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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1875)
Old Series-Vol. 25, No. 18. THE FINANCIAL CRASH. m ON THE SITUATION. Reminiscences of Ralston—The Bant and the Bonanza—From the Palace to the Grave —Lessons of the Hour— The Baltimore Bankrupts. The Temple and the Genius. I Cincinnati Gazette. 1 Those who visited San Francisco formed a lasting impression of the magnificence of the establishment, and the munfficence of its managers. The bahking-pouse was the finest in the world, rt was built and fitted up with out regard to cost. Hard wood, solid silver, and marble were used in finish ing the rooms devoted to banking, and the furniture corresponded. There was no veneering, no sham. Everything was real, and calculated to impress the beholder with the solidity of the con cern, its great wealth, and to indicate inexhaustible resources. Paper money was not passed over these counters, ex cept as merchandise. Gold and silver were the exclusive currency, except where depositors deposited coin and re ceived bank drafts in return. The cler ical force in the bank was large, well drilled and well paid. The capital stock was four millions gold, “all paid up,” and the deposits eight millions. The President of this bank of great splendor and wonderful pretensions, is Mr. Ralston, an Ohio man. He was formerly second clerk on an Ohio river steamboat, and lived, when at home, at or near Steubenville, Ohio. He em igrated to California and was one of the few adventurers who prospered. He walked up the ladder of w ealth and faipe was supposed, re cently, to 6e worth fifteen million dol lars. He considered hims&lf equal to any undertaking. For a time every thing he touched paid, and he was bold and grand as he was. lucky—. The bank paid him, in addition to a large salary, twenty-five thousand a year for entertaining, and he did enter tain in a style that was more than princely. He maintained a magnifi cent residence twenty-six miles from San Francisco. Here was a park of many acres laid off in magnificent style, lighted with gas manufactured on the adjacent grounds. The house corresponded. The Czar of Russia or the Emperor of France in his best days would hardly have desired anything better. Then there was an army of servants, every man in his place; and every guest was waited upon fro m the time he stepped from his carriage un til he retired, and from his rising in the morning until he was assisted into his carriage. The stable contained thirty-six blood ed horses. The carriage was drawn by four horses, and the time between the residence ■ and San Francisco was two hours. Half way there was a re lay of horses, and up hill and down the highest possible speed was maintained. The living expenses of Mr. Ralston were supposed to be $150,000 yearly. The bank, soon after its organization, invested $450,000 in lands. It also possessed itself of the California Wagon Company, so that wagon mak ing was part of its banking business. It was in the mining business, of course, extensively, and besides it speculated largely in mining stocks. The President did a great deal, too, on his own account. It is said that he was lately cornered at a cost of near two million dollars. Mr. Ralston having a great bank, a magnificent residence, several gold mines, and being one of the great men of the Pacific Slope, he must also have a great hotel—so he undertook, In con nection with Mr. Ehardin, The erection of the Palace Hotel. This was intended to be the grandest public house in the world, and it will probably so prove, as there are more fools in the United States than there are to be found in all Europe. But before this monument was completed Mr. Ralston’s troubles began, and he sold his interest in the Palace Hotel to Mr. Sharon for $1,700,- 000. This was swallowed up by recent losses in speculative ventures in min ing stocks. A Personal Sketch. [New York Herald.l Mr. Ralston was of medium height, compactly built, with a good breadth of shoulder, a high, capacious fore head; thin, firmly-set lips; an oval, well-shaped face, good features, a steel grey eye and a great expression of con centration and an extreme mental ac tivity. In manner he was curt, gener ally brief of speech and to the point, but able upon occasion to state his views in their fulness with felicity, strength and nervous vigor of lan guage. In habit Mr ; Ralston exhibited intense application te business and an excessive industry. He was a brief sleeper, and during most of his work ing hours devoted himself to the de tails of his vast official business—be sides his considerable private affairs, which should suffice alone to keep most men busy—with all his tremen dous energy. His dispatch of bu siness was somewhat marvellous, and the proper belief in his infallibility amounted to a superstition. His opin ion of men, business projects and in financial matters generally was consid ered conclusive. His personal power in the States and Territories of the Pa cific was great. The influence of the corporation of which he was chief offi cer was felt everywhere. Mr. Ralston in 1858 married a brilliant and accom plished niece of J. D. Fry, by whom he had several children. The country residence of Mr. Ralston was situated about twenty-two miles south of the city, in