Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-08
PROOFS OF PROSPERITY.

While mankind can never escape the
realization of that sc%riptural truth--the
poor we always ave with ye-there can
be 10 doubt of the fact that general pros
perity is measured largely by the lux
uries in which the people indulge. How
ever economical the individual may be,
his growth in wealth is characterized by
the securing Of luxuries in one form or
another, until the luxuries of yesterday
become the necessities of today.
In a broader sense that which is true
of the individual is true of the people as
a whole. and the prosperous conditions
of the country "a be fairly estimated
by the sale ana purchase of those things
usually denominated as luxuries. The
iron trade is no more a reflex of business
conditions, than is the trade in luxu-
ries IN index of the financial condition
Of the masses Of the people. Anent this
subject the Chicago Tribune contain the
following practical facts which may be
studied with profit by the would-be cal
amity howlers of the country:
In 1899 as many pianos were sold in the
great wheat producing states of the
Northwest as had been disposed Of in
the same territory during the previous
six years. That statement is perhaps the
best proof which has yet been presented
of the great prosperity which has come
to the m Of the country, who fur
nish the best index to the condition Of
the nation from a financial point of view.
Pianos must certainly be classed as lux
uries, and farmers are not likely to buy
them SO long as they are hard pushed to
meet the interest on farm mortgages.
Looked at from the same standpoint,
nothing is more evident than that the
present prosperity has embraced every
section of the country. In the east the
standard of luxury is diamonds; in the
west it is top buggies. In 1897 the total
value of the diamonds imported into the
United States was $4,000, 900; in 1899 it
reached the astonishing figure of over
S12, 0O0, 900. In the matter of top buggies
1T is stated that during the last year
twice as many We're made and sold as
during any previous year in the history
of the industry.
Almost equally significant are the fig
ures on imported millinery, which must
surely be put down as an article Of lux
ury pure and simple. In 1899 the total
value of millinery goods brought to the
United States from abroad was 81, $50. 900.
an increase of more than half a million
dollars over the figures for 1897, In the
same way the value of the imported pic
lures and other works of art increased
from $4,000. 900 in 1898 to 50, 800, 900 in 1899,
Add to this demonstration of prosper
ity the figures furnished by the savings
banks Of the country, which show how
the poorer classes of the people are nro-
crossing, and the picture is wen more
impressive. In 1889 there were in the
United States in all $500, 900 depositors in
the savings banks of the country. Ten
years later, in 1899, there we're no less
900 in ten years. In 1894 each depositoy
had an average of 1860 in bank. In 1895
the average had risen to SAB, so that
while the number of depositors largely
increased, the average amount of money
on deposit increased in practically ths
| same ratio.