smithclay/nortonstories huggingface dataset:
Year: 1877

1t is probable the falling off in the
purchase of foreign luxuries is due
mainly to spirit of economy that has
taken possession of all classes to a
greater or less extent.-Indian1 Far
ner.


We fail to see why the plain unvar-
nished poverty of the people should be
characterized as ECONOMY If to go


hungry and naked and live in novels


or sleep on the ground, be true econ


omy, then the multitude of tramps


that infest the country. are to be com.


mended for the practice of that great
virtue. This false economic notion
carried out to it's logical sequence
would resolve society into barbarism.
l-Indidnapotis Sun.


That's it. Reduce a country rapidly
}from great and universal prosperity
! to great and universal poverty. and
.lthen congratulate the starving multi
Nude on the fact that they don't eat as
llmuch as they used to! As if the
highest attainments of civilization
dwere an empty stomach. a ragged
Mback, and degraded intellect and
udejected spirit.
Year: 1877

One of the saddest things in the
world is to read the police reports of
the daily papers Of New York, Chi
cago or any other of our large cities.
There passes in review before us an
endless panorama of human degrade
ton and misery. This underworld,
lies spread out before us seething
mass of wtithing and str juggling
wretchedness, hideOus and revolving
= the INTERVIEWING balls Of worms
found in carrion. While we here,
ii country homes, breathe the sweet
air Of heaven; watching the play of
light and shade beneath the glorious
trees. or listening to the love songs OF


the birds; there in darkness and


loathsome alleys our common human


is found degraded lower than the


brutes Of the field.


Here are two horrible glimpses o1
this. Subterranean life, turned up by
the police of Chicago to the light Of
day:


There was one woman in this cour1
yesterday who has seen better days
Maggie Phillips. Once she was con
sidered q beauty, and her wardrobe
Year: 1877

the government s mints can grind;can
send you five millions tomorrow if
you send the cash for it, He will
not be in the slightest degree dis
turbed by this sort of isolated State
action.


A pretty subject for joke. The
people are taxed to pay the interest
on over twenty million dollars of gold
bonds, with which silver bullion was
bought, ard now John Sherman puts
his tongue in his cheek and is ready
to furnish five millions of dollars OF
silver if you send THE CASH for it. .
What is ssthe cash - Greenbacks.
The despised s'rag-babies,' ''the
lamp-black lies'' are worth more than
silver. Why! Because at the very
time John was flooding the country
with silver he assisted to have Con
gress demonetize it; so that it is to-
day worth less than greenbacks. And
now he says you can have all the silver
YOU want if you send ''the cash" fol
it.


And this is a financial pOlicv
Year: 1877

General Cary thus replies to re-
cent speech of General Sherman:


General Sherman, at the Wall street
greeting of de fdcto President Hayes
on Monday, made a remark which we
cannot let pass without comment. He
says: ''Destroy your army, and your
Government and you are a mob
This utterance called forth applause
from the Wall street gathering. l
pronounce this SANDER upon the
American people. Is this the educa-
sentiment promulgated by our Gen
eral, indorsed by subOrdinates and
cheered in Wall street! l protest
that the American are law abiding;
they need no bristling bayOnets of a
hireling soldiery to keep them in sub
lection or save the unprotected from
mob violence. General Sherman
very properly deprecates the destitute
condition of the 25 900 soldiers who,
by reason of Government neglect, are
penniless and their families houseless


Possibly the sentiment to which
have taken so much exception was ar
ebullition of passion provoked by the
criminal neglect of their wants. We
can say to the General that there are
millions of our citizens who are in a:
pitiable condition as our soldiers
Through the policy of his brother
John Sherman, and his political assO
ciates, millions are crying for bread
and the very fact that in the des pera
tion of want they have not been driver
to mob violence is proof that tn,
; Generals accusation is slander.
Year: 1877

credit" Now if this was my individual case,
and applied for council, and | should state
my case to q lawyer, he would say that comes
under the statutes offrauds, and you are not
obliged to pay, and if had plenty of money
to put in, these lawyers would, put on their
whole armor, including the bright trimmings,
and fight it out on that line, If it took until
sundown on the 18th Of June, but the people
have no money to put in, and Of course they
will be swindled.


