{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3877", "width": "2532", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n014 060 462 8\\nHoUinger Corp.\\npH8.5", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "HB J7^1\\n.C7\\ni\\nCopy\\n1\\nEXCESSIVE SAVING\\nA CAUSE OF\\nCOMMERCIAL DISTRESS;\\nBEINft A SERIES OF\\nASSAULTS UPON ACCEPTED PRINCIPLES\\nOF POLITICAL ECONOMY.\\nBY\\nURIEL H. CROCKER.\\nBOSTON:\\nW. B. CLARKE AND CARRUTH,\\n340 Washington Stkeet.\\n1884.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "I.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nIt is now about seven years since the undersigned made liis\\nfirst attempt to bring into public notice certain views which,\\nif received as true, will involve important changes in the\\naccepted principles of political economy. These views were\\ndeveloped from time to time in the articles and communica-\\ntions to the press contained in the following pages. Some of\\nthese articles and communications were declined by the peri-\\nodicals and newspapers to which they were offered, and none of\\nthem have ever received any printed recognition of their sound-\\nness, or even of their plausibility. A firm faith, however, in\\nthe truth of the conclusions reached, and a strong sense of\\ntheir importance for a proper understanding of many of the\\npolitical and social phenomena of the present time, have led\\ntlie undersigned to print this pamphlet, in part with the\\nliope that thus his suggestions and arguments may at last\\nreach minds prepared to receive them, and in part as a monu-\\nment to prevent later inquirers from gaining such credit as\\nmay be due to the original discoverer of whatever may have\\nbeen novel in the views here presented.\\nURIEL H. CROCKER.\\nBoston, 14th June, 1884.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "EXCESSIVE SAVING\\nA CAUSE OF\\nCOMMERCIAL DISTRESS.\\nThe first public suggestion of the author s views was contained in\\nthe following communicatioa to the Boston Daily Advertiser, and\\nappeared in the issue of that paper of August 8, 1877.\\nEVIL EFFECTS OF MAKING HASTE TO BE RICH.\\nThe general depression in business, and more especially the\\nrecent strikes arising out of that depression, have led to much\\nconsideration of the causes that have produced the results\\nwhich we are now experiencing. Tlie following considera-\\ntions are offered as presenting somewhat novel views upon this\\nsubject\\nThe general product of the labor of the community may be\\nconsidered as being divided between two classes of people,\\nbetween the laborers and the capitalists, between those who\\nperform the manual labor and those who own and furnish the\\nmachinery which aids the laborer in the performance of his\\nwork who own and provide the factories, warehouses, ships,\\nrailroads, etc.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "6\\nAll the claim that the members of the first of these classes\\nthe laboring class may acquire through their own labor\\nupon the labor of others is, as a general rule, employed and\\nexhausted in supplying themselves and their families with\\narticles needed for immediate use and consumption but the\\nsecond, or capitalist, class acquires in ordinarj^ times a large\\nclaim upon labor in excess of what it needs for its immediate\\nsupport and maintenance. This claim upon or control over\\nlabor it may use, according to its own desire, in several differ-\\nent ways. The wealthy may keep the poor busy in producing\\narticles of luxury to be immediately consumed in the using\\nor in creating more lasting means of gratifying luxurious\\ntastes or fancies, as in the building of elegant dwellings or\\nchurches or, lastly, in building new factories, warehouses,\\nships, railroads, etc., as a means by which the rich may, by the\\nprofits of their new investments, gain new and increased power\\nover labor, may, in a word, become richer.\\nThere may well .be, however, a limit to the extent to which\\nthis last-mentioned employment of labor can profitably be\\ncarried. If at any given time there are enough factories,\\nwarehouses, ships, and railroads to supply the then existing\\ndemands of the community, not only can there be no profit in\\nthe creation of additional and uncalled-for factories, ware-\\nhouses, ships, and railroads, but, if these are in fact created,\\nthey will by competition destroy the profits of those previously\\nexisting, and will thus, by diminishing or stopping both the\\ndividends of the capitalists and the wages of the laborers,\\ndiminish the ability of all to purchase the products of labor,\\nand thereby, by diminishing demand, increase still more the\\nexcess of the actual over the needed supply.\\nThere seems to be good reason to suppose that this is ex-\\nactly the way in which our recent depression in business has\\nbeen brought about. By the termination of our civil war, and\\nby the numerous and important improvements recently made\\nin machinery, the productive power of the community had been\\nvery largely increased. Our wealthy classes, being of a thrifty\\nand saving disposition, and wishing not to spend all their in-\\ncome, but to accumulate still greater wealth, sought to use a", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "large portion of their control or power over labor in creating\\nprofitable investments for themselves. They had previously\\nmade money by building factories, stores, dwellings, rail-\\nroads, etc., and they thought to make still more money by\\nrepeating the operation. Comparatively little harm would\\nhave been done if the new investments had simply turned out\\nto be unprofitable, and the old ones had continued to supply to\\nthe rich their accustomed dividends, and to the poor their\\naccustomed wages. The mischief has been that the new invest-\\nments have, by competition, ruined for the time being the old\\nones dividends and wages have stopped, and the income of\\nall, both rich and poor, being cut down, their demands upon\\nlabor have been immensely diminished, and the laborer has\\nbeen left in idleness, and without the means of procuring the\\nnecessaries of life.\\nAccording to the above views it would seem that the economy\\nand thrift of our wealthier classes, their desire to grow\\nricher by laying aside their surplus earnings in profitable\\ninvestments, instead of benefiting the community, as in ordi-\\nnary times it has done, has actually, under the peculiar cir-\\ncumstances of the present, produced just the opposite result,\\nand that all, both rich and poor, would be more prosperous to-\\nday, if the rich, instead of endeavoring to be economical and\\nsaving, and to make profitable investments, had employed the\\nlabor which they did in fact employ in building factories and\\nrailroads, in simply producing results out of which no profit\\nwas sought other than their own gratification, for instance,\\nin erecting palatial residences, or even in heaping up Egyptian\\npyramids.\\nThese views must be admitted to be at variance with gener-\\nally accepted theories but political economists are plainly at\\na loss in attempting to account for the present condition of\\naffairs, and it may be that we have reached a time in the\\nworld s history when a new element, hitherto unnoticed be-\\ncause inactive, has begun to work. It may well be that the\\npossibilities of the profitable investment of capital have now\\nfor the first time been temporarily exhausted, and that the\\naccumulative, money-getting spirit, which has heretofore done", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "so much for human progress, has for a wliile no further room\\nfor useful action.\\nU. H. C.\\nThe above communication to the Advertiser called forth in that\\npaper an answer from one E. W. and an editorial, both of which\\nsought to show that U. H. C. was entirely wrong.\\nAfter waiting nearly a year, another attempt to draw attention to the\\nsubject was made, the following communication appearing in the Bos-\\nton Daily Advertiser of May 25, 1878.\\nUNIVERSAL ECONOMY WILL IT DO GOOD OR\\nHARM\\nThe present depression in business is a fruitful topic of\\ndiscussion in the newspapers and elsewhere, and with all dis-\\nputants the favorite cause of the trouble is past exti^avagance\\nthe favorite remedy, the general practice of economy. My pres-\\nent object is to ask what this economy is that is to help us, and\\nhow it is to bring about that result. I suppose that when the\\npeople are asked to economize they are asked to spend less\\nmoney upon luxuries and comforts for themselves and their\\nfamilies, to consume less of the products of labor. But, as\\nour trouble has for a long time been that production has run\\nahead of consumption, that our factories and our mechanics\\nhave produced more than they could find purchasers for, that\\nlaborers have been idle for want of any demand for any pos-\\nsible product of their labor, how is it conceivable that a still\\nfurther diminution of the demand for those products, a still\\ngreater decrease in consumption, can help those that are now\\nsuffering Can it give work to the idle laborer Will it\\ntake the superfluous product of the manufacturer off his hands\\nWill it make the business of the wholesale or of the retail\\ntrader more lively Suppose the whole community should\\neconomize to the greatest possible degree suppose we should\\nall for a year wear our old clothes, eat and drink nothing\\nbut bread and water, and forswear all pleasures, such as\\ntravelling, the theatre, etc., would this bring about a season", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "9\\nof prosperity Or should we not rather find ourselves at the\\nend of that year in a condition of worse poverty and idleness\\nthan at its beginning? If not, why not? I wish somebody\\nto explain this, I do not wish to be referred to the good\\neffect of economy upon the fortunes of an individual. I admit\\nthat an individual may grow rich by personal economy, if\\nother people will find him work enough to keep him busy, and\\nwill pay him for such work. One man may thus advance his\\nown interests at the expense of his neighbors but how if his\\nneighbors all adopt the same policy An economical shoe-\\nmaker will grow rich if other people will buy his shoes but\\nhow will he accumulate wealth if the whole community con-\\ncludes to go barefoot in the interest of economy If A, B,\\nand C are thrown into the water together, it may be good\\npolicy for A, regarding only his interest as an individual, to\\nkeep his own head above water by pressing B and C down\\nbut if B and C practise the same policy, and try to keep their\\nrespective heads up by pushing their fellows down, it is easy\\nto see that the total elevation of the heads of the three will\\nnot amount to much.\\nAs, among individuals, the one who economizes may grow\\nrich at the expense of tliose who are lavish or extravagant, so\\nan economical nation may grow rich at the expense of other\\nnations. Just at the present time the nations of Europe are\\ngiving the United States such an opportunity to gain at their\\nexpense, and if they will buy enough of our products to keep\\nour people all employed, there will be an opportunity for us to\\ngain by economizing. But those who extol the merits of\\neconomy do not limit its good effects to any such special cir-\\ncumstances as those just mentioned. They claim that it is\\ngood for everybody they recommend it not as a selfish policy,\\nto be practised by those who want to get ahead of their fel-\\nlows, but as a policy calculated to promote the good of the\\nwhole. They recommend it to Europe as much as they do to\\nAmerica. They say to the whole civilized world You have\\nbeen wasteful and extravagant you must do what the indi-\\nvidual does when he has been extravagant you must deny\\nyourselves many things you would like to have, and all will", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\ncome right in a little while. This remedy may have been an\\nefficacious one in many former times of distress, but how can\\nit help us noiv, when the great trouble is that people are idle\\nIf the cause of the present trouble really were past extrava-\\ngance and waste, ought it not to be easy for all to find some-\\nthing to do toward repairing that waste and making up for that\\nextravagance The usual result of extravagance and waste\\nis not an extra supply of goods for wliich no use can be found,\\nbut a scarcity of the things that have been wasted. We see\\nnowhere, however, at the present time any symptoms of such\\na scarcity. If there were a scarcity of any article, how many\\nlaborers, now idle, would hasten to busy themselves in the\\nproduction of that article? How much capital, now vainly\\nseeking profitable employment, would hasten to supply those\\nlaborers with all needed factories and macliinery Are we\\nnot entitled to conclude that our troubles have not been caused\\nby past extravagance, and that the remedy for those troubles\\nis not to be found in the general practice of economy\\nHERETIC.