Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1877-06-30
CONTRACTION.

AT the request of prominent citl-
zen of this county we publish the fol-
lowing article under the above caption,
taken from the Baltimore Herald:-
Had our Government been as patrl''
otic as it is wise, aud as fully bent on
restoring pacific relations among the
States as it has been reprehenslbIe and
uriust, we would be to-day the most
prosperous nation under the sun. We
talk of Frauce-why not copy her ex-
ample? Read in Mr. Careys Com
mittee Report, in another column, OF
the great volume Of currency and coin
circulating in France, and contrast it
with our own extensive domain and
contracted currency. 1t appears mani
fest to the m )st casual observer that the
policy of this Government has been in
the interest of the rich to the destruc-
ton of the poor, unmndful of that trite
saying of Jackson, "The blessings OF
government, like the dews OF heaven,
should descend alike on the rich and
the poor" The wisdom Of experience
should counsel us of the solid advantag-
es growing out OF policy of universal
comfy as a sublime theory Of prosper
Gus expediency. The theOcracy was a
model governments; it cared for the
wants, aud guarded against the oppreS-
sion, of the poor; for, as the masses
flourish, society is joyous and happy,
and kind to each other, out OF which
come, or is co,equal with, the gladness
of contentmeut and the patriotic love OF
the State. Make the masses happy and
times are brisk, property advances to
its maximum value, enterprise goes for
ward, and hope buoys the outlook of
trade Eventually the will Of mankind
will tend to this high type of civiliza-
tion-but not now, for gross selhshneSs,
not to say rank dishonesty, rules the
hour; and the sordid grovelling soul,
bent on the greed of an emoument at
the cost of equity and fairness, would
smile at you with an air of complacent
i .erison were you to breach such a
question to him-so like the insolent
smile of the bond-holder when you talk
OF greenbacks as par legal tender, or
remonetizing silver, Or the issue of cur
rency to replete the vacuum of contrac-
ton, just as though he were the paragon
of perfection, the embodiment OF wis
dom, and the eXempliticat;on of that
couplet in Pope, which declares
''Man was made for my use,
Replies the silly pampered goose"
Yet the law of necessity, like the
laws of hydraulics, will find its way to
sunlight, and eventually shall burst the
rock which holds its filtered fountain,
surcharged with the currents of circu-
lation which absorption has slipped from
the ea,and which the very law of cause
and effect demands should have circula-
ton 10 90 back to its source, and fructi-
fy the landscape in its wanderings lack
to the sea. Society will not forever be
trifed with. Patience, exhausted, will
be followed by eonvnlsiod that shall
desoIate the impediment which checks
its progress, aud assert the right TO
govern the forces whose duties are, and
of right ought to be, the willing obeis-
ance to do the work for those by whom
the office was created.
Our public servants have entirely
forgotten themselves. They think only !
of syndicates and rich subsidies, and the |
fat perquisites of Office. The times are
degenerate. Convulsion is the result
OF restrained electric forces. Purity is
in the rush and dismay which spra"s
the cascade with the velocity OF the
maddened by the SHOWS melted /
from the highlands by the southern
wind breathing on the landscape the
breath of the tropics. The right of
might is the rule of mans action the
world over, yet he should not SO tar
forget himself as to think there is no
refux to bring home to him the i'll he /
sent down the tide TO curse his un-
guarded neighbor Curses, like chick
ems, come home TO rcost, andthe greedy
voracioas spokesman vii! find it out be- !