Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-05-17
AGITATION.

urging and insisting that the city is rapidly going to the devil in leaps and bounds, is an enemy to his coun- try. He may be honest and he may eandidly believe what he says, and what he says may contain some truth: but he is an enemy to the city's best interest just the same.
 It is surprising to me that the mer- chants, Business men generally and the newspapers should scatter the thought that the town is in an agony of depression, that something must be done at once to resurrect it to life again. This kind of advertisement not only hurts our business away from home but f: causes the money at home to seek deeper recesses of it's possessor's pocket. Capital is al, ways wary. By capital I mean any sum from one dollar up. It has it's weather eye out at all times for a noise like depression, and the alarms | SoA hS iS"t'u IlOtI uAoi. IL D SAt nos easily terrified. There is nath- ing so easily frightened as money. It won't stand hitched mid squalls and strange noises. l. takes fligh, from the humble suggestion of tcou- ble ahead. When the least thought If hard times enters the head of iss possessor he buries his treasure, and t stays buried until the sun comes out and the way is absolutely clear but by small holders, who own from five hundred to five thousand. The fellow who wears his old shirt and refuses to buy another, who spends his money only for wha'- he must ac ually have, who refuses to build houses or change to a better one, who wears his old shoes as long as he can in other words the money in he hands of cur fellow citizens who do the ac- drawn from circulation when the oc- casion arises that in their judgmen, Forecasts hard times.
 Nothing is so conducive to hard times as preaching it.
 Hard times and business inactivity is the offspring of pessimism. If you will think about it, if it were not for the purchase of 'shose commodities that we could all, really and actually do without, business would come to a reckoning at once.
 It is wonderful what things man can do without when the alarm is sounded. He makes out with things that he ',hought before he must and in the very nature of things was bound to have. Now when Bll Smith GUS his expenses to actual necessi- ties Tom Jones the merchant. will fall off in his sales about one half In fact Bill Smith can really and actual ly do without abou'. one-haf and then some-whsn Il ne is compelled to. Now when it is rumored that hard times is coming that is exactly what BIi Smith does. He cTawls in a hole and pulls the hole in after him and stays there until the clouds blow over, when he comes out and buys new pair of seeks. If you Wans to borrow morey 10 make an investment, or lend money to make one, it is postponed unil it is seen what is gong to turn up.' The.e is plenty of money, the reason why the tension should not loosen up, but everybody is waf.inS to see what is goisg to happen" The trouble is agitation.
 That $ what is the matter with Pine Bluff. Agitstion Of hard times and ether agit&' ion. The agitation of the Free Bridge has done world ot harm. l do not mean the the building of it or not building of it but the agitat on over it is the cause of much harm done. What good or harm its building would do, is speculation and guess. Bu. the agitation is the main trouble "I will wait and see what the bridge folks are going to do.' The uncertainty of things. A great f,nan- cier said once that dog fight would , have it's influence on business. A street shcw, q circus and even a city I election has it's influence ons business Business is as susceptible toSy these and other influences as the 9delicat' needle of the seismograph is to the influence of the far distant earth. lQuakd. Wait aud sse what is going