The Washington herald., 1915-01-27
A Turn of Fortunes Wheel.

used TO sing. Perhaps this is always the case in
this busy, active world. Time brings constant
cGanCe 1t is full of developments and new
things. sometimes of most surprising sort But
in our own experience we cannot recollect pre-
vious year when such an extraordinary revelation
has been made OF the financial and industpal
strength and general economic power OF the
United States.
It is already an old story now of how. six
months ago, people were respondent and almost
dcspairng over the political and business situa>
ton Rule in the country seemed to have passed
into bungling hands. Socialism and the widest
radicaIism seemed to be in the ascendent 1t
looked as though the country bound for the
uttermost depths OF poverty and ruin and there
was no hope lett To add to our other miserles,
the greatest war in history broke out on the con-
tincnt OF Europe. All the people in the world
who had debts maturing here demanded their
pay in gold.
And vet there were those who remembered
the dying words of John Bigelow, one OF the
philosophers and statesmen of a former genera
ton, just before he passed away in New York
CITY, little while ago. at the age of ninetythree
years:
Il have lived to be very old man, and at
least five times in my life it has seemed as if our
country was gallopng straight up to a precipice
and would rush headlong over the brink into
perdtion. But just before it reached the Preci-
pice the gaoping horses always stopped, and
instead of being lost the country entered upon a
new career of glory"
Sometimes the traveller in Switzerland goes to
see the grandest of all sights there-the Matter
horn as it can be observed from Zermatt. After
a tedious journey in a narrow-gauge railway car
he sets out upon a rack and pinion railway up a
l., = 14eJ
fully, and the mists which hang around the upper
regions of the mountains gather and finally cloud
his view entirely There is no mountain prospect
nor far-extendcd scene, and it seems as il his
entire journey has been in vain. But oftentimes,
when he is near Zermatt the mists clear and
there appears in the crystal air, occupying the
entire field OF vision, and with background OF
blue sky behind it, the stupendous spectacle OF
the Matterhorn, its black sides lined with gsten-
ing ice and its curved and fearful peak towering
above
But a prospect more superb than this has just
been unveiled to the astonshed and still incred-
ulous eyes of the people of our country. 1t is as
if we were not looking at something real, but
stood upon a carpet of dreams spread out by
some Oriental magician Instead of being pow
erty-stricken wealth almost unheard of in the
history OF nations is being poured into our lap
We were told only yesterday that the world had
come to such a pass that there was literally moth
ling in Europe that not for sale, and that our
own country although not involved IN the war
could not escape a general vortex OF financial
ruin. But the truth is, as it is slowly being re-
Iveaed that the United States is the only country
on earth where anything can be bought. OF
course, such statement is not to be interpreted
literally, because the United States does not deal
=
monds and good many other articles and COM
moditics But it is literally the only neutral
nation where the warning nations can obtain
food and practically all of the necessary supplies
that they need. They talk of America as a ncu-
traI nation but America is the arbtcr of their
dcsincs
We wonder If it has dawncd on the comprc-
hcnson Of the people OF Europe, or even OF the
rcoplc of the United States, that have it in
our absolute and unChallcnged power to bring the
great European struggle to end by merely
stopping the export of wheat from our shores
! We probably will not do this long we have
wheat to spare to whoever wants to buy it. But
nevertheless it j. very questionable if we will
have wheat to spare for this purpose through
another winter. Happily, this season we had Z
wheat surplus of nearly 36o,oooooo bushels, but
this ~ already largely exhausted and 1t is i'm
possible fOr fighting l.urOpc, or tor a nonhghtlne
but exhausted Europe, to raise more than a small
crop in tho coming agricultural season. 1t is no
passing beyond the bounds of cautious speech tc
say that because of this consideration alone th'
end of the war can be said to be in sight; and i
becomes more and more certain each day tina
for an indefinite time to come the foreign trade
of the United States will be the most profitable il
! its history We arc among those who, becaus
of this situation, which has been disclosed will
startling suddcnncss, look to sec a foreign trad
balance accumulated in favor of the United States
war or no war; the extent of at least $Ioo oo
a month through the present year; and VIC star
out on this program with our floating indebted
ness TO Europe paid off and with reserve OF tn
banks in New York City alone $I35,ooo,ooo NOR
tlan the law calls for. We know personally o
one farmer in the State of Iowa who has alrcad!
cleared 100000 from the sale OF portion OF hi
crops raised this year on 1000 acres OF land.
! Now, if the dcmagoguc politician can only b.
laid away quietly! But VIC think thc people vii
attend to him.
Penalty of Obeying the Law.
/ A police regulation provides penalty for per