Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-07-14

preSSiOu tl al HAIL. AA--S A1' - |
OF a class In whose hands
money has been lodged in sums surpass'
ing ANYTHING dreamed Of in Europe
M we except the case or the Roth
schiIds) certified 20 their appreciation OF
human freedom, thanking God, as Stew
art said, that they were permitted TO
live in a free country where wealth or
competepce awaits every man who
works. Was the accumulation Of enor-
NOUS wealth in theAhsnds Of thcse men
a crime? Is the accumulation OF wealth,
the want Of which Mr.. Thomas de-
plores, to be stamped crime, and idle
ness, thriitlessness and shiittessness to be
cannonized2 And II, following literally
the sage of the Hermitage, we ere to |
fight the concentration CT money in the |
hands Of a few, low are we to do ii?
Are we to pass laws making a limit to |
human ambition and restricting h"men
effort? no. That would he g crime sginst
liberty. Are w, then, to take 'rom
men an that they make above a certain
sum, and appropriate 1t to the state, as
the TURKS do, and Fs the Servians are
fighting to PREVENT That would be rob-
berry. Or are we to encourage the bum
mers who hang upon the perilous edge
NJ starvation, by an annual division OF
oaips. resTzing for our vagsbond :popu-
Iation the commun'sm which they long
Eorq No. That would be to murder in
dustry and set q premium on ?" those
things which governments repress and
against which civilization turns Its face,
No. Mr.. Thomss, that advice will not
do. Wealth is the reward Of indrstry
and the proper exercise Of natural talent
or acquired abilities. We must protect
it, and encourage the acquisition OF it, as
the surest method of enabling our peo-
Die to meet the obligations they are I'M
| der to pay their dobts-principal and in
| tsrest--snd reinstate themselvf in the
position of solvent debtors from which
the civil war displaced them. Mr.. Thorn
as continued:
The contest is upon us to-day. In the
/ dark hour Of our civil strife 1t wound
its coils about the body polite until we
awoke, and are sstorished to hnd our
selves IMPOVERISHED, Strengthened in the
comforts of life, with the tax-gatherer
| almost CONSISTENTLY at the door; and in
default of prompt payment, cur homes,
that have been made comfortable by ouT
| own labor for our wives and little ones,
sold under the hammer aid bid of to
the State. Twenty-Five years age you
made pr oduce at much le; price thar
! at present: corn at fIf.esn to thirty cents
per bcshel; pork rs low as one and
half cents, and never above four; cotton
rarely ever above ten cents, e1d some
finn, as low rs four; and at that our PEG
ME pfew rich, had time for social ENJOY
ment End Improvement, and were con
tented and happy. Contrast 1t with TN
, | present: with the same country, Will
the same climate, with your produc
lions as great, or gIeater, than eve
before and prices much higher
f. YOU find yourselves oppressed, tn
demands for money beyond you
eapacity to meet, no time for rest, d.
time for social, intellectual or religion
/ culture, your homes mortgaged or SOL
/, for taxes, and you a houseless, homeless
wanderer in the country that you hsV
helped to make, to adorn and improve
And yet,if l nropose with you to invest
q gate the subject, we are told by thOs
r who live off the misfortunes OF the pee
: ole that we are disorgauizers and tral
. tors. Names without appropriate signlf
cation are mere catchwOrds to decelV
, children and fools. A protested chris
ian may be the veriest villain IN you
midst, An svoWed Republican
/ I,,yl, saIH hnth mean
government of the people, may be II
. very strongest sort of a monarchist
y oligarchist; or, what is worse, the tool
a such, who are conspiring against yoI
q liberties. Then, by your consent pr'
pose to briefly discuss the causes IN
y have led US to our present distress, AM
b by your aid, to devise remedy.
8 The picture here drawn is a very gloom
d one. There is no light-it is all shadoN
!. There are no reliefs-sn is gloom. l.
= us see il it is Justified by facts. We ha'
b been working steadily and uninterruI
y edly since 1866, and must have MAJ
e some gains. Tennessee hes at lea
e shared pro rata in the prosperity
n the country. Indeed, We know she hs
70 1t is self-evident fact. For in 1865
70 were PROSTATE by the act of war, wher
]. ss tic day we stand the ninth in poll
e OF population, and, as an agricultUr
n State, with few centers Of population
u and the4e not large, and with diversii
3, of climate, soil and production amor
g the most favored in the Union. Fro
q the census of 1870 we learn that, as cor
70 pared with other States and Territorie
j. Tennessee stands in area twenty-five
l. in population, ninth; in number Of
1t habitan+s to the square mile, seve
}? tenth, though if the true number
X square miles were given, it would be t
r. fifteenth; in land in farms, seventh;
" improved land, tenth; in farm produ
!, tiops, ninth; in wheat raised, thirteent
= in Indian corn, seventh; in tobacc
IS third; in cotton, eighth in wool, fol
is teenth; in the value Of live stock, mint
g. in number OF horses, twelfth; in mul
l. and asses, second; in mich COW
It twelfth; in work oxen, fit
1s other cattle, twelfth; in swir
ID fifth; in animals slaughtered, mint
se In home manufactures, fifth. A
II other evidence that we are not gOil
n backward, and that the rsw-head-an
1y bloody-bones Of bond.holders are n
ne eating Us up is furnished in the stat
r. ment that our farm products are ann
IN ally worth $50, 472, SO7, on which :
'e make, rs is admitted by Mr.. Thomas,
> per cent, or $S,647, 2SO, which, mul
i'd piled by ten for the years that ha
g, passed since the war, makes $S6, Az, 8
a. clear profit on agriculture alone, q
ss counting the profits of our rs
roads, mines, mechanical, ma
M ufacturing and mercantile industri
Oh This does not look as if we were oil
Nv ing sold out Of house and home. !
or to the comparison of prices furnished
ne Mr.. Thomss, we will correct that wi
% the following tsbulated comparsti
~ statement Of pric: for May in the yet
q 1860 and 1875:
II 1860. IS7
a Wheat flour, State............bbl s. 70 s. 2
Corpmeal .,...,. ......-...... Dbl 3 SO 81
IN Wheat prime white-...~bush / Is &