\\nThis communication appears to have attracted considerable notice.\\nThe author was informed by the editor of the Advertiser that\\nfifteen answers to his communication were received by that paper, all of\\nwhich controverted his arguments and conclusions. Three of these\\nanswers were printed in the Advertiser, and an editorial article\\nsummed up the different views that had been presented, and concluded\\nthat Heretic had gone badly astray. In answer to these criticisms\\nthe next communication was written; but the Advertiser had had for\\nthe time enough of the subject, and the communication was committed\\nto its waste basket.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "11\\nTHE EFFECT OF ECONOMY.\\nI DO not see that you or your correspondents answer the\\nquestion that I proposed. I have made no question as to the\\nbeneficial results of economy in the past, both to the indi-\\nvidual and to the world at large. I have made no question as\\nto the possibility of gain to be derived by an individual from\\npersonal economy now. My inquiry was for some practical\\nexplanation of the process by which general economy will help\\nthe world under its present peculiar circumstances. I sug-\\ngested that the chief trouble at present is that laboring people\\ncannot find employment, and that any increased economy on\\nthe part of the community will naturally tend, by decreasing\\nconsumption, to increase rather than to diminish this trouble.\\nThis is a result which lies on the surface, the dullest mind\\ncan perceive it, I ask for an explanation of the more hidden\\nworking of things by which this result may be prevented and\\nthe opposite one produced. One of your correspondents says\\nthat when the general love of economy induces people to go\\nwithout shoes, the shoemaker must seek some other employ-\\nment. But under such circumstances as the present, wher-\\never he turns, he will find that in each field of employment the\\ngeneral economy has made fewer laborers necessary, that\\nthere are superfluous tailors, hatters, grocers, teamsters, and\\nfarm hands, as well as superfluous shoemakers. Another of\\nyour correspondents says that the answer to the question, what\\nthe superfluous shoemakers shall do, is easy. They have\\ntheir own wants to satisfy, they can turn to producing for them-\\nselves. Producing what Are they to endeavor to return\\nto the mode of life of that long past time when a man and his\\nfamily supplied all their own wants directly by their own\\nlabor, fed themselves with the products of their own tillage,\\nand clothed themselves in homespun Even if such a return\\nto the habits of his ancestors were possible for the laborer of", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nto-day, would it be an advance or a retrograde movement\\nWould not such a course be simply an abandonment, by those\\nwho were driven to adopt it, of the advantages and comforts\\nof modern civilization Indeed, would not general economy,\\nif pushed to an extreme, amount simply to the general practice\\nof denying ourselves the enjoyment of those comforts and\\ncharms of life which we owe to modern civilization\\nIt is said however that, if we all economized, if we ceased\\nto consume as much as we do of the products of labor, we\\nmight employ our labor in adding to the world s stock of\\nwealth. This sounds well, but I think I am entitled to ask\\nhow this is to be done at the present time After all the\\nshoes and clothes that there is any demand for have been pro-\\nduced, will it increase the wealth of the world to lay up stores\\nof those articles, to moulder and decay before they can be\\nused Will it increase the wealth of the world to build fac-\\ntories, railroads, and ships, that must be left to ruin and decay\\nbecause there is no work for them to do? If there is a pos-\\nsibility of increasing our stock of wealth at the present time,\\nhow is it that the idle laborers, who are now so plenty, that\\nthe idle capital wliich is now so abundant, do not set about\\nthe work The answer to this question involves the solution\\nof the whole difficulty. If any man, who has sufficient means\\nto meet the expense, will build a new house for himself and\\nthereby give many laboring men employment, he certainly will\\nnot be economizing, but he will increase the world s stock\\nof wealth. Economy would teach him to remain satisfied\\nwith his old house, and not to spend money for a new one.\\nEconomy frowns on his proceeding, but he adds a new house\\nto the world s stock of wealth, and gives employment to\\nlaborers who would otherwise be idle, and, by the wages that\\nhe pays to those laborers, he enables them to consume the\\nproducts of the labors of others, who are in their turn kept in\\nemployment and thus the good effects of his uneconomical\\nconduct spread in ever widening circles through the whole\\ncommunity. Let it be distinctly understood, however, that I\\ndo not claim that it would not be better for the community\\nthat the labor expended in building the supposed house should", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "13\\nhave been expended in erecting a factory, or in building a ship\\nor a raih oad, if there were not already a superfluity of those\\narticles, that it would not be better that the money of the\\ncapitalist should find what we may call a profitable invest-\\nment, if any such investment were to be had. But to-day\\nthere is a dearth of such investments. A new factory not\\nonly produces no profits, but, by competition, destroys the\\nprofits of the old ones. Superfluous articles that nobody\\nwants are not wealth. Let the economist point out, if he\\ncan, how the idle thousands can, to-day, be employed in pro-\\nducing wealth, except through such uneconomical measures\\nas the creation of new comforts and new luxuries for those\\nwho are able to pay for them.\\nHERETIC.\\nA more labored attempt to state the author s views was next made,\\nresulting in the following article, which appeared in the Atlantic\\nMonthly for December, 1878.\\nSAVING VERSUS SPENDING.\\nTHE HARD TIMES TWO THEORIES AS TO THE CAUSE AND\\nTHE REMEDY.\\nWhen the present hard times are discussed, two wholly\\nantagonistic theories are advanced as to their cause and as to\\ntheir remedy. On the one hand, it is claimed that the real\\ncause of our trouble is that we have been extravagant and\\nwasteful, and that, in order to make good the waste of the\\npast, we should now be as saving and economical as possible.^\\n1 Thus in an article by Prof. Bonaray Price in the Contemporary Eeview\\nfor April 1877, (p. 787), we find the statement that the cause of the general depres-\\nsion in business is one and one only, over-spending, over-consuming, destroying\\nmore wealth than is reproduced and its necessary consequence, poverty. This is\\nthe real fons mail, the root of all the disorder and the suffering, the creator of the\\ninevitable sequence of cause and effect.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "14\\nOn the other hand, it is said that the cause of our present\\ndistress cannot be past extravagance and waste, for such\\ncauses ought to lead to a general scarcity, rather than abun-\\ndance, of the products of labor that the most peculiar and\\nconspicuous symptoms of the present distress are the large\\nstocks of all kinds of goods which have been waiting for con-\\nsumers, and the large numbers of people who have been un-\\nable to find employment that saving and economy on the part\\nof those who are not compelled to such a course by poverty\\nwill increase rather than diminish the amount of unsalable\\narticles and the number of the unemployed, and will injure\\nour condition rather than improve it and that, consequently,\\na liberal expenditure of public and private resources is not to\\nbe condemned, but encouraged. In order to judge fairly as to\\nthe respective merits of these two theories, it is well to con-\\nsider what the true purpose of saving is, and to what extent\\nthe policy of saving may reasonably be carried.\\nFUTURE SPENDING THE ONLY RATIONAL OBJECT OF PRESENT\\nSAVING.\\nProm the point of view of the political economist, there is\\nno virtue in saving except so far as some material benefit may\\nbe expected to result from it, and it is impossible to suggest\\nany such benefit other than the acquirement of the means,\\neither for ourselves or for others, of future spending. We\\nrefrain from consuming to-day all the fruits of to-day s labors\\nonly that we, or those in whose welfare we are interested,\\nmay be able to enjoy the benefit of an increased consump-\\ntion in the future. All the saving of the generations of the\\npast has been a profitless loss of comfort and enjoyment,\\nunless the present and the future are to derive from the results\\nof such saving increased comfort and increased enjoyment.\\nAnd so, also, it is profitless and unreasonable to save in the\\npresent, except that there may be greater opportunity to enjoy\\nand spend and consume in the future.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "15\\nTHE MEANS BY WHICH PRESENT SAVING AIDS FUTURE\\nSPENDING.\\nIf, then, we conclude that the only reasonable object of\\nsaving is the acquirement of the means of future spending, we\\nare led next to consider the ways in which saving can promote\\nthis object.\\nThe simplest way, of course, is by the accumulation and\\nstorage for future use of food, clothing, etc. At the present\\nday tliere is comparatively little room for the operation of this\\nmethod. Formerly it was wise to lay up large stores of grain,\\nfor example, in order to guard against a bad season but now,\\nwhen any portion of the world can call upon all the other\\nportions for a supply of any article of which it may find itself\\ntemporarily in need, the accumulation and storage of more\\nthan a year s supply of any article of daily consumption is\\nordinarily useless, and tends, on the whole, to loss rather than\\nto gain.\\nThe principal and most effective method of providing by\\npresent saving for future spending is through what economists\\nhave called productive consumption that is, by employing\\nlabor, not directly in the creation of articles for immediate\\nuse, but in the creation of articles which will be the cause and\\nmeans of further production, as in the making of tools and ma-\\nchinery with which labor may be aided in its work and\\nrendered more efficient* Plows and other simple agricultural\\nimplements were among the earlier results of productive con-\\nsumption factories, railroads, and steamships are among the\\nmore important of the later ones. Through these means sav-\\ning, by immensely increasing all kinds of production, has im-\\nmensely increased all kinds of consumption, and the self-denial\\nof our ancestors has given us all our factories, railroads, and\\nsteamships, and has enabled us of to-day to enjoy ten or a\\nlumdred fold the comforts and luxuries that would have been\\npossible had that saving not taken place.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "16\\nTHE LIMIT OP THE POWER OF SAVING TO AID FUTURE SPENDING\\nTHROUGH PRODUCTIVE CONSUMPTION.