The daily gazette., 1878-01-31


argument we win suppose that they have
been steadily worth those amounts for q
l6ngterm of years. "A rich land holder bar
gains with his tenant to receive two hum
dred bushels of wheat per year, or four
hundred of corn for the rent Of his farm
for term Of ten years. Shortly after the
lease Is made wheat advances In value to
one dollar and sixty cents per bpshel.
The rich farmer who dresses well, talks
well, and Is supposed to be authority
upon such matters, says to his tenant.
az know by the terms, of the lease YOU
can pay me in coin, but your honor rs
man compes you to pay me In wheat
and II You desire % maintain your stand
ard for honesty and your credit good,
you must pay me in wheat IL there a
man simple enough in the civilized
world TO be governed by such advice. II
there is, his credit would be worthless to
him after such an act, because all who
knew him would properly think that he
was incapable of doing business.
If magnanimity constitutes any mart of
honor the rich land holder would Say to
this poor tiiler of the soil, according to
all laws of trade you owe me coin, and to
receive anything but coin from you
would be TO deprive you of what Justly
belongs to you, ard a. an honorable man
/ cannot do It," f. aWI H U fa4fi
This Is precisely the condition in which
all the creditors stand to debtors. Just
now, because gold has advanced in value
by comparison with silver, and for the
Icreditor to demand gold because gold Is
OF more value than silver Is to play the
part Of Shylock, and for the governmenr
70 aid the creditor thus to take the adj
vantage OF the poor debtor, TO say the
least Is questionable. OF course where
gold has been denominated in the bond
gold must by honor--true honor--be
paid; but In all transactions prior 10 1873
gold was not den0minated, and we, as q
nation can by proper legislation provide
for meeting all OUT. gold obligations, and
maintain an equality Of value between
The nation of Europe which should be
the most prostrattd in its business affairs
Is France; and yet we are told by leading
political Economists who have studied
the commerce OF that country that
France Is, financially, In the best condi-
ton or any OF the nations of Europe,
In France silver Is used az the practical
currency of the nation and Is legal ten
der for every purpose In sufficient
amounts TO keep i equal In value with
the gold coin Of the country. - r,
Germany, which so violently and ruth
lessly demonetizdd silver, notwlthstand-
ing the many millions paid into its cof-
fers by the people of France az war in-
demnify stands credited to-day Jas being
disordered by the greatest depression
among her business communities.
| am not sufficiently dogmatic TO assert
the prosperity Of France is the result of
the maintalnance of silver AZ legal teil-
der, nor do assert that Gernany's
troubles E.rise frpm the decentralization
Of silver, but study of their condition
might enable W. 10 more clearly realize
the wants of our own eommeree., 44.ai
Senator Edinu1d's suggestion that we
might arrange schedule of obligations
for which gold alone should be legal ten
der, and another for which either gold or
silver might be legal payment, is some
what Of novel nature, calculated at first
Thought, to cause one TO smile, and won
der II the Vermpht statesman, was in
dulg1ng In one OF his peculiar jokes; but
o closer investigation leads to the con-
ciusion that the auggestionis is worth look
ing into. a.I it I7llH4a ansaYf +
} The interest ofI the public debt might
be paid in gold; interest on all mortgages
made between the years 1873 and II, and
half OF the revenue from Import duties.
This would protect the national honor,
and at the same time provide q currency
for the public which would be conveni.
ent, and of the double standard In which
an equality of value would be MAIN
tanned. q. 70 .., III ...l E5.-- NM -.
! do not wish tp indulge in any politi-
cal clap-trap about the hard listed Sous of
toll oppressed by the ''bloated bond hold,
ers-" presume that there is not a "hard
listed son OF toll. who, could some sud-
den revolution make of him q "bloated
bondholder," wotld not conduct himself
pretty much ~ the" "bloated bond HOLDER
does. Therefore sentiment Is entirely
out of place in discussing the subject.
But o remark made by one OF yonr cor
respondents that "thSre Is no economy
so poor as that which keeps labor idle,0
hits the condition of our affairs squarely
on the head. We have in this country
as many natural advantages as ProM-
dence in the abundance of his gifts, has
to man anywhere in the
world. We have energy equal to that
of any people ofthe globe. Our educa-
tional system is suppressed by none other,
Il think 1t Is not egotism to say we are
the peers in intellect of any people, Yet
the United States presents the strange
phenomena Of q populous country, full
of life, full Of animation, full of inteli-
gent industry, full of RESOURCES, and of
an abundant population, the lands of
which asinvsstInents are almost value
less, returning only to those who work
them an indif support, with little
or nothing to the capitalist who invests
In them.
This condition. of affairs has paralyzed
the agriculturalists TO snch an extent that |
those SECTIONS OF the country which were
once the richest in the country are to-day
among the poorest, and nowhere is this \
more keenly felt than in Delawere and
Maryland. Lands that sold readil ly before
the war for a hundred dollars per. acre,
are now offered for sale at prices ranging
even a. low rs ten dollars per acre. And
farms recently sold by the Sheriff of New
Castle county, failed to bring as much per
acre as they were sold for befure the rev.
olutiOn. The paralyzation of the agri-
culturalist of course results in paralyzing
the manufactures, and now when the
population of oIr country is nearly twen-
ty-five per cent. greater than 1t was before
the war, we find our really energetic |
population Is even less than
then. The great cities with their tenn |
Ing thousands of honest, industrious
men, begging for the privilege
of working. The thousands of trmps
that swarm through the country are all 4,
new TO our country, something
that was unknown before the war, and It |
is just to say that the enforced idleness on
the part of so large an element in our
population is the outgrowth of defective
legislation. We have this enforced idle
ness England hast IT. Germany has il : |