New Britain herald., 1915-12-31

1 or EuTOpG. NeVerLneleSS, the OuC- kcome of certain new tendencies can
 be somewhat apprehended and read ! justments of great importance arc 1 inevitable. When peace comes denl- ocracy will make great strides, es- 1 pecially in Great Britain, Germany
 and possibly in Italy also. Class die-
 ferences will be largely modified. A better understanding will be attain ] ed between extremes in the social
 scale; also between capital and labor, ] partly as result of the comradeShip ] bred through sharing common dan
 gers on the battlefield or in the 1 trenches In spite of new anim osi-
 ties many old ones will be forgotten.
 Many old problems and many former
 evils will melt away under the new ones pressing for solution. It is safe
 to believe that out of this tragic
 struggle of fire and sword much good
 will eventually come. In some re-
 spects the world will be saner lid
 better than before the struggle. Even
 the bitter hatred now eating into the vitals of nations will gradually soften
 and disappear. And above all it is 1 reasonable to hope that no other 1 great war will occur for many year1 to come. Some preventive, in the form of enforced peace if necessary, will he applied. Great changes are to be expected in the formation and purposes of the various governments;
 and unless all signs fail we are to see widening of government activi- ties the world over, especially in the industrial field. The war forced
 Great Britain into socialistic meas ures on a scale never before con-
 templated and it remains to be seen whether that government will loosen it's control of railroad, insurance,
 shipping and the manufacturing en-
 terprises undertaken as war measures.
 Increased government regulation
 seems inevitable How far that will
 extend into actual ownership remains
 to be seen. Suffice it to say that Eu-
 rope has to face a long and unsettling
 period of reconstruction and read
 justraent to new theories of social ac-
 tivities which will cause much un-
 rest The reflex action of the war
 upon the political situation in the
 United States will also be an inter-
 esting problem. With it's consequent
 stimulus upon American trade and
 industry we are already familiar, but
 whether the unrest and extravaganza
 of this country derived from prolong-
 ed prosperity, will be checked as abroad, only the future can determine, This country has not been chastened by serious diversity or overwhelming crises for many years, and we cannot expect to entirely escape the reflex action Of the upheaval in Europe. which sooner or later will reach these shores.
 Conditions at Home.
 Home conditions are distinctly bet ter than a year ago. Of much en- couragement is the shifting attitude of the government towards big bus mess from one of open hostility to one of friendly regulation. Harsh in- vestigations and prosecutions have 1 ceased. So also has corporation-bait- l ing, because it no longer pays politi l cally, and hurts industrially. The l new Federal Commission is at work endeavoring to tackle the stupendous job of regulating the commercial af- fairs of the United States in the spirit of fair play. It's great difficulty will be to decide what is and what is not fair competition. Many of the old political issues which throttled enter prise for years have ceased to exist, and it is years since business had so little to fear from unintelligent hos tility as now. While this change is 1 partly due to recognition of the in- jury to capital and labor alike from such hostile policies, the war was un- a powerful factor in this evolution because it diverted atA>ntion from old problems and forced atten- tion upon the new. In place of tar if, banking and other problems we edness, revenue, shipping. etc.. all of which can be'traced directly to the European struggle. The coming year, 1916, will be a presidential year and consequently year of much talk and little action in the legislature. but in spite of this the political outlook so far as business is concerned is less disturbing than year ago. The outlook is also encourag- ing The year 1915 proved a year of big crops; the largest and most pro- f1table on record. The long era of prosperity which American farmers have enjoyed is assured for another season. Even in the South, where the output of cotton showed a large decrease, growers are likely to secure a. larger value through the nearly doubling of prices. Interior merchants are consequently anticipating good business for at least the first half of the new year, and have had to buy freely. for the replenishment of empty shelves. In the East business has been materially aided by marvellous activity in the steel industry, melted at first by war orders. but intensified and prolonged by what Is far more an awakened home con- Many important buyers, the railroads, had post poned orders as a matter of econ- omy. With the turn of the tide, this accumulation of business came out