The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-07-28
The Cause of Our Hard Times,

Before the late war, honesty, frugal
ity and enterprise were regarded rs III
dicatIng the road to wealth. Nov
how is 1t, and what makes the grca.
change? Government taxes I St
enormous that who " a avoiC
them, on n large scale, is certain tt
become rich-suddenly richi Hun
,lrcds of millions are pockcted by
sharpersl Into pursuits which do not
increase wealth or benefit the genera
public, business talent and enterprise
are diverted from productive industry
by gigantic brides, and the result Is.
4 huge National Debt has created {;
frigbtful mortgage upon the produc-
tive labor of the country, for it is out
of the earnings of that labor atom
that the annual interest can be paid
Wenccd only look to England to see
the effects that such Il state Of things
here has produced in making a tSoW
men, such as our untaXed bondhold-
ers, stock boxers and tarilf-prOtectcd
nabobs of New England, rich, andthe
great mass Of the people poor. In
England, the interest on thc huge pub
lie debt remains q fixed and certain
charge upon labor. OF the annua-
taxes there Gall a tax upon the pro
ductivc labor Of the country either di
rectly or i~ndirectly,) only tcO-sereaLhS
are nominally paid by the upper class
es. And will it not lie infinitely worsc
here? We have been travelling the
self-same road, and with Il prodigality
that would create alarm in even Old
England, and who doubts, if there Is
not soon a change in the administra-
ton, that in n very short time we will
find ourselves i'll a much worse condi-
ton. Steadily the capital is concen-
trating in q few hands. Steadily the
few rich are growing richer, while the
umerou and ever increasing poor are
growing poorer. Even now, if We go
INTO peoples houses, not Of the hum
blest either, we see everywhere the
of pinch and grind. 1t is hard
work to pay the rent, the grocer and
the baker; hard work to pay for chill
dren's schooling and clothes; cruel
hard work tos squeeze Sout the INSTALL
ments for the summers jauft sorz the
sewing machine. With many, every
little comfort or luxury, ono 4 mat
ter of course, is now entirely cut off,
or meausered out with the most anx
ious scrutiny-the hesitating caution
that turns the pleasure almost to a
positive pain. Friends, in contempla-
ting the good fortune of neighbor B.,
WHO has $4,000 in bonds, pays 10
axes, and lives high, whisper to each
other that they do not know how they
can make both ends meet the coming
year. All these things are the nox-
IONS fruits of the our taken by the
Radical party to fasten this monstrous
end most ubiquitous debt upon tie
country. The knaves and charlatans
have built it up for their own profit
without the slightest regard for the fU-
ture interests Of the country.
The debt was iniquitously contract
ed, and by robbery, swindling and
criminal extravaganza in every de-
partmcnt, had at the end of the val
swollen to nearly three thousand mil
lions of dollars. The unwise and
abominably wickedlcgislation by which
Congress created an aristocracy Ct
bondholders, by excmpting from taxa
ton their investments, and paying
them an usurious rate of interest,
amounting to more than one-eighth of
the entire capital of the country, has
materially aided i'll bringing about
the present terrible impoverishmcnt
of the masses. These criminally I'M
just acts of Radical Legislation have
reduced this nation t. the condition
of hopeless indebtedness, and unjust
and oppressive taxation.
The cause of our hard times and
poverty is obvious. Is it rot time for
the people to, reflect seriously over the
alarming sitAhtion 1nthc conhtryRAT
n. WaNno Democrat.
me sune or the scorcnea ar. make o