\\nProductive consumption being found to be the chief means\\nthrough which saving can accomplish beneficial results, it next\\nbecomes important to consider whether there is any limit to\\nthe good that saving may effect in this way, and, if there is\\nsuch a limit, to determine where it lies. But as we have seen\\nthat the only rational object^ of productive consumption is the\\ncreation of articles of ordinary or unproductive consumption,\\nthe extent to which the former can reasonably and profitably\\nbe carried must be limited by the existing or anticipated\\namount of the latter and as the unproductive consumption of\\na community is always dependent upon and limited by, first,\\nthe desire to consume unproductively, and, secondly, the abil-\\nity to obtain the articles for such consumption, the extent to\\nwhich productive consumption can at any given time be profit-\\nably carried must be limited in the same way.\\nAs society is at present constituted, however, the unproduc-\\ntive consumption of a large part of the community is limited\\nsolely by the extent of their ability to obtain the articles of\\nconsumption, without reference to the extent of their desire to\\nconsume. Large numbers of the poor are compelled by tlieir\\nnecessities to consume unproductively all that their wages enable\\nthem to purchase, and it is chiefly the wealthier classes whose\\nwill or choice has any power to influence, at any given time, the\\namount of unproductive, and through it the profitable amount\\nof productive, consumption. The wealthy may, according to\\ntheir own desires, claim for themselves more or less of the\\ncomforts and luxuries of life and if all who have this power\\nshould choose to deny themselves all comforts and all luxuries,\\nand to restrict themselves to absolute necessities, the unpro-\\nductive and, as a necessary consequence, the productive con-\\nsumption of the world would, both of them, be greatly reduced.\\nThere would be comparatively little use or occasion for facto-\\nThe final, not the inimerliate, object is of course here referred to.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "17\\nries, railroads, and steamboats, or for any of those things\\nwhich the wealthy seek to own as profitable investments/\\nIt follows that if the rich, either from a desire to grow richer,\\nor from a desire to favor productive, as more useful or more\\nworthy than unproductive, consumption, should generally\\nadopt a policy of extreme self-denial, they would defeat their\\nown ends, and, by destroying the opportunities for profitable\\nproductive consumption, make themselves poorer instead of\\nricher than before.\\nEEVIEW. STATEMENT OP THEORETICAL CONCLUSIONS.\\nWe have seen that saving is to be approved only so far as\\nit leads to subsequent spending, and that it does largely\\naccomplish this result, mainly by affording opportunity for\\nproductive consumption but that, as the extent to which pro-\\nductive consumption can at any given time be profitably car-\\nried, is limited in a great degree by the extent to which men,\\nand especially the richer classes, abstain from saving, it is\\npossible that this much-extolled policy of saving may be carried\\nto such a point as to destroy the efficiency of the principal\\nmeans by and through which it can promote its only rational\\nobject, future spending; and that, consequently, when carried\\nto this point, it ceases to effect any good result, but rather\\ntends to defeat the only ends for which it may rationally be\\npractised at all.\\nAPPLICATION OP THEORY TO THE PACTS.\\nHaving shown theoretically that saving, though generally\\nbeneficial and worthy to be encouraged, may possibly be carried\\ntoo far, so far indeed that its benefits will be changed to\\ninjuries, we are now prepared to examine the circumstances\\nof the present times, in order to learn whether the indications\\nare that the tendency to save is to-day deficient or in excess.\\nIt is very evident that productive consumption is now and\\nfor some considerable time has been quite unprofitable that\\nfactories, railroads, steamships, and warehouses bring very\\nsmall returns to their owners that the market-rate of interest\\nhas been, and still is, unprecedentedly low and that capital\\n3", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "18\\nhas long been wholly at a loss as to how it should employ itself.\\nThese facts surely indicate that the field for profitable produc-\\ntive consumption has been for the time nearly exhausted that\\nits temporary limit has been nearly reached and that a larger\\namount of unproductive consumption is required before that\\nlimit can be advanced. The correctness of this conclusion is\\nplainly shown, also, by the surplus stocks of all kinds of pro-\\nducts and manufactures which are now, and have long been,\\nwaiting for consumers, and by the enforced idleness of the\\nthousands of laboring men who have found that their labor\\nwas not in demand for the supply of either productive or un-\\nproductive consumption. Then, again, the hard times have\\nbeen felt most seriously in England, America, and Germany,\\nwhile France has been substantially exempt from them; the\\nexplanation being that France, having had its territory devas-\\ntated by war, and its capital depleted by the subsidy paid to\\nGermany, has had large room for productive consumption, and\\nsmall capital to devote to it and hence productive consump-\\ntion has there been very extensive and very profitable. All\\navailable capital has been employed, and the laborers liave\\nall been busy those who have been released from supplying\\nunproductive consumption having been in demand for the\\nsupply of a profitable productive consumption. Germany,\\nhowever, undertook to grow rich by devoting the millions of\\nthe French subsidy to productive consumption, which was\\nthereby carried to such an excess that its profit was destroyed.\\nAnd thus we find a simple explanation of the otherwise inex-\\nplicable mystery of the prosperity of the vanquished and the\\ndistress of the victorious nation, after their recent tremendous\\nstruggle.\\nRECENT EXPERIENCE OP THE UNITED STATES.\\nThe history of the United States during and since the war\\naffords an illustration of the way in which productive con-\\nsumption may be overdone, built up to an extent too great\\nto be supported by its always necessary substructure of unpro-\\nductive consumption. During the war unproductive consump-\\ntion was carried on to an unprecedented degree, and the effect", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "19\\nwas that the opportunities for productive consumption also\\nwere very largely increased, and, by consequence, rendered\\nvery profitable. There was an urgent call for every man s\\nlabor. No one who wished to work was allowed to remain\\nidle. Every man who wished to save, to accumulate wealth,\\nfound all about him opportunities for so doing. These extra-\\nordinary inducements to exertion kept every man s industry\\nup to the highest point, so that the production of the country\\nwas marv ellous, and, although there was an immense waste in\\nthe war, there was still a large surplus of products, suffi-\\ncient to enable the great mass of the community to consume\\nmuch unproductively for their own immediate comfort, and\\nyet to leave the country, at the termination of the war, at least\\nas full of buildings, factories, and railroads as it was at the\\nbeginning.\\nWhen at length the war ceased, everything was arranged to\\nmeet an immense demand for unproductive consumption. If\\nour people could then have said to themselves, Now that this\\ngreat waste of the war is at an end, we can enjoy much more\\nof the comforts and luxuries of life than before; indeed, we\\nmust do so if we would keep our machinery employed and our\\npeople busy, if they could have said this, and could have\\nacted accordingly, all would have gone on smoothly. But in\\nfact they, or those of them who by their wealth had the power\\nto act according to their own desires, did say, in effect, We\\nhave got rid of this sad waste of the war we have been get-\\nting rich in spite of the waste, but now our possibilities of\\nenriching ourselves are far better than before we will not sit\\ndown just yet to enjoy ourselves, but will postpone for a while\\nour days of enjoyment and of ease, in order that we may first\\nadd a little to our wealth. The failure of this attempt of our\\nrich men to become richer lies before us to-day. Their facto-\\nries had been very profitable, and they sought to increase their\\nprofits by building more factories. Their railroads had re-\\nturned them large dividends, and they sought more dividends\\nof the same kind by more railroads of the same kind. But it\\nnever occurred to them that unless a new unproductive con-\\nsumption arose, to take the place of that which had ceased with", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "20\\nthe war, even tlie former amount of productive consumption\\nwould be too great to supply the wants of the people, and that, for\\nthe profitable support of their neiv factories and netv railroads,\\na still further increase of unproductive consumption would be\\nneeded. They contributed, as has been said, but little them-\\nselves to this needed increase of unproductive consumption,\\nand as the poor found but little opportunity or possibility of\\ncontributing to it, that increase was never brought about; and\\nit soon began to be perceived that productive consumption was\\noverdone, and that its profit was for the time ruined and lost.\\nFactories of all kinds produced immense stocks of goods which\\ncould not be disposed of; their owners competed with each\\nother, and sold their goods at less than cost, and finally, in\\nmany cases, shut up their factories and discharged their hands.\\nThen we began to have an actually diminished unproductive\\nconsumption, where we had needed an increased one. The rich,\\nhaving lost their income, felt that they must economize.\\nTiie poor, having lost their employment, were forced to do so.\\nThis universal economy increased, by its reaction, the original\\ntrouble, and thus we went on from bad to worse, until it seemed\\nthat we were on a road that led, without any turning, straight\\nto destruction. To-day, however, we are hoping, as indeed we\\nhave hoped before, that we perceive signs of a change. The\\nnations of Europe, by their wars and preparations for war,\\nhave been indulging in an increased amount of unproductive\\nconsumption, and have been calling upon us to supply the\\nmaterials for it. The farmers of the West and some of the\\nmanufacturers of the East have begun to feel again that they\\nmay increase their expenditures for daily comforts and daily\\nluxuries and as their demand for such things increases, we\\nmay hope that the machinery of production will get once more\\nin profitable motion, and, by employing those now unemployed,\\nwill call forth still further demands for articles of daily con-\\nsumption. As daily consumption increases, the labor of all\\nmen will gradually be brought into action, and we shall have\\nonce more a busy and happy people, all at work, and all\\nenjoying the fruit of their labor and not, as we have seen\\nthem within the past few years, one half idle, while the other", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "21\\nhalf were engaged in a futile attempt to save and lay up for\\nthe future more than the constitution of human affairs allowed\\nthem to accumulate with any profit either to themselves or to\\nothers.\\nEXPEEIENCE OF THE DUTCH AND THK ENGLISH.\\nUpon reviewing the history of the past, we find that the\\npresent is not the first time that productive consumption has\\napproached near its limit, not the first time that the thrift\\nof a people has been so great that they have nearly exhausted\\nthe field of profitable productive consumption. In former\\ntimes the Dutch were a very energetic, industrious, and thrifty\\npeople, and in their days the machinery for aiding production\\nwas comparatively limited. Their means of productive con-\\nsumption were confined mostly to the building of ships and\\nthe carrying on of foreign commerce and they were so desir-\\nous of acquiring wealth that they exhausted their opportunities\\nfor productive consumption to such a degree that their in-\\nvestments produced for them but a very small percentage of\\nprofit, as is shown by the low rate of interest that ruled among\\nthem.