AS for me, this child looks as repulsive as
ever, and am not going to father it; for to
except Chamberlain s proposition is direct
and have all the burden in the way of taxes
that l can carry now. If the question was
one Of exchanging the lands for the bonds
might say take then but, even that looks
like paying bounty on swindling. Some Of
my neighbors put in many hard days work
grading these old roads, and have never re-
ceived penny. Why not pay them? That
would be honorable. But no; that was for
work by humble farmer; he never will
make any noise about so small question of
| honor, as the pay for work; his business is to
accumulate wealth for others to enjoy; and
when he is ordered to kneel like the camel ]
and take one more load, on his already over
burdened back, why of course he will do it.
l find some are now ready to cave in, they
cannot stand the pressure, but there are few
old settlers, THAT are not afraid OF fire,) like
Shadrack, Meshak and Abednego, that will
not fall down.


To close will quote with little change, q
few words that find in large type, OH the
flap of this yellow shirt, Remember Tuesday
June 10Th, election day Payment R. R.
Bonds. Vote early, yours,


GEo G. CHAMBERLAIN,
Year: 1877

Secretary Sherman talks very freely
of his intention to bring about specie
payments on the day called for in the
act of Congress, and has no doubt
that it can be done unless antagonis-
tic measures shall be passed by Con-
gress, owing to a misapprehensiOn
among the people on the subject. He
hopes there will be no such interfer-
ence. He believes that the country
already had it's money down to a hard
money basis, or is SO near it that it
would be criminal to postpone the day
of specie resumption. With the pres
ent outlook he saw no difficulties SO
great that proper management could
not overcome them. The Secretary
intends to go on, steadily making his
preparations, and will sell bonds from
time to time, as he needs them, under
the provisions of the act.-Pioneer-
Press.
And all this in the face of the fact
that the price of gold has risen during
the last month from 104 to l07 and
that every day the newspapers con.
tain dispatches like this:
New YORK, May 15.-To-day's
steamer takes out $250,O0Oiin GOLD
coin. A like amount was withdrawn
to await tomorrow steamers, fol
which $5OO,0O0 have already beer
packed.


How specie resumption. which
means making gold and greenbacks o
the same value, is to be reached witt
gold steadily advancing, is zone o
those things which no fellow can fin
out"


Secretary Sherman cannot accom-


plish specie payments, but he can sti


further bankrupt the business men Q
, the country, and drive more and NOR
of the laboring class to starvation G


crime.


And for what
Year: 1877

The gentlemen, whose correspondence we
have been gratifed:to publish, in relation to
the old railroad bonds, have devoted their time
to establishing the fact that the bonds were
conceived in fraud and brought forth in
iniquity' This is all true; we have never
doubted the folly of the original bond scheme
or the dishonest intent of some who were
engaged in it. But this is not the real issue
in the case.


The bonds exist; they are State bonds; to
them is appended the signature Of the State
officers and the great seal of the common
wealth. No matter how clearly we may de-
monstrate the corrupt purposes of some OF
those who originated them, we do not thereby
destroy them. They will still continue to
exist with undiminished vitality. In five
years the bonds mature; they will then
amount to TEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND
THEY WILL BE PAID. In 1871 the State Senate
came within one vote of paying them without
submitting the proposition to the people.
Last winter the joint committee of the two
houses agreed at one time to enact the pending
proposition into law without submitting il
to the people Nothing but the conviction
that the people would vote afiirmatively mex
Tuesday prevented them from doing so. l
the people now defeat the pending proposition
we feel confident it is the last time they viii
ever have q chance to vote upon this ques
ton.


