Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-08-24

Horace White Believes it Due to the In
evttable Reaction Following a Great
Speculative Era-yarious Communistic
Theories Mentioned and Condemned
Prof. Sumner Gives the Result of His
Observations, While Hon. w. e. Dodge
Ascribes the Whole Trouble to the Liquor
/ Traffic.
New YORK, Aug. 23.-The labor investiga-
ton committee resumed it's sessions this morn
ing. Horace White was called by the commit
tee and stated that he had stndied the financial
question and paid great deal of attention to
1t When he was journalist and since he re-
tired from journalism. He thought the pres
ent commercial crisis only one of a series that
have occurred among nations for the past 200
years and they have been preceded by rampant
speculation. In 1873 he thought speculations
N railroads had great deal to do in causing
depression which existed. There was an enor.
nous speculation In lands all over the country
Inc prices OF real estate multiplying beyond
anything In the recollection of the witness.
Inc oplgatlons incurred by the building OF
tnose railroads and the purchase of real estate
ca caused many parties to become insolvent.
Inc condltlon OF the currency had not in
thought he found these periods of crises came
upon nations, no matter whether the currency
was gold or paper. The speculative era, which
existed from 1869 to 1873, the witness thought
mad something to do with the present condition
OF affairs. The accumulation of capital act
| ing on the sanguine temperments of a certain
ratio o. people would produce speculative
era Misrepresentation by machinery has con-
trlbuted to decrease business by producing
more than there was demand for and prices
"a sy,<,1~v IT, 81 i
PRODUCTION of machinery had produced this
speculative era and the collapse which follow
ed it.
| The witness did not think protective tariff
would raise the wages of working people. 1t
I might raise the prices of some commodities to
| be brought. Protective tariffs would stimu-
late some branches Of business and lead capital
| to some extent into it.
| The witness said he did not think the wages
| OF the laboring classes had been decreased by
competition between countries in producing
| and exporting. The wages of the laboring
classes had been greatly increased during the
| past two hundred years.
| In regard to tariff duties he would rec ON
mend they should be taken off from raw ma
| terial.
| About the middlemen question the witness
SAID great many men had been driven out of
business and went into bankruptcy because
| they were ecessary. Too many of them were
in the business.
If there any surplus of capital during
| the speculative era, it had now retreated to
bank vaults, having been driven there by the
| 10 v rate of interest. The amounts loaned out
of banks were in great bulk the property of
| the community.
Witness said the business was injured to
| great extent by protective tariff. 1t stimu-
| lated some manufactures if it was properly
! laid down.
The accumulation of capital has been so
| great we had to go elsewhere to spend it. We
had more capital than we could employ.
Witness said no limitation in hours should
! be made the subject of legislation. It was a
direct contradiction of the functions of govern
ment to interfere with the hours of labor. 1t
was an infringement on some persons liberty.
| The main object OF government was to prevent
murders, robberies, and all deeds of violence.
An abridgement of the hours of labor would
transfer part of the wages of the employed to
the unemployed.
Every legislative attempt to transfer capital
from the rich to the poor has resulted in this
way-that the rich become richer, and the poor
become poorer.
He did not think the proceeds of the sale of
public lands could be used by the government
tor colonization purposes. 1t would be @ haz-
ardous thing for government, with its
present civil service system, to take hold of
such thing. He did not think that the sur
plus population in the cities would be content
to live on lands in the West and did not sup
oxen. and if taken there they would not stay
on the lands.
The witness said he thought the working
class would be better off under free trade than
under tariff system.
This concluded MIR. Whites testimony and
Chas. F. Adams Jr. Of Quincy, Mass, was
called.
Mr. Adams spoke of railroad construction,
and said excessive construction led to the pres
ent depression in business. Railroad managers
had nothing to do with the construction of rail
roads, and so had nothing to do with causing
the depression. He thought railroad managers
had to a great extent relieved or tried to re-
ieve, this depression. He did not see how
legislation could help remedy the present
depression. The railroad system was engaged
in ruinous competition, and this led to two
points. One was violent fluctuations and dis
elimination against localities He thought this
could only be remedied by equalizing rates
and fares. The difficulty in legislation
in railroad matters has been SO
far that they have applied the remedy before
knowing the disease. He doubted if it would
be advantageous to have the federal govern
ment apply remedies to railroad troubles. He
thought the manner in which the English rail
roads were run would soon be adopted in this
country. That Kramer was Hands off, let the
. | railroads take care of themselves and consoli-
date on any measure they may DESIRE The
federal government could not supervise
railroad rates, at least it will not be
done at present. The result of watering stock, y
witness held, was not to increase the rates, but
he thought it would tend to lower them. He
was of the opinion that federal supervision OF
, railroads might be cauti, usly begun in short
time. If any change had taken place in the
power of railroads over legislation within the
J past few years he thought it had slightly dim
{ inished. He was not prepared to say that the
establishment of government commission tc
supervise railroads would elevate depression in
lob Ho n y0ff hi,,tyF pp 1Sch
commissioners had done any good, although
they had accumulated tons of reports on tn,
railroad system. He did not suppose it would
4 be feasible for the government to purchas,
railroads, or be possessed of them.
Witness stated he believed Mr.. Vanderbilt
, would have been better off to have only at
tended to local business and left through bust
3 ness to take care of itself.
IL Prof. Sumner said he was profes
: sor of political and social scienc
in Yale college. He directed attention to the fac
Q that within the last four years the means Of
greater and by these means over-produc
= ton was the consequence, ant
' had made revolution over the who'll
world. He says that when the Suez cana
was first opened goods came much quicker ant
: caused a glut in the market. New goods accu
. mulated in each of the old markets, but thi
glut had now been overcome. Within the las
quarter of century there had been grea
+ improvement in machinery of all kinds, and
i taken with the accumulated effects and
). temporary setback, there was anothe
i factor in causing this depression
in labor circles. This effect woul,
reach everybody, for the effect of machiner,
would have to be cheaper luxuries and tt
bring down things to the poorer classe
which century ago they never thought of
: Machinery had been a great good to the masses
though in case of individuals and masses it ha.
g worked evil. If the United States had beel
e free in 1872 she might have been able to com
e pete with ENGLAND when coal and iron mimi,