The St. Johns herald., 1891-01-08
The Lesson of StringenCy.

lnue or Qerellct ODIlgatlOnS ana de
 nuded credits, has it's causes direc
 and accessory from many divergine lines of economic error, and tht
 usual admonitions that come witt
 all such occasions, to be forgotten
 when the match that lit the candle
 is but a fragment of calcined pine
 In this record of failure, and the
 diversity and impotence of numer-
 ous theories, the conservative and cautious thinker has to take his stand on the bottom-rock principles of economic law. As the causes are complicated, the methods to es- cape the evil are as many as are the threads of the web in which the un- fortunate fly provides a lunch for the hungry spider. To fix the geo. metry of a national tangle is beyond the average mathematician, but there are certain broad paths lead ing into the labyrinth that are com prehensible to the common intelli- gence of men. In the present diff ficulty one thing is certain, that a reform in our monetary system is necessary. In the issue of money, and elasticity in expansion and con- traction according to the exigencies of the situation, there is a desidera- tum yet to be met. It is also cer- tain that, for the first time in the history of our country, that the amount of money in actual circu- lation outside the Treasury shows an aggregate exceeding $1 ,500,0OO,- GOO, a generousness of supply which if not equal to the demand, is yet of such volume as to qualify the assertion that the crisis is due to contraction. From returns made to Comptroller Lacey, collated on July 1st from 3,3f4 National banks, of their receipts on that day 92.5 per cent consisted of checks and drafts, and only 7.5 per cent ot cash items, while in the bank settlements in the financial centers the propor- ton of cash was still smaller. This indicates a stress in mercantile cen ters which may be due to many and various causes, and in which there is ample margin for differences of opinion, One thing, however, is sure, and it has been announced in every previous catastrophe, that the era of depression is antedated with period of speculation and wildcat investments. The fever ot money making is epidemic, and the art of spending more than we earn is a contagious science. Investments are made on probabilities, that may or may not be realized. We build mole hill and pray for the noun tain, and with an inch of means at- tempt a yard of effect. Prodigali- ty in expenditure has always been in historic coincidence and com pany with the craze of digging a hole and looking for fortune, and the aggregate of results has ever been a displacement of values and the crack of crisis. This evil is no insignificant accessory to the financial calamity we deplore to day, and so long as it is dominant the gimlet that bores the hole in the pail will spill the water. We may doctor finances till the day of doom, increase wages and expand curren- cy; but, so long as the evils we have named exist, there can be no escape from the logic of economic laws. There is Nemesis in fin ance as in crime, and in the present instance, though the necessity of monetary reform is apparent, a lit- tie of private personal reform in making money and Tn spending it would be a possible escape from a return of financial trouble.-Age of Steel.
 Advantage is to be taken of the