The Irish standard., 1907-11-02

"ltii Ad!T sllClSuCy an0 with integrity
nd this belief is justified in SO many
cases that the exceptions ordinarily
are what the mathematicians call a.
negligible quantity. These exceptions
attract much more attention than their
number seems to call for, but this is
inevitable. People are attentive to
what is out Of the line of normal. We
hear far more ,of the divorces which
terminate unhappy marriages than of
the vastly greater number of happy
marriages which terminate only with
death. If a man robs an employer or
knocks down his enemy on the street
the newspapers give him an amount
of space they would not think of as
signing to the man who lived perfect-
ly honest and peaceful life The forms
er makes good copy" and the latter
does not. So breach of confidence in
any sort of business is published with
atf' it's "details and aKsrarstaenss. white
the honesty Of lnyriads gets not a word
Of mention.
Our present financial situation in
America shows what a serious business
1t is to impair confidence. In common
with all the world we are suffering
from n queer sort of prosperity. which
squeezes many of us as hard az bad
times would. The prices Of the things
we do not want or cannot purchase are
| unusually low. Consols, railroad
stocks, and mining shares are oleaper
than they have been for many year.
If we wanted copper, we could buy
260,ooo,ooo pounds of 1t at half the
price 1t brought five years ago. But
flour, fuel, clothing, farm and garden
produce. and books are dearer. Wages
are high and the demand for labor is
unusually great In spite Of a. deluge Of
immigrants from Europe; but those
than it has been for twenty years to
make both ends meet. 1t is q compli-
Gated situation, and altogether diff
ferent from any we have had in this
country within the memory Of man.
Usually prices have risen and fallen
together and the depression Of stocks
has meant lower wages and deficiency
of employment, while good prices have
been the indication of abundant and
well paid work. Evidently there is a.
complex disturbance. caused by tho
| collision of CROSS currents, such as
economists have not had to explain.
Antecedent to high prices for the
necessaries and comforts of life was
the enormous production Of gold in all
quarters Of the earth. Gold fell in
| value and in purchasing power, as
compared with commodities generally.
and people have had to pay more coins
for what they needed, and they ex.
planned this by saying that prices had
gone UP, while the fact was that gold
had fallen. This, however, ought to
borrow, and that many people would
be putting their money into good
stocks and bonds, SO that the price OF
/ .
these would rise, and also that cities
and corporations would find it easy to
borrow at a low rate. But the fact Is
just the reverse. Boston and New
York City both found it impossible to
get money at the rates they could have
commanded five years ago, and the big
railroads hardly can borrow at ALL.
The reduced demand for copper for
electric purposes, on the part of these
and similar corporations, has depressed
the market, and seems likely to ruin
a large group of capitalists, who own.
that 25oooo,ooo pounds of that metal.
and cannot sell it. Never did thsl
earth yield so much gold to human
toll, and never did the civilized ccun-
tries feel so short of a supply. ana hght
so hard to keep all they have. Where
has it gone to? What has become of
1T? 8i