\\nSo also the immense wealth that England has acquired by\\nthe thrift of her richer classes has made her home productive\\nconsumption, for many years, bring so little profit that the\\nrate of interest that borrowers can afford to pay, and that\\nlenders are glad to take, has long been very low. In fact the\\ngreater part of the surplus wealth of England has for many\\nyears been applied to increasing the productive or unproduc-\\ntive consumption of foreign nations, induced thereto by their\\noften illusory promises of future return for present benefits.\\nEFFECT OF MACHINERY TO INCREASE THE POWER OF\\nPRODUCTION.\\nThe great improvements in machinery and in the means\\nof communication and of transportation, Avhich have been\\nbrought about within the last fifty years, have marvellously in-\\ncreased mankind s power of production. A comparatively small", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "22\\nnumber of laborers could to-day supply all the wants of man-\\nkind, if those wants had not, within those fifty years, largely\\nincreased and it is only because those wants that is, the\\ndemand for consumption have largely increased that the\\nmajority of mankind are not to-day idle instead of busy. That\\ndemand, hovv^ever, has not kept pace with the supply, for the\\nreason that the power of increasing the demand has come\\nprincipally to the rich, and but slowly to the poor; and this\\npower of the rich has, by their choice, been turned to the\\nincrease of the demand for productive consumption, for\\nfactories, railroads, and warehouses. This, as we have seen,\\nthey have carried to such an extent that productive consump-\\ntion has been overdone, and its profits reduced to a very small\\npercentage.\\nIt seems probable, indeed, that in the future the rate of\\nprofit of productive consumption will be permanently dimin-\\nished, wealth increasing, on the whole, more rapidly than the\\npossibilities of its profitable investment and as this result is\\ndeveloped, we may expect that wealth will turn itself more to\\nthe acquisition of things which, although not productive of\\nincome, are a permanent source of comfort or pleasure to their\\npossessors that there will be an added tendency to spend\\nlarge sums in the purchase of land, in the erection of resi-\\ndences, and in the purchase of paintings and other works of\\nart. And although the opportunities for increased unproduc-\\ntive consumption come first to the rich, they must extend\\nspeedily to the poor. All that is needed is that the poor shall\\nbe kept busy, and the rest will take care of itself.\\nJust at the present moment the poor are strongly tempted to\\ntry desperate remedies for the improvement of their condition.\\nTliey see a world overflowing with good things they are\\nanxious and willing by their labor to increase the supply of\\nthose good things, and to earn the right to share in the enjoy-\\nment of them but they are forbidden to touch them, although\\nthey are going to waste before their eyes. What wonder that\\nthey think that there is something rotten in a constitution of\\naffairs that brings about such a result? What wonder that\\nthey are ready for desperate remedies But let us have once", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "23\\nmore the work of consumption and production in full action,\\na world full of busy men consuming the products of their\\nown labor, and the talk of communism, instead of being, as\\nnow, largely prevalent among the laboring classes, will again\\nbe confined to a small number of persons, partly theorists,\\nand partly men who are discontented by reason of failure\\ncaused by their own incapacity or folly.\\nGENERAL CONCLUSIONS.\\nThe preceding arguments would seem to show that, in the\\npresent constitution of society, the world, in order to be pros-\\nperous and happy, must be busy both in producing and in con-\\nsuming the products of its own labors and that if those who\\nhave by wealth acquired a control over labor do not use that\\nlabor, either selfishly in ministering to their own present com-\\nfort and enjoyment, or generously in ministering to the com-\\nfort and enjoyment of others, we shall necessarily have a more\\nor less idle world, in which the rich will not, and the poor can\\nnot, enjoy themselves as they reasonably might. Mankind s\\npower of production is now immense compared with what it\\nhas been in the past, and consequently its power and possibil-\\nity of enjoyment of life are equally large and it is certainly\\nan important question whether mankind may wisely and prof-\\nitably avail itself of all its varied possibilities of rational\\nenjoyment, or whether its present duty lies chiefly in the\\ndirection of self-denial. The latter doctrine is continually\\npreached to us, and we are constantly told that we must deny\\nourselves present enjoyments if we would regain our lost pros-\\nperity. But if the arguments adduced above are sound, there\\nis to-day neither merit nor prospective benefit in increased\\nsaving there is nothing but evil and Ic^s in abstaining, more\\nthan we have been and are doing, from the consumption and\\nenjoyment of the good things of life.^\\nThe following references to works on political economy ai c given for the\\nbenefit of any who may wish to read what has been written by others upon the\\nsubject considered in the above article. Much of what is referred to below was\\nwritten with special reference to the condition of England after the termination of\\nits wars with Napoleon, the condition of England at that time having been very", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "24\\nsimilar to the recent condition of the United States, and the problem, then as now,\\nbeing to explain a general distress in the midst of a general overplus of all kinds\\nof products.\\nWealth of Nations, by Adam Smith: Book I., chap, ix., Of the profits of\\nstock: Book II., chap, iii., Of the accumulation of capital, or of productive and\\nunproductive labor. Principles of Political Economy, by Rev. T. R. Malthus\\nchap, vii., s. 3, Of accumulation, or the saving from revenue to add to capital,\\nconsidered as a stimulus to the increase of wealth s. 10, Application of some of\\nthe preceding principles to the distress of the laboring classes since 1815, with\\ngeneral observations. Political Economy, by Dr. Thomas Chalmers chap, iii.,\\nOn the increase and limit of capital chap, v.. On the possibility of a general glut.\\nTreatise on Political Economy, by Jean-Baptiste Say Book I., chap, xi.. Of the\\nformation and multiplication of capital; chap, xv., Of the demand or market for\\nproducts. Letters to Mr. Malthus on various subjects of Political Economy, par-\\nticularly on the Causes of the General Stagnation of Commerce, by Jean-Baptiste\\nSay. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, by David Ricardo chap,\\nxxi.. Effect of accumulation on profits and interest; chap, vi., On profits. Ele-\\nments of Political Economy, by James Mill: chap, iv., s. 1, Of productive and\\nunproductive Consumption; s. 3, That Consumption is co-extensive with produc-\\ntion. Principles of Political Economy, by John Stuart Mill vol. i.. Book I.,\\nchap, v., Fundamental propositions on capital, s. 3 chap, xi., Law of increase of\\ncapital, s. 4 vol. ii.. Book IIF., chap, xiv., Excess of supply Book IV., chap,\\niv., Of the tendency of profits to a minimum; chap. v. Consequences of the ten-\\ndency of profits to a minimum. Chapters on Political Economy, by Prof. Bonamy\\nPrice chap, iv.. Capital. The Economy of Consumption, by Robert Scott\\nMoffat. Principles of Political Economy, by J. R. M Culloch Pt. I., chap, ii.,\\ns. 3, Accumulation and employment of capital; chap, vii.. Causes of gluts; Pt.\\nIII., chap, vii.. Circumstances which determine the average rate of profits Pt. IV.,\\nConsumption of wealth. Article on Industrial Reconstruction, by Edward At-\\nkinson, in the International Review for July-August, 1878.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "25\\nThe preceding article in the Atlantic Monthly elicited two com-\\nmunications in the Contributors Club, in the numbers of that\\nmagazine for March and April, 1879. Both of these communications\\nsought to expose what they claimed to be the fallacies of the author\\nof Saving versus Spending, and the author can now recall no printed\\nnotice of that article, however brief, that treated it with any favor or\\nrespect.\\nNot entirely discouraged by the reception given to his article, the\\nauthor ventured again, in February, 1880, to write and offer to the\\neditor of the Atlantic a second article, which, however, did not suc-\\nceed in obtaining admission to the columns of that magazine. This\\nsecond article was entitled The Return of Prosperity, and is here\\ngiven in full, as originally written.\\nTHE RETURN OP PROSPERITY.\\nIn an article entitled Saving versus Spending, wliieli\\nappeared in the Atlantic Monthly for December, 1878, an\\nattempt was made to prove the fallacy of the generally ac-\\ncepted theory, that there is no limit to the extent to which\\nsaving may profitably be carried. Arguments were also\\nadduced tending to show that the area of the field for the\\nprofitable investment of capital is always limited by and de-\\npendent upon the existing amount of unproductive consump-\\ntion, and that the natural effect of an overcrowding of this\\nfield is to diminish consumption, both productive and unpro-\\nductive, and to cause a general depression in business, and\\nidleness and suffering among the laboring classes.\\nWhen that article was written, business in this country was\\nsadly depressed, large numbers of laborers were out of em-\\nployment, and there was only the beginning of a hope for\\nimprovement. Now that hope seems to be in process of\\nrealization, the whole country appears to be in the full tide\\nof success the poor man finds again that his labor is .in\\nactive demand, and the capitalist discovers that his invest-\\nments are beginning once more to produce profits. We\\npropose in the present article briefly to examine into the\\nmanner in which this great change has been brought about,\\n4", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "26\\nand to discover what further changes we may expect in the\\nfuture.\\nIn the article before referred to, it was claimed that the\\nimmediate cause of the hard times was not, as was gener-\\nally supposed, that there had been too much, but rather too\\nlittle spending, and that what was specially needed was that\\nin some way the general consumption of the products of labor\\nshould be increased, and thereby the demand for labor ex-\\ntended and general industry substituted for general idleness.\\nJust such an increase in consumption and in industry, as was\\nthen claimed to be needful, we have within the last two years\\nseen actually taking place. Apparently the primary increase\\nin the consumption of the products of this country came from\\nabroad. The nations of Europe found that they had need for\\nmuch of our crops and for many of our articles of manufact-\\nure, and the demand arising out of these needs gave the\\ninitial impulse that was requisite to start us in our career of\\nprosperity, it not only put money into the pockets of our\\nfarmers and manufacturers, but it also, by the increased need\\nof transportation, gave employment to our railroads and to\\nour carriers of all kinds. Hence it resulted that farm owners\\nand farm laborers, factory owners and factory hands, owners\\nof railroad stock and railroad employees, all these and\\nmany others found themselves with an increase of income,\\nof the power of spending and consuming a large portion\\nof which increase they promptly availed themselves of. Their\\nincreased expenditures gave employment and income to many\\nothers in various walks of life, and the prosperity and in-\\ncreased expenditures of these extended again to a still larger\\ncircle, till the good effect has spread to all classes, and to-day\\nwe find on all hands general industry and general prosperity\\nrailroads and factories reporting increased profits, mer-\\nchants and storekeepers finding their business gaining not\\nonly in amount but in profit, mechanics and laborers finding\\nregular employment and regular wages, -r\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and all, rich and\\npoor, spending freely out of their increased means. The\\ngeneral increase of unproductive consumption thus caused\\nhas widened the field for productive consumption, for", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "27\\ndividend paying investments. New factories, new railroads,\\nand new buildings are called for on all sides capital no longer\\nis at a loss where to place itself, but is everywhere in demand,\\nand is attracted by the most alluring promises of almost\\nfabulous gains, and, like the mercury in a barometer after\\na storm, the current rate of interest rises.