Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-11-29
IHE CAUSES OF The PANIC.

their origin in various places and Ill
the elimination of a nun Der of impOr.
tant events, which in turn effected
smaller ones, and so on until the trOu-
BILE spread as it were to the very finger
ends of the Nation. The storm centre
| Is In New York of course, because that
| ia the heart or money centre Of the
Nation. We have been on the verge
of this very condition for some time.
There have been money "squeezes'
which the outside has not felt. There
| was almost Black Friday in 1903. but
the deposit Of Government funds in
New York stemmed the tide and the
day OF disaster was postponed. Since
| then on one or two occasions, the
banks of New York have been COM
PEELED to call upon their philanthropic
friend at Washington, the Secretary of
the Treasury, for help. Just now it
does not seem that be nor the combined
capital of the Nation will be able to
avert wide and fearful disaster.
Whence came thisl 1t is charged,
of course, by some to the administra-
tiOn-which means President ROose-
welt. This is not exactly fair. He could
not and did not cause it, He has ma
terially assisted it, along with weak
financial system, a mistaken policy of
tariff, high taxation, and wasteful ex-
penditure OF public money, but ousside
influences are more to blame than he
or his administration. By some it is
charged to attack on corporations by
various States, and the public gener-
ally But to our mind the conditions
are chargable to causes similar to the
panic of 1893. Then a LAND boom
swept from ocean to ocean. This time
it is a STOCK boom. Then every i'm
aginary spot where town could stand
was laid off In town lots, and the sim
pie minded bought them. Now every
thing possible which is akin b as been
consolidated into one com pany, capl
talized, bonds and stocks issued and
sold to the gullible. These securities
often have no more real value than the
town lots of 1898. but the country is
loaded with them. After a period of
trust forming and consolidation, came
a demand for money for the country
is taxed to poverty by State and Ma
tion as we'll as by private undertakings
such as it's effort to carry heavy Life
Insurance policies, etc. Tue State Of
New York some time ago began for
cause, an investigation Of one of the
largest life Insurance companies in
this country, the Equitable. Thomas
W. Lawson of Boston, had called at
tention through magazine articles to
the methods of that aud other insur
ance companies, and doubt had been
cast upon them in other ways. 1t will
be recalled that the present governor
of New York. Chas. w. Hughes, was
the attorney in charge of that investi-
CATION. The results made him COVER
nor, but it we'll nigh killed the life in
surance business of this country. Two
other Great Insurance Companies,
supposedly as strong as Gibralter,
were put through the mill, and they
came out even more discredited and
shrunken than the Equitable. Rot
ten to the core, was the verdict. Many
formerly great men either suicided,
died of grief, or disappeared from the
financial map before this typhoon.
None landed in Sing Sing so far as We
| know, though some narrowly missed
1t. This was the first blow struck at
what has been termed Prosperity"
About this time when other imam
cial centres were laughing at New
Y ork, end especially Chicago, a lean,
half starved looking youth, leaped into
the arena and struck blow at the
packing houses. 1t was parted for a
time, and be was denounced as a lial
and calumniator. But bis story Of
what went on there was so revolving
that having come to the Presidents
ear, he dienified it by declaring that be
would have Investigation made, and at
the same time told this young writer,
Upton Sinclair, what would be his fate
if the tale told by him were not true.
But the President sent youth to in
vestigate, young Garfield, MEM
| Der of bis cabinet, whom he had no
doubt honored on account Of the
greatness of his father. This youth
fell In with the wrong set. He was
weak and the packing house owners
got hold of him and stuffed him. But
still there came in time an investiga-
ton, and "Rotten to the core'', and
even more rotten if could be, was again
the verdict. The great canned meat
industry was almost paralyZed. 1t had
been a wonderful money maker, now
nobody would touch this meat thousands
who had before lived on it have never
touched a norsel of it since. All pack
ing house produces were more or less
affected. One did not know whether
the animal had died from disease or
from the knife. Thus did prosperity u
receive another blow. Rotten food as
we'll as rotten stocks and bonds were
being fed to the public
Without any attempt at following
events cronologically, but intending
only to cite those of the vastest i'm.
pOrtance. we come now to the third
great event In the combination of Cir
cumstances leading to the present
direful results. The subject OF trusts
| and combinations was beginning to
be foremost everywhere. 1t was on
every tongue. The Pennsylvania rail.