The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-14
THE VIEWS OF A BUSINESS MAN.

The South Bend Tribune publishes a let
ter from Mr.. J. NJ. Studebaker, of that city,
who is one of the party of American manu-
facturers now visiting South American
countries for the purpose of studying bust
ness conditions. The letter contains much
interesting matter. Mr.. Stakeholder thinks
there is a great field in South America for
the extension of our foreign trade. and he
marvels that our statesmen are so blind to
the opportunity and so neglectful of Ameri-
can interests. The bulk of the trade of
South American countries is controlled by
England, although Mr.. Studebaker says he
found the business men and people every
where friendly to the United States and
anxious to do business with us. England
has gained the advantage and the lions
share of South American trade by strictly
legitimate methods, superior enterprise,
substituting lines of steamers studying the
tastes OF the people, sending out agents
Studebaker says:
l have learned on this trip more of Eng
lands marvellous commercial greatness and
the sources from which she gained her
enormous wealth than L ever knew before,
ana shame to our great North American
statesmen who have done so little and
taken so little interest in the welfare and
future prosperity OF our own country IN the
direction OF increasing eur commercial reia-
tons and in keeping pace with our sister
countries.
This criticism is deserved. American
statesmen have been shamefully deficient in
regard to studying the true interests of the
country and working together to protect
American interests at home and extend
them abroad. 1t is a poor school of poll
tics that does not place this among the
first duties of American craftsmanship.
The repeal of all our reciprocity agree
ments by the last Democratic Congress was
a s5mple of the idiotic craftsmanship that
sacrifices substantial interests to senti-
mental theories or party spirit. When the
Cleveland administration came in we had
reciprocity agreements with Brazil, with
Spain for Cuba and Porto Rico, with Ger
many, Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala,
Costa Rica, Honduras, France and Aus
tria-Hungary. Under these treaties our
foreign trade increased enormously and
would have continued to do so. The last
Congress abrogated every one of them and
repealed the law that authorized them. The
result has been the total loss of d great
and growing trade in South America, the
exclusion of American meats from Ger
many by way of retaliation, and vast dam
age TO American interests. This is not
craftsmanship; it is political idiocy.
Other parts of Mr.. Studebaker's letter
would bear quoting, but the following i'll
regard to the evils of a deprecated and
ftuctuating currency has special interest at
this time:
l wish some of my friends with their
strange idea of minated currency would
visit this country and see its e1Iect, es-
peclaily on the iabor1ng man. Here all
business is done on gold value, but you see
no gold in circulation. 1T is ali in the hands
so to their markets to buy and throw down
an Engllsh sniIling or a ten-shiiIing gold
SHOVE 1t back to you no Sc cuanto vale,
but you give him a dirty paper peso and
ne takes 1t. The government issues prom
Uses 10 pay In PAPER without any hXed
value, and the result is you must take
your goid to IL broker and buy this paper,
at a shave, of course. This paper is issued
from ) cents up. For example: To-Day a
broker gives you s. in paper Tor 81 in gold; |
to-morrow you go to him and ne probably
gives you $3.50 IN paper for 81 in gold. [
say to him, You gave me yesterday So"
With d shrug OF the shoulder he refers you
TO the latest quotation OF the call of the |
stock board. They gamble here in currency |
and gold the same as they 40 on wheat la
of a deprecated currency GER
tafnly implies a premium on the more
FdIidDIe com, ana IN TINS, as in every OLner /
case, the extent of the premium is
made the basis for an active, widely vary
ing speculation. Hence the foundation
stone of commercial transactions becomes
insecure and the whole structure bends and
sways before every little breeze of political
and commercial rumor. If as a result OF
disturbance in foreign relations or
unrest in domestic affairs the bull
element on change. succeeds in driving gold
nVe or ten points or more, and thus
making the gold dollar worth $3.50 instead
of the $40 OF yesterday, the dealer in the
commodities of life, ready to perceive his
opportunity and take advantage of it, is
quick to advance his prices SO that in his
income from sales he may be enabled to
CURED to cover the gold price which he
has to meet in his importations through
the custom house of all commodities other
than those produced on the farms of his
rency unstable that tradeSmen in order to
themselves against the violent daily
decline to accept In their daily sales the
coin that is the "A of their financial al
phabet. In accepting a dollar gold at the
of $40 they run the risk of find
the same day. Thus all business houses
do other than deal in the products of
the farm are constrained to keep two sets
Of accounts, one gold and the other one
of a wizard to determine at any one
time the exact financial condition of the
A currency of this kind involves in
stability, and the elementary lesson of econ
omy teaches the necessity of that factor for
the prosperity of a country. An unstable
means a ffuctuation in values. De-
even to the extent of one degree,
means appreciation of prices to that same
degree, and l think in every case in the
worlds history of a similar nature wages
Of factory employees and laborerS in gem
eral are but slow to follow the prices and
the quickest to fall when depression occurs.