The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1867-02-21
The Al1eshan1an.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 81, 1867.
Texts from the sDemocrat.' .

so is matter demanding the vigilant atten-
tion of the American people. The products
sf the laboreF demand high prices. Money
Is abuudant-more in circulation in ratio
with the number of inhabitants than any
other country in the world. To casual
observer, this state of things cannot be ex-
planned"
We take the foregoing paragraph from
the Johnstown Densocr0t Of last week,
with the design of testing the accuracy of
itr statements. As the Democrat declares
that "from all directions come the COM
plants of la5orers unemployed" we ask
if such complaint comes to an unusual or
alarming extent from the toiling people of
its OWE neighborhood? Many of our large
manufacturing establishments are unfor-
tunately closed, but much as the Democrat
may deplore the fact OF their being closed,
j. never has word to say in favor of
measures that will enable them to reopen.
Tho price of wool is fifty cents per
pound, and WOODEN goods are nearly or
quite as low as before the war; the price
of muslins ranges at retail from eighteen
to tweuty-six cents per yard ; the differ
ence between the cost of ton of Ameri-
can iron aud ton of English iron is
twelve dollars, after adding to the English
ton the cost of transportation-is SO great
that the Union Pacific railway, which is
bound by its charter to use American iron,
petitions Congress to allow them to use
foreign iron and yet the Democrat tells
its readers that "the products of the laborer
demand high prices" Does the Democrat
presume upon the ignorance of its patrons?
We have the authority of perhaps the
ablsst statistician and economist of our
day for saying that the amount of money
in circulation in the United States is less
in ratio TO the number of inhabitants than
that of either England or France. In
England, it is $50 per head in France,
it is S25 but in the United States, it is
about $3.50 per head. Yet the Demo
crdt says that the amount of money Sin
circulation is more In ratio with the num-
Der of inhabitants than any other country
in the world" So much for a mere
matter of fact.
The Democrat does not undertake to
divine the cause of its asserted state of
affairs, but with astounding astuteness Of
intellect declares that the cause sis attrib-
utable in great measure to the present
appearance of instability in our govern
ment," ana certain acts of usurpation By
"Rump Congress-" of all which "the
result is, stasnation in business and a
fearful looking for impending ruin, &C."
Will our cotemporary allow its attention
to be called to Few facts not deniGnle by
any one? Neither throughout the war,
nor for year attcrward, was there stag
nation in business nor lack of employment
TO: labo-ers, yet taking the Democrats
word for it, disuuion was impending theB,
and usurpations by the Executive and by
Congress were of frequent occurrence
Why, then, shorld stagnation seize us
now? We will try to make the Democrat
sensible of tho reason.
During the fiscal year ending il 1866,
our imports, according to tie report of
the Secretary of the Treasury, exceeded
our exports to the amount of One Hundred
Millions IF Dollars. Until within very
short time past, we have continued to
import enormous quantities of other
really needless fabrics, or fabrics which
we ourselves should have manufactured,
thus increasing our Indebtedness to for
eign capitalists and this debt we pay to
a great extent in Government bonds at
seventy-6ve cents on the dollar. Many
of our iron mills have ceased operations.
Nearly all our wooden factories have closed,
and also our cotton factories. Yet have
we ceased to consume iron, or to wear
wooden or cotton goods as largely as in
former periods If the Democrat so
af6rms, will it be good enough to explain
our astounding imports of foreign manu-
features, nearly all which should be
manufactured at home? We claim that
European balance OF trade against us
proves conclusiveiy, not that We have
ceased to consume. but that we are con-
suming the products OF foreign workshops.
And if the Democrat will show this claim
to be untrue, we will stand corrected
One plain, efficient remedy exists for the