\\nSuch has been the course of events in the past few years.\\nWhat may we expect in the years to come It would seem\\nthat, if we do not waste our golden opportunities by indulging\\nin follies, such as wars, riots, and revolutions, a great change\\nfor the better in the general condition of the whole people\\nmay at once be looked for. Some twenty years have now\\npassed without any very marked advance in the comforts and\\nluxuries of living. In these twenty years, however, very\\nmany labor-saving inventions have been made, and the means\\nfor the interchange of products between different parts of the\\nworld have been greatly improved. Tlie world might to-day\\nbe supplied with, all the comforts and luxuries that it enjoyed\\ntwenty years ago with an expenditure of two thirds, if not of\\none half, of the labor then required. For twenty years the\\nproductive powers of this country have been largely and\\nrapidly increasing, while from several causes, such as the war\\nof the rebellion, and the over-investment of capital and the\\nconsequent general idleness that followed it, but, little of the\\nincreased enjoyment of life that should have resulted from\\nthese increased powers, has been felt. Now, it seems probable\\nthat, with universal industry directed to useful ends, we are\\nabout to leap at once into the full enjoyment of the beneficial\\neffects of powers that have for years been rapidly and largely\\nexpanding, without producing their legitimate effects to any-\\nconsiderable extent.\\nWhat new comforts and luxuries this great increase in the\\nproductiveness of labor will bring to our people, and in what\\nmanner the new good things of life will be distributed, it is not\\neasy to say. On some points, however, we may indulge in\\nplausible anticipations. It would seem that better and more\\nvaried food will be placed within the reach of all classes.\\nThe immense numbers of cattle raised in the West and the", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "28\\nextent to which their transportation is even now carried,\\nshow that beef will henceforth be a common article of food\\nto thousands to whom it has hitherto been unknown. Fruits,\\nsuch as strawberries, grapes, peaches, and pears, are now\\nspread broadcast over the land in such quantities that their\\nuse can no longer be confined, as a luxury, to the rich. In\\nthe matter of clothing, also, we may expect a great advance in\\nthe condition of the poorer classes. Machinery now creates\\nall articles of clothing of so good a quality and with so little\\naid from human labor, that it will take but a small fraction of\\nthe wages of a laboring man to clothe himself and his family,\\nnot only warmly and comfortably, but also with a regard to\\nappearances which heretofore could be thought of only by the\\nrich. In other matters also, besides food and clothing, we\\nsee that the tendency of the times is to an improvement in\\nthe condition of the masses, and that it will by no means be\\nwithin the power of the rich to monopolize the gains that\\nshould be distributed among all. The great movements of the\\npresent day are towards improvements that affect all classes.\\nAqueducts, sewers, public parks, and horse railroads may be\\nmentioned as among the most important of the new things\\nwhich command the attention of the public, and these are no\\nexclusive luxuries of the rich, but the common comforts and\\ndelights of the whole people.\\nAs, in the years to come, the comforts and luxuries within\\nthe reach of the laborers wages increase, and as capital grows\\nfaster than the field for its profitable investment extends, so\\nthat the percentage of income from accumulated capital dim-\\ninishes, the capitalist and the laborer will find themselves\\ndaily approaching more nearly to an equality. Relatively to\\neach other, the laborer s wages will increase in purchasing\\npower, while the capitalist s income will diminish. The power\\nof each class to spend, to employ the labor of others, will\\napproach an equality, and society will make a decided advance\\ntowards that ideal condition in which each man s power to\\ncommand the comforts and luxuries of life will depend, not\\non the chance of birth and inherited wealth, but on the ex-\\ntent of his own powers and of his own willingness to produce.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "29\\nby tlie labor of his hands or of his brain, things useful to\\nhis fellow-men, that condition of society in which the degree\\nof a man s worldly prosperity will depend on his own ability\\nand industry.\\nIn October, 1883, the United States Senate Committee on Education\\nand Labor gave in Boston several hearings to persons desiring to present\\nviews on the subject which the committee had been appointed to consider.\\nThe following letter -was sent to Hon. H. W. Blair, the Chairman of this\\nCommittee.\\nBoston, 21st Oct., 1883.\\nSenator Blair,\\nDear Sir, Understanding through the papers that you\\nare not unwilling to receive written suggestions relative to\\nthe subject of Capital and Labor, I venture to write this short\\nabstract of certain views of my own.\\nWhen we speak of Capital in connection with Labor, we\\ngenerally have in mind that portion of Capital which seeks a\\nprofitable investment, that which the owner does not invest\\nin a dwelling, for instance, for his own use, but in a factory or\\nrailroad which shall bring him annual returns.\\nNo investment of capital can be profitable, i. e. produce\\nannual returns for the owner, except so far as the people are\\nspending. If the poor, through their poverty, ca7i^t spend, and\\nthe rich, through their desire to be richer, won t spend, the\\nfield for the profitable investment of capital must be very\\nsmall. The call for the products of the factories will be limited\\nto comparatively few articles, the railroads will have but\\nlittle merchandise and but few passengers to transport. Under\\nthese circumstances capital will be abundant, but unable to\\nfind any employment that will return a profit. At such a time\\nthe capitalist can of course produce articles which he can dis-\\npose of in cliarity, but nothing which he can sell at a profit.\\nConsequently he will cease to employ his capital, and laborers\\nwill find that they have no work to do. We shall have hard\\ntimes, hard for all, rich and poor, the rich will be with-\\nout income, and the poor without employment.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "30\\nOne conclusion to be deduced from the foregoing is tliis,\\ntl)at the larger the wages that the laborer receives, the more\\nhe can spend, and the greater consequently will be the field for\\nthe profitable investment of capital. On the other hand, the\\nsmaller the wages of the laborer, the less he can spend, and the\\nsmaller will be the field for the profitable investment of capital.\\nIn other words, the more generous capital is to labor, the more\\nwill capital itself prosper and the more niggardly it is, the\\nmore it attempts to monopolize the profits, the more likely it\\nwill be to find that all profits have disappeared.\\nJay Gould doubtless feared that his dividends would cease if\\nthe recent strike of the telegraph operators should succeed,\\nbut their success would have meant an increased expenditure\\nby many thousands of people, an increased demand for many\\narticles, the supply of which would have afforded Gould and\\nhis friends new fields in which to seek for profits, and would\\nalso have given to his railroads, already built, more work to\\ndo. Thus, by the success of the strike. Jay Gould might him-\\nself have gained more than he could have lost.\\nThe true interests of capital and labor, then, are not adverse\\nbut harmonious. Each, in helping the other, advances its own\\nwelfare. Each, in attacking the other, injures itself.\\nHoping that you will be able to find time to read with care\\nwhat I have written, I am.\\nYours respectfully,\\nURIEL H. CROCKER.\\nShortly afterwards the following appeared in the Boston Daily Adver-\\ntiser of Nov. 24, 1883.\\nOVER-PRODUCTION.\\nA continually recurring subject of discussion is the alleged\\nover-production in various branches of business. The general\\ntestimony seems to be that at the present time the principal", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "31\\nbranches of manufacture in this country have been producing\\nin excess of the demand for consumption, and tliat, consequently,\\nfactories are being closed and laborers thrown out of employ-\\nment. It is usually assumed, however, that a general over-\\nproduction in all branches of labor is an impossibility, the\\nargument of Mill to prove the impossibility of a general\\nglut being accepted as conclusive and final. No matter how\\nstrongly the facts may seem to support him who argues the\\npossibility of general over-production, the political economist\\ncomplacently waives him aside as one who suffers himself to\\nbe bewildered by a long-ago exploded fallacy. The political\\neconomist will admit that there is an over-production of certain\\narticles, but he insists that, at the same time, there must be,\\nand consequently is, an under-production of other articles. It\\nis useless to ask him what those articles are, the demand for\\nwhich is in excess of the supply, or why the shrewd owners\\nof the immense amount of capital seeking profitable employ-\\nment cannot discover and supply this demand. He is wholly\\nundisturbed by the apparent inconsistency of the facts with\\nhis theory, and plants himself, as on an immovable rock, on\\nthe argument of Mill.\\nIt is often well to re-examine the foundations of our beliefs\\nand it may not be a waste of time to test the validity of the\\narguments of even so acute a reasoner as Mill. I propose, at\\nany rate, to make the attempt.\\nMill s argument to prove the impossibility of general over,\\nproduction is in substance this, that no man will labor to\\nproduce any article unless he either wishes to consume that\\narticle himself, or is in want of some other article for which he\\ncan exchange it. Men do not, to any appreciable extent, labor\\nfor the mere pleasure of laboring. They labor either because\\nthey want the result for itself, or to exchange it for something\\nwhich they do want. It is only an unsatisfied want that can\\ninduce a man to labor, there can be no product of labor\\nunless there was a want that induced the labor; and thus\\nproduction must ever correspond to demand, and can never\\noutrun it, and general over-production is in the nature of\\nthings impossible.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "32\\nThis argument is very plausible, but it overlooks one im-\\nportant consideration. A large portion of the want, of the\\ndemand of the community at the present day, is of a peculiar\\ncharacter. Men want what we call profitable investments.\\nIn return for what they produce directly by their labor, or indi-\\nrectly, by the use of their capital, they wish to acquire some-\\nthing tliat shall be to them a continuing source of income.