Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-04
..-.....JAN UARY 4, 1898.
PRESENT AND PAST TIMES.

before the Church Club of New York
Bishop Potter said this country has seen
its greatest period of prosperity. IN
other words" he asserted. 'the twenty
years between 1873 and 1898 were the
most prosperous ever known in America
1t can be shown" said he, that such a
period will never return" etc
For this language the good Bishop is
being called TO account by various over
optimistic newspapers and public men,
who declare that he is taking too hope
less a view of the situation. But we
doubt If they fully understand the
Bishops position.
The opportunities in the United States
for money-mal1ing are not by any means
as great now as formerly. and it may be
questioned If ever again they Will be as
great unless it is during some period
when other nations are at war with one
another and when we may profit by their
msfOrtunes.
In the first place, we have discounted"
the future vastly in building railroads. in
encouraging immigration, and in invent
ing and using labor-saving machinery.
OF course, our country is capable Of sus-
tanning a much larger population than
we have, but it must be borne in mind
that We are using labor-saving machinery
here TO an extent unheard of elsewhere
and hence we can do our work with fewer
laborers than other countries require
Again, our army does not demand the
services of a large part of our male
population, while the opposite condi-
ton prevails elsewhere. The result
OF all this is that Americas ability 10
produce is out of all proportion to that
OF other lands. Hence, we see here
killing competition in many lines of
business. And this cut-throat competition
is usually, and almost necessarily,
followed by trusts and combines, in which
the producers endeavor 10 recoup some Of
their losses.
These conditions go far towards sus-
tanning Bishop Potter's views. Still we
are not without hope, nor do we suppose
that he IS. Troubled as We are, ours is
still the happiest land under Heaven.
The proof of this is found in the stream
of immigration that constantly seeks our
shores and in the not-to-be-disputed fact
that the average American not only has
all the liberty he wants, but makes as
good a living and as easy a living as
any other man on earth.
To be sure, we are not doing so well
as we could wish. yet we may look in
vain for another land where the masses
are better of. Saying this, however we
cannot but doubt, as Bishop Potter does,
# the present times are as prosperous
as the years mentioned by him, though
in his halcyon days he includes the
period of the panic of 1873.
our own judgment inclines us to be-
lieye 1t to be more than doubtful if
mer,oy making in America will be as
easy hereafter as in the past Rates Of
interest have become much lower. Wages
have been reduced. Machinery, as we
have said, IS playing a conspicuous part
in all OF our industries, and manufactur-
ers are content with smaller profits than
before. The bigger the factories grow and
the more hands they employ, the smaller
will be the margin of profit they require.
In short. we have shut out foreign com
petition. but we are face TO face with
merciless home competition. The existing
tariff ~ a tax levied upon the general
nublIc for the profit Of a few trusts that
are willing 10 sell TO foreign consumers
az a lower rate than they demand Of their
home people.
Well what are we to do? Is there no
hone of better times? Yes, indeed We
shall not always live under the Mckinley
tariff. And gradually. our people will ac-
conmodate themselves to conditions
which they are powerless 10 alter. We
have been a very wasteful people; we
are to-day wasteful people. compared
with the nations of Europe. We shall
have 10 improve in this respect. With
lower rates OF interest and lower prices
for labor, there will have to come more
economy in our mode Of living, and pro-
badly we shall be the better for II.
Again. we ought 10 try - have as few
elections as we can get along with having
due regard for those basic principles OF
. democracy upon which our government
& was founded Nearly all the States would
he better off with fewer elections, and
what Is more. many good citizens who
now give little or no attention 10 politics
would become interested II political cam
paigns were less frequent.
In short, We must brace ourselves w 10