The record-union., 1894-04-17
A RETURN TO BETTER TIMES.


The commercial, the manufacturing.
the industrial forces of the country are
ripe for a return to better times. 1t is
the question of uncertainty now more
than anything else that prevents re-
bound from present depressed conditions;
uncertainty regarding national legisla-
ton affecting commercial interests. 1t is
not so much what Congress does with the
tariff and revenue bills as that it shall do
something decisive. Either the passage
or the defeat of the Wilson bill would re-
lax the painful tension of the present.
It is a matter of common knowledge
that along seven-tenths of the line of
supplies there has been and is the utmost
restriction of production. With the re-
moval of the painful uncertainty Of the
present regarding the tariff bill there
must come resumption. Stocks have
fallen so low that the demand of common
necessity calls for their replenishment.
About all surplus stocks have been de-
pleted and in many directions there is
absolute suffering for supplies that are
not forthcoming and will not be until the
element of uncertainty to which we refer
is removed.
So soon as this is done there will be
almost instant manufacturing resump-
ton with demand for skilled labor that
se I'LL t1e 70 Az xxynl
at it, when this takes place there will be
lifted from the dominant party in Con-
gress the cloud that now puts it into the
shadow, and the result will be that the
Democracy will claim to it's credit the
resumption that is to come and the relax
alton of the tension that now distresses
the whole country.
It is probable that the opposition Of
all parties clearly recognize this fact,
and that it accounts in large degree for
the tactics employed to prevent speedy
action in Congress. All periods of great
depression through which the country
has passed have been followed by eras
of great prosperity. The necessities for
resupply is the chief element in the mo-
mentum of such seasons. This necessity
operates, not only in the staples, but along
eli lines.
It is the testimony of all representa-
tives of manufacturers, jobbsrs and deal
ers that the stock supply has now reached
the lowest possible level short of actual
and general suspension of all activity,
and that with the removal of the uncer-
tainty complained of there will be an i'm
mediate and general return to prOduo-
ton.
But the lesson of the hard times will
not be lost. In all quarters conservatism
has been taught and truths of caution
deeply impressed, not only upon sup
pliers but consumers, so that there is less
likelihood than ever before of rush to
over-production. When the reaction
sets in, as soon it must, the Demo-
cratic party, as we have said, will
be found preferring the claim of full
credit for 1t; but the people Will reaIlZe
that in the very nature of things the re-
Taxation of the present tension must have
taken place. There is money in plenty
for the employment Of all the arms Of in
dustry; there is readiness along all lines
of capital to resume-the one chief thing
estopping return to industry and con-
fdence is the delay in Congress. the OBJ
struetion that prevents the settlement one
way or another of the questions that con-
stitute the source of the uncertainty. This
is a fact patent to ali impartial observers.
It is the testimony of every agency in the
land that is related to and must be
counted as an essential element in the re-
turn of better times