| Show hard times and their remedy two twobushiessmen business men one day met a friend who WAS not a business man aa ats aly lie he lle ile approached d one of the two said to the other 4clet iclet let us obtain his views concerning in the depression of business agich wgich which is n now ow creating such sueh buch suela bai bad hai hard bard times he lie lle ile ia is not himself entangled in business he be is a disinterested outsider an impartial observer erom prom from his broad outlook over men and events unbiassed unbias sed by interest in in any one absorbing subject his candid judgment of the general difficulty ia is more likely to be correct than thanoursweare our we are so tied down to a narrow view of our personal interests I 1 the tho inquiry wasi wash made the reply was substantially as follows there is much suffering suf sui nering rering in this country as every one ono is aware and for the general misfortune many remedies are prope proposed sed bed which ignore the cause E everybody very body is looking ahead for relief without looking back to discover the true origin of the hard times and to ascertain from that the sure correction for them I 1 this country was never more prospe prosperous prospesuus prospeous uus ous really than now the only onlyn anlyn D ed eliisa eulisa Is a clear perception of its act lal tal lai ial rai condition and tho adaptation of its forces to this condition t tii til remedy I 1 shall propose is a pieus pieub plesi&iut n t one as this suffering country is not really ill but remarkably well and the very evils which seem so heavy are the best indication of its heave thrif thrift t its it prodigious vitality according to my diagnosis of the case and andi andl anai I 1 think you sou will agree with me the condition of affairs Is i s this vast numbers of men are out of employment they are consuming areconsum19 and not producing they desire work but there is no work fo for them every branch of industry is full and overflowing there is a glut of every product waiting to be consumed excessive accumulation had been growing for years until it culminated in the fall of 187 1873 1 I since then labor has been reduced to the gauge of necessity over production no longer goes on and many thousand men are now without work their work ia Is not needed but they need P woik voik volk for they need wa waes wages es to obtain the necessaries es of life lite ilfe everything produced duced deuced is produced in abundance by the workers now employed and the accumulation of an immense I 1 overproduction dver over production continues on hand what is the cause of this appareni appareti app apparent areni evil labor saving inventions one man does the workof dorkof work of many dien lien men a few years ago the rapid increase in production has filled the world with goods for which there is no demand yet many persons are destitute and cannot obtain them fol foi they cannot obtain work to earn money to buy them trade is thereby a little reduced trade an apprehends preh ends disaster and practlss practises practices strict economy itself thus diminishing other business and so all business decreases the tho unemployed saufl sufl suffer er with too little to eat and not clothes enough to wear while stores and warehouses warehouc les ses are piled to their highest with surplus goods there is over production and under consumption the tho lat at ter the result of the former want of employment is the one great affliction under which this country is now suffering the difference between gold and paper for money is not a feathers weight in importance compared with it common sense indicates and experience proves that so long as the people are honest it makes little differ ence fence fenee encewhat what medium of exchange is ii in use among them common to them all and fixed at a certain amount the nation hasgold fasgold has gold as tlibmeditim tho medium of exchange in california fornia and paper elsewhere and dai Sai dal failures lures and panics everywhere fam ftm among nig fig knavesaud knaves knave and saud sand the unfortunate however mcever mwever preferable gold may be to paper money speclepayment specie payment is not me the lne great need of this time but employment for the unemployed they are aro pointed to the unoccupied lands of tho the west but their services are not required there the people already in the west are sending east enough agricultural ri products for all where shall the unemployed thousands goal go europe is full there is overproduction with the inconvenience and apparent evil of such a burfelt surfeit urfelt ur delt felt deit throughout the tho civilized nworld world unworld what shall the unemployed unem anem i oy 1 do shall they starve pr they h e cannot live without the means to live shall they st ealor shall they be encouraged to exert a better influence upon the world by being furnished with work wages the means of usefulness instead of degradation ra month after month year after yearthe yeartie ye year arthe the great idleness continues the army of the unemployed is increasing in numbers the amount of work they would do and wish to do is not done is jost forever a great stream of waste no adequate measures are taken to utilize this labor to prevent this needless suffering to end this painful condition of