The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-10-23
FROM MASSACHUSETTS,.

| wish To give you a sample OF the IbU |
that Boston editors deal out to their pa
irons on questions Of political economy. |
III weekly newspaper called +" The Com
B,oiuredlh," / find an editorial on Specie
Payment, which begins as follows In
the present depressed condition Of busl-
ness, combined with the small liabilities
and general healthfulness Of the condition
of traders, Congress, We trust, may find
its opportunity to anticipate the time ar
pointed for the resumption of specie pay
meut. wish to call attention to the
words, small iobiltie, and general heath
f,iitr,s ~ the condition. II troderS"
Then, i'll tile same article, the writer
says II we cannot be i'll much worse
condition than now IN regard to business.
From every side comes the assertion that
expenses are not being made, that the re-
serves are being drawn upon, and that,
unless there Is change soon hat tie trdd-
e,s n the coo,,tyg ,r,H 90 Thorough the bank
rnPtrV courts.
Ii the reader viii compare the two state
ments which hare PIT II, tdiics, he viii
see the facts CD upon which the arguments
for specie payments are based.
Facts arguments Heaven help ".
What are the facts, Or, which is true,
the healthy condition of the traders, or
impending bankruptcy!
II i proper for ne 70 say that what the
editor If the Commonwealth presents as
arguments for specie payments Is far
from teing correct, as his statements
wherein he contradicts himself.
am willing to allow that there l. force
in the idea that, as business Is So badly
situated that it cannot be made much
worse anyhow, why, We might a. well make
the plung, now, ana - down u the
lowest depths Of commercial and financial
ruin, So that when We have got where it
cannot be any worse, Why. it D.
philosophical u suppose that times viii ~
better, and business will revive But Why
the necessity Of going lower We have
been going down hill as regards honorable
payment nov II Is required that We take
a turn and proceed upward in the direc-
ton Of compensation.
We have made plunge after plunge into
debt, failure and practical Reputation, and
how can another plunge il that direction
prepare us for movement in the upward
direction
Our Boston literary, political, and civil
service reform editor informs rs that
There can never be less distress in mer-
camille circles from the needed plunge than
now" He acknowledges that the pho,ge
viii bring distress III mercantile circles, but
assumes that all this is needed.
For Gods sake, why
Why heap more distress ID the mercan-
tile circles
Just think Of some Of the facts The
legitimate traders are not making expen-
ses interest IS eating up their capital (;
half of them must fail while bank in-
vests ten cents and draws interest on a
whole dollar What pack of idiots we
have been. That IS to say, if | have made
no mistake, the business and producing
classes have been and are being most woe
fully swindled by the banks ! didn't
suppose that Statesman, would condescend
to notice what ! am saying, but let some
little fellow inform me how farmers. trad
ers. mechanics and workers generally can
prosper, when bankers, bond holders and
money lenders hold such wonderuus mo-
nopoly AZ now exists ID this country
What is the reason that man of aver
age intellect cannot see that specie pay
ment, a. advocated by the popular editors
and politicians implies just no payment at
all. The result Of it must be bankruptcy
In many cases at least, as follows
The bankers and their allies, the bond
holders and money lenders, hold al the
gold i'll the country now let Congress
pass an act that the farmer, whose farm is
encumbered with a mortgage, shall pay
the interest and principle Of that mort
gage i'll gold why he can't get the gold
and must fail of course, and the money
lender obtains the farm.
That's the plunge the rascally and idiotic
editors are asking Congress to take Do
you like it ! Well, vote the Republican
ticket IN Pennsylvania, and follow that lead
throughout the United States, and you
will get the plunge
More than anything else that has plung-
ed Ireland into poverty, and in fact the
same practIce has kept the working people
poor the world over.
| understand that the editor, who wrote
the nonsense to which | have referred,
holds soft place in the post office depart
ment, and therefore must play the sycoph-
ant to the Republican party and for one
reason and other like reasons, it is Just
about impossible to get this subject before
the people through our popular medium.
Popular or unpopular, | don't know Of
any way to reach the people in New Eng
land Occasionally, through persistent
effort, | can get little squib into some
paper, but generally the editors say their
columns are so oroloded that | must wait,
and often my communications are indefi-
nitely postponed to give room Towel,
anything but that. A very able writer on