The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-09-17

VPllmlsm ~ u ITOVuyi"Oes
The increase OF facilities for tele-
graphic communication among the
nations Of the earth has brought them
SO close together that the condition OF
each is instantly apprehended by the
others. 1t is therefore an easy matter
to suddenly affect commercial interests
in ways which were, half century ago,
unknown. The Anglo-R Russian I'M
broglio over the Afghan question was
recently the occasion OF quick rise
and fall in the wheat market OF Chi
cago, and the dispatches as TO the prog
ress OF the difficulty were as eagerly
read IN ST. Paul as they were IN Europe.
Time was when the American farmer
would have waited for the trouble TO
develop before growing excited; but In
these days the first rumor starts his
wagons to the railroad only to be halted
and turned about the next day. III a
hundred nailers go upon strike IN the
Pennsylvania iron region, the carpen-
ters all over the land are anxious the
next morning. If railroad between
points, which are barely prominent
enough to have place in State maj,
defaults on its bonds, stocks in New
York begin to drop in sympathy. Com
mercial fevers spread easily over thn
telegraph lines with which the country
is veined. A general scare is readily
produced, and money, like prairie
gopher, begins to exert most OF its en-
ergy in seeking hole.
The inventor of the telegraph is sup
posed to have conferred great BOOB.
upon mankind by enabling the people
OF remote lands to get into closer com
munion with one another. The de.
velopment of common interests and
sympathies was thought to be condu-
Give to the higher well-being of the
whole world. But this intimate knowl-
edge of one anothers affairs is moi
without its drawbacks, for while the
energies of the world are quickened,
| the tendency to undue excitation is also
aggravated. The moment one nation
gets ont of difficulty another gets into
one; as soon as one great local trouble
in the United States is settled, another
develops. If it is not a flood, it is q
| grasshopper; if it 10 not an overthrow
of parties it is q strike; if it is not q
drouth it is an epidemic. Now, the
quick succession of these cataclysms
and disasters is not peculiar to this
age. They have made history an inter
esting study ever since time began
| But they seem more frequent and more
intimately involving the welfare of each
man and woman in the world, because
every one in this day can communicate
with the ends of the earth much more
| i
to be possible.
The cry of wolff" is constantly
echoing IN the commercial marts,
| These wolves are for the most part
creatures of the imagination wholly
But the cries usually serve the purpose
of those who cry, and just about the
time when people are beginning to dis
count them a genuine wolf comes along
and, though he may do no considerable
injury and may be cast out, he will
| Justify the subsequent alarms of the
| incursion of mythical wolves. 1t Ii
quite time, therefore, that men at the
great money and trading centers should
cultivate either a phlegmatic DISPOSE
ton or n spirit of optimism. The gen
eral climbing of trees at every report
of freshet should be regarded as q
ridiculous procedure. Calmer judg'
ment should prevail. Men should &c
into business enterprises with less dis
position to unload" at the first sign
of danger. Money-lenders should cul
tivate greater faith in the stability Of
national and commercial institutions
and the resources of the country. 1t il
we'll to be discreet. but it is also vel
to be courageous. There should be
much preaching of the doctrine of op
timism in our banks and counting
rooms, markets aud exchanges. It was
considered a foolish proceeding when
the Three Tailors of Tooley Street for
mulated their celebrated manifesto be-
ginning ave the people of England,
but the spirit OF assurance which caused
them to take a ridiculous step is the
salvation OF commercial activity which
depends so largely upon the concurrent
determination that good times" shall
be-. c. Matthews, i11 the Current
A Flock Of SYNONYMS.