The Cecil Whig., 1875-03-06

millions of sales reported would, if scrutin-
lied, dwindle down to thousands.
Then, as you truly say, comes the gold
sent to Europe for luxuries. The evidences
of this infatuatien are Haunted before our
eyes upon the Fifth Avenue, at balls, recep-
tions operas, and wherever else fashiona
BILE ladies "most do congregate.' There
are 10, 900 New York ladies whose cos
tunes, when in full dress, cost at least
81, 900 each. Fifteen years ago the same
number of fashionable ladies would have
appeared adorned quite as attractively at
an average expense of $3.50. Ten thous-
and children under 10 years of age are now
elaborately and fantastically arrayed at an
expense from 500 to $3.50 each, while the
children of wealthy citizens, 10 years ago,
were simply but appropriately attired at an
expense of $50 or s25. And it is painful
to reflect that in consequence of this lavish
expenditure upon class that never earned
a dollar, there are other tens of thousands
without employment and suffering for fuel,
and raiment. And last, though not least.
are the millions of gold sunk by Americans
who idle away both their time and their
meney in Europe. Ireland is not now the
o:sly country demoralized by absenteeism.
These great abuses and folies reformed,
tion of specie payments. Nor dose resump-
tion in any case necessarily involve oper-
Gus contraction.
We have strongly protected and uni
form natioualzed currency. For all do
mestic uses the currency is just as good
as gold and silver. 1t is even better than
the debased metallic currency of Austria.
And when the fact shall have been estab-
lished that this paper can be converted into
gold and silver, the people will prefer the
bank-notes, leaving the gold and silver to
meet the foreign demand. The President
struck a chilling blow at resumption by
advocating the prohibition of all notes un-
der five dollars. Resumption, coupled with
such a prohibition, would be indefinitely
postponed, for the people would never con-
sent to be deprived of the small notes of
solvent specie. banking banks.
GRADUAL CONTRACTION FAVORED.
Anxious as I am for the resumption of
specie payments, l would not seek it by
turning the financial screws so tightly as to
arrest and paralyze business enterprises,
upon the healthy working of which the
prosperity of all classes depends. Eng
af bor fal
wars, waited patiently more than 20 years
for the opportunity of resuming specie pay
ments without derangng her great manu-
featuring and commercial interests or dis
tressing her people. We, however can, if
we we will, re. establish our national credit
much sooner. Indeed, had Congress and
the Treasury Department paved the way,
and the people with one mind bravely de-
termined it should be so, the resumption of
specie payments might have been hailed as
the signal and crowning glory in the ap-
preaching celebration of the Centennial
Anniversary of our national independence.
Worse than all other evils and follies, if
possible, was the blind, reckless, and crimi-
nal squandering of the public domain
Most prominent among the bad legacies
bequeathed to the country by Mr.. Greeley
is the Homestead law. But | must do his
memory the justice of saying that in his
jealous and persistent advocacy of the
Homestead law, he believed that he was
serving the toiling Millions" for whose
prosperity and elevation he ever labored
And yet how few, how very few, of those
"down-troddcn millions ever possessed
themselves of what he regarded as their
greatest boon and blessing. The Home
stead law, so far as its most popular feature
is concerned, has proved failure and a
deluson Things which cost nothing are
but slightly valued. There would have
been a larger plumber of actual settlers
growing up in industry and developing into
usefulness and prosperity, as farmers me
chanics, and artisans, under the law which
furnished lands from the public domain to
actual settlers at $1.25 an acre, than has
been secured under the plausible Congress
sional idea of "vo' ing every man farm"
If the public domain had been preserved,
we should now have in the proceeds of that
rich inheritance, as we had after our war
for Indepenpence, our war with England
in 1912, and our earlier Indian wars, fund
sufficient not only to pay the annual inter-
est Of our debt, but ultimately to retire the
debt itself. l never objected to liberal
appropriations of land from the public do
main to aid the construction of needed
railroads through that domain. Such aid,
limited to meritorious enterprises, was wise
and beneficent But the abuses and squan-
dering of the system have been alike dis
creditable to the Government and disas-
trous to the public welfare. The land given
to aid the construction of the Illinois Cen
trail Railroad, for instance, was not only
sufficient to complete the enterprise, but
continues to be a source of large income to
that Company. Untold millions, in the
form of &" Land Grab" which ought to
have been reserved for the uses of the Gov
ernment, have gone TO enrich spectators
and capitalists. If Congress- in its alac-
rity to dispossess the country of it's do
main, had reserved to the Government one
half or even one fourth of all precious
metals minerals, and Goals. 4 handsome
fund would have been rescued.
NATIONAL PROSPERITY FROM A PRoTEC-
TIVE TARIFF.
All you say on the subject of protec-
tive tariff is historically true. | can never
forget the high, prosperous and palmy con
dition of our country under the benign in
nnence of a wise protective tariff from 1918
until 1896, when the Democracy of the
North, to strengthen and perpetuate its
political affiliations with the South began
to agitate in favor of ".judicous tariff"
During the Administrations of James Mon
roe and John Quincy Adams the welfare of
our people and the strength of our Govern
ment were promoted and augmented 10y an
enlightened national policy. All our inter
ests moved forward harmoniously. All the
industries of the country thrived. The
tba mechanic tho rnanuf,