The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-05-06
BUSINESS IN WAR TIMES.
The Duties of Cal1nness, Courage and
 Confidence.

Confidence.
 It depends mainly on ourselves to es- cape one of the worst penalties of war the impairment of business confi- dence. The solid grounds on which the maintenance of this confidence is bas- ed have been sufficiently set forth in these columns. There has been no time in all our history when the gen. eral soundness of the country's busi- ness was so we'll assured, were it for no other reason than that nothing which had in it the clements of collapse could have resisted the protracted strain of the last two years. For that which has been tried and not found wanting there may fairly be claimed a safe assur- ance of protracted life. We have had two abundant harvests and have every reason to feel confident as to the pros poets of third Between increased consumption and restricted production of foodstuffs elsewhere the prices re- ceived for our grain and provisions have been higher than for many years. Gold has been flowing this way in an uninterrupted stream on which not even the imminence of war has had the slightest effect Railroad earnings have gone on steadily increasing, and except for the recent cancelling of or ders in some branches of the textile industry there has been no check to the continuous development of prosperity in the centers of our manufactures. From war itself there is nothing to be apprehended on the side of our domes- tic commerce which has not already taken place. It is difficult to conceive of any issue of such a conflict as that now begun which should seriously de- preciate the value of any of the great clements of our national wealth.
 Plainly, the first need of the hour is calmness and sufficient breadth of view to fortify us against needless alarm. The managers of the financial institu- tions of the country have very clearly defined responsibility in needing such counsel at a time like this. On their manner of conducting business more than on anything else depends the safety against serious shock of the sen- sitive organ of credit. There is such a thing as misplaced caution at all times, but at no time may it work more seri- ous harm than when there is in the air the nervous apprehension incidental to a state of war. Any abrupt con- traction of credit tends to give that apprehension form and substance, and to bring about the very condition of panic which it is intended to avert. The people at large will soon become &C., customed to the idea that there is nothing obviously calculated to de- range the pursuit of their ordinary vo- cations in a war for the liberation of Cuba, however productive it may be of future political endorsements. But if, meanwhile, those charged with the preservation of the structure of com merciaI credit are to exaggerate the perils against which they must pro- vide, we may have very different story to tell.
 So far, happily, there is little danger to apprehend either nasty or timid &C., tion on the part of those who control the loanable funds at the disposal of the commercial community. Such ad- vance as has already been reported in the rates of interest on the loans which business men have had to pay is not likely to be sensibly exceeded Money enough and to spare can be had for all the extra needs of the government without deranging the normal opera tions of the loan market. It is certain that nobody is going to call in ques- tion the credit of the country unless we weakly and needlessly show the exam ple ourselves. Without at all under rating the seriousness of the enterprise on which the nation has embarked, the fact should be clearly recognized that there is nothing in 1t calculated to tax our strength, and still less to interrupt the operation of the forces that were steadily making for prosperity. The people who have gone to war with a light heart, and those who have seen it brought about with the gravest re- luctance, may at least meet on the common ground of trust in the present ard have confidence for the future. It would be nothing short of confession that the country had entered on the stage of national decadenee should any of the materialproblems that are in-