Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-05-08
THE PUBLIC DISTRESS.
IT'S CAUSES AND THE REMEDY.
WASHINGTON, May 6, 1896

IT'S CAUSES AND THE REMEDY.
WASHINGTON, May 6, 1896
To the Editor of the Alexandria Gazette:
Ifany man we're called upon to name
a country which of all others possessed
the greatest resources and elements of
prosperity he would be compelled to
name the great American republic,
with its grand area, variety of produc
tiops, rivers, railroads, general use of
labor-saving machines and population
second in intelligence to none in the
world.
Notwithstanding all these advan-
tages the country is unprosperous and
has been so for years. Day by day we wit
ness stagnation in business, an increas-
ing numberof debtors and ofunemployed
people, of bankruptcies, suicides, crimes,
commercial frauds and all that exhibits
condition ofmisery in people. Prob
ably not FIVE men in hundred are pros
porous and comfortable in their affairs.
| doubt if one man in hundred in the
county districts of the South is now do
ing we'll. At any rate, there can be no
doubt of the severe depression of the ag-
ricultural classes both South and West.
There have been periods in our his
tory-notably 1S93-when more of q
panic prevailed, but none when there
has been so severe, general, and pro-
longed depression in business and val
ues, and so much depression as now.
The question naturally arises, what
are the causes of this unfortunate con-
dition of affairs and what hope is there
of any improvement in the immediate
future?
In respect to the first question ther,
is wide division of opinion. The re.
publican politicians generally affirm
that this suffering is due to the substi-
tuition of the democratic tariff of 1891
for the republican tariff of 1S90-the So
called mckinley bill" Confronted
with the fact that the hard times were
keenly felt in 1892, when they were in
power, they reply that it was the ap-
prehension of democratic rule in the
government which produced distrust
and the hard times. They ignore the
fact that the fall in farm products and
value of land began soon after silver
was demonitized in 1878 aud thst
in the years 1873 to 1878, with re-
publican tariffs in force, there occurred
one of the severest periods known to
American history-an era OF bank
ruptcy, distrust and suffering second
only to this present dreadful period.
They ignore, above all, the fact that
under the Walker tariff act of 1916 IA
measure thoroughly embodying demo
cratic opinions) there was for number
of wears condition of wonderful pros
perity. This Mr.. Blaine, though pro-
tectionist, records in his book and it
will not be denied by any well-informed
man. 1t may be said that the tariff bill
of 1916 did not produce this prosperity.
Perhaps not. The facts prove, how.
ever, that the tariff bill of 1S46-a far
more radical revenue measure than the
act of 1894, in no degree impeded the
public prosperity. The protective tariff
acts of 1873 and 1875 passed by repub-
lican politicians did not avail to restore
the prosperity which had fled in the
wear 1878. The republican politicians
who assume that the present hard times
will be removed by passing high tariff
and by increased taxation of the people
are not sustained by reference to
American history. On the other hand,
that weak class of democratic politicians
who assume that tariff built on rev.
enue principles will make every body
happy and correct all other evils of leg
islation are equally far from the truth.
The tariff act of 1894 passed by demo-
cratic Congress, though very wise and
lust measure, has wholly failed to re-
store prosperity to the land. A mere
plaster even a good plaster, will not
cure broken leg. Two years nearly
have passed and the times are harder,
the public distress is greater than In
1894, when the bill was passed. 1t is
clear, therefore, that for the causes OF
the present distress We must hunt Tor
some more potent aud general cause
than either of the two tariff bills re.
ferred to.
Reviewing our whole history we
find the States of the Union generally
prosperous and advancing from 11S9
up to the period of the civil war, with
some brief and exceptional periods;
and even during the civil war the con-
dition of the northern States was fairly
prosperous. The South was not pros
porous because she had to put nearly
all her white men in the field and be-
cause production, sale and shipment OF
her staples was arrested. But after the
war closed, despite her great losses,
the Sonth began to revive in many por-
tions and at the north and west there
was condition of remarkable pros
perity and business activity. This
lasted up to 1878 when the crash came.
The denomination of silver by Ger
many and the United States and the
suspension of silver coinage by the
Latin union occurred about that time
or sooner. Dire disaster was freely
predicted as result of this policy by
Disraeli and the great European
economists. Certain it is that great
suffering very soon followed, especially
in the country from 1873 up to 1878.
In the year 1878 the Biand-Alllson
act was passed under which there was
an addition to our specie money of
some twenty-four millions per annum.