from manual labor to be spent in a scliool. 

 Still, as educated labor is more productive than 



uneducated labor, — as the civilized white produ- 

 ces more ten-fold, by his own labor, than did the 

 savage Indian, on the same soil — the actual pro- 

 duct of the labor of the whole society may be in- 

 creased by this devotion of time to education. 

 So, if one or more members of the association give 

 their whole time to the invention and construction 

 of improved implements in husbandry, and the 

 like, the annual surplus still remains. 



But now, we will suppose that some of our so- 

 ciety with their families leave their happy valley, 

 and visit foreign cities, and imbibe a taste for dis- 

 play and luxury, and undertake to copy, at 

 home, the style of living they have seen abroad. 

 One procures a carriage and liorse8,[and persuades 

 one of his neighbors to take care of his stable, 

 and drive him and his family round the country 

 for pleasure, while another builds an elegant 

 house and devotes his whole time to ornamenting 

 his grounds, and induces a couple of his neigh- 

 bors to assist him in his schemes, while a third 

 establishes a small theatre or opera, and entices a 

 part of the young people of the society to turn 

 actors, and the whole community to give a por- 

 tion of their time to witnessing their performan- 

 ces. 



The young ladies, we may suppose, having now 

 some idea offashion and dressjinstead of taking part 

 in the labors incident to farm life, such as mak- 

 ing the butter arid cheese, and taking care of the 

 house, devote all their time at home to working 

 collars and undersleeves and embroidering their 

 skirts. Beside all this, each of our ten families, 

 which formerl}^ supported itself, and had a large 

 surplus, sends abroad and imports two or three 

 servants, no matter of wliat color or nation, 

 whose business it is not to work on the land, but 

 to assist them to dress, to cook for them, and 

 wait at their tables, to run to the door when the 

 bell rings, and the like. 



A few of the society are still seen at work dili- 

 gently on the land as formerly, but it is a dis- 

 couraging task for them, while others are so gay 

 and thoughtless, and apparently so happy, with 

 tlieir servants and horses, and fine houses, and 

 stylish clothes, and it is hard to keep their liearts 

 in their business, and they begin to pine for 

 change in their mode of life. 



Now look at our little community, and see an 

 illustration of our leading idea. At the end of 

 the year it appears tliat tliere arc several families 

 who have raised no crops. There is alnmdance of 

 good land lying idle close by. The few who have 

 labored on in tlie old way, have enough for them- 

 selves, and but little more. Instead of looking 

 forward and providing a large surplus, when 

 they saw the rest of the society wasting their time 

 and substance, they have sympathized with the 

 general feeling of contempt fur their own calling, 



