Year: 1878

The other day / saw in the Public
Ledger Of Philadelphia, statement Of
an agent who had been sent by Phila-
delphia manufacturers and merchants
to South America to see whether he
could not find out and open up an
avenue of trade and exchange between
Philadelphia and South American COM
munities. He wrote from Valparaiso,
where he found a man actively en-
gagged in constructing railroads and
operating them in conjunction with
his mines Of copper and other ores.
This man said he wanted number of
steam locomotives that he preferred
American locomotives to the English,
and that they were better; but, said
he, l have not the money to pay, but
1 will give you commodities. If,
therefore, you will let me pay you with
a fair equivalent in copper ores / will
take half a dozen locomotives. The
answer was, what can we get for cop
per ores in Philadelphia? They were
met right at the port Of entry with
such tax that no American could un-
dertake to pay it and sell his copper
at remunerative rate. The conse-
quence was they could not take his
ore; the man had the ore and would
sell the ore, but the American could
not buy it !; the laws Of his country
prevented him from bringing that ore
to this country, and so it went to Eng
land, where there. was no duty on it,
and they smelted it. Certain it is that
these locomotives which would have
employed a large number of skillful
workmen, which would have given
reward both to the man with the capi-
tai and the man with the labor, were
denied to Philadelphia. Therefore, [
think it is time for our people to take
broad view just view, my friends;
an essential view of the subject.


Sometimes we say that a proposition
is "like the handle Of a jug, all on one
side" but | never heard any one say
that was the bargain he wanted to
make when the handle was in some
other fellows hand. Another cause
Of depression is to be found in the
enormous outlay in extended lines of
railroads built, in advance of any
trade possibly to support them, through
regions of country scantily populated,
which has given rise to wild specula-
tions of almost every character and
which have necessarily come down
with crash, burying bond and stock
holders in utter ruin and throwing
large bodies of laboring men out of
employment.


There is another matter | consider
more important than all, and which,
more than any other single cause, ere
ates and continues the present stagna-
ton and depression. in enterprise, in
the employment of the labor and, of
course, in the employment Of the cap
ital-I mean the uncertain and disor-
dered condition of our money. ''The
money of country" as Mr.. Calhoun
once said, and was quoted approvingly
by Mr.. Webster, "is. the life-blood Of
the political body" In the first. year
Of the war those who had charge of
the government, to use the language
Of Mr.. Spaulding, the historian, made
material departures from sound polit-
ical economy" They resorted to the
issue of treasury notes by the Govern
ment which although upon their face
were payable upon demand yet ac-
tually were, and still are, not payable
at ali-irredeemable. That currency
was not real money; it had no value
IN itself, nor did it represent anything.
that had peeuniary value; no COM
modify Of any kind was represented
by these Treasury notes; they had
back of them simply the honor and
credit of our government. They we're
issued in reckless abundance, and were
for some time, according to the printed
terms on them, made convertible into
the interest-bearing bonds Of the Gov
ernment. That was the case Of the