St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-06
The COMING YEAR--RevieW Of The Local Outlook.

Artemus Ward once expressed regre
that his brilliant future was behind him.
Such is, no doubt. the opinion of certain
st. Paul citizens, who hunger for tie
fesh-pots Of 1886.
Great indeed were the days of the
"boom," when we were all millionaires
for two years. He was poor man then
that did not own portion OF at least
half dozen additions. What citizen
was worthy of the name that possessed
not his own particular 'outlots." bear
ing his own name, and set forth by
large, expansive Autographs within his
office. by little round sticks upon the
boundless prairie? Everybody in those
golden days sold lots to everybody else,
aud every one made money off the next
man.
Here was the "fatal flaw" The next
man" was our ruin and our desolation.
All the world depended upon him, and
all the world was betrayed. The Eng
lishman had his next man in South
America. He was friend Of the Bar
ings. The next man of the Eastern
capitalist was in England, ours was in
the East, while the Northwest had
theirs in the Twin Cities.
He was broad-shouldered and sturdy,
was the next mana financial Sandow-
but even United States senator cam
not accept everything. Had we en-
tered then upon our present prospective
communication with Mars, the South
American responsibility might have
been shifted, and we might still be re-
ceiving shadowy equities in solid earth
for paper realities Ill note and mort
gage, to haunt our future dreams.
Could this last man be passed along
through the entire solar system, the
earth's commercial history would not
be composed Of alternating cycles
wherein the burden of inflated prices
at length oyercomes the final purchaser,
and the game must again begin at the
bottom.
But it was not to be. The last man
passed. and the game began to waver.
The Earrings went out. The English
capitalist could not stay Inland, at
length, miracle Of miracles! man on
the West side actually refused to pay
$500 for corner lot at Inver Grove!
Since that incident several other dis
agreeable things have happened in a
commercial way, even in st. Paul.
At the beginning of 1895 we are now
recovering from-the boom. Yet even
the after effect of boom is not wholly
without advantages. Above all, it iu-
jects trif1e of common sense into the
frequent fool who earnestly believes
that Divine Providence stands in awe of
bank account,
For some years our avenues were
traversed by persons who, in their own
Imagination, possessed an IRON clad con-
tract with Fate-the latter, of course,
having the worst of the bargain. The
baneful effects of such convictions per-
wade all business and all society, and
are among the worst results of pros
porous era. For their destruction, in
part, at least. we have now to be
thankful.
All the great local interests of the
city are represented in the review
below, and by judges among the best
in the community. Thelr agreement, it
is pleasant to note, is absolute on two
things: First, that even last year con-
tanned many elements Of prosperity for
st. Paul. and that the coming year will
bring all the better results from the
rough lessons of '94. ., =.
Not. of course. that a commercial
community can be long restrained to
operations involving no risk. All bust
ness is speculation. and the legitimacy
of the latter is much a matter of time
and place. Wheat may be disreputable
where stocks or real estate are ortho-
dox. Although recklessness and eX-
travagance are never good business, the
only universal distinction between le-
ultimate transactions and speculation is
that the gamer is shreWd investor, the
loser reckless gambler.