HARD TIMES IN NEW YORK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 318, 17 January 1908, Page 4

HARD TIMES IN NEW YORK.

EFFECT OX WEALTHY CLASS. BLACK CAKE AT THE OPEKA. The New Vork correspondent of the London Daily Express cabled as follows to his paper ou l'.ltli November:—A visi•tor to this country who attended, as I did the inauguration of the operatic season at the .Metropolitan Opera llousc last night, or the brilliant assemblage oi plutocrats at the annual Ilorse Showin Maiison-square Garden this afternoon, could not fail to be impressed by the contrast presented between the opulence displayed at these social functions and I the loifd wailing and lamentation wbuli ■ reverlierate daily throughout the linancial and industrial communities. I The"celebrated -'horse-shoe'' of boxes at the opera was filled with lieautifulh - dressed ladies, resplendent with jewels. All the best-known figures of society honored the occasion with their presence. No matter ill which direction the eye roamed, it was met at every turn by the figures of men and women whose names are svnonynious with wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. Isut if one listened between the acts to the conversation of the spectators one quickly became alive to the circumstance that one topic only was discussed—the financial stringency. Constantly eyes were cast at the only empty box ill the luiu.se, that occupied last season by Mr Barney, the Knickerbocker Trust president, who recently committed suicide. The same preoccupation was noticeable at the Criterion Theatre, which 1 visitea ftjr one act in order to witness the first performance under Mr. Charles Erohman's management of "The .Morals of Morcuii," with Mr Aubrey Smith and -Miss Marie Daro in the chief parts. The play was enthusiastically applauded, and the performers, who included -Miss Forbes Robertson, were repeatedly called before the curtain, liut in the interval the auditorium, buzzed with remarks 011 the money situation. 'So-and-So is trying to sell his £2OOO motor-car for £BOO, and can t get a bid.

"If you want to get a motor-car cheap, now is tlie time. There are scores of them to be picked up for a mere song." •' Have you heard that So-and-so is going into"bankruptcy!" "When is it all going to end!" "Not for two years at least." The scraps of conversation which I overheard in the course of live minutes all related to the one dominating subject. At the horse show, which is the great inaugural society function of the year, the depression was no less noticeable. The boxes, which in former years, 1. am informed, have been leased for an agwrcate sum of £IO,OOO, this year realfseif oulv £2OOO. Everywhere grim jokes about hcasicned wealth and millionaires discarding motor-cars for the bumble tram-car are the order ot the

i'.ven the speakers at the opening luncheon could not light deal' o! univcr.-al topic. They interlarded eulogies of the noble siwrt and science ol horse-breeding with auutlicinas 011 M.?. Roosevelt. " Ves," exclaimed -Mr. JMlowes, chief orator of the occasion, " H is true that the president has turned 011 the light, but in doing i-o he has allowed an Ciiormoii- quantity of explosive gaSociety, iuilecd, shares to the lull the re.-en l ment of Wall Street again-t Ml. Koo-evelt. But, as I cabled lart week, L doubt if thi> country as a whole wiH accept the view that he is responsible for the depression. Till' Ulceration of the country from the thraldom of W all Street is now a widely erlioeil war-cry, and Wall Street will probably have to make up its mind to rubmit in future to stringent supervision of its operations, t .Meanwhile, as this great divergence in national feeliug becomes more widcispread, there is no sign that the measure* adopted by the Administration will >xertise any immediate eil'ect in reliev11,rr (|„, i<>usion. I made a round to-day iOt" more than a dozen. shop*, and the jtale everywhere was the same. Diamond spin-, ladies' clothing, and articles of /every description are being oll'ered for ; -ale at bargain prices. ! The How of emigrants liark to Europe al=n continues in increasing volume. The "icat liners are unable to embark half The i-tcerage passengers demanding transport to their homes. Kacli one of these pa-icnger- has saved by his labours in this country »ums ranging from .tIDO to .WW. Their departure, white relieving the industrial situation, means that further immense Minis of money will be withdrawn from circulation.