The Portland daily press., 1878-12-04

N~SAioJ " ACNy CUuLIlUuLlUuS upUu hll pEOp6T-
ty holders. His demands can neither be
avoided nor abated. If he decreases the rate
ne raises the assessment correspondingly.
Wnen the people imagined that they were
rch tney permitted themselves to be robbsd of
'cores Of millions without SO much as a pro-
test or manifestation of dissent Now that
they know that they are poor they have to fur
nish money not merely to meet the ordinary
municipal expenses but to pay interest on the
conds the thieves issued as the equivalent of
the vast sums they stole and pocketed. Real
estate Is especially vulnerable to this species Of
exaction, and the burden of taxation falls upon
it ~ith crushing severity This is one Of the
reasons, and very potent one it is too, why
1heTe is SO little trading in it, notwithstanding
all the repositories eff capital are literally choked
up with unemployed funds for which the own
ers would be glad to find any outlet into which
they could be distributed with safety and profit.
But after all the:e are these sources of conso-
lation, that only those are taxed who are able
TO pay, and that all the houses aud lands are in
existence, aud most of them in use, Just as they
were when they were erroneously reckoned at
double their present value. The losses of the
landlords are gains to the tenants. In the
times OF Initiation and speculation the few pros-
pered, the many suffered. As soon as resump-
tion is accomplished and a stable and perma-
nent financial system is established the condi-
tions will be to great extent reversed. There
VIII be no such opportunities for acquiring
riches rapidly as there were when prices were
mounting upward with such velocity that anv
daring adyenturer could bay to-day and sell to-
marrow Opt an
completion OF each transaction that If be made
bis escape from tn scene of bis operations be-
fore the catastrophe occurred he might revel In
affiuence, while his more conservative fellow
citizens were exerting themselves to the utmost
to keep the Sheriff at bay. OF course there
must needs be multitude within the illusory
structure when it crumbled into mass of ru-
ins, and the longer its fall was deferred, the
greater the number of victims that were buried
beneath it,
a good deal of what was called "ousiuess''
in an era of irfedeemabls currency was of kind
that the less We have of it the better off we
shall be. 1t was not the legitimate traffic that
consists OF the interchange of commodities for
the mutual advantage of producer and consum-
er, but the exercise of ingenuity in discovering
and anticipating the wants Of the people, so
that when they were compelled to supply them
selves with the necessaries, or tempted to in
dulge in the Injuries of life they should be
made to pay great deal more for them than
they were actually worth. If this mode Of pre-
cedure had proved successful long enough we
should have been likely to have had a general
abandonment of such useful pursuits as tilling
the soil and working at mech anical tasks.
These avocations would have been regarded as
altogether too slow to satisfy the cup;dity of
men who were hearing every hour hows sudden
ly their friends and acquaintances in the cities
were amassing fortunes without toiling or
spinning. The panic bro1ght that sort Of trad
ing to disastrous end quite abruptly. and every
body ought to be grateful for SO much good
that resulted from it. When the farmer ascer-
tained that his uiban relative or townsman
whom he knew to b, living in regal splendor
and supposed 10 be a veritable Cresus, had
failed-liabilities large, assets nominal-he put
fresh seed and more of it into his cultivable
lands, and waited for the harvest with q COZ
tented spirit and the peasisg consciousness of
easy independence. The artisan prosecuted his
labor with more cheerfulness when he reflected
that he was at least secure from the perils of
bankruptcy which had summarily closed the
career Of persons whose seeming success he
had a while before contemplated with some
thing approaching to envy.
There is no danger bat that the genuine and
essential business of the country will progress
steadily and satisfactorily without any artific-
ial stimulant. For the matter of that, it is GO
ing along very wsn, already. The staples
which form the basis of commerce are unwont-
edly abundant and they find their way to the
marts whence they are parcelled out for con-
sumption with regularity and despatch. There
is as much of everything sold as there
are customers for, and as much of everything
bought as there are uses for. 1t happens that
there is surplus of many of the leading arti-
cles of merchandise, and that is state of sf-
fairs which enures to the benefit of the masses.
We are able TO send abroad enormous guam
titles of the fruits of agriculture and inventive
industry, the proceeds of which are vastly aug
menting the national resources II it requires
fewer Intermediates to perfo m these offices
than it did when there was far less property to
be disposed of, it may bs taken for granted that
the exchanges are effected with much greater
directness and that there are not so many tolls
to be collected by the way. The time will never
come when there will be any lack of venders Of
goods and wares The populous towns will
always have as great number of inhabitants
as can be supported in them. The difficulty
we are laboring under now, and have been for
several years. is that they are too crowded for
comfort IL will be great deal better to re-
duce the surplus by encouraging the mgra-
tion of those who cannot obtain employment,
to regions where work Is plenty and hands are
scarce. than it will be to try to make ''busi-
ness" for them by processes which under the
name of trade simply resolve themselves into
an assessment upon the labor Of the producer
or the means Of the consumer, or both, to pro-
vide them with a maintenance.
YARMOUTH.