Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-12-12
REPORTS POUR IN
.. Of BUSINESS BOOM
Revival of Commercial Activ-
- ity Not Confined to Any
t One Line.
RAILROADS A BAROMETER
OF GOOD TIMES AT HAND
South and West an Optimistic View
ra, of the Situation Is
"a Taken.
NEW YORK. Dec

NEW YORK. December lit is re-
narkable with what unanimity the
prosperity bulletins pouring into
o New York city from every part of the
-iInited States. There are in this city
eznumerous agencies which receive, COM
pile and publish business reports of
every description, and it is therefore
''.ppssble at all times to keep well in
Enformed as to the exact condition of any
Jsparticular business industry at any
.,,particular time. As there is always a
great deal more satisfaction in publish
ing favorable reports and optimistic
predictions than in spreading the It'd
'Jiags of business oppression, these
agencies are now exceptionally active,
aJand their cumulative effect is very re-
!, 1reshiug to American business men at
this time
" Attention has already been called in
o'this review to such general business
.barometers as the bank clearings. rail-
road earnings. steel and iron produc-
JeIIon and the ever-enlarging farm prod
sducts. These have Enthusiastically pointed
s4tp fair weather for many months:
but at present they are being strongly
reinforced by the more detailed and spe-
s-cihc contributions from wholesale and
1saetail merchants, from labor bureaus
and from the country banking institu-
tons, which. in the last analysis, come
closest to the small country merchant
and the farmer. Many of the large job
bling firms are reporting the best bust
"'hess they have ever known. while in
nrthe large industrial districts the rapid
employment of all available skilled
ala Dor. the weekly enlargement of the
payrolls and the increasing volume of
recorders point to a new period of in
I'dustrial and commercial expansion.
i.r Domestic Demand Increasing.
l
,IaSsmendous demand for steel goods
brstid for many industrial commodities
lis becoming less applicable to the for=
adeisn and more to the domestic trade.
This is a healthy Indication, for no
,stMAtter how profitable the war trade
ss,lray have been in it's inception, it is
by no means to be considered as de-
s!raDie or comparatively permanent
J4eature of American export trade. How
I.ever, it is expected that at the close of
oithe war, or even prior to that time,
..Ye shall have tremendous call for
saAmerican manufactured articles, big
and small. prominent among which
cnwill be our standard machinery and
2, harvesting implements in order to bind
Up the ravages of the terrible devas-
a tation inflicted by the war. Already
g.. the trade emissaries of the foreign
afpations are among us, testing our
-;Tares and assisting our own industrial
LEADERS to prepare their home markets
II or the new style Of goods made in
America"
-. in order to conduct successfully these
new trade campaigns we have many
q. ,hew lessons to learn. and it is with this
81 object in view that the very important
foreign trade conference was held this
week in this city. In scope and in
fuence this three-day conference may
be considered as one of the most COM
prehensive and significant that has
business men. Speakers and commercial
experts from all lands contributed an
Immense amount of valuable informa-
-tfon. and plans We're laid for an in
tevasion of the foreign markets on a
large scale. Transportation problems
and commercial treaties received due
= attention, and the new facilities offered
by the federal reserve system clearly
= sxpounded. Every department OF Amer
itan trade and industry was ably rep
resented, not forgetting the transpor-
.tation companies and the railroads
- Prosperity in South.
- An important railroad official who
has just returned from an inspection
"Trip over the southern territory says
THAT he has observed more encourag gin g
nconditions than have prevailed in that
Section of the country for more than a
year. After the outbreak of the
> European war last year. the price OBJ
a,tained for cotton was SO low as to yield
the planters but little, if any. profit,
and this was reflected in a serious cur
tailment in purchases of all kinds of
merchandise This year a good rice
crop has been produced, and sugar
growing is now encouraged by the
prospect of the present duty import
.sUgdr being continued. While this
seasons cotton crop is about 900 600
bales less than last season, the farmers
shave grown their own feed crops. so
that the cotton crop has been produced
more economically than any crop III
vaiing is SO much more favora BILE tina,
'Heomncrcial prosperity is being re-
stored and merchants are replenshin &
rspeir depleted stocks, and if the petit
tion of the Texas railroads for some
increase in the abnormany low freigh,
rates which have prevailed in that
state is granted by the railroad com
omission of Texas. as Low anticipated
that section Of the country viii 500,
come into it's own, and the railroads
may expect to share the prosperity
similar reports reach New York from
The west, which is now very optimistic
u view of the immense volume of bust.
ness which is being DONE with the
movement spreading to virtually al
Industries. The primary narke,
movement of grains is SURPRISING al
records and the shortage on man,
lines is becoming acute. In mann
N"i"calities there is considerable com.
-piaint about the condition of corn and
Farmers are selling the best corn al
very good prices.
Cut in Wheat Acreage.
Advices from various sections tell %