Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-17
IT MUST BEGIN AT THE OTHER END
OF THE LINE.

| winch all financial interests nave long
| been held settled by the election in favor
of sound money than business began to
| revive. Almost Immediately idle man
| ufactories began to reopen, others that
| had not closed began to increase their
| forces, city merchants began to send out
| their travelling men, and country mer-
| chants to replensh their stocks, and ev-
| cry line of business felt the awakening
| effects of restored confidence. Too much
| however, should not be expected at Cnee.
1t will take time for the stream of re-
| neWed prosperity to gather the head
which it had before the long drouth of
| business and the railways will not be
able to fill all vacant places and start
| all idle wheels Immediately. But the i'm
| provement has begun.
idle manufactures began to reopen.
| others that had not closed began to in
| crease their forces" This declaration
| carries with it, in the connection used by
| the Railway Age, the idea that some fac
| tories had been closed down and others
had been running with short forces be-
| cause of doubt about our financial sys-
| tenn. 1t is an effort to make believe that
| the causes leading up to a cessation of
| work by numerous manufacturing insti-
| tutions grew out of agitation. That
agitation was not caused by the depart
ure of prosperity, but that prosperity de-
| parted because of agitation.
"City merchants began to send out their
| travelling men, and country merchants to
replenish their stocks" So far so good.
| While the country merchant is replenish-
| ing his stock the travelling representa-
| tive of the city merchant will report
| fairly good trade and the manufacturers
will be called upon to replenish the stocks
| of the city merchants as their stocks, now
| on hand, are ordered out to fill the shelves
| of the country merchants.
viii the apparent waive of prosperity
the Railway Age effects to see coming
reach any farther than to the store house
shelves Of the country merchants? Let's
see we find him, the country merchant,
next January with his stock of goods re-
| plenished. His shelves full If you please.
| His bills will begin to fall due in sixty
| and ninety days. His local banker has
| agreed to come to his rescue and help
| him meet them, Everything is ready for
| the march of prosperity to continue on
| down the line. 1t started at the top, bear
| in mind Beginning with the manufac-
| turer, 1t has come down and embraced
| the city merchant, he has sent his travel
! ing men out and carried 1t on down to
the store house shelves of the country
merchant. The local banks have prom
Used to help the country merchant meet
his bills in the spring and the country
merchant puts everything in readiness
and awaits the arrival of his customers,
| in order that prosperity may go march
| ing on down the line.
If the country merchant holds forth in
| the south his customers are made up
| of men who depend on the price of cotton
| for prosperity. So the southern country
merchant Is ready but his customers have
| had to sell their cotton, the only money
| crop they can raise, at gold standard
| prices. AS a rule they have been able to
| pay off the balance they owned on year
| before last and part on last years ac-
| count. They have no cash but are a little
| less than year behind. They admire
| the new goods but promptly tell the mer-
| chant that they have no money and of
| this fact the merchant is already fully
| aware. They say we would like to buy,
| we need a great many goods of every
| description, we have not bought any
] goods in several years for our household
| uses, but you see cotton is so cheap and
| the prospects are that it will not be any
| higher and we are obliged to made out
| without buying anything except just
| enough to keep from freezing and the
| children will have to stay by the fire until
| cotton chopping time to enable them to
| get along without shoes and good, COM
| Portable clothing. We need goods but our
| ability to buy is lacking, as consumers
| we are no good, because we can't realize
| at present prices any profit on the things
| we grow for the market. The same thing
| occurs with the country merchant whose
| customers are made up of wheat growers,
| and the same thing takes place with the
country merchant whose customers are
| stock raisers and so on all along down
| the line.
| Prosperity started at the mills, but 1t
| has only reached the store house shelves
| of the country store keeper.
The lack of ability to consume keeps
| the goods in the shelves of the country
| merchant. The travelling salesman for
| the city merchant gets around again in
about ninety days and he finds the
shelves still full. He gets no orders and
| of course sends none in to his house. The
| factory sends out the representative to
| see the city merchant and he is informed
| that orders are not coming in and the
| factory finds its stock of manufactured
| goods piling up again just like he found
| them when he was forced to close down
| or cut off a portion of his hands or run on
| half or quarter time as year or two ago.
| The country merchant has done his
| best. He has put his credit into play, set
| the goods before his customers and they
| were found unable to buy. They have
| been destroyed as customers, they have
| been by the gold standard paralized as
| consumers and forced to become mere
| existerS.
| Those bills about which we spoke fall
| due. the banks go to the rescue and the
| fall of 1897 comes on and pay day ar
| rives. The country merchant has been
| unable to send prosperity any further
| down the line and the country is found
| Just where 1t was last fall and where it
| it is this winter stagnating. BY that time
| the country merchant and the city mer-
| chant and the manufacturer we hope will
| begin to realize the fact that prosperity
| has started at the wrong end of the line.
| They will begin to see. we hope, that the