The Portland daily press., 1877-08-08
Medicines That Do Not Cure.


The disturbances of the past three weeks
nave served to dispel the hope that this coun-
try was free from danger of those conflicts
between labor and capital which have af1ict-
ed the nations of the Old World and which
the ablest doctors of political economy have
never succeeded in completely curing. While
the riots existed there was but one opinion
among the respectable portion of society, and
that was that they must be put down at
whatever cost, and it was due to the moral
force of this unanimity of sentiment, perhaps
as much as to the physical measures of the
government that the incipient rebellion was
so speedily suppressed. Now that quiet is
restored physicians of the body polite are
sprlnging up all over the country with all
sorts OF remedies, every one of which is war
ranted to go to the root of the evil and ac-
complish radical cure. Some of these doc.
tors are simply quacks, simon pure political
demagogues, who imagine they see an oppor-
tunity for large fees, and for the sake Or
them are willing to apply remedies which
may afford temporary relief, but will ulti-
mately bring return of the disease with
twofold violence. Others are conscientious
men, who have the interests of the laborinp
class sincerely at heart, and who if thew rec
ommend unwise remedies do it from the pur-
est motives, and err through false notions of
political economy.
A good specimen of the former school is
Mr.. Hendrick B. Wright, who wants Con-
gress TO appropriate S10,OG0,0OO to be dis.
tributed among the laboring men. 1t fortu-
nately happens that his capacity even for
demagogism is very small, ,aud his,proposition,
which involves doctrine that in the hands
OF men of capacious brain might work an
lncalculable amount of evil, was quickly
overwhelmed with ridicule. For Congress
to appropriate money which belongs to the
whole people, to be distributed through
The pockets of certain class Is on small
scale an enforced division tof property, and
the author of such suggestion is not relieved
from the moral discredit of the principle
which it involves simply because.he lacks the
Intellectual power to make it dangerous. The
fate that Mr.. Wright has met with was de-
served not only on account of his absurdity
but on account Of his immortality as well.
Of the second class of economic physicians.
men who err through false notions of
political economy or unreasoning allegiance
to some pet theory, is Mr.. Peter Cooper. He
has just written to the President letter of
prodiglous length, in which he complains that
ntarpgt in bo Sc 1os..
feed to resumption on the first of January,
1879. lie wants the government to 90 into
railroad building to give work to the unem-
ployed and help settlers on Western lands.
lie seems to regard government as
a sort OF eleemosynary institution,
part OF whose business it is to feed the hun
CRY, clothe the naked and furnish employ
ment Tor those who have none Another
suggestion which he makes is the restoration
OF silver as legal tender. How it would
profit the laboring man to pay him in cur
rency OF which the purchasing power is con-
stantly 1uctuating it is difficult to see On
the osner hand it is very easy to see how it
wouid aod to his distress and aggravate his
troubles. Mr.. Cooper has never recovered
from his greenback heresy and this recon-
mendation is simply manifestation of his
old lunacy on the subject of finance. One or
two OF MS suggestions are Of some value, but
taken as whole his remedy is calculated to
do more harm than good.
There are hundreds of other panaceas
going the rounds, some of them springing
from pure motives, others inspired by dema-
goglsm, and still others by idiocy. Some of
them are less hurtful and less ridiculous than
Others, but more of them are likely to prove
very eincacious. John Bright thinks free trade
Will enect cure, a prominent elder of the So
clety Oh Shakers says our great mistake has
been IN not joining that community, some-
body else advises laborers to follow Mr.. Gree
ley's directions TO 60 West and to farming,
while member of the Cabinet has full faith
in commission authorized to arbitrate be-
tween employers and employed. Everybody
with nobby is just now trotting it out, and
proceeding to show that if the country would
only mount it the labor problem would be
speedily solved.