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Show THE UNITED STATES. The United States has on the wholo had a good year during 1907. Everything Every-thing was enormously prosperous up to within about two months past; records being excoeded on all hands in productiveness, produc-tiveness, in jrofits, and in general advance. ad-vance. Tho fact that such a mono-stringency mono-stringency and such tight, troublesome times should come in the midst of such prosperity and general diffusion of confidence con-fidence and abundance of money everywhere, every-where, is striking aud overwhelming proof of tho unsoundness of our currency cur-rency and banlcing conditions. Accord-iuglj-, this unsoundness is ovcrywhorc realized, and schemes are abundant for putting tho country upou a bettor, more consistent, and moro scientific financial basis as to its currency issues aud general business finance. But probably prob-ably Congress will do little. Tho railroads have had a year of unprecedented un-precedented prosperity. Their onrnings for the first ten months of tho year were greater than evor before known, both gross and net. It has boon a year of marked general improvement in the railway systems, and of great advanco in tho way of bettor railway equip-. equip-. ment and of improving the tracks so that better timo could bo made. The I demand for locomotives, for cars, and j forgcncntl railroad equipment, has been -most of the year on a scale altogether unprecedented. General investment returns havo for most of the time been unusually prolific. It has seemed as if every largo scheme that was thought out and organized ont a business basis was suro to yield profit. This, while immensely pleasing on the whole, nfforded opportunity J"or many speculative gambles which have taken away from the general prosperity and which tended very strongly to make the slump in business moro pronounced after that slump began. Large jniblic works have been prosecuted throughout the country in tho way of river and harbor improvements, iu public buildings, build-ings, in reclaiming the arid lands, in large Federal construction, naval and otherwise, aud in almost every direction that civilized and multiplicity-craving mankind desires. Tho industries and ways of making a living have enormously enor-mously expanded during the year, and the people as a whole havo been both busy and happy in drawiug remunern-tivc remunern-tivc roturns for their exertions. The crops have been. on an enormous scalo; nothing less than billions express ex-press the value of them. The report of the Sccrotaiy of Agriculture shows that corn is the crop of chief value, $.1,350,-000,000: $.1,350,-000,000: hay comos next with a value of $(160,000,000; coll on'. $050,000,000; wheal. $500,000,000; oats, .f 360,000,000; potatoes. $190,000,000. The Secretary places tho total wealth production of-the of-the farms in .1007 tho highest amount ever reached in this country. He gives the-grand total of $7.4 1 2,000.000, which is .j057,000J000 above the values of I90G. which showed tho previous high total. Besides tho crops, thero were farm and dairy products to the valuo of noarly $S00,000,000; tho poultry and oggs wero value1 at $600,000,000; tho animals sold from tho farms and slaughtered, slaugh-tered, $1,270,000,000. Reckoning all this, and counting everything in auxiliary auxil-iary and related industries and enterprises, enter-prises, tho farm and livestock products of tho couutry arc brought pretty well up to $10,000,000,000. Tho mineral products of tho country for tho year will bo close upon $2,000,-000,000. $2,000,-000,000. Tho gold imports th6 past month havo reached nearly $300,000,000, whilo our own product for tho year is about as much. Immigration to tho county during tho past year has broken all records, running run-ning up to 1,250,000. These immigrants brought in somewhere from $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 which they showed in passing tho gnto at Ellis island probably prob-ably 200,000 of theso immigrants carrying carry-ing away with him n sum very much larger than tho amount per capita brought; in. On the wholo, tho alien workers in this country took away from our 3horcs something liko $100,000,000 in tho year just closing. Tho country J8 business and industries, though overtaken by the crazy-and murderous mur-derous money stringency in Now York and pnrtly.paralyzed for a timo In Its industries and trade by reason of tho New York financial,, butcheries, aro on a tremendously strong foundation, and this country has a recuperative power absolutely unknown among foreign peoples. peo-ples. Wo expect, within a very short time, say by tho opening of spring, to sco a completo restoration of tho old prosperity, and tho country moving forward for-ward evenly, stfongly, with moro wisdom wis-dom and with better fortified strength than ever before. |
