Morning journal and courier., 1880-04-19
CORRESPONDENTS.
s' M. c. S.'' tn tke South-,Ehc Merchants 0verstoci1ed.Fhe ''Drcp.'
 ON THE OARS, April IT.


 ON THE CARS, April IT.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 When I last wrote you I was going down the Ohio river, intending to take quite an extended southern trip, but, as I wrote about the business of Wheeling, seeing that there was likely to be reaction in all branches, I went only as far as Kentucky and then re- turned. There was one general expression in all stores visited, which, with all the tact profess to have as a salesman, I could not overcome-"Full up." I battled with this for nearly week, went to the wholesale stores, and to the retail stores, into the largest cities and into the smaller towns, but ''full up" met me alike from all quarters. I have found by observation that when you hear the same story told by different persons in different towns, there is truth at the bottom, and engaging in con- versation with many business men fand all seemed willing to talk business) learned that they had been ton market nearly month earlier thnn usual, had bought double their usual stock and now, as their sales had not taken their purchases, they were in no mood to increase their stock with large overdue, un- paid bills looking them in the face. Their conversation was SO straightforward, and so honest and so seemingly truthful, when l saw the piles of unsold merchandise upon their shelves my judgment was but to tell the cor rectness of their answers.
 Do you remember my writing you letter about the middle of February last, when therein said we were going too fast Never was I more correct in my enticipatlons Will soms of your intelligent readers please look at the price of few staples of that date and compare them with tho prices of today Nothing went up so fast when the advance began as iron, and nothing has fallen so much since. Importation at once began and sxporta- Asz i.,{ {la& rkio oIa hv1tI other things, until we awoke very suddenly one morning, not long ago, and found that instead of a"balanoe of trade''of nearly mil lion of dollars der day in our favor, 1t was the other way, and anyone can easily reason out the result. Ali the mills in the country were being run to their fullest capacity and with out regard to anything except to produce the greatest quantity of goods In the shortest given time. This would have worked no evil for the country at large was in con- dition to absorb and use Q great quantity of goods but speculation at once began, and manufacturers discounting further advance, increased their prices full fifty per cent, when in reality the cost of producing was only increased about twenty-five. I make these statements from facts gathered from authentic sources. The cost of iron ore was but slightly advanced, yet the price of pig iron was more than doubled. The cost of cotton staple was not very much changed, but cotton cloth went up wonderfully. True, labor commanded an ad- vancsd price, but not one-quarter as much as goods were put up. Many dealers, taking the cue from the Ranufacturers, went and bought twice their needs, which inflated the prices yet mors-and here we are. No panic-of course not. That is next to impossible, for the real demand for goods for consumption, and not for speculation, prevents that, but they will drop yet more, or rise to that point where they will pay fair profit to the maker, who pays fair price for his raw material and for his artisans That place we may reach in the next few weeks and then the wheels of legitimate trade will move successfully for ward with satisfaction to all. M. 0. 5.