The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-11-14
The Enemy Of Prosperity-Pessi.
mists Who Talk 'Hard Times"
Raleigh Evening Times.

Raleigh Evening Times.
While transacting some business IN
one of the Raleigh banks this week
we observed many people making
their deposits as usual and there was
no manifestation OF any disposition
on the part of any one to withdraw
his money from the bank s possession.
The situation in New York and
some other Northern money centres
for the past ten days appears to
have had no effect at all OH orr local
banks, the confidence .~r ao"le
Iepose in them, nor their ability and
willingness to move along in the
moral groove. One reason for this
satisfactory condition of affairs is,
We, believe. the absence OF any "hard
times talk, (which pessimists are more
apt than not to start in community
under less provOcatiOn than circum'
stances warranted last week.
AS a writer in a current magazine
says, 1T is upon the maintenance OF
public confidence that good times
largely depend"
That is true, for fear and distrust
are fatal enemies of confidence. The
moment business men got scared and
people begin to talk hard times, dis
trust spreads like wildfire. Level
headed men say they see no real
cause for alarm, but at the same
time the perpetual suggestion which
is being passed onginfiuences them,
and they grow more cautious. Bank
ers ZEE no breakers ahead, yet they
think that they should be cOnserva-
tive, and they begin to call in their
loans, which are not quite so gilt
edged as before. They are also more
careful about accommodating their
borrowing customers so that they
ma; be a little better prepared i'll case
anything adverse should happen.
These precautions spread. Distrust
fear, anxiety, feeling ofuncertainty
like the rising tide Of gossip, sweep
like wildfre all over the country.
Soon everybody is talking hard times,
all are influenced by the contagion
of the perpetual fear of suggestion.
Cautious men think perhaps they We
been spreading out a little too much
and they began to retrench, discharne
help, and cut down salaries and ex-
penses generally. Mercantile houses,
manufactures, railroads, and other
concerns stop extensions and other
improvements, and take in sail until
all danger is past.
As a consequence public confidence
is shaken, and there is general
strangulation of business all over the
country. Important contracts, the
erection of large buildings, and ex-
tensive negotiations are called OFF.
There is a marked decline in business
transactions of all kinds. Nobody
has confidence to branch out; every
body is hedging.
Such a condition of things began
with the recent investigation and
prosecution of certain great combi-
nations of capital After the investi-
cation these great concerns began to
retrench, and when the whole cOun-
try caught the spirit of caution
stocks began to drop, business houses
began to fall, and the first we knew
there was a sort of a mental business
panic, a condition wholly uncalled
for, unwarranted. Crop prospects
were most promising and the coun-
try at large was in superb condition.
The panic was mainly mental, caused
by fear and anxiety resulting from
lack of confidence, general distrust
OF the future.