Year: 1878

it, in the payment Of the cost Of a
building dedicated to the worship of
Almighty God And the subject
which | have been asked to discuss
before you is not inconsistent with
such an object, for it relates very i'm
portantly to our daily duties as citi-
zens and this, too, in government in
which the sovereign power is lodged in
the majority Of the people under a
system Of suffrage almost universal
Duty to God and duty to ones neigh
bors are finseperable, and constant at
tention and an intelligent interest in
public affairs is the essential duty Of
every American citizen. The subject
which has been selected for me is vast
and important. 1t cannot be stated
or discussed in a single breath. 1t
must be viewed from many standpoints
and in the end any definition will be
found incomplete and any remedy
must be found rather in general prin-
ciple than limited by specific acts.
The present depressed condition of
property and business in our country
and the proper remedies to restore
hopefulness and prosperity to our peo-
ple-I need scarcely say to you that
upon such a topic it would be most
unworthy and unbeftting for any man
to approach it in the. feeling of a par
tisan, especially on an occasion like
this Therefore | shall treat this sub
ject as a citizen, without the least in
tention to bestow praise or blame in
any direction, that the name of either
Of the political parties into which this
country has been divided shall not
even have mention by my lips. 1t is
so clear and plain that the evils Of bad
government or the benefits and bless
ings of good government cannot be re-
stricted to any class or party, or sec
ton Of our land. only wish to state
the truth as see it, and lay down, as
far as my experience and opportunities
permit, pathway back to prosperity
and happiness for all our people. IN
der the force of modern invention of
steam and telegraphic communication
the great family of nations all over
the world are drawn closer and closer
together and becoming almost daily
more and more mutually affected by
the condition of each. In other words,
the prosperity and welfare Of any one
of the nations of the world is becoming
more and more dependent upon the
prosperity and welfare of every other.
1t is short sighted view that would
suppose any permanent advantage can
come to any one nation through the
misfortunest or losses Of another. tits
true that vast war in Europe takes
from the people Of the country where
it occurs their useful labor and con-
verts it into destruction instead Of pro-
duction. So we, here, at peace, find
better markets for those commodities
which the industries of our people
have produced, but, in the end, the
gain is not permanent. So much of
value has been taken out of the world
by war and waste and, finally, is to be
subtracted from the sum total in which
we are all concerned.


There is distress and depression all
over the continent Of Europe, and
among those nations with whom we
are most intimately connected by our
commerce and in our exchanges.
attribute much Of this present depres-
sion to the cost and excitement atten-
dant upon the war and preparations
for war, upon the maintenance of vast
military establishments which drain
the resources of these countries and
render them less able to purchase.
All this is visible in Germany, in Rus
sia, in Austria, in England, in France;
or, if France be possibly an exception,
| Cwdich | doubt the reason must be
found in the peculiar industrial inge-
nuity and close economies of her peo-
pie as well as in the great wisdom
displayed ia the management of her
finances. Ilr our own land there are
additional causes which are confined
to ourselves. There is law of natur-
al philosophy BY which reaction will
inevitably succeed perturbation; and,
in the moral world as in the physical,
the pendulum of excitement will swing
back upon the opposite side just so far
as originally disturbed from the cen
tire


The wild and terrific excitement
which convulsed this whole land from
centre to circumference, the dreadful,
sanguinary and costly war which
ragged from 1861 to 1865, would of
itself, in the nature Of things, have
been succeeded in the ordinary course
Of events by an era of reaction and
depression. And, moreover, this was
not foreign war. There was no in
demnity to be gained such as Ger
many extorted from France, no new
provinces, but it was between sections
Of our own country. A war in which
every victory was one from our own
people, so that in a pecuniary sense
there was, in victory or defeat, the
same inevitable results Of loss Of
money, loss of labor, men and proper
ty. Let me read you a few words
from the financial history of the war
by Mr. Spaulding in 1869, after he
had retired from Congress. He had
been chairman of the subj Committee
of Ways and Means Of the House Of
Representatives during the war.


The withdrawal of such large number of
youthful laboring men into vast army of
unproductive labor and the mistake made in
the orer-issue Of. paper currency so inflated
prices as to materially increase the expenses
ofthe war. . The demand for money
was wholly unprecedent; nothing ever re-
corded in history equalled this demand, and
! it reached TO such overwhelming amounts
that the careful observer must look back with
amazeuent that the Government was able TO
pass through such crisis.


The authorization of loan of 5000, ,O0O, 900
! in one act and an increase ofthe public debt
in one year of over S94e, OOO, 900, over and
above customs, duties and internal taxes are
matters of history The amount of the issue
/ of paper cur. ency and temporary obligations
was almost appalling. Considerably over
| \ -