Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-02-21
THE CURSE OF MONEY.


This is subject on which the impe
cunious people of the South will dc
we'll to mediate. They should derive
much consolation therefl ON, though
some invidious individuals might hint
at Esops foxes, one of which had lost
his tail and the other scorned We 'dant
. grapes. There is no evil without cor.
responding compensation, and if We
are poor in worldly goods We are
! the less exposed to the temptations OF
| pride and extravaganza. We are also
! shielded, to some extent, from the sin
! of covetousness for it is u we'll known
! fact that the more wealth men pos.
sess, the more greedy they become.
This being so, We ought to be the most
disinterested people on earth, for we
have been SO effectually relieved of all
superfuous wealth that we should be
free from the desire of being again en-
numbered with the vile dross of this
worlds pelf.
/ To speak seriously, we see repeated
in our day the history of Roman deca-
deuce and corruption. So long rs the
Roman republic remained poor, her
public men gave the world shining ex
amples of patriotic disinterestedness.
When the rich provinces of Asia and
Egypt began to pour their wealth into
the treasury, the auri sacro .fanacs :
seized like madness upon the highest
Offices of the State, and then appeared
that brood of pro-oonsuls whose rapac-
ity covered the Roman name with in
fanny and finally produced the down.
fall of the Republic.
Times have changed, and manners
have changed with them, but not
morals. 1t is true that we do not sec
successful generals enriched by the
plumber of conquered provinces, pur-
chasing the imperial purple set up at
auction by the praetorian guards; hut
we see Senators and even higher of
fcials, as well as railroad corporations,
buying up Legislatures by wholesale
with the proceeds of previous pecu!a-
tions and speeulutions. And if we
behold now the Vice-President of the
Republic dragged in the mire and
vainly trying to clear himself from the
charges of bribery and perjury by
| devices which even his friends pro-
nounce "too thin, may we not expect
in the future to behold even more ig-
nominious spectacles?
| The war of coercion against the
| South and the course of action which
led to it were great national iniQuities,
! though they were crowned with ap-
parent success. But the Nemesis of
retribution has brought punishment Ia
the aggressors: The war gave rise to
inordinate speculations, sudden and
monstrous fortunes, and the whole
| North went mad with the thirst of gold.
To get rich, very rich, and without
delay, seems to have been everybody s
aim, until universal fraud and corrup-
ton have covered the land.
The same causes work out the same
effects i'll all times and i'll all places
Germany, just now overfiowing with
French gold, does not seem to thriye
under this freshet of money, if we be:
ieve what the illustrious Prussian
Freitag says in one of the last numbers
of In, Ne,een Reich Re,4eW
"What should fill Prussian souls
with dark forsbodings is, that after
victory, honesty and morality have
had to suffer nowhere more than IL
our capital. A disgusting propensity
to usury and the greed of getting ricl
without work have seized upon oil
classes. Among the most unscrupu
lous stock gamblers are princes, gen
erals, lords and high officials wht
abuse the inexperience of small capi
talists and the advantages of theil
position, to acquire rapid fortunes OF
the Stock Exchange. Already peopl'
question each other anxiously. VIII
among our courts, our mobiles, on
generals, is still uncorrupted ? VIII
has kept himself unstained Th'
disease has made gigantic progress
He who has preserved 50 far his per
sonsl integrity, pereeives with horro
that, around him, everything yields
and that the ideas of uprightness an'
honesty are fast disappearing from th
souls of men,"
It is Berlin which Freitas thus dc
picts, but how truly it represents Ne'
York and Washington, a glance at tn
daily papers is sufficient to prove.
this state of things continues, even
} Northern loyalist will hlush to ca
, himself al American.