Year: 1879




cessary.


The country all over is now begin


ming to feel the quickening impulse o


increased business. Every thing lndl
Gates that the bottom has been reached
at last and firm foundation has beer
laid for long period Of prosperity anc
activity in business, and with the re
turn of prosperity comes better prices
higher rents, better wages and 'teady
employment. The cost Of living hal
been brought down lower than ever be-
fore, and there is occupation for all who
want employment at wages which are
rising rather than falling. Iron es'
pscially is gradually going up in price
grain has taken strong tendency up
ward, cheap houses are in constant de-
mand and our mills are running on full
time and finding a ready market for all
that they can manufacture. The fur
naces throughout Pennsylvania and
wherever iron is manufactured that a
year ago were silent, are now aglow
with the fires Of quickened prosperity
and are now turning out thousands Of
tons of iron where but short time be-
fore silence reignsd and idleness was
supreme. The recent rise in iron has
greatly elated the hardware men, near
ly all Of whom have laid in heavy
stocks to meet the fall trade. The ad-
vance in iron has Of course caused an
appreciation in the price Of hardware
of every description, which apprecia-
ton must innure to the advantage Of
the dealers. We cannot but congratu-
late our iron manufacturers and hard
ware merchants upon the good fortune
for which they have go long been look
ing, and which is the forerunner OF like
improvements in all other departments
of industry. A glance along our streets
and at the doors Of our principal stores
show that the dry goods trade is also
increasing and merchants wear a more
cheerful look than formerly.


I. IS hoped however that the ap-
preaching era of prosperity will not
lead us into another era OF extrava-
gance and imitation like that which we
have just passed. The lessons learned
in the school of experience have to
many been dearly bought and should
induce our people to move cautiously
and slowly along, but a! the same time
keeping steady pace with the demands
of trade. There is danger that the
rapid process Of recuperation may give
such a. rapid impulse to production
that may check business If not kept
under proper control. In review of
this subject the Columbia "Courant,"
an exchange published among the fur
naces of Pennsylvania, says: it will do
for the mill that last year was working
only three fourths tins to put on a
full force and work them steadily, but
if the mill alongside, whose wheels
have been rusting in idleness, is also
started up, the two will soon catch up
with the demand and outrun it. We
have seen tie injury done to the coal
trade. Although one furnace after
another has been put into blast, and
mills that last year bought thousa nd
tons of coal find use for fifteen hundred
this year, on the other hand the output
of coal has been sixty per cent. greater
this year than last, and it is now
impossible to sell a ton at price which
will pay all expenses and fair return
upon the investment. So with the cot.
ton and the woollen mills. We shall
not wear out twice as much cloth this
year as last, although our purchases
may be stimulated for time by the
destitution consequence upon the econo-
my of The past. To keep up a healthy
trade we must not choke it with over
production.


This however applies more to the man
ufacturers Of iron and steel than to the
machine shops of Wilmington. OF all
the manufacturers Of our city and the
surrounding country there is Mt q
mandatory that produces ir, L n
the crude ore. Wilmington man.fac-
turers so far as the iron trade is concern
ed are more engaged in manufacturing
sheet and bar iron from the bloom or
pig and consequently are regulated by
the demand without much danger of
overstocking tbs market. While it is
desirable that our iron mills should be
we'll stocked with orders, We would re-
gret to see them SO pushed that they
would be tempted to raise the prices too
suddenly as this would in our estima.
ton be sure means Of checking tn.
demand. The days are over for max
ing fortunes suddenly in the old estab-
lishments of trade and any tendency to
raise the prices will only set to work
manufactures that cannot be operated
save at vast expense, but 1t will
raise the rates Of wages and bring
thnusan of Wnrkman from abroad TO