The workingman's advocate., 1875-03-06
OUR INDUSTRIES j HOW SHALL
THEY BE REVIVED


ergies Of the country. 1t least here is
unammity Of opinion, or rather the con
fesslon Of fact 80 incontestible as to be
universally recognized Hard times !"
are everywhere. No demands for the
products of the factory, and no money
with which TO buy these products.
Railroads have ceased to be built, and
their overtopling weight of stocks are be-
ing dried in the furnace Of affection. :"
The process now promises to consume ev-
erythlng but the first DOrtgage bonds.
Mills are idle, coal mines abandoned, and
general decay has fallen upon labor ev-
erywhere The thole nation seems like a
man who has uudcrss en- to run to the top
Of mountain. and hs { way up finds him
self out u ireath, penting, and unable to
proceed further. The glorious vision from
the summit which he hcred to dawn upon
his eyes, seems mace, n Die, and his path
upward ,s beei. 50 regular that he can
not see tLs%.1y.nce actually made.
We hsv.g~ KIP Ana'icns by the gross Of
this c0ndi,l,n OF things a. IS panic, but
please tel Us that is pan : Ii is insult
ticient protection from the cheap labor cf
other countries. We want tariff 1t is
over production. There il too much wheat,
corn and cottor voolen goods and iron. 1t
IS an unsOund cuTrency-we want money
that chInks Jur pockets-nons Of
your promises to pay. We are told We
were prosperous when banks ha i've dol
lars of currency which they I'd to
redeem with one III gold, which ;hcy may
ur may -g, hsve had.
Let Us 20 to a gold bas-, then.
But We we're prosperous during the war
Let Us therefore 80 Z, raT Let us seize
our hayone q. and give the negroes employ
men ia bury ying white ieasuers in Louisi-
ana. We we're also rosperous for a few
years alter the var On greenback =" base ,"
We have had 'sperous periods under
high ana under lo~ tariffs, and We had pan
in the cuun.n than to-day.
Absurd IS moot uf the explanations of
the har7 times are, that u over production
5 the most preposterous. Thousands OF
men are ia ra.s Who would willingly work
Thousands of men arr h, ngry, Sith acres
stretching ont indefinitely. n would
glow with golden harvest, ~ ct the labor
of these same men. To- much food. and
men are hungry too much cloth and men
are unclad There is certainly one sort Of
overproductIon-the overproduction Of the
fools who give this explanation of the hard
begging for work evidence that the field
and loom have been too productive Ii
We are to ascertain what are the real causes
at work, depressing trade and enfUrci"a
idleness, We should 10 * j. -. II there is
=, oi business which tourishes and
We are at once met with the fact that the
money-loaning classes are not only better off
in the hard times than any other class, but
they are better ID BY reason. Of the hard
tiaesl Their gains upon their money are
greater. and the cost Of labor ana its pro
Ducts are less Z mem than formerly.
The National Banks continue their semi
annual div. ends OF .-n per cent; the bond
holder and the usnrer wax all the fatter
from the co. -lexities Of the merchant,
farmer, manufacturer or workingman. We
are not a -,'c ~ bankers nor bondholders,
a. such, and the usurer is entitled TO, at
least Sc viii give him the consideration oi
humanity which he forgets in his dealings
with bis fellows. Here, then, is one bust
ness furnishing among the wrecks Of all
Others. II Is PLAIN from this consideration
alone that our laws have gwen to mouey or
capital, powers Of grow tn greater than that
Of labor, and lowered il with such advan-
tsges as to be exempt from the operation
Of causes which depress all other business
Here, then, we find the primary cRuse Of
the hard times-in the exactions Of capital
upon labor, beyond what labor can afford
10 pay. 1t is this eIaction, and not the
fact that wages are higher in this country
than IN Europe, which stops the mill and
factory and therefore We must eliminate
the tariff question from among the causes
Of hard times. But it is said if il il con
ceded that it is the costliness OF capital.
the high rate Of interest which must be
paid upon money, which prevents our man
ufacturers from being able to compete with
foreign manufacturers,s which shuts all
markets to American-made goods; if it is
that the discounts suffered upon
the railroad bonds and the exhorbitant in
terest they bear, compel a tariff of freights
beyond the ability Of the shipper to pay
If 1t is conceded that the cost Of capital
invested in buildings, Is 50 great as to re-
quire scale OF rents beyond what the
profits Of the merchant can pay, or what
the laboring man can earn, and that this
high price Of money enters into every de-
partment of business, crushing it with ex-
actions which are beyond the power of pro-
ductive power to bear. Ii all this be con-
ceded, and it IS conceded generally by men
to examine the SUBJECT, yet we
are asked How are you going to help it
Isn't money worth what il will bring Is
is not a right beyond control, for the lend
er 70 exact and the borrower to give what
he will DO you expect in new country
capital to be as cheap as in an old one,l
Do you expect money to be worth no more
in Chicago than in London
In the first place money is not worth