The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-11-18
TIL, BEGINNING OF BETTER TIMES.

'1he prosperity Of trade depends on
toe condition Of the classes who are
engaged in production. In the Unit
cd States the agricultural class of
producers far surpasses in importance
any Of the others. If we can show
that the condition Of the farmers and
planters is an improving one it will
follow that a corresponding improve
ment will before long be manifest in
the general trade Of the country.
>" hen we speak Of men in masses of
millions, as, We must, in Disgusting
the affairs Of such a nation as the
United States, We necessarily have to
disregard a multitude Of exceptions
to the general rule. Taking the
farmers and planters as class We do
say that there is ample statistical
proof Of the fact that they are better
off than they have been at any time
Tor three years past. We point in
the first place to the quantities Of
"lsc;;t, CORE, cotton, beef, pork, cheese,
hams, anil bacon exported in the
second place to the prices obtained
Tor those articles, not in the port of
New FORK, but at the places where
they are produced, for the farmer
has had the advantage for over a
year Of internal freights low beyond
precedent; i'll the third place to the
'ower rate Of wages-at which farmers
and planters have this year procured
their labor; and in the fourth place
to the t;ict Which naturally follows
rom the t .,:ta already mentioned,
. that the imports Of tea, coffee, and
sugar have been larger IN the fiscal
year ended with June last than in
any previous year in the history Of
the country. In her dealings with
the United States Great Britain has
proved good customer. While our
imports from the British Isles have
been enormously curtailed, our ex-
ports to those regions have greatly
increased since the close of the year
1872. III either one of the three
calendar years 1873, 1874, and 1875,
we have found market for more
grain in Great Britain than we ever
did before. Much Of that grain has
gone to reduce indebtedness, but new
ertheless the farmers who produced
it have been paid for it, and we'll
paid for it, too.
Another favorable circu instance in
the condition of trade throughout
the United States is the absence of
speculation. Probably there is no
important article whose price is now
upheld beyond a fair level by the
competition of spectators. The de-
mand that at present exists for mer-
| chandise and manufactures can be
| depended Oh to continue and to grow,
because it comes almost direct from
the consumer. The population of
the Union is now in round numbers
fortyfve millions, and it is increas-
ing at the rate of about two and a
half per cent per annum, and much
faster than that in the great agricul-
tural States of the West. Under
such circumstances Of prosperity
and increase Of the agricultural pop
ulation, how long can the market for
cotton goods remain glutted at the
present low prices? It must, within
no very distant period, feel the in
creased consumption. At the same
time we are bound to say that there
are 10 grounds for expecting a reviv-
al OF speculation. Since the tele-
graph has united the business world,
speculation does not play the part
1t formerly did in trade and COM
merce. llence, the slow and almost
lmperccpiible steps by which business
re>lves where it is not too heavily
weighed by debt and taxes.
We cannot think it out of place to
urge economy on those who are in
debt, from the Mayor, Aldermen, and
Commonality Of the City OF New
York down to that man who merely
owes his grocer and tailor. Prompt
payment is quite as conducive to the
welfare Of business as large purchases.
We believe at his very time that
nothing could tend more strongly to
bring about good times than q reduc-
ton OF taxes, and the only. honest
way to reduce taxes is to cut down
| exnenditnreS Nom Yo,L Tl.;l,...