The Cecil Whig., 1879-04-12

have Subduel t. II would be almost us
correct to say, i'll I'll" language of the a%ri-
cuituriStS, that We nav" skinned it-a phrase
literally true of great portions of oar land:
we have SlaSiicd away he splendid wealth
of orr forests, destroyed water-powers, ex-
| haustrd the soil by s;lseriiciai and ignorant
cultivation. We have fastened to snatch
wealth by the easiest methods, without re-
| gard to the future. We have done an i'm
menSe amount OF work: We have made It
great deal of money: and on the whole, we
seem to have spent more than We have
| made. We have exercised no economy.
Every body has lived as if he had rich un-
Gle t" die every five years and leave him Il
fortune. At the end OF Il century of gigan-
tie progress and unprecedented prosperity,
the nation has, like most other t'ull-grown
| nations, accumulated an cn"rmonS debit
every city, every town, every county, every
State, is in debt; every Individual is in debt.
For part Of this the war is responsible, but
not for all of it. Our land is nlortgagetl: :
our personal property is pledged as coliat-
cral. 1t is not sure that ground enough
''iti bt Ill il;oNtithl Nv Il
mortgage in which to bury its present in
hahtantS The ancient Egyptian mort
gagged his family tomb and the mummy of
his father. We have not come to that vet:
though il is difficult to find any ground
outside OF n cemetery not mortgaged
This would be i dark picture if it We're the
whole statement of our Situation and if it
We're not relieved by more encouraging y signs.
But it must be remembered that in the past
hundred wears we have accomplished good
deal of permanent work, rs the world views
il. II We are all in debt, we have built
some splendid cities: constructed some great
bridges: nettrd the land with railways and
telegraph wires: dotted lie coasts with
lighthouses and har'tor>: built at enormous
and sinful expense great public editiccs,-
most of them ugly and inconvcnicnt: got u
steady market for our increasing crops of
grain and cotton; and, after long stru%-
Gle established manufactures thai compete
the world over with our ancient and most
skillful rivals. We can sell American CAM
bricS i'll London because they are better than
the Germans can sell iron-war~ il South
America and Sewing-machincS in Italy only
hy countcrttiting the American trademarks.
Up To this time the country has been di
ydcd Sectional-wiSc on political issues, and
political issucS that took Il strong hold on
account Of the moral ideas involved. In
one way OF another, and e, en when unac-
llnowieised, the slavery question was i'll
volved i'll every ether question. But IL"
section antagonisIn arising from this cause
is daily dying away. We like to believe it
is agreed, South and North, that we shall
set our faces as one people in Il new iirec-
tion. .\Stronomically speaking, while here
tot1rc one part of the country insisted ON
keeping its eye uu lie north star, and an
other Gn the south star, we now agree 10 tiA
our gaze on the temperate zone.
For some time to come the national issues
ialtSt be n.at.:;al rather than moral. With
such diverse climates and productions,
it is unavoidable that there should still he
Soaiinpal rivalrics, but these are within the
limits of :, cuu,ll.on national interest. Tie
change taking place is more marked at the
South than i'll the West. In the South ror
reasons apparent, there has been little a"cr-
mutation of wealth. There has been little
exercise of cconn,ut. What was made WAS
spent, and, American fashion, sometimes
before ii was made Its wealth consisted i'll
it's Iahorcrs, in lands which its system of
labor always Tended to d"prcciatr, and in
l,,l. a;
aged manufactures, and also the highest
agricultural development. What, for other
reasons, happened to the soil of New Eng
lal,d happened 10 the South on larger
scale Tit carly settlers OF the New Eng
land farms cut away the tnrcStS a.!d skinned
the thin soil Of its virgin wealth, and then
were driven into manufacturing and COM
mrrrc or To the less easily exhausted lands
of the West Their abandoned farms have
been largely taken by foreigners, who apply
more crultliIirai 1nuii!u,iS, :,ii :trc .u,ti,t
with les; gain for the moment. The South
had even less economy and fnrethought. 1t
exhausted it; lands by superficial culture,
and did very little TO develop the great re-
sources Of the country. No one can doubt
thai there IS now a decided change i'll the
South In respect 10 attention " lis ma. .c"lai
interests Ii is beginning vigorously 10 join
the great productive and acclrmulatingm gmovc-
ment OF the country. The South raises an
uually more cotton than ever before, and it
needs but a few wears of economical huS-
bandin. at r.suai,4 II give 4 solid basis to
other industries; besides the ugflrattul;:i.
With lines of communication established
over the continent, slavery out of the way,
and manufactures fairly rooted, we do not
doubt that the country, Notwithstanding
temporary paralysis from speculation. uni
vrrsal living beyond our means, and debt.
is about cir,.ling, North and South, upon
al era of trl cl"iincnt of wealth and acrti-
mutation. Individual instances OF great
accumulation already multiply before our
eyes. This will 60 on. Already corpora
ton and institutions, religious and secular,
are ;t,Iil,sis:s aast properties. Where are
| there any signs that This tendency vii rot
increase?
Gro BE COSTINUED.)
OIL YOURSELF A LITTLE.
Once there lived an old gentleman i'll a