Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-10-06
HARD TIMES AND THE CAUSE.
Extract from an Address Delivered a.
the Bethel, VT. Agricultural Fair
BY HENRY WARD BEECHER.

NOW, III ISSulu W HHdHCC, SUI
pose all New England is agreed
whether on one side or the other
So far as the measures by whic
specie payment shall be resumed ar
concerned, men may differ honestl
and nationally. l shall not. there
fore, largely discuss resumption.
But l do propose to ask this ques
ton, and give such answers to it as
may: What is the reason that. il
this nation, without war, withou
pestilence, without civil disturbance
with such vast population, witt
such enterprise, with such resources
with such capital accumulated, ther
is such stagnation Of business?-
Why is it that labor lags? Because
it sees no just remuneration for tn
exertlon of itself. Why are all tn
avenues of industry without pulse?-
This is the question that men ask
have asked sundry and divers men
and have never yet found mar
who professed to have perfect theo
ry on the subject, and to know al
about it.
1t seems to ME that we should bca
in mind that there is what may b'
called petty commercial judgment
day that happens about once in ever,
ten OF fifteen years in this country
There is in the very nature, not Of
our people, but of our commercial
proceedings, reason why once il
about ten or fifteen years there should
be what is called a commercial revul
sion.
In the first place, bear in mind
that in this country, above all othel
lands, business proceeds with largo
margin of credit. l am aware that a
great many people think it is better
that you should pay os you go
Well, suppose you have no money
with which to pay, then what? Is i
not better to 60, if by going you Car
earn the money to pay with? 1t il
better to be rich than to be poor, ]
think (molally perhaps l might not
but personally l doD and would
rather go and pay before me; bu
rather than not go ahead l would
prefer to pay behind me. And what
is credit but simply the permission
to have a chance to earn the means
Of paying?
Take common intelligent mechan
ic. He says, 81 can build a house
for the market, and make profit
There is need of the house, and !
have money enough to pay for the
building, but l have not enough tc
pay for the materials" So he goes
to the brickmakcr and says, 81 wan,
two hundred thousand brick; l will
pay you a quarter down, and you
must let me have six months in
which to pay the balance The
brickmaker consents, the man pays
the quarter down, and gives note
for the remainder. He goes to the
lumberman, and says, 81 want SC
much lumber, and I will pay you a
quarter down, and the balance in six
months" He goes to the merchant
for hardware, and glass, and paint.
and pays down something and saves
enough to pay his workmen. He
brings the various materials togeth.
er, and puts up a saleable house; and
when it is built, he sells it for two
thousand dollars more than the work
and the material cost him. He had
skill and organizing power, and a
will to do; and he wanted to employ
his forces; so he got trusted in part
for the materials; and after he had
sold the house, he paid what remain
ed due on them, and pocketed q
handsome profit.
Now, the question is this: When
a man has the capacity to earn mon
ey, will you give him time? and will
you help him by trusting HIM? II
you will not, then rich men will be
happy ones, and poor men will al
ways be drudges. Credit is the poor
mans bank. 1t favors him, because
it enables HIM to go along by slow
steps, build himself up by gradual
savings, and gives him chance to
use his brains, his skill, himself, that
he may earn money by which to pay
and pay, and pay, until all his obi
cations are liquidated, and he has e
naming not only what he requires
for his livelihood, but little capital
with which tobegin other operations
The first element of credit is lnteg
rity, and the second is skill. The
first element of credit is that man
can pay when he can, and that he
ac,H pay when he says he will. In
other words, it is fidelity, or sense
of obligation. A man without any
conscience and without any good
conduct has no credit. A man
whose word is as good as his bond
who is skilltul, who is willing to do
and honestly wants to do, what he
says he will do, has credit. The
foundation, the sub stratum, of cred
it, III every community, is mora
character.
When community is at work
credit will be for small sums, inter
mediate sums, and large sums, due tc
A, B, G and ID. III the course of hu
man affairs, after year or two years
OF three years, there will be obIiga
tions afloat III the community OF
every description. Men will have
put out promises to pay. Mechanics
smiths, artizans, artists, everybody
but ministers!-will have notes out
Things will run along very well
but there will be some exceptions
l never saw perfectly clean field OF
wheat; | never saw harvest with
out some smut, some cookie, some
weeds; and it will be found that in
a community there will always be
some that are not reliable. There
fore, among ten million, twenty mil
lion, forty million people doing all
kinds of business, and having out all
kinds of obligations and promises to
pay, it would be strange if there
were not some who were not worthy,
who did not fail to meet their liabili-
ties, from dishonesty, or mistakes of
judgment, or lapses of skill, or una
voidable accidents such as belong to
human lite and its business. These