Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-03-11

= tHcN are InoIthiiy HiIHU VI tucll
other. They would all rather hav.
u new man rather than have any
one who has ever mixed in cry oi
state politics. Tho Democracy are
hardly any better off. ridden can
not get the undivided support of the
party in the city, and for that mat
ter no one can. So far as New York
is concerned it will not make mucj
of II show of influence in either coz
ventiOn. The liberals, what is left
of them. are waiting for the highest
bidder, but there are so few of them
that no one considers them worth
a bid.
THE BUSINESS OF THE WEEK.
The list of falures-thi week, foot
up nearly one hundred, and they
embrace almost all varieties of bust.
ness. The smashed parties general
ly offer 20 cents on the dollar, that
being the regular figure. SO com
mon have failures become, that they
excite no more surprise. The old.
est, strongest houses il the city are
going, and nc one knows to-day who
is going tomorrow. Rents are still
sinking, and the nearer the tirsr~oi
May approaches, the more the land.
lords tremble. Their expensive
stores on Broadway are being va
Gated, and applications for them are
us rare as hens teeth. | know of
one store that four years SGD was
in demand st $4,000 per year. that
IS now being occupied at $4,000,
and the tenants are giving it mp for
they can get a better one at $4,000.
The truth is business men can
hardly afford to pay any rent, for
there is no profit whAteyer in bust
ness. The shriDkage in value is
going on steadily, and no one can
see the end. Relief must come from
some source, or bankruptcy will be
the rule, ard solvency the exception,
New York is very sick.
/ THE LABOR MARKET.
Carefully complied tables show
that almost one half Of the skilled
labor of the City is idle, and that
wages for those i'll employment
have been cut down nearly one half.
The bricklay ers, who two years ago
were getting $3.50 day, are glad
to work now for $50, while labor
ers who were firm in their demand
Tor So 90 are glad to get WORK at
any price. There is but very little
building going on, and but very lit
tie repairing, and in regular manu-
featuring there is absolute stagna.
ton. 1t is a curious thing that
piano making is the only trade
which keeps its hands all employed,
and at old wages. Pianos are lux
uries, and it would seem that this
trade would be the first to tall soft,
but it is not so. That trade is just
as brisk as ever. The charities are
of course crowded with the hungry
aud naked, and the societies for sup
plying firing are taxed away beyond
their capacity. If there ever was a
time when spring was anXiously
looked for, it is now. 1t is bless
ing that the winter has been so
mild. But the look out for the sum.
mcr is dreary enough. A visit to
the principal architects showed that
scarcely any building was contem-
plated for the ensuing season, and
what the laborers are to do during
the summer is query. They can
live on less than in the winter, but
they must have something, and that
something is very remote.
HOW THE RICH AMusE THEMSELVES.
While the poor are starving the
rich are amusing themselves, as
they always WILL The last form of
fashionable amusement is horseback
parties. Companies assemble at
comfortable riding schools, ladies
and gentlemen, and train their
horses to go through the figures of
dances, precisely as though they
were in ballroom. Think of the
Virginia reel on horseback F.! Yet
they do it, and they "tag,' just as
they used to when they were chill
dren, and their fathers were butch
ers and bakers. This latter game
they play with their horses at full
galop, and so expert have the riders
become, that very few accidents are
reported. 1t beats skating.
is upon lis, and the fashionable
Christians have to change their
base. They cannot show their fine
feathers at the theatres, operas or
parties, but they make it up at the
churches. How devoutly they
crowd the churches every morning.
when they have new clothes, and
how sweetiy pious they look, when
they glance around and see that
they out-dress all their neighbors.
aud then the meetings for charity,
which are eminently proper. How