The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-05-20
THE N ATTTESBURG NEWS

the former is sure to languish without
the inspiring presence of the other
Stock quotations in Wall street are
now upon a level surprising by far
that of any recent period, and in some
cases attitudes have been reached by
particular securities which have
broken the precedents of any period
whatever. The big mills are humming
again, advance orders for bar steel,
for shaped metal, for rails, for steel
cars, are in sight in sufficient guam
tity to insure the continuous opera
ton of the greater industries for any
months to come. Railroad construc-
ton is renewing its activity,
not only in the laying of new lines,
particularly in the west and southwest.
but in the Rehabilitation upon an i'm
proved scale of much of the track of
the older and standard trunk lines.
Why? Sentiment, that's all.
/ There isn't any greater degree of
prosperity, basically considered, in
sight within the countrys grasp than
there was before the beginning of
trepidation in october in 1907. 1t is
true that we are practically assured
another bumper crop upon probably a
greatly increased acreage, but because
of this condition we are not prospec-
lively essentially better off.
The whole cause of the late depres-
sion lay in the minds of men. One
night a war lard of the street dined
too freely on lobster, had a bad dream
night a war lord of the street dined
feeling. He communicated his pessi
mistic views to the market by order
ing his brokers to "sell everything.
And they sold. Sibilant whispers went
round that something was wrong. Dis
trust grew apace. People with money
loaned at interest began to call it in
People holding investment securities
began to sell them and to lock up the
cash receipts in safety deposit vaults
A condition of distrust in the CONNER
cial world is as hard to overcome al
though it has no foundation in fact, al
would be condition of distress baset
absolutely upon short CROPS, high
prices and lack of work. Pani'
spreads like prairie fire. A whisper i
the spark, an insinuation is the breatl
that blows it into flame. Then come
the void rush to escape with ones ow1
l possessions before the fire is upo
( one
We know there was no ground 70
a panic. We know now that it wa
+ foolish. We know now that if all c
us had been content to laugh at sus
gestion and pay no heed to rumor W
would have been going on in the sam
old cheerful way, doing very well an
t taking nourishment without the al
Il of a nurse But that is all over, an
{ to discuss it is perhaps fruitless.
. is even doubtful the harsh expe1
/ ences of the last 20 months will eve
il have impressed themselves upon Il
II whole public sufficiently to prevent
e reoccurrence of the same sort of thin
j when conditions again conspire
ii promote distrust.
What, then, has restored us to
condition of hopefulness and con
" dent expectancy of better times, to
~ actual renewed of industrial activit
" to an actual resumption of railro
% freight traffic of significant propt
- lions, to the piling up of funds
~ banks to an extent that makes mon
- for the time being almost load
~ carry by those who have it-what /
az that has brought about these char
40 and reinspiring conditions?
80 Sentiment That's all.