The daily gazette., 1875-09-16
From The ". J.. Sun.
The True Cause of our Finan-
ciaI Embarrassment.
why Industry and Business are Stag
nant-Thc Only Real II Remedy.

a
admire the high and clevat 1 tone in
politics IS we'll es in moral manifest
in its columns. 1t makes no conpro.
mise with thieves and rascals, whether
the pulpit. n
In a late article on "The Autumn
Outlook for Business" you seem to
think that our present sufferings are
in considerable degree occasioned by
want OF confidence. But, in nv be-
lief, the great cause of the present dis
tresses of the country Is to be fonnd in
me poterty Of the people and of the coun
try. People and country are, howey.
er, synonymous terms. The great civil
war through which we have recently
passed caused the destruction of s1O,-
OOO,OOO,W of wealth which had been
accumulated in both of the lately hos.
tile sections of the Union. This wealth
was the product Of hard labor though
long years of assiduous industry. IL
constituted at least one third part of
the accumulated veal h of the repub.
lie. 1t was destroyed and wasted in
the war, and can be reproduced only
by many years of patient effort. 1t
has ceased to be a productive source Of
revenue and taxation;
The war also cost the Union 1 ,OOO,-
600 of precious lives, the best blood
and sinews of the nation. These men
constituted not only the clement of
their country's defense, but they were
also producers iu wealth. The value
OF their industrious labor is forever
lost to the country. How much would
That be for the last ten years? Allow
ing that every man would in each
year produce $500 in value, their loss
to the country would be for one year
S3C0, ,OcO, 10, for ten years So C0,I 20.
OJ0. Ii each man would produce $500
In value each year it would amount 10
5000, 600, 600, and &, 600, 600, ,OCO for ten
years. And all this producing power
is dead loss to the country. The
Cnion is at leat 81, ,OC J,0C ),Co0 poorer
Tor the destruction of pre- cious life
which the war cost US. This sum, ad-
ded to the destr dction of accumulated
property amounts to $12,t 10000, c 90
which the country has lost in its wealth
and material mower.
In view of tlese stupendous facts, is
1T matter of wonder that the eneraies
81 the nation are paralyzed, that its in
dustry is crippled, that its commerce
still?
Again: The immense indebtedness,
| national, State, ana municipal. incurred
| IN the war, cannot be less than s. ,OOO,- :
100000, the interest of which is a con-
, slant burden upon the labor of the coun-
try. Add to this $4,000, 900, 900 more of
personal Indebtedness, including that of
railroad and other corporations, and it
will be seen that the country and the
people are actually overwhelmed with
Indebtedness and interest, imposing an
enormous aad astounding tar upon their
labor and industry. Having no reliable
data upon the subject, L have estimated
the lnde btedness of individuals and cor
porations at 100000 900, 1t will pro-
badly far exceed that sum. And to this
is to be added the prohigate expendi-
lures of the Federal and State Govern
ments under Republican rule. The tax
alton imposed upon the people by the
Federal, State, county, city. and town
governments is estimated at 500, " 900
annually. Then the present robber tar
id now expressing the country-which,
while it takes from the pockets OF the
people from $lJ0000 600 to sc ),0C0, ,0S0
| each year for the national treasury in
the form of duties, steals. under the
false pretence Of protection. hundreds
of millions more from them in the form
of an increase of price upon fabrics and
commodities produced in the country.
and coming in competition with like
fabrics and commodities imported other
countries, putting those stolen mill lions
in the pockets of the favored classes-is
another huge item in the heavy taxation
II IL -b,l, tba l.
The aggregate amount Of this interest
and taxation is SO enormous that the
people are crushed by it. The farmer
cannot raise enough produce from his
farm, nor the mechanic nor laborer earn
wages enough to pay the expenses of his
family, and the enormous taxation and
interest which are eating him and his
country up. They cannot, therefore,
purchase and consume the products of
the protected manufacturer, nor the for
eign commodities of the importer. And
herein is to be found the true cause of
the financial embarrassment and the
stagnation of the business of the coun-
try.
What is the remedy? 1t is to be found
only in patient and constant labor, in re-
trenchment of of-expenditureS. and in rig
id economy governmental and personal.
These are the only means OF restoring
the shattered and paralyzed industries
of the country. The wealth destroyed
by the war. including the lost earnings
Of the brave men who were sacrificed in
in that bloody, fratricidal strife, must
be reproduced, and it can be reproduced
only by labor. 1t is the work of time.
and it will be long before our great coun-
try, so rich in all the natural elements
of wealth, can be restored to the condi-
ton it occupied before the war. There
fore it is idle to hope for an immediate
restoration of prosperity. Even a re-
sumption of specie payments cannot
alone effect the remedy. It is, indeed,
one of the factors of restoration to
sound economical health, necessary for
the welfare of all, and especially the
producer and laborer, who never yet
gained anything by an irredeemable pa
per currency. You will see that an i'm
mediate return to specie payments will
be one of the shibboleths Of the national
Democracy in the great campaign of
1876. notwithstanding the temporary alb
erration of the Democracy of Ohio and
Pennsylvania from the orthodox politi-
cal faith.