Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-01-19

II anu III rs the part OF WISDOM not
g REVIVE them. But we must not fol
Y get that in that terrible contest tllcr
: was right side and wrong side
that either we who fought for til
: preservation of the Uuion were righ
r land they who fought for its dcstrnt
c ton were wrong or that they wer
: right and we were wrong and w
f should see to il that when we hav
: passed away those who will follow
J. us in the care and control of the gov
] crnment which at SO great cost W
have saved and bequeathed to then
j shall have from MS at least c0rrcc
! teaching on that point. We should 8,
, shape our course and conduct rs t,
, show them Enthusiastically that w,
, knew and recognized the distinction
between loyalty and treason, that W,
loved the one and hated the other
that ono brought honor and thc 9th
: Ter disgrace. We should make surt
so far as we can make sure, that theil
, reverence and love shall be given {,
LincOhl and Grant and Sherman ait
Thomas and Sheridan, and not t,
J. Davis and Lee and johnson and For,
3lrcst and Bca,irgard. TO do this W,
must show them that our love ant
! honor are given to the men who, il
council aud in action. labored for III,
! preservation Of the Union, and no
for those who plotted and fought fol
its destruction. ] have sometime,
feared that in our extreme desire
for peace and conciliation we hayt
failed to Keep this consideration prop.
erly i'm view
The political situation at the seat ol
national government is ut this time
interesting and peculiar. The politi-
cal party which administered the gov
crnmcrt during the rebellion and
succeeded in suppressing that re-
national Legislature. The other, the
popular branch, the House of Repre-
scntatives. is controlled by n party OF
which men who were actual and ac-
tive rebels compose a powerful mi
nority, if not controlling majority.
/ The centennial year of our national
existence will be made remarkable
tby a determined struggle for the con-
troll of our government i'm all its po-
litical branches by party composed
of those who few years since used
every effort to destroy ii and of those
who during the struggle for its pres
ervation opposed all effort to preserve
! ii. This condition OF things furnish
es food for grave reflection.
I The financial condition OF the coun-
! try is not SO favorable as we would
desire, but perhaps rs much as we can
reasonably, expect. We borrowed
during the civil war. and i'm consc-
quence Of it. nearly or quite three
thousand millions OF dollars, and
spent the money, as all nations must
in war times, lavislly. 4 million or
more Of men in both armies were
Withdrawn from productive pursuits
and were engaged in consuming and
destroying the products Of the labor
of those not in the field. The govern
ment bought our products with bonds
and paper money nj high prices. and
we had dnring the war, and for a
short time after its close. what many
OF rs called good times, but our then
good times were good only in the
sense that an individual would have
good times who should mortgage his
property heavily and spend the money
in extravagant living. The money
raised by us on our national mort
gage was spent rapidly and layishly.
We received for it. it is true, that boon
of priceless value. a restored Union !.
but did not secure ANYTHING of
marketable money value. In the lat
ter sense the money spent was lost.
7 l.AI
trayagancc in expenditure by the ma
tional government. by the state and
municipal governments. and by our
selves individually. When at last the
time came that the money was spent,
that our soldiers returned to their
homes and became producers instead
of consumers. that the government
was no longer the purchaser OF our
surplus products and we were obli.-
ed 10 commence the process of paying
instead of continuing the more easy
one of spcnding.-thet times began to
grow hard The first interest to feel
the pressure was that of agriculture,
the leading one of our state. Our
surplus products. increased bv the
labor of our returned soldiers, and no
longer needed for the support of our
armies. had To seek market abroad.
and their value then was measured by
the standard of the worlds currency
coin.
The consequence was n great and
rapid decline in the prices of all we
had to sell. The prices of all we had
to buy did not decrease in proportion.
The manufacturers and others under
took the hopeless task OF keeping the
prices oftheir. products and their labor
above a proper relation to the prices
OF our products. and for IA time sue
ceeded. The result to us was mt first
disastrous; but the evil worked out
its own cure. Our ability to buy was
limited by the amount we received
for our surplus products, and by the
prices we had to pay for the goods
we wished to purchase. We necessa-
rily bought less, and the manufacture
ers found themselves compelled to
carry large stocks of unsold goods.
Slowly but surely the laws of trade
asserted their power. The prices OF
what we wished to buy, in most cases,
I fell to a proper proportion to the
/ prices of what we had to sell, in some
/ eases below that proportion, and the
/. pressure upon us was lightened and
/, transferred to those not engaged i'm
agricultural pursuits. AS we were
the first to suffer 50 We have been the
first to get relief. We are doing rea-
sonably well,-our state is fairly pros
porous: God has blessed our Iahors
with fair returns: we buy at fair
prices what we need. and get fair
prices for what we sell. The process
Of adjusting the business of the coun-
try 10 the changed order Of things Is
/: going on gradually and steadily, and
ii that process shall not be disturbed
we may soon confidently expect re-
newed activity and prosperity
\ throughout the land. Some of our peo-
pie. remembering the era Of apparent
prosperity caused by war prices, are
disposed TO establish another such era
BY placing second mortgage on the
!! national farm in anew and abundant
issue of papcr-moncy. This would
| III my Judgment. be great misfor-
tune. 1t might, for a short time, pro.
duce feverish activity and tempo.
rary advance in prices, but this activi.
I ty would be unhealthy and disastrous
and as surely rs day and night follow
each other, so surely the inevitable
result must cnsue, and we would soon
be called upon to endure again the
troubles from which we are now SC
happily emerging. II seems to me
the course we should pursue is plain
Land clear. We owe heavy national
debt. That debt was incurred for a
most worthy object which has been
happily effected. As honest men we
must pay it. To that end we must
practice industry. thrift, and economy
for the reason that by these means
and these means only. can we prosper
We must insist upon strict and rigid
economy in administering the affairs
OF the national government, and OF
our state government. and we must
practice the same economy in our
private affairs. This Is the way. d
sure way. and the only way to certain
and permanent prosperity.
| Senators and Representatives Much
of your Legislative work will. under
/ the constitution, begin to have force
and effect with fhe rani,blic's nave