#!iole No. 2544,
TKRM3 OF SUBSCRIPTION.
9\E DOLLAR PER AVAI U,
IN ADVANCE.
For six months, 75 cents.
tVli VP.-V subscriptions must be paid in
[;" the paper is continued, and net
*' vit ns tit ' first ui .nth, $1,25 will be charg
\ ~,i pul in three months, $1,50; if not
' . j.- six months, $1,75; and if not paid in
gi'ne lU'jnlhs. $2,00.
t y >vii' he discontinued at the expiration of
! a pud far, unless special request is made
■ i iirary or payment guaranteed by some
p.'prisible person here.
ADVERTISING.
Tea lines of minion, or their equivalent, con
ititate a vpure. Three insertions sl, and 25
cents for each subsequent insertion.
A NEW STOCK
OF
Cloths, Cassimeres
AND
VESTI NGS,
Has just been received at the Lewistown
Fnporiirm of Fashion, which will be made up
i)order by experienced workmen.
jrf*Gentiemen art requested to call.
WM. LIND.
Lewistown, April 21, 1859.
Jfinavcd to the Stand lately occupied by
Kennedy & Junkin.
BAHG-AIITSi
\ Year's Credit to Responsible
Men !
/V_ fK Th' 6 subscriber having now on
hand one of the best and largest
|
Pittsburgh, in order to accom
ilie J-' ies- t > the tunes, oilers for sale a
ci:.,.lete assort nent of
j.lic-. Harness, Bridfcs, Collars, Trunks,
nsius Hamcs, Valises, Carpet Bags,
je.■! .• - articles in his line, which will be
when purchases are made to the
i jlll or more, on the above terms for
j, i r>l p q.er.
V-ai.ng bis stock will be found some highly
; j sets ol light Harness equal to any man
,lectured.
Let al ! ;n want of good articles, made by ex
arienccd workmen, give him a call.
JOHN DAVIS.
Lewistown, April 7, 1859.
New Fall and Winter Goods.
J) Y. F.I.LIS, of the late firm of McCoy
[i, t Ellis, has just returned from the city
. eh- ice a>sor:uient of
Drv loods and GrocerieSj
. - ■.-are and purchased for cast),
• 1 to the public at a small ad
i'he stock of Dry Goods em-
s riptions of
aND winter goods
Ladies, Gentlemen and Children,
> new patterns, if is
£rocrrtr&
• • >ojpu\s, Molasses, Java, Itio
fee, Miperiur Teas, &c. Also,
- ii i - Queensware, and all other
■'O usually found in stores—all which
- oust mers of the late tirin and the public
' o'-n ral are invited to examine.
K. F. ELLIS.
St&'tish, Salt, Piaster and Coal always on
"and.
ontry Produce received as usual and the
- market price allowed therefor.
1 vist'-wn, Sept. 22, 1859.
CLOCKS, WATCHES,
-J yj- yy Llar-ST 1 <
Sil-So Wo IPASTOKTa
(Successor to M. Buoy,)
' - - .rcet. next door to the old stand, in
• i recently occupied by John A. Sterret,
has made large additions
to his stock of
forks, Watches, and
i(T\ Jewelry.
iU \ ~jfag He iias gold and silver
watches of every kind and
price, some of them of
' v -periou tiuish, and warranted A No. 1 ; a
Nueiui variety of
AJ Nyy C&3 LA J A?' y
• 6 breast pins, ear rings, finger rings,
| s cutf pins, watch guards, pens, pen
.' •pfvtaclea, and every other saleable article
" wtw lry, as well as a lot of
"tcaw liUtcO J2?arr.
'UU f et variety of FANCY ARTICLES.
A ii.'V- :Ct w '" be given to RE
• o clocks, watches, and jewelry, and
*^ k will be done promptly and warranted.
tt „ { ' " L ' f° r Hie patronage heretofore rr
i, r respectfully asks a continuance cf the
will endeavor to please ail who may
rh, °i with acali. novll
JNO. R. WEEKES,
„ Justice of the Peace,
stuornrr s: icurUrgor,
| b\\ Market street, Lewistown, next
to Irwin'g grocery. ap2y
REMOVAL.
