The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1838-08-14
From The National (.Mass.) .Hgis.
FEae Cost OF Experiments.

paid thirteen millions OF dollars the year for the
expenses Of the government; now they pay Mar
y three millions /; making the renchment plan
cost t,0enty- sir millions
But enormous as are the expenditures for the
support of government, in the revenues derived
from the mposts and duties, it is but dust in the
balance when compared with those immense
sums which have been drained from the capital
and industry of the nation 10y that policy which
has imposed direct tux on production. The
extent of the misfortuncs which have oppressed
the people since the administration were peased
to interfere with the currency, is well delineaed
by sub treasury partisan in Congress.
We are still in the midst ofone of the greatest
calamities which can befall people because il
reaches every individual in the country. No one
so humble, no one so exalted, as not 10 taste lis
bitter fruits. In the downward progress to it
and in The convulsve struggle to return and es
cape from it, the ualue Of every mans property IS
unsettled every human being IN the land as UiSiteG
,oiM injustice fraud and robbery, Under the forms
Of lar. 1t is the most Stupendous iniquity which
can be practced, and prevail in civilized com
nunity, ,oithout inuolDing IL IN all The horrors o
instruction and bIoodshed,"
A better and truer man fills up the outline SO
boldly sketched: awe have seen the country IN
the pal,nest days of her prosperity" says MI
Talimadse, "stiddenly plunged into the deepest
embarrassment and distress, through Executive
ns,rumentaty, We have seen our merchants
sacrificing their ample means to sustain sink
ing Notwithstanding by the adverse action OF the
government upon the, confidence Of the people
We have seen their families abandoning theli
homes and their firesides, to pine in penury and
want, and suffering for the ordinary comforts
and convenences of life. We have seen the
husband and the father after struggling to sustain
his wife and his children against the unteelinE
action of his own government, finally sink to ar
untimely grave, The victim OF oppression and de
spair We have seen the sturdy operations o
the mechanic industry of the country suspended
We have seen the looms and the spindles of the
manufacturer stopped. We have seen the farm
err, with his hand to the plough, look back TO see
if he too was to be overtaken by the " desolatne
tornado" which had swept away every other
occupation around him. He is the last to he
reached; but his time is yet TO come, if the ad
ministration persist in these destructive measures
When the producs Of his industry shall remain
mon his hands--when by reason of the destruc-
ton of other branches of business, IL shall moi
pay the cost Of productinn-when the price OF
his lands shall sink so far not to meet the IN
cumbrance which may chance TO rest upon it,
he will then wipe the sweat from his brow, and
with his brawny arm hurl from the high seats OF
power those who have forgotten the great inter
ess of the country in the ignoble pursuits OF
party"
Some idea may he formed of the immense loss
occasioned by the experimental policy of the ad
mins,raton, by considering its application to one
of the branches of production, and departments
Of industry.
The quantity of wool produced annually in
fifteen Of the wool growing states is estimated
at Al ,9l7 1874 pounds. From 1897 to 1887, n pc
rod when manufactures were occasionally much
affected by unstable measures and hostility to the
protective system, the average price Of this ar,i,
Gle was never less than sc cents the pound, eX-
cept in 1929, when it was depressed by financial
difficulties to 30 cents; during the whole period,
the average price was so I-2 cents the pound
ia 1886, it was SO cents per pound. From 1886
10 May 1887, no extraordinary cause, indepen-
dent of the policy oftho government, was in ope
ration to produce the fall of price. The ezper-
ilnent of Introducing the better currency explo'
ded-iis first shock struck on commerce, aud The
sails were iurled--then it reached manufactures,
and the motion of the wheels was retarded-the
direct consequence Of the suspension of the man
ufacturng activity was the fall of The price of
wool, which went down in 1887 to "a 1.2 cents
per pound, and in 1888, sunk to 81 ID cents. IL
the market value of agricultural productions has
not been affected in similar manner it is because
those who have been thrown out of employment,
have still been compelled to purchase the neces
saries of life, and to draw from the earnings of
former years the means of support during the PEE
Rod when it has been the pleasure of government
TO paruyze the industry ofthe country.
In Vermont the annual production OF wool IS
large, compared with many of the other states,
amounting to 3,57l 1886 pounds. The following
statement will show the loss which has been ex-
perencod in this state, on this article:
Amt OF wool Price Value Loss
1886 3,57l,7S6 So $2,0sl,G35
1887 3,57l,766 "a l-2 1,239,266 $642,369
1898 3,57l,7S6 81 Ia HOY 1856 ga 50
Total loss in 2 years, $l,SI6,9l9
The State of Vermont has been compelled to
nav n direct tax of ONE MILLION, EIGHT