The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-05-16

Baltimore American.
The hopeful people who expected that
business activity would return with
sudden bound have been disappointed.
The panics which depress trade and stop
the wheels OF industry come suddenly and
without previous warning, but the recoy-
cry from theruin wrought by thee com.
merCial revulsions il slow and difficult
process. General prosperity does not
proceed from any one cause operating
upon the business interests Of the cOun-
try, but rather from combination Of
causes, which, in the course Of weeks,
months, and years, produce results bcne.
fetal to all classes OF people. 1t is nearly
four years since the panic OF 1873 parai.
wed the leading industries OF the coun.
try, and although We have been in a con.
dition that may be described az couraie3.
cent for the last eighteen months, our
recovery is still very far from being COM
plete.
AS every business nan knows, the
main cause Ol tie financial Disaster OF
the last three years WAS reproduction.
Manufacturer and dealers were over.
taken by the money panic with an i'm
nenso stock OF goods on hand, in which
they had invested all their available
capital, ami when the demand for their
wares fell of such OF them as were OPP
Grating on borrowed capital could do
nothing but 20 into bankruptcy. Forced
sales brought down the price Of all man
uiactured commodities, and everybody
that owned property suffered loss in the
general shrinkage OF values. |, il ano-
liceable fact, however, that for the last
two years there has been the usual &C.
tivity in the buying and selling Of stan.
dard goods. Profits have been exceed.
ingly small, and some kinds Of merchan-
disc have been sold ut loss. Neverthe-
less, the transfer from dealer to con.
sumner has gone on without serious in.
lerruption. 1t is the manufacturer that
has suffered most by the long period Of
inactivity, and even in these promising
days he hesitates about resuming work.
This shows Conclusiycly that there was
an immense stock Of manufactured goods
OH hand which three years OF steady con.
sumption have not used up. We pre-.
sumo that a long suspension Of opera.
lions is the only remedy for the disaster.
occasion by oyer-proluction.
The production Of iron il perhaps the
most important mechanical industry pur.
sued in this country. 1t was greatly
stimulated by the demand Tor iron in ali
ia marketable forms at the close OF the
war. Furnaces, rolling mills, FORCES,
ioundries and machine shops sprung up
everywhere, and the result was produc.
ton of iron and iron goods far beyond
the needs OF the country. Nearly all the
furnaces and rolling mills suspended op.
erations in 1874, but three years OF non.
production have not yet raised the price
Of iron to the figure that will justify the
manufacturer in resuming work. We
believe that all the principal iron work
ing establishments in this city are stand.
ing idle at present, and we notice that
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com.
pany has recently stopped work at its
rolling mills at Cumberland This is not
because the company has no need Of rails
to keep its tracks in repair, but they can
be bought in the market for lea
than it costs TO make them under
the most favorable circumstances. a
manufacturer OF iron bars and
plates in this city informed us n day or
Two since that the cost Of making Il ton OF
bars, added TO the cost OF the pig iron,
exceeds the present market price Of bnrs
BY three or four dollars. 1t seems that
the stock Of the bankrupt firms Of 1879
'7Istill gluts the market, and keeps all
the furnaces and rolling Inii!a in the
country standing idle. No blame can be
put on the tariff, for the price is away
below that at which imported iron can
be sold in this country, and there is none
brought to our ports. Until the manu-.
featuring establishments, and especially
the iron.working factories, resume oper.
atiOns, the gaunt spectre OF "hard times'
will not depart from the land. No mat.
ter how favorable the agricultural and
commercial conditions may be, unless
our mechanics have employment we can
have no real prosperity.
With this most important exception
tho business outlook il exceedingly
promising. The high price Of wheat ha,
helped the farmers greatly, and the pros.
pect for an abundant crop never was more
encouraging. The "oldcst inhabitanL"
does not remember OF spring season no
favorable to the wheat crop aP that which
we are now enjoying, II Ia worth trip
to the country to SEQ tho wheat fields in
their growing luxuriancc. Unless over.
taken by some uutimcly blight between
this and harvest, the yield Of wheat in
Maryland and Pennsylvania at least will
exceed that Of any previous year. Should
Turkey and Russia keep up hoslilitiea
through the summer, the price Of wheat