The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-26


In the course - . sensible editorial
showing the conditions of the country
to o. such as 10 AFFORD no reason Tor
the panlcky feeling n a has in the last
few weeks arected every interest and
business an the country. the New York
Journal Of Commerce has this To say
With reference 10 one particularly ina
portant phase Of the situation
There has been no more alarming
symptom and none that calls more seri-
ously for an exercise OF good sense and
ordinary prudence than the receipt By
in his cit Of many re-
quests for the cancellation Of orders
from traders or the interior These are
orders for goods t. be delivered in fu-
ture months at certain prices. and Tor
The most part. they are FOR staple
goods Tor which there viii be a con-
tinuing demand They are practically
contracts to take the goods and on
the strength Of them manufacturers
have provided for the delivery OF the
articles ordered on time. The cancel
tons are asked. partly through fear,
perhaps. that there Viii be a diminish
ed demand for the goods. but more
through fear that the prices viii be
lower. The action comes from a sort
Of panicky apprehension Of an un-
known something. and is calculated 70
bring about serious trouble that could
be easily avoided"
Cancellation of riders for future de-
livery of goods IS. in a time like he
present. much in the nature OF a with
drawal of funds that are not needed
from the bank in which they are de-
posted. Every man who takes
his money for the purpose Of boarding
it, adds by so much to the prevalence Of
uncertainty and fear among his neigh
bors, and by so much Injuries the cred
it and standing of his bank, the cap
ital of his community and his own OPP
portunity to prosper. In the case of a
merchant who gets into a panic and
cancels riders already made the case
is in some respects worse. He knows
that the order he has filed is one of
many thousands upon which the job
bers and manufacturers rely in maxi
ing their estimates for the year. When
there are many cancellations, there
is naturally a establishment that tends
to curtail business enterprise, to give
color to fear and to create the condi-
tons of which the country is afraid. In
ordinary tllIeS the QepOSltOr mas an IN
cidental right to make a check upon
his account as he wishes. In ordinary
times the merchant makes an order
with the implied privilege of cancelling
it later. In either event, both owe a
duty contingent upon conditions to
those with whom they deal. An order
for goods is a contract, which custom
and not law has made it easy TO re-
scind. When the order is made 1t
follows that its cancellation is not ey-
pected, except in the face of unusual
conditions.
Now that the money famine seems
to have done Its worst, mer-
chants who, in the face of re-
newed Confidence and in spite of
Fundamentally stable conditions and a
reasonable demand, take away from
trade and industry the capital repre-
scented in the labor Of supplying their
wants, is not only foolishlv and dis
%astrOusly afraid, SO far as he himself
is concerned, but is doing all thai in
him lies to make the effects of what
has been a scare really serious in their
after relation to general business con
ditions.