The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-05
GOOD TINES NEAR
HARTMAN SAYS COUNTRY
IS RECOVERING,
Railroad King Declares the Dawn of a
New Era of Prosperity Is
at Hand.

NEW YORK, Dec. 5.-Edward II. Harrl-
man. head OF one of the greatest railroad
systems in the United States. is of the
opinion that the country already is begin
ming to recover from the severe shock re-
ceived in the recent panic. He sees signs
all over the land of a renewal of that
public confidence without which there can
be no prosperity.
Mill which shut down when the first
shock came are beginning to reopen, and
Mr.. Hartman believes that 1t will not be
so very long before the business Of the
country will again be in a normal con-
dition
What Mr.. Hartman sees as the best
evidence OF a return to healthful con-
ditlons is the fact that the recovery which
has Sc, in is not going on SO quickly that
there is danger of having to open the
wound again. On the other hand, While
1t is steady 1t is not so slow as to check
the confidence OF the fnanciers Of the
country in making further investments for
sober, Industrial and commercial develop
rnent.
When seen today Mr.. Hartman said:
"We are in the rebound from the de-
preston, and We are in 1t to stay. There
will be no falling back-each step that
we are taking Is firm. Underneath the
WIlOle SITUATION there Is an INDUSTRIAL Sld-
bility. There is too much work to be done
and too great capacity for doing it to
allow y long-drawn-out depression"
do you think public confidence is being
restored?"
II certainly do. There are indications Of
it everywhere. This country is too big
and its people as a whole too sensible to
allow the acts of a few men TO shake their
faith in the integrity of our great finan-
! af1,z ,~l .,-f,za- 49, u,t-1. n.y.
urally, there was a little scare at first,
but when the people saw that there were
rotten spots only here and there they
quickly recovered from their fright"
but how about this talk of boarding
money!"
Money has been boarded, that is true,
but 1 am sure that you will find that q
good deal Of the boarding has been done
by banks all over the country rather than
by individuals, and the banks were in a
great measure justified for taking such a
course, as they wanted TO be in a position
to protect the people against themselves
if they lost their heads entirely. But they
Gid not lose their heads, which only goes
10 show that 1t is always safe to bet on
the good common sense of the American
people"
80 you really think the dawn of a new
era Of prosperity is here?"
There is no doubt or 1t, and MIR. Hdr-
riman spoke very earnestly. "The great
stability of bur Industrial fabric is our
commercial asset. On it we are extending
our credit. as we must, to carry on the
great busines OF the country. The over
strain on cash is being relieved and credit
is once more being allowed to perform,
Its normal work. That is why I know
we are ON the rebound to a healthy and
sound prosperity. OF course you must not
expect all at once to see every line of
commercial business as active as ii has
been during the past two years, and per-
haps it is better for the country that 1t
should not be so.
I'VE have a Presidential campaign in
front of us. and it is only natural that
we should feel our way cautiously for some
time. When I say cautiously I do not
mean hesitatingly, but rather conserva-
tirely."
No better evidence that Mr.. Hartman
believes that business is on the mend can
be found than in the fact that he has just
ordered back to work 5000 men on his
railroads. At the beginning OF the panic
when even the wisest men could not clear
~ foresee how far it would go, Mr.. Harri-
man began to retrench. He temporarily
halted the great work of Improvement
which is being carried on on the Union
Pacific and Southern Pacific lines, and or
dered the discharge of 5000 laborers. Now
the greater part Of these already are back,
and all the original plans are being rapidly
carried out,