The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-18
Hard TIme.-No work.


Hard TImes-No Work.
From he ~. Y. Tribune.
Winter has set in early and sternly; the
markets are glutted with fabrics which are
selling at low prices; 1857 has been a hard
year for the manufacturers and merchants
generally, because of a steady decline in the
prices of goods, which constrained them to
sell for less than the cost of stock, so that
there is generally no profit on the years busi-
ness, and often serious loss. Then tine cot
ton crop has failed in large districts, and is, on
the whole, below the average, while it sells
for scarcely half its price a year ago. The
corn crop is also below an average; hence
high prices for bread and meat, with no cor
responding advantage to the farmers, who
cannot buy goods so freely as they have done.
So business slackens where it does not stag
nate, and thousands are out of work. We
have complaints of consequent suffering and
rapine in Louisiana, which was desolated by
floods in spring, by yellow fever in summer
and autumn, and badly damaged by the army
worm; while thousands vainly seek employ
ment in this and we presume in nearly or
quite every other city. Hence very general
and well-founded cry Of hard times
We believe prompt return to specie pay
ments, while it could not at once dspel the
present trouble, and might even aggravate it,
would enable us, at no distant day, to over
come it. For business pauses because profits
have vanished. The manufacturer says, eff
buy stock and employ labor at present prices,
my goods will not reimburse me for the outlay
when they are ready to put on the market. ]"
In other words, a steadily declining market
dscourages production. But let us go right
down to hard-pan, and the manufacturer will
say, "Stock and labor are so cheap that can
take the risk of employing them in the pro
duction of goods, which cannot we'll fall below
the rates which resumption has esta-
blished." Then bricks may be made, lime
burned, timber bought, and houses built;
while now their erection is checked by the
consideration that the structure which cost
$14, 900 last summer and would cost $l250O
now, will probably be worth but $40, 900 after
we get back to specie payments.
OF course, there are those who say, "Don't
resume now, for we have bought lands, or
houses, or stock, or goods, on credit and
must have time to realize before resumption"
But, gentlemen you must see that that argu-
ment, if good at all, will be good forever. The
time can never come when there will not be
thousands who have run into debt on an in
fated currency, and will want resumption to
wait till they can get out; or if they did, others
would get in fully as deep as they are. 1t is
a falling market that depresses business; let
us go at once to the bottom, and we may con-
fdently look for steady improvement thence
| forward.
But what are the poor to do2
For years, under the stimulus Of war, with
its eager markets and high prices, they have
been crowding into the cities. We judge that
there will be One-third more inhabitants in the
cities of the United States on the lst of Janu
| ary, 1868, thar there were on the 1st o.
January, 1861 while our rural population
has scarcely increased at all. Hence, we havs
less grain, less cotton, less sugar, less tobacco
to sell abroad than we formerly had; while o
manufactures we have scarcely exported any
for years till very recently, when the low
| prices ruling here have caused a moderate re-
| vival of the foreign demand.
We hold it impracticable to support 81
large an urban population as we now have, a
least while our wares and fabrics shall con
tinue to be so largely imported. There mus
be heavy diversion of our national energie!
from cities and traffic to rural districts ant
farming. We must carve more fields out o
forest and prairie, drain, break up, and ferti
lie old ones, and largely increase the aggre
gate product of our soil. We should prefer
indeed, to shut out foreign fabrics, and in
crease the products of our furnaces and fac
tories; and this, we trust will, to some extent
be done; but this must be work of time, anC
will be powerfully, desperately resisted by
very formidable party; so that the relief from
readiest involves heavy migration from tn
cities to the farms and prairies. And thi
| cannot commence too soon.