New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-11-27
con-. IRON, AID DEBT.

Inc GlticUi,IeS Win winch Inc iron Ililu-
facturers of this country are cOntcnding are
not easy to escape from. A general revival
of enterprise and industry can alone furnish
employment for the furnaces and rolling mills.
For the iron men slow and steady trade Is
better than periods of great activity alter
mating with severe depression. They OF alimcn
ought to be the most hostile to systems of cur
rcncy which encourage the speculative spirit and
excite the business world to unhealthy energy,
TO be followed by corresponding torpor.
The further nation permits its currency to
deDalt from the gold standard, the more it
permits even u convertible currency to ex-
pand after fashion which would be impos-
siblc were the money metallic, the greater are
these feycrish fluctuations, and the more rcck-
less is the accumulation OF debt by individuals
and corporations. These important facts are
established by the uniform experience OF
England, France, and the United States for
tie last ore hundred AMI fifty years.
The grand obstacle to the perfect working
of the industrial machinery Of the country, the
one thing which keeps business from promptly
recovering from the prOstratiOn which fol
lowed the panic, is debt. The natural ten
dencv of most men is TO run into debt, to en-
gage in enterprises which require Borrowed
money, and to buy on credit to sell again at q
profit. Initiation during and after the war,
bank expansion in the years from 1928 to
1921, and "cheap money" in whatever guse,
give full play to this natural tendency of
men to Involve themselves in pecuniary
difficulties. Under such circumstances whole
communities are dcluded, thinking the mere
-, ~ o.
in their value; and consequently an increase
of tho wealth of those by whom the things
are possessed. In the end TIE bubble bursts,
and those who have made haste to head the
column of enterprise and speculation find
themselves with more debts to pay than their
goods and lands will sell for.
This week VIC have the Pennsylvania iron
men complaining of the coal corporations for
fixing the price of anthracite too high. 1t
would doubtless be better did the coal cOrpO-
rations not have this power. But they have
it, have obtained it ut the cost OF millions,
and these expended millions are for the most
part represented by mortgage bonds. Hence
coal is high while many of the mines are
closed and the miners idle and disconnected.
The iron men also have the interest
on tncU ucDl5 W ply, ana thc stdLc
of affairs is very unpromisng for many of
them. We think the only remedy is the heal
ing touch of time. The country is rapidly
Outgrowing these troubles. Population now
increases at the rate OF over a million year.
and the waste Of the last ten years must soon
be repaired. One thing surely is not a remedy
Tor our difficulties, and That thing is Imitation.
II Initiation makes it easy for shrewd people
to get out Of debt, it makes it cOrrespOndingy
easy for people who think themselves
lust as shrewd to get deeper in, and
tho net result is an increase OF the
mass of debt. Justice requires that the
dollar be restored 20 its constitutional gold
value and afterward be kept there. Too much
borrowing is a bad thing, both for debtors
and creditors, a truth which almost every one
has had moro or less occasion to lay to heart.
We regret the existence of so much indebted
ness, but the only honest things to do are
either to pay as promised, or acknowledge
your inability to do SO, and make the best
settlement you can.