Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-01-01
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THE orpbEAp AND THE NEW.


The old Year was a bad one. and the
new year may not prove TO be perfect;
but let uY'now at IT'S dawn resolve TO make
the hesT Of g.
Better results viii reward our efforts
II w3take the bright view OF things tnln
If Ne take the dark one. Our country
his passed through worse times than
any we have had % late. I'm 1851 cur
Z rency was very much scarcer than it is
now. Later. for four years. we were
at wsr-yhen our men faced death upon
the battlefield. and our women faced
starvation at home. Then there was "the
reconstruction period when we had
army officers for governors and Judges.
and when the provost-guard pohced the
police and the public generally.
Then we had an era of very good
times" and didn't know it. our lands
and lots sold well. and tobacco. wheat,
corn. peanuts. cattle, etc, brought pay
ing prices. But we didn't recognize the
good times when We saw them.
They. in 1873. came the great panic. and
down went banks before the mad rush
of depositors. as aid the Confederates
before the storm Of shot ana shell. r1ined
upon them from the heights of Gettys-
burg. We got over that panic in five or
six years. and We resumed specie pay
ment." which was regarded then as
cure-an. And it did cure all that #
didn't kin. So with various ups ana
downs. we logged along tolerably salts
factorily. until the present paralysis came
upon US. 1t arrived about 1850. when
the great house Of Barring Brothers had
10 make an assignment and when the
land boom I'm Virginia and other States
coliapsed-when Glasgow and various
other newborn cities went into rapid
decline.
Since then we have mad another series
of ms and downs-chiehy downs. The
currency famine of 1898 was one Then
we allowed ourselves TO be much fright
ened by the Sherman law, and repealed it.
Al one time we thought the Venezuelan
ouestion would plunge us into war with
Great Britain; but we have triumphantly
referred that 10 arbitration. Next came
The presidential campaign. when the
whole country watched and waited. Well.
the results were not exactly what we
wished. but they were what the doctors
~ finance prayed and paid for--and
stu we are not happy. Cuba. too. is a
nv-specll upon our national vision. oh
structing. TO some extent, the business
prospect And now, here's the Republic
can Congress. resolved TO tinker with the
,ar,ff for months and months. until the
mo, who contributed to Hanna's cam
oa,on fund are satisfied. Yet all this
does not dismay us. We think we may
as well discount the higher tariff that
we know is coming and proceed with
,,stnees Cuba cannot bother us much
,o,ger This country is eager for the
return OF business, and we must nave
u we trust that we are az the turning
en- the proverbiauy-long lane.
Here in Richmond business was not as
- Z, 1906 ms I'm 1895. and 1886 was a
moor year. But we have had to endure no
great shocks as other communities have.
o,r hanks have withstood the storm, I'M
,,,nairea IN vieor and strength. The pro-
dpcts OF cur manufactures have
hoen reduced. but the wonder is
.hot the manufacturers have done
en- much. and kept so many men
enp,oved. Our jobbers aid better
business than the manufacturers, possibly
OWN 10 the increased income OF orr
southern customers in the cotton-sfowins
section. Real estate values have been
depressed. and the complaint Of high
taxes IS general but Richmond's eSpe-
rlence IS only that Of this whole country "a
few highly favored localities excepted
we are having a great ado, too in the
CITY Council about municipal retren'h-
ment and reform. but we guess ii VIII
end satisfactorily % the general public.
"a in short. Richmond has good stand
nd good name, cad IS ready to 90
IAN increased Business. what IS more
we are going to try 10 make business
we are going 10 show more zeal during
the year than We have shown IN many
years past We believe prosperous times
are not far on ard We want our share
o. that prosperity. Here In this favored
section Of our land blersed with an IN
dustrious and reliable population. with
attractive homes. 0nd advantageous busi-