West-Jersey pioneer., 1868-01-10
THE PROSPECTS.

1t is customary for us in the beginning
of new year, to arrange the dead past
hafarn ne and el;--:--4- -
tL~-a eau impudo tho present OF obstruct
the future. A hundred projects, under
taken in the days now gone, are fonnd to
be partial failures and so far given up
They were probably conceived in brilliant
expectation, snd it is with some sorrow
that we submit to the destruction of cher
ished plans, but the circumstances are in
exorable, and it is the plainest necessity
to submit. All that can be done is to
use what the storms have left us, to the
best advantage possible. Many a man
is compelled to this course in his business
or his farm, and in numerous cases what
is left is so little as to be hardly worth
the saving, and it is with saddened looks
they view the ruins. There have been a
great many merchants in our midst who
have worked faithfully for the past year,
early and late who have exercised what
appeared to be the utmost caution in both
purchases and sales, who have a fair
amount of trade, and yet who are very
much poorer this first of January than
they were in January lst, 1867.
Many manufactures, who calculated
fairly upon the basis of trade as it stood
at the time, have found that the basis
was unreliable, and they have been COM
PEELED to suspend their operations alto.
gether with the loss of thousands of dol
lars. Many workmen calculated their
living and improvements upon the wages
they were then receiving, and have found
that either their wages were reduced or
their work given out entirely. The spec
,ulators planned their enterprises upon
the same foundations as the rest and have
failed accordingly, but as they represent
ed no actual value to the community,
their failure to realize their hopes causes
no grief to any one except themselves
The politicians of all classes have found
themselves as utterly at fault as all the
rest, and feel the same necessity for
changing their estimates. All these es-
Inmates were formed upon what has
proved false basis, though few could
see at the time that the basis was false
one. Men did not take into the account
that there must be a steady retrogression
in prices toward the old standards. How
ever slowly or cautiously it might be man.
aged still it must come. They did not
take strongly into account the loss of
direct wealth by taxation and the cost of
its collection. The merchants bought
goods at the prices as they stood year
ago, and prices have been steadily de-
cliniug all the days that have followed,
until not only the margin of profit has
been lost but very large percentage be-
yond. It has been the same with our
manufactures The workmen have nat.
urally felt unwilling to work for much
lower prices, and in many cases have de-
cided to take no bread rather than half
the loaf. Now the new year has come it
is wise for all classes to look over the
prospects of the year in the light of the
present facts 1t is probable that the de-
probation of prices in many goods will
continue both on account of inability to
purchase by the masses, and the forced
sales which so many merchants are COM
PEELED to make in order to maintain their
credit, or else which will occur after the
credit is gone. In addition to this it
will be the natural strain upon the cur
rency and the great uncertainty as TO eth
er the foundation of Congressional laws,
OIL their effect when they shall have been
put into operation These same facts
must be taken into the account by the
manufacturer in any estimate which it
will be safe for them to form. The work.
ing people must study this year in the
same aspects, for no other will be relia-
BILE. There have been comparatively few
failures the past year, and it is no small
compliment to the Congress that the gen.
eral crash which has followed every other
nation after an exhaustive war has as vet
been averted from us, still it is imminent
at.any moment, and trade will not be safe
if calculated outside of this possibility. -
Still we believe that the prospect is not
Of necessity one of gloom if we are will
ing to accept our situation in its actual
light. There is but one remedy in all
such circumstances Of private life, and
that remedy is the only one of general
availability in our public difficulties. -
That remedy is ECONOMY. It is naturally
impossible for US as people to live as
we have been living without bankruptcy
Of the most wide spread and general
character. We have been for the past
/ few years most luxurious nation, and
it is utterly impossible with constantly
descending scale Of prices to maintain it.
The people who will lessen their expen.
ses, who will reduce their living to as
narrow a margin as necessity will allow,
will avoid distress while the year is pass.
'ng, and we verify believe none others
WILL 1t 'sssurprising how little per-