The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-09
Shaw on Prosperity.

since quitting the caTking cares of-OffiCe
in Washington. Leslie Mortimer Shaw has
become an oDtimist For months before
he turned back TO President Roosevelt the
Treasury portfolio, he was encircled in
gloom, and we had occasion gently to
chide him for looking out upon the world
through a glass darkly. The former Sec
retary is now at the head of a financial
institution in New York. and draws a sti-
pend quite three times as large as that
which was paid to him by his grateful but
none too generous government We need
founder around no longer in efforts to ac-
count for his sudden change from pessi-
mism TO optimism.
At the height Of the recent financial
storm in Wall street.-the rich mans
panic '-Mr. Shaw was pleased TO address
an assemblage OF his fellow-financiers at a
banquet in New York Gloom pervaded
the banquet hall. The skeleton at the
feast ratified its bones dismally The state
Of the Union was the topic Of discussion.
and the high fnanciers there assembled
had decided that it was deplorable. Stocks
We're tumbling in the street" values (On
paper were shrinking and shriveing fast,
and the outlook was bad all around
Then up rose Shaw. Our prosperity
rests on a surer foundation than stock
market quotations" quoth he. The droop-
ing spirits Of the banqueters perked up a
Bit They had not thought of that before.
Il repeat said Leslie Mortimer in his
breezy Iowa way. that our prosperity
rests on d surer foundation than stock
market reports" BY this time the ban
queters were eager for more of the same
kind of talk. Look TO the cropsr' thun-
dered Shaw He sat down amidst the
plaudits of the high fnanciers. Joy
reigned supreme the rest Of the evening.
Mr.. Shaw has not been in New York
long enough to forget the relations be-
tween bounuful crops and national pros
perity. Amazing though it may be. other
eminent men in the line Of business he has
Just adopted seem TO overlook this potent
fact after they have become thoroughly
infected with the Wall street spirit. Mr.
Shaw yet knows that year Of bad crops
means danger more menacing TO the
country's prosperity than a dozen such
panics as that to which he referred. Bad
crops mean a reduction of the purchasing
power OF the farmers, who constitute 40
per cent Of our population This in turn
diminishes the trade in manufactures. cur
tails the revenues OF the railroads, limits
the sales and profits Of merchants. makes
the bankers money go begging. and af-
fects generally the whole fabric of our ma
tional industry
Fortunately for the nation. the prospects
favor abundant crops this year Already
Kansas is reporting an unusual outlook
for wheat The yield in that State alone
may exceed last years by $1,000 600 bush
els. We produce one-sixth Of the worlds
wheat Curiously enough. our production
of wheat has maintained an even ratio
with the growth Of population. and still
more cuTiOusly our exports in that COM
modify are propoTtionately now about
what they were fifty years or more ago.
About 80 per cent of our total wheat crop
finds its way into foreign markets in all
forms. Thirty years ago the crop was
1, 500 00o, coo bushels. Last year it was the
total Of 3,500,H0000
Il is fact of vast significance, however,
that a bushel Of wheat to-day, though
bringing the producer more cash. has not
the purchasing power Of bushel of
wheat thirty years ago. Perhaps. as one
of the stiffest and most renowned stand
patters of the day. Mr.. Shaw can explain
the whyness of this.