Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1856-12-02

lAard Times Ahead.
There is reason to fear that hard times
are ahead ssss many Of the people Of Gin
cinnati. Winter is just closing in, and
still, IN the expressive language Of the
steamboatmen, swe have no river" Our
manufactures have been worked with full
force all summer, and as there has not been
water sufficient for the shipment Of that
which has been produced, prodigious
quantity Of manufactured articles are on
hand, many millions Of dollars worth, far
from market, waiting for river. The
stock of coal in the city is low, and the
priB Consequently high, while such a
thing as asscoal boat rise'' has not been
suspected as likely to come to pass for
weary months past, and hope for the i'm
mediate future il dim. If there should
suddenly be a few weeks of bitterly cold
weather. and the river be snapped up by
the frost, our coal yards would be cleaned
out, the manufactures stopped, and the
suffering Of those thrown out of employ
ment by the stagnation of business, and of
the very poor beside, who would be utterly
unable to procure fuel, would be fearful.
There are q thousand important interests
involved in the stage of the river, such
that there ID no business man in the city
not directly concerned, and just now an
interest deep and universal is felt in the
prospects idr its rise. No doubt but the
manufacturers will continue to find en-
ployment fdr their hands, so long as it is
possible for them to do so but common
sense teaches all who have even small
share Of n that they cannot go on invest
ting capital in that which cannot be ex-
ported, but remains to lumber the ware
houses. So, if there is not "a river" soon,
it is inevitable that very considerable mis-
fortunes will be upon us. Unfortunately,
too, the country is not rich this year. The
wheat crop was below an average the corn
crop was below an average, and there was
a large deficiency in hay, oats, barley and
potatoes. The pastures have been very
poor, and the cattle and sheep are not in
good order. In some districts the hogs
have been attacked by fatal malady called
''hog cholera" which has destroyed them
by thousands; and indeed, it is not to be
concealed, so far as a partial failure Of all
the fruits of the earth, occasioned by sin
gularly unlropitious season can do it, that
the country is impoverished. The farm
ers, Of course, are amply supplied with
the necessaries and comforts, of life, but
they have not, as last year, an extraordina-
ry superfIty Of cash, and will not be as
good customers Of the cities as they were
last winter! The business season here
opened briskly, and some of our merchants
made unprecedented sales, and were en-
couraged I'd believe that an extraordinary
flood Of fortune was coming upon US. The
improvements in progress in and about the
city are gigantic, and Of splendor unprec-
edented, demonstrating the full confidence
felt by our capitalists in the future Of this
metropolis. But that we are exposed to .
season Of depression and calamity, should
not be fact suppressed, but eandidly ad
mitted and manfully met. We Of Cincin.
natl are not alone in this trouble. All the
cities on the Ohio and the regions o
which they are the capitals, are sorely per
picked and threatened with pinching times
and the South is in tribulation for want o
mulhtudinous manufactures for which they
are dependent upon our manufactures.
If Heaven would send us swell of tn,
river, TIE town would roar with the hmm
of business carried on with revived alacri
ty or commenced with hopeful energy
and the tens of thousands who are depend
ent upon their labor for their food and fuel
would have reason to sing for joy.-tin
Com.