a charming valley known as l “Diablo Canyon.” Much has been said, toe chili) Cottotitutiotwfei from time to time, of the magnificence, luxury and beauty of Mr. Ralston’s pri var' located at Diablo Can yon, wlp) t is one of the most beautiful valleys in California, and as a location for a country residence is certainly un equalled on the Continent. The Coroner’s Inquest. At the inquest held over the remains of Ralston, Joseph Dunking, proprietor of the Neptune Bath House, testified that Ralston came to take a bath at half past three ; usually came early in the morning. My son-in-law served him ; did not see him enter the water ; had no conversation with him ; two young men went with him ; shortly ran in and said something was the matter with that man; they and my son-in law went" out in a boat, watched for Ralston, to appear at the Piles, but saw nothing of him; was perspiring freely when he came to the bath house; my soD-in-law checked him, but he said he would dry himself and take a powder before going. Clarence Richardson, son-in-law of witness, testified that Ralston was smiling and cheerful when he Came to j the bath house; waited on'liim; took I charge of his clothes; warned him against going in when heated; said he would dry himself and take a powder; about fifteen minutes after he went in a young man told me something was wrong; pushed out in a boat; met an other boat with the body of Ralston; Ralston was in the habit of swimming some distance when he bathed; did not see him in the water. Theo. C. Bee testified: Watchman on the wharf told him a man was drown ing; body was two or three hundred tfeet from the wharf in the water, face down; head appeared under water; got Clark, the engineer of the steamer Bul lion, lying near, to recover the body; he brougnt him ashore; did not see him ■ breathe; used means of restoration; saw sign of life; sent for Dr. Newmark, who came. Michael J. Clark, engineer of the steamer Bullion, testified: Saw the man in the water squirming as if in a fit; acted unnaturally; was 200 or 300 feet distant; went in boat; got him; thought he was alive when I reached him; fear ed he would die before reaching the shore; laid him on his stomach; pulled for the shore as quick as possible; noticed no signs of life when I got him ashoie; when I first saw him in the water he was struggling and making for the shore. Dr. Newmark sworn: When he arrived he found the body on the sand, appar ently lifeless; could not feel the beating of the pulse; kept up artificial respira tion for an hour; appearance of the body was that of a man who had died of apoplexy; face livid, eyes glassy, pupils dilated; a sudden plunge when overheated would be apt to produce apoplexy. Mr. Ralston and the Directors. The New York Star is inclined to think that Mr. Ralston ruled the Bank of California and directed its enor mous speculations with the knowledge of the directors. Says the editor; They knew, and no doubt encouraged, his social extravagance, his stock gambling temperament, his grasping and ill-regulated financial ambition. The whole Bank of California clique, therefore, must share in the downfall of the bank. Mr. Ralston was permit ted by this party to invest, nominally in his own name, but not at the exclu sive risk of his private fortune, what ever that may have been, a million and three-quarters of money in the new Palace Hotel. A Set Back to California’s Prosperity. The New York Bulletin says the panic Is simply the result of extravagant mining speculation by the California banks, and adds : At present, we see little hope for any other result of this crisis than a serious set back for the business of San Francisco and Califor nia ; for when the banking system is rotten, what has trade to repose upon ? As to the vast speculative interest that has been built up there, it is good for tune for California that it has come to its death. There will be a fearful de bris of broken fortunes left behind the explosion of big bonanzas and the like fictions ; but those fortunes were mere paper creations, or they could not be so easily ruined ; and there need be no great concern about losses of that kind. But the danger is that much sound trade may suffer from its connection with the banks ; and more explicit in formation about thelength and breadth of the panic is therefore anxiously awaited. Legitimate Banking. The New York Herald makes the California failure an apportunity to descant upon the carelessness and ig norance of banking that so frequently occur now-a-days, and adds; “ Le gitimate banking is the safest business in the world, and the capital of well managed banks is a security to deposi tors which hardly ever needs to be called into active use. Credits given on legitimate commercial paper can never involve a cautious bank in loss, nor can notes of short date with two responsible signatures. The theory of sound banking implies that, within pe riods of 60 or 90 days, a bank can call in all its loans and meet all its obliga tions, and when this is really the case, and depositors can be assured it is the case, there is no temptation for a sud , den withdrawal of their deposits. But !if a bank locks up its resources in i venturesome speculations the safety of the depositors depends on the success I of those speculations, and they are