Semi=weekly graphic., 1896-08-29

enr con,,sf1en <.nd that Which has pre- vailed turing he past three years, ven turc to quote from President elevelanu first rlessag-.. Aug s, lS93 addressed to the f'isty-thrd congress, which he called together in extraordinary session.
 ''ihe existence Of an alarming and eX- trnordinary business situation sad ne. "involving the welfare and prosperity Of all our people, has constrained me 10 can together iii eXtla session the peoples rep resentatiyes in congress to the end that through the wise and patriotic exercise Of the legislative duties with which they solely are charged, the present evil may be mitigated and dangers threatening the l future may be averted. Our unfortunate l financial plight is not the result ot unto ward events nor of conditions related 10 our natural resources. Nor is it traceable to any of the atfiictions which frequently check national growth and prospeftF With plenteous crops, with aeijn',9
 promise of remunerative produe t'''t manufacture, with unusual lnNl1Asi'e.i 1 to safe investment and with sat 1 isfactory assurances 10 business enterprise suddenly Financial distruSt and 1 fear have sprung up on every side. Nu- merous monied institutions have sus- 1 pended, because abundant assets were not ] Immediately available to meet the demands l of frightened depositors. Surviving cor porations and individuals are content to ] keep in hand the money they are usually anxious to loan, and those engaged 1n l legitimate business are surprised to ind that the securities they offer for loans, l though heretofore satisfactory, are no 1 longer accepted. Values supposed to be 1 fixed are fast becoming conjeetural, and loss and failure have invaded every branch of business.o
 The Cause of the Change
 What startling and sudden change | Al. r.Ea asrtk l from December. 1899 to Aug 1898. What had occnrredY A change of administra- 1 tion. All branches of the government had 1 been entrusted to the Democratic party, which was committed against the protec- l tive policy that had prevailed uninterrupt- 1 ed for more than a2 years and brought un- exampled prosperity to the country and i firmly pledged to it's complete overthrow 1 and the substitution ofsa tariff for revenue l only The change having been decreed by 1 the elections of November, its effects were i at once anticipated and felt We cannot l close our eyes to these altereds Conditions, nor would it be wise to exclude from con- 1 temptation an investigation of the causes l which produced them. They are facts which we cannot as a people disregard, l and we can only hope to improve our pres ent condition by study of it's causes In December 1899, we had the same currency and practically the same volume of cur 1 rency that we have now It aggregated in 1899 g, 372 599 50l. ill 1893 B 232 GOO, 900; l in 1894, $2. 234, AZ. .362; and in December, 1895, $9,194 100000. The per capita Of l uoneyptoo has been practically the same l during tue whole period. The quality of 1 the money has been identieal-all kept i equal to gold. There Is nothing connected 1 with our money therefore to account for this sudden and aggravated industrial change. Whatever Is to be deprecated in our financial system, it must everywhere 1 Ina a6lniffRG fhat b1a hAan h. | solutely good and has brought neither loss nor inconvenience to it's holders. A de preciated currency has not existed to fur ther yeX the troubled business situation
 Good Money Never Made Times Hard.
 It is a mere pretence to attribute the hard times to the fact that all currency is on gold basis. Good money never made times hard. Those who assert that our present industrial and financial depression is the result of the gold standard have not read American history aright or by careful students of the events of recents events. l We never had greater prosperity in this l country, in every field of employment and industry than ill the busy years from 1880 to 1892, during all of which time this coun- try was on ii gold basis and employed more money in it's fiscal and business operations than ever before We had, too, protect i've tariff under which ample revenues were collected for the government and ac- cumulatlng surplus which was con stantly applied to the payment of the public debt. Let Us hold fast to that which we know is good. It is not more money we want; what we want is to put the money we al(eadY have at work When money is employed men are em- plOyed. Both have always been steadily and remunerauively engaged during all the years of protective tariff legislation When those who have money lack confidence in the ability of values and Investments they will not part with their money. Business is stagnated-the lifeblo0d of trade IS checked and congested We cannot re- store public confidence by an act whick would reyolutionize all values, or an act which entails deficiency in the public revenues. We cannot inspire confidence by advocating repudiation or practicing dishonesty. We cannot restore confidence either to the treasury or to the people without change in our present tariff leg islation.
 The Tarln of 1894.
 The only measure of a general nature that affected the treasury and the employ ment of our people passed by the Fifty third congress was the general tariff act, which did not receive the approval of the president. Whatever virtues may be claimed for that act there is confessedly one which does not possess. 1t lacks the essential virtue of it's creation-the raising
 
 of the government. It has at no time pro- vided enough revenue for such needs, but it has cansed a constant deficiency in the treasury and steady depletion in the earnings of labor and land It has con tributed to swell our national debt more than s262, ,000, coo a snm nearly as great as the debt of the government from Wash ington to Lincoln, including our foreign wars, from the revolution to the rebellion. Since it's passage work at home has been diminished; prices of agricultural prod ucts have fallen; confidence has been ar rested and general business decentralization is seen on every hand
 The total receipts under the tariff act of 1894 for the first 22 months of it's enforce ment from September, 1894, to June 1898, were S551 ,6l5, ,32S and the expenditures $646, ,4lS, ,363, or 6 deficiency of SS2, sos. .535. The decrease in our exports of American products and manufactures during the frst l5 months of the present tariff as con trasted with the exports of the first fifteen months of the tariff Of 1890 was $220, ,353. .3}z0 The excess Of exports over imports dutiug the first l5 months of the tariff of 1S9O was S2l3, ,072. .96S but only S56. 15s 623 under the first 15 months of the tariff of 1894. a loss of 9157, ,2l4, S45. The net loss in the trade balances of the United States has been $l56,9SS,6O1 during the first l5 months of the tariff Of 1894 as compared with the first l5 months Of the tariff Of 1890 The loss has been large, constant and steady at the rate Of SIS, lS0,0O0 per month, or $500 0O0 for every business day of the year
 Losing In Both Directions.
 We have either been sending too much money out of the country or getting too little in, or both We have lost steadily in