Year: 1878

From Col. Ingersoll's Address at Malone. N. Y
We have had in our country a magnif
cent initiation. We have built within
twenty five years some Is 600 miles OF
railroad, and in order to build that we
spent about So 900 100000 Well. there
was work for everybody. We had every
thing growing, and there was prosperity
all over the land. Every body worked tor
every ybody-every body wanted to employ
somebody else. In the meantime the
spent $l0,00O000,000 What for? To
build up? No; to tear down and destroy


Every single. solitary dollar that was
spent was wasted by US. But, as a matter
Of tact, we didn't spend the money-we
only agreed to- We scattered all over
the country certain notes which we agreed
to pay, and we have not got them paid
yet. In my judgment, it did not take as
| much patriotism to put down the rebel
lion as it will take to pay the debt. A
man can be brave for few minutes when
he is right in the line Of battle, and when
he looks and sees that nobody else runs


1t is comparatively easy to do that and
be shot down at the post of glory. 1t is
comparatively easy to die for a principle
But it is mighty hard to live Tor it. 1t is
hard work to get up at o'clock in the
| morning and work until the sun goes
down, and do that for life.


! say we spent all this money, and we
had what they call prosperity, and while
that was going on the young men left the
farms, and said they didn't want to be
farmers They said "We won't farm it,


we will go to the city" Every man that
could get $500 worth of goods on trust
became merchant. They wanted to be
dentists, lawyers, doctors - something 9
there was no work in. When they could
not do that they would start an insur


ance association. Then they sent their
agents all over the country to get your
property insured, to get your life insured,
and every moment you would have a pic
ture OF a coffin thrust in your face to see
! If you wouldn't insure. And those agents
would come and sit down by you and
talk about your last struggle with that
monster-death. They got a certain
share OF the premium; and they insured
any body. They insured consumption in
is last hemorrhage. and the money flow


ed into the society AS soon as the iel


lows began to die the company closed its
doors. Then they had fire insurance
companies. The agents OF these also had
share in the premiums, and tell you
| Niltt1 lpi SlA, e!SJl OF ten years tHFy WOulIi
have insured an iceberg IN perditiOn -
Then the merchants filled all the cars
and all the hotels and bars with runners
and drummers. Every man that you met


had three carpet-sacks filled with sam


pies. And in the meantime we had the


bankrupt law, SO that every man who
couldn't pay his debts might take the


benefit OF this law. Then it all went to


the clerks, &c, OF the courts. l never


heard OF any body getting more than 3


per cent any claim in my lite.


All at once-in lS73-there came a
crash, and the brother that had staid at


home and worked on the farm saw in the


paper that his brother, who was presi


dent OF life insurance company, was q


vagrant and vagabond. He read, too


that the railroad had failed, and that ii


was IN the hands OF a receiver, and tina,
its bonds were as worthless as the frs