The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1899-06-20
morris HuLIicAuLis."

There IA curious similarity be
tween physical and mental diseases
The study Of psychology IL 70. In NJ
beginnings. and. therefore. the natur'
Of the moral and mental diseases IL no
known. Apparently. there are spirit,
ual microbes Just as there'are physica
microbes. A land boom, a stock spec
ulative craze. a Klondike expedition
however foolish or absurd Il may be
will make the majority In communi.
" daft. The precise mental opera
lions by which a community loses III
senses. and at the same time sincerely
believes that It Is In the very fullest
possession OF them, have not yet been
| told although lie Bon, In that re-
markable book, the Crowd has WV
idly described the phenomena of the
way in which men, ordinary sensible,
will, when moving in mass, become III.
natics.
One OF the widest of the speculative
crazes OF this century was tina. OF he
silkworm industry, or the ''morus null
ticauls" mulberry speculation dur
ing the years 1S35-39. Attempts hal
been made for many years, without
success, to raise the silkworm. The
mulberry plant. morus alba, did not
flourish, but the "multicaulis' was in.
troduced at that time, crriousiy
enough now, from the Philippines. and
1t was believed that ii would furnish
abundant food for the silkworm, and
the production Of raw silk woull be
so vast that the entire nation would
get rich in few years.
The craze began in New England.
Plants and seeds were imported from
Italy. Several reputable business men
engaged in setting out nurseries. The
steady farmers became interested. The
price of seed and plants began to rise.
People living in towns pulled up their
flower beds and cultivated the null
berry.
The microbes of this mental disease
mysteriously spread through the Mid
die States. The farmers of New Jer-
sey, Maryland and Pennsylvania took
up the cultivation of the plant. The
few men in every community who
were pessimists and took gloomy
views" about the value of the indus
try, were sneered at, and as usual the
finger of scorn was pointed at them
by the enterprising citizens who knew
how to develop the vast resources of
the continent.
In 1888 the delirium became a gen.
eral mania. Mulberry plants sold for
the price of 81, 81 and 50 each. In Or
binary times their value would be less
than one cent each. Hothouses were
built in order to raise them during the
winter season. Finally small cut
ting with a bud on 1t, sold as high as
So. A small thimbleful OF seed brought
so. Spectators travelled through the
country, buying up plants and retail
ing them to all classes and conditions
of people.
The microbes got in the Capitol at
Washington. A Congressional com
mittee was appointed to examine into
the matter, and on that committee
was the famous Daniel Webster, and
that great merchant OF Boston, Abbott
Lawrence. The manufacture of sew
ing silk was begun on small scale,
and enthusiastic patriots preached
about the magnificent destiny that
awaited the American nation, through
the silkworm. Henry Clay in the Sen
ate bounded off into limitless space,
when he described the coming glory OF
American silk manufacturing. The
conservatives kept quiet in order
to avoid the charge of being un-Amer-
lean. A horse broke into a small gar
den patch of mulberry plants, situated
in country village of Massachusetts,
and ate mp $1,000 worth of plants in a
short time.
Finally the disease wore itself out,
as other physical diseases spend their
force. Suddenly rational moment
came. and 1t killed the microbes, II
became evident enough to every one
that the raising of the silkworm and
the spinning of the silk was a business
that required close attention, and con-
slant and cheap labor. Many thou
sands of people were ruined because
they could not sell the plants for which
they had paid such high prices. The
pessimists smiled. while the deluded
farmers denounced those VINO had en-
couraged them to engage In the bust
ness
This disease, or delirium, appears
periodically in the United States and
runs its course. Just now II is at the
feyerish point in the capitalization OF
some thousands of millions In trust
a.. a