The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-08-17

past and Present.

. mart 8, divine benefcence that " mus y
81 !, is not well that men shall remember
y;yialy and long their suferings and losses.
That would sGbdue the spirit Of hope anu
the yigor OF esergy, and subtract heaViiy
Nom the aggregate Of enterprise and OF
the gains OF Industry. In war it is deemed
great injury to the service 10 permit
the soldiers to brood over revefses ana
to linger over the graves of the dead. Every
device that may help to divert the attention
OF the camps from dolorous and painful re-
Elections is employed. The dead is followed
tn the grave to the mournful funeral dirges,
INT the moment the dead soldier is put away
in his grave the banner is stripped OF Grape
and flung to the breeze, and those who fol-
lowed the dead to his resting-piaee turn
their backs upon him, and move of with a
onick step to the tune OF 'sThe Girl I Left
Behind Me- or some other equally lively
air. This assists to dispel the gloom that IS
cnsendered by the funeral and disposes the
soldier to bear his gun cheerfuIiy TO camp,
ready to enter the field with spirit and reso-
luton.
This is right and sanitary. The living
must bear up under adversely and distress.
They must be true to their duty tothe coun-
try aud to the living. Even death should
remind the survivors OF their obligations to
State and fellow-men. With the truly
manly and molly loyal to their political ana
social obligations, distresses and reverses
should be only like the weight put upon
the arch, that strengthens it.
II the older people OF this time but recur
70 their recollection OF the second decade OF
this century they will remember that re-
verses and misfortunes were so numerous
that we may suppose that, according to
nonuIation, the Affections OF the time were
probabably as heavy then as they now are.
II was well for our predecessors that they
soon forgot their sorrows; but II we coutd
only contrast the reYcrseS then with those
OF The present day we might be encouraged
IN hear those we now have with more OF
stoicism.
After the war OF 1912 there was period
of flush times, and men ran wild with
specu.ation. Land ran up to prices that
would now seem fabulous, and estates were
bought at such rupous rates that thou
sands Of purchasers never acquired means
to pay the second insta,ment, and the
original owners got them back for nothing.
1t may be imagined what condition OF
bankruptcy followed the decline in value
OF lands which followed very soon after.
the flush times. In 1918, and along IN the
ZOOS, in passing through the country, on
every hand could be seen estates that were
unstable and abandoned. The owners,
despairing, had gone off to southern and
western Eldorados. Virginia was losing
her good people, their brains, and
their means. Every article OF neces-
sty, all cattle, and stock OF all kinds,
were at rates so low that everybody was
distressed for want Of money. Depression
prevailed, and stagnation in commerce
added to the general dependency. Tie
prostration that fell upon the country lasted
a long time, and it was only ended by the
increase OF the productions that commanded
money, helped by economy.
This is the remedy now, as it was then.
Nothing else will do. 1t is true, the social
revolution at this time makes 1t harder for
us than misfortunes OF those days were for
the people then living; but the times then
were only less trying than they are now,
and assuredly the people then showed far
more patience and constancy than they do
now. There were no such wild schemes
''for the relief OF the people" as are now
made the themes Of agitation. Demagogues
were more scarce than money itself, and the
tone Of society was marked by integrity and
good faith.
There should be the same public virtue
now. Our obligations are heavier, indeed;
but our resources are larger, and we have
wider theatre for development and gain.
The ruined men of these times, proportion
ed to population, are hardly more numer-
Gus than they were then.
The depression and the paralysis OF en-
terprise lasted years ut that doy. But the
people who had been so patient and so faith
full during the period Of misfortune rose
nobly from disaster, and were blessed with
the Just reward Of their constancy and in
tegrity.
At this time we cannot say that the people
are in6rm OF purpose and falteriDg in their
high duty OF citizens. Our misfortune IS
that we have more place-seekers and sore
heads and needy politicians than there were
mt that day. These people are ever taxing
their wits to invent schemes for personal
advantage. They preach Trades against
public officers and public administration,
and develop their views and their remedies,
and implore the people to send them to
mend the laws and secure relief for the
country. In this way the people, are per-
picked and the business OF the country con-
tinrlalIy disturbed. Hopes that are impos-
sible of realization are inspired, and good
men turned out to make room for their in
feriors in moral and mental sense:
Thus voters are kept in a state OF unrest
TO their own injury, and are doomed to
utter disappointment with regard to all the
expectations excited by the denagogues.
Think q moment and see il you find the
demagogical predictions and promises OF
relief redeemed in one single instance
Nor will they be. The plans and promises
OF those men who make such promises are
absolutely beyond the scope Of even posi-.
bility. ..'..
Patience, economy, and industry will
bring all straight, as they have done afore-
time. What u commentary upon Firginians