9 



the product to the actual demand, the manufacturer feeling his 

 strength in the accumulated profits of the past, continued to man- 

 ufacture until the surplus was thrown on to an overstocked mar- 

 ket, and consequently prices fell, in some cases even below the 

 cost of the raw material. The splendid fortunes made during the 

 continuance of the war soon vanished, and hundreds of millions 

 were thus lust to the capitalists. Fortunate was it for the coun- 

 try and more especially for the laboring classes, that the capital- 

 ists heeded not the warnings- of prudence. Had they stopped 

 manufacturing, it would have depressed all other kinds of business, 

 and deprived the laborer of his employment, and created untold 

 misery and suffering. But on the contrary, wages continued at 

 war prices and still continue, notwithstanding the decline in the 

 prices of food and clothing. It could be shown that every dollar 

 lost by the manufacturer was paid in wages to the laborer. The 

 laborer continued on in prosperity while the capitalist lost all. Con- 

 sider the benefits the laborer and the community derived from this 

 sacrifice of capital. It took the splendid fortunes of the past and 

 diffused them through the community. The true interests of the 

 country are promoted where these powerful industrial elements 

 operate in sympathy and attract instead of repelling each other. 

 We want no antagonism where all ought to confederate for the 

 common good. When we foster the great productive forces which 

 feed and clothe humanity, we bring each calling into amity and 

 reciprocity with all the other callings. Thus the great Harp of 

 Labor with its thousand strings, touched as with a master's hand, 

 will vibrate in harmony through all the land. 



Mighty are the achievements that spring from the union of 

 Capital and Labor ; but their noblest offspring are the homes of 

 our people. It is these that make the chief glory of New Eng- 

 land. Go where you will, and more especially in the vicinity of 

 her cities and large villages and you will find numerous rural 

 homes owned generally by the occupants and surrounded by beau- 

 tiful trees and flowers and tasteful gardens. 



These are not the houses of the rich alone. A large majority 

 belong to the middle and even the poorer classes. There is not 

 a spot on the continent where the people are so well fed and so 

 comfortably housed as in the " Old Bay State/' There is no spot 

 on this beautiful earth where the poorer classes are so well fed, 

 so well clothed and so well to do in all that confers comfort and 



