The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-05-20

ages - let us stand on our heads, why
should we use them for any process OF
thought. Our success in the past has
been the result of extraordinary condi-
tions, in many respects a fortuitous
Circumstance. Millions of acres ready
fer the pillow were waiting to make
homes for the homeless. The discovery
of gold in California and Australia
started thousands 10 snip building and
cov,rtd the ocean with clippers. carry
ing the products of time and spoil OF
many more to others again who
were busy in search Of the royal
metals. We supported NJ standing
army, no established church. no titled
nobility Then came the war, and
business prospered at the expense of a
debt, to be paid by the future. Now
some prophesy the return of prosperity
with the remoue:ization of silver; 9TH
ers think if the Europeans kill each other
and waste sufficient time and property,
our millennium will come. What Q sad
commentary upon the craftsmanship
of the republic, that the masses of this
nation are dependant for existence on
the conditions of foreign war-a Eu-
ropean brOil for the maintenance Of
the balance of power. But the war
will not last forever; what then ! The
sphinx returns with its riddle; we
must answer it, or revolutionary pro-
nunciamentos will summon the drum
beats of disorder. There will be a
Kearney in every city in the land, and
fear in the heart of every capitalist.
The value of property will recede. the
safeguards of life will be unhinged. and
the safety of the Government itself will
be threatened; and the government that
permits an army of idlers to exist,
drilled by years of poverty and crime.
to be summonej by an epigram to bar
ricade the streets, deserves to be over
thrown. What is the underlying cause
of the general complaint of hard times !!
Overproduction says one; witness the
suspensions at Fall River. Border City
mills. Sangamon mills, Union mills,
Massasoit steam mills, during the past
month. But overproduction does not
mean want overproduction means
plenty and to spare. Don't talk of
overproduction while SO many are with
out proper clothing, without proper
food, drifting to less home comforts. to
smaller rooms, to tramp the highway.
to crime and despair. l don't speak Of
the idler by habit; l speak Of the man
forced into idleness, of whom our civ
ilizstion will soon manufacture tramp,
with his hand against every mans
hand no adds not to the common veal,
but destroys what he can. But I am
warned to be practical. There are no
tramps on the Sound; bear with me for
q moment. We remember 81. count
of the great poverty of the
masses our lumber is uncalled for. The
Kearneyites threaten the destruction of
property, and the building trade stag
mates. The underlying cause must then
be the unequal distribution of the pro-
ceeds of toil-manv are suffering from
want while others have plenty and to
spare. The poverty of the many means
decreased production consequent up
on decreased consumption; means 10
solvency at the manufacturing centres;
means idle men; means hard times
everywhere. Who took the larger
share of the proceeds of labor? Capt.
tai, or the surplus of past labor, took
the larger share to reimburse itself for
its use. and the consequence was con-
gestion at the centres. and but little of
the circulating medium among the
other members of the body polite, re-
duced consumption and falling prices
and insolvency. The mills fall by fore.
closure into the hands Of the money
lender. The interest cleans them out,
and this modern Saturn consumes his
own children. What wonder that the
sage of the Dispatch objects to so much
money. He meant interest money; lie
never intended to pay cent of the
principal. More anon. TERAD.