The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1898-12-29
copyrighted by tho MccIare News bureau
CHICAGO, Dec. 90, 1898.


CHICAGO, Dec. 90, 1898.
asked thoughtful aud conservs'
tive man today what, in his opinion, Is
In the claim that prosperity has re-
tarned 10 the country.
lie was sitting at his desk when
asked the question, aud leaning back
In his chair he answered D.5. slowly
and deliberately:
"a man in business" he said, "who
deceiyes himself as 10 what bis hoase
Or flrm Is doing, realizes later, wh2n
the trial balance Is off, that he has
made a mistake. And set how many
people there are who 60 on deccisiug
themselves. The man of well balanced
mind always wants to know the truth,
and succeeds better thereby. And 50
II u with nations. The people may
deceive themselves as to their eondi.
tson, or they may be good Of judg-
meut, realize their exact condition, and
build wisely by doing so. r" lie paused
moment and continued: "Thcre is
Spain, an exaggerated case of people
deceiying themselves--dcceiYcd as Ia
their strength, the business Of their
cause, and the awakening Is, TO them,
all the more dreadful. Whereas II
they had had correct estimate OF
themselves they would have farel bet
ter and their fall would not have been
80 hard. What Spain has done, In m
exaggerated sense, all other nations
have In par; been guilt Of. Are we
deceivIng onrsolYes as TO the existence
Of prosperity? i'a question which all
men should consider. That there is
prosperity, unusual, in some dircc-
tons, there Is no doubt"
lie reached over on his desk and
picking up a New York Sun of the 18th
Inst, handed il 20 me aud asked that !
read au editorial therein. | did 50
aud hero !; Is
Tho announcement today that the diTec
tors OF the fiith Avenue HANK had declared
a regular quarterly dividend OF - per cent
and an extra dividend Of percent. payable
on Jan. 3. called attention Ia the fact tina,
this Is one Of thr few hanks In this city, and
in fact In the United states. that yields tc
It's sha rel olders 10 per cent upon the pas
value of rs sharua. Though the dividend,
- a.
iaf ii- declaration oi an extra 5 i,.r cent
has been the rule AT each quarterly dcrlnm
ton. so that = per cent has really been reg
ularly paid each quarter. The First M.
tlonal Bank u this city regularly pays to
per cent In quarterly inEtallments. ana the
Chemical National Hank pays 80 pcr cent On
bi monthly diy.""uds. "
As concluded reading the editorial
from the sun he said 'Now there 1.
prosperity. The Pullman Palace Car
Company has declared dividend OF
sis, 900, 000i the Sugar Trust, $780,
600, goo; the Standard Oil Company,
ESQ, 600, 000--rocently. Stocks of all
corporations have advanced largely.
All these are signs Of prosperity. Aud
there are individual instances of Il.
Mr.. Day Of Ohio, Secretary of State,
II is said, is about to receive SI00, 000
for three months service at Paris.
Had Mr.. Day retained his Office Of Sec.
Rotary OF State, under the law, he could
not have drawn two salaries, and would
have had 20 be contenled with the I'M
prosperous like sum Of IS, GOO. These
are all evidences of prosperity, and
with commendablc national pride we
are apt to boast about it," he con.
cluded, looking at me over his glasses.
.'But Is it7" | asked
"Well, let's look at il again" he
said "Iiere is = letter on my desk
from philanthropic society that fed
5000 poor people yesterday at the
Waverly Theater IN this city. You
will notice." he continued, handing
me the letter, "that 1t says this society
fed on Christmas day. last year, 5000
Of Chicago's poor, but that destitulion
has so increased that Il hopes TO meet
the demand this year by feeding on
Christmas day 10, 900. Christmas
has now passed, and the papers tell Us
that the expectations Of this phiIan.
thropic society were fully realized"
Fifteen thousand people vi more, -
he continued, showing some feeling,
''who are willing In their fallen pride
and distress aud hunger to accept alms
Ito eat crumbs from the table OF
Dives! That is iast the reverse Of
prosperity; aud 1t shows an Increase
of nearly double over that of last year |
Has prosperity retarned' Are we be-
ing fooied, or fooling ourselvssG 1t Is
a serious question.
Picking up circular from his desk
he went on: '.Iiere IL merchant
who wants TO sell me the best linen
collars ut retail for . cents that for
merry cold for 20 cents. The prodne-
ers Of the linen In those cellars aud tue
manufacturers who make the collars
must be getting very little. We also
know that cotton and cotton cloths arr
cheaper than ever known. Also farm
products eontinne low. | can hear OF
no one who thinks that the producing
classes arc more prosperous than they