Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1877 — BREAD AND WATER. [ARTICLE]

BREAD AND WATER.

Hbiirj Watxl Beecher oil the tabor Trouble.—« A Man That Can’t Live on Bread is Not Fit to Live.” [From the New York Herald.] Rev. Henry Ward Beecher preached upon the subject of the strike Sunday night in Plymouth Church. The reverend gentleman proceeded to denounce trades unions, the tyranny of which he said was greater than that of the most bitter monarchy in Europe. •‘What right,” he asked, “had workmen to dictate to employers how many apprentices they should have, and how they should manage their business generally ?” Only those, Mr. Beecher strid, Who had Studied statistics and political economy could fully appreciate the wholesome effect which the civil war exerted upon the industry and the habits of those misguided men. The reverend gentlemen here went over the ground he so frequently traversed last winter in his lecture upon “ Hard Times.” He spoke of the stimulus given to trade by the immense influx of capital that followed the beginning of the civil War. Gold, he claimed, was the universal standard of values, and he referred to the fluctuations that occurred in the greenback currency with considerable humor. This impetus to trade led to sash speculation alid extravagant living among all classes ; but it also resulted in pushing commerce and extending the railway system of the country farther than it would have otherwise been carried for many years to come. But there came a time when the overstrained string snapped. A shrinkage occurred ; things had to go back to the gold standard, substantially. As a result, everything had fallen in value and bad continued to fall since 1873. Everything had gone down, and everybody had to take part and lot in the fall. It was not a special thing that railroads found themselves hedged in. Nearly all those great roads had felt the pressure, and some of them had been bankrupted outright. It would have been better for others if they had been bankrupted, too. They were built in such inflated times and at such high cost that they never could earn dividends on the stock until they should be sold under the hammer for about one-sixth of what they cost, or were alleged to cost. They were all now obliged to manage with the utmost care and economy, paring in every direction and reducing every expense. The consequence of all these shrinkages and the reductions that followed them was that all citizens had to live more economically and to do as the corporations had done by reducing expenses in all directions. It was at th is time, then, that the railroad operators had conspired and rebelled, because their wages were cut down. As if they were the only men who were cut down ! They declared that they could not support their families upon the new rates. Very likely not —not as they would like to support them. • It was said that SI «■ day was not enough to support a wife and six children. It was not enough if the man smoked, if he drank beer, and if he and his family wanted superior food, clothing, and shelter. “But,” said Mr. Beecher, vehemently, is not $1 a day enough to buy bread ? and water costs nothing ; and»a man that can’t live on bread is not fit to live. What is the benefit of a civilization that simply makes a man incompetent to live under existing conditions? Education and civilization are designed to make a man a universal instrument of improvement, and to make it possible for him to live under any conditions. The man whose culture has lifted him away from the power of self-denial is falsely cultured. And if men are cultured and live in comfort the very culture that brought them into that comfort ought to teach them to live under any conditions. A family may live, laugh, love, and be happy that eats bread ami good water in the morning, water and good bread at noon, and good bread and water at night.” The congregation evidently regarded this proposition as a huge joke, for they laughed loudly. Tins might be called the bread of affliction, the preacher admitted, but it wus food, and sustaining food.