The Portland daily press., 1878-08-06
New YORK, Aug. 8, 1873

New YORK, Aug. 8, 1873
The summer stiffness has been somee
what rudely broken in upon Of late by
the freaks OF the stock gamblers. These
mercurial gentry are always the first to
interpret and act upon the signs of the
times. An apparently strong combination set
to work fortnight ago to operate for a fall in
stocks. Their attack was directed principally
to the st. Paul s. North Western Railway
shares, which had been rising so long and had
reached so high point that they bad become
especially vulnerable. The market value Of St.
Paul Common was quadrupled and of the Pre-
ferred doubled within twelve months. The
late raid has reduced the price of the frst about
third, and of the last twenty per cent, bat it
still leaves them both very much higher than
they were before the accession Of the wonderful
harvest of 1877. ...- .
.iAs Immediately s-sa..asfsd IN them N matter
of small concern TO the general public. But
considered as indices of the drift of the specula-
tive tendency they prove pretty conclusively
the predop nance Of the opinion that plenty
means low prices. The decline no doubt has
been accelerated by fabricated rumors Of de-
fciency in the quantity and quality of the cere-
al crop in some sections, but it would be dfi-
cult to make anybody believe that there was
not going to be au abundance Of all the boun-
ties of nature throughout our favored land this
year. The word scarcity has happily grown
obsolete, and it Is to be hoped there will be no
use for it hereafter as applicable to such things
as are necessary for human susteuance and
comfort 1t matters little how extensively men
who buy and sell stocks or grain may prey upon
each other so that the homes of the multitude
are amply supplied with the necessaries Of life.
The country Is amassing wealth rapidly, as
appears by the magnitude OF our exports. The
dwellers in cities as q rule are not thriving,
simply because there are too many of thsm in
the first place. and in the next place they are
encumbered with too many burdens growing
out Of their past extravsgances. Complaints
are numerous of the difficulties of finding en-
ployment but that is mainly because those who
out of work seek it where 1t isn't to be had,
instead of going where they would be certain
to obtain it. There are not as many railroads
being constructed, not as many factories In op-
Grafton as there were when we were doing
everything in the loose and reckless fashion
that was in vogue when We were pilng up an
enormous debt, and never gave thought to
the possibility that pay day must come sooner
or later. Nevertheless there are other kinds Of
labor and enough Of them too, to furnish occu-
patton for all who are willing to Contribute to
the general production. The farmers of the
West are suffering for help. Their fields lack
| for tllage. There is sufficient room and oppor-
tunity on this continent for every man within
| it to earn livelihood, and after they have all
found remunerstve occupation we can accom-
modate several millions more from the over
crowded population Of the States af Europe.
OF course just so long as people will persist
| in staying in the large towns which have been
shrinking gradually ever since the panic from
| the abnormal proportions to which they got
| swollen in the days of war aud ex )ansion they
| will suffer priyation aud want If they remain
| in this condition great while they will be apt
| to grow moody and discontented. Having
nothing to do it is extremely probable that they
will spend more of their enforced leisure in bar
rooms than is good for them, and in that way
| still further impoversh themselves. The asso-
| Citations into which they will be thrown by fire.
| quentng such places will not be conducive to
their moral or physical welfare The chances
| are that the landlord who is gradually draining
| them of their scanty means will be an advanced
| apostle of communism, and disposed to mingle
with the poisonous decoctions with which he
| plies them, violent denunciatlons of the stats OF
society that keeps them poor and makes other
men rich. As likely as not he will inhame their
hearts with bitterness against luxurious capital
lists and bloated bond-holders. He will insidi-
oualy remind them of the power the ballot
| gives them and advise them to combine against
their more thrifty neghbors, and try by some
means or other to extort from them portion Of
their surplus wealth. These are the processes
BY which "labor organizations" are formed aud
recruited. They are officered by persons who
never performed any labor, and manned by
those who have remained idle so long that they
have conceived a strong aversion to the idea OF
ever doing any more work.
| 1t is out of materials like these that dema-
gogues mold plant constituencies. Enets pol
iticians, who have belonged to and worn out
their welcome in other party organizations
have a keen scent for game that seems 50 easy
of capture. They gather the malcontents into
9roups and decaim fervidly of their wrongs.
Tbey tell them how they eau elect men of their
own choice to office, control legislstioR, compel
the enactment of statutes for their benefit and
levy contributions in the name OF the law upon
the rich for the maintenance Of the poor. They