The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-05-17
SPURTS OF PROSPERITY,
From the Washington Post.

II
A discouraged free trade contemporary,
after belaboring "the Republican manas-
ers" because prosperity has not yet shown
up to a satisfactory extent, inclines TO
mitigate it's censure OF those managers
by putting part of the responsibility on
circumstances beyond their control. Ihe
wisest course of legislation" 1t says,
could not have realized popular expecta-,
tions" because 1.-The conditions which rem
dered possible the great spurts OF pros
perity in the quarter of a century after
the civil war have disappeared and can
not return" This, we are assured, is "a
fundamental fact" and "the Wisest peo-
pie" are those who recognize ii as such.
In support of this proposition our free
trade contemporary cites the Dry Goods
Economist, which tells its readers that
"a new era has opened in the country;
and era of greater care, greater economy.
stronger competition; an era in which old
machinery and easy-going methods have
no place; an era unfavorable to 'plunging,'
except as the result Of the most methodi-
| cal planning and preparation; an era de-
mandng economy in personal and busi-
ness expenditures" The Economist holds
| that hereafter the business methods of
the rest of the civilized world must rule
| in the United States: that In future pro-
duction must be regulated by demand; that
| the use of obsolete machinery and the
| production of worthless goods will be un-
profitable, and that hand-to-mouth pur-
chasing, which has caused much complaint
| among wholesalers for the past few years,
| is no transient result of passing depres-
| sion, but is here to stay and must be
| redkoned with. This" says our free
| trade contemporary, ''is a business gospel
| which will not be received gladly by
many, but there can be no doubt that it
| is the true doctrine"
| 1t is probably true that there cannot
| be return of all the conditions which
| favored great spurts OF prosperity" be-
| tween 1865 and 1898. We shall never again
| witness such an era of railway construc-
| tion and the consequent opening up of
vast areas of country for settlement. We
may never regain our position in the
| wheat market of Europe, for other wheat
production countries have dethroned us.
| But we still possess and shall retain for
centuries to come all the elements OF sub
| stantial and lasting prosperity--a pros
| perity far more desirable than "spurts "
| We lead ali nations in agricultural and
| mineral resources and are second to none
| in natural facilities for manufacturing.
| Our home market is the best in the world
the greatest commercial prize on earth
| and we are less dependent on foreign coun-
tries than any other people We can
safely defy competition in the iron indus
try in any of the worlds markets, and
this means a great deal for our future.
| We stll produce and shall continue to eX-
port the bulk of the foreign demand for
cotton. No other country or continent
rivals the United States in its diversity OF
soil and climate and the variety of its ag.
| ricultural, horticultural, and pomologica
products. AS compared with European
countries, ours is still new, its resources
stiH undeveloped. Our geographical posi-
tion, coupled with our strength in men ant
means for defense, gives us an incompar
| able advantage in that 1t enables us prac
tically to dispense with a standing army
and the enormous expenditure incident tC
its maintenance. For these, and for many
other solid reasons, we are justified in ex
pecting wholesome growth and steady
progress for centuries.
| Whatever else may have contributed Il
"spurts of prosperity" in the past we dt
not believe that neglect OF sound business
principles and proper methods was among
the factors. We have never learned tina
the employment of obsolete machinery, tn,
making of worthless goods, or contemp
of the baw of demand and supply ha
made anybody prosperous for even shor
time. 1t has been, and still is, our i'm
preston that much of our prosperity re
suited from the use of superior machin
cry and the best of skilled labor, and tina
all prosperous American manufacturer
; | adopted and adhered to good bushes
methods. If the adversely of the last fou
l years has taught us to be more economics
; | Sin personal and business expenditures,
, the lesson will be contributory to tn
: prosperity that is bound to come to
people situated as we are. We could wis
that "spurts" and booms might be mum
! bered with the things irrevocably gone
! Having all the requisites of maximum
: regular growth in wealth, population, in
2 telligence, and all other elements G
E strength, our nation will gladly dlspens
with "spurts of prosperity"