Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-10-29
THE PANICS OF
1898 AND 1907
DEMOCRATIC PARTY RESPON
SlBLE FOR THE DISTRESS
WHICH MARKED ITS AD-
MINISTRATlON.
FACT is CLEARLY SHOWN
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The Financial Disturbance of Five
Years Ago Not Due to Adverse
Republican Legislation Nor to Any
Cause for Which the Republican
Party Must Answer.
With an audacity which can only be
explained by the desperate situation
which makes a resort to even the
most improbable of theories a polit-
ical necessity, the Democratic cam.
paign text book charges the Repub
lican party with responsibility for the
panic of 1898 and the hard times that
ensued. "The Republicans have been
trying to make the country believe" "
says the text book, that the panic of
1893 was brought about by the Demo
cratic bill which was passed in 1894
And then the text book writer pro.
ceeds to make merry over the absurd
ity of charging an effect in one year
to a cause that did not transpire until
the year after.
Well, here are the facts: The last
year of the Harrison administration
1892, was the most prosperous the
country had enjoyed up to that time
Labor was fully employed, capital was
actively seeking investment, and the
farmers were getting a good price foI
a big crop. So far as industrial and
commercial conditions were concern.
ed, there was not a cloud in the sky.
Republican speakers and newspapers
tried to persuade the people that they
should let well enough alone and that
Democratic success might bring dis
aster. But they would not listen. The
prices of some things were pretty
high. The Democrats declared it was
because of the high tariff and prom.
ised that if put into power they would
revise the tariff Sin the interest Of the
plain people" There was little ex.
pectation throughout the country that
Harrison would be defeated, and bust
ness doomed right up to election day
But Harrison was defeated.
How the Panic Came.
And then what happened? Why, in
stantly, men who had money which
they were about to invest locked It uI
in the vaults and said 1--WE will just
wait a while to see what happens
Manufacturers engaged in producing
protected articles, realizing that as
soon as the Democratic congress could
get at it their protection would be
reduced, Immediately began to cut
their output to current demands. Who
could blame them for refusing to e
ahead and pile their warehouses full
of goods which might have to be sold
in competition with similar products
made in countries where the factory
wage scale was one-half or one-fourth
of the factory wage. scale which they
had been paying? Jobbers and whole
salers cut their orders to the manu-
facturers in the same way and for the
same reason. Retailers all over the
country bought their supplies from
day to day, fearing to be caught witt
high-priced goods when the low-priceo
food came.
And so it happened that although
the Wilson bill was not actually pass
ed until late in 1894 the panic begaI
the day after the election of 1892. Il
was not what the Democratic presi
dent and congress had done, bu
what everybody knew they intended
to do that wrought the havoc. Indeed
IL the Wilson bill could have beeI
passed the day Cleveland was inaugu
rated the damage to the country Soul.
have been far less than that which
actually occurred.
The Danger Of Uncertainty.
This country is big enough and rich .
enough and resourceful enough TO ad-
Just itself to nearly any tariff Law, no
matter how bad il may be, if it only
knows what it is. But during all the
long months Of debate over the bill
the business Of the country was. as il
were, hung up in the air. II man had
known that the duty on articles in
which they we're interested was to be
reduced ten per cent they could have
figured accordingly. II they had
known the duty was to be reduced 80