Speech #430011324

This does not include a large number of defaulting railroads whose interest was payable elsewhere. This artificial nd unnatural stimulus to the railroad system was the proximate cause of the establishment of great numbers of iron works. from the furnace to the rollingmill. and the builing ip of various locoinotivo works. machine and car shops. and other nieclhanical industries that contributed to their operations. whilst dependent upon them for support. These immncase undertakings stimulated emigration fromi abroad. antd the good wages paid out by the railroads and all establishments connected with them. enabled laborers and their families to consuno nmre of the necessaries and comforts of life. and thus urged to 1unsu8al activity the manufacturers of drygoods. agricultural implements. and the culture of the great staples. wheat. corn. and cotton. Thus the workings of the extending railroad system alone. although others were not idle. directly and hndirectly induced a factitious prosperity. and urged into aln excessive vitality a great variety of itistries that absorbed a larger amount of capital than the ordinary bustness of the country required. In addition to the fixed capital necessary for these gigantic undertakings. a large amount of bank discounts was demanded by brokers and speculators in these railroad stocks and bonds which were wade their footballs. and tossed to and fro in the market by the bulls and bears of the Now York stock exchange mtil the clearings of the New York clearinghouse amounted to over 8100.000.000 per day.