The sun., 1897-08-05
GOOD TINES THE REPORT.
THE CHEERFUL FEELING IN THE
oOUSrRr BASED ON SOLID FACTS

n, That Gives Promise OF Great lurrease.
pr.sident Edward E. Poor Of the National
PARK Bank has In his possession nearly one hun.
Ard letters from bankers In nearly every State
IN the Union. written in reply to q set OF ques-
t,ons aent out by Mr.. Poor concerning the busI.
ness conditions In the different States and Terri
tories No moro complete and thorough proof
could be had that q great wave Of prosperity
and good times is sweeping over the country
than Is furnished by these letters. They como
from bankers In cities and small towns, in man.
ufacturing and farming communities. from the
Gulf TO the great lakes and from the Appa-
lachians to the Pacific, and with q very few OF.
ceptions, that might bo called almost insignin-
cant, their tone is hopeful and confident; and
where prosperity has not already set in at food
tide 1t Is on Its way.
Mr. Poor sent the questions to the various cor
respondents Of his bank largely for his personal
Information. but the results were 90 gratifying
that he decided to make them public, and gave
to The SUN yesterday tho privilege OF making
excerpts from some OF the most striking letters.
The questions Mr.. Poor put to tho various
bankers were:
FiSt-what 10 the general sentiment In your vtoin-
hy rssstilpss the % tu,n,s Of Susnsss, Fl . ,,,.,
bass, Or Is % : the s.psss''o re, On Of people. hope.l
Foarth-Arc your manufacturers well and pronsa-
Fifth-whst relation does the employed bear 70 the
si.tsGas. The s,Il!sr question" gained or lost
ground in your netghborhood7
He has had the answers sorted and tabulated
with the following results In reply to the hrst
question eight. three letters indicated greatly
improved condition and confidence In its per-
manency; seven reflected an opposite condition.
To the ond question seventy mine letters re-
piled that the sentiment was based on good
aNl lrriD fOr nj e. L..
conditions Seven letters based the sentiment
on hopes alone and four could ind no basis for
such condition. In reply to question s. eighty
nine letters reported the winter grain harvested.
the spring crop prospects generally good. In most
places OF better quality and greater quantity.
From the South the report Of Q prospect for
. hne cotton crop was unanimous. In answer
to the fourth question, sixty.seven letters re-
ported that manufacturers were employed, but
the margins small; nine had only fair reports,
nine came from non-manufscturing districts,
and five reported things In q bad way. Sixty
three letters reported that many moro men are
at work than at this timo last year, twenty.nv
letters reported no change, and two said that
conditions were worse than last year, but one Of
these said that tho condition was entirely local,
being caused by strike
In reference to silver. thirty-two letters TO
ported that the cause had lost many adherents
on account OF the improved business conditions,
twenty-one said that the silver sentiment had
gained because prosperity did not follow the
heels OF tho election; twenty three letters indi.
Gated no change, and seven from rural districts
reported it al being very strong.
From the Pacific coast came the most encour
aging reports. larger volume OF business ID
being done, and in California in some lines a
larger business than in 1892 Crops are the bes,
In quality and quantity in many years, prices
In order. however. to show the better what
these reports contained. a few quotations from
stance. here is a letter from 10 va. the name O.
the writer and his town being suppressed at Mr
:Preiminary to answering questions
VIII say that the country familiar to Us and
Of southern Iowa. northern Missouri. and q few few
counties adjacent In Illinois.
substantial and satisfactory trade
the economy Of the people the past year, a grad
ual reduction OF their indebtness, and q better
"Thrd-The crop prospects arc good. espe
cially fruit and vegetables. which have never
"Fourth-our manufacturers are CONSTANT.
emPioysd and apparently prosperous
Ith-in H., my opinion there Is not 9 more orr thar M
ago. and that one man man voluntarily idle:
now over last year think is favorable to soune
Another letter concerning Kansas and par
of the Northwest In general has the same tone
81 have been .b.ent for the last ten days =
trade at Kansas City is very active. owing TO th,
wheat crop that 10 being harvested in territor.
tributary to that point, especially Oklahoma
and southern Kansas Kansas Again. the condition n
farmers raising cattle and hogs, thus feeding
As the writer is interested in tho manu-
facture and sale Of farm machinery
will say that our trade in that line for tn
ali other lines Wha, Is true Of KAns.s City i
QUITE it improved. M " ID Missouri. Iowa, and IIinoi,
are suffering quite good deal from the loy
SorthSess S W % Minnesota o an and North and ft souti
Dakota have a promising outlook, owing to tn
twine in that section and the demand gives u
An Idea OF what they have to bind
and with the present Improvement that is no,
coming TO Illinois. Missouri. and Iowa the Silye
s so Coming H ns the % Vest ns
OF the East at this time"
In Indiana also the feeling is. most decided
one Of hope. Here is q letter from n banker 1
"FirstNThe general sentiment in this CON
munity Is decidedly favorable to better bushes
Sc ond-This sentiment is based on concret
conditions ana prospects
Tnir-The crop prospects in our vicinity ar
splendid. We have prob. bly, 70 per cent Of a
ever known.
"Four;h-with the exception Of the bicycl
manufacturing business our manufacturers ar
doing fairly well-better than year ago-wit
brighter prospects ahead. The larger pumbe
OF inquiries than usual regarding tho product
OF our manufacturers would seem to justify th
expectation OF brighter prospects.
"Fifth-I have no actual data for q relRbl
answer TO this question but believe that tn
number Of unemployed 10 no greater than Il wa
formed by general surface observation, tha
the number is really SOM what less.
gained ground. due presume. TO political di
appointments and the blatant advertisement !
the fact that prosperity did not set in immed
ately following election. In my opinion. hoy
ever, the silver sentiment is as strong as 1t wi
ever get and will be Oh the wane from this tin
on The improved crops, together with bett.
prices will make converts for soun
principles OF finance every hour henceforth.
The reports from Alabama vary somewha
out on the whole they good. one corr
spondent saying that the crop outlook 10 Rot