Morning journal and courier., 1883-04-30
1N, CONN. MONDAY MORNING. Al
aouruaI auo .Gourier.
SINGLE COPIES THREE CENTS
Monday, April 30. 1883.
APRoPHET OF EVIL.

It will be remembered that two or three
 years ago conservative old banker at the
 meeting of the American Bankers Associa
 ton advised his fellow bankers and all others
 interested to s'go slow'' for he saw signs of
 a 'tsnash." His forebodings have not yet
 been realized to any great extent, though fin
 ancial and business affairs are not now and
 have not for some time been in 8 stboom-
 ing'' condition. Since he prophesied other
 prophets have from time to time arisen and
 propbesied similarly. The latest whose ut
 terance we have noticed is a writer in the
 New York Evening Post. This gentleman
 calls attention to the fact that the banks have
 recovered more slowly from the April drain
 this year than in the past three yearss and to
 the fact that from the beginning of March,
 1873, to the beginning of May mooey was
 exceedingly tight, the lowest rate having
 been per cent for days, and even we.,ks to-
 gether, the current rate in Wall street having
 been I to of per cent. day. The reason
 of the long period of dear money in the
 spring of 1873, and of the panic which fol-
 lowed in September, was undoubtedly the too
 rapid building of railroads, and the conse- quent complete absorption of the 9osating capital of the country. This prophet points out that railroad building is now going on and has been for the past four or five years faster than it was in 1873 and the four or five years preceding. It is true, he admits, that immigration is on an snormous EaealeA that the tendency of foreign capital is still to seek investment here, that over prod uCti',n in various industries has been checked, and that the gOneral business of the country is in the main sound and prosperous. But all this, he points out, ''was as true in the spring of 1873 as it is to-day. and therefore it may be wise to pause and consider whether oar pres ent financial condition resembles that of 1873 as nearly as the above figures would | indicate Of course the country is much | richer now than it was then, and can safely l make larger investments; but when it is re- 1 membered that to build Il, ,0OO miles of rail- 1 road means an investment of $275, 900, 600, | or thereabouts, and that, not content with l the United States, we are giving Mexico and 1 Canada the benefit of large investments of g | similar character, it would seen as if the ] limit of safety had been reached, if not pass l ed." He thinks it tolerabIy certain that we ! shall have dear money during the last four 1 months of the year, and that if nothing I worse than dear money is in store for us it I will probably be due to the fact that wide spread and judicieus caution has reduced the danger of panic to minimum.
 This is apparently more sensible talk than much of that indulged in by panic prsdioters, and 1t is well enough to pay some attention to it. Of course it is possible that panic will occur soon. and it will probably occur
 just as panics do, when it is not looked for.
 But, on the whole, the situation appears to
 us rather hopeful. Prices are not high.
 Traders have been and are careful. Business
 men have not been getting reeklessly into
 debt during the last year or two. And spscu-
 1ation is not as popular as it was. One bad
 feature of the situation is the large amounts
 of new securities which are constantly throwR into a market already overburdened. But per- haps even these can be absorbed without ruin. The country is 8 great and rapidly growing one, and if we have a good or even fair crop this year we may come out all right.