\\nFactories go on producing, not wholly because the owners and\\nthe laborers want otlier consumable articles, such as food,\\nclothes, etc. If this were so, Mill s argument would be unan-\\nswerable demand and supply would be equivalent. But an\\nimportant want, both of capitalist and of laborer, is the want\\nto build and own more factories, the desire for the opportu-\\nnity and ability to produce more, that thereby they may acquire\\nmore income. Thus we find that the demand that has led to\\nproduction, instead of being wholly a demand for consumption,\\nhas been in great part a desire for increased production. I do\\nnot overlook a certain increased consumption in the building of\\nthe new factory but that is only incidental to the great end\\nsought, the increase of production with a view to the increase\\nof income. What, however, becomes of Mill s argument when\\nwe once see clearly that production is induced, not only by the\\ndesire to consume, but by the desire to increase production.\\nSo far as it is induced by the latter cause, it may certainly get\\nin advance of consumption in other words, it may become\\ngeneral over-production, it may cause what has been called\\na general glut.\\nSo much for the theory of the matter, the practical work-\\ning of these principles is more easily traced. Let us assume a\\ntime of general prosperity, when business is thriving and goods\\nfind ready purchasers, when there is plenty of work for every\\none who wants work, and for capital ready employment with\\nliberal profits. But a spirit of thrift is abroad the desire to\\naccumulate wealth is very strong, especially among the richer\\nclasses. The consumption of the poor is limited by their small\\nwages, the consumption of the rich is limited by their desire to\\ngrow richer through economy. The rich own the machinery\\nof production, and it has brought them large annual returns", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "33\\nthe more of such machinery they have o\\\\vned, the larger has\\nbeen their income. They have endeavored to increase their\\nincomes by the creation of still more of this machinery. At\\nlast the machinery of production increases the supply of pro-\\nducts beyond the limit of consumption, a limit fixed, as\\nbefore stated, as to the poor mainly by their ability, and as to\\nthe rich by their willingness to spend. More products are\\ncreated than are called for. In the competition to sell, the\\nprofits of the seller disappear. Then at last the desire to\\nincrease the machinery of production disappears, even the\\ndesire to keep the existing machinery at work, laborers are\\nthrown out of employment, and their capacity for consumption\\nis greatly decreased thereby the capitalists fail to receive their\\nusual income, and begin to feel that they must reduce their\\nexpenses. Thus the demand for the products of labor is\\ndiminished on every hand, distress and discontent are wide-\\nspread, factories stand idle, railroads and steamships have few\\npassengers and light freights capital is abundant, but unable\\nto employ itself at a profit in a word, hard times have\\nbeen brought about through over-production. Are we not\\ntravelling on this road at present\\nU. H. C.\\n22d Oct., 1883.\\nThe preceding communication was soon followed by another which\\nappeared in the New York Nation, of Feb. 21, 1884.\\nTHE CAUSE OF THE DEPRESSION IN BUSINESS.\\nSiR^ 111 your issue of this week you state that the present\\ndepression in trade has been caused by abnormal activity and\\nover-production in certain branches of business, and that what\\nis needed is a redistribution of employments. This is in\\naccordance with tlie accepted theories of political economy.\\nIf we would accept these theories, we must believe that the\\ncause of the present troubles lies in the fact that we have been\\n5", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "34\\nbusy producing the wrong articles that we have produced\\nwhat was not wanted, and have failed to produce wliat was\\nwanted and that all we liave to do now is to turn round and\\nproduce the things that are really called for, and all will be\\nwell again. The difficulty with tliis theory is, that it requires\\nus to believe that there are certain wants and demands now\\nunsatisfied and unsupplied, not because of the lack of means to\\npurchase, but because of the scarcity of the thing to be pur-\\nchased. But if there are any productions of human labor that\\nare now scarce, they must command high prices and furnish\\nlarge profits to tlie producers and any capital that miglit now\\nbe unemployed would be hastening to secure a share of those\\nprofits. As a matter of fact, however, there is in tliis country\\nat the present time an immense amount of unemployed capi-\\ntal, and there are no symptoms that even the shrewdest and\\nmost enterprising of its owners have any idea that there is\\nany possible field in whicli they can employ it with profit to\\nthemselves.\\nIf, however, we consider the cause of our present troubles to\\nbe an abnormal activity and over-production, not in certain clas-\\nses of business, but in business generally if we consider that\\nthe wealthy and thrifty among our people have endeavored to\\ndo more business than the condition of the country permitted,\\nto create more productions than the pecuniary ability of the\\nrest of the community enabled them to consume, we have an\\nexplanation that fits the present state of the facts. A large\\nportion of the community have l een eager to accumulate\\nwealth, to make profitable investments, to save up their in-\\ncome or their earnings, and put them where they should bring\\nannual returns. People have seen that factories produced for\\ntheir owners large profits, and they have forthwith proceeded\\nto build new factories in the hope of securing for themselves\\nsimilar profits. In like manner capital has hastened to build\\nnew railroads, to erect new warehouses, and to extend and\\nmultiply all branches of trade and business. But the fact has\\nbeen overlooked that profitable business and profitable produc-\\ntion cannot be increased indefinitely without a corresponding\\nincrease of customers and consumers. While there has been", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "35\\nrecently an immense increase of production, the wages of the\\npoor, which fix the limit of their ability to purchase and to\\nconsume, have not been largely increased, and the rich have\\nsought rather an increased accumulation of wealth than a fuller\\ngratification of their daily wants and desires. Thus, instead\\nof one factory producing and selling at a profit a supply of pro-\\nducts that rather fell short of than exceeded the demand for\\nthem, we have had two or three factories producing a supply\\nmuch in excess of the demand, and consequently competing\\nwith each other in the endeavor to sell their surplus stock, and\\nselling it at no profit or at a loss. Finally the factories have\\ncut down the wages of their employees or have dismissed them\\naltogether, and the capacity of the poor to purchase and to con-\\nsume has thus been largely taken away from them, while the\\ninclination of the rich in that direction has been lessened by\\nthe loss of their usual dividends, and thus the original mischief\\nof over-production has been increased and intensified.\\nBriefly, the theory here suggested is this, that our people\\nhave been trying to invest more capital profitably, to do more\\nbusiness, than their capacity and inclination to consume made\\npossible and that the result has been to seriously reduce that\\ncapacity and inclination, and to destroy the annual returns\\nthat capital hopes to receive from its investments and from\\nbusiness.\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, Feb. 9, 1884.\\nThis communication elicited a response from one B.J. S. of Cincin-\\nnati, which was printed in the Nation of March 6, 1884. The follow-\\ning answer to B. J. S., was declined by the Nation, on the ground\\nthat to print it, with a chance of prolonging the controversy, would be\\njust now an inconvenience.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "36\\nGENERAL OVER-PRODUCTION.\\nSiR^ Your correspondent B. J. S., in your issue of\\nMarcli 6, while admitting the existence of a general over-\\nproduction, at the present time, claims that a remedy for our\\ndistress might be reached through a redistribution of em-\\nployments that shovxld divert the labor recently thrown out\\nof employment to the pi oduction of food, an article of which,\\nas he admits, there is now no scarcity, but which the laborers\\nhave not sufficient means to purchase, and which, as B. J. S.\\nassumes, they might and should now produce for themselves.\\nIt must be admitted that such a change of employment might\\nhelp those discharged factory hands and mechanics who could\\nsurmount the obstacles that lie in the way of their supporting\\nthemselves by agriculture. But many of them would perish in\\nthe attempt, and those who succeeded would find themselves in\\na much less comfortable condition in life than that which they\\nhad previously enjoyed. They would have gone back to that\\nearlier state of society in which each family produced its own\\nfood and clothed itself in its own homespun. If we should all\\ngo back to that condition of society, the present difficulties of\\nover-production, either general or special, would be unknown.\\nSuch ah abandonment of the present division of labor, such a\\nreturn to the old system under whicli every man supplied his\\nown wants, would indeed be in one sense a redistribution of\\nemployments but it is not such a redistribution as the politi-\\ncal economist looks forward to for our relief from our present\\ntroubles, and it is to be hoped that we may find some way\\nout of those troubles without being driven to it. Except on the\\nabove point B. J. S. asserts nothing that I am not willing\\nin substance to admit, he admits the existence at present\\nof a general over-production. This fact it was a main\\npurpose of my communication to maintain, in opposition to the\\naccepted dogmas of the political economists.\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, March 7, 1884.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "37\\nThe author s last effort has been the following, which found a\\nresting place in the editorial waste basket of the Nation.\\nTPIE FALLACY OF MILL S ARGUMENT AGAINST THE\\nPOSSIBILITY OF GENERAL OVER-PRODUCTION.\\nSir, In your issue of March 13, you say, It would seem,\\nin spite of all that political economists tell us, as though the\\nworld had at last reached a state of general over-production,\\nand not merely of disproportionate production. All that po-\\nlitical economists have to tell us on this subject is based on\\nthe argument of Mill to prove the impossibility of what used\\nto be called a general glut. The apparent strength of this\\nargument and the weight of Mill s name and reputation have\\ncaused his conclusions to be accepted as fundamental truths\\nbut if, as you intimate, his conclusions do not agree with the\\nfacts, it may be well to look for the flaw in his argument.\\nThat flaw can, I think, be discovered and exposed.\\nMill argues that no man produces any article unless he\\nwishes to consume it himself or to exchange it for something\\nelse which he wishes to consume, and that, consequently,\\nproduction can never as a whole exceed the demand for con-\\nsumption. He who asserts the possibility of a general over-\\nproduction is necessarily involved, according to Mill, in the\\nabsurdity of believing that large numbers of people will go on\\nproducing articles, which they do not want either to use them-\\nselves, or to exchange for other articles which they do wish to\\nuse. Mill says that the error of those who oppose his views\\nlies, to quote his own words, in not perceiving that, though\\nall who have an equivalent to give might be fully provided\\nwith every consumable article which they desire, the fact that\\nthey go on adding to the production proves that this is not\\nactually the case.\\nJust at this point, as it seems to me, the fallacy lies.