im- AUGUSTA, GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 8, 1875. pelled to make a run on the bank and unsettle general confidence at the ris ing of every adverse wind. A Heavy Blow at Baltimore’s Skipping Trade, [Philadelphia Times] The suspension of the firm of Stir ling, Ahrens & Cos. was, according to the dispatches and our Baltimore ex changee, entirely unexpected, but cau tious houses in Philadelphia who were acquainted with its daring operations were not surprised. One of them yes terday informed the writer, when he inquired as to the character of the sus pended firm, V Flighty, very flighty.” The information vouchsafed by the firm concerning the causes of its failure is of the most meagre character, being confined to the simple statement that it is the result of a shrinkage of values in the imported products. The assets are locked up in real estate and stock, while the liabilities were largely iu loans. None of the Baltimore banks, however, are heavy losers, and it is probable that Brown & Sous are the only banking house largely in volved. The liabilities of the firm, as stated by the prominent creditors, are about $2,500,000, while the assets, it is believed, will be $300,000 greater. Stir ling, Ahrens & Cos. are the owners of two refineries in Baltimore, one-fourth owners of the Gallego Mills, in Rich mond, Va., and likewise owners of val uable mill property In Baltimore and at Fell’s Point. The exact condition of the firm will not be ascertained until the full meeting of the creditors, who are in Baltimore, other cities of this country, and in Cuba and Europe. Its history is an interesting one, showing, as it does, the extension of its business from small beginnings until LUreached enormous proportions. The firm was formed about 25 years ago, when It tra ded under the name of Stirling & Ah rens, and was engaged in shipping and importing only. Afterward it engaged in the sugar refining business on a com paratively limited scale. Next it ab sorbed the Merchants’ refinery; then the Maryland, and, lastly, operated the Calvert as agents for its owners. Du ring the same period it also largely en gaged in the importation of coffee, al though this branch of its trade had latterly greatly declined. Its capital is estimated to have been one million dol lars, upon which its aggregate annual transactions are set down at twenty million dollars. Its suspension will, of course, prove a heavy blow to the ship ping Interests of Baltimore. In the year 1874 it is said to have received the average of one vessel a day for every day in the year, the cargoes'consisting of sugar from Cuba and Porto Rico and other West Indies, and coffee from Brazil. In one month of the same year the firm fitted out twen ty vessels for the Webt Indies with co operage stuff, provisions, etc., receiv ing in return cargoes of saccharine matter. In all, it employed about one thousand, and owned eight vessels. Since the beginning of the year it had, in round numbers, imported into Balti more 40,000 hogsheads of molasses and 50,000 hogsneads of sugar. So great is the sympathy for the Messrs. Stirling, Ahrens & Cos. that one ship ping merchant of Baltimore expresses his readiness to strike off all the in debtedness against them on his books, and calls upon the creditors in his trade to do the same in behalf of the commercial interests of the city. Sporting News. Trot, N. Y., August 31.—Four oared crews. First heat the Atl&ntas won. Time, 8:22%; second heat the Beaver wycks won, 8:22 y 2 . The third heat will be rowed to-morrow between the Beav wycks and Atlantas. Single scullers. In first heat Riley was the winner. Time, 9:41%; third heat Courtney was the winner, 8:34. The final heat between Courtney, La throp and Riley will be decided to-mor row. Tne Argonauts beat the Beaver wycks in the four-oared race. Time, 9:39. Hartford, September I.—The races at Charter Oak were well attended. The 2:31 race was won by Lady Snell in three straight heats, Nellie Walton second, and Bateman third. Time, 2:24)4. 2:31)4 and 2:24. On account of the large number of entries in the 2:25 race, five horses withdrew and subse quently trotted for a special purse. The 2:25 race was won by Amy, Joker second and Moisey third. Time, 2:23, 2:22)4, 2:21%, 2:23)4 and 2:24)4. Moi sey took the third heat and Joker fourth. The special purse was won by Rarus, Frank J. second and Parker’s Abdallah third. Time, 2:23)4, 2:20)4, 2:25)4 and 2:22)4. Frank J. took the first heat. ~ Goldsmith Maid trotted a trial heat in the park this morning, in 2:16)4, making the last quarter in 33)4. She will trot on Friday with a running com panion to beat her record. Science as is Science. —Just after the Scientific Association had adjourned sine die a broad-shouldered fellow, with a neck as big as a nail-keg and fists like mauls, entered the hall and inquired of the janitor : “ Where’s those fellows as brags about their science?” “ Gone home,” was the reply. “ Gone home, eh ? Blow the luck, but if I hadn’ a missed the boat I’d been here in time to toe a mark with the best man in the crowd ! Wonder if Joe Coburn trained any of ’em?” The janitor wasn’t able to say.