National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-11-18

tiCn stimulated private capital to seek SINH
lar enterprises. Superior and costly build
ings of elegant designs and varied beauty
of architecture were erected on every hand.
Costly furniture, stuffs, laces and dresses
were in almost universal demand, which
in turn involved large supply of skilled
labor. Manufactures were established to
turn out similar elegant patterns for expor-
tation to other lands which affected French
fashions and styles from Paris, the Queen
City ofthe Globe. Inalmost every respect,
France became rich and prosperous; her
people were happy and contented and in
creasing in wealth and power when the
Emperor unlucllily began the German war
upon a matter of no possible interest or
consequence to his people.
With this war came ''hard times to the
population of the cities and manufacturing
towns, and the starving, discontinued popu-
lace demanded change. This they soon
experienced. First, Napoleon abdicated,
and then they had the victorious Germans
within their gates. Next came the humil-
iating capitulations and enormous indemRI-
ties, and then the bloody and fiendish strug
gle with the starving Commune, and finally
the Republic, all in the short space Of one
year or Whereabouts And now the Repub-
lie in little more than three years is scarcely
more the child of liberty than vas the EN-
pire under the Third Napoleon.
But the indemnities are paid. Thanks
to the accumulations of a few short years
of industry, the French people were able
without alarming distress to liquidate the
princely ransom eXacted by their con-
querors. Her industries at once revived
when the invader left with his spoil. She
is slowly emerging from the hideous night
mare which for few months held her en-
orgies spellbOund, and although noisy pol
iticians are still chatting about forms of gov
eminent, it is simply war of the ':outs'
against the Gins, " that interests the labor
ing classes but little so long as they are al
lowed tc work for bread.
Is there no lesson for us in this expe-
Tience Do our people support this Gov
eminent simply for the purpose of laying
and collecting taxes to pay salaries and the
interest upon the public debt? Has this
Government no other functions to perform
for the benefit of the governed? Why is
it cooperative in its design if it is not to
enable the people in their collective Ca
pacity to undertake great enterprises which
are too gigantic for private capital? Are
we to say that the energies of this great in
yincible cooperative power may only be
used for war? Shall its mission be only to de-
stroy? Must private enterprises do all the
development, and thus grow into oppres-
sive monopolies? Must people starve be-
cause private capital will not bring the
crops to their doors for less than two or
three prices? May they not, in their CO.
operative capacity as a government, create
channels or construct railways of their
own, by which the products of labor may
be exchanged at the simple cost of move
ment? May they contract a debt of two
thousand millions in a war to preserve
their cooperative rights as a unity, and yet
not add another cent to the amount to
cheaper the expense Of living that they
may enjoy them?
These are some of the questions of pres
ent importance. They are now demand
ing solution. We took the liberty to warn
our friends in Congress at the last session
that if they did not then settle them def
nitely and order the works to begin as an
earnest OF their determination to complete
them, that a large number of the members
would fail Of a reelection. They talked
and talked, and made favorable reports of
all sorts of things, and provided for further
examinations, bat did nothing tangible in
the direction required. The result is now
patent. The confidence of the people in
many of these "shilly -shally" members is
shaken; possibly it is clean gone.
But in the approaching session members
will soon have an opportunity to exhibit
pluck and courage to their hearts content
We trust they will come bravely to the
work and determine TO make cheap trans
pOrtation an accomplished fact. The ma
tiOnal credit is fully established. There is
no haste or necessity for further depressing
the people to reduce the debt at present.
Rather let the sums now thus applied be
expended upon improvements which will
tend to revive business and give labor and
food 10 the laborer. Let us even increase
our debt one hundred millions during the
next two or three years if necessary, but
let the public work begins and go on. Let
the railway kings understand that the peo-
pie, being the source of all power, have
right TO be heard upon this question of
labor and transportation, as well as upon
any other, even that of war. Ifthis policy
is adopted the distress Of the masses will be
relieved and our industries will thrive !
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