Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1897-01-27
NEW ENGLAND MILLS CLOSE Down.

1t is with deep feeling of sorrow
and regret that we notice the sad dis
patches in all our leading dailies that
the manufacturing establishments of
the eastern states have ceased opera
ton. The reason assigned for this sud-
den inactivity is that they cannot dis
pose OF the manufactured goods or in
other words nobody seems to have mon
ey to buy. This recalls a movement
enacted Immediately after the election
OF Major Mckinley. Every monopoly
paper from coast to coast came out in
glaring headlines stating how mills of
all descriptions had opened up since the
republican party had won the day; how
that thousands, yea tens of thousands
of men had been employed and the
glowing colors that were thrown before
| the public would have seemed to dis
play verltable paradise before an un-
informed eye. But oh, what shock it
must be to those who were led to be-
lleve that all things were ''lovely on
the Rhine" when they hear that these
establishments have all closed down!
The Popullsts and free silverites must
have had the right position after all
when they said that the ''business re-
vlval' was only temporary-a mere
bluff as it were-inaugurated for the
purpose of misleading the voters of the
country. The POpulist press warned
the public that the rum of these mills
would be brief and of little effect; they
commended then, as they do now, that
there is plenty of manufactured ST. IF on
the market now but the consumer has
nothing with which to purchase 1t. But
the Plutocrats sneered and scoffed and
too many of the common people believ-
ed what the republican politicians told
them, and the PopulIsts were given
the usual deaf ear. 1t is different now;
the predictions of the reform people
came to pass. Manufacturing institu
lions today are more imperative than
ever and the numbers of the unemploy-
ed are greater than before Mckinley IS
election.
AS we stated before we are sorry that
this is true. The West is sorely in need
of the goods which the manufact lrers
OF the East have on hand and which
they are unable to dispose of while the
multltudes of the East-the unemploy-
ed and those employed at extremely
low Wages-are much more in need of
the products of the West. The people
OF Kansas and other western states
have their cribs of corn, their granaries
OF wheat, their cattle, their hogs, their
sheep, in fact, all kinds Of products.
which they can scarcely dispose of for a
sufficient amount to pay their taxes and
cost of transportation to market. This
being true, there can be only one rene
dy and that is sufficiently large vol
ume OF money that will enable the peo.
pie of the different sections to exchange
products. People In one part of the
country are suffering, while the goods
which they are so much in need of are
perlshlng and going to waste in other
! parts. These results are nothing tut
an outgrowth OF the single gold stan
dard, the 'best banking system OIL
earth" and protection and special priv.
leges to corporate greed and capitallst1e
interests.
But, be the result what it NAV. the
closing down of these mills will serve
as an eye-opener to great many peo-
pie. They will learn from their own ex.
pertinent. Republican theories sound
nice to some people and the only way
to overcome them in the minds of this
class is to ''try them on" There will
be some left, however, who will still re-
fuse to throw off the Shiny garb of pref
udice and who will continue to clamor
for more republicanism but these will
be confined to two classes-those who
are living at the public teat and those
who are too ignorant to read and who
have gone into complete captivity. This
latter class consists chiefly of low-grade
foreigners, who have never known free
dom and who seemingly are contented
with serfdom and barbarism.
But with the American people, as a
whole, it is diff erent. 1t IS true that a
majority have been deceived and intim.
dated once but it Will not be done a
second time. Republican vagaries
have been exploded and the voters of
the United States are more enlightened