Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-11-14
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REV. l.. j. MATTESON, SUNDAY MORNING,
Nov. o, 1873.
Text-Ecc 7:l4. In the day Of adversely, consider.
nm not prophet. Darker days may
come but predict the times will not be so
bad MS we fear. Neither am | financier.
do not propose TO instruct President
Grant or the banks. The pulpit is not the
place for the solution of financial problems.
our day of adversely is accustomed by H.
nancini panic. The rich are losing heavily.
The pnor are fearing that the wolf will
howl ut the door. The causes of this state
of affairs are not far to seek. The greed
for gold is one. Men have been fastening
to he rich. They have blown up immense
| bubbles of speculation. They have essay
ed 10 jump TO the top OF the ladder at sin
| ule leap. Extravaganza is another cause.
| Old Rome itself was 5, arcoly more luxuri-
| Gus than our fashionable classes have been.
The country has initiated the city. The
servant girl has copied her mistress. We
have lived in Vanity Fair. Madame Bub-
bic has ruled the hour; peacock feathers
have danced gaily on the air. And now
the bubble has burst. Pay day has come.
| There Is wailng in the halls of Shoddy-
| dom. The daughters Of music are brought
low. Nobody would be sorry were ii not
that 50 many innocent Woodworking PEG
pie are involved with the guilty.
Want OF confden Is another cause of
the present state OF affairs. When Jay
Cooke, and Fisk q Hatcn, and Henry Clews
went down the people exclaimed, as Wash
ington did ut Arnolds treason, "Whom can
we trust now ?" and they came to the con-
cluson they would trust nobody. The re-
suit has been that men like the Spragues,
worth their ,lllions, have not been able to
go on. The money that had not gone West
to pay for the crops has been boarded. 9th
err causes have been at work 10 produce the
panic, but these three-hasting to be rich,
extravaganza, and want of confidence. are
among the more prominent.
THE LESSONS.
These times and experiences should learn
us something They should impress the du-
~ Of economy. When the sun shines men
laugh at the "rainy dav;" but when ii
comes, they often prove arrant towards
Micawber showed how sixpence saved
yearly was paradise and sixpence of debt
Wnltn Cbulu uOl Dt paul III INC ytdi Gnu
was perdiion. Many who are now looking
anxiously into the dark, cold future, might
have saved little from their daily earn
ings had they made the effort. Had they
done 80, the panic would have little terror
for them.
Gratitude 10 manufacturing capitalists is
another lesson sc should learn. st. Louis
is said TO be the meanest city on this CONT
nent, for the reason that its rich men hoard
their money and live on the income. The
same is true of tile nobility of the old
wOrld-,hey live on the interest of their
fortunes and leave The poor TO live as they
can. And there is conflict between capt.
al and labor which is waxing hotter and
hotter. Mysympathies are warm aud strong
for the laborins classes. They are the bone
and sinew of cur land. But have feared
lest they we've misdirectng their fire, and
were driving capital out of industrial in
terests, instead of attracting ii unto it. Take
the SpraGueS for example. They are ac,u-
ally worth eight or ten millions. They
could retire from business and live like
eastern nabobs. Instead of that, they have
been willing 10 keep their millions invest
ed where they have employee 10000 opera
tives, and supported, directly or indirectly,
a quarter of u million of people. And yet
thes @ same oIeratives have given constant
annoyance to their employers by imperous
demands and repeated strikes. The Won
der is that the Spragues did not long ago
80 out of business and live nj their ease.
In every community there are rich men
IL. bno rI thnir ,poupy and live uuipt y.
Nobody annoys them now. But if they
should put their money into some manu-
featuring interest and employ several hun
drel men they would be subjected 10 end
les $ annoyances, and would have an hun
drel persons finding fault with them then
to where one finds fault with them now.
Now is this right? Is it fair? Would il
not be wiser for the working men TO wage
war with the rich men who hoard their
mo ney, rather than with the rich men who
furnish employment? Here are 20 men,
worth say 100000 each. Nineteen of them
hide their money where the lax gatherer
can't find it, growl at the school tax, and
groan when they have To pay for hired girl
or two. The twentieth man brings out his
mon ey, invests it in machinery, hires SOC
men, who support the same number oil
families. These 800 families sustain sew
eral extra dry goods and jewelry stores,
and give large patronage 10 carpenters,
stove dealers, painters, physicians. teach
ers scho lis and churches And if Il town
must needs lose nineteen rich men who
hide their money, or lose one rich man who
uses his money in a way that benefits, Ell
=;
tho community, which had it better lose
the nineteen or the one3 l leave il to you
TO answer the question. | trust we shall
learn TO think more kindly of manuiaotur-
ing capitalists. They might have put theii
money into Government bonds and laugh
ed al the panic. Instead OF doing that they
have launched out, exposed themselves to
thousand annoyances and uhiavorable
crit lcisms, and run the risks Of just such
times as are now upon them. Let us be
just if we can't he generous. We owe them
a debt. We are under obligations for ia
vors conferred. If by word or deed we
can help them, let us do it. They are the
best friends we have. We should treat
them with such consideration--yes, with
such magnanimity-that capital shall be
drawn into business, and not driven from
it,.
The uncertainty Of riches is another les
son. Was this old truth ever more vivid
ly illustrated? Jay Cooke lived in mil.
lion dollar house two months ago; to-day
! If he is not a rascal, he could not pay for
, 5000 shanty to live in. Hundreds of famil,
les that lived in elegant mansions and spent
tens of thousands each year, must give ur