The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-07-12
Business and the demo

4
say what we may. about the evils to
he met with In Wall Street, complain as
much MS we wish about the financial con-
troll OF the country. and Of the world,
held in New York, we must finally adj
nit that Now York Is the commercial
center Of the world, and as such, to a
greater or less extent, controls commerce.
When the pulse of New York is regular.
the commercial and Industrial vein Of
the whole country feels the glow Of
healthy blood. Thsm fact all men must
admit. The merchant, the manufacturer,
the farmer. the banker, the laborer,j the
employer and the employe throu ghout the
length and breadth of the country know
this to be a fact. It may not be re-
garded in some sections as an alto
gether healthy or desirable fact, but It
is a fact, nevertheless i%
I It Is a we'll known matter Of history
that what are usually known as cam
Epaign years, that is to say, the fourth
year In the political calendar, when n
President Is to be elected are bad busl-
ness years. The political events and pos
siitlcal results are so interviewer with our
commercial system that commercial pro-.
gress and business advancement neces-
sariIy depend in great measure upon
the results Of the ordinary political cam
3paign. So 1t has become an accepted
maxim in this country that a presidential
year is bad business year. There has
never been, with few exceptions, time
when this maxim was necessarily true,
hut somehow people have an idea that
business must be dull in a presidential
year from the time that the two great
parties hold their conventions In early
summer to decide upon their candidates
and their platforms. and the election day
In the November following, There is
gratifying evidence that this year will
al least prove an exception to, even II
it does not expose the sophistry of the
rule. 5is f5s
Tile two great parties have held their
conventions, announced their principles
AMI nuincd their candidates Tor the two
highest offices IN the sill OF the Amcri-
can people. There Is not n paragraph. a
sentence, line, word, or the dot of
all 1 or the cross of a t In the plat
form OF either Of the two great parties
calculated to disturb the calm business
serenity that has prevailed for at least
three years past.
1t must be admitted that there was
some apprehension In business circles
| that the Democratic Convention assem-
bled IN st. Louis might in some way dis
turb the business equilibrium. Scenes
have been enacted In Democratic conven-
t,ons. ms we'll as some other conventions
in recent years, the recollection OF which
gave rise to this fear. but that wonderful
convention at st. Louis, n convention that
| will go down In history as one OF the
most remarkable the country has ever
known, one In which the voice OF the
people was heard and considered and
bowed to, above the din OF party neces.
j sity. above the cry OF the demagogus
and above any and all demands for per,
sonal preferment or preference, dispellet
all fears along this line. The announce
ment went out from thatfconvention, em
phasized With, Its unexpected dramtaI,
scenes. that no matter whatever els,
may happen, business is not going to b
disturbed. Wall Street and New Yorl
and the financial and business Interest,"
OF the whole country, the laboring ole
ment dependent upon daily wages 10
support, the farmer dependent upon'th
returns from his crop. and all people VIII
live by the sweat Of their brow, rejoice
when there game from st. Louis the new
I that the financial question Is not a
issue in. this campaign.
That information eased the minds o
more than two-thirds Of the population
Of this great country, and there was N
J tu-ss-'-A when the market reports Of Sat