The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-06-11

forebodngs of future disaster, we still-lmpell- |
ed blythe encouragement offered by the present
confidently indulge the hope OF the permanence
of prosperous future. Our confidence is main |
ly based on the abundant harvests in every Sec
ton of the country, and the weli-founded expec-
tation that the good sense of the People has re-
ceived lesson from the past, which will not be
easily forgotten, to seek wealth not in the crmi
nal hazards Of speculation, but in the virtuous
certainty of steady industry. We hear certain
ly loud complaints Of the distress pervading the
land, and if the pictures held up for usto behold
are exaggerated representations, the calamitous
condition of the country during the first eight
years of the existence of the Bank of the United
States--as portrayed by Mr.. Clay-could not
exceed the ruin and depression which are ho-
vering over the land at the present moment
But whence do the complaints proceed Not
from the country 6 which God made" but from
the towns .smade by man"-not from the indus
trious farmer employed in the labor specially as
signed by Providence to man, but from the anx-
ious knaye or dupe Of speculation, who, deceived
in his calculations, or unfortunate in his conf
dence, is suffering the penalty of his rascaLty or
folly in the poverty consequent on the disap-
pointment of his aspirations after the speedy ac-
QUESTION of wealth We do not mean to assert
that the interests of the agriculturist not af
fected by the vacillations produced in the mar
ket by natural causes, by his necessary depend
ence on the other classes of the community, by
the intrigues Of gamblers in trade, and by the
follies Of Legislation. But his prosperity IS not
so directly under the influence of any Of these
causes, directed by human agency, as the mem
bers Of most other professions. The partial fail
lure Of crops may diminish the amount of his
sales-the abundance Of harvests may at times
lessen the price of his produce-but whether
these or other agents interfere with the regu-
lar current of his gains, he has still, with
ordinary industry, the supplies of food and raj
ment within his reach. He may, for time,
cease to advance in the road to wealth, but if
prudent, he rarely can retrograde towards po-
verify. Early associations have infused into us
a fondness for the farmers life-but we do not
thence wish to infer that every member of the
community who is able to do so, should abandon
the turmoil of the Babylons, called cites,>to seek
the tranquil industry of the country But we
wish, in the first place. one lesson to be acquired
from the present alleged ruinous state Of things
in the country--that it is impolitic to set the
current of population running from the country
to the cities. If half the allegations daily made
concerning the miseres depressing the inhabi-
tants of cities be true, wisdom teaches us to use
all our efforts to set the current in the contrary
direction. Let not the son of the farmer seek
the city to become lawyer, doctor, or a
merchandise him remain where he is-or, if
the restlessness of enterprise impels him to inn
migrate, let him pass to the regions ofthe West,
where fertile soil awaits his labors. This is the
first lesson which we would wish to see derived
from the present condition ofthe country.
The merchant or the manufacturer we would
not wish to drive from their legitimate pursuits
but we would wish to see them direct their
energies to the promotion OF the rapid inter-
change of commodities, and the transportation
of the raw material into the manufactured IA
brio, and not merge the merchant and manufac
turer in the gambling stock lobber and specula-
tor. This is another lesson, we trust, has been
so deeply impressed by recent revulsions, that
it will not easily be forgotten.
The interests of the agriculturist, the manu-
fact1rer, and the merchant, are reciprocally de-
pendent, and can revolve in harmony in their
respective orbits for mutual benefit, and with
but little alteration, were it not tor the disturb
ing forces of the reckless Spectator. There
will be necessarily an ebb and flow in the tide
of their prosperity, but while the effects are left
to natural causes, and regularly alternate, no Sc
rious mischief can ensue-neither depression
nor exatation will be excessive. The excess
can result only from the interpostion of an agent,
whose influence all parties should unite in re-
sisting but to which, unfortunately, they are
often seduced to yield INCREASINGLY. Unwise
legislation may sometimes directly affect injuri-
ously the prosperity Of all the three great inte-
rests but the injury it lnficts is most generally
done indirectly, and often, we have no doubt,
unwit,ngly Another lesson which we hope
has been learned by the People is to appoint such
men as their Legislators, as will not put into the
hands of the Spectator the means of advancing
few Individual interests at the expense of the
general welfare.
The People possess all the powers but that
they have sometimes surrendered some of the
prerogatives which they should have retained
in their own hands, or rather their Representa-
tives have exceeded their commission, and made
the surrender of the power entrusted to them,
we need hardly undertake to prove. Many in
fluences may render some of the Representa-
tives ofthe People faithess to the trusts reposed
in them. The influence of private interests is
powerful-that of party preferences is often still
more potential