Omaha daily bee., 1897-10-24

HAS PROSPERITY COME TO sT1Y7
Evidences of rcviving prosperity are
multiplying in every direction and the
marked improvement in industrial and
commercial conditions is everywhere Wis
iblc. In the face of these facts donna
gogucs whose political stock-in trade has
been seriously damaged persist in tell
ing the people that the prosperity now
enjoyed il not real or permanent They
assert that the signs of better times are
misleading and that our prosperity is
fictitious. They indulge in predictions
that the demand for American farm
products will cease so soon rs the grain
exporting countries harvest abundant
crops to supply the worlds markets and
that another fall in prices will put Amer
lea in the condition in which it was be-
tween 1893 and 1897
TO the uniformed and unthinking
these predictions may appear plausible.
Those who aScribe the revival of prosper
ity at home entirely to famine abroad
naturally fall in with the theory ad-
vanccd by political quacks who have
but one remedy for all social ills. Close
students of economic changes, however,
will not conccdc that the business revival
begun six months ago does not rest on
more substantial foundations than acct
dental shortage of the foreign wheat
crop. Looking backward, they see that
commercial panics and industrial dcprcs-
b.,,. i,,. ,i,1, al ,l u
periods of steady Improvement and good
times.
With slight variations, the periods of
severe depression and distress have oc-
Cured at intervals of about twenty
wears. The panic of 1897 was followed
by disastrous stagnation lasting more
than five years, leading up to Il gradual
revival of prosperity which continued to
1857, when the country was again pros
trated by another crash. The twenty
year period would have terminated in
1877. but the war fastened the crisis
twenty years later. came in the natural
order OF things and could not have
been avrrtpd by act of congress. 1t was
the inevitable result of over-speculntion,
high-prcsSure tinanciering and reckless
waste of substance by the American
less disastrous had there been no tam
pcring with the tariff and no tinkering
with the currency.
The restoration of confidence in the
stability of our money standard has had
more to do with the renewal of prosper
ity than the shortage of crops in India,
Australia and Russia. We might have
had higher prices for brcadStuffS by rea-
son of increased foreign demand. but
that alone would not have rcOprned the
mills and factories, nor would it have
stimulated idle capital to venture into
new enterprises Instead of bringing
back gold and merchandise for wheat.
cotton and cattle we would have brought
back American bonds and stocks held
abroad.
The future of America and its con-
tinued prosperity rests almost wholly
upon its capacity for acknowledgment
| and ability of its population to become
prOntaDle consumers OF It's own prOuutlS.
| SO long as the 1O.OOO,O0O Americans are
actively engaged in productive pursuits
ut fair wages they constitute the best
patrons of American farmers. merchants
and manufacturers. This patronage has
increased enormously since times have
grown better.
While there is comparatively little more
money in the country than there was
Il year ago. the circulating medium is
abundant for I'LL the Legitimate needs Of
| business. and the money which was pre-
viouSly locked up in vaults, Repositories
and old stockings, has found. its way
| into active circulation. With the revival
| of prosperity new avenues have been
| opened for investment and development,
| which are not likely to be closed by Il
| Slackening of the foreign demand for
| American grain. Instead Of facing an
other era of depression we are on the
verge of further material progress and
much greater prosperity than is already
upon us is in store for many years to
| come.