, 1872-10-29

| HARD TIMES
The person who says that the country i.
prosperous at the present time is Senator Nor.
ton. He cannot find O business man in thu
West-probab1y not one in the whole country
to agree with him. The bank Presdent'who
thinks that the hard times are caused by Gree
leys running for President has not been see1
since the 8th Of October. He had announced,
through the columns OF the Ece,aing Journal
| that if Greeley was elected he should call in
two-thirds Of his loans and discounts. It is un.
derstood that aimee the election Of Hartranft he
has been trying to call in the, aforesaid two
thirds, aud has not been able to do go.
The times are hard, and wo must look outside
OF politics to find the reason for it, Tie string
ency is not confined to Chicago. It is common
to the whole country. It is felt severely in all
parts Of Europe also, having q palpable effect
upon the trade and commerce OF the world. It
is operating at this time somewhat sharply upon
those who have not quite completed their build
ings in this city but its most disastrous effect
is experienced by the agricultural community.
There has been such falling of in prices OF all
kinds Of breadstuffs, that the producers hardly
receive as much for their corn as they did fifty
years ago, when there WAS neither railway nor
canal by which it could be moved to market
There are thousands of farmers in the West
who will not receive for their large crops this
year enough, over and above the cost of produc-
ton, to pay their taxes, leaving them nothing
for interest on their investment, HOT for i'm
proyements, nor to replace stock OF Implements
When these farmers are in debt, with their
lands mortgaged, they will not hare enough
money to pay the interest on the mortgage.
The high cost Of transportation, the
excessive rates Of taxation for all purposes,
and the scarcity Of loanable capital, combine
to render the present condition OF the agricul-
tural producer one Of extreme distress. When
the annual crops, liberal as they we're this year,
do not yield enough to pay the ordinary local
taxation on the farm, the condition Of the
farmer is sad indeed.
Among the causes leading to the present want
Of loanable capital Tor, as it is generally termed,
want Of money!, the most serious are those
events Of late years which have caused
the destruction OF accumulated earnings.
The American civil war destroyed an
immense amount Of capital, not much
less than ZOO, 900, 600. The Franco-German war
was short, but terrible in the waste OF property
which characterized it. Including the French
indemnity, the annihilation Of accumulated
property may be put down at $4,000, 900, 900.
Then there was the war between Prussia and
Austria Of 1866. These wars followed each
other after brief intervals, and the labor Of
mankind has been engaged in replacing the loss
in the worlds aggregate wealth, caused by them.
Following upon them was the Chicago fire,
where property to the amount Of $500, 600
was destroyed. Notwithstanding these enor-
nous drafts upon the capital Of
rife, and all over Europe and the
United States there have been untimely efforts
to build new railways. It is not an extravagant
estimate to suppose that from 10, 900 to $4,000
miles OF railway have been constructed in
Europe and the United States, which do not
"AA~AAA3
the capital invested in them being unproductive,
and as emphatically lost for the present IS if
buried in the sea. In these railways alone there
has been temporarily sunk, and therefore with
drawn from ordinary uses, $500, 0,0o0, 600. Though
not lost, like the capital destroyed in wars, and
by the Chicago fire. it is lost for the present. It
is that kind Of capital, too, which, under
ordinary circumstances, would flow wherever
it was most needed, and could, be used
at any time to relieve any temporary stringency
that might embarrass the production OF trade Of !
the world These four causes have, therefore, |
withdrawn from the worlds capital, in 3 period |
Of less than ten years, nearly $40, 100000, Of
which the great bulk has been destroyed and
ecoverably lost. This immense amount was
the accumulation Of the surplus products Of
many years of the worlds labor. The wonder,
perhaps, is not that there ia q stringency, but
that it has not been felt before, and even more
severely than it has been. It is true TINT the
calamity Of war has been compensated in part
By Increased production upon the resumption
Of peace, but the fact remains, nevertheless. |
that q great void las been left in |
the accumulated wealth OF the world. This
immense loss will serve to ahow how expensive !
is war, and how dearly men pay, both in the sus-
pension Of production and in the destruction OF
things already produced, for what is sometimes
called glory. ''~
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