unwilling idleness labor which would make an enormous showing if performed is not performed and the whole nation feels the loss as well as the unemployed laborsaving labor saving inventions increase in number as tbeyshould they should laborers diminish in innumberforced numberforced number forced out into idleness to avoid a still greater over production and no new great enterprises are engag edgag engaged d in although to establish them is clearly the remedy for the condition ef ur over production in the existing industries the unemployed groan with the hard tlmesiand timesaud tim esaud practise rigid economy from necessity their example is contagious till even wealth complains of hard times talks of the panic pania of two years ago mistakes the real pause of the trouble feels wary reduces its expenditures pinching everywhere pinching its own nose off by refusing with its money to help relieve the oppression of over production to revive the activity of business capital hugs its hoarded treasures tighter instead of boldly and sagaciously and manfully launching out into new now enteiprises enterprises to aid in restoring the equilibrium by givi civi giving ng employment to the unemployed the superficial among the jour nals treat the matter in the same narrow way fall to analyze the tho difficulty and understand it but in bewilderment yield totie tothe to the general spirit urging the contraction of all industries cautioning their municipal governments and state governments ern ments and national governments against employing too many men and thus spending too much money for now times are hard instead instead of seeking to remove the cause of the tho continued hard times they advocate a harder barder harden barden use of the tightening bands and remorseless screws which make times hard corporations discharge all the employees they can dispense with and cut down the wages of all they retain I 1 because times are hard and this is their method of helping to make times easler easier ensler easler easier wherever there is an opportunity for a firm to get along with ope opo one ono man less in their employ they discharge one turning him out to tolielp help heip swell tho the legion of the unemployed sympathetically hoping that some timesome tiresome tim esome how howy times will be easier than now public works are neglected left ae 1e ft unfinished new ones are postponed for times are hard and therefore fewer men must be employed this is economy political economy economyl economys econom yl when a calamity come comer comes add to it when distress prevails inereme increase it this is the statesmanship of the time this is the public and private policy now purs pursued ued aed throughout this thisceun coun try every one talks of the hard bard times and almost every one strives to the best of his ability to make times harder and aud so the trouble goes onbecoming becoming unbecoming on worse and worse with no prospect of relief so long as labor continues devoted solely to the limited industries now existing with the certainty that the distress will not only grow but will become chronic and will develop the hideous issue belonging to ton toa a chronic com compaint compaiufc compaine paint the drift is steady in thatdlrection that direction and if not soon averted by the beginning of new enterprises everywhere to furnish employment to the unemployed hi the legitimate outcome of i this chronic idleness by wholesale will bo be deplorable what desperate efforts the astute politicians are making to discover in their political opponents the cause of the present business depression democrats arraign the republicans republican and republicans censure the democrats hard money inflates and denounces soft money paper money belittles goldthe gold the outs and the ins dispute over the most puerile questions for there is nothing of any importance between them all are groping in the dark searching in vain vuln valn for a worthy issue prating of imperfect administration while human nature is imperfect looking everywhere but in the right right direction to discern the plain cause of the business depression neither keither hard money nor soft money nor the maladministration which is so harped upon nor any of the subjects of political controversy at this time has anything whatever to do with the great af at flictionwantof employment which of late year has so diminished the current of business the fault is notin not in the republican theory of government ern ment or the democratic theory of government the diffie diftr diffi i lly ily y i not theoretical but practical 11 t hf j question is an industrial question In estion and the difference between redub l licani licali iicauism sm and democracy has had no bearing upon it yet the existing hard timea timp 11vhen rhen ahen vhen rightly understood are evidene eviden evident e of unwonted prosperity suddenly checked when a prominent firm finni overreaches itself and its break apps the whole business world in tb the panic which ensues labor is thoughtlessly pinched anl an ani aal I 1 unmercifully hurt labor pineles plnuies pinc iea lea ies in return and the contiuued contivued continued mutua inutual futua pinching produces the continued mutual suffering suu ehing ering A change of course courge is the remedy the only cure