AMERICA AS IT IS.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 102, 16 April 1907, Page 3

AMERICA AS IT IS.

A WARNING NOTE: Mr A. Mosely, writing on his last trip to the United States m a letter to 'The Times,' says, m conclusion : — One final word now as to what I observe m the United States from time to time. What must impress any visitor at present is the enormous prosperity of the country, which shows itself m every direction. The cities are full to overflowing, building is , going' on with feverish activity, the railway companies cannot cope with either the passenger 1 or the freight traffic, and must double track their lines and extend m every direction. The flow of immigration is end-, less and ever increasing m volume. The cry is on all sides, "We cannot get raw material enough," "We cannot execute our orders," " Railways cannot carry our goods," and so on. Wages have increased enormously,'and rents are rising, but I do not think, m spite of what may be said to. the

contrary, that the cost of living has outstripped the increase of wages or the advantages of regular employment, nor can the working men expect, with great prosperity and ample employment, to reap all these advantages without having to part with some of their earnings m extra, expense ; but perhaps the greatest danger and change noticeable m this connection ie the high standard of living, if not ruthless extravagance, of all classes m America. What were luxuries yesterday are considered necessities to-day, and where this is to end it is difficult to foresee; and herein lies hidden trouble for the future. At the present moment everything is keyed up to so high a. pitch that a reaction would probably spell disaster, and yet things cannot go on indefinitely on the present lines. lam bound to say, however, that I see no sign of reaction so far; but, if for no other reason, a halt would probably have to be called from the sheer want of money. The developments m the States are so great now and on so huge a, scale that she can practically use tlie ©pare capital of the world, and yet cry for more, and the enormous demand for money m the United States is causing a serious high rate of interest m Europe, and we here (m England) are not m a position, with our close-cut profits, to pay for legitimate trading purposes at the present ruling rates of money. I wish to record that I _pc signs of a- serious 1 danger m the future, if the ruthless extravagance of the people of the United States is to continue unchecked, and her prosperity is leading to an even -worse feature than her extravagance — viz., inefficiency and corruption. In bygone years one was impressed with the thorough way m which everything was done and every detail thought out m the States; but the same is not true to-day. On the contrary, there are signs of everything becoming slipshod, work inefficiently performed and badly finished, everything overdone and overcrowded ; and, above all, everybody appears m too great a hurry, so that m the race for success and wealth many of the former good characteristics of the country are disappearing. Again, finance m the United States of America is showing signs of unsoundness by the enormous height to which prices of all property and securities are being pushed, and, above all, by the late exposures of dishonesty (and that at points where we should have looked for a high standard of honor), but, whilst this is bad, there is the redeeming feature of a strong public opinion trying to correct these evils and expose the guilty parties (although the late exposures have created so profound an impression amongst the masses that the hasty remedies proposed may be even worse than the existing evil), and the Press and public alike are merciless m their condemnation of the dishonest practice of certain financiers. Would that it were so m our own country ! Unfortunately, as bad or worse is going on here m the City of London m connection with bubble companies, and the method m which a certain cla^s of oompanymongers conduct their business, backed up by a certain section of unscrupulous directors and their following, lawyers, and accountants. When this system of unsavory finance is fully exposed — 36 exposed it will be m the long run — the people here will stand aghast at what has been going on unchecked under their very tye6, nnd at the vast sums which have been lost, bringing ruin to countless thousands, to say ioth„;g of the check it must give to confidence amongst the investing public, and its retarding influence upon genuine enterprise and development. The nations of the world may be growing richer, but, unless honesty and realisation of the responsibilities of wealth are to accompany this material progress', we are better without it. , '