In the early days of the world, the Almighty said to the first of our race "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread"; and since then, if we except [sic] the 'light' and the 'air' of heaven, no good thing has been, or can be enjoyed by us, without having first cost labour. And inasmuch [as] most good things are produced by labour, it follows that [all] such things of right belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has so happened in all ages of the world, that 'some' have labored, and 'others' have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To [secure] to each labourer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government.Lincoln is talking about tariffs on foreign goods, i.e., protectionism. He believed that protectionist tariffs should be kept high so as to force American labor to work for their subsistence rather than having it available to them a little cost of labor. An admirable ideal, but totally wrong in helping the economy. Tariffs were lowered anyway, resulting in a benefit to poorer Southern and Western states who could then more easily purchase needed goods.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, fragments of a tariff discussion, December 1, 1847
Note the last line, "To [secure] to each labourer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government." I would say that our current government is not doing that. Income taxes take away from the whole product of the laborer, leaving him with only part of his labor. It is this that is wrong and should not continue.
Later in that same oratory, Lincoln saids that if all should subsist opon the labor that one half should perform, would it not result in a very scanty allowance to the whole? So I submit that Lincoln would detest our current welfare system because many are not required to work hard, are not willing to do the hard work of finding a job, and are not willing to do any job no matter how menial.
4 comments:
Thinking. At first blush, I would hasten to note that the working society in which Lincoln lived and thought was the beginnings of industrialism and very agricultural and artisanal. Our working society is manifestly very differently organized.
I will think more about it.
Extend your right arm straight out and 45 degrees up. Bend at elbow so right hand passes over your head. Say "Whoosh!".
This signifies my input into this discussion!
Actually, I think that Doug's point about Lincoln's statement still applies today. I think Lincoln would be dismayed at the enormous wealth gathered by a limited elite. So I think Doug's point is valid. People should be encouraged to work. The inheritance tax is debatable and has valid points for and against. However, I would submit that people will work harder when they can keep more of what they earn. Income taxes are a motivation killer. There are other sources of revenue for the government rather than the pocket of hard workers.
Kudos to Alan for doing the research necessary to place the statement in a context. Lincoln's reasons for supporting tariffs (a tax none the less!) was based on disciplined principle but for a reason I had never considered before.
Our nation is so vastly different from Lincoln's time, so differently organized, that it is difficult to know how his principled thoughts would have to modulate in order for him to be credible and gain an audience.
I think that is possible that Lincoln would be dismayed by the welfare system. But if so, it is reasonable to think that he would as well be dismayed at Social Security, Social Securtiy Disability payments (thankfully Nick is receiving them now) Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, unemployment, perhaps even the CDC, FDA, etc. Government is so much bigger than what he could have imagined. That government would be involved in food inspection, examination of restaurant facilities, creation and regulation of public housing, just regulation of standards for so many aspects of our lives would probably surprise and perhaps even dismay him.
But we give little thought to these agencies and would be very quick to blame government if we suffered for lack of having them.
Can you imagine any modern president saying in response to the floods of Iowa, Katrina, the fires of California, "Disaster relief? Why did you not have the good sense to build elsewhere?" Yet, I think that such was the attitude of government of Lincoln's time and that Lincoln would have said something similar.
Tomorrow is his 200th birthday!
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