S. S. CUviIVXINQS
■>- leave to announce that he has re
, ""j. office to Mrs. Mary Marks'
ariety Store, on east Market street,
iieiow the Union House.
Ullicfe has also been removed to the
mbdl *. r
Wanted! Wanted!
]'),(|f j PERSON'S of both sexes to
' 11 L> money by buying cheap
- baskets, Tubs, Buckets, Churns,
h uh, Brooms, Brushes, Ac. Ac. at
ZERBE'S.
&muwwm§) &ssw mir i?ißTriS2SJs£3Fi£s> &iswnsmm? 9 wnFmuss &&*
THE MINSTREL,
[For the Gazette.]
CHANGE.
Two long and c hanging years have fled
Since those fa\v binding words were said
That hound my heart to thine.
I trusted and believed in you—
A i-s. thought you were sincere and true
As this sad heart of mine.
At last forebodings often came,
That you would ne'er return again,
Or ha as true to me.
And now the truth is all revealed,
And naught remains to he concealed,
Consider you are free.
Go, and I hope You'll ne'er re-tret,
lint strive to speedily forget, ~
All that is past ami gone;
Yet should it cause a moment's grief.
May time soon bring the sweet relief,
And all thy cares he flown.
On earth we ne'er te-ir meet again—
Then may oar highest hopes attain
i heaven's eternal rest:
That glorious home hevond the skies,
The Christian's heavenly paradise,
To bt. forever hlest.
And when the parting word is said.
Earth's brightest hopes forever lied.
Thus sounding like a knell,
To each and every heart that may
Llave had that last sad word to say,
Farewell—a last farewell.
Go, and in after years forget
That you and 1 have ever met-
We've parted, and forever.
May you from every care he free;
Heaven's richest blessings rest on thee;—
Farewell, farewell forever. CARRIE.
Juniata county, January, 1800.
MLMMNEOM,
Historical Facts.
The tardiness with which mankind adopt
improvements may be, in some degree illus
trated, by the following facts hastily thrown
together:
Canal Locks were invented in 1581, by
engineers of Viterbe, In Italy. They were
nearly a hundred years getting lairly into
use in France, and about one hundred and
fifty in crossing the British Channel.
At this time it was made felony, in sev
eral European States, to ride in wheel car
riages.
The /s '.earn Engine was invented, or,
rather, the principle of it discovered, by
the Marquis of Worcester, as early as IGGU.
Few understood and none encouraged it.
He died in great mortification. The hon
or was afterward engrossed by Bavary.
In 17G5, the Earl of Stanhope applied
the steam engine to propelling a vessel. A
steamboat was run twenty miles on the San
key Canal, Liverpool, in 1797, and another
on the Forth arid Clyde Canal, in 1801.
A steamboat trip was made on the Delaware
as early as 1791. In 1807, when Robert
Fulton was fitting up his first steamboat at
New York, respectable, and sensible, and
gray-headed men pronounced him ' a fool
for his pains.'
Oliver Evans went before committees of
Legislatures, first in Pennsylvania, and then
in Maryland, with a project of a steam car
riage, as early as 1804. lie asked a little
aid to defray the expense. They could
hardly be prevented from reporting in fa
vor, not of steam engines for carriages, but
of a straight jacket for himself. Now, al
most all nations have had the sagacity and
ingenuity to seize and utilize the precious
idea.
When Peter the Great, in 1700 or there
abouts, commenced a canal between the
Wolga and the Hon, the Governors and
Boyards of the country opposed it earnest
ly, thinking it impiety to turn rivers out of
the channels which Heaven had assigned
them.
Wnea some Dutchmen proposed to make
the river Mauzanares navigable to the Ta
gus, and that to Lisbon, the Council said if
it had been the will of God that the rivers
should be navigable, lie would have made
them so.
When Brinly, the great engineer, told a
committee of Parliament, to whom Bridge
water's petition was referred, that canals
were better than rivers, and would super
sede them for the purpose of navigation,
the committee were shocked, and asked him,
< And pray, sir, what were the rivers made
fur ?' 'To feed canals,' was the answer.
