The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-06-11
Senator Thurman interviewed.



4 er he knew what he said was to be
photographed for the Enquirer or not,
but as he is not devoid of common
sense (his enemies never accuse him of
being SOY, he must, ] think, haYe had
his suspicious. AT times during the
interview he spoke so rapidly that it
was hard to report him, but / think
that, in no one instance, have i per-
Yerted his meaning. Generally
have clothed his ideas in language as
near akin to his own as eonld get it.
You viii find that in his expressions
he ran
From grave to gay-liyely to severe.''
| Iopened / upon him thus:
sJudge, / have come as an old friend
and fellow-Democrat to interview
you" Laughingly, he replied: EIn-
ierview away. What do you want to
know ?"
well, said /, sstell me what you
think is the cause of the present stag
nation in business ?"
Answer-ssThe causes are obvious
enough to all who truly look for them.
! For some years past the country has
been running into debt. Municipali-
ties and corporations have been bor-
lrcwing millions of money and. ex-
pending much of it Hnprofitably. In
like manner individuals have beea
getting into debt and living extraTa-
gantly, many of them beyond their
means. But such q course can not en-
d1re forever. Payday is sure to come
at last, and when il does come, there
is first q panic, and then general re-
trenchment of expenditures, which
necessarily produces stagnation until
q eonsiderablep portion of the indebted
ness has been liqHidated, when activi-
ty revives. The panic came last Sep
tember, and governments, corpora
tions and individuals began immedi-
/ ately to economic. You have seen
how our Legislature at its late session
tretrenched expenditures and lessened
taxation. Nearly every State Legis-
lature has done likewise. Most of
the counties, cities and towns h2ye
done the same.-Congress is cutting
down appropriations by millions. The
railroad corporations great and small
are in the same category. They buy
fewer rails, locomotives, cars, etc.,
than formerly and limit their expenses
to the indispensable. The great body
of the people pursRe the same course.
They are economizing in order to get
/
within their means. They buy less
than formerly, and generally nothing
but what they actually need. The
consequence of all this is that
manufacturers, merchants, etc, .,sell less
than for some years past, because the
demand is less, for every body is econ
omizing. And hence many IaboreEs
who had found work in factories,
shops, and on public improvements
now find it more or less difficult to
obtain steady employment. They, of
all others, most deserve our sympathy,
for it was not their errors, sPecula-
fions or fast living that produced the
Distress III t84a
ssBut although the present circum-
stances are trying, the good result of
the economy of which have spoken
will soon be felt. / am assured by
well informed business men that the
| liquidation ofindebtednessi is proceed
! ing with unexampled rapidity. In
short time it will reach the point
when stagnation ceases and activity
begins to revive; and should we have
good crops this year, you will soon
hear nothing about stagnant business"
Reporter-ssY on don't believe, then,
Judge, that the depression in business
results from an insufficient supply of
currency p
Judge-ssNot at all. Why, we have
S26,000,000 more currency now than
we had in the finsh times of which l
have spoken. Don't you remember
the picture of prosperity that Morton
drew in the speech at Athens with
which he opened the campaign last
year2 According to that speech, as
we'll as | recollect it, there never was
country SO prosperous as ours was
then. Well, we have S26,000,000
more currency now than we had then.
Why, then, are we not more. prosper
Gus now than we were then? The
reason is plain. The prosperity of
which Morton spoke was unreal. 1t
was extravaganza speculation and
and fast living. The panic pricked
the. bubble, and, like sensible men,
the people began to retrench and live
within their MEANS j = frts5lff,s s
,sJ udge,p said /. '.do you know that
you have been called acontractionist p
eyes, ,7replied he, "by those who
were ignorant of my course, or meant
to misrepresent me. The truth is,
have steadiiyopposedc contraction ever
since / have held Seat in the Senate.
But / have also opposed imitation.
Certain men hope to embark the Fed
eral Government in ali manner of
schemes of internal improvements,
that could not fail, if undertaken and
prosecuted, to double the public debt
and immensely increase the burden of
taxation, already too great, to- say
nothing of the corruption that. would
surely follow, and Capitalization of
power in the Federal Government
that would necessarily result. And
then there are other men who favor
imitation because they believes it would
eEe1tuate in reputation, And then
there are yet others who have their
own particular axes to grind-men
who want to unload their unstable
lands, stocks, &C. There are doubt
less very many good people who be-
lieve in imitation because they have
beed imisled by the sophistries of the
infiationists and the delusive cry of
tmore money! as if the wealth of the
country could be added to by stamp
ing bits of paper, or by the Govern
ment issuing more promises to pay
aud thereby measuring the public
debt. Reflect a little and yon will
discover that not one dollar can be add
ed to the actual wealth of the country
except by labor. The nominal value
of property or labor may be increased
by depreciating the currency, but the
actual value is not enhanced one cent. |
and yet there are people who think, OF
at least pretend to think, that all we
have to do to get rich is to set the
printing-presses to work to strike off
pictured shinplasters." @ syil
Here laughingly interposed, and
n A !. T RI Il IL.
need of any shinplaster since you
own, as the Enquirer says, $5O0OO0 in
Government bonds" The Judge |
smiled, and replied, 81 wish it were
so but the truth is, have not, to the |
l,nst c.e m " I.ncnlln nntinn- crrrnd q Co. |