The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-06-05
Secretary Redfield Points Out
the s<Highs'' and ~Lows."
Affecting the Commercial At
mosphere of the Country.
PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRESSION
That Is All That Ais Trade,
He Declares.
All the Elements of Prosperity
Are in Existence.

Raleigh, N. c.. June 5.-Secretary
of Commerce Redf1eld, in a speech here
before the Chamber of Commerce. dis
cussed business conditions throughout
the country. In part. he said:
IF we would place the business at
mosphere of the country on a sort OF
commercial weather map such as Is
used by the weather service We should
find a curious condition. In the extreme
southeast and southwest would be areas
where the business barometer is high.
All through the great central part OF
the country, where the bulk OF our
wheat is grown, would be another great
area of fair weather and high pressure.
Over the great cotton areas of the
South would be no depression, not even
unsettled conditions, but a normal look
ing for great agricultural favors ex-
pected to come. High barometer also
prevails where automobiles are made In
and about the Lake area. over the
northeastern states would be found
section Of low barometer and marked
depression. If the state of mind of the
different part. of our country could be
shaded in colors, the great body OF the
West would be white, while an area OF
duh gray would represent our north
eastern states.
As to the Facts.
ut is true that a psychological de-
preston is none the less depression
because it is psychological. We may.
therefore, fairly look into other con-
ditions to see whether the mental state
that exists has a justification in solid
fact.
1T is true, is it not, as one looks
over the country that all the condi-
tions upon which sound business
should rest exist in full force and
vigor? Few will contend that mer-
nh ~ufr cd q
the reverse true. None are so rash
as to say overspeculation exists. Nay.
on the contrary, the brokers complain
of lack of commissions. Money is not
so scarce that banks refuse legitimate
borrowers. The reverse is true. We
have sent large sums abroad of late
without cramping our financial re-
sources. 1t comes to me from more
than one quarter Of the country that
men who are pessimistic in speech
are prosperous in pocket. Things are
not tied up tight when New York reg
fore and when that great industry is
pushed to the full.
Apostles of Evil.
IF you ard I get away from the
crowded centers OF our middle and
eastern states where mental mourn
ing exists for conditions that can new
err return since the day of mastery is
over ana commerce must nenCe1Ortn
be a servant-if, 1 say, we get away
from these centers into which the
light is breaking but which it has not
yet fully Illuminated, we shall find a
different atmosphere. From far-off
California anG from Florida; from
the fields of Oklahoma and Kansas,
Missouri and Nebraska comes the
glad cry Of a harvest all but ripe for
the sickle. There was no mourning
in the orange groves of California
when I saw them in March, and
Florida utters no cry of distress in
sending $4,000 carloads of her fruit
to market.
1T is a small and pitiful thing that
men should expect to reap political
profit out of magnifying evils. How
ever, the too willing bowls of the
apostles of evil are so obvious as well
as SO previous as to be on the whole
more humorous than harmful. They
make the judicious grieve but they
bring no anxiety to the thoughtful