Dr. Franklin surveyed the route of the
Delaware and Chesapeake Canal, at his oicn
expense, in 1757.
Baron Napier surveyed the route of the
Forth and Clyde Canal, at his own expense,
in 1701.
Both of these works were subsequently
j accomplished, but after great delay.
I>r. Zabdiel Doyayston introduced innoc
ulation for the small pox, into Boston, in
1721, and tried it first on his son Thomas,
and other members of his family; but such
was the force of prejudice and unbelief,
i that the other physicians gave a unanimous
opinion against it—the municipal govern
ment prohibited its practie, and the popu
lace would have torn him to pieces if he
had not retired from the city.
Domestic Economy. —The following are
1 a few items worth noting:
i One flannel petticoat will wear nearly as
long as two, if reversed when the front bc
; gins to wear.
i A bonnet and trimmings may be worn a
much longer time, if the dust be brushed
well oil after walking.
As far as possible, have bits of bread
eaten up before they become hard ; spread
those that are not eaten and let them dry,
to he pounded for puddings.
Preserve the backs of old letters to write
up u
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1660,
MORAS,
From John lierridge's "Song of Ziou."
'• I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and
his fruit was sweet to my taste.''—S ing h. 3.
Come hither, weary soul.
And drop tliy burden here!
If thou wouldst be made whole,
A blessed tree is near;
I'pon the highway-side it grows.
And sweetly liealeth human woes.
It only suits the soil
Where broken hearts abound;
Yet visits every isle
Where Gospel truth is found.
"Tis planted lor the health of man,
And by a heavenly husbandman.
I'pou the road it stands
To catch a pilgrim's eye.
And spreads its leafy hands
To beckon strangers nigh;
I'—thes forth a gale of pure delight.
And channs the humble traveler's sight.
Its friendly arms afford
A screen from heat and blast;
Its branches well are stored
With fruits of choicest taste;
And in the leaf kind juices dwell,
Which sore and sickness qui- 1.:; ii-al.
Hut stand not gazing -n
The branches ol th tree;
Go under and sit -. -•>. a
Or sure it help - not thee:
There rest thy feet and aching side,
And in tins resting-place abide.
No sooner art thou .'t
beneath its shadow there,
But all thy scalding heat,
And all thy fretful care.
And every pain, from thee will drop,
As fruit comes tumbling in thy lap.
This is the tree of life,
Which first in Eden grew,
But Adam, with his wile,
Concealed it from our view;
Then it was fixed on Calvary's top,
And is the pillar of my hope.
RELIGION A REALITY.
' Now girls, I have got news for you !'
The speaker was a showy girl, dressed in
the height of fashion. She was just en
tering a room where sat several young la
dies, her cousins, pursuing various household
employments.
'What is it, Ada?' cried one and an
other.
' You'll never believe it; Lizzy Ash
brook has professed religion !' was the half
serious, half laughing reply.
' Lizzy Ashbrook !' The girls repeated
the name more or less in surprise.
' Lizzy Ashbrook !' said the elder cousin
Julia, seriously, 'why, she was forever
making sport of the subject.'
' And such a fashionable girl; why she
would hardly look at a person who was
meanly dressed,' remarked another.
' Iler father is an infidel, too; what will
he say ?'
'1 heard that he turned her out of the
house,' said Ada.
There was a long silence.
' Well' —It was abruptly spoken by the
younge-t of' the family, ' we shall see now
whether there is tha reality about religion
that Christians talk about. 1 don't be
lieve that there is one single person in any
branch of her family who is religious.—
She will have unusual trials to undergo;
1 would not like to be in her place.'
'Trials! pshaw! there's no such thing
as persecution in these days ; it would be a
rare thing to see a martyr!' This was
lightly spoken by Ada, who had been Liz
zy's nearest friend, and who felt an un
usual bitterness springing up in her heart
towards the young girl, who she knew
could no longer enjoy her companionship
as of yore.
Martyrs are not rare even in these days;
aye, and martyrs to religious persecution,
as we shall sec.
