Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1859-03-25
BUSINESS PROSPECTS.

come Vi oul citJ Coten nPoi"AiN' AS'S
stir in business, and in such cheerful
tone as to induce prevalent confidence
that the dark days are over, and that
vista Of indefinite prosperity is opening
before us The items upon which the be,
lief seems to be based are, the heavy ln-
creases of our imports since January lst
over the corresponding period of last year,
the revival of manufactures, the activity
evinced in auction and other marts OF
fabrics, and the heavy rush Of strangers to
the cities in quest of goods or situations.
The New York Tribune indicates some
reasons for believing this prosperity pre-
carious if not delusive They are J.
81. The country, as whole, Is bare
of Produce. Our Grain crop in 1888 was,
on the average, poor one, and We can
spare far less of it to pay debts or buy
goods abroad than We bad to sell year or
years ago. Then the protracted rains
! OF last Autumn reduced the seeding for
this year, in some parts onl to a miul-
mum, while the open, broken, caprlcIous
/ Winter We are now closing has been very
| hard on what was sown, while its rains III
/ connection with those of last Autumn,
have greatly restricted Flowing. Grant
that last years Cotton crop was large, and
has mainly been sold at fair prices, ,ha,
Tobacco also did well, and that the South
is consequently enjoying an unusual pros
perity, that California continues to pour
out the Gold at rate Of nearly SoO,O0V,-
900 per annum; and still We say that
there exists in this country no exportabie
produce, or rational prospect Of any, to
Justify an aggregate importation of more
than Three Hundred Millions worth of
Foreign Products in the course Of 1893,
and that, should more be impOrted-as is
threatened by the Custom House returns
of our City for the last quarter-then we
must sink deeper into debt abroad, aud
be exposed to a returning spasm OF Re-
vulsion.
al. For be it never forgotten that
this country is to-day, throug gh its mer.
chants and bankers, its States, Railroad
and Canal Companies, and Federal Gov
ernment, in debt to Europe to the amount
of at least Three Hundred Milllons-we
think not less in all than Five Hundred
Millions. The annual interest on this
debt is not less than Twenty and we think
it is above Twenty FIVE Millions. We
ought to export enough annually to pay,
in addition to the cost Of our imports, the
interest of this debt aud an instalment on
the principal. We shall; probably, export
less this year, (specie included) than will
pay for our current Imports, leaving our
heavy Foreign Debt to be swelled in vol
ume by at least the amount Of the years
interest accruing thereon. Let the capi.
talists of Europe be visited Oy panic
with regard to the fullness Of their secu.
rity-nay, let a great war impel them to
withdraw their capital from this continent
and use it in invigorating the efforts and
magnifying the resources Of their respec'
tive countries, and the consequence would
be "a disastrous collapse all over our country.
Is their forbearance secure basis for
our National prosperity?
"III. Though there is present active
demand for the products Of Furnaces, For
ges, Factories, Mills, &c, and though
those already in being are generally at
work, yet we scarcely hear Of new one
being constructed, new spindle or loom
about to be put in motion. Manufactur.
ing property commands but low rates, as
the recent sale of the great Holyoke Wa
ter power and mills sufficiently attests.
Our Industry is not expanding on what
is and has been its weaker side, and there
is little prospect Of any Indictment to
such expansion.
"IV. The errors and vices which pro-
duced and precipitated tho late Revulsion
are still in full vigor. Our Tariff is SO
adjusted as to invite Foreign Fabrics and
repel their producers, whom we should
import instead. Our able and ambitious
youth are attracted to Trade, to the Pro-
fessions, to Fillibusteri6g of some sort
rarely to any form Of Productive Industry.
Advertise to-day for man to manage
farm, and three fourths of the responses
will come from men of European birth.
Advertise for boy in lawyers office, a
clerk in a store, partner in venture to
Pixies Peak, and two thirds of the respon-
ses will come from native Americans. We
are still, as . people, intent on getting
suddenly rich by some kind of speculation,
rather than on slowly acquiring a compe-
tencs by industry. Credit is again expan-
ding its sails; we know that goods are
,olJ ~ our citu this SnrinO to