The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-25

are aware, is our own view. First, tbere
 is the fact that the habit of over
 investing, already referred to, tends tc
 reduce the reserves of cash in America
 to below the safety point. and the dan
 ger resulting from the state of things
 thus produced is all the greater because
 the American banking system is bad, as
 all good judges, even in the United 1 States, from MT. Gage downward, ad-
 init, That system is fatally wanting in
 elasticity; it does not allow of an au- i tomatic expansion and contraction of
 bank note circulation. and, on the other 1 hand, it does admit in bad times of seri-
 ous depletion for export purposes of | the Treasurys stock of gold. At the present moment the prevailing belief
 is that this is a contingency which can | be ignored, owing to the heavy ''b9lance 1 of trade" in favor of the United States; | but, as has been demonstrated ad nauseam, this supposed balance of | trade is a purely commercial balance, , and there is good reason to think that,
 after necessary corrections have been
 made in the declared values of imports
 and exports, the balance is slightly the
 other way, owing to freight charges due to foreigners and the eYer-lncreasing expenditure of Americans in Europe and their speculative and other invest
 ments there. Had it not been so, the
 New York exchange on London could
 not have remained all the past au-
 tumn in favor of the latter city,
 This would seem to be thrashing old
 straw. The question of the nature of
 our trade balance, and whether it is more or less, never had influenced, and probably never will, the judgment of American business men on any subject connected with our industrial or com mercial development. Our banking sys- tenn admittedly has some defects, but not of the kind which interfere with the enjoyment of a large and general pros perity. In fact, we feel them most when general conditions are bad and when those who want money exigently cannot give security. The only specific instance which The Times is able to cite as showing that we are perhaps riding for a fall is the collapse of the copper corn CT. Had it waited a few days, it might have added asphalt, crude rubber, and one or two other bubbles with very lit tie except iridescence to commend them to investors. It would seem to the thoughtful student of existing condi- tions that the ability of the market to relegate speculations of this character to the place in which they belong, and without shock or panic to wipe out f1c- titious millions representing the capN talization of large desires with most uncertain issues," would indicate we'll esta blished confidence in the stability of enterprises of great magnitude who honestly organized and wisely manag- ed. It seems to such students that the greatest danger which could menace prosperity would be the abil- ity to Keep unsound enterprises capl- talized upon meagre and insufficient valuee afioat as live and legitimate con. mercial ventures. When that point l is reached the danger signal cannot be | too soon or too loudly, There l may be veal. points in the situation | which warrant the flying of cautionary | flags, but The London Times does not seem to have put it's editorial finger np- on them-from which we conclude that | in this country are not any | better understood abroad than they are at home. The analogfes of experience do not help us much in forecasting the course of events which are without or precedent From the New York Times