The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1896-12-04
THE REAL CAUSE.


of leaving nothing undone to frown
down a return of better time, but
happily they cannot do it. They take
nothing into account. Business
ability, UT the lack of it, count as
nothing. Everything that goes wrong
is because of the gold standard, and
what may be good is in spite of it..
This viciOusnesS which few, and
we are glad TO say they are compare
lively few, PopOcrat papers exhibit,
is we'll illustrated by their comments
upon the closing of the First National
bank, at Sioux City, a few days ago.
They Immediately heralded it as an
other sign of returning prosperity
caused by the election, and further
commented upon its being a good il
lustratlon of the deadly effects of the
gold standard upon business. Now as
a matter of fact the gold standard had
nothing whatever to do with the
closing of that institution. The
causes were from an entirely different
sOurce-a source which has caused far
more trouble than the gold standard
ever has or ever will. The Fort
Dodge, Iowa, Messenger, in speaking
of IT gives the real cause of the trOu-
bic, il says:
1t is one of the oldest banking in
stitutions of western Iowa, and it's
management had always been free
from klte-fying proclivities. But it
has been practically impossible to do
a money loaning business in Sioux
City without getting some bad debts.
Even though bank summed the
town lot boomers it could not escape.
All business there was involved. All
values were effected first by the rise
and then by the disastrous collapse.
When one man went down he hurt
others, until men were reached who
seemed to have exercised all possible
prudence, and were far removed from
the original source of trouble. 1t has
been estimated that S20,000,000 of
wealth was sunk in Sioux City in un-
profitable enterprises. The town has
undOubted future. The time will
come when good deal of the now
idle property there will become
available, but there was reckless eX-
pendiUure which far discounted the
future. We see in the Sioux City's
Case an illustration ofwhat in adegree
ails the whole country. Sioux City is
only one of the scores Of towns where
speculation has become the chief in
terest. The attention and energies
Of men were drawn away from
productive employment, with it's
small, but legitimate profits, to
fictitious prosperity" which was not
prosperity at ali. Thousands of men
were employed mot in Sioux City only,
but all over the country, putting up
buildings which were not needed, lay
ing railroads for which there was not
enough traffic, and cutting up corn
fields into town lots. Then it all
stopped. The men were out of work.
The investors were out their money,
heavy losses were revealed, and these
losses, as in the case of Sioux City,
extended to everybody doing business.
The sooner people recognize how these
commissions affect all divisions of So
eiety, and learn to trace their influence,
the sooner they learn the right
remedies and quit our custom of leg
i,lating by guess for the cure of hard
times
The Messenger has put the whole
matter in nutshell. The trouple
has been not the gold standard, but
man and his desire to get rich in hur-
~. Great risks are taken. Things do
not go as it was hoped they would.
Good business Judgment has often
been cast aside and many times it did
hot exist in the brain that saw great
visions of success in the ventures put
forth. A crash followed. Mau, and
nan alone, and not the gold standard,
is to blame for the results But mum
an nature does not relish being tod of
it's weaknesses and political advent
urers seek to take advantage OF THIS
fact and place the causes for failure
elsewhere.
Ii the greatest general prosperity
which the advocates of the silver
standard dream could be realized,
= would not change the business
! ake-up of men. 1t would not add to
TIE shrowdness nor business ability
Of men who are largely or entirely
king those qualities, and their fail
ure would be just as sure as it is un-
der the gold standard. The fate of
tie boomer would be the same when
the era of speculation in which he in
dulged, if foun3ed upon foundation
not legitimate, came to an end and he
would be among the failures as GER
tain as now. No monetary or CON-
mercial system can endow man with
cd business tact, nor keep him from
lniulgiug in rash speculation, which
IL not only ruin himself, but involve
others Some day, in that far off mil
lenium, which we hear about matters
3 ay be adjusted 50 that such things
II not happen. But deprecated
Il )ney standards will not helpto bring
; at time about.
#
Farmers, Attention! A good feed