The cousins made an early call on Liz
zy, who received them with her accustom
ed grace, and with a sweeter smile than
usual. Yet she was pale, and though there
was a purer expression on her beautiful
face, yet she appeared like one wearied a
little with some struggle in which she was
the sufferer. Although she did not speak
directly of the new vows she had taken
upon her, the new peace she had found,
her visitors could see clearly and distinctly
the wondrous change in dress, in manner,
and even in countenance.
Lizzy was engaged to be married to a
thorough man of the world. George Phil
ips loved his wine, his parties, the race
course, the theatre, the convivial and free
and-easy club. The sabbath was his day
of pleasure, and many a time had Lizzy
graced his elegant equipage, radiant in
beauty, on the holy day, as they swept along.
He bore a dashing exterior, was intellectu
al—a v\ it, courted, caressed, admired every
where.
His brow darkened as lie heard the news.
What, the girl of his choice, the woman
he should place at the head of his brilliant
household, becoming a canting Christian !
Nonsense ; ho didn't believe it; he would
see for hiuiseL' ile didn't furnish his
parlors for pr.ij i meetings; he wanted no
long-faced ministers, elders or ' sisters' to
visit his wife, not he. It was a ridiculous
hoax; it must have originated in the club
room. What, the daughter of Henry
Ashbrook, the freest of thinkers! Ha, a
capital joke —very clever joke—nothing
more.
lie called upon her not long after the
visit above mentioned. Ilis cold eye scan
ned her from bead to loot—but how sweet
ly, bow gently she met him 1 Surely the
voice that was melting music before, was
heavenly in its tones now. All the win
ning grace was there, all the high-bred ease,
the merry smile dimpled her cheek ; but
there was a something—a subtle something,
that thrilled him from head to foot with
apprehension, because it was unlike her us
ual self. What could it be?
At length, lightly, laughingly, he refer
red to the report he had heard. For one
moment the frame trembled, the lips re
fused to speak—but this passed, and some
thing like a flush crossed her beautiful face.
It lighted the eyes anew, it touched the
cheek with a richer crimson, as she re
plied:
'George, please don't treat it is a jest,
for truly, thank God, I have become a
Christian. O, George!' her clasped hands
were laid upon one of his, ' 1 have just be
gun to live. If you knew—'
The proud man sprung to his feet, al
most throwing her hands from him in his
impatient movement; and not daring to
trust his voice, for an oath was uppermost,
he walked swiftly back and forward for a
moment Then he came and stood before
her. His forehead -was purple with the
veins that passion swelled, his face was
white, and his voice unsteady, as lie ex
claimed :
' Do you mean to say that you will really
cast your lot among these people, that for
them you will give up all— all?'
' 1 ici/l give up all for Christ.' The words
were very soft and low, and spoken without
reflection.
For one moment he locked his lips to
gether till they looked like steel in their
rigidity; then he said, in a full passionate
voice:
' Lizzy —Miss Ashbrook, if these are
your sentiments, these your intentions, we
must go different ways.'
This was cruel. It was a terrible test;
for that young girl had, as it were, placed
her soul in his keeping. Before a higher,
and purer love was born in her heart, she
had given him her human love—an abso
lute idolatry—and the thought of losing
him even now, caused her cheek to grow
ashen and her eye diin.
As lie saw this, his manner changed to
entreaty. He placed before her the posi
tion he would give her; lured herb} every
argument that might appeal to the woman
ly heart. And he knew how to win by en
treaty, by the most subtle causistry. His
was masterly eloquence. He could adapt
his voice, his language, his very looks, with
the most adroit cunning to the young Chris
tian, who felt as if she must cive v ay—that
only help direct from the : luiitain of life
could sustain her with firmness to resist to
the end of the interview.
At last it was final. 'All this will I give
you if you will fall down and worship me.'
It came to this—' Christ or me !' There
could he no compromise, it was —'Christ
or inc.' And standing there, clothed with
the mantle of a new and heavenly faith, with
its light shining in her heart and playing
ever her pale features, she said, with a
firmness worthy of the martyr of old,
' CHRIST.'
