Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1875-06-24
AUSTIN. x1NN.-.
THURSDAY i MORNING, JUNE -. 1875.

y:-AUsTIN. x1NN.
THURSDAY i. MORNING., JUNE -. 1875.
- THE TIMES. ge..z +
Business depression has been general
and uniform during the last fifteen months,
and it seems likely to continue 50 inden.
nitely. Various reasons have been assign
cd for this condition and numerous RENE.
dies proposed, but the country experiences
no relief from any of them. Some attrib- |
ute the arrangement to excessive immigra- |
ton and the consequent reduction In the
price of labor; and they advise tho dis !
couragemcnt of foreigners from coming |
to America. Others assert that the pro |
duc,ive resources have been too active, |
surlei,ing the markets, and such counsel
partial suppression Of the industries'
Others, that luxurious living and fashion
able extravaganza have wasted the SUBJ
stance of the country, and argue the ne
ccssity Of a return to primitive customs
and modes of living Others make the
republican party responsible for every.
thing that is conceived to be either hard.
ship or an Inconvenience, and they are
clamorous for restoration of the democ-
racy to the control Of the government, and
each of these classes may be in part cor.
rect in the views which it entertains.
We have undoubtedly forced the settle
ment Of the west somewhat beyond reason
and prudence, and have not Disseminated
sufficiently in the kind or quality Of our
productions. We have lived beyond our
means, and depended too much upon the
government and too little upon ourselves,
rs individuals, for those results which are
achieved only through personal effort, and
we have worked too vigorously for party,
without always selecting the best men or
intoxicating the best principles; but all
this does not solve the mystery of our
present condition. He who reads the his
tory Of this nation has not failed to dis.
cover that once in about twenty years
there is business crisis-a kind of tide
in the affairs OF men that Gibbs and flows
with periodical regularity. live date its
commencement in the revolutionary peri
I'd, lit began them, we shall find that there
have been five crises in business and f.
nance since THAT time. About the year
1895 various causes served to produce q
general depression which led to the con-
summation Of the "funding system" pro-
posed by Alexander Hamilton, then Sec
rotary Of the Treasury. The war of 1872
Is, may lie noted as the period Of the sec
ond crisis, and assigned as its sufficient
cause The third occurred in the year
1887, Immediately after the inauguration
of President VanBuren, and was attribu.
ted to mixed causes. The "specie circu.
lar" requiring a distribution of the public
treasure among the several States made a
heavy drain upon the banks in New York
and other Atlantic cities. The exporta
ton of specie to Europe had for some time
been excessive, and the home currency
was otherwise deranged by large loans
made by banks having deposits Of the sur
plus revenue expecting to hold them, but
speculation was the chief element Of dis
astcr. Property appreciated enormously
and then tumbled-burying the fortunes
of its owners and swapping the mercan
tile interests OF the whole country. II
1857 another rcvulsion occurred as the re
suit of inflated values, and the war ther
in progress against the institution of slave
~. That period was followed by tho re
bellion, the accumulation Of an enormous
public debt, the projection of new and
vast schemes OF public improvement, thu
employment of immense sums in opening
hitherto unoccupied territory, the mos
unexamplcd prodigality in style of living
and by speculation the most extravagan
ever witnessed in any age. These thing
conspiring, have brought the vanguard o
business to the verge of another tinanc!a
prccip;ce, and unless those in the rear ca,
be made to restrain their impctuous foil,
one half Of the great army Of industry ant
commerce will be buried In the chasu
like Napoleon's cuirassers in the rad G
Chain, on Waterloo-making a bridge 70
tho remnant Of the corps to pass over in
rout. If we look for the chief cause q
this difficulty we shall find it in the cha
lcteristic of the American citizen to get
living by speculation to realize substal
tial returns upon hypothetical valuation
to procure an income without any il
yestment sufficient to constitute a leg,t
mate basis. In other words to live by d,
urcs rather than by facts. This is VIII
constitutes, to a great extent, our presel
trouble. Connected with such schcu
of living aud necessary to it, is the prev
lent system of loans and discounts Cred
is the soul and body of speculation. Tho
who have money are careful 70 employ
so as to get return. 1t is the man wi
has no money, who creates mutations q,
lives upon hypothetical values. He max
capital impatient Of slow returns and d
couragcs mony from investment and til
generates and fosters system Of specu
ton in the currency Of the eountry-th
which has no value in itself, and max
it the controlling agent in all trsnsactio
and the standard of all values. Mon
and industry in this country have chang
places That which was established on
rs a convenience of business, has becol
business itself and controls all depa
mcnts of effort. Under such censorsh
no people can be prosperous. We m,
return to the old idea that labor is a p
mary obligation resting upon every pers
who has health and physical streng
and that no one shall eat who Is not