The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-03-09

HARD TIMES,
Lecture by Professor Sumner, of Yale
College.

Professor Sumner, of Yale College, re-
Gently lectured before large audience on
"Hard Times"
Hard times are in one sense a benefit
because they set men to thinking, and
warn nation when she has made eco
nomic mistakes-in the same sense thai
man; by violating physical law, incurs
the penalty of sickness and death. Hard
times are the times to turn back and say
"Here is pain, misery and poverty"
What mistake has been committed?
Where have we erred? What kind of a
nation are we? Look around, see what
our condition is. Perhaps the people of
the West did not feel the greatness of
their section, but no Eastern man could
come West without being impressed by
the boundless resources of this magniti-
cent nation. With only thirteen persons
to the square mile, the American people
for two years, have been groaning under
hard times" There must be some mis-
take.
When the cause was inquired into, the
minds of men naturally turn to the war
as the prime mover in the evils that have
come upon the land. Fifteen years ago
we sent armies into the field, draining
ourselves Of working-men, paying money
tor cannon, powder and munitions OF
war Iii the general sense. He did not al.
lude to the war in a political light, but
in the light in which ii appeared to him,
namely, destruction OF life, waste Of
material, general devastation, a ggan-
tic debt which was now burden on the
people, The capital destroyed they mada
up by pieces of paper, which promised to
pay The holders OF such paper full return
for the loan made to the gov, rnment.
Butthe loaner could not afford to wait
until the government Was able to pay, so
he transferred the promise to pay others.
and ~ the thing passed from hand to
hand, and the wasted capital Was not re-
placed. 1t was plain proposition that,
where such transfers were made, while
the wasted capital was not replaced, the
loss must fall upon the last holder. (Ap-
plause.) This was the secret of the crash
that followed the false prosperity of the
war times.
Besides, there were certain money laws
that cannot be violated. One-as soon as
you begin to use paper as money you can
never keep money with lt-they cannot
live together. (Applause.) Another er-
ror was that they increased the amount
of money beyond commercial require.
menC-Chey went beyond the necessity
OF exUnange-and so dersnged every val
ue in tie country, imperilling commerce
and running credit. They should nave
remembered that, like the school. boy,
they could not have their cake and eat il.
During the war they had eaten their
cake, and because paper money was plen-
ty every man who had it became extray.
CANT and encouraged his wife and chill
dren to become the same. Some one had
SAID not long ago that the people of the
United States lived on roast beef when
they should live on salt Goldfish, apple
sauce and New England rum. (Langh
ter.) They had changed all that, and
now lived on roast beef and other good
things. But that was for the benefit of
the eCUuntry-poverty could not be attrib-
uted to.good living, in the sense OF food.
The fact was the people OF the United
States, having false currency, believed
their Income much larger than it was
an error which led them into unthinking
extravagance, which helped to beget the !
financial disorders under which the |
country labOred.
Some people held that an evil of the |
country was overproductlon but such a
theory was illogical. for the country
could not produce too much. There was
no sucn thing as an overproduction in |
the sense OF cotton, corn, or manufactures
of any kind. If anything in that line
might be called oYerproduction, it was
unnecessary railroads, and, even in that
sense, 1t Was hard to make the applica-
ton, because the railroads were generally
productive, although many of them were
run III the same vast sea of paper money.
Another thing to which the hard times
were attributed was the bad taxation Of
the war. IL was generally admitted that
IN the history OF nations no people had
ever submitted 10 wholesale taxation for
a patriotic purpose, as the american peo-
had done. They did it tor the purpose of
preserving the Union and maintaining
intact the institutions which had become
endeared to them. But they did no
care aL that time to study nice financial
questions. They submitted, and advan-
tage WAS taken of their patriotic feelings
by political schemers, and ever since, the
American people were having the life
blood drained out of them by the taxa
hon system adopted during the war.
The chief evil of this system was the
measure called Protection TO American
Industries" (Applause.j Nothing could