The record-union., 1899-11-10
An IMPORTANT QUESTION,
HOW CAN WE MAKE PROSPER
ITY STAY?
Public improvements Should Not
BE Made When Prices
Are High.

- There can hardly be greater Gull
Z trast between the industrial condition
of the United States at the present time
and that which existed five years ago.
Then every city had pressing upon 1t
the problem of the unemployed. Now,
for the first time in many years, is wit
messed a greater demand for skilled
labor, in many industries, than can be
supplied Then the seller of goods
sought out the buyer. used all the arts
at his command to obtain an order, and
was frequently compelled to make con-
cessions in price and terms to close the
trade. Now, in many lines, is wit
messed the rare spectacle of the buyer
going to the seller and asking as a
favor to have his order executed at
some date in the not too remote future.
So we might continue to draw the
contrast in many cher ways; but it is
too plainly evident to every observer
to make this necessary. Many of our
readers as we know, have themselves
felt the difference in conditions as di-
rect influence upon their personal well
fare; and they and all of us are di-
rectly interested in the question, how
long is the present era of prosperity
likely to last?
I That an end to it will sooner or later
come is certain. This nation, like
every other civilized nation, has had its
periods of prosperity before, and they
. have always been succeeded by periods
of financial depression. The present,
we may be very sure, will be no eXcep-
ton to the universal rule.
: What can be done to prolong the stay
; of good times" with us? These sea-
sons of prosperity and of adversely are
not caused by any superhuman power.
The sunshine and the rain were given
as bountifully in 1894 as in 1899. Ca
lamities of storm or of flood, failure OF
crops or of pestilence, cause hardship
in limited localities; but our seasons Of
financial distress can be traced to no
such visitations Inasmuch, then, as
the plunge into hard times and the
emergence into days of prosperity are
alike due to human agencies, it GER
tainly rests with man, if he be wise
enough, to set in motion agencies which
shall at least prolong the days Of pros
perity. -s . -
We shall not attempt at this time to
- enumerate the many causes which
operate to bring about or to check bus
mess prosperity. Some Aof them are
SO important that all men recognize
them; others are the subject of political
controversy. Our purpose is to point
out some of the common and ordinary
influences. which can. if properly. con-
trolled, operate to prolong, the period of
prosperity and to lesson the shock of
financial disaster when it comes.
In the first place, it is we'll to reflect
that one unidentified oauSo of tho nros-
ent boom was the expenditure by the
Government of some $3.50, 900, 900, more
or less, in the Spanish War. The pur-
chases by the Government of ships,
clothing, food and supplies of all sorts
in 1898, coming at a time when manu-
facturers were already experiencing a
revival in trade, gave an enormous
stimulus to business of every sort
Compared with the total volume of the
countrys production, it was indeed a
small item; but it was enough, never
theless, to turn the scale Of market
prices in the sellers faxor. The law of
supply and demand is a natural law of
trade; but its actual operation, under
modern business conditions, is that a
very small margin of supply over de-
mand or of demand over supply is
duct in a given industry. The Govern
ment demand was not only by reason
of its volume, but by reason of It's char
acter a most important influence upon
the market The Government did not
split hairs concerning prices and terms
like the ordinary buyer: it did not make
its orders conditional; 1t did not wait
the sellers convenience to fill them.
Its needs were imperative and would
brook no delay. In the shipping trade,
for example, it absorbed a good share
of the shipping on the Atlantic Coast,
and sent the shipowners hurrying to the
builders with orders for new vessels
These in turn placed their contracts for
plates for hulls and boilers, and gave
the steel mills so much work that other
customers found to their surprise. that
they could no longer have their orders
filled Immediately on their. receipt. So
it was, in lesser degree, in other lines.
1t is to be particularly noted. how
ever, that the Government orders would
have had no such large influence had
not the conditions been ripe for a re-
1893 to 1897 caused a general liquida-
ton of debts. Prices We're down to a
"hard-pan basis" Manufacturers and
traders had learned conservatism DUR
ing these years, and had learned, more
over, how to conduct their business
with greater economy. Had not these