Though his soul was filled with rage, so
that he could have gnashed his teeth, the
slight figure standing there in its pure white
robes —the eye that cast an earnest upward
glance —the brow that seemed to have
grown white and spirit like—the attitude,
so sell possessed, yet so modest —so quiet,
yet so eloquent—filled him with a strange
admiring awe. Ifut the hostility towards
religion was so strong in his heart, that he
bore down all his tenderness, almost crush
ed his love, and he parted from her for the
first time coldly, and like a stranger.
The engagement was broken off, hut who
can tell the struggles it cost?
Iler father had ever been very loving to
wards her. lie was proud of her; she was
the brightest gem of his splendid home.
She was beautiful and gratified his vanity;
she was intellectual, and lie heard praise
lavished upon her mind with a miser's
greedy ear, for she was his —a part of him
self ; she belonged to him.
lie called her into his study, and required
a minute account of the whole matter. lie
had heard rumors, he said —had seen a
surprising and not agreeable change in her
—she had grown mopish, quiet. —what was
the cause? It was a great trial, with that
stern, unbelieving face, full of hard lines,
opposite, to stand and testily for Christ.
But He who had promised was with her,
and she told the story calmly, resolutely,
kindly.
' And you intend to be baptized ?'
' Yes, sir'—a gleam of hope entered her
heart; she did not expect his approval, hut
she could not think that he would abso
lutely refuse to sanction this important
step.
4 You know your aunt Eunice has long
wanted you to become an inmate of her
home ?'
' Yes, sir,' the gentle voice faltered.
4 Well, you can go now. Unless you
give up this absurd idea and trample it un
der your feet, I do not wish you to remain
with me. Be as you were before, and you
shall want no luxury, no affection ; follow
this miserable notion, and henceforth 1 am
your father only in name.'
And still, though her heart was broken
she said, as she said before, ' CHRIST !'
She did forsake all for him ; hut her
step became slow, her form wasted, her cheek
hollow, her eye sunken. The struggle had
been too much for a frame unable to cope
with any overwhelming sorrow. Swiftly
she went down into the valley, but it was
not dark to her. Too late the mau who
had so sorely tempted her knelt by the side
of her bed and implored her forgiveness.
Too late ! No, not too late for his own sal
vation. for in that hour his eyes were open
ed to the sinfulness of his life, and by her
dying pillow he promised solemnly to give
his heart to God. Her father too. proud in
fidel though he was, looked on his wasted
child, triumphing over death, with wonder
and with awe. Such a dying scene it is
the privilege of hut few to witness; she
had given up ALL, absolutely ALL lor Christ,
and in the last hour, like Stephen, she
saw Heaven opened. Her face was an
gelic, her language rapture, her chamber
the gate of Ileaven. Like one who, hut
the other da}', untied the sandals of life,
and moved calmly and trustingly down the
one step between earth and Heaven, so she
said, with a smile irrepressibly sweet,
' sing !'
And they sang, ' Rock of Ages, cleft for
me.'
At its close they heard one word-the last.
It was < OIIUIST; '
POLITICAL,
THE TARIFF AND THE POLITICAL PARTIES.
Morton McMichael, Esq., editor of North
American and U. S. Gazette:
Pear Sir:—The enclosed communication,
in answer to an article which appeared in the
Morning Pennsylvanian a few days since, was
sent to that journal for publication, and de
clined. Relieving that the views therein ex
pressed are such as are entertained by a large
portion of our entire business community, I
beg leave to solicit its publication in your
journal. Respectfully,
JAMES MILLIKEX.
Philadelphia, January 5, I*oo.
To the editor of the Morning Punnsylvanian:
Dear Sir:—ln an editorial of yours, entitled
"The Deserted Tariff," after stating that, in
the call for a republican national convention,
" not one word is said about a tariff, or pro
tection, or domestic industry, or specific du
ties, or modification of the revenue laws, or
anything kindred to them," you invite the at
tention of certain gentlemen by name, and
others by such designation as is equivalent to
naming them—all of whom are either well
known advocates of protection, or deeply in
terested in, and, therefore, strongly committed
to its support —to look elsewhere than to the
republican party for aid and comfort in ti c
matter of tariff legislation. As one of the
parties addressed, and, tin cover, deeply in
terested in the question which y u have i. is *d,
I avail myself of your invitation "to look
elsewhere" for help in this our time of need.
