The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-07-18
CONDITION OF OUR COUNTRY.
A Trn,npjs FieW-inmentnble Outlook for
Children or Utclo sam.

Children Or Uncle SAM
A humorous writer to d New York
paper says Yesterday I was sitting in
my Office vain1y cssaying to stab an OBJ
trusive fly with quill pen, when O
stranger entered the open door, catefully
selected chair and seated himself with
o sigh. He was attired in O suit OF rusty
black, and in person was tall, lank and
cadaverous. Apparently he had seen
better days-a good many of them. He
calmly removed slouched hat from his
dome of thought. wiped his -Corinthian
brow With his coat sleeve, and spoke as
follows
care you the proprietor Of this
rancho ?"
eyes, sir; what do you wish?"
"Well, I thought I'd dtop III and see
you. I.want to draw your attention to
little matter. Now, would you suspect
that the United States is bankrupt
absolutely bankrupt"
"Never dreamed Of such thing"
"That's Just it. The people go on
thoughtless and careless, and all the
time the country is plungihs madly down
the sleeps of corruption to irretSisvable
ruin"
"You don't say !"
"Yes, sir; it's solemn fact, and it's
about time something was done about it.
The Goddess Of Liberty is going around
without cent in her pocket, and 2,0OO.-
900 of her children are begging for
bread. Look at our prisons and poor
houses chuck full every one of them,
running over with paupers and crimi.
nails, and for every Individual within
their walls there are hundreds ortside
who ought to be there. Look at on,
railroads.! Rates high and stocks low,
locomotives drawing more empty cars
than loaded mes, shops running OF. hall
time, track hands all discharged. and
rails rustiDg from disuse. Look ut ou1
steamships! Full of rats and rotten
planks. No business to speak OF. ,9oing
to Europe with little or nothing, com.
pared with the cargoes they uss,; to
carry, and coming back with less.
Wharves tumbling down and ;;::1,ating
away by piecemeal. Look at or: ne
chanics; out Of work; tools in the pawn
shop; children hungry; wives hopeless
nothing left but suicide or the .}oor-
house. Look at our merchants. Busi-
ness at O stand.still; counters covered
with the dust of day before yesterday ;
yardstick laid away for future reference;
proprietor gazing wistfully out of the
window in search of the customer hat
cometh not. Look at our army. No
pay, no ambition; takes them all summer
to whip q band Of crippled squaws
country too poor to pay them, and
soldiers can't fight without cash. When
soldier pawns his sword for the neces-
saries of life, he pawns his courage ssith
it. Then look at our navy. Bless you
there's nothing to look at except few
old wooden hulks. We haven't vessel
that could cross Long Island sound in q
summers breeze without falling to
pieces. Navy, indeed Why O blind
man afoat in O washtub, armed with a
Colts revolver, could sink our whole
navy inside of fifteen minutes. No won
der Europe laughs at us. Now what is
the remedy for all this? Work, untir-
ing, unceasing work. By industry we
thrive. Let us one and all put our
shoulder to the wheel and lift the mired
chariot of commerce out of the bog
hole of bankruptcyint the smooth h:gh-
way of prosperity and start it rolling
once more. By the way, 1 am out OF
work at present, and if you could lend
me quarter till find q iob"-
In my haste to get up unfortunately
upset the desk, and when I reached the
door with the quarter the tramp had
vanished. and was not.