OCR Text |
Show 11 WHY CRY, WITH CONDITIONS IMPROVING? Hl "What are you crying about? That is the question asked by The HJ . Economist, the financial authority of Chicago. The query is dircct- H V - cd to the big business men of the country, because so many of them H r t liavc been seeing the dark side and have refused to open their eyes B to the things that arc making for better times in the United States H' Then The Economist proceeds to point out the forces at work for H "prosperity, saymg: HT "You look over the fields of1 the couptry and you find that cot- H , .toil promises a yield 2 per cent greater than that of last year, that HJ 7 j wheat will turn out slightly more than in 1910, that corn threatens H . the minute frhrmkagc of 5 per cent from the aggregate of last year, BH AXh u probable recovery of that 5 per cet resulting from improved weather. Here you hae the three most iinportat crops so far as the M y general couunerce of Hie country is concerned, and their average as m o valye and usefulness to mankind is,- better than last year. True. H r oats show a shrinkage of 25 per cent or more from the enormous fig- m - j ures of 1910, hay is only a moderate crop, and the same is true of m potatoes, but automobiles do not cat hay, oats or potatoes, and the 1 crop of gasoline is large. This survey expresses most gratifyingly B 1he prosperous condition of the country, and only the somewhat H gloomy state of mind which has been' created in the main by the H: ( governmental action is responsible for the skepticism as to the crops Hp nod the hesitancy with respect to business enterprise that is now H, vioiblc everywhere. It is natural at this season to feci some appre- H liension as to the out-turn to the farms, but this time that feeling H has reached' the stage of morbidness. One must in reason qualify H this statement by recalling that the human frame has been subjected H this year to extraordinary heat in this country and has accordingly Hh been less disposed to do its ordinary work and to think its ordinary H. thinking. But we are justified in believing that we shall have at H least fairly satisfactory crops this year and in making plans ac- Hj cordingly. H' "There arc many other grounds for confidence and or relief H from certain apprehensions that have governed the markets. One, for H V example, is found in the improbability of any hurtful legislation at H r this special session of congress. It is not likely that the lawmakers B 1 will be willing to stand the heat in Washington much longer, and the adoption of the Canadian reciprocity scheme is about all that can bo looked for. Probably few business men have taken due notice of the announcement that the president will veto amj tariff legislation legisla-tion that congress may pass at this.sessioiV othe ttfaiVthc Canadian reciprocity treaty. This sweeps on$. oiha clpuds'out of the Vay. . And )froni tlie industries' advices arc at least as favorable as hereto- 'forc." Our troubles arc principally imaginary. The financial magnates are crossing bridges bcore they reach them; they are auticipating-misfortune. auticipating-misfortune. Theyiarc intflecd of) a treatment- by a Christian Science teacher, who would inform therirl that 'borrowed trouble -is a condh lion of mind which should bo overcome without .delay, f The country 'should 'he prosperous and Will bes'-soon as the big financial men. with weak knees; brace .up and, instead of7 worrying worry-ing over politics, recogni.e the fact that the one thing halting the industries of the United States is their lack of confidence. |