THE IRRIGATION AGE 



VOL. VII. 



CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER, 1894. 



No. 3 



THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



The Storm Now that the representative men of the 



and the West are upon the eve of assembling in 

 Shipwreck. , . 



their annual congress at Denver, the 



time seems opportune for a studious review of the 

 industrial situation in the great region lying between 

 the Missouri river and the Pacific ocean. It is now 

 about fifteen months since the American people real- 

 ized that they were in the throes of a grave financial 

 and industrial panic. When the lightning was first 

 seen along the sky, late in May and early in June, 

 1893, it was generally felt that there would be a shower 

 and a blow and that that was all. Slowly and sternly 

 the fact was carried home to all classes of people, 

 and to all sections of the country, that we had en- 

 countered one of the equinoctial storms which, at rare 

 intervals, sweep the seas of commerce and industry. 

 The acute stage of the tempest was necessarily over 

 in a few weeks. All the leaky crafts, and many a 

 noble ship as well, went down in the fierce onslaught 

 of wind and wave. Every craft that was not well 

 ballasted and closely reefed, or snugly harbored, was 

 eliminated, West, South and East. It is plain that 

 the storm has blown itself out, and yet the skies have 

 not cleared, nor the angry waters subsided. The 

 inflation has dropped out of everything except the 

 gold dollar. We are now in the process of readjust- 

 ment. Men differ concerning the immediate future. 

 The writer has had, perhaps, unusual opportunities 

 to study the outlook from various points of view dur- 

 ing the past year, having divided his time rather 

 evenly between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts 

 between the far northeast and the far southwest. 



No Peace There is certainly some ground tor hope 



in Sight of at least a temporary revival of busi- 

 Yet. . . 



ness activity, especially in the manu- 

 facturing States, from now until January. The sur- 

 plus stocks have been reduced to a very low point 

 and must be replenished in some degree. The tariff 

 truce at Washington and it is scarcely more than a 

 truce will in a measure relieve the strain and encour- 

 age manufacturers to go ahead, at least cautiously. 



HON. C. C. WRIGHT, OF CALIFORNIA, 

 Author of the District Law known as the " Wright Act." 



Beyond this nothing can be said with confidence. It 

 is useless to cry peace when there is no peace. It is 

 folly to shut our eyes to the great truth comprehended 

 in Garfield's saying : "Unsettled questions have no 

 pity for the repose of nations." It cannot be said that 

 the tariff is settled, but rather that the process of un- 

 settling it has just begun. The primary cause of the 

 great panic was said to be the fear of investors that 

 our currency would be debased by the coinage of a 

 limited amount of silver under the Sherman law. 

 Putting wholly aside the merits of that question, let 

 us admit the obvious truth that capital was frightened 



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