This is OUR reason for supporting the bill


And we moreover believe that there is grea
danger that some combination may, in tn
meantime be formed to sweep away the 500.
600 acres of land. This was done few year
ago and Gov Austin's veto alone prevente
the consummation of the conspiracy.


We have tried to give our readers the be:
ing proposition is voted down we believe til
tax payers will live to regret it as the create
possible mistake.
Year: 1877

Even in the land of gold where many


millions of the glittering metals are


annually dug out Of the earth, where


the miners are all sinfationists, and


there is no limit to the amount of
currency save the yield of the mines,


the people are now turning to the


greenback currency and the Indepen-
dent party. They find that theirlgold


goes out of the State as fast as it is


mined, like their wheat and wool and


fruit, it is simply commercial arti-
Gle of export. They are suffering
from hard times and hence we read:
"a recent communication in the
columns of the Sacramento Bee con-
tains the following: A new political
party in this State is about springing
into life. 1t is called the National
Currency party of the State of Cali.
| fornia. a platform has recently been


adopted by its State Central Commit.
tee at meeting in Oakland. It is pro.
posed to call State Convention to


perfect an organization which will
formulate issues to become the dis
tinctive features of the new party


its principles no doubt. will, in the


main, correspond to those which have


been adopted by the National party


called 1.-The Greenback Party" The
advocates of this new system are very


sanguine of success at the next gen
eral election. It cannot be denied


that this question has already enlisted
the favorable consideration of som,
of the best thinkers of our nation
The legislation necessary to regulat,


money to the needs of the people, ant
protect it in the performance o
| its legitimate functions. is a subjec
that deeply interests every citizen
And all persons who think there j
Ineed Of reform in the finances of on
Year: 1877

and turnout were on par with any IN
the city in point of splendor. She
had her parlors, which were equal to
any. and wine was hcr beverage. On
Sunday she got beastlv drunk and
went shouting through the streets
like an infuriated thing. She at
tempted to whip the officer, and was
brought to the station with much
difficulty. It was the first time in
her whole life as a prostitute that
she was ever arrested. Her appear
ance in every way indicated that she
had passed into that secondary state
Of prostitution which is the inevitable
course to speedy ruin. When her
fine was announced she took heavy
and elegant chain from her neck and
cast it upon the clerks desk with the
defiant look Of a queen. ''Take that,
she said, and keep it until pay that
fine. You haven't got me in there
yet, pointing to the bull-pen, and
picking up her skirts she moved out
Of the court.


There was another poor, unfOrtu-
nate woman, who came in from the
streets Of her own accord. She had
fallen so low and SO far that the police
on their raids had neglected her, and
refused to pick her up. She came and
laid her head upon the railing in front
of the court, and cried as sincerely as
child in it's first grief, she said she
had been to the county agent, and he
had turned away. And she had no
place on the face Of the earth she
could call home, or go to. Besides
she was the victim of loathsome
disease, for which she had received nc
attention for over a month. There


was not an officer to say harsh wore
to her, and the justice spoke to the


stricken thing very tenderly. HI


could do nothing but send her to th'


bridewell, but he would do that Onl.


at her own request. She said it wa


the only place she supposed tha


would receivd her, and she went ava,


as perfect picture Of downright


wretchedness as man will ever Sc


in hell, provided there is hell, and i


hath such pictures as Dante said i


had. And so on, these pictures Q


misery and tatters and curious fes


lures went on and on in this cOu1
nearly all day long and when a ma
: came out from them into the sunshin
it seemed dim and llustreless.
Year: 1877

This morning on the corner OF Court
and Mound streets a large black dog ran
against Mrs. Thomas Asbury, an aged
lady, thereby tripping her into the gut
ter, the result Of which was a fractured
hip. She was removed to her home, No.
4j Wesleyan avenue, where she received
medical treatment. Arrest the dog.
Year: 1877

Deputy Sheriff joe MAoFes returned this
morning from the Lancaster Reform
School, to which place he had taken two
boys. There are at present five hundred
and forty-seven boys in the institution.
A handsome organ, costing $4,000, is to
be placed in the cosy little chapel Of the
school.
Year: 1877

