The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-06-26

peared! Ihey have not been swept a.
way 10y pestilence or war. Our popu-
latiou has not decreased. They have
the same property, though not always
the same nominal value nor always in
the same mans hands, but they have
the same houses, lands, and chattels
which they had last year; but somehow
or other they have no stomach for con-
sumption. If Congress could only give
them an appetite, induce them to buy
the coal. iron, lumber, OIL carriages, fur
niture, and the various luxurious fab.
RIGS now ever seeking a market, al these
workshops would again be busy Why,
then, do they not buy? Why do they
not consume? Because, we are told,
they have no currency with which TO
make the trade There is not cur.
rency enough in the country 70 90 the
business" The manufacturers are on
hand, as we know, with the;r products
to sell, and the former customers are on
hand, aud, as it Is alleged with capital
to buy but the trade cannot be made
because, as it is said, there is 10 curren,
cy, 10 bills no medium by which the
transfer can be effected. The sugges.
ton that the consumers, that is toe PEG.
pie, do not want to buy; that many 0.
them have no capital with which TO
buy and that all have come to the con-
clusion that they cannot afford 10 buy
is set aside as too absurd for considera.
ton. There is nothing in the way,
they insist, but lack of currency.
Congress is expected to persuade
somebody to buy what somebody else
offers for sale. That "revives trade
that "starts business that relieves,
the country" GIVE us buyers" is the
prayer of the manufactures, producers,
and vendors, burdened with last year S
stock or last speculation. I earnestly
wish we could answer that prayer by
furnishing purchasers for the surplus of
those deserving manufacturers. Then
they could manufacture more and thus
give employment to the laboring people.
But consumers say they have already
bought too much, more than they could
well afford to do; that they are some
what III debt for what they have already
consumed, and therefore they must
economise aud buy less until they catch
up. The thoughtful manufacturer sees
the situation and the helplessness of
Congress in the premises and reduces
his production, slowly and cautiously,
to protect as tar as possible his employ
ees. | trust they may not have long TO
wait. Consumption by the economy
and growth Of the country viii soon
come up to its former demand, ard then
manufacturing will be as lively a. ever.
But there is another class Of vendors
less reasonable and less deserving. -
They are Spectators who have oeen
caught with corner lots, city additions,
land-grabs, timber monopoiies. Goa!
lands without coal, oil lands without oil,
gold mines without gold, with railroad
charters aud paper towns, and with
bonds and stocks in every kind Of thing.
They will tell you that if confidence
had only held up FOR u day or week
or month longer, they would have had
their cash in hand, and then great
many confding and honest people would
have been caught in the crash instead
of themselves. As it is, they have left
many victims all over the land These
gentlemen, with an audacity that char.
acterizes their calling, assume to be the
people, and in their name keep up a
steady "ding.dong" for the restoration
of confidence" and confidence they al.
lege can only be restored by watering
the currency.
What do they mean BY restoring
confidence ?" Confidence in what -
Confidence that man has enlarged his
wealth because it is valued BY a lower
standard, and that therefore he can af-
ford to borrow, expend, and live ex.
travagantly ? Confidence that watered
stocks and premature improvements are
good investments for the hard earnings
of the people, or a good bank collateral
for sixty day note? Confidence that
the wealth and population Of your
town is double what the census made it,
and that it will again double in two or
three years, and therefore you can az.
ford to issue bonds, project extensive
Improvements, and convert farms into
city additions?
This would rather be the restoration
of the credulity, the delusion which is
the cause of all our trouble. Who
would be benefited by such revival
Ii might enable one class of citizens to
work off their unsuccessful enterprises,
their unstable property and bad specu-
ulations upon their neighbors, but those
neighbors would be less able to bear the
misfortune than those upon whom it
originally fell. But you cannot revive
confidence" suddenly, even by order
OF Congress. You may shorten the
measure so as to duplicate distance, but
the deception in this day Of inquiry will
DC suspected Tell prudent man, &C.
customed to keep little surplus for
emergencies, a pond into which the