Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-28
DUB FOREIGN TRADE.
Every Interest OF the American Peo-
pie, and Particularly OF the Great
Producing south, Dem ands Its
Reclamation An Inter-
esting Paper on the
Subject.

all papers enough interested I'm the real welfare
OF America TO publish or republish such articles:
liver 9 manu. aee feos and iron in
terests the grangers labor unions, the producers
of breadstufs, meats and products OF the soil for
export, OF the south and vest north ana west.
the east the Mississippi vsileyMths entire Union;
pecially TO all enterpnsing, patriotic Americans.
OF all classes, who can for few moments forget
self, and think and act for the general good OF
their country, this appeal is most respectfully ad-
dressed:
GENTLEMEN, CITIzENs-To business men,
whose mills and workshops are either idle or
over producing; to producers and merchants,
who for thirteen years have watched one de-
probation in values follow another, until ruin
and bankruptcy have taken the place OF
wealth and affiuence, In the case not only of
millions of American citizens, but also OF
thousands of hourishing towns and cities
throughout the length and breadth of the
United States; to labor unions and oranges,
who, though laboring in the right direction
toward a union of thought and etfort-con-
tinue to meet with one reverse after another,
and see thousands of their members and
brethren ruined or thrown out of employ
ment, and added to the constantly increasing
army of tramps-to such people, the think
ing, working, Industrious, enterprising men,
it is unnecessary to say that something is
continually, with the greatest and most valu-
able interests of America since over-produc-
ton commenced, more than ten years ago.
After trying all manner of parties and cur
rencie5, and the coins of all nations; allowing
every kind of religion known to the world to
be practiced freely In our land; after grant
ing to nearly all classes and colors the right
of franchise and the privileges of citizens
and after calling ourselves for more than one
hundred years the United States of America
the land of the free and the home of the
brave, the candid, honest thinking man of the
present day will admit that instead of being
free we are, as people, slaves to debt and
pay a heavier tribute TO England In many
and various ways than we ever did before the
Revolution; and in addition to that, pay trib-
ute to every nation on the earth whose peo-
pie choose to humbug and to deceive us,
either By lobbying in our legislative and de-
Lucrative bodies, influencing in various ways
the public servants IN the diplomatic, execu-
tive, and other branches of our easily plas-
tered, lately past American government, or
in various modes, too numerous to mention
and too well known to be other than dis
grace to frecmen. For what the heroes of
the Revolution bled and died to establish
(foreign trade) we have thrown away with
the hand of an unthinking prodigal and to-
day can claim but little interest IN. You will
admit that instead of being brave as our fore
fathers, and uniting as they did and laboring
together to regain and build up, we have
been content to sit down with cowardly
whine that everything is wrong and there is
no use to try to right it, because it is not our
individual business, and individually we
could neither spare the time nor make
the effort, and were content with
blaming some other individual or
combination with all troubles of the times,
not thinking that as freemep, part and par
ool Of fhn a ~ v,nf
only our right and our duty to think and act,
but being responsible as an integral part of
the nation, would in future suffer from gen.
eral depression and public losses for all our
past individual Indifference and want of ac-
ton, will admit that we are not united States
troubles come from not being united; that so
far from being united, every State, every
town, every class of industry, every compa-
ny, corporation, every grade of society, every
firm, and every Individual citizen or resident
is working to tear down his neighbor and to
build up himself; needless of the fact that
"a house divided against itself shall fall, {"
proven by every day occurrences to be as true
as it is easy to be understood; needless of
the fact that every neighbor who is broken
down in business must become a tramp, a
pauper, or a criminal, and in either of those
divisions of the grand army of unfortunates
must add the cost of his support to the al
ready heavy public expense, portion of
which is compelled to be collected out of the
pocket and profits of the successful individu-
al who broke his neighbor down by working
against him, and another portion added to
the taxes of some other overstrained bust
ness, compelling it to fail, and so on in end
less repetition; needless of the fact that every
American who, from any reason, becomes
unable to support himself, has to be support
ed by Americans, individually or collectively,
and that the feeding and support Of him by
Americans collectively necessitates the heavy
taxation of Americans individually to raise
means, not only for the support and profit
able employment of keepers to take care of
said unfortunate, either in prison, almhouse,
insane asylum or other necessary public insti-
tuition, thus making it more expensive COL
lectively than individually to support him.
Every thinking American, regardless of age,
sex, color, parties, politics, denomination or
religion will admit, to the shame of Ameri-
cans the world over, that all and everything
stated so far in this appeal is literally true.
These facts being admitted, is it not about
time for the working, thinking, tax-paying
classes of Americans to call halt in this
rapid march to destruction, sound a
parley and then take counsel together before
it is too late, and plotting schemes of rival
commercial nations, reckless thoughtless, de-
structive acts of Americans at home, have
wasted the hard-earned wealth of the people,
destroyed their beautiful cities and their few
remaining merchant and naval vessels, torn
up the costly means of inland communica-
ton, broken down the power of the govern
ment of free people, left the temple of lib
erty in ruins, and the land of the free land
unknown throughout the world, and the sue
cess of designing monarchs triumphant for
evermcre? For tits only by sounding the
rally, calling in the stragglers and once more
uniting as business, working people, that
we can hope to compete with the English
and the other nations of the world. England,
by persuading US to, fight one another,
on land and sea, caused US to ruin ourselves
much sooner than she could have done by de-
claring war upon us. She has won peace
full victory, but our defeat has been all the
more humbling and terrible in its conse-
quences, thousand-fold more costly to our
people than any defeat she could force upon
us by battle and war. she has swept our
mercantile ensigns away from our own har-
bors, and made the ''Stars and Stripes" and
the American Eagle stranger upon the
high seas. While we have been occupied
with our civil affairs, and indifferent to our
foreign relations, she has driven in our mari
time guard, captured our ships, taken quiet
possession of all our eastern and southern
ports, land is now making us pay in subsidies,
unnecessary exchange, and IN various shapes
heavy tribute annually for defeat all the
more disgraceful to us because we have not
been awake to our own interests; and our
national representatives, chosen by the peo-
pie as sentries upon the watch-towers and
defenses of liberty, with the motto of "Eter.
nal vigilance is the price of liberty" as their
watchword, have been captured while asleep
at their posts, or bought with price to work
for foreign capital, monarchial and aristo-
cratic ideas. England has done much of this
without causing US to fight and whip her, as
we have done on two different occasions in
open war, when she was greater and America
less populous, powerful and wealthy than
now by spending large amounts of British
treasure to support young steamship, lines,
and by continuing to support lines already
established which proved their value
by increasing the imports and ex-
ports for the people, thus increasing
the revenues to the crown by the exact
amount of charges collected upon said ex-
ports and imports, and paying back to the
British treasury as much or more than had
been paid out to support said lines, not to
mention the thousands of subjects employed
in building, managing and supplying these