The Delta independent., 1904-09-30
REBUKE FOR CALAMITY HOWLERS.

anu Il lSN bldlailt olatolS " SISalS
lack of confidence in the public
mind by saying the country is
going to the bad; that great indus
tries are shutting down; that the
railways are retrenching, instead
of improving roadbed and equip.
mcnt. that no new factories are
being constructed; that thousands
of working people are idle and that
Republican prosperity is a myth.
These statements are 50 palpably
false or SO greatly exaggerated that
Intelligent persons are not misled
by them, but there is danger that
when the canards are reiterated by
the calamity howlers few people
who do not keep in touch with in
dustrial and commercial conditions
may be led to believe them.
Any man or newspaper that
deliberately attempts to create dis
trust in the financial or CONNER
cial world is little less than crimi-
nal. Some states have punitory
laws framed for the purpose of
sending to prison persons who
circulate untruthful rumors about
banks and trust companies. If
the man who causes a run on a
bank by spreading a false report is
a criminal, is not the man or news
paper that attempts to make politi-
cal capital by destroying public
confidence also a criminal? And,
by the same reasoning, is not the
party that permits or indorses the
utterances of the calamity howler
and spreader of false rumors an
enemy OF the law!
Suppose the Democratic party
won "a victory at the polls through
destroying confidence in CONNER
cial and industrial circles, would
the administration of that party
have the confidence Of the people.
Would not capital, which is always
timid in the face of uncertainty,
begin to hide? And when capital
is distrustful what happens! In.
dustries lag or close, trade of the
retail merchant falls off, the job
Der and wholesaler suffer, railway
traffic diminishes, hundred, OF
thousands of wage earners arc
thrown out Of work, distress be-
comes general, soup houses are
opened and cities are compelled to
begin charitable works for the idle
No political party that counten-
ances the creation of distlust j:
worthy of the peoples confidence
1t will be a sorry day for the coun
try when the calamity howlers sue
ceed in reversing those beneficen
policies which the Republican
party has put into effect and which
have resulted in an era of til,
greatest prosperity any nation ha
ever known.
That industries and business o
all kinds continue to prosper ther'
can be no doubt. The few strikes
in the building and other trade
are not indictive of depressed con
ditions. Wage earners do no
strike in time Of panic or waning
prospersty. Strikes are general.
for higher wages and no toiler ex
poets an increase in wages whel
work is scarce and thousands 0
his fellows are idle.
There is ample evidence tina
prosperous times are still with lis
A glance at the newspapers, Demo
cratic as well as Republican, show
that millions of dollars are ex
. pended i'll building new factorie
and enlarging old ones, in con
structing new trolley lines an
improving the roadbed and equiE
ment of steam railways.
, More persons are employe
now than ever before. AS proc
of this statement, take, for instanc
the railways, whose traffic alway
is a reflex of business condition
generally. The number of elm
ployes on the pay rolls Of the raj
ways in the United States on Jun
30, 1903, was ,312,537 or $50 pc
100 miles of line. These figures
compared with those Of 1905