The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1916-06-19
scr a DEpENDAsLE rRospERITY

Much has been said in the public
press and. elsewhere during recent
months concerning the prosperity
which is said to be Overwhelming the
railroads as well as certain other IN
dustrial enterprises and lest the
public fly to conclusions not warrant.
ed by the facts, it Is we'll to inquire
into the causes Of this alleged trans
formation in the business world. That
certain railroads have recently expo.
rieneed large increases in their reye-
nues no wen informed man viii at
tempt to deny and yet a cursory anal
ysis viii show in practically every in.
stance that these Increases are due TO
the. enormous movement in foreign
war munitions and hence the lions
share Of them is confined to the
great steel districts Of the east where
orders for hundreds of millions of
dollars worth Of war supplies have
been concentrated during the last year
and half
Again, certain of the great western
lines have shown marked increases
due in large part to the fact chat the
Panama Canal was out of commission
during the greater part Of the past
winter and hence these roads have
carried All enormous amount Of ton
mage which would otherwise have TAX
en- the sea route. In other words this
so-called prosperity Of the railroads is
due not to wholesome and dependa.
Bile change ia the domestic business
situation but to abnormal conditions
produced by the great European trag-
edy and once the cannon cease roar
ing and the soldiers return ~ their
fields and factories Il means that we
here in the United States are certain
to be brought face to face with one
Of the most serious economic situa-
tions in our history and one which IL
win require the best thought in Inc
nation to meet and cope with
IN the twinkling Of an eye the boom
in war munitions will disappear and
we will once more be brought back to
earth With billions Of dollars Of war
debt encumbering every great Euro
pean nation it means that, III selfde-
fense, their future commercial policy
Will be to buy as little rs possible up-
on the one hand and to sell as much
as possible upon the other-for only
IN this way can they hope to recoup
their wasted fortunes The first result
will be tremendous falling OF in
American exports and here in the
| great central west this means a heavy
blow to the farmers wheat, pork and
beef-for the new Europe that is to be
has mortgaged its buying power for
a long time to come and will have to
sit down to more frugal dinner ta-
Bile than in many long year On
the other hand, it means that the
American manufactures will have to
fight as never before for every avail
able dollars worