The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-16

raafTsnot cosssdt witaFs hesBnf Emissions They
;n.,a nnnisSit thSE gwhat we Deed above al
Es6f8rs i, eOnobse and tkat the worse TUG
Lsfffjeok istbe more NE mus econ onD,"e ;tpas
eyeff body must Sase as nuch as ne can Wy
cutting down all hfsaexpensss ana tnat a'le.
each failure he hears OF be must cut .Deu
down still more In fsct, to listen TO sou 1 =.
,hom- one would imagine that there coulo hot
he aTsy recovery unfiEWeihadtt' ftouchcd eotr
Som - and that touching bottom meant gen-
eral restriction 20 the bare necessar1es OF his.
Now. there f. in "a great deatof this 1alk,
tho inconseauence which economists naYe
often pointed out 10 the phrase genera
rise of values" which some people occa-:
sionally use. meaning thereby an incfesse IN
the value OF everything together, 1nciuains
gold md silver. It needs but very iittle
reflection to see tnat this is chimera. But.
the notion that any process OF recovery cay
take place through universal economy, oEs
in other words, universal diminutlon Of
consumption, accompanied by universal,
Increase of production, is also en'Ineia.f
TT We oil consume less we caDnos prouuce
more, because the producers ana CONSUMES
are the same persons. Therefore, tDo ou,
rent newspaper advice on 'tols SUI
iect needs considerable revision. y
everybody reduces hts expenses 10 ever!
direction be undoubtedly eHeets ZOE i, sne
moment, say for month or WOE eo..
siderable saving; but as soon as ne aI.einp.s
to increase his production ne dlsSo'e.s .uas
n HE neiehbors have all been folio wiDg his
evamnIe his market is gone. The po-
s;tion in which one now so frequently.
tnds a newspaper prophet, urging ms
follow. citizens to buy no new shirts thls,
ve.rs and at the same moment mourning
over The slackness of work in the cottonf
mills! isan obvious illustration Of thefatta-
2cionsness of bis theory. The Fact IS, uni
versa, economy as O means Of recovery trom
a commercial crisis isan absurdity ;. Econn-
mo tn no effective must be combined with
steady or increased productions; or, In otner
words. must be practiced by only portion
fof the community. If all classes undertake
to practice it for any great leDStn
of time, the result will be someWhas
like that of an attempt to lengthen
garment by cutting piece of one end ana
sewing it on at the other. The elementary
principles of political economy have been
often illustrated by on account OF the dolngS
of small company of shipwrecked artisans
on remote island. One, for instance, is
shoemaker, one baker, one tailor, and one
= hunter, and they all exchange their pro-
ducts, and live happily. But il is easily seen
That ii. by way Of remedying some lmpru.
dence or excess on the part of one Of their
number, all of them determine to consume as
little as possible, their abstinence cannot pos
sibly result iu their all growing ricn. Some
have TO consume freely 10 make the produc-
ton of the others OF any Immediate oenent 10
them.
I'll People consume less and produce less for
The same reason that they consume little and
produce little in Mexico and Guatemala-
that is, owing 10 low sense Of security
about the future. Their state of mind about
business becomes somewhat assimllated 10
that of the Inhabitants Of badly.governed
countries in which the police are powerleSs,
or the courts are vena. They want en-.
terprise, and prefer living aoStem!-
ously to working hard or taking
risks, Just as the COSTA Ricans do.
They cannot, however, get out OF this state
of mind by sitting still and saving In their
clothes and food. The cure Lies in the revl'
val Of CONFIDE NCE in the future, and this
comes back, in The absence OF fresh disasters,
through the operation Of time. When We
say cheerfuIly that "busine's is reVlVlng,"
that the mills are fully empioyed,'that the
furnaces have again heen lighted, We SIM
ply mean that people have begun TO lake
heart and create demand by buying aS I'M.
The notion that this demand is the result
of the accumulation of wealth during the
previous bad year is halIucination. FEe
only good way in which the prevalent dr'
preston has really contributed to revival is
By supplying cheap money to sucu man ufac-
tuners Us use borro @ed capital. Win money
al three or four per GEN., the cost OF produe-
ton is, of course. Iessened to those who can
produce at all, and the consequent lowering
of rriccs Temps unwilling purchasers INTO
lie market. But the depression which hll-
lows crisis, being mainly moral has 10 lie
dIs-ipa,ed in the main by moral remedies.
&c ,nomy is u good thing if accompanied ny
Industry and good market. but not otter
wise. In the oue case, 1t i the ylltue OF an
Anglo S.x,n; ia the other, The y!ce OF
Ncapoil'an.