for inactive inactiv iuactijlj ay is activity if one man acciden accidee accidentally tally taily breaks his leg it is no reason wh why all men should hould be paralyzed with fear and hesitate to move mova lest they them too should break their legs I 1 i two years ago last fall in 1873 18733 i when this country v6s was vs thrivin therivin thriving g as it had never thriven before before jay cooke & co made a ml mis mia mls s step tumbled broke their financial fi legs and in falling dragged a few others with them what did the country do help them up as californians lift their fallen comrade comrad e7 ea no every one stood still expecting paralysis and the pulse of business has never beaten vith with vilh its normal impulse since the thewantofcon want of confidence continues abandoned enterprises terp rises remain untouched business ine lne men expect to fall and they will fail and continue to fail if capitalists ita lists are not soon led to bestir themselves employ labor and thus put in eirculatioii circulation money the circulation cu of which ofwhicb and not a change in its material gives life to trade inactivity and apprehension will accomplish nothing unless enterprise ter prise is dead tho the world is to go oa oil if enterprise ia is dead what a rare power heaven vouchsafed to jay cooke to be able to put an end to the progress of mankind with the rapid increase of laborsaving machinery it is perfectly clear that the scope of labor must be enlarged in order to utilize the labor which is forced out t to 0 seek slek segu other employment new enterprises everywhere must be begun or serious results re&ults will inevitably ensue from so much restive idlene idleness sg and desperate poverty the con st ruction of great parks the enlargement lar of water works any an and d every work which is directly useful ful fui will prove indirectly d1so diso daso a blessing if useful enterprises arenotbe are not begun projects pr ejects of doubtful import will arise and will be carried forward A war would employ the surplus labor and revive trade bu but t an unnecessary war leaves nothing to show for ii it afterwards but itiln mini itile construction ia is better than destruction st struc tiou tion whichever form ofativ 0fr ta t1 V ity is inaugurated at thisjuri thisjunn this junn t r will brisk brisklyrdgefor lyragefor every cond comi t io iju a is favor favorable tible lioney aloney in abundance is lying idle menin menin abundance are idle they are anxiously waiting for something to do the extra work now being performed in philadelphia in preparing for the centennial exhibition is but a drop in the bucket wo we have forty millions lionsofpeople of people canaclaalongs4de canada alongside is rioting to obtain bread canada has gold but canada wa wants nts ants employment california has gold but california suffers likewise to continue the existing narrow policy concerning industry would be to blast this country as some european countries have been blasted with roaming hordes of ofunprin anprin alprin ci cipled cipley I 1 ed idlers human vultures full M fledged Z ed outlaws irredeemable bandits their sava savagery tery intensified by the savage bavage indian climate the only safeguard against that grizzly play of idleness is a speedy return to the normal condition of industry ofludustry with its steady growth beginning with an immediate enlargement from the present contracted sphere of labor to its fullest scope and this will include ii cledt cludt new enterprises for the realm of industry naturally enlarges A general business confidence a general resumption of industrial activity in all its branches will cause a generalrevlval general revival of trade and general prosperity it is so great greata a work that no one man can do it however enterpris ellterpris enterprise j ing no one corporation no one St ateno stateno stabeno state no one portionof portion fortion of thecoun theroun the country trycan grycan can remove adifficultywhich a difficulty which ramifies the whole it ia is a general depression into wb which ich the wheels of business and labor have sunk and they can only be started again into brisk activity by a general movement every man putting his 1 shoulder to tho wheel ap no one man man alone can shirt etarfc slirt those gigantic r whvels whyejs wheels and as fir fit nir lancial financial ruin w would ould ouid quie quickly I 1 kly kiy come upon any one man or one set of men inen who might make the attempt the national government mentstbeinstrumentality ssthejnstrumcntality through which the move should be inaugurated let government with its vast facilities launch out boldly in the direction of the enlar eniar enlargeme enlargement geme nt of industry the profitable employment of famishing labor and the movement will be begun nothing will be lost everything will be gained letgovernmodtsettheex let government set the example by filling its workshops itsworkshops and encouraging labor by liberal alpro albro appropriations for useful national aati onal onai enterprises in all parts of the country the apparent burden upon taxpayers will prove a re relief lef to taxpayers of the greaten greater burden they now bear in thee the form of eb charity aritY it will be the baying paying haying of taxes for an ec equivalent lui jui lul valent for work |
