MARCH 21, 1864:
It is sometimes forgotten that Abraham Lincoln
was a well-known commercial litigation lawyer before he became President.
Lincoln had a quite successful career in promoting and defending the
railroads, among many other corporate clients. Today, he writes a letter to the
New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association, in which he addresses
the issue of “Property” and says:
Property is the fruit of labor . . . property is desirable . . . is a
positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may
become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let
not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor
diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own
shall be safe from violence when built.
