Woodruff County news., 1901-05-16
IS PROSPERITY UNIVERSAL President Mckinley Sees Only tho Best Side of Things While
 Touring the Country.

The president in his speech at New Orleans congratulated the people upon sharing ''in the universal pros perity and contentment so character istic at this time of every part of our common country"
 There is no doubt that the comfort and elegance of the surroundings of the president, seeing nothing but the best side of the towns he is visiting, gives him the idea that all is richness and comfort, and yet on the same May day there were strikes inaugurated in dozens of cities. The very train men who have the care of the sump- tuous free train with which the rail road companies are entertaining Pres ident Mckinley are on the verge of striking for reasons that they think compel them to do so. But then Pres ident Mckinley mayhave his eye on the Wall street boom and as nearly all those who accompany him are addicted to the ticker habit, he doubtless hears hourly of vast prosperity, for of course those travelling with a pres- ident on an expansion and prosperity tour must all be bulls and big winners.
 From another part of the country comes a very different tale and from one of the greatest manufacturing cities at that. The textile trade which suffers periodically from some dis temper peculiar to itself says the Philadelphia Record, is again in a state of stagnation. This is a favor able time, therefore, for renewed speculation as to the ca SC of those recurring "slumps' in this industry. The general industrial situation seems to be good, and yet the textile busi- ness is at a practical standstill in so far as profit taking is concerned. Many mills have been working only part time; large numbers of hands are idle, and although an improvement is momentarily looked for, and has ac- tually come in some of the factories, trade is generally recognized to be in very unsatisfactory state.
 While the reaction affects the in- dustry in all parts of the country, such troubles always strike home with particular force in a great tex tile center like Philadelphia. Inac- tivity in the mills means great deal to labor, and when the workrnen are not earning wages regularly the gen. eral trade of the city is depressed. The reasons which are given for the present state of things are as numerous as are the men from whom explanations are sought. There are hints as to overproduction; under consumption because of warn win ters, competition Gin cotton goods) from southern mills, which have lost the Chinese trade; the high price of cotton and wool; the instability of prices; too little protection, and the lack of foreign outlets for the prod ucts of our looms. Some Philadelphia carpet manufacturers still believe that their trade is being injured by Chinese mattings.
 The chief complaints come from the woolen and carpet factories, which need a plentiful supply of raw materials at steady prices The wool en manufacturer who looks forward to time when he can secure foreign markets for his goods, knows that there is no hope for that so long as he must pay protective prices for his fiber No American manufactured products can be sold abroad in com petition with the products of other countries when our manufacturers have to pay higher prices for their raw material. Bonuses to western sheep growers in a prohibitory tariff on clothing wools, and to the China man who makes cheap mattings m tax on carpet wools, which wools we cannot raise in this country, arc not making Philadelphia manufac- turers or their employees very happy.