The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-05-02

OF thousands are expended without a
thought, upon the ornamcntation of dwell
lings and the purchase of the most useless
Injuries of every imaginable kind. In
short, everywhere and by almost everybody
is seen this unprecedented and ertravagant
outlay of money, looking indeed as il there
were universal and uncomfortable desire
everywhere existing TO get rid of as much
money as possible in any way first suggest
ing itself. Many, ii is true, are making
wise Investments and solid purchases, and
may hope Tor golden returns in the future,
but the majority seem to have no other
thought than the mere qualification of the
senses and to get rid as soon as
possible of the surplus cash that
seems to SO burn their fingers aud pockets.
In one aspect this spectacle is gratifying,
but in another it presents many ieatur, $
that give rise to doubts and fears. II is be-
You'd dispute that the fact indicates great
plenty of money in the country and an al
most universal prosperity throughout the
union. The mills and the workshops and
the harvests have turned their products into
the channels of trade and commerce and
have brought gold and silver into ci cula-
ton until mon every where seem to feel and
act like him who for the first time has II
bank account-they want to spend money
and purchase under every circumstance
and upon every solicitation. The great
prosperity of the country has rendered
them reckless and maed them wild
so that every man OF means is
rapidly developing into a would
be Sybarite. Just such state
of affairs, such extravagances, such
recklessncss were witnessed some ten or
twelve years ago, and but q short while
preceding the disastrous panic of 1873.
Those who had, threw what they had away :,
but upon such ilmsy objects. and so ex-
clusively upon the qualification of their
senses that thousands were soon bankrupted
while the country at large had to suffer
also. We fear that succeeding the present
cxtravagant, expenditure, the throwing
away OF millions upon actresses, yachts
fine horses and carriages, jewelry and
palaces will come another crash, another
Tightening of the money market, when dol.
lars will be AS conspicuously absent as they
are now prevalent. Society in the aggre.
gate is like an individual. 1t has its in
come and its Legitimate subjects for ex-
penditures and its necessities for wise III
vestments, and when it over-steps
the bounds in any of these res
poets and becomes ioolishly luxurious and
extravagant, it must suffer the consequent
ces Just as will the individual who forgets
that his fortune is not eXhaustless and frit-
tiers 1t away in riotous living. 1t looks TO
us as If collectively, we were as a people
going too fur, as If ii were indeed time to
call a halt and review our resources. The
note of warning is being struck from time
to time in the failures and detnlcations that
are the direct result of fast living. There
is but one safe means of disposng of sur
plus cash. The world is replete with in
stances of the folly of indulging in too much
luxury and the wisdom OF neye. forgetting,
however full the coli, r may BE that there
is future still left to provide for. The
investment to which we refer is of course
the purchase of real estate, a possession
always representing the money put
into it, always there, nearly inya-
riably on the rise and always capable of
beingsubiected to the best uses and for the
best interests of man. There has been a
boom in real estate in the country, boom
that has been especially felt in Dallas, ana
this is doubtless attributable to the plenti-
tulness Of money and the disposition of
many to invest their surplus in land. II
there were greater disposition to put the
ready and available cash in such an invest
ment everywhere, rather than to throw il
away upon luxuries, diamonds and fancy
turnouts, amusements and pleasure tours,
the results would be soon most satisfactory.
both the individual and the community
as whole, feeling tie happy effects of a
steady, natural growth based upon gen.
eral and marked prosperity. Money NAV
melt like snow before the sun, revo.
lutiors anu panics may come and
the crash may resound throughout
the financial and social worlds, but If tina
surplus means ola community or an indi.
vidual are sunk in good real estate or sub.
stantial improvements thereon, that indi.
vidual or community cannot be reduced 10
the last ditch. So long as u mans money
or the bulk or surplus of it is securely
fastened to land, to valuable city or country
property, that which is the source of the
necessaries and the real wealth of the peo.
Pile, the basis of all independence and now.
or, that man is not only secure for the pres.
eat but independent Of the mutations and
panics of the future. We could hone.
therefore, that instead OF the thousands of
foolish and extravagant outlays which the
press is everywhere chronicling now, there
was even greater boom and disposition 10
invest in real estate than is at present
upon us. 1t indicates healthy prosperity
at the present and u sure dependence for
the future. We are gratiiied to note that
In our own city most Of the surplus money.
of which too there seems to DO an abund.
snce, Is going into real estate rather
than into absurd and useless
luxuries of one kind and another.
The matter of credits also must be- CLOSELY
watched, for there is undoubtedly too
much carelessness manifested In this par.
ticular. Men with heavy stocks are
anxious to dispose OF the same, and others
are always ready to buy. Only men about
whose financial soundness or ability to pay
for what they got, ought TO have an extern.
sion ofcredit. Itisso common TO buy when
the terms are easy. that . vast deal Of suffer
Ing aud financial disaster spring from this
very fact. In short, the times seem to IN
suCh that tho utn,osk vis,lo,v, qua r.,l,...