The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1879-10-02
PRESIDENT HAYES.
Speech of the National Executive.
Delivered at the Michigan State
Fair, at Detroit.

FELLOw-CITIZENs OF MICHIGAN Reach
ing Detroit only few hours ago, cannot,
from personal observation, speak of the con-
dition Of your agriculture, or of your mining,
manufacturing, and other large business in
terests. The information which I get, how
ever, from the newspapers and from converse
tons with intelligent citizens, leads me to sup
pose that the outlook for the laborer, the capt.
talist, and the people generally. is, in this
State at least as favorable as that of the people
of the country at large. This is what one
would expect from it's well-known advantages.
Your State is almost surrounded by the navi-
gable waters Of inland seas, which communi-
cate with many markets in different States,
and in countries beyond the ocean. It is mid
way, by the best of railway routes of travel
and trade, between the old and the new States.
1t has mines of copper and iron. It has
manufactures, salt and lumber, and raises in
abundance the most valuable crops and ami
mails which are produced in the North Tenn
perate zone. 1t possesses climate which is
healthful and friendly to labor, and which
gives vigor and character to men and women.
satisfactory as the material resources of Michi-
gan unquestionably are they do not constitute
that excellence which perhaps chiefly attracts
the admiration, and excites the envy, of your
less-fortunate neighbors. ALI the world knows
that, when the list is made up of the most
favored States Of this country and of the
most-favored countries of the whole world, with
respect to education-either general education
or the higher education-an honored and very
conspicuous place on that list must be given to
the State of Michigan.
A year ago, making visit of two or three
weeks to the West and Northwest, thought it
L SCI L
dition Of the country, and to present hopeful
view of the situation and prospects The bust
ness depression which followed the panic Of
1873 had then lasted five years; but there were
indications Of improvement, and it seemed to
me that what was most needed was confidence,
and that presentation Of encouraging facts and
figures would tend to inspire confidence It
was my opinion, also, that there could be no
permanent revival of business prosperity until
the currency was placed upon sound basis,
and was exchangeable at it's par value in the
universally recognized money of the world.
The friends of the constitutional currency
generally believed that this end could only be
reached by the faithful execution of the Re-
sumption act; that there was no need of further
legislation: and that the true policy was ostop
tinkering with the currency. Accordingly, the
pith of what wished to say last year to audi
ences like this was, that we ought to "let well
enough alone" Now the resumption of specie
payments has come, and with it have come also
better times
The evidences Of good times are numerous,
palpable and cheering. One bright day in June
last, more steamers-more shipping of all
sorts-gathered in New York harbor than was
ever before seen in that great mart of COM
merce, and their tonnage was in greater excess
comparatively than the number of vessels The
lines of the Pennsylvania railroad east of Pitts
burgh and Erie, for the first seven months of
7 Il.
1873, show an increase Of gross earnings of
81 ,2U8 294, an increase of expenses of $759 995,
and an increase In net earnings Of $44S 300;
the lines of the Pennsylvania and Reading rail
road (the great anthracite coal-road) net in
crease of 81 ,340, 900 for the same period. The
latest published statement of the Erie Railway
Company shows net increase of $561. OOO
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company
shows a net increase of $532, 600 for the first
ten months of the current fiscal year, begin
ming in October last 1t is estimated that more
than / 900 miles of railroad track have already
been laid this year in the United States-a
greater mileage than in the same period in
any year since 1873. Workers in iron and
steel find their business recovering so
rapidly from it's great depression that they
are unable to fill their orders, and their annual
production is likely soon to surpass the highest
figures ever reached The building of iron
steamships in successful competition with Eu-
rope is fully established on the Delaware. Our
cotton factories are again all at work, and run
ming on full time Our mines Of precious
metals are increasing their product and it
mainly stays at home. Our manufactures go
abroad more than ever before; our currency is
exchangeable at par in the markets of the world
with the money of the world; and, finally, and
most important, the demand for labor has in
creased and is increasing. It extends to cotton
mills, iron and glass works, machine shops,
brick making, building, the clothing trade, and
nearly all branches Of industry. The Philade]-
phia Record, on the authority OF well known
statistician states that there are 90, 600 more
laborers employed in that city than there were
year ago. Our exports for the year 1873
amounted to $40, 439, AL and the excess of ex-
ports over imports WAS s264, 661 ,661, both sums
being greater than in any previous year.
THE President here submitted series of
tables prepare ed by the Chief of the Bureau Of
Statistics of the Treasury Department, showing
the remarkable growth of our export trade, and
the rapid advance our farmers and manufact-
urers are making in supplying both the foreign
and home markets, and continued:l
With these authentic and significant facts
and figures before us, we may reasonably as
sumo that the country has entered again upon
period of business prosperity. The interesting
questions now are, have the good times come to
stay? What can we do in private and in public
affairs to prolong the period of prosperity, and
to mitigate the severity of hard times when they
again return? The prospects are now bright,
but all experience teaches that the wheel of
human affairs, always turning, brings around
those tremendous events called financial panics,
if not with regularity, at any rate with GER
tainty. The writer Of an intelligent article in
one of the monthlies says: "Panics, 1t has
been observed, recur about every twenty years
in this country, and almost every ten years in
England" The explanation of this is not diff
cult to discover. In good times the tendency is
to extravaganza, to speculation, and to running
in debt Many spend more than they earn, and
the balance of trade soon begins to run against
communities aud individuals. When this has
continued until the business of the country is
loaded down with debts, a financial crisis IS in
evitable, and only waits for "the last straw" Ii
this view is correct, the way to meet the dan
gerous tendencies of flush times is plain. Let
two of DIR. Franklin's homely proverbs be
strictly observed by individuals and by COM
munitles One is: "Never live beyond your
means;" and the other is like unto it, namely
"Pay as you CO."
1t is easy to see that if these old maxins of
| the philosophy OF common sense could have
general practical acceptance, the period OF
| good times would be greatly prolonged. and
the calamities of hard times would be vastly
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