The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-08-21


the other States put together. Ohio was the
original seed-plot and nursery of the green
back and reputation heresies, and II mas
now become the hotbed Of still more
alarming crop. 1t is the tendency OF human
nature when it cuts loose from the secure
moorings of conscience to go on IRON paa
to worse. The remarkable pictures OF
Hogarth, that great moral artist Ill
which he represented "The Rakes
Progress" and 'The Harlot's Progress,
are not more true to nature than would be
similar representation depicting the repu-
dating debtors progress. The effect OF
early Ohio heresies has been to obliterate In
the minds of their victims the great funda-
mental distinctions on which the rights OF
property rest, and from repudiating the
honest debts of the government it is but
short step to the confscation OF private
capital. Denunciation Of the 'bloated
bondholders' is easily transferred to bloated
capitalists, and once on the downward road
there is no predicting where disregard OF
the rights of property will stop The Com
munistic meetings which have been held in
uneasiness as yet, for there is no
evidence that they represent any consider
able portion of the class for which they
profess to speak but the appeals of promi-
nent Ohio demagogues who are running for
Office are more noteworthy and dangerous
symptom The wild platform of the repub-
lican party in that State and the visionary
speeches of it's candidate for Governor give
reason to fear that Ohio is as deeply infected
with Communism as it was with repudla-
ton. In principle these twin heresies do
not differ The proposition to strip bond
holders Of their property can be justified
only on assumptions which would strike at
the roots of all capital. The disciples Of
Mr. Pendleton denied that they were repu-
diationists, and the disciples of Judge West
and the Convention which nominated him
will of course deny that they are Commun-
lists, but they must be alike judged by the
logical tendency of what they propose.
! Judge West, smarting under the general
cry of reprobation which greeted his Com
munistic speech at Cleveland on the day Of
his nomination, has made another and more
elaborate address at Bellefontaine, in which
he tries to blunt the effect of his former
utterance. But this studied effort does not
efface the stigma of Communism. The
most remarkable proposition broached in his
later speech has attracted even wider atten-
ton than the visionary utterance at Cleve-
land. Its substance, couched in his own
language, is given in the following extract:-
81 would go further" said Judge West,
''and try the superintendent l do not
know that it would succeed-I would ar
range and fix minimum Of prices for all
who labor in the mines and upon the rail-
roads, and then require that of oil the net
receipts and proceeds of the capital invested
the laborer ut the end Of the year should,
in addition to his fixed compensation, re-
ceive a certain per cent OF the profits.
Applause, and cries of That's the man y"
Despite its artful disguise this is sheer
Communism. 1t is true enough that there
have been occasional attempts to conduct
small business undertakings on the princi-
pie of making all the employees partners
but they were shortlived experiments 1t
is only in exceptional circumstances that
they can have even q transient success.
They contravene the elementary principles
of business. They are against the interest
of the laborers whom they seek to elevate
into partners, as tending to involve them in
all the hazards and risks of doubtful enter
prises.
Let us illustrate by reference to some
we'll known example-say the Northern
Pacific Railroad. Let us suppose that the
ten thousand employees Of that ill-starred
undertaking had been engaged on the plan
proposed by Judge West, and that the
amount Of their compensation was to de-
pend on the net profits of the road. To
whom would they have looked for their pay
when the enterprise broke down and COL
lapsed Even when such undertakings
succeed years and sometimes score Of
years may elapse before there are any net
profits, and large proportion of the
laborers may be in their graves before it
is known what their share may be,
if they are ever to have any, in the net earn
ings AS another pregnant illustration take
the Erie Railway. 1t is more than a quarter
of a century since that road was completed,
and during that long period it has never
had dollar of net profits Its stock is to-
day worth only eleven cents on the dollar.
! Since this unfortunate road was projected
! it has had hundreds of thousands of men on
! its payrolls, and had it made such bargains
| with it's employees as Judge West recom-
mends it would have been very bad for the
employees. Such an arrangement would
have made them as great sufferers as the
victimizcd capitalists who have embarked
their money in this losing undertaking.
Judge West offers gross insult to the COM
mon sense of miners and railroad employees
when he proposes to alleviate their hard