The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-10-13
REACTLONARY INFLUENCES
ARE MULTIPLYING DAILY

perity combined. This industry is GER
tainly enjoying phenomenal success;
all records of production being far sur
F.; passed, and the best authorities agree
| ing that the country will witness q
! tremendous demand for steel at good
| prices for some months to come. This
/ is due to the fact that the nations
| increase in population, activity and
/ purchasing power compels large eX-
tensions in railroad and industrial
plants. Our railroads, it will be re
membered. deferred many improve
ments during the period of economy
which followed the panic, and many
new enterprises Of an Industrial char
acter were alsb postponed. Just now
there is an almost too violent rebound:
constructive work is very active in all
parts of the United States, and the re-
suit is a call for large quantities Of
iron and steel in various forms. The
widening use of steel as a construc-
tive material is also factor of much
Importance in this respect.
Outside of the steel industry, how
ever. it is difficult to find any cause
for immoderate enthusiasm, business
as a while not vet having reached the
90.
class. are enjoying great prosperity be
cause of the very profitable prices re-
Yet their prosperity is of the kind that
is not universally desired, because it
is unevenly distributed and is mainly
at the expense Of other classes of so
ciety Present agricultural prosperity
is based to considerable extent upon
scarcity: which can never be consid-
cred entirely beneficial because Of the
certainty that somewhere hardship is
imposed in consequence. Cotton for
instance, is selling at 13c. not so much
on account of great demand as for
an important shortage in. this years
crop. AS a result some planters are
making large profits while not few
have incurred heavy losses. Spinners,
except those who bought cotton early.
are embarrassed by the high cost of
raw material, and curtailed production
is necessary This in turn means loss
J of wages to employees and diminished
purchasing power, while the consumer
must either spend more money on cot
! ton goods or consume less either al
| tentative acting detrimentally to some
interest No doubt cotton has been
unduly advanced by dangerous specu-
| latiOn The rise in prices is out of all
proportion to the diminution Of sup
plies: and. in view of the large sup
| plies carried over from last crop, the
/ better yield in other countries and the
| curtailed consumption both at home
and abroad, it must be conceded that
the chances of a cotton famine are
very remote.
Next let us take the corn crop; q
highly important source of wealth to
this country. The yield this year will
be large and promises to command
good prices yet the crop has fallen con-
siderably below earlier calculations and
is therefore somewhat of a disappOint-
ment Necessarily this must cause a
modification of the ultra Optimistic
views which were held in midsummer.
The farmer. it is true. will secure good
prots for his corn; out how about the
consumer. who, obliged to pay more
for pork. beef. eggs. chickens, etc. into
which corn enters. will have that much
less to spend in other directions? The
same may be said of wheat, the worlds
surplus of which is at very low ebb;
hence present high prices A large
crop would have proved highly bene-
fetal inasmuch as the money result
to the farmer would probably have beer
quite as large as under present scare
ity. and the country would then have
4 possessed a surplus for export with
which to pay for heavy current mer-
chandise imports.
This brings us TO new condition
i which has not been sufficiently appre-
l ciated The implements to exports Of
! cotton and wheat are likely to be I
I serious factor in our international
trade. Business revival is causing I'M
l usual large imports, while our export:
| are abnormally low for the reasons o
] scarcity just specified. This means TIL,
| piling up of a heavy debit balance
J abroad. Our borrowings in foreign
| markets are already reputed to be il
\ the neighborhood of 100000, 900: anC
| if to this be added our unfavor abl,
4 do hol n ic Moi hot