Kansas City daily journal., 1896-10-26
SECRETARY HERBERTs MISTAKE.

In the current number of the North
American Review, Secretary of War Her
bert has an article in which he relates that,
having left America on August Il deeply
impressed with the inactivity Of American
industries he was at once struck, on land
ing in England a week later, with the
flourishing aspect of things. To quote from
Mr. Herbert's article, Everywhere the
factories were in operation. and in not q
single newspaper did he meet with COM
plaint of hard times. The semi-annual re-
ports of the earnings of English railways
were then in course of publication, and the
net revenues of the twelve principal COM
panies showed an aggregate increase OF
ST. GOO, 900, or 9 per cent, as compared with
those for the corresponding half of the
previous year. There is. of course no more
accurate index of the state of a country's
Industries and trade than the earning
power of it's railways. Similar trustworthy
indications of termination were afforded by
the iron and coke regions of Germany; the
producers of these commodities had, as a
rule, advance orders for twelve months to
come. France, too, was found to be rapid
ly recovering from the depression which
since 1928 has afflicted to a greater or less
extent all great industrial nations. The
statistics as to French exports and imports
for the last eight months were lately pub
lished; they show that more raw materials
for manufacture, by nearly $23,0000o0, have
been imported during that period than dur
ing the same months of last year On the
other hand, the exports of manufactured
goods from France showed an increase up
to August 81 of more than $s,o0o.OOo. Why
is it, asks Secretary Herbert. that Ameri-
can workingmen do not participate in this
reviving prosperity with the laborers of
England, Germany and France?"
Then Mr.. Herbert proceeds to answer his
own question by declaring that the cause
is solely due to ''the persistent febrile agi-
tation of the silver question which has
shaken confidence in the future. frightened
capital paralyzed Industries, and thrown
labor out of employment"
Mr. Herbert is mistaken in his diagnosis.
The agitation Of the silver question is now
paralyzing business in every direction, but
1t was not this agitation which closed the
American factories and threw thousands
of American workmen out Of employment.
| legitimately used in this connection Is to
answer Mr.. Bryan's assertion that the de-
monetization act of 1873 Is responsible for
| the commercial and industrial depression
which we are now undergoing. England
France and Germany also demonetized sill
| yer, and, II Mr.. Bryan is right. they also
should be suffering depression instead Of
| enjoying the prosperity of which Mr.. Her.
bert gives an account. The true cause OF
American Industrial depression lies in the
| result of an election held in 1892, in which
| Mr.. Herbert was one Of the beneficiaries
There was as much silver agitation in 1s9.
as in 1893. and yet the former year was
one OF unexampled prosperity, while the
latter ushered in the period OF depression
which We are now enjoying" If Mr.
| Herbert were not so closely welded to his
free trade IDOLS he would recognize, as
vast majority of the American people now
do, that the repeal of the Mckinley Law
was 1.-The maleficent agency which Grip
| pied our recuperative energies and shuts
us out from our just share in the genera
renewal of prosperity
People who drag. in extraneous laws OIL
issues to account for condition are no
safe counselors. If the industrial condi
tions are affected by laws at all, it mus
be by those laws which relate directly t.
them. If our present state of depression
is to be accounted for by any act of tn,
American people it must be that act which
altered a system under which we wer,
prosperous and replaced it with a system
under which we are not prosperous. TIL.
American people may not be deep logi
clans, but they can grasp a proposition o
this character with ready ease and prac
tical unanimity.