Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-11-05

COMPOSING THE RESPONSIBILITY.
Reduction of wages and closing of
industrial establishments are not
pleasant matters for workingmen to
face at the beginning Of winter. Yet
10 this condition have the toilers of the
country been reduced by the policy of
the Republican party, A leading man.
ufactuing company in Augusta, Me-,
has been forced to discharge most of its
workmen on account of inability to pay
their wages. The affairs of the company,
we are told, are in prosperous condi'
ton, and it has plenty of funds in the
bank, but cannot draw them" In old
times this would have looked very much
as If the bank in question were
broken, but since it has been settled
that the cashing of depositor's check
is a matter of favor, not Of right, and
that all private contracts as to the dis
position of ones own money depend on
whether the directors wish to make 9TH
er use of it, the fact that a few score
families are thrown out of employment
and left to misery for the hard winter
is to be regarded as an incidental re-
quisite for maintaining the stability of
our admirable banking system to which
all other interests are subordinate. This
is precisely the state Of affairs which
the opponents of Horace Greeley were
loud IN proclaiming would follow his
election. The men who had trusted
and followed Greeley for years, as
scarcel y any leader had been trusted or
followed, turned against him at the cry
of the spoilsmen, and behold the re-
suit Financial ruin stalks through
the factories and workshops of the
North and West, and the great staple
of the South has gone down to ga mere
songs" while starvation stands at the
door of the poor factory operatives as a
hungry wolf at the sheep fold.
At whose door should the responsibility
for all this be laid? Thurlow Weed |
was a fierce opponent Of Horace Gree
ley, and used all his influence to pre-
vent his election to the Presidency. He
told the people how preposterous such
a thing would be. He declared, with
the eminent bankers Jay Cooke, Clews,
and the dozen or more who have re
tired from active business, that Gree
ley's success would bring financial and
moral anarchy upon the country. Well,
Grant was reelected, and the Republi-
can party was continued in power.
Bat the results sought to be avoided
through Mr.. Weeds counsel, have sud
denly come upon the country. The
great change in public affairs has
brought with it a change in Mr.. Weeds
views. He admits the existence of the
very evils which Grants election was
t. prevent, and which Greeley's cleo
ton was to bring upon the people. In
a communication to the Ncay York Trib-
uRe-mind you, in the TTjJuae-he
SAYS:
Agriculture and the mechanic arts are
neglected. The practical industries Of the
country langllish. Without immigration we
should be unable to cultivate the soil or
supply our manufacturing establishments
and workshops. Parents 80 longer charge
themselves with the duty Of preparing
their SONS by precept and example for lives
of industry and usefulness. Hence we
have an army Of young men seeking pre-
Carious subsistence in offices or clcrkShips,
ending sooner or later in deStitution and
suffering. AbScnteeSm is becoming a Sc
rious evil; the strain, though less severe
than that which has SO long impoverished
ireland, is awakening attention. The
amount of gold annually expended abroad
is computed at over one hundred millions,
every dollar Of which is practically sunk,
for even the passage money goes into the
pockets Of Europeans for the support Of
foreign to the exclusion of American COM
mcrce. The moral Of all which is that our
country has grown too rich. Nations, like
individuals, are most happy and virtuOuS
while bv industry and frugality they are
making their fortunes. 1t requires great
wisdom and thoughttulncss, therefore, on
the part Of the government, the press, and
those who mould opinion, to guide and
guard the people against the fatal conse-
quenceS or idleness and luxury"
He even goes so far as to despair of
the perpetuity Of the republic unless
reform takes place. The Indianapolis
Sentinel forcibly says: Mr.. Greeley
plead for all these things. He was
nominated on platform which was
pledged to economy and a slow return
to specie payment. He was supported
by the industrial classes, whose inter
csts would have been largely subserved
in his election. But because he did not
have the deposits Of all the national
banks at his service, the moneys OF the
Treasury, the spoils Of all the offices,
and the services of the officials, he was
not elected. The things that he proph-
esicd have come to pass. Famine and
bankruptcy stare the nation in the face.
Want is beginning to press all classes,
and Will come more threateningly as
the winter closes in and the ordinary
channels of commerce are blocked. 1t
required no extraordinary amount OF
provision to infer last year the calami-
ties that would come upon the country
by continuance in power OF a party
which holds its own existence above
and beyond the good Of the country.
Il wasn't one of Jobs comforts to
have severe cold, and to be told by
NH he