Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-06-17
BUSINESS PROSPECTS.
From the Chiedgo Tribune.

From. the Chiedgo Tribune, "'
The opinions of leading business men on the
present condition OF trad q aud its prospects are
not uniform. Though differing widely, the
reasons OF that difference can be found In the
nature Ut the business pursued, ,and,the actIyl-
", or the want OF 1t, that forces itself upon
the attention of the observer. Some depart-
ments OF trade and manufactures were lara
iyzed by the panic lastSeptember and they are
likely to remain so for an indefinite period I'm
the ipture. For many years previous to the
revuisl0n, railway building and bonds had alb
soroed s most Of the surplus capital of the ma
ture Of iron, stimulated by an enormous tariff,
was. therefore, active, and those engaged In 1t
were exceeding prosperous OF course, this
trade Is now dull. and must continue so Ger.
talniy I'LL the country has time 10 recover from
tne 700 rapid extension of railways for most
OF the time since the war closed The manu-
facture and sale OF what are properly called
luxuries are also by no means active. Prudent
people always cut down their expenditures in
TINS direction during panic, and for a consid-
era1Ie time after business in other departments
pegns to revive. Hence large class Of people
that trade Is excessively dull.
Let US now inquire what elements of hope
there are for gradual and sure return to q
reasonable degree of:prosperity. Most of the
liquidationS caused by the panic have been eff.
fected: The losses have been charged off,
ana while the capital and stock schedules ha We
sunk down sadly enough for many men once
| In the Ast OF miilionaires, yet it cannot be de-
MED that the actual wealth of the nation has
| steadily increased. True, many Of the new
| railways defaplted on their interest and most
OF them passed their dividends, but by far the
larger number OF roads paid their interest on
their bonds, promptly, and few have de-
| clared dividends on their stock. In addition
to that interes. due to indlyidual capitalists
life insurance companies, trust funds Of al
kinds In the aggregate amounting to tens Of
millions OF money, has been paid. 70 thi
must be added the interest diSbursed by tht
Government every six months and the profit
on the grocery and other departments Of trad
many OF which have been doing q successful
business. Since the advance in corn, severa
months since our farmers have been receiving
fair prices for farm products and an immens
amount of money Is now In their hands, whicl
In due time, will find its way back to the chan
nels OF business, And withal the prospect
for good crop of all kinds of cereals wer
never better,
For weeks, IL not months past, money ha
been accumulating in all the business centre
or the nation. A leading banker from PorI
land, oregon, recently informed us that none
on the Tactic coast has not been so plentifu
and cheap for many years. California has a
ready secured her wheat crop, worth probab
ly $25, 5,0O0, 600. Origon. has also a large sur
. plus for export. In addition to the facts abov
: enumerated vast sums in the shape Of intere:
, will be disbursed by the General and Stat
Governments and by individuals and in div
dends by banks and other institutions, Or til
1st os July, less than three weeks hence. Th
aggregate would be told In tens of millions @
dollars Where all this money is 10 find sal
and profitable Investment will be a questio
not easy for capitalists to decide. In Me-
\ ork and other EASTERN cities, interest on ca
has for some time been down to 3@5 per cen
and in Chicago, st. Louis, and other Wester
Giles, and on the Pacific Coast, 1t has seldo
been so abundant and rates of interst so 10y
Hence we expect O healthy revival of busine
, | within the next five months.