If, according to your showing, we must de
spair of aid from the republican party, let me
inquire of you, as the expounder of the doc
nines and policy of the democratic party,
whether you intend to invite our hopes, con
fidence and support to it, upon any promise,
made or to be made, which may warrant such
confidence.
You assume that certain iron companies,
named, and you imply that others largely in
terested in coal and iron, cling to the republi
can party, notwithstanding its desertion of
the tariff, which, to my apprehension, is the
Same tiling as saying that they are either un
wise or uncandid in their party attachment.
If such an unwarranted partisan devotion
were true in fact, and any other party existed
whose doctrines and practice better answered
to their own, they would deserve such a re
proach ; but the inass-of the men who repre
sent these great iuterests of Pennsylvania
have not rendered themselves liable to such
reflections in the past, nor are they disposed
to do so in the future.
When Mr. Buchanan was presented to them
as a candidate for the Presidency, regarding
him as pledged by the professions and prac
tice of his past life to the support of national
legislation in the interest of protection, thoue
ands of Pennsylvania protectionists gave him
their support. It is true that other thousands
of devoted friends to our domestic industry,
either doubting the man or fearing the politi
cal embarrassments which lie was known to
have brought upon himself for the purpose of
securing his election, withheld their suffrages,
and cast them for one or the other of h'.s an
tagonists. Both divisions have had an expe
rience, about equally exposed to the irony
which you are now indulging against one of
them. Those who trusted your Executive
have been disappointed, and deceived besides.
Those who were not deceived have been dis
appointed ; and both are now compelled " to
look elsewhere" for the relief they seek. You
must allow me, sir, as I intend uo personal
discourtesy, to say that you are not in the
position to lecture protectionists who are
promised nothing by the party they support,
while speaking for a party that performs
i nothing of all that it promised to them. Those
\ of us who did not support Mr. Buchanan in
185G, had reasons for our action then which
three years of trial have only confirmed.
There was a " progressive free trade" plank
in the Cincinnati Platform which threatened
mischief. Mr. Buchanan was the candidate
of the men who inserted it, and were then
likely to have the rule and ownership of tho
President elected upon it. Has not the result
amply justified every doubt entertained of
Mr. Buchanan's promised services, in the
matter of protection ? It is true, he has an
nually talked tariff to his party, und to the
nation; hut he appointed Mr. Cobb to the office
S of Financial Secretary, and his partisans
i made Mr. Phelps chairman of the Committee
of Ways and Means, and the legislation of
his term has been ruled rigidly and effectively
by the policy which oppresses us. The great
business catastrophe of 1857, and the pro
longed stagnation of our industry, which has
been constantly growing daily worse without
hope of change, have fallen upon us since he
took office. All that should have stimulated
him to fulfil his engagements with the people
who gave him his whole majority of electoral
votes has failed of its deserved effect. Tho
Pennsylvania!!, uniformly protectionist in
profession heretofore, might with propriety
New Series—Vol. XIV, No. 12.
forbid us to hope from a mere anti slavery
party, if it had anything but a mere pro-sla
vtry party to point us to; but to invite us "to
look elsewhere" from a party which promises
nothing to us in its professions, and, by fair
implication, to rr party which threatens every
thing that we fear in its platform, and inflicts
all that we suffer in its practice, is in the last
degree indefensible. In 1850 we were gov
erned by our apprehensions oi the luture.
These apprehensions are all now fully con
firmed, and we have a clear experience to
guide and command us in the next campaign;
and I am greatly mistaken in the men for
whom 1 am here assuming to speak, if they
will allow themselves to be deceived by the
false pretences or the silence of any parties
that may be in the held when the next day ot
trial comes.
As a class, those interested in the iron busi
ness of Pennsylvania arc not politicians. A
large majority of them seldom take much in
terest in party movements, but when the ne
cessity for action is thrust upon them, as it is
now, it is to be confidently expected they will
arouse themselves, and will make themselves
felt in a struggle in which their interests and
those of the whole country, which so seriously
affect their own, are involved.
