New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-09-30
SPECIALIZATION AND IT'S EVILS.

<A~'~
..The mother of mischief, says the
proverb, sis 10 bigger than a midge's
wing" and so from the most insignificant
bepiuuirg arises the most widespread
damage to society. In the West Indies
people are subject to an udomatous swell
ing. 1t brings Inflammation, suppuration'
| fever. The skillful knife goes to the bot
tom of this imposthune, and produces a
wicked little insect comfortably encysted.
It has caused all this suffering. Trace the
terrible financial troubles Of the past week
! to their source and it will be found, that
in the selfish pursuit Of their own interest
Jay Cooke and his ring have planted its
seed deep beneath the financial surface.
Go even back Of that, and it will be found
that those men who employed the patriot
ism of the nation to construct the first
Pacific railroad, took out the first
| patent for enriching themselves by an
| excessive margin Of dividends over the
cost Of construction. A Republican Con.
gress arrested and exposed this device in
| the Credit Mobilier scheme and thus put
stop to the shameless burglary. The North
| ern Pacific railroad began with a grant Of
public land equal in its whole extent
to the area Of a large State, besides other
large aid. 1t was work premature in its
extent, the territory being unsettled and
the very surveyors upon the line ,equir-
ing protection by military force. 1t is
now asserted with probability that the
proceeds of land and bond sales and
other funds applicable to the construc-
ton Of this road, have been perverted to
speculation in the location Of towns, the
purchase of other roads, and that the Sc
curities belonging to the road have been
used to found banks and banking houses
in Europe and America, and to compli-
cate it with other stocks.
There were, Of course, counter-specuia-
tors equally selfish, on the watch for the
Jay Cooke troupe They found fit
time, rushed in and overthrow their vic
Tins, and made great boast of their spoils.
But of what do the spoils consist: Of
treasures captured from their antagonists?
They had nothing of themselves. But Of
contributions wrung from the Lard-earned
capital of others, deposits of the help
less, wages Of workmen, usurious rates
paid to sustain private credit, the funds
of charitable and educational institutions.
The government itself has been even
compelled to enter the scene of ruin and
save, as far as its means SO applicable
could 60, whole communities from abso-
lutte suffering. Partisan harpies were on
the wing to seize on this humane inter-
vention as a proof Of power abused. The
government and its officers are even
charged with criminal completely in the
financial operations Of the spectators.
1t is, however, the industrial interests of |
society which suffer most from this awful |
shock in the financial machinery Of the !
whole country. Even the banks Of our
our own city, intimately dependent on New |
York for advances Of capital and currency, !
have been arrested. The rapid receipts
Of staples which the world must have
will soon compel foreign countries and
distant parts of our own, to find and fur
nish some medium Of purchase. So New
Orleans will receive abundant supplies Of
gold, greenbacks, or even Bank Of Eng
land notes. She has the financial re-
sources which few other cities can show,
and as her Indebtedness abroad is not
large she can retain this circulation.
In the meantime, however, the indus
.rious and poor citizen feels the want of
laily bread, which no subscquen: or gen.
eral prosperity can compensate.
The chorus Of sorrow and imprecaGons
will 60 up from the poor millions Of the
and. They may be heard and held in the
,hancery above. but the decline Of an
eighth in a stock held for a rise would
,ausa tie soul Of the Cookies and Goulds
ar more concern than the >!isr.aasure o.
Heaven or the misery of the millions.
should society remember these conse-
Iuences Of selfish greed: Should it not
ZEE that these Jay Goulds and Cakes
lmes and Boss Tweeds are but shallow
,naves, an upper ten of sharpers. skilled
My in tilching the substance Of honest
nen: Certainly. And yet the same
hing will be repeated on the same scale
s soon as society has regained the callous
redulity which has so often led it to
nancial destruction.