The Portland daily press., 1896-08-10

agreed to pay for this money per cent
interest, and he has made this agree
ment upon the assumption that corpora
tlons and individuals would want to bor-
row 1t to carry OH enterprises such as
building railroad, or factory, putting
IN an electric light plant or water sys-
TEN. 1t nobody wants to do these or
coguate things, then the sources from
which he expected to get the money to
pay the interest he has stipulated to give
to the people who have lent him the
money fail, and he either has to pay it
out of his own acoum ulatsd capital or
confess inability to do SO. which is bank
ruptcy. 1t will be seen then that the bank
er is dependent upon the men who car
~ ON enterprises. If they stop, he can
not let his money and he not only fails
to make a profit, but he inours loss
inasmuoh as he is under legal obligation
to make good his engagements with his
depositors whether he succeeds in lend
lug their money or not. Now let us see
whom the man of enterprises depends up
on, or, to put it more clearly, let us see
what it is that determines whether he
Will build railroad, or put in an cleo
trio plant, or build a factory or a steam
boat 1t is the probability or IMPROBABLE
lty OF Its being profitable that determines.
II he thinks he can pay interest for the
money he must borrow to carry on his en-
terprlse, pay its running expenses and earn
small profit he will bark in it, and
to anahla him tn doeida fhasa poit,tc ha
very carefully considers the condition
OF the mass of the people, for it is upon
them he must depend for his revenue. II
they are prosperous. that is having plenty
Of work and good wages he concludes
that they can be depended on to patro-
MIA his electric road or his steamboat,
or buy the goods turned out by his fac
tory literally, and be goes ahead. If they
are unprosperous, that is if work is scarce
and wages low, either absolutely or rela-
lively to his cost of living, he concludes
that his enterprise will be patronized only
to the extent that ne cessity oompels, and
he decides to postpone it until the
outlook is more propitious, especially
If his enterprise depends in part, as
most enterprises do, for success ON the
Willingness and ability of the masses to
CRAFTY their tastes and their desires rs
well as their needs. 1t will be seen
therefore that at the bottom of
the bankers business is the con-
dition of the masses, their ability
anu Willingness, or their inability or
unwillingness to support enterprises. 1t
is just the sams with regard to enter
prises already established. If the masses
become unable to patronize them
their receipts fall off and the banker
to whom they may owe money fails to
get his interest. During the past three or
four years railroad receipts have shown a
large falling off and many railroads have
gone into the hands of receivers, which
means that they have been unable to pay
the interest on money lent Thorn by
bankers and capitalists. What has been
the cause of that9 One very potent cause
has been that the people have been
travelling less, and the chief reason Of
this is that their reduced incomes have
compelled them to keep their travelling
within the limits of necessity. Travel
ling for pleasure has diminished and the
railroads have suffered In consequence
| We think we have shown that the
| banker has as much interest in the pros
perity Of the masses as any class in the
community. Our assertion was that he
has more. Let us see if that is not true
too. The great majority of individuals
are engaged in but one business, and If
that particular business is prosperous she
condition of other businesses doesn't
affect them much. But the banker is en-
gagged in great many different kinds of
business, and his success depends upon the
SUCCESS of q hundred different kinds of
businesses perhaps, and the failure of onA
of them may offset the profits from the
rest. Hence his stake in the general
prosperity is greater than that of the
average individual
| If the bankers were the worst repro
bates In the community; if they were in
fact. as they are frequently represented,
men who lived by praying upon the COM
munity; if they were without soul and
without moral sense; if their hearts
were as hard as stone. they would still
want the community prosperous for the
same reason that the bear wants the
sheepfold which he lnvades filled with
fat and juicy mutton
|