Bedford inquirer and chronicle. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1854-1857, 1857-10-30
Theodore Parker ON the FInan-
ciaE Crisis.


al must speak," he said, "of things not
very often spoken upon on Sunday from tho
pulpit, but very often thought upon on Sun
day in the pews." In correcting some Pop
u!ar errors in political economy, he said
that gold was as much an American st t,ple
as coal was an English staple. The cor
struction Of our railroads might be disas-
trous to the stockholders, but it was an ad-
vantage to the people. The English capital
invested in American railroads is . bond OF
future peace between the two countries.
The time was when wars
were the employment Of mankind. Once
robbers and pirates were the founders OF
families The descendants of fighters the
tentitrans-mittees of foolish race, had re-
Gently said to the greatest historian of Eu-
rope. "You are good enough to train in
our company" and the scholar felt proud
of the invitation aud accepted the bauble
but Baron means fighter, not historian.
But in Ameriea, money is The social SAL
vation. 1t is money that we want-oot
titles. Farming is hated by The mass of
our people; it is not the road to speedy
wealth, and GO men rush 10 trade. No
where else are such commercial experiments
made as in America. This worship Of
money is step forward, hut it is attended
with great evils.
A large portion of our people arc money
producers, oilers. l do not speak OF those
men who have condensed into twenty-five
years the labor Of forty; such man is never
idle, the momentum of twenty Eve years
carries him through The last fifteen years.
But there are men--3o nothings, know
nothings and leaders Of fashion-who spend
their winters 10 idlcness and their summers
in going from Pood to pond, carry ing a
fshline. with worn, Al ono END and fool
at the other.
think we age tb9 lcast economical Of
civilized naiops The spirit that prevails
in our trade is not very honest. Our sys-
tenn of credit encourages debt by putting
off the payday. Money is as Indispensable
to trade as the plough is to agriculture; it
is the langusge of commerce; but we use
for money tha, which has no intrinsic value
paper. Corn and gold fuciuate in price;
labor stands behind both, and baptizes them
with specie value. Paper money is per-
haps indispensable in large business trans
actions. Foreign goods are paid for AT
paper rates, but with gold. We have tried
to make money out OF that which is not mon,
ney. This is one Of the causes--not the
sole cause---es the present crisis. Doing
business Oh false basis, the system ol
long credit, commercial dishonesty, and ex'
srava2ance in living are tho chief causes o.
the disaster it is tho brave soldier thai
gets wounded aud though 'soms one has
blundcred,'' let US remember ''thc noble
six hundred who have fallen ianocently
and bravely.
When the potato ro,s, il tells US that i
must not be trusted for nations food; til:
The voice of God crying from ths ground and
the nation that heeds it not deserves tc
starye. So. ;his crisis tells US we have made
mistake. We over rate wealth. A mil
lionare il not the highest product Of civili-
ration. We we're never in a better con-
dition to Repd our ways. Give. 70 charity
wa, Jon have given 70 YOUR, vices. Pcs
off the li;,ls debt yop owe-all that you
can. The sea is made up Of drops and i
the drops do not fall it soon becomes dry
Save all waste. Large entertainments nov
may Involve others III ruin. Do not turl
away your servants, it only puts Of sou
burdens on Bridget's and Murphy's shoul-
dcrs. The coprt+g Is full Of wealth. and