The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1874-11-05
The Situation.

and farmers or the Onlteu StaleS nave
had q hard struggle to maintain them
selves. They have fight on their bands
against the evils growing out of abuses Of
credit and foolhardy speculations They
find themselves in danger of being over
come by the decentralization bcgotten Of
war and the dishonest currency, by Gebts
and taxes. Now, what are they to gain
by shutting their eyes to the dangers
which surround them? They are in the
cnemy's country, and it is their business
to know the cnemy's strength. That policy
of pufery and falsehood which answered
so we'll two or three years ago will not an
swer in these times. In its day it was
curse to the country, md now it is an in
suit. The truth is always salutary, and
never more so than when the land is cov-
cred, as with snow, with the wrecks Of
once successful frauds and hunlbugs. To
tell sthe truth Is not to croak. Truth is
the very medicine that is needed Could
quackery be ever successful the country
would forever be growing worse. Life,
with every disease. were thousand times
worse than death itself.
1t does seem to the superficial observer
incxplicable that agriculture, trade, man
ufactures, and transportation should all
be suffering at once, with apparently no
tendency towards recovery. Great for
ccs arc at work producing great change.
The progress towards better things is none
the less real because it is not instant and
on the surface. The present suffering is
only the measure of the disorder. Con-
slider only the magnitude cf the evil of
investing in the course Of three or four
years three hundred million dollars in
railroads which are paying nothing on
the capital expended on them. Consider
tho next link in the chain, the iron works
constructed and mines opened to supply
the material for such railroads-all now
PROSTATE together Consider the towns
and cities overloaded with debt incurred
to build those railroads. Consider the
stock .jobbcs> who formerly held the seats
of honor at tables where the voice of the
'croakcr" was not heard. But why 60 on ?
Is it not plain tbt,sgSh waste of pro-
ducfivs power; sdcR pa departure from
the true course of industry, such dcmorali-
cation in all classes of society, cannot be
recovered from in u day? Are We going
to bed to night, feeling certain that in the
morning we shall be recovered from our
long debauch! Are they all "croakers"
who refuse to believe this?
We have considered it our duty to study
and report upon the actual condition OF
things; to ascertain the full strength of
the enemy; to know the weakness of our
posts, and to point out the stations that
cannot be defended. We may not have
pleased spectators and We may have
dampencd the spirits of the oversanguine.
But we have not exaggerated evils, and
we have not painted i'll stronger colors
than the reality In ali that concerns the
exchange and consumption of goods, pro,
gress has been suddenly arrested. We
stand where we were two or three years ago.
Nearly everybody has resolved, or has
been compelled. to buy and use less of
the goods which his ncighbor makes a
living BY making or selling. Hence there
seems to be a general oycr-production,
even of the absolute nccessarics Of life
This state of things, from its very nature,
is temporary But nothing is gained by
undertaking it's strength or underestima-
ting its endurance The great thing is to
understand the one and to wait patiently
until the other is exhausted We are like
ship surrounded by icebcrgs. and it is
sheer lunacy to pretend not to see any
thing but plain sailing.
Each individual has his own business,
in which he may or may not have commit
ted acts Of inprudence. Bat whether he
has or has not. he himself understands
his own business better than anybody else,
and he himself must manage 1t rs pru-
IDENTIFY rs he can. The recovery of a
healthy tone in the business world de-
pends on the sagacity, patience, economy,
and other like virtues of individuals Let
those virtue. be practiccd and the result
cannot be doubtful. By cool observers
the consequences of the opposite vices
had long been ioresecn. We have not
lost confidence in the character OF our
business mcn. The world is not coming
to an end because spectators are at last
awake TO r. izing sense Of their tollles.
-. ,olnSs that thn