134 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



IIaech 



plant your trees thereon ; afterwards making the 

 ridges' still higher by ])loiighiiig towards the trees. 



3. So time your annual culture, as to induce an 

 early maturing of growth in autunm. 



4. Form your trees with very low beads, and 

 encourage from the start a compact bushy habit 

 of growth, gradually thinning out a little, after 

 growth has become somewhat checked, and the 

 habit of bearing induced. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LABOR AND CAPITAL. 



One of tlie great questions of the present 

 day with thinking men and political economists 

 is the just and equitable rights of employer 

 and employed, or, in other words, of capital 

 and labor. There has been more or less of 

 collision between them, in one form or another, 

 as far back as history gives us any light upon 

 the subject. A marked instance of this we 

 have in the experiences of the patriarch Jacob 

 with Laban, his father-in-law. The indignant 

 Jacob tells the old sinner to his face, the 

 wrongs he had been guilty of, in the most elo- 

 quent language the sacred volume contains. 

 This record we have in the thirty-first chapter 

 of Genesis, from the thirty-sixth to the end of 

 the forty-second verse. 



In the past, down to within a century or two, 

 slavery and serfdom have been tlie lot of the 

 masses. The few have used compulsoiy labor 

 for the accom|)li.-hment of their ends, whether 

 in war or the peaceful service of building 

 palaces, pryamids, and other useful or ornamen- 

 tal works. Compensation was comparatively 

 unthought of, or if thought of uncared for ; 

 and no hope of alleviation from this exacting 

 service could be looked for but in death. 



Governments were ever inclined, and even 

 now are, to trench upon individual rights in 

 this particular. Well disposed statesmen Iiave 

 had, and probably ever will have, trou!)le in 

 fixing the limits of government, and the rights 

 of the governed. Personal libeity all enlight- 

 ened, well meaning men are inclmcd to guard 

 with watchful care. They will Aicld only so 

 far as ybrce compels ov reason dictates to be 

 for the general good. Restraints of law are 

 irk.«ome when they invade personal rights, 

 without the free consent of those over whom 

 the law asserts its power. 



Recognizing this principle, we have hedged 

 ourselves around, in thi.s country, with consti- 

 tutions and laws that we consider on the whole 

 as being wisely calculated to secure our great- 

 est good ; at the same lime, recognizing the 

 necessity of some personal indiviili.al sacrifices 

 for the attainment of the drsin-d i-nd. There 

 13 a limit, however, lo ihis law-making power. 

 Just where it should terminate is not an ea.sy 

 point to determine. Experience sometimes 

 comes in and solves the protjlem for us, as in case 

 of those laws compi'lling a man to confine him- 

 self to one occupation, and tiie amount of 

 compensation lie was to receive for it. The 

 cime has been, when once a farmer, always a 



fanner ; once a mechanic, always a mechanic ; 

 and the same of other departments of indus- 

 try. No chance for a change, however great 

 the desire or eminent the qualifications. But 

 with us, and in fact with many of the Euro- 

 pean nations at the present day, it is not so 

 now. Our constitutions and laws shield the 

 most feeble from such tyranny. Our greatest 

 danger lies in desiring to liave law bear upon 

 the fiuestion of labor at all, save in fixing pen- 

 alties {or failure to fulfil contracts. 



The hours and compensation of labor should 

 be left to the mutual arrangement of employ- 

 ers and employed, if they are adults. Minors 

 and children must, of course, be left out of 

 the case. Make as many laws as you please, 

 for the purpose of shaping and controling this 

 matter, and they will be found as ropes of 

 sand as to any good results. 



Our country has drawn upon foreign ones 

 largely for labor. Many have come here ig- 

 norant of our institutions and ignorant of their 

 spirit. Designing men have endeavored to in- 

 fluence them to impose restrictions upon labor. 

 Witness the eight hour movement in many 

 places. How manifest the fact that some have 

 "axes to grind," and are willing to use the la- 

 borer for that purpose. The folly of the 

 movement has been fully demonstrated. All 

 such attempts must result in evil, and only 

 evil continually. Demand and supply fixes 

 this whole matter beyond the reach or the 

 power of law. Of what avail has been our 

 usury laws ? Who does not know that a man's 

 necessities were the only law he recognized if 

 he had a note to pay. Just so in the case of 

 labor. I have alamil}' to provide for. I have 

 my labor and character as my onhj capital. I 

 seek for its investment. I find a person that 

 will give me a certain sum for a given amount 

 of service. I consider the offer a good one 

 for the time he wishes me to be employed ; 

 but believing that I can, without detriment to 

 my capital, work more hours and gain better 

 returns, I propose to him to allow me to pro- 

 long my day's work. lie tells me the law will 

 not permit him to do so. What am I to do in 

 such a case ? What can he do ? We are both 

 respecters of law, according to the generally 

 received standard. I really need all I can 

 earn. He really desires all the service 1 can 

 render. How long will it be before some 

 method of nullifying such a law will be found? 

 Not very long, I am (juite sure. 



Wicked men will grind the face of the poor, 

 you say. Grant it. What then? Protect 

 them. How will you do it? You will not ac- 

 complish it by any law you can frame, because 

 the em[)loyer can refuse to hire. This, I think, 

 is not the remedy. It is to be found alone in 

 a correct puijlic sentiment being brought to 

 bear on tliis matter. I notice i)y the papers 

 to-day, that the operatives in several mills in 

 a manufacturing town near us have refused to 

 work for the reduced pay proposed by the 

 managers of those mills. I know nothing re- 



