Year: 1873

No paper in the Union has labored
more untiringly or unscrupulously than
the Chicago Tribune the leading and
nosiest Liberal organ of the Northwest,
to influence the minds of Western farmers
against the railroads of the country, and
to bring about the panic which has in
volved so many of them, and so many OF
the enterprising business men OF the
country, in a common ruin. 1t has waged
a bitter and relentless war upon railroads
as dangerous monopolies, the power of
which must be utterly destroyed. 1t has
ridiculed the opinions of those papers
which predicted that its efforts to fan the
flame of discomfort against railroads. and
its recommendation that large part of
the capital in them be confscated, would
produce just such results as have follow
ed. But it is now convicting itself of the
grossest stupidity, dishonesty, and incon-
sistency, by confessing all that was ever
charged against it. In its own columns,
as we see from an article before us, it is
stated that at the beginning of the panic
eight Illinois railways were engaged in
important works of construction, which
would have Facilitated transportation,
rendered travel safer, and living cheaper"
but which now cannot be carried out
The Lake Shore and Michigan Central
were laying double tracks, mainly of
steel, to facilitate the movement of our
excanges with the West. The Burling-
ton, Rock Island, Alton, and North
western were also putting down large
quantities of steel rails, and perfecting
their magnificent systems of roads. The
Illinois Central was assisting the South
ern Railroad Association to form an all
rail route between Chicago and New Or
leans, and several companies were en-
deavoring to bring coal much cheaper to
Chicago


According to the Tribunc'S own State
ment, men are being discharged by hun
dreds on their works, owing to the panic
it has done so much to create, wages cut
down, and the laboring classes in danger
of serious embarrassments for want of
employment. And it has the effrontery,
after all this mischief has been by its own
wicked course to explain that the cause
of this unfortunate condition of things is
the violent outcry' raised by certain in
dividuals, whom it does not now dis
tinctly point out, against the corpora
tions, and adds that prominent railroad
men foresaw the crisis, but were power
less to avert it, because 'only the hoarse
cry, down with monopolies could gain
the popular ear" "The multitude caught
up the shout, and, accompanying it with
fierce demonstrations. sent it across the
sea, until capitalists, who were ready and
able to advance the money the West
needs and must have for its development,
shrank from touching securities which
the ambition OF demagogues could at any
moment render valueless"


When public counsellor in one month
loudly demands contiscation, and the
next refers to its own demand as the
"hoarse cry of demagogue,' and to
prove it insists on the very arguments it
ridiculed a month before, we can hardly
wonder at the wild language of those
whom he advises. This whole thing is
the result of efforts by such demagogues
as the Tribune men to create an excite
ment among FARMERS which might result
in a combination that could be used for
destroying the supremacy OF the Repub-
lican party and throwing the control of
the Government once more into the
hands of the Democracy, for that can
be its only political result But the f.
nancial disaster it has brought upon the
country has alarmed the demagogues who
started the ball, and now they turn upon
and bite themselves like some serpents
we read OF.