The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-11-03
THE PEACE TARIFF OF is4s.
nspubiicsn Testimony That II Wa .
Benefleeut Measure.

AsGuCuuUos 0ACo.eVs
My Republican witnesses to the pros.
perity of lS48-80 are SO numerous that
can do little more than give list and
specify date and occasion. | will mention
among them Horace Greeley and The New
York Tribune, The Indianapolis journal,
The Bankers magazine, Helpers lmpend
ing Crisis, Henry s Lane, Hugh McCul.
loch. Abraham Lincoln. Jamo> A Garfield
and James q. Blaine. Indeed, | might
include every standard work issued be.
tween 1850 and 1866, and every Off.
cial report and state paper, except,
perhaps, the message of Buchanan
In December, 1857. The bound files Of
The New York Tribune for 1850 are before
me. From first issue to last there Is fire..
quent mention Of the prosperous condi.
ton Of the country. On the oath Of DC.
tober The Tribune, under the heading,
Bonds and Bugaboo." printed Greeley
editorial boasting Of the country's pros.
perity and the strength Of public credit,
citing the fact that per cent. United
States bonds were at q handsome pre-.
MUM. On the 26th there is an editorial
item on the greatness and prosperity
and inevitable future grandeur and growth
Of the country" On the 20 there Is an.
other article Boosting Of tho country's
prosperity. On November IA The Til.
bune announces Q large surplus Of gold
trade On November 10 Greeley says:
The country was never so rich and
strong % 1t Is now: full Of cattle, full OF
grain and swine. full Of everything. Our
exports are large beyond precedent, Specie
has ceased to fov from us and will soon
6ow towards US. Our mines, our herds.
our farms, our factories. are all doing
well"
All that autumn Henry s. Lane had
been stumping Indiana, declaring that the
prosperity and progress Of the free states,
the Improvement Of the labOrer's condi'
ton and the general advance In education
and other good things exceeded anything
known elsewhere at any time In the his
tory Of the world. Helper had just pub
lished his Impending Crisis, which is {
long and ford boast Of the prosperity OF
the free states. But q little later the cen
sus showed that the south too had shared
to considerable extent, In the general
advance, and James g. Blaine handsomely
admits that fact in his history, Vol. l.
page PIG, as follows:
"The south was enjoying exceptional
prosperity. The advance Of the slave
states In wealth was more rapid than al
any period of their history. Their staple
products commanded high prices, and
were continually growing in amount t.
meet the demands Of market which rep
resented the wants Of the civilized world
In the decade between 1850 and 1850 thu
wealth of the south had increased three
thousand millions of dollars, and this moi
from an over valuation Of slaves, but
from increased cultivation Of land, the
extension of railways and all the arts and
appliances Of vast agricultural enterprises
Georgia alone had increased in wealth ovel
three hundred millions of dollars. no small
proportion of which was from commercial
and manufacturing ventures that hat
proved extremely profitable. There nevel
was Q community ON the face of the gl0b,
whose condition so little justified revolu
ton as that Of the south In 1860. Indeed
1t was sense of strength born Of excep
tionel prosperity, which led them to theil
rash adventure Of war.
The Bankers Magazine o, 1860 is I
first class witness to the abundance o
money. the glut of gold and the fact tina
silver change was sAoat In excessive
quantities. The files of The indianapolis
Journal bear frequent witness to tn
prosperous condition of the country
Hugh McCulloch, in his report on tn,
state banks of Indiana, may also be cited
Abraham Lincoln cheered the patriotic
with statement Of the facts that tn
country was rich and strong. and tn
financial authorities agreed that the loya
states contained al immense surplus o
| coin.
Now mark what followed. North an,
south this people put forth such strength
made such an exhibition of resources, q
was never equaled in the world. Tall
about this country being poor or veal
| in 1860!
Why there never was such lavish abun
dance Of all necessaries on call. Arm
and munitions of war there were not. o
course. for we had been long at peace, bu
we clothed and provisioned twelve hun
dred thousand men, and did 1t out OF GU
| surplus, before the pressure began to b.
felt by those at home Why, just thinl
of it, prices did not even rise till the four
tenth month of the war. In June, 1862
the cost of living in Indiana was as low a
In April, 1861. Weak? Why we "achet
with strength, and were spelling for {
fight" as Mr.. Blaine says in other words
Poor? Why we were so rich in grain ant
| goods that we did not feel our losses til
| 1900, 900 men were in the field. N
manufactures? No great enterprises
| Why we had the finest railroad
| system in the world. the best fac
tories of rifles and small arms
more agricultural machinery than al
Europe. and such well equipped irol
works that in six months we put afloat
feet of gunboats that made the navies o
Europe obsolete and revolutionized mari
time war. UnprogressiveG Why tn
country In 1860 was moving forward wit
such solid strength and rapidity that tn
acquired momentum carried US throug
the war almost without a check Their
was but one element Of weakness: the oil
system Of currency did not permit suff
GENTLY rapid conversion Of the wealt
with which the country was gorged
That defect supplied. the nation aston
ished the world with its display Of wealt
and strength. and even the much abuse
south-"weakened, we are told, 10
want of high tsriff-held out four year
against the largest armies Of moder
times. The facts OF the war itself ~