The Washington herald., 1914-05-18
Signs sf ! Bsirhter BAY.

was document of extraordinary promise. The re
port was occupied mostly with the condition of win
ter wheat Usually during the month of April the
status of this grain declines; but the weather was
so favorable during April that the high promise oi
April was maintained-and even bettered- through
out the month, and inasmuch as the acreage of win.
ter wheat, abandoned since planting has been ex.
ceedingly small the present outlook is for winter
wheat harvest in the neighborhood of 63ooooooo
bushels which compares with szas6ro bushels las,
year-in itself quantity greatly in excess of any
previous winter wheat crop.
Spring wheat blowing has been IS per cent com
peted and under very favorable circumstances and il
at all impossible that if the weather dur
ing the of the proves as good as it has
for winter wheat thus far the total wheat yield Of
the country will be 85ooooooo bushels, Ioooooooo
bushels more than the largest wheat crop known in
the past in the United States
The meaning of all this in business sense to the
people of country needs no emphasis; but aside
from the unprecedented splendor of our crop Out
look there is the practical certainty Of easy money
for considerable time to come How gratifying the
condition is in this respect may be understood by
recalling the fact that last year at this time the
country looking forward to tight money for the
remainder of the year. There were even those who
predicted that before the year was over the coun-
try would be involved in of the severest money
pancs in its history; and the circumstance that would
bring this about was it was said the prolonged die
up of money in Europe, owing to the Balkan war.
All the nations of Europe were boarding gold and
were Gquidating securities wherever they could get
a chance to do so. The Balkan situation is now
ancient history, and the event proved that the ap-
prehensions felt as to the outcome of the money
situation before the year 1913 were
ludicrously unsound. Almost everybody fright
ened half to death in 1913 evils that hap
pened 1t is true that there is present something of
scramble for gold in the great financial capitals
on the continent of Europe but this is not due to
any troubles but chiefly. to prudent desire on
the part of the bankers of France, Germany and
Russia so to build up their gold reserves that no
question will arise for long time to come as to
their entire suficiency.
The general feeling about money derives great
help from the favorable working, or what is uni
versally expected to be such of the new currency
bill We have not been slow to express Our own
opinion that the new bill is not in all particulars
what it should be. We believe that the chief bene-
fits of the measure will be found when state of
strngency arises in the money market rather than in
the ordinary course of events. There is hint or
cew to any such stringency in the FUTURE but peo-
PIC arc hioiS III inc thouSHI
precautions have been taken against the disasters of
a money panic of the old-fashioned order The
character of the appointments made by President
Wilson TO the Federal Reserve Board has received
widespread popular approval, and optinism--which
was shaken some time ago by the locations estab-
hshed for the new Federal reserve districts-has
been engendered by the names of the men chosen to
establish and operate the Federal reserve system
Business in the United States is liquidated All
banking opinion untes in the declaration that busi-
ness matters are down to sound basis, that unwise
extensions have been 'curtailed, and weak spots
strengthened. Our security markets have been
pueed by consistent and persistent selling of stocks
and year of continued speculative operations for the
fall in values has found prices at practically the
same level as they in 1913. Genuine holders of
stocks longer frightened by bugaboos and in
duced to throw their securities upon the market
Not only is business liquidated, but labor is
liquidated. Our railroad companies are not sending
out single train, whether of freight or passenger
cars that they do not have to send out and are not
employing single that they do not have to en-
poy. Mercantile and other large employing con-
Germs everywhere are in the condition, unsold
supplies of goods nonexistent shelves are fairly
empty, and in general accumulated stocks of mer-
chandise small The price of commodities in daily
low record levels, to speak from another point
of view, down to quotations which in the past have
marked the beginnings of large buying movements
Basis exists for no small an amount of hope
fulness if of merely general character in the
length of time that business depression has already
lasted Periods of business depression with us have
seldom, if ever, lasted than seven years. The
usual period of these depressons has been FIVE years.
Seven years ago occurred the panic of 1907.
Well informed men everywhere seem to be of the
opinion (though possibly wish is father to the
though) that probably the worst has been seen of
the Mexican disturbances so far as own country
is concerned. 1t may be years before settled state
of law and order is seen in Mexico; but the in
iicatons grow stronger each day that troops
will go no farther in Mexico than they have already
gone.
1t is almost unnecessary to advert to what should
be the assured fact that the railways will receive
some relief from the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion in the shape of increased freight rates. No
knows how large ratio of increase the railway COM
panies will be permitted to charge, but it is
ceded that the present charges low and that
the companies are in need of at least the mooted S
per cent If they to 60 serving the business
in the manner in which they should. To
any observer who believes in the intelligence of the