Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-09-21
Correspondence.
For the Reporter.

Before Tilden withdraws his name
as a Democratic candidate for the
Presidency, I wish to give him credit
for briefly alluding to some precious
truths, which, if he had noticed more
fully, he would have been entitled to
some credit in his letter of acceptance
although it is an artfully contrived
clap trap its whole drift being dou-
ble-faced-with intent to mislead He
says Il would give all the Legerde-
main of Financiering for the homely
maxim Live within your income T"
Now if Gov. Tilden had added as he
might truthfully have done, if all the
people had acted On this maxim for
years past, these distressing '.hard
times would not now be affecting the
people so grievously, and what is more,
they never would return. The revers-
es of 1887 and 1857 would never have
swept through the land. running its
thousands. But what does he mean
by "Legerdemain of Financiering"
only this, that people will not live
within their income, but will be prodi-
gal In expediture, run headlong in
debt in order to follow fashions die
tates, or make foolish calculations,
trouble must inevitably follow, nation
al reverses must follow such general
practices, hence the folly or rather
| ''Legerdemain" of "Financiering' to
attempt to pass laws to remedy such
evils, it is absurd on it's very face to
attempt any such thing, nothing but a
return to first principles. viz: indus
try, prudence and frugality will prove
an efectual cure for such luxurious
tollies as extravaganza and fast living,
which seems to seize on the whole ma
ton in times of great National pros
perity. Had Gov. Tilden said this
much it would have explained his in
cidental reference to ''Legerdemain"
which means jugglery or attempting
to do-in appearance only-an impos-
sibility-a cheat-a fraud, viz: at
tempting to make laws to re .elnburse
every one who finds himself hard up,
by his own simplicity or otherwise,
prove failure-a snare "a delusion.
| Yet Mr.. Tilden did not chose to say
so because that would have deprived
his party of its greatest electioneering
| hobby he wanted to hold the Repub-
licans answerable for every derange-
ment of the finances, and for the
'shard times, it is their only hold for
restoring themselves to power, hence
deception is the game, but he could
not help intimating that all attempted
| legislation as a remedy for hard times
was mere trickery compared to the
grand idea that economy, industry and
patience with Gods continued bless
lngs resting On the land, would work
perfect cure. No! that would have
sounded too much like reason, truth,
which was not made manifest in any
part of his letter. In connection with
this matter | will quote few para
graphs from an article found in the
t'Hand Book published by the Gin
climate Times for 1876.
GA great many farmers and farm
laborers are in the habit of complain
ing of "hard times and the low price
of farm products and labor, for the
past few years. Perhaps brief &C
count of the farmers, far ming pro-
ducts, prices and wages of eighty years
ago, when Washington was Prest. would
be interesting. Pennsylvania was at
that time one of the most populous
States in the Union, and contained a
population Of 434,373. 1t was also
one of the best agricultural States a
proportion of its land was rich virgin
soil, the greater part heavily timbered,
cleared at great expense, producing
heavy crops of the different varieties
Of grain Farming in that day was
indeed hard and constant work For
the hardest kind of farm work, such
as clearing and grubbing land, good
hand was paid 40 cts. a day and his
svittils," with dram of whisky or
rum two or three times day. The
wages of good farm hands were from
five to seven dollars m onth, 80 cts.
a day, except in harvest time, then Az
cts. a day and extra good food with
pint of whisky per man. In wheat
L u,r,.+ III, Top,oI 10 yorfiop or tho nom-