The time has fully come lor a general un
derstanding; it is time to understand ourselves,
and it is time for the political parties which
calculate upon our support to understand us.
Three years ago, as 1 have said, we were di
vided ; one party of protectionists, with a
foresight which events have fully justified,
would not trust James Buchanan. Another
division entertained so much hope from him
as to support him, or had less fear of the
probable occurrence of the mischief which
the other predicted.
Both divisions are now very fully convinced,
and their minds are made up—they under
stand thtmselccs. The reasons fir a division
of opinion at that time were that an undis
turbed confidence in all regular commercial
credits existed and extended from north to
south, from east to west, arid by and between
every portion of our common country. The
marts of trade were filled with mfen of'means,
eager to embark in every legitiinateehterprise,
with an aspiring trust in the future; and tbo
merely speculative apprehensions of a com
mercial revulsion, so often expected, but still
postponed by one cause or another—such as
the California gold discovery and the Crimean
war—did not convincingly seize upon the
fears of the great body of business men. But
since that time of mingled fear and hope, a
general experience has settled the general
opinion. The importations of foreign goods
which destructively compete with domestic
production, and the exportation of specie in
pay a of such surplus importations, and of
foreign debt and interest previously contract
ed, liave gone on until there remains no longer
any di übt of our actual condition, of the ten
dencies of our commercial system, nor of the
causes which have wrought the mischiefs
which now oppress, and those which threaten
us. The form in which these things are ope
rating now, is a loss of commercial confidence;
a general stand still fearfulness of worse
things to come; a greatly diminished produc
tiveness of industry ; a paralyzing of enter
prise, and a stagnation in the movements of
capital. The consumer is without the means
with which to buy; the manufacturer without
the customer to whom to sell, and the laborer
without employment; while close in the wake
of idleness follow discontent and discord, with
threatenings of civil wars.
In February, 1857—a few days before Mr.
Buchanan to- k liiß seat as President of the
United States—the banks of the city of New
York held in their vaults hut ten millions cf
specie, as a basis for loans amounting to one
hundred and eleven millions. This was then
deemed a sufficient reserve, or, if you please,
the movements of business invited and in
duced so large a ratio of accommodation to
the men engaged in it. At the same time
commercial paper, outside of bank circles,
met with an active demand and ready sales,
at fair rates.
A little more than two years after, we find
the signs of a terrible decline in that confi
dence which is the spring of enterprise, and
the impulse of all our wealth producing agen
cies. Through the whole month of October
last, the specie reserve of the banks of the
city of New York averaged twenty millions of
dollars, with a range of loans not exceeding
one hundred and seventeen millions—double
the amount of specie, inactive, and held for
caution, against an amount of loans increased
less than six per cent.
It is to the financial system of the demo
cratic party that we charge the evils which wo
suffer, and seek to remove by a change in the
national legislation. Excessive importations
of foreign fabrics supplant our own products,
and throw our own industry out of employ
ment. Excessive exports of our specie under
mine all the forms of circulating credit, and
alarm the money holders so as to check the
movements of the real money of the country
among ourselves.
Gold in immense sums is this day lying idle,
waiting for investment in anything but busi
ness paper, and ready to accept the lowest
rates of interest in securities that do nothing
for productive labor or for business enterprise.
Business, beyond the merest necessities of
life, is fast resolving itself into nothing but
money jobbing. National stocks and real
estate security can command it upon easy
terms ; but labor, manufacturing operations,
and business credit, arc held unworthy of re
liance. Our own workshops are being closed,
that those of Europe may supply our markets;
and your Secretary of the Treasury even sees
the evidence of an active trade in the fact that
the enormous imports of the year just closed
have ail gone into consumptijn, never reflect
ing, as it appears, that for every million's
worth of such goods consumed his countrymen
are deprived of a quarter of a million in wa
ges which their labor would have earned in
the production of them, if the domestic fae
torics were not shut up by the foreign inun
dation.
I may be allowed to speak for the working
men whom the coal and iron men employ. If
I could but repeat their complaints, the char
ges which we bring against the policy of your
party would be abundantly proved by the tes
timony of those masses of men, women, and
children, whose political gospel is democracy.