The police of New York often permit
crime to 90 unpunished, and notorious
offenders pass them unchallenged every day.
Gambling houses and dens of thieves and
other places of infamy which they know to
exist are unmolested, but they can find
time to arrest in the name of the law little
children whose only offence is the effort to
earn an honest living The arrest Of little
Katie Nagle and Polly Walsh. reported in
our columns yesterday, is an outrage which
cannot be too severely condemned. These
children were employed in sweeping the
muddy crossings and committed the awful
crime of accepting pennies from kind
hearted pedestrians. They were not beggars,
but were really doing q service to the pub
lic The police force cannot clean the streets
and appear resolved that nobody else shall
clean them. When the children were taken
before Justice Kilbreth he ordered them to
be sent to the House of Refuge-another
insult to the common sense Of the COM
munity. The indignation Of persons in
the court room probably informed him
that he was making grave mistake, and,
fortunately for himself, he rescinded the
order. In q city where there is so much
professional mendicancy and so many i'm
posters, both young and old, and so much
untold suffering to the poor, every child
who tries to earn pittanco deserves to be
honored, not to he treated as felon. The
teachings of the Master, ''Suffer little chill
dren to come unto me, and forbid them
not" should soften the hearts of all who
profess to follow His example.
Year: 1877

for if any question was decided by the
Presidential election it was the currency
question. Both candidates are rigorous ana
pronounced hard money men, and which
ever is declared elected the whole influence
of the next administration will be exerted
to hasten specie payments. The next House
of Representatives will have strong hard
money majority, and it is useless for the IN
Hationists to make any further fight against
the inevitable. AS the currency can be put
on a sound basis with less disturbance OF
values now than at any future time we see
no reason why the hard money men OF the
present House should not be true to their
convictions and cordially assist in taking
advantage of the rising tide.
Year: 1877

BY the dispatches from London 1T may
be seen that the great amalgamation pro-
ject does not sweep all before it. From
present appearances there is in the direc-
ton of the cable company some security
against the creation of great cable monopoly
through the absorption of the last company
formed by the great combination OF capital
that has hitherto consolidated into one all
other companies. Probably the projectors
of the amalgamation did not hope to
carry their scheme Immediately, and
they seem to have secured some success
in the suppression of the results ofthe meet
ing held yesterday. There seems, from the
tenor of the despatch, no doubt that the
result was against them; yet the exact vote
will not be made public till next week. In
case they had discovered in the vote that
they were opposed from quarter where
they did not expect opposition, and where
they believed they could overcome it in a
day or two. secrecy would be in their inter-
est for men published as on one side would
be with more difficulty moved to the other
side. There are probably, therefore, some
feeble elements in the vote against amalga-
nation.
Year: 1877

The country awaits with lively interest
the forthcoming Message of President
Grant, in which he will urge the i'm
portance and suggest the methods of
an immediate return to specie payments.


We are so very near to that result
by tho present low price of gold, the
final step is so safe and easy, the expected
revival of business renders it SO necessary,
that it would be deplorable to let this oppor-
tunity pass without improvingit. We believe
that such measure as will be recon-
mended by the President might easily pass
the Senate, and there is no good reason why
it should not also pass the House. The
Senate has large and stable hard money
majority, and its members are intelligent
enough to appreciate the present great and
unexpected opportunity for the immediate
realization of their wishes. The compost
ton of the House is not so favorable, but
the hard money democrats and hard
money republicans make majority.
Ouite o. number of the democrats who
voted Mt the last session for n repeal
of the Resumption act voted against their
convictions with view to strengthen their
party among the Western inflationists in the
Presidential canvass. That motive for
shutting no longer exists. Even tho West
ern inflationists cannot expect to postpone
return to specie Tor any length of time:
Year: 1877

The project for uniting Wards and Ran
dall's islands by filling up the dividing
channel known MS Little He'll Gate is one
to which no reasonable objection can be
made The relation of this narrow and
rock-obstructed passage to the commercial
future of the upper East River is without
importance, because it cannot be used with
any degree of safety except by small fishing
sloops, and by these only at high tide. AS
a factor in the generation of local currents
the influence of the channel is detrimental
to the navigation of the Harlem River
and the East River north of He'll Gate,
but more particularly to that of the for
mer The ebb current of the main channel
is divided at the ssSunken Meadow" and a
part of the flow is diverted into Little He'll
Gate, finding its way into the Harlem, where
it meets with the regular current of that
channel and produces an eddy that favors
the formation of deposits along the shore
The food current in the Harlem is also
divided at the upper end of Little He'll Gate
and part flows into the East River, causing
eddies and deposits in the vicinity of
ssSunken Meadow" Indeed, to the cur
rents through Little He'll Gate the formation
of the last named marshy island is largely
DUE The effect of closing this useless pas
sage will be to increase somewhat the scoul
in the Harlem River as far as the north
end of Randall's Island and in the channel
dividing that island from the mainland.
Much will depend, however, on the manner
in which the filling in is carried on. wall
should be first built across each end of the
passage, so that the filling would not be
swept by the tidal currents into the chan
nels of the Harlem and East rivers. Once
such work was completed no further
trouble would present itself 1t is certain
that General Newton will see that the opera
tions are carried out without detriment to
the interests of navigation.
Year: 1877




Mr.. Fields opening argument yesterday
was wholly directed to one point, point of
vital consequence to the democratic case,
not only in Florida, which is now under
discussion, but in Louisiana as we'll. The
drift and aim Of his reasoning was to show
that the certificate of Governor Stearns
cannot bind the judgment of the
commission, but that.it is their duty to lis
ten to the evidence by which the objectors
offer to prove that the certificate is false.
The introduction of this argument at this
stage of the proceedings will bring one OF
the most important inquiries connected with
the duties of the commission to an immedi-
ate focus. 1t must be observed that the hinge
Of the argument is the right of the objectors
to introduce evidence which goes behind the
certificate with view to prove it false.
Now, the permission to introduce such evil
dence would imply decision by the tri-
bunal that it has authority to go behind the
certificate, for such proofs would be irrele-
want if the certificate is conclusive. 1t
would be absurd to admit evidence which is
pertinent to no issue which the COM
mission has authority to decide. If the Ger
tificate of the Governor is conclusive there
is an end Of the controversy, and the COM
mission has nothing to do beyond deciding
this point. But if it consents to hear evil
dence which goes behind tho certificate it
thereby decides that the certificate cannot
stand against proofs that it is fraudulent,
and that the judgment must finally
rest on the sufficiency Of those proofs,
and not on the certificate. Such de-
cision would be a great point gained
by the democrats, as it would open
the door to all competent and peril
Judgment ON the real merits of tho case.
The point would then be not what the Gov
ernor certified or what the canvassing board
declared, but which electors received a
majority of legal votes on the 7th
of November. Mr.. Field maintains
that the commission has the same
powers which the Supreme Court would
possess under a writ Of quo warranto, if that
method Of proceeding had been provided for
by law If this be tenable position the
commission has full authority to ascertain
the truth, and to admit any evidence which
will assist it in determining which set Of
electors received majority Of votes on the
day fixed by law for eirappointment. Ifthe
commission accepts this theory of it's duties
the chances will be very favorable to the
democratic claims. If the vote of Florida
should be given to Tilden that would bring
q substantial end to the controversy, for
his election would then be secure,
whatever decision might be reached
respecting the other doubtful States.
But if, on the other hand, the COM
mission should decide that it has no
authority to receive evidence against the
validity of a Governors certificate, the cleo.
ton will be equally decided in favor of Til
den, though in different way. The certiti-
cate of the Governor Of Oregon must then
be held to be valid, which would give Mr..
Tilden the one additional vote which he
needs to secure his election.