Des Arc citizen., 1867-01-26
The New Year.

8 1-o know of no sentiment more
 ubolpsome for men of business to en-
 ter mon the year with than deep con-
 viction that it's fortunes are very much .,rnder their own control. Much less ot
 tho i'll fortune of the past year is due to
 Ac difficulties of the times than to cap
 itaIists not regulating their business
 ntelligently to the condition of things
 Tbey act upon rules instead of remem- sberino that changed circumstances call
 fbr new modes of management. In
 nothinc have manufacturers, for ln-
 stance. erred so seriously during the
 past year as in blindly turning out all
 fe goods they could produce, instead
 of first inquiring what amount the .couptrv would be likely to take at such nriccs as they could afford to produce .thcm at. Ii is this neglect of regula- Eting the supply to the probable demand |that has caused most of the losses of El86G. Aud it must depend chiefly up- |on the aogrcc to which this cardinal |rule of manufacturing or merchantlhg |k observed, whether 1867 is a pro1lta- |b.e or losing year. It must be taken flor granted that the year will be char |actcrized by continuancc of the ditli- Entities which have besct business du- |rng 1866. We are in a process Of re- hrn toward lower prices. The mer- |ehant has to meet the certainty of a Constant shrinkage of values and the manufacturer to calculate upon steady declinc in raw materials so that he is |sonstantly liable to find that he can 'producc goods at lower price than he |ean afford to sell his stock at. This IS ihc chief difficulty with which men of Business have to contend. It ineVlta- sbly reduces their profits, and, this fact
 being well understood, there is an ln- Ecinaton to curtail the facilities of |eredit, which again constitutes an i'm |portant embarrassment. The prudent |course, under such circumstances, IS to hold the lowest possible stocks. Adopt ing this course, risks, by the decline ln lrices, are reduced and there is con- stant pressure upon production, which,
 acting finally upon raw materials and labor tends directly to cause prices 10 Approximate the normallevel as nearly as the case admits of. It is principally in the observance of this very plain |rulc that traders and producers possess l an almost absolute control over the 1u- |lure course of the markets.
 Many are divested from this simple Principle of regulation by imagining |fhat Congress can lcgislate affairs into healthier condition. By tightening |9he screw and easing the tax screw Ehey imagine that the whole series Of Commercial Arrangements will be rem |edied; and they consequently spend l the time in boring Congress to tinker l the tariff, which they should occupy in [an intelligent effort to regulate theil Business by the condition of affairs |around them. Itis this foolish attempt 1 to adjust the condition of things to the |position of trade, instead of adjusting Etrade to the condition of affairs, which pS the great bane of our capitalists. They are opening the new year with a lumiliating exhibition of their lack of business sagacity, by crowding the Committee on Ways and Means with petitions to increase the 'protection' 10 domestic manufacturers and the lact of so much reliance being placed upon impotent expedients, is one of the worst auguries for judicious avoid shce of the difficulties which must besei puslness generally. Upon the whole Fe sec little reason for hoping that tho 'ommunity have learnt much by late Aperience; and the embarrassment;
 Seihg the same as last year, it may be
 resumed that the blunders and thC
 iS'oftures will be about the same
 T'So'-LU. s. Economist.