Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-08-24

Prssidsnt may hope to celebrate his outgoing with
your debt reduced 70 four par eeat, and svery
coin issu0d from the mint. You now occupy
thu forefront Of this battle. Ibeseech you TO up
hour or the temporary languor Of business, which
yOu share with the clVi1zsd world, turn you rrom
policy which you have sanctioned and Saa now
tis very common, feIlow-citiEsns 70 hold the
Governments responsible for hard times caused y
the Obb and dow Of trade and pro0aoeon. II tne
crop fails. the Administration 10 abused. wares
or prices fall, the Government Il blamed. pro
ton. il i1 easier to abuse some Ofscer Of the
Government than 70 nnd out as. ne sS on1
Government, wSstsveF "n nay Be its form. II :
panic, or hard times, or over production, or
pestnenoe, famine or plague comes, me men N
u is far beyond their power either to produce OF
remedy. And so now, when throughout the world
\ industry does not meet its usual reward, It -
QUITE ooAMoK FOR DEMAeoGUEs
To say, Turn out the Administration and put u
in and All VIII be lovely" Such arguments are
but little influences over the causes that produce
the rise and fall Of prices, the abundance or want
/ laws, and the puppets that for the time hold
| official authority have as little influence over
! these great movements as flies have over the re-
| VOlvinR wheel. At this time our country IL the
most prosperous in the world. though We suner,
to some extent, from the same causes tnat orln9
stagnstion to the industries Of all commercial
T6avs here eOpiouS extracts from English, Bel.
Rian, German and French papers, all hstons OF
wealth and power, in profound peace, and All
showing extreme adversely md depression IN
| The iron trade in England has passed through
| extreme depression. During its course some OF
| the largest and wealthisst manufacturing CON
Germs bad to succumb TO the severe reaction while
operatives suffered IN the greatest degree by the
increased supply OF labor and greatly diminished
prices.
THE RoE TRADE
10 England has fallen nearly nifty per cent. The
Belgian iron trade was almost extinEuished, and
suits. THIS industry IL the one that has suffered
most in our own country, while we are rapidly re-
| COVERING By unbounded natural resources, and by
| reduced cost Of production. I have before me an
EnghGh paper showing that the exports Of Man
chester Of cotton fabrics especially to the United
States, have been largely reduced The amount OF
cotton goods shipped 10 this country has been re-
duced IN i've years from 129 100000 yards to 6s,0Oo
900 yards; Of woolen goods from 6,0O00 yards TO
900 yards while production has enor-
mously increased, and we are now exporting both
| two companies enumerated IN table have be-
fore me, only six show any dividend whatever for
loss Of 81 10000 On the years operations. OF the
| silk trade in France. which is one Of the great
branches Of their industry, II appears from paper
looms at Lyons, and nearly half Of these are now
idle. The number Of voavers now out Of employ
teen thousand. I might follow these general
statements by pioturlnE the distress in all these
the greatest suffering Of our people insgnincant
| WITH Us THE WORST Is OVER,
And the vast industry which gives employmentto TO
the great body Of our people-that Of Agriculture
| saying that 1.-THE farmers arc growing rich," and
they grow rich other industries viii thrive, and
trade revive. To attribute the distress, which
know you suffer in common with the rest of man
kind. to any causes growing OUT OF the admins
/ II ha n rnnn
laws are framed. as far a. possible. to promote
industry, to protect labor and distribute wealth.
civil and political, whether he be
rich or poor. or whatever may be his condition.
he has no determinations against him. The RENE
| DIV for periodical depressions no human mind can
point out or administer. That must be the result
/ Of time, Of industry, Of economy. No doubt soon,
| INDUSTRY WILL REVIVE,
| And we may expect season Of prosperity. The
poor do not suffer alone from hard times. The
In7estments. which are swept away, and then the
evil falls upon all classes alike All that you can
/ the limited powers conferred upon 1t with the
same Intelligence and economy that you would
expect Of private citizens, doing all It within
| limited powers 10 confer the greatest good upon
the greatest number. This, I believe, is
now being done by the National Government.
STRIKES.
Every man Of you is deeply interested In the
/ strength and power OF this Government. though
| its operations may be far from you. This was
| shown 10 the important services rendered by the
| General Government in the
RECENT WIDE EXTENDED STRIKES
BY the employees Of railroads. which reached from
/ Philadelphia to New Orleans, affected all the
great trunk lines OF the country, and for time
4 threatened civil war and anarchy, and eaused o
large destruction OF life and property. The Ad-
ministration was called upon by the Governors of
West Virginia and Maryland, two Democratic
States to aid In putting down domestic violence
Our small army was scattered over the West
/ arm trV
had refused to appropriate for pay OF supplies for
the army lest forsooth it might be used in State
| to put down domestic violence. These calls were
promptly met by President Hayes, and By
| iudicious use Of the small force at his command,
by the skIJlful action OF the officers in command,
| especially Of General Hancock and General Seho-
field, the regular army was the chief means Of
| States and which could almost be classified as
civil war. No Just man will withhold from the
Administration fair praise for difficult task well
done. These strikes bring prominently into Amerf-
can politics the contest between capital aud labor
that for many years disturbed Great Britain, and
was the foundation OF the scenes OF the reign
Of terror during the French Revolution in 1888.
| Happily, in this country our strikes have been
| local and unimportant. but the great change made
IN our industries since the war, and the enormous
enlargement Of our mining and manufacturing IN
dustries-Jhe great increase IN the humber OF cor
porations and their extended power and influence,
compel US TO consider this question, and, II pOssi-
bio, to find remedy. When labor iE chiefly CON
| CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL
On separate farms, no contest between capital and
labor can arise, and where, in former times, our
mechanics were independent artisans, each work
ing either alone with few others in shops
tered through the country, there could be no such
trouble. But when great corporations or lndivid-
uals employ large numbers Of persons who depend
upon their daily labor for their daily bread, an
whose wages may be affected at any time by the
Will Of the capitalist, there has been and always
will be an irrepreesible conflict between the man
who furnishes or directs the capital and the Ia
borer VINO does the work. When to this is added
the fact that by recent consultations. great rail-
road companies have been formed, eeeh doing
| auspOrtstion business larger than the whole
transportation on the Mississippi or on the lakes
in the North, with the power In the officers OF The
company to change at pleasure the rate OF fraight
and the wages Of emp ployes, It was inevitable that
| the conflict would some time come between the
| Corporations and the employees.
THE WILL OF FOUR MEN.
| Let me illustrate the enormous power that is
now practically concentrated within the VIII OF
| four men, When the war broke out the common
| crV of the West was that no rebel cannon should
| threaten the commerce OF the Mississippi Valley
| Our commerce should flow untaxed TO the sea-
| The entire tonnage passing any given point on
the Mississippi River is now estimated 70 be three
| million tons.
| The great lakes on the North have been spoken
| Of since the discovery Of America as being the
wonderful provision of nature for the vast inter
! nal commerce OF the continent. The whole ton
| mage passing at 3 given point on the line Of the
/ lakes Is about three million tons.
! The Erie Canal in New York, from Buffalo to
/ haa baan olla al kyofr afa