The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-08-02

An TACT, III Il were EGsaeU Df WHICH
every gambling debt WINS made t'ceoye
BILE Within three days. ndef enalty oi
imprisonment or Hog ins, & believe that
gambling would receiye;sa seysrer check
Enough such a law syos.Id Id reality coun-
tenance gambling than from any law
hitherto passed against betting pr gaming.
The yatisnRI-LaborG reenbRckF Party.
The Syracuse Convention 81 Greenback-
ers adopted a platform substantially the
same as that which their brethren In Ohio
promulgated. They demand, in brief, the
repeal OF the resumption act, the With
drawal OF national-bank notes, the issue Of
irredecmable legal der notes by the Gov.
ernmeut receivable for oil purposes, aud
the immediate payment OF the whole ma
tionai debt. due or not due, in such notes;
the adoption OF Standardization laws; pro-
tectiye, or rather, it seems. prohibitiye.
tariff upon all articles grown or made
here; an income tax, reduction OF official
salaries, and So wise and iudicious system
OF internal improvements There are some
Other clauses, but these are the most impor-
tant.
There is disposition in some quarters to
treat this greenback and labor movement
with contempt and ridicuIe, but We do not
think it wise to do so. The Syracuse men
have certainly made aplatiorm compounded
OF ignorance and wickedness, but ridicule
and abuse will not help the honest part OF
thenito see this, and much the greater num-
Der of the men who met in the convention,
and OF the voters who mean nowto support
this platform, are sincerely honest people,
who would not knowingly doa wrong or
unpatriotic act. lis the duty OF the press and
lsoe fos rrY1 VIII
to convince them of their error, and not TO
condemn them as parcel OF rogues. The
leaders in this movement, here and in other
States, are doubtless either political adVen-
turers or ruined spectators. whose aim IS
to use the general depression from which
the country is just recovering to improve
their personal and political fortunes. For
men like General Cary, or Mr.. Tom Ewing,
or Dir. w. II. Shnpe, it is not possible 10
feel respect. They are not dupes. But
the mass OF their followers are honest peo-
pie, and the movement gains the main part
Of its strength not from their belief In the
platforms adopted. but from the deep ana
general and we must say very Just dis
satisfaction with both the old political par
ties. The growing popular BELIEF that no
good can be longer hoped for from the old
party leaders NAV yet effect in the States
/ this side OF the Rocky Mountains such
sudden overflow of these organizations as
was lately seen in California, where the
KearDey movement resulted in the election
OF a majority OF non-partisan members to
the Constitutional Convention and swept
Democrats and Republicans out OF sight.
The California Convention consists OF l52
delegates, OF whom Sc are non-partisan or
independents, 81 are Kearneyites, 7 are
n
State where the old parties were until
very lately thoroughly organized and pretty
evenly matched.
The greenback and labor movement here
does not differ essentially from the kearney
movement in California. The Columbus,
Syracuse, and San Francisco platforms are
cut from the same cloth and substantially
on the same pattern. The Kearney move
ment was seen TO be very formidable in Cali
fornia, but 1t may turn out to be no less
dangerous here. 1t has on this side OF the
mountains the expressed sympathy OF the
Democratic party in Ohio, Missouri, Arkan-
sag, and Colorado; for the Democratic plat
forms Of those States agree essentially with
the Columbus and Syracuse manifestoes;
while all over the West and Northwest both
parties are demoraiized by the same spirit.
Is it rash to suggest that here. as in Cali
fornia, the opponents OF this Greenback-
Labor party may find themselves Obliged to
drop old party bonds and combine to defeat
it! We do not think such turn OF events
impossible, and we certainly do not think 1t
would be a misfortune for the country. 1t
would Law on the shelf parcel Of Republic
can and Democratic politicians who have
been playing fast and loose with the most
vital interests of the people for good many
years, and whose greatest skill has been
employed in the manufacture Of platforms
facing both ways, and the issue OF irredeema-
BILE political promises not worth the brass on
the faces Of those who put them forth. We
do not wish to cause unnecessary alarm TO
the CIRCULARS" and stalTartS," but it is
possible that their time is up and that they
may presently be discharged.
When we say that the main strength OF
this grecnback-labor organization comes
not from q general approval OF its plat
forms, but from deep dissatisfaction with
the old parties, we do not speak at random,
but upon trustworthy information from
different parts OF the country. Ruined
spectators, bankrupt traders, political ad-
venturers and demasogues, men over head
and ears in debt and deliberately ready for
ANYTHING which they imagine will cause
rise in priccs-all these kind OF men natu-
rally mean what their platforms assert; and
doubtless they have persuaded them
selves that the country in general
| is as poor and as near ruin as
they feel themselves 10 be. They
want to initiate the currency because
they have no money; they cry out
"hard times" and compression y because
they have blundered in business. But, in
fact, the country is on the upward turn.
The long prostration has come to an end. 1t
is not true that the whole country is poor.
On the contrary, men who are out OF debt
that is to say, nine out OF ten Of our whole
population-are comfortable, and there is
the most conclusive evidence to show that
the great mass OF our people who have
trade or follow a productive industry are
not only employed, but are saving some
thing. There are, OF course, exceptional
cases-callinss which are still depressed,
and do not furnish employment and wages
to all those who follow them: but it is
false and foolish to assert that the whole
country Is poyerty-struck.- Neo YORK; lie
raid.
from the New Orleans Times.J
Remedy for Hard Times.