The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-12-15
VOLUME OF TRADE.

What VIC Need ispot 80 Much Boom
.s Continuation Of tho Present
conditions.
New York Journal Of Commerce: The
.orrtry has been watching so long for
revival Of business, and has 80 thor
onrhfy concentrated rs attention upon
= condition hoped for in the future, that
Hls in some danger OF not recognizing
what has already happeneds The truth
Is that what this country low needs IS
NO, 50 much a glorious boom 40 happy
continuance of present conditions,
These conditions are not universally
satisfactory; there are localities and
,Serc are lines where tho revival does
moi seem as substantial aS might have
been desired. and & - aA8eReTal fact
mat the rate Of profits islhmaller than
It was years ago. But this decline in
the rate OF profit is not 20 much due
n any difficulty OF selling goods as It Is
;o the vast accumulation OF capital and
The energyof competition IA production;
Il is very much like the reduction IN
The rate OF interest. Thlnts an unfa-
yorable change for the capitalist as
such, but It Is IlnQuestionAblya gain for
The community as q. whole
The bank Clearings Tor November
were unprecede ntediy large but the full
force Of the figures representing them
can only be displayed by Comparisons.
There Is no difference OF opinion about
the prosperity OF 1892. The bank clear
ings for November Of that year aggre-
gated $5,491, 022. 1902, and for last month
they were $6,473. fS4, 1926. Here Is an In
crease Of a little over IS per cent. But
there has been a fall in prices in the
meanwhile OF per cent, using Brad
streets index figures, so that the vol
ume OF transactions represented may
be supposed to have been one-ffth
Greater last month than they were IN
The corresponding month Of the best
wear this country ever had before the
late depression.
There is another comparison that
cOTrOhOrates this. The eRst-bound
freight movement from Chicago for six
weeks ending December 3. 1892. was 49,
sgi tons; for the corresponding weeks Of
1928 the tonnage was 5S6,6l1. Here Is
an increase OF 40 per cent. Last year
the grain movement gave active employ
ment 10 the railroads, but the east
bound tonnage for the six weeks was
only 30l,2l6 tons. For these particular
weeks therefore, the movement was
nearly double what It was last year, and
gain Of 40 per cent over the same
period six years ago must be recognized
as evidence OF very great increase in
the amount Of business that Is being
done II Is not unreasonable to suppose
that II the rate Of profit be less, the ag-
Eregate profit OF so great volume Of
business must be greater now than II
was six years ago.
Increases OF wages have not been free
Quent Of late, but It Is evident that labor
Is very generally employed; the aggrc-
gate volume OF business could not in-
crease SO much without absorbing prac-
tlcally all the unemployed labor. The
recent controversy between the manu-
facturers and the iaborers IN the glass
trade was won by the latter on all or
nearly all points, according to dis
patches from the center OF the trade,
and this could only have been possible
had the volume of demand and the
margin OF profits been quite satisfactory
to the manufacturers. More recently,
some increases OF wages have been
mentioned in the news dispatches, but
wages had already got back very gem
orally to. the rates prevailing before the
depression, and as wages were then
high and prices have not got back to
the level OF six years ago, an advance
OF wages above the level OF 1892 can
hardly have been looked for.
The Iron and steel trade Is undenia-
bly, in state Of activity never before
experienced. and II not so much can be
said for some other staple lines OF pro-
ductlon 1t is generally true of them
that they are selling as much, or more.
than they ever sold before, and are not
losing money. What used to be known
as business booms were largely specula-
i've. If the country is not having one
now It has no reason to deplore the fact.
Il Ia certainly doing an enormous busl-
ness OF healthy character. There Is
no evident reason why the present Vol-
ume OF trade should not continue, and
expand with the Increase OF popula-
ton and the growth of capital, In a
disposition to over trade. and the tneY-
liable reaction, there Is some excuse Tor
regarding pRnlcs as an essential feature
Of commercial growth, but with i'm
proved business methods and improv-
cd banking, and a currency above sus-
picion, the superstition that panic is
certain at periodical intervals can be
exploded. The condition of our curren-
cy was the cause Of The trouble In 1893.
and It had much to do with the trouble
In 1873 a writer on the Bank OF Eng
land has pointed out that while there
lave been periods Of monetary strln-
Eency in London since then, there has
not since 1866 been such q panic as had
occurred previously about every ten
years since the beginning Of the century.
There Is reason to believe that the COM
mercIal world is adjusting itself to
modern conditions, and that It will find
an alienation Of booms and panics
cutie unnecessary. These violent al
formations are peculiar to new CONNER
cIal developments. and the commercial
development Of this country is fast ma
turing. while there Is no other large
commercial nation to supply specula-
for a greater degree or steadiness In.
the worlds commercial expansion in
the coming century than In that now