—[De troit Free Press. “The hardest trial of my life,” said good old Deacon Banes, “was to shed tears at the news that my wife’s uncle had died and left her sixty thousand dollars.” THE MODERN MONTE-CHRISTO Reckless Social Life - His Character Compared with that of Jim Fisk—Personal Sketches —“What are the Wild Waves Saying?” Unparalleled Extravagance. [From Chicago Times, August 28.] It was in Virginia City that Ralston became acquainted with Sharon and Jones, who were then inexperienced superintendents of mines, working upon a salary, and with nothing more than this, except a great deal of presump tion. They built the Reno and Vir ginia City Railroad, or rather the Bank of California did, which was a mo nopoly ; the bank reached out its ten tacles and grasped everything finan cially and commercially. It established branches in nearly every city. It put its money into corporations. It finally got hold of the quicksilver mines, in which business Ralston had once been engaged, and soon monopolized the trade. In short, the institution began to raise its impregnable head of mo nopoly. Ralston at this time became general ly known as a business man, and his social life was at the same time a mat ter of comment amongst the people of the slope. He was known as the man who set all social conventionalities at defiance. He cared nothing for public opinion. He lived only for W. C. Rals ton and the pleasures which that indi vidual experienced. He outraged what little there was of decency in the min ing camp, and lived a life of wild and almost utter recklessness. He main tained fast women within a stone’s throw of his home, where lived his wife -and children, and lavished money and gems upon abandoned characters iD sufficient sums to make scores inde pendent for life. Money came and went like the steady, profuse flow of a deep stream. Ho did nothing by piece meal. In conjunction with his com panions he scattered wealth with the lavish hand of a modern Croesus. A circumstance which happened during his sojourn in Virginia City will serve to illustrate as well as could anything else, the prevailing characteristics of this strange man: John McCullough, the tragedian, was in the height of his glory on the.coast. He made a visit to Nevada, and had played several nights in ‘Virginia City to crowded houses. He was a special favorite of Ralston, Shawm and a couple of others. Mc- Cullough had closed his engagement and was ready to leave the city. His trunks were packed and at the stage station ready to make their journey to Reno. It was in the early evening, and after business hours, when Ralston and a few others conceived tlje idea that it would be a capital idea to’ have McCul lough play once more; so they sent word to him that they wanted him to appear that night in the “Gladiator.” John sent back word that it was im possible; he was prepared to go to San Francisco, and he could not delay his journey. This would not do; play he must, Messengers were sent to bring his baggage back, to light up ti thea tre, and make everything ready. The theatre was a small affair, and would not seat more than 700 or 800 people. McCullough saw that it would not do to refuse the men who had been his best patrons and bankers, and so he made ready. There was no doorkeeper that night. It was free to all; but there was a man in the box office who sold tickets, simply for the sake of appear ances. It was a grand blow out, gotten up by the bank people. The receipts that night amounted to the unprece dented figure of $13,200, and it was all contributed by three or four men, most conspicuous among whom was W. C. Ralston. In short, it was a grand drunk, and money was as free as the air of heaven. The plan pursued was for all concerned to go to the ticket of fice and buy SSOO worth of tickets each, after which all would adjourn to a wine cellar, and wager a basket of wine that each one could tear his tickets up in the soonest time, When they had con cluded this game the box office was out of tickets, there was $13,200 in the till, Mr. McCullough had finished the play, the floor was strewn with tickets, and the whole party was as drunk as men could well get. This, in short, was the grand incentive which ruled the nature of W. C. Ralston. After the excitement of Virginia City, Ralston went to San Francisco and took charge of the bank as cashier. That he was successful, there can be none to deny. Under the management of the officers under his regime, the bank was one of the most successful institutions on the Continent. It was | looked upon as a bank that was as firm j as the adamantine hills which guard the Pacific Slope. It was found in every enterprise that was inaugurated. It ramified into nearly every town in the State of California. In short, the Bank was the State ; it controlled everything—finances, industries, poli tics. It was one gigantic combination, a great moneyed ring. Prince Erie and Prince Pacific. [Philadelphia Times.] The sudden and awful death of Pres ident Ralston, of the Bank of Califor nia, whether it was voluntary or in voluntary, is a fitting climax to his life. Like the bold spirits of the border, who sport with life and gamble on the chances of existence, he died with his j boots on. Fortune had been his foot- j ball, kicked about at his pleasure, and tossed to either goal without regard to the profit or loss of the outside world. His means were those of the adventu rer, his operations those of a great conqueror. Like James Fisk, Jr., whom he resembled in many respects, he won by his audacity. No scheme was too great for him, no speculation too wild. He grappled with problems before which the Rothschilds would have re treated in dismay, and ran after bub bles so thin that a child might have detected their texture. Mr. Ralston began low down on the ladder of life, and like men who rise was not satisfied with his elevation. Babel-like, he aspired to climb to the skies, and in so doing became the architect of his own ruin. The humble steamboat clerk became the cashier of the greatest banking institutisn on the continent and then its president, but he must wear the imperial purple and lord it over the destinies of people. He was the head of an hamense bank; mined gold, owned railroads and man aged a great hotel. Like Mr. Merdle, in Dicken’s story, he was immensely rich, “a man of prodigious enterprise, a Midas without the ears, who turned all he touched into gold. He was in everything good, from banking to building. He was chairman of this, trustee Os that, > president of the other.. The weightiest of men had said to projectors: ‘Now, what name have you got? Have you got Merdle?’ And the reply being in the negative, had said: ‘Then I won’t look at you.’ ” That was Ralston. He had his finger in every pie, and he was baking all the time. He was a great improver and a mighty developer. Rich as California was he sought to make it richer. The old ways of amassing wealth were slow, commonplace and costly, and this man, who was a sort of human Keely motor, applied the needed force and speed. The result is the explosion which ha& scattered his own fortune and those of other people, and shaken the financial world. One thing can be said in favor of the dead man—he was honest. What he did was for the general good, aud if his notion was mistaken his pur pose was right. But notwithstanding this, his life was evil and his example unwholesome. These bold, successful men of business whom we so thought lessly worship do. more harm than good. Fisk intoxicated the whole East with his delirious spaculations, and Ralston set California wild by his mad cap ventures. Both taught a contempt for the plain, safe paths of trade, and tried to run a railroad to the kingdom of riches. It was not thus that the Jewish banker of Frankfort builded, neither is it thus that the foundations of enduring prosperity are laid. It is better to be a servant of fortune than a prince. His Liberal Spirit. [N. y. World Correspondence.] The unfortunate Mr. W. C. Ralston was eminently a man of the people, plain, unsophisticated in his manners, with a heart overflowing with kindness and generosity. He seems to have been one of those practical princes of man kind whom the eastern fables delight in painting—rulers who aim to make all mankind happy and content. Riches to him seemed only a means to obtain the desired end of giving employment to the multitude mid bettering their condition. Now that he is no more, it may well be doubted whether his noble instincts for the welfare of his fellow men were not even greater than his un rivalled capacity for enterprise. Both, alas! were too great for even the resources of his once great wealth, backed by the immense resources of the Bank of California. He was (so I often spoke of him in his own city only a month ago) ahead of bis time. When the great wealth of the Nevada and California mines yield their $50,000,000 a month, and not in a year, a Ralston may be looked for in vain. In other words, a time will come, and perhaps .soon, too, when the resources of Cali fornia will find that the greatest catas trophe of the memorable 26th and 27th of August, 1875, was not the failure of the Bank of California, but the loss of a man. And in this sad reflection his bereaved family, who have lived in the sunlight of Mr. Ralston’s fame for all that is good and benevolent, may find some consolation. J. s. M. The Secret of the Deep. [World Editorial.] And now, the wild waves of the Pa cific hold the secret of the final and fatal steps by which this great .institu tion, originally founded to capital invested in the legitimau't’.e velopment of the great and opulent young Commonwealth on its shores, has been precipitated into bankruptcy, and the career of its reckless manager rounded with a self-sought sleep. Rev. Wayland Hoyt, who is traveling in Europe, writes to the Boston Journal of his visit to the Houses of Parlia ment, and of a well known member : “An unpopular member has a hard time in the House of Commons. Dr. Kenealey—the notorious advocate of the notorious Tichborne claimant—is manifestly an unpopular member. It is due to him to say that he is the best speaker I heard. His voice is clear aud strong, his words are aDtlv chosen, his manner quite commanding. But when he rose to speak you should have heard the House of Commons. Laugh ter, cries of ‘Oh ! ’ groanings, and an indescribable sound the reporters here call ‘ murmurs.’ These were kept up throughout the entire speech. It was impossible, except now and then, to hear a word. But Dr. Kenealey kept at it undismayed, and the House kept at it.” Cotton Mill to Resume. New Bedford, Mass., September 1. — The Wamsutta Mills will resume work on Monday. “Say, Sambo, less us jine de base ball club.” “What fer, nigger ?” “Kase 1 it larn you how fer ter ketch fouls on do fly." New Series, Vol. 3, No. 6. AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SO CIETY. Fifteenth Biennial Session to be Held ing Chlcago ~' An Important Meet- The fifteenth biennial session of this national organization will be held in the city of Chicago, commencing Wednesday, September Bth, at 10 a. m and _ continuing for three days. AU horticultural, pomological, agricultural and other kindred associations in the United States and British Provinces are invited to send delegates. The coming session will be especially interesting from its location in the centre of the great fruit-growing re gion of the West, and it is believed will be one of 'he most important and useful that the Society has ever held. On this occasion there will be brought together the best cultivators and fruits of this country. The fruits of the South may be examined and compared with similar products from the North West and Pacific States. It is earnestly hoped that every State will be fully represented, thereby stimu lating more extensive cultivation by the concentrated information and ex perience of cultivators, and aiding the Society to perfect its catalogue of fruits. . e Members, delegates and societies are invited to contribute collections of th fruits of their respective districts, and to communicate in regard to them whatever may promote the objects of the society and the science of American pomology. At the same time and place with the Pomological Society’s exhibition of fruits, the Illinois Horticultural Society will hold a grand exhibition of plants, flowers, and other products of hoi mul ture, by which an increased interest will be given to the occasion. The meetings of the Society will; ake place in the ladies’ ordinary of the “ Grand Pacific Hotel,” Chicago. Ar rangements for reduced fare for all delegates have been made with the pro prietors of the Grand Pacific Hotel. By special arrangement, delegates will be passed over the various rail roads from Augusta to Chicago for one fare, return free. Fare for round trip tickets, from Augusta to Chicago, 840.50 ; from Atlanta, $82.50. Delegates should leave Augusta on Saturday eve ning by the Georgia Railroad, and by reporting to the undersigned will re ceive full information and tickets. Packages of fruits and the names of contributors may be addressed as fol lows : “American Pomological Society,” care of O. B. Galusha, Chicago. Those intended for examination of committee or native fruits may be marked to same address, addiDg care of P. J. Berckmans, Chairman. It is earnestly hoped that Southern Pomologlsts will send as full delega tions as possible Our section should be fully represented. In behalf of Executive Committee, P. J. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga. Newspapers that take an interest in the advancement of Pomology and the resources of the South are respectfully requested to copy the above. PRE-NATAL HOMICIDE. W"hy New England Women are Not Prolific—Religion not the Cause. [Chicago Tribune.] In our last issue we made some com ments upon the recent unfair and prej udiced allusions of Archbishop Lynch, of Toronto, to “ungodly” New England, with reference to its alleged diminution of population by reason of its lack of godliness, and showed the fallacy of his reasoning by applying it to France, whose population, being of the good Bishop’s own faith, practices pre-natal homicide more than any other nation. We further showed that the promi nent cafcse for the decline of popu lation and the decrease in the size of families in Nett England, as compared with those of a century ago was due mainly to the fact that "the women are less robust and hardy than their fore mothers, and take less outdoor exer cise, and illustrated the truth of the assertion by reference to the same race in England, where the families, al though wealthy and refined, are very large, because they live out of doors, and take a great deal of physical exer cise. This fact might be still further illustrated by reference to Germany. The German families are very large as a rule. Among tho lower the women labor hard in the fields, and are strong, tough and sturdy. All classes live out of doors. The Germen men, although they have sett ball games, indulge in athletic feats of vari ous descriptions, such as walking, run ning, jumping, lifting and turning. The German ladies are constantly out of doors, leading active lives, and are strong and healthy as a consequence. Another cause of the decline of fami lies in New England is easily attributa ble to the fact of the enormous drain of young men from those States, who emigrate in search of employment and new fields of enterprise, and thus leave the towns and villages filled with lone ly old maids. All over New England the country villages are full of old peo ple and spinsters. The large majority of the young men leave at an early age and do not return. Numerous other causes might be named, but suf ficient have already been advanced to show the absurdity of the Canadian Archbishop’s foolish and ill-tempered attack upon New England. A stone-bruise on a boy’s foot will not prevent him from walking around all day if a circus is in tmvn, but let his mother ask him to brrog in some I wood and that foot completely dis- I ables him.
