OCR Text |
Show w TRADE AND FINANCE LETTER Salt Lake City, March 30. Not for two yfcars has so cheerful a sentiment senti-ment prevailed In tho East ns during tho past raonttr. Doubt'esu the most Important slnglo item warranting hopefulness ls tho winter's heavy precipitation, pre-cipitation, particularly throughout the middle west. Tho crop outlook Is gocd In California und the Intor-mountain Intor-mountain country It cnuld hardly be improved. Greater activity among the steel companies, with better prices pri-ces for tholr product, good sales and stiffening priccj in the dry goods lines, a February Increase In both oTimi ts and Imports as compared with tho samo month of a year ngo, a strongly favorable balanco of trade, a 22 vst cent lncreaso In February building operations, and falling prices for provisions are all favorable Items on tho natlbnal balanco sheet. Money prices aro firm with an Increasing do mand for funds for use in manufacturing manufactur-ing und merchandising. Throughout tho general depression of tho last year or two, nnd while extreme dullness prevailed In many sections of the United States, both east and west, tho Intermountnin Umpire Um-pire held Its own, nnd more. At this moment, when general trndo shows a revival, tho ndvances lu our own territory ter-ritory are far outstripping tho average. aver-age. As may bo Inferred from tht facts nnd figures which follow, thero Is no wnrrant for optimism here. Last week's clearings wero B-' per cent larger that those of tho samo week last year agreatcr Increase than shown by nny other American city nnd the totals for Jnnuary ana February show an Increase over iho samo months In 1911 of 33.jC per cent. Thnt tlu Intermountnin country In faring better than Its Immediate surroundings Is Indicated by a comparison com-parison of this porcontgo with tho gain shown by tho two closest business busi-ness centers to tho east and west, I.e., Denver and Spokane, wlilch show gains of only 0.50 per cent nnl 2.0 per cent respectively. Salt Lako's February clearings wore twice as largo lar-go as Spokane's nnd nearly as great as Denver's, though this city is smaller smal-ler than Spokano and loss than half tho alzo of Denver. Dairy and Poultry Products An Increase In-crease of 20 per cent In the flgurcB for last year over thoso of tho year beforo ls shown In the out put of dnlry products. Tho year 1912 opened open-ed very favorably and it ls expected that tho incrense for this year will be oven larger. Conditions nro much moro favorable on account ot tho amount of ruin nnd snow particularly particular-ly In the south nnd west parts ot the state which assures good forage crops. The production of poultry and eggs haB also materially Increased. Increas-ed. Tho raising of fat poultry for tho market ls an Industry comparatively compara-tively In Its lnfnncy as yot, but wo aro now In possession of modern facilities facilit-ies for fatenlng and handling this product. Tho Jensen Crcnmery company com-pany has established tho only plant west of tho Missouri River for tho milk feeding of poultry. It has a capacity ca-pacity of 7,00 head per week und furnishes a now nnd steady cash market mar-ket for poultry. In preparation for tho continued Increnso. that Is anticipated, anticipat-ed, this concern Is spending J25.000 In tho enlargement of Its plant and tho Installation of now machinery. Utah-Idaho Sugar Company Durlug tho past year this company paid out locally for supplies $000,000 for labor $900,000 and for beets $2,451,230.99, and It mnrkotcd 11G,750,000 pounds of refined sugnr. A now plant was put In operation at Elslnore, in Sovlor County, nnd during this lta first sea-son sea-son provided an entirely now market for 45,000 tons of beets, 7,000 tons ot coal, 2,000 tons ot llmo rock and 500 tons of coke. It gnvo now employment employ-ment to 200 men for about 100 days during tho farmors' slack season at wages of from ?2.25 to $2.75, per day. The company handled 450,000 tons of sugar beets In 1911 as against 280,-000 280,-000 tons in 1910 n gain of C0.7 per cent. Tho management expects thut tho ncrengc planted to beets In 1912 will bo nt least 10 per cent greater than that In tho year Just closed. On March 30 It paid a dlvldeud of $105,-000. $105,-000. Wool nnd Mutton Owing to tho unuBiinl snowfalls on tho deserts, tho winter rnngo condition havo boon ex-ceptionally ex-ceptionally fine, with tho result that the fleeces will average a full-pound, heavier than last year's and will grade much bettor as to quality and cleanness. Another result ls that tho sheep will gq to tho summer ranges rang-es In good condition and tho lamb crop should reach n high percentage Tho suinmor ranges nro apparently going to bo ns good ns tho winter rnuge, so thnt Utah lambs should bring top prices next fall. Utah's total production of wool will bo about 15,000,000 pounds. Tho price la holding hold-ing about two cents higher than it did In 1911. Tho prico of mutton ls nlso high nnd nppcars likely to remain re-main so. Conclusion No ono who Is familiar with conditions locally would say that business has equalled tho swift expansion of former years. That would bo moro foolUhness. On tho other hand tho pessimist who would hnvo us believe that tho city and state aro "dead" Is even further from tho truth. Ab wo see it, tho fact of the matter ls that 1911 has been a vory slow year for tho country at largo and tho depression has not failed fail-ed to affect Salt Lake City and Utah to somo extent. Hut whereas general business in mnny lines has shown severe- shrinkages ,thoso same lines In Utah havo shown gains that wero steady, though not so largo as usual. This Is well Illustrated in tho printing print-ing business. Although authorities announco a general shrinkage of 30 per cent in that line, Salt Lako's leading houses show a gain of 15. IS per cent, if business has Beemed dull It ls only becauso this year's advan-co advan-co has been moderate compared with the gains of recent years. Wo believe that the facts we hnvo given aro typical of nearly all lines of business here. Utah produces annually moro than $90,000,000 of now wealth. This means vitality. Anyone who oxamlncs carefully the real con-dltlons con-dltlons existing hero Is certain to concludo that wo aro prosperous to a greater degrco than any other section sec-tion of tho United States. There Is no etnto that will give more generous returns on tho Judicious employment of labor or capital. |