Labor degrades no man. Labor is honorable, because the products of
labor feed and clothe the world, and thus conduce to the welfare and
happiness of mankind. Coerced labor is better than no labor. Coercion
itself does not necessarily degrade man; rather may it ennoble and
elevate, when it is exercised to summon the barbarian to the lessons
of civilization. Coercion degrades not the man whom it compels to do
right; it only exposes that degradation which is the result of doing
wrong. The man only is degraded who, voluntarily or by coercion, does
wrong, or neglects to do right. To talk of the degradation of labor,
whether coerced or free, is, therefore, preposterous.