The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-06-10
THE PROSPECT.

The PROSPECI.
We do not belong to the tribe OF grumblers;
but on the contrary we prefer at all times to avert
our eye as far as possible from disagreeable
prospect TO fix it on one of cheerful aspect
Notwithstanding all the complaints we hear
from certain quarters Of present calamities and
forebodings of future disaster, we still-impell-
ed by the encouragement offered by the present
confidently indulge the hope of the permanence
of prosperous future. Our confidence is main
y based on the abundant harvests in every sec
lion the country, and the well-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 crimi-
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 US TO behold
are exaggerated representations, the caamitous
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 " which God made, but from
the towns ''made by man"-not from the indus
trious farmer employed in the labor specially as
signed by Providence to man, but from the anx
ious knave or dupe of speculation, who, deceived
in his calculations, or unfortunate in his conf
dence, is suffering the penalty of his rascaliy or
folly in the poverty consequent on the disap-
IF ftar tha
QUESTION of wealth. We do not mean to assert
that the interests of the agriculturst are 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 intrgues of gamblers in trade, and by the
foes 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
ure 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 regti-
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 rerograde 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 Baby Ions called cities, 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 il is impolitic TO set the
current Of population running from the country
TO the cities. If half the allegations daily made
concerning the miserles 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 cit, to become lawyer, doctor, or a
merchant-let him remain where he is-or, if
the restlessness of enterprise impels him TO inn
migrate, let him pass TO the regions fthe West,
where aferte soil awaits his labors. This is the
first lesson which we would wish to see derived
from the present condition of the 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 manutac
turer in the gambling stock )obber and specula-
tor This is anoth lesson, we trust, has been
so deeply impressed by recent revulsions, that
it will not easily be forgotten.
| ~ ~,
! fact lrer, and the merchant, are recprocally de-
pendent, and can revove in harmony in their
respective orbits for mutual benefit. and with
but little alteration, were il not Tor the disturb
ing forces of the reckless speculator. There
will be necessarily an ebb and aow in the tide
to natural causes, and regularly alternate, no Sc
| rious mischief can ensue-neither depression
nor exaltation will be excessive. The excess
can result only from the nterposition of an agent
| whose influence all parties should unite in re-
sistng; but to which, unfortunately, they are
| often sednced TO yield INCREASINGLY. Unwise
| legislation may sometimes directly affect njuri-
ousy the prosperity Of all the three great inte-
rests but the injury it lnhicts is most generally
done indirectly, and often, we have no doubt
unwttingly. 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 speculator the means of advancing
few individual interests at the expense of the
general welfare
The People possess all the power; but that
they have sometimes surrendered some of the
prerogatives which they should have retained