Middletown transcript., 1878-09-28

IIreen0lQer, MS ali, is MS ldDOl
Whether he work on his own small
capital or another's, his living is still
earned by his industry; and when tn
money of the country becomes depre
ciated and debased, whether it b
adulterated coin or paper without
credit, that industry is robbed Of it
reward. He then labOrs for country
whose laws cheat him out of his bread
I would say to every owner of every
quarter section Of land in the West,
would say to every man in the East
who follows his own plough, and tC
every mechanic, artisan, and labOrel
. in every city in the country, I would
say to every man, everywhere, who
wishes by honest means to gain an
honest living, Beware Of wolves in
sleeps clothing Whoever attempts
under whatever popular cry, to shake
the stability Of the public currency,
bring on distress in money matters
and drive the country into the use Of
paper money, stabs your interest and
your happiness to the heart"
Daniel Webster was a farmers son
whose life was past in a poverty that
few who hear me to-day ever have
been forced to undergo. I have read
within the last year the account which
fell from his own lips as preserved by
Peter Harvey; how he sat down to
that which could scarcely be called
food, and lived life of hardship and
penury hardly known to the poorest
man in this State. He was one of the
greatest products Of American institu-
tions and he never forgot that the
great cry of duty to him came from
the united voice of his country and
not from any class or section.
But this disorder in our affairs is
durable. With us in Delaware among
the most important of our industrial
pursuits is shipping. In 1854 a great
revolution was commenced in the
world Of commerce by the substitution
of iron for wood in shipbuilding.
With wood abundant here and our
iron but little developed we did not
catch the idea in time to prevent Great
Britain from outstripping us, but iron
has now become the great shipbuild-
ing material, and is vast and COM
plicated undertaking not to be started
in a day. Therefore for a time we
were at great disadvantage created
in large measure by unwise legisla-
ton, but as the currency has grown
stronger the confidence Of our capital
lists has grown stronger, and with
skilled workmen in every quarter,
with railroads developing our iron and
coal mines, shipbuilding is increasing.
We have workmen full of intelligence
and capacity; we have labOr-saving
machinery far better than the nations
of Europe, and of materials we have
the best in abundance from the hand
Of nature.
We have a very large interest in
carriage building again affected by the
price of materials and labor. Our
former excellent market in the South |
ern States has suffered from the evil |
consequences Of the war, and since the |
war an unwise and unjust policy have |
paralyzed their industries, and our fel- |
low citizens in that section have been
in SO impoverished a condition that |
they could not buy from US, but that,
thank God, is passing away and as
they accumulate means they are be-
coming enabled to pay.
Our country contains everything
needful for the happiness and prosper
ity Of our people; our resources are
abundant almost beyond comparison
with other lands, our form of govern
ment permits the freest exercise by /
each man Of his faculties. All then
we have to do is to study and develop /
our resources. We have capacities in
reality scarcely known. The other
day l was struck with an item that
may seem small, stating that we i'm.
ported from Europe of Osier willows
for basket making to the extent of
Why, I put it to all Of
you living here in New Castle county
whether we cannot grow enOugh h to sup
ply the whole Of this demand upon our
own creeks and water courses; and
yet this is but single illustration ef t !
neglected resources that require no Ia
Dor worth speaking Of, large source
If revunue that is thrown away. Our
with other nations is close
ind growing closer; we must buckle
lown to our work and neglect nothing.
We have honest weights and measures
ixed by law let us insist upon the
of the great measure, an
lonest money. This I consider the {
prime essential for the restoration of ,
hat certainty and confidence which
viii revive enterprise and with it pros
,erity.
The period of the war of 1776 is v
ften spoken as "the time which tried o
mems souls" but we are living now in !
ines which test our capacities for
elf government more than any we }
ave passed through. There are evils I
Thieh affect our prosperity more than t
7ar war comes openly and we know y
low to meet it, but an insidious de-
ased coin or a redundant currency
aises fallacious hopes and leaves q
urdensome debts and crushing tax Il
tion. Let me read to you an extract q
rom an English historian Of events y
early 200 years ago, in 1895, It is /
facauley who writes: u
"The evils produced by this state Of .
he currency were not such as have "
enerally been thought worthy to occu- 4
y prominent place in history. Yet f.
may well be doubted whether all
le misery which had been inflicted on o.
le English nation in a quarter of al
sntury by bad kings, bad ministers, $,
Ad parliaments and bad judges, was Fl
quail to the misery caused in single i
ear by bad crowns and bad shillings. :
hose events which furnish the best 81
lemes for pathetic or indignant elo- is
uence are not always those which te
lost effect the happiness Of the great i;