Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1874-01-22
An Interesting story Of the Decline of
Great Municipaltty-The
Railroad Law.
Special Correspondence st. Louis Democrat.

Special Correspondence st. Louis Democrat.
CHICAGO, ILL.,, December 27-Enling up
brief and recent sOjOurn in your city by
visit to this city, am forcibly struck by the
great dissim;larity in the thrift and business
animation of the two cities, and have almost
involuntarily looked about for some leading
cause other than panic for
"TIIE DECLINE AND FALL OF TUE CHICAGO
EMPIRE"
1t has long been the custom of travellers
and others to estimate Chicago by COMPARE
son, one with the other, and not untre-
quently to the disparagcment OF the former,
especially since Chicago's great fire awak-
ened throughout the world much such SYM
pathy for her as the true mother bestows
upon the child whom accident puts upon
crutches. But it is useless longer to dissem-
bic the truth and cali business asphyxia
active trade-life, and five-story piles of un-
productive property paying investments. Va
cancy and bankruptcy are the two commodl-
ties which Chicago has succeeded in "bull-
ing,' and now holds a considerable and
alarming "corner' on. think there is
business block vacant here for every one that
has been erected the past season ]; and her
bankruptcy courts are literally thronged with
litigants. With public wretch in the pub
lie treasury, who has defaulted 81 25 for
every man, woman and child IN the city,
lesser lights of statcsmanship' and thou
sand private candlewicks of commerce are
summarily cut off by the snuffers in bank
ruptcy, and fall into the ash heap of burnt
business character, with no memento to
recall their former existence but the sad
inscription upon
THE BOOKS OF THEIR CREDITORS.
Nor do l think the causes of this degener-
acy and worse impending calamity for this
city are remote or altogether difficult of dis
covery. Specifically, of course, it is easy to
see and say that multitude of unrented
buildings, standing so, many of them, for
year and longer, must entail large amount
of insolvency in some quarter. The interest
on the cost of the bnilding eats up the value
of the lot, and the borrowing proprietor
goes to the wall, pushed by creditors who see
their securities crumbling with long disusc.
And it is also easily seen that multiplicity
of liquidations by bankruptcy in turn create
corresponding vacancies in trade centres.
And thus the mills of Mammons gods 60
grinding swiftly on, putting bankruptcy in
the hopper, and, therefore, getting only ditto
in the flour box and the bran bag.
But these immediate revolving causes and
effects have their more ulterior, deeper
seated and more irremediable causes. The
man whe builds on borrowed money is fully
rs foolish as the old man who built upon the
sand. And the man who pays for his stock
of goods with 1924 in credit to 81 paid in
cash, starts hot-house for the cultivation of
the weed called Failure" The business
interests of Chicago are to-day deeply in the
tolls of both these follies Nine-tenths of the
magnificent structures that ha' covered Chi
cago ruined during the last 20 years have
tue genuine mortgage finish from sub
cellar to rat-attic. To-day the rebuilt portion
of Chicago represents several hundreds of
millions more capital than it did before the
fire. And still that misfortune left thousands
of her business men with nothing to stand
upon but their real estate, and thousands
more with real estate or some worse load on
top of them-$1O, 900, $50, 900, $50, 900 or
100000.
POORER THAN PAUPERS.
And this frightful chasm between the pow
crty of burnt Chicago and Chicago rebuilt,
has been bridged mostly by borrowed capital.
An estimate of $500, ,0OO, 900 probably will
still leave uncounted some of the mortgage
notes and trust deeds signed and sent East by
funds during the last two years. And upon
this giant sum of private indebtedness these
private citizens of Chicago are held to the
payment of that speculative rate of interest
ten per cent. If these first years, when only
interest falls due, are so fruitful of failures,
what shall be the crash when the due of the
longtime principals also falls upon the
debtors?
But this load of private debt is one of the
primal causes of Chicage's dullness, and her
'"impending crisis" for which there will
come NO ''Helper." The business manipu- |
lators seldom own the ground they occupy,
and the nominal holders of the ground sell
dom own the great buildings above il, except
~ fiction of law. Is it any wonder that |
.hings in the shadow of these nillion-dOllar |
Iotels are shaky, and that operators in these
kilt edi6ces are nervous over the unknown |
outcome.
~<<D\r
THREE full editions of the Sun piled up as