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Show OUTLOOK IS GOOD In spite of the prophets of evil, who are always with us in some form, there is no reason, according to the best judgment of those in touch with the business situation of the country, to feel that the balance bal-ance of the present year will be anything any-thing but prosperous, in the country coun-try at large. Easter trade, it is said, was generally gen-erally good where the weather conditions con-ditions were at all favorable, the tiremanufacturers have had a big year so far and the cotton goods industry in-dustry is decidedly on the up-grade. In addition, the building records for March show that t was the best March in a long time for construction. construc-tion. It is true that the Mississippi floods have created an adverse situation situa-tion in certain sections of the country coun-try but it is not believed that this will affect the national situaton. One significant statement given out by the National City Bank in its May resume of the business situation sit-uation is to the effect that "clearly the difficulties from which industry are suffering are to a large extent the result of the intense and ed-structive ed-structive competition that prevails within it.". The free traders have for years told us that a protective tariff destroys de-stroys competition in the home market and promotes monopoly. Evidently this has not been the case with the present tariff law. From the farming districts there comes of course some complaint, in certain sections of the Middle West. But, according to statistics gathered gather-ed in Iowa by banking interests, the sale of farm land in that great corn state is on the increase and j things are looking up. j Evidently this is no time for busi-' ness pessimism so far as the Uni-1 ted States is concerned. The principal princi-pal thing we have to do is to refrain from rocking the boat. |