Smyrna times., 1882-04-19

of great business activity through which
we have been passing. The economies of
previous years made resumption possible
in 1879, and the bringing the greenback
to par with gold had the effect Of adding
to the currency all the gold and silver
boarded up since 1862 These additions
tothe circulating medium tended naturally
to promote commercial activity This
activity was stimulated immensely, how
ever, by our extraordinarily large crops of
cotton and grain in the three years begin
ming with 1879. The failure of the har-
vests of Europe during these same years
created an unusually remunerative and
steady market for American agricultural
products; and, to add further to the
Western farmers good fortune, the substi-
tuition of steel for iron rails on land and
the screw propeller for the paddle-wheel
and sail at sea, cheapened transportation
to such an extent that tie grain n-grOwer's
margin of profit became immensely widen
ed and strengthened. Immigration added
also largely to our resources of capital and
skilled labor. These many favorable cir
cumstances have created the present era
Of unexamplSd prosperity. For the futur
the promise Of crops is fairly good. \ mild
Winter and an open Spring have been
favorable to the opening up of many new
farms in the far West, and in the older
sections of the country, with the exception
of the flooded district, agricultural prepa-
ratiOns are reasonably well advanced
The large disbursements to be made by
the Treasury Department during the
| Spring and early Summer will maintain a
high tide of available funds for business
ventures, and perhaps defer any such
| tightness of the money markets as must
necessarily precede the approach OF hard
| times Nor can it be forgotten that the
earnings of the railroads continue TO be
expressed in large. and in many cases
/ growing figures
i There is another side of the picture,
more sombre in color, to which our atten-
tion is frequently invited by those who
think the high-water mark of our prOsperi-
! ty is already in the past, and believe that
q financial crisis is imminent. The cotton
crop of the coming season Will certainly
be smaller than during the past three
years. The crops of Europe promise to be
good, diminishing thus the demand tol
oar grain. From 1873 to 1879 as many as
100000 acres Of new land per annum
were put in grain in the United States
but since the last mention ed year the aver
age has not exceeded 2.j00,000 acres pei
manufactures have been moro attractive
to our native youth than the country, ant
as recently showed less than twenty PEE
cent. of our immigrants take to the plOw
Capital by the hundred millions has beer
put in bridges, tunnels and roadbrds il
the Southwest, not to mention ether sec
tions of the country where it will remain
unproductive for perhaps decade Ofyears
Tourists spend large amounts abroad
Our decreasing exports and increasing i'm
ports are unfavorable signs with thos
who hold an excess of exports to be essen
tial TO national prosperity. IN some indus
tries strikes are threatened for higher pa,
at moment when employers find it i'm
, possible to yield without inviting bank
ruptcy. Reviewing the whole field,
must be admitted that there is reason fo
caution, but not for anxious solicitud'
When stocks are high the Omens are al
nounced by brokers interested in declir
) are TO be received with some degree I
d doubt.