The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-11-17

Washington Just now, but there rs one re-
Gently set aioat which bears somesemblance
of probability. 1t is said that the republi-
cans intend to retrieve their fallen fortunes
by making vast appropriations fer internal
improvements, and thus setting enterprise,
speculation and labor in full and vigorous
Operation once more. Reckless politicians
calculate that if the people can secure q short
and feverish season of prosperity, they will
not pause to consider the means by which 1t
is attained or the uncertainty of its tenure.
That a vast system of Irrational improvements
should be pitched upon as the best
plan for the salvation of the adminiStra-
ton is natural enough, and without doubt
it will meet with the almost unanimous sup
port of the republican leaders. TIL presi-
oent has been continually urging such a
policy. The congressional address issued
last spring plainly indicated that the opinion
of the signers seconded that of the exeeu-
tive. Now that the pet schemes for a canal
around Niagara Falls, a canal across the Viz
ginia mountains from the Kanawha to the
James, a canal across the Southern states
to Savannah, a canal at the mouth
of the Mississippi, and a double track
| freight railroad from st. Louis to New
| York can be made to save the party,
very few good republicans will hesitate to
vote for them. The idea of throwing into
the control of the government a system of
great works employing as many men as a
war, and costing almost as much money, isl
bold one The administration with the
management of such grand projects in its
hands will be virtually as supreme as it
would be with a foreign foe on our borders.
And all the time the work can be carried on
with enthusiastic declarations that the ma
ton is engaged in the ~conquests of peace;
that our victories are those OF industry and
enterprise; and that the vast resources of
the nation are alone capable of winning for
the country those triumphs over nature
which were beyond the reach of individual
capital. Will the party o in power ven
ture to play such a desperate game? The
history of the Pacific Railroad shows what it
has done. Let the following extract from
the national manifesto of the republican
senator's and congressman, issued at the be-
ginning of the canvass, prove b it's
leaders contemplate doing. Speaking of
cheapening transportation they say:
Another expedient is to build a double track
railway between the Mississippi and the ATTAIN
tic over which any party may run trains, and
This is worthy of careful consideration. The
practicability of relief through governmental
action is being ascertained by an able commits
sion constituted by a recent act of Congress. A
third expedient, and the most important OF all,
is that proposed by the Senate committee on
transportation routes TO the seaboard. That
proposes to open or enlarge several different
water channels between the Mississippi and the
Atlantic. We invite your earnest and careful
consideration of that proposal. 1t is asserted
that by an expenditure of So, 100000 per year for
six or seven years, new channels may be opened
which will lessen the cost of transporting the
grain produce of the Mississippi valley alone in
The sum of $40, Co., coo annually. The figures are
startling, but are far from Improbable. The ex-
penditure proposed seems large, but compared
with the resources of the people it is trfhing.
10000. He who has an estate OF $4,000 can not
be distressed by paying $40 a year for six years
of treasure and an ocean of life for peace. will
not hesitate to spend Sl2O,OO0,O0 for prosperity.
Notwithstanding the way in which this
statement is made, and the rose-colored
view which is presented of the expenditures
involved, it is plain that the men who put
their hands to this manifesto did not shrink
lie works whose costliness would make the
nation, overburdened as it now is with debt,
If such a scheme could be coolly
announced in spring, in the confidence
of victory, how much more likely is it
to be pushed forward In the fall in the
hope OF recovering from defeat. The
peculiar beauty of the design, in
to the vast power and patronage
which it throws into the hands of the adj
mfnicfrafinn lies in tho fact fhof rho rrnIa--l
taking of a systemic of public improvements
will give an opportunity for an imitation of
the currency, and not a few of the shrewd
politicians of the republican party are now
after the imitation idea
with the convulsive grip of a
drowning man. The immense ex-
penses caused by the internal improve
ments can be met with new issues of green
backs just as the expenses of the war were
met by the issue of legal tender notes. We
should nave another period of riot, ex-
travagance and vicious indulgence, such as
the past ten years have been, followed by a
general collapse into national and individual
At the end of that era the peo-
pie might have learned finally there is
little difference between a community
borrowing money to squander it and a single
raising cash by discounting his
notes and losing the proceeds in speculation.
They would be aware that the day OF reck-
oning comes for both; but in the mean
while the politicians would have enjoyed
their brief season of glory n profit.
The Sentinel has heretofore declared its
hostility to all schemes involving subsidies
from the government for works that ought
70 be carried on by private enterprise for
private profit. 1t takes this opportunity to
warn the people to be vigilant in their watch
over the desperate schemers who
viii make a last effort at Washington this
to recover their fallen fortunes. Re-