Year: 1876




from the gigantic stimulus produced
by the great war.


Well, the question will come up
"Why is it, if there was SO mucl
money, and if the Government Great
ed it so easily, that men now have 81
little of it?" l do not know as yo,
have but little here; but down with
us everybody has but tlittle-ort thinks
he has but little. One naturally
says, "You say there were Thousand
two thousand, three thousand, foul
thousand millions of dollars set afloat
what became of it," 1t entered into
industry, and formed the operating
capital of myriads of men. "Well
what became of it? Why is 1t no
the operating capital of myriads o.
men to-day? Why does it not still
vitalize commerce, as the blood vital
ICES the body through which it cir
culates. That is the question"


| Now, a vast amount of property
which was created by that money
was destroyed. Throughout the
South, great quantities of property
was utterly annihilated. Before the
war, the South always lay at the
breast of the North, and drew its
milk, and the North always had
enough and to spare. They were
the customers of the North. They
purchased from the North the materi.
ais with which to build houses and
colleges and churches, and with
which to furnish them, and articles
of clothing and food, and what not:
and when the war came on, they
spent for rifles and cannons and pow.
der, the money which they used to
send to the North. And it is a
matter of graduation that they prov
ed themselves to be so resolute as
they did. There never was braver
people, or one whom we might feel
more proud to call members Of our
Union, than those men. They held
out till their property had well nigh
disappeared. But they had been
large consumers of the products of
the Northern states, and in mo-
mcnt they no longer wanted the
manufactured articles of the North,
or they had no money to buy them
with, and a depression came upon
our industrial interests. Northern
men had the means with which to
manufacture, but they had no market
for their goods.


That is not all. Under the Won
drous stimulus which was produced
by the multiplication of money, and
the quickening of industry, the rail
road interest was increased in this
country to an unparalleled extent
The great roads from ocean to ocean
were built. Through every one of
the hundred or more counties of the
great State of Illinois | believe rail-
road runs; and throughout the West
and Northwest there was vast in
crement of railroads. Many say that
the roads were extended far beyond
the requirements of business; but
there is not railroad in the United
States that has not some business
The business of most of the roads is
to pay their debts And yet, there
is not a road in the United States
that is not worth keeping up and run
ming. The Illinois roads are all
transporting Illinois crops eastward,
and Eastern goods westward. But
you must recollect that these roads
were built at initiation prices.


Now, you all know that a house
which would have brought $4,000
ten years ago, would not to-day
bring more than $4,000 or $4,000
There has been a reduction of more
than fifty per cent There are these
roads with their ties, with their rails,
with their bridges, that cost SO and
so; and the only question is, "Wlll
they pay?" You have road that
cost you $4,000 a mile, and that you
could to-day build for $4,000, and
the $4,000 stands rs stock. The
consequence is that though men are
asking for dividends, dividends, there
are no dividends.


And so it is in regard to business
throughout the country. If you have
a time of great prosperity, and a
vast amount of machineryis created,
and the demand for the products of
this machinery ceases, partially or
entirely, you cannot get back the
capital you have invested. 1t rots-
is eaten up by decay as well as by
interest. So you will see all over
the rcactionary effect Of excessive
stimulation, excessive enterprise, ex-
cessive outlay of money in business;
and everybody must stop to get
breath, as everybody has run SO fast
as to get out of breath.


If you will call money blood, you
will have very fair figure by which
to illustrate this. A woman faints.
What happens? The nerve centers
no longer act upon the heart. The
circulation in her heart having stop
ped, it stops all over the body. But
she has not lost her heart nor her
head. She is as perfect ofiimb,and
as perfect within and without, as ev-
er; but the blood does not circulate.
Until it starts, there will be certain
paralyzation; but when it does start
everything will begin to come back
to its normal condition again.


Now, after the reaction from over
estimation has run long enough in
the community, there begins to be a
final and full settlement, through
which everybody is to be brought
even with everybody, either by pay
ment or bankruptcy; and one is as
good as the other-that is, as effectu-
al, though not SO relishful, often
times; and men know where they
stand again; and the blood begins to
circulate once more. 1t moves rath-
err slowly at first; the heart beats
teebly for while;but it throbs more
and more violently; and at last the
country becomes as sound rs ever.


There has been no lack of circu-
lating medium; but men would not
let it out. They were afraid to, be-
cause productive industries would
no longer pay. Therefore bus
mess stagnated, and workmen
had but little to do and but little to