The Morning herald., 1877-01-26

70, l0II." A..7 s a'
1snsy NssA Dssehsr. r.
The Opera House was crowded last even-
ing to listen to the lecture BY the Rev .Henr,
Ward Beecher. Long before tho hour An
pounced for the commencement, with one
Of the most brilliant audiences ever gathered
10 our city. Throughout, he was I'm his
hsppiest mood. His hearers caught ths
and listened with most marked
attention. He established bond Of sym
pathy between himself and the audience that
It will be hard to break, and undoubtedly
made many admirers by the magic Of hil
eloquence.
~ do not doubt" he said, "but that
many before me ara better acquainted With
hard times than am, and that 1t would b.
Of more interest to you to show you good
way out of them. And yet our way ou
often depends upon knowledge Of how W
got In. can recollect whom the frat darl
cloud discharged its bolts on this land tha
for some months there WAS uncertainty and
doubt. But that uncertainty passed, and
after the first shock in 1851, there Games
rebound, and year after year until 1873 there
followed unexampled prosperity, activity.
industry and thrift. It seemed as though
The war should have destroyed industry
" lille on the other hand this Was contro-
verted BY Ill the facts: 1t was nourishing.
and al philosophical discussions ~ to IT.
destructive qualities were completely se'
aside BY it, smiable iutents. In tho year
1859 and up to the close Of tho war in 1865,
We were prosperous, and from that time VI
to 1871 We seemed to be on the broad road t.
the millennium. In 1879 and 1873 all wen
prosperous, when suddenly pail fell onths
market, industry staggered, men began to
lear, and distrust took the place of enter
prise. In 1874 We did not regain what W
had lost In 1875 'hings remained the same,
ls7s passed and saw no change, and whe'
We hear men say that things have at lss
touched bottom we are apt to smile and
ssy that We have been doing that for tht
last ten years. Now It may b we'll to
ask what reason there is for this depres-
sion, and Why 10 1t that 1t should have
continued 20 long," Mr.. Beeche'
argued At length this state Of affair
vas tho natural result Of our
modes Of doing business. He took
the affirmative side of the credit system,
declaring it inssparable from just harmo-
nizstion of that difference Of condition
between the rich and poor. This depres-
sion in business circles periodically affected
all countries. "When the war broke out IL
| 1851 men were shocked for moment
then they recovered and received new vigor
because the Government came ~ = gigantic
purchaser. Everything in wood and stone
and iron and gold and steel and silk and
wool and cotton everything that few II
che sir or swan In the ses or pastured
on the hills; all things that had life or tht
least semblancs of life were needed for it'
use. First one hundred thousand, then two
uxndred thousand, then on until one millio,
men, young, and strong, and vigorous Will
every possible want and requirement to b
supplied were dependant upon 1t. Thi'
augmented machinery, raised up factories
spread out new branches Of industry
Men bought land and cleared land 20 they
might produce, and = vast stinulu'
was felt throughout the nation
What effect did this hsye upon circuls'
lion : l am not very Intelligent upon ths
subject of figures. I can understand wha'
one hundred dollars 10. Ihsve even. fatn'
idea of what i've hundred means, but whsr
you talk of Ave hundred thousand it has I
mystic cir, and one million IL . very poem
But this government poured out not ont
million nor one thousand millions. but two,
three, four thousand millions. Why, 1t VA
= deluge itself. and ~ dark - the ark wa
or forty days. Consider the stimulating
.fect of this-the smsll men who became
great, tho great who swelled out and became
giants and consider also what sort o
money 1t was. Paper money representa-
gold, and No may ask what 10 tho uss OF
this double representation. Simply for the
reason, ~ commerce advances, necessity
arises for something which can be handled
easily. For email purposes gold 10 good,
for large uses something is needed which
WIN represent 1t. All paper is good
when it represents 1t Alright, bat when ~ J.
simply promise, sad that promise IL bad,
then IL becomes good for nothing. Paper
must control ito . luivalent in either gold or
silver. and yet men ask sometimes, why not
lot the government issue 1t to any indie
anite amounsi Aside from financial reasons,
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