Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-06-24
A Prophet of EVIL.

Commenting upon what he calls the dema-
gogieal extravaganza of Congress in voting all
sorts of appropriations that would give the
members home support for reelection, Dr.
Redfeld. the widely known correspondent of
the Cincinnati Commercial, draws a lugu-
briOus picture Of the future of our national
affairs, which he says are revolving in a vi
ciOus circle, drawing nearer and nearer to the
Inevitable center, which is destruction" He
bases his ieremad upon the assumption that
it is mistake To suppose. as many Congress
men do, that this is great country, enor-
Tously wealthy, and can stand almost any
thing. According TO his data, it is great in
territorial extent, bu' ii is not wealthy The
ridiculous census figures 0f 1870 are time and
again paraded in Congress as an evidence of
our ineXhauStib'e wealth, and that We can
stand large appropriations and an expensive
government" These windy figures make
1t appear that the national wealth doubled
between 1850 and 1870, when, as he argues,
really the national wealth was consumed in
the furnace of war. and, in the nature of
things, the Increase during the decade could
have been but small. His prediction is that,
the wind in the initiation loon will be so far
squeezed out by 1850 that the census of that
year Will show the wealth of the country to be
not greatly above what it was in 1861. Thence
the deduc ion, that with the increased expend-
itureS, the nation is in the whirlpool drawing
near To inevitable destruction.
There is no doubt that the bunkum items in
The river and harbOr bill and some other bills
were sweled to large proportions in the pro-
gress of these measures through Congress, but
the aggregate appropriations this session are
less than last year, and some of the very big
gest of the electiOneering plums failed to get
through, notably the bill for the payment OF
S0-callp1 nf W jnh
have del eted the treasury to the extent of
fifty mil ion dollars And in estimating our
wealth IL IS certain that the country has been
making and saving good deal of money wear
~ OF late. With immense crops and eXpOr s
much beyond our imports, the coming census
will doubtless show that the country is not
altogether going to the dogs, despite little
bunkum, log-rolng legislation by Congress.
II is to be regretted that Congress adjourned
without providing means for preserving the
smallest savings with absolute security by
system OF postal savings banks. The estab
liShment of such banks is matter of interest
to large part of the population of the United
States. Their Introduction in some form will
undoubtedly be brought about in time.
Among the indications of returning pros
perlty III the business interests of the country
may OS pOlhlCu Oul litCItdNtu immigration
from foreign lands and to the west The ac-
counts OF arrivals at ports where immigrants
enter, the largely-increaSed travel over rail-
roads running westward through unoccupied
lands and the immense purchases of lands in
such regions, are held TO indicate that the
stream OF immigration is now constantly en-
Iarglng. Since 1873 a steady decrease in the
number of immigrants has been noticeable
and in 1876 only 1927 arrived. As the bust
ness OF immigration has thus been depressed
with the other forms of business. it is natural
TO believe that an Improvement in this branch
indicates general business revival: and the
arrival i'll increased numbers of agricultural
immigrants with capital is not only an indica
ton, but TO no incOnSiderable extent cause
OF returning prosperity. The travel on rail-
roads leading west and southwest is reported
to be unprecedentedly great, and, as a straw
concerning land sales, 1t is mentioned that the
Burlington and Missouri railroad company i'm
Nebraska has sold already, in 1873 la6O9l
acres, to the value of 81 0iS 100; whereas in the
entire year of 1877 only $3.50 acres were sold,
and sJ5,ilI received in return.
In view of the testimony of the Louisiana