\\nMill overlooks the fact that a very large portion of the produc-\\ntion of to-day is prompted, not by the desire of the producers", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "to acquire any consumable articles, but by their desire to\\ngain new productive investments. They wish, not to consume,\\nbut to grow rich. The wish to sell their cotton cloth, for in-\\nstance, not that they may apply the proceeds of the sale to the\\npurchase of other consumable articles, but that they may\\nwith those proceeds build new factories which shall produce\\nstill more cotton cloth or, if they perceive that, by reason of\\nthe over-production of cotton cloth, such factories will not be\\nprofitable, they hold their funds idle and unemployed, waiting\\nfor a chance to make some other investment that will promise\\nthe return of regular profits. They produce consumable ar-\\nticles, not that they may exchange them for other consumable\\narticles, but that they may increase the machinery for the pro-\\nduction of consumable articles, and thereby, of course, increase\\nlargely that production. The fact, then, that men go on add-\\ning to production, does not, as Mill claims, prove that they\\ndesire some consumable article which they are not already\\nprovided with, they may have no such desire, and the sole\\nmotive which impels them to go on producing may be a desire\\nto gain the power to produce still more. Thus the limit to\\nproduction, which Mill fancied he saw in the failure of the\\ndesire to consume, disappears, production is seen to be\\ncaused in great measure by a desire to increase production\\ngeneral over-production becomes, not an impossibility, but a\\nnatural and probable result of the general thrift, of the gen-\\neral desire of our people to make profitable investments,\\nand theory is made to conform to the observed facts.\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, March 16, 1884.\\nThe author hopes that any who have taken the trouble to\\nread the preceding pages will be satisfied that an earnest and\\nlong-continued, though as yet unsuccessful, attempt has been\\nmade to convince the public of the correctness of his views\\nand theories. That these views, if correct, are important, is", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "39\\nvouched for by Mill himself, who says, speaking of the ques-\\ntion of the possibility of a general over-production of com-\\nmodities The point is fundamental any difference of\\nopinion on it involves radically different conceptions of polit-\\nical economy, especially in its practical aspect. On the one\\nview, we have only to consider how a sufficient production\\nmay be combined with the best possible distribution but,\\non the other, there is a third thing to be considered how\\na market can be created for produce, or how production can\\nbe limited to the capabilities of the market. Still, as we\\nhave seen, our leading papers and magazines have not been\\nwilling to encourage the discussion of this subject. The author\\nhas not been alone in his efforts to ventilate it. Two other\\ngentlemen, arriving at their conclusions independently of the\\nauthor and of each other, have had experiences very similar to\\nthose before recited. Mr. Fred. B. Hawley, of Brooklyn,\\nN. Y., publislied in the National Quarterly Review for July,\\n1879, an article entitled The Ratio of Capital to Consump-\\ntion, which contained views very similar to those presented\\nin the preceding pages. This article was followed in the\\nnumber of the same Review for October, 1879, by another\\nentitled The Rationale of Panics and Mr. Hawley pub-\\nlished, in 1882, a book entitled Capital and Population, in\\nwiiich he elaborated his views at greater length. Mr. Edward\\nF. Sweet, formerly of Chicago, but now residing in Pittsburgh,\\nPa., has also endeavored to gain a public hearing for the ex-\\nposition of similar views regarding general over-production.\\nHis principal article on the subject appeared in the Chicago\\nTimes of April 26, 1880. What other gentlemen may have\\nbeen laboring in the same field the author of this pamphlet\\ndoes not know. It should also be stated that Prof. Francis\\nBowen has advanced views in many respects similar to those\\nadvocated in these pages as may be seen by consulting his\\nchapter (c. 17) on The rate of profit as affected by tlie\\nlimited extent of the field for the employment of capital\\nThe theory of gluts in his American Political Economy,\\n3d ed. (1863). See also Principles of Political Economy,\\nby Prof. William Roscher, of the University of Leipzig,", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "40 014 060 462 8\\nAm. ed., translated by Jolin J. Lalor (1882), Sect. 213,\\nEquilibrium between production and consumption; Sect.\\n215, Necessity of the proper simultaneous development of\\nproduction and consumption; Sects. 216 and 217, Com-\\nmercial crises in general Sect. 220, When saving is\\ninjurious Sect. 221, Limits to the saving of capital.\\nIt may be well to close this pamphlet with a short summary\\nof the propositions which it has been the author s object to\\nassert and maintain. These propositions are\\n1. That saving is not always and under all circumstances\\nbeneficial.\\n2. That consumption and production are not necessarily\\nequal, i. e., not rigidly equal, but liable to fluctuations which\\nmay disturb their normal condition of equality.\\n3. That there may be general over-production, and that the\\narguments, which have been supposed to prove that it cannot\\nexist, are fallacious.\\n4. That excessive saving with a view to profitable invest-\\nment tends to cause general over-production.\\n5. That general over-production, when thus brought about,\\nresults in a reduction of consumption, and consequently in a\\nreduction of production.\\n6. That when the amount of production is thus diminished,\\nthere is necessarily less work for producers, and, consequently,\\nidleness among the laboring classes, dull business for the\\ncommercial classes, and diminished profit to be derived from\\ncapital, in other words, we have commercial distress or\\nhard times.\\nThe final conclusion of the whole argument is this that\\nsaving, instead of being, as we have been taught, always and\\nnecessarily a good, may be carried so far as to be an evil, so\\nfar as to cause distress among all classes, the rich as well as\\nthe poor.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "^^37\\nc.n\\nSUPPLEMENT\\nTO\\nEXCESSIYE SAYING A CAUSE OF\\nCOMMERCIAL DISTRESS.\\nCONTAINING MORE RECENT COMMUNICATIONS ON\\nTHE SAME SUBJECT.\\nThe following articles, which have been written since the pamphlet on\\nExcessive Saving a Cause op Commercial Distress was published,\\nare now printed as containing the author s latest and, as he is inclined to think,\\nbest statements of the theory which he has endeavored to maintain.\\nUriel H. Crocker.\\nBoston, June 20, 1885.\\nTHE TRUE CAUSE OP THE HARD TIMES.\\nTo THE Editor of The Nation.\\nSir, It is generally assumed that there is no limit to the\\nextent to which income-producing wealth may be accumulated.\\nThis is indeed practically true so far as the accumulation of\\nsuch wealth by an individual is concerned but when the pos-\\nsible amount of accumulation of income-producing wealth by\\nthe whole world is considered, we find that the problem involves\\na new element, and that a limit to that amount really exists.\\nThe chief kind of income-producing wealth known to modern\\ncivilization consists of the machinery or instruments of produc-\\ntion and transportation. In other words, the principal way in\\nwhich men at the present day can so use capital that it will\\nbring them annual returns is by employing it in the creation of\\nsuch machinery and instruments, by building factories, rail-\\nroads, steamboats, etc.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "44\\nThen, as the products accumulated in the warehouses, we might\\nnext expect to see the factories, in their competition to sell\\ntheir products, reducing their selling prices till at last they\\nwould be ready to sell at or below the cost of production. Then\\nthere would naturally come a reduction of the wages of the\\nwork-people, as the result of an attempt to reduce the cost of\\nthe products below the price at which they could be sold, or the\\nfactories might stop work altogether till their accumulated prod-\\nucts could be disposed of. Then, as the wages of the work-\\npeople were cut down or ceased altogether, there would arise\\ndistress among the laboring classes, and as the natural con-\\nsequence of such distress, strikes and labor riots. At the same\\ntime that the poor were losing their wages, the rich would\\nnecessarily be losing their dividends from their factories, rail-\\nroads, and other investments; and these causes would force all\\nclasses to economize, and thereby the consumption of the prod-\\nucts of the factories and the work of the railroads in the trans-\\nportation of both passengers and freight would be largely\\ndiminished, the business of the trader and mechanic would fall\\naway, and hotels, theatres, and places of amusement would\\nlanguish. There would be an appearance of plenty in the mar-\\nkets, which would be filled with an abundance of the products of\\nthe field and of the factory everybody would have something,\\neither goods or labor, that he wished to sell, but comparatively\\nfew persons would be both able and willing to purchase. There\\nwould be a world full of factories lying idle, of railroads not\\npaying their running expenses, of stores and warehouses stand-\\ning empty, of banks overflowing with funds for which no in-\\nvestment could be found, and finally, and worst of all, there\\nwould be a world full of men and women able and anxious to\\nengage in useful labor, but forced to sit idle and starving in the\\nmidst of the abundance by which they were surrounded. Is\\nnot all this exactly what we have seen in recent years and are\\nseeing to-day?\\nIn conclusion, do not the observed facts all agree with the\\ntheory that the hard times have been caused by an excessive\\ndesire to acquire income-producing wealth, by overdomg the\\ncreation of the machinery and instruments of production and", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "45\\ntransportation And does not this theory afford, what other\\ntheories have failed to do, a full and simple explanation of the\\ncauses of the distress from which the whole business world is\\nsuffering to-day\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, Feb. 16, 1885.\\nThe above appeared in the New York Nation of Feb. 25, 1885.\\nTHE CAUSE OF THE HARD TIMES.\\nTo THE Editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser.\\nThat the whole civilized world is now suffering from hard\\ntimes, is a proposition which no one will deny. It is gen-\\nerally admitted also that the most noticeable features of the\\npresent hard times are the excessive supply of products of every\\nkind and the impossibility of finding full employment for fac-\\ntories and for workmen. In the case of an individual such\\nresults are usually caused by past extravagance and people\\nreadily jump to the conclusion that the world s present distress\\nmust be due to a similar cause. Indeed the various theories\\nwhich have been advanced to account for the hard times may\\ngenerally be reduced to this proposition, that the world is\\nsuffering the results of its past extravagance or waste.\\nWhen one says that the world has been extravagant or waste-\\nful, he must mean that it has employed too large a proportion\\nof its labor in the production of articles of daily comfort and of\\nluxury, or of articles useless for any good purpose, and that it\\nhas neglected to maintain and make due additions to its capital,\\nthat it has spent its income in high living or in folly, and\\nhas not kept up its principal. The world s principal or capital\\nconsists in the main of its machinery and instruments of pro-\\nduction and distribution, of its factories, railroads, ships,\\nwarehouses, etc. and unless a large part of the world s labor\\nhad been in the past and were now yearly devoted to the crea-\\ntion and maintenance of these things, the civilization of to-day,\\nwith its comforts and its luxuries, would not be possible. The", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "46\\nremainder of the world s labor, not devoted to these purposes,\\nhas been, and is, employed in supplying the articles called for\\nby what the political economist terms unproductive consump-\\ntion. When, therefore, it is said that the world has been ex-\\ntravagant and wasteful, it must necessarily be intended that\\ntoo much labor has been expended in meeting the demands of\\nunproductive consumption, and too little in building and repair-\\ning factories, railroads, ships, and warehouses and the other\\nmachinery and instruments of production and distribution,\\nwhich consequently must be supposed to have become worn\\nout and dilapidated, or, in case of their destruction by fire, not\\nto have been replaced. If the world has applied a due propor-\\ntion of its labor to the maintenance and increase of its princi-\\npal, it cannot properly be said to have been extravagant, even\\nthough it has consumed un productively all the remaining prod-\\nucts of labor for human labor can have no other final object\\nthan the promotion of the comfort and happiness of mankind.\\nWe have seen, then, what must necessarily be the character\\nof the results of past extravagance and waste. If, however,\\nwe look about us, not only are no such results apparent to-day,\\nbut the results actually existing are of an entirely different\\ncharacter. Instead of finding that our factories, railroads, ships,\\nand warehouses have been neglected and suffered to become\\nruinous, or that they are insufficient in numbers, we now find\\nthat all these things are in excellent condition, and that the\\npresent embarrassment arises from the evident fact that there\\nare not too few, but too many, of them. This condition of af-\\nfairs cannot have had its origin in past extravagance and waste,\\nwe cannot suffer in this way by reason of having used up\\nall our income and neglected our principal. The results point\\nclearly to causes of an entirely opposite character, they sug-\\ngest that the world has been devoting too much, rather than\\ntoo little, of its labor to the creation of the machinery and in-\\nstruments of production and distribution that by reason of\\nthe desire of mankind to acquire such machinery and such in-\\nstruments, in order to profit by the annual income ordinarily\\naccruing to the owners thereof, the world has devoted itself too\\nlargely to the accumulation of such property that the world s", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "47\\nreadiness to produce has been out of all due proportion to its\\nreadiness to consume in fine, that not excessive spending,\\nbut excessive thrift, has been the real cause of the present\\ndistress.\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, April 12, 1885.\\nThe above appeared in the Boston Daily Advertiser of April 15, 1885,\\nWHAT MAKES THE BAD TIMES.\\nTo THE Editor of the Herald.\\nIn your paper of this morning, in answer to the above ques-\\ntion, you say that the bad times have been caused by\\noverproduction, and that that in its turn has been caused by\\nprotective tariffs, which have interfered with the working of the\\ngreat law of supply and demand. This may appear plausi-\\nble at first sight, but it would seem that those who attribute\\nour present troubles to protective tariffs are bound to point out\\nmore definitely and more in detail than you have attempted to\\ndo, how such tariffs can cause overproduction, not only in the\\ncountries where they exist, but also in free-trade England,\\nwhich has been suffering from bad times as much as the United\\nStates. This, I believe, you will find it difficult to do.\\nAnother cause, the whole working of which may easily be\\ntraced, can, I think, be suggested for the bad times. Why not\\nattribute the overproduction from which the whole civilized\\nworld appears to be suffering to-day, simply to the excessive\\nnumber of factories that have been set in operation and why\\nnot account for the fact that so many factories have been built,\\nby that general desire for the accumulation of income-producing\\nwealth which is prevalent in all the countries which have been\\nsuffering from the overproduction This would afford a\\nsimple and easy solution of the whole mystery. If the world,\\nin its desire to grow rich, builds so many factories that their\\ncapacity of production is far in excess of the world s readiness", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "48\\nto consume their products, the natural and necessary result\\nwill be a general overproduction of those products. If the poor,\\nby reason of the smallness of their wages, have but little money\\nto spend in the purchase of the products of the factories, and if\\nthe rich, being inclined to put a large part of their incomes\\ninto new investments, are willing to spend but little on factory\\nproducts, it is evident that the limit to the number of profitable\\nfactories will soon be reached. Indeed, as soon as that limit\\nhas been reached, and as soon as too many factories have been\\nbuilt, and there begins to be in consequence an excess of prod-\\nucts, all the factories, the old ones as well as the new, will\\ncease to be profitable, for they will begin to compete with each\\nother in the attempt to get rid of their superfluous products\\nthey will sell at the cost or even below the cost of production\\nthey will cut down the wages of their operatives they will work\\non half time or close up altogether, they will do, in fact, just\\nwhat we are hearing of their doing to-day all over this country\\nand in Europe.\\nIn answer to the question, What makes the bad times?\\nmy suggestion would be that it is the fact that the world s de-\\nsire to get the profits arising from the manufacture of products\\nhas run ahead of its readiness to spend its money in purchasing\\nand consuming those products or, to put it more simply and\\nbroadly, that the world has proved itself more ready to produce\\nthan to consume.\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, April 7, 1885.\\nThe above appeared in the Boston Evening Herald of April 13,\\n1885.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "49\\nTHE BUSINESS FUTURE.\\nTo THE Editor of the Herald.\\nThere is at the present time much speculation as to the\\nfuture of business, and we are hearing many prophecies of\\nbetter times soon to come. We all hope that these prophecies\\nwill be verified by the facts, but we should not delude ourselves\\nwith unfounded hopes. It is best in this matter to know the\\ntruth, whether it be pleasant or unpleasant. I therefore ven-\\nture to suggest some considerations which seem to indicate\\nthat the commercial distress from which we suffered in 1884 is\\nlikely to continue and be intensified in 1885.\\nDuring the past summer and fall very many of our factories\\neither reduced the number of laborers employed by them or\\nstopped work altogether. They found that the demand for\\ntheir products did not keep up with the supply, and they met\\nthe difficulty by attempting to reduce the supply to an equality\\nwith the demand. But one result of this course which our\\nfactories have taken has not been much considered. When\\nthousands of laboring men are thrown out of employment, and\\nthereby deprived of their regular wages, they necessarily cut\\ndown their expenses and abstain from purchasing many fac-\\ntory products whichthey would otherwise buy for clothing, house-\\nhold use, etc. If the manufacturers of cloth, for instance, have\\nstopped their factories because they have found that they were\\nproducing more cloth than there was a demand for, the mere\\nfact that many laborers have, by reason of that stoppage, been\\nthrown out of employment will tend to decrease still further\\nthe already insufficient demand for cloth, and will also have a\\nsimilar effect upon the demand for many other articles, the\\nmakers of which have been pursuing the same course as the\\nmakers of cloth. If, by reason of the stoppage of the factories,\\nthe corporations owning them cease to pay dividends, the\\nstockholders in those corporations will begin also to curtail\\ntheir expenses, and the demand for the products of labor will\\nthereby be still further reduced. Of the stoppage of factories\\nwe have already had many instances. We are beginning to\\n7", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "50\\nhear of the cessation of dividends. During the year now just\\nbegun we ought to feel the effect of the loss of wages by\\nthe unemployed laborers and of the loss of dividends by the\\nwealthier classes. If, during this year, large numbers of the\\nlaboring classes are forced to practise the strictest economy,\\nand if the richer people economize also, because they find their\\nincomes diminishing, must we not necessarily have a greater\\nstagnation of business than we have yet felt Shall we not\\nfind that our railroads are not doing sufficient business, either\\nin passengers or in freight, to return them any profit Will\\nnot our hotels suffer because people will feel so poor that they\\nwill abstain from travel Will the masons, carpenters, and\\npainters find any one ready to undertake the erection of new\\nbuildings after those now commenced have been completed\\nIt would seem, indeed, that many men in every department of\\nlabor and business, in addition to those already idle, must soon\\nbe thrown out of employment and every man thus forced into\\nidleness will intensify the existing mischief by lessening still\\nfurther the demand for the products of labor.\\nWe see, then, that there is at the present time a tendency of\\nthings to go from bad to worse, and it is not easy to discover\\nwhat is to counteract this tendency and cause matters to begin\\nto mend. The hard times that culminated in this country\\nin 1878 found relief in the call that Europe made upon us in\\n1879 for vast quantities of our crops. Large sums of money\\nwere thereby distributed among our farmers, who were thus\\nsupplied with the means of purchasing all sorts of products of\\nlabor and our railroads, our factories, and our merchants were\\nthereby given employment and business. Now, no such relief\\nseems to be at hand. Large quantities of our crops will no\\ndoubt go to Europe, but the produce of our soil has this year\\nbeen so abundant that our farmers, in their competition to sell,\\nhave been forced to dispose of their produce at prices which\\nwill leave them little or no profit. When the farmer counted\\nup his gains at the end of 1884, he was fortunate if he found\\nthat his income had exceeded his expenses. Instead of launch-\\ning out into new expenditures, as our farmers did in 1879 and\\n1880, they are likely to feel in 1885 that they must retrench", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0052.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "51\\nand that retrenchment will mean just so much less employment\\nfor labor just so much less profits for the capital that em-\\nploys labor in the production of the articles that farmers are\\naccustomed to buy.\\nThere certainly have been of late many encouraging symp-\\ntoms in the course of business, but it is not easy to discover\\nthat anything has yet happened or is likely soon to happen g\\nthat can avert the downward course above suggested. If there 1\\nare any causes at work that are likely to have this effect, it is\\nto be hoped that some one will point them out.\\nU. H. C.\\nBoston, Jan. 13, 1885.\\nThe above appeared in the Boston Sunday Herald of Feb. 8, 1885.", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0053.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0054.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "LIBRl\\n0j\\nHollinger C\\npH8.5", "height": "3405", "width": "2023", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0055.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n014 060 462 8 9r\\nHoUinger Corp.\\npH8.5", "height": "3730", "width": "2427", "jp2-path": "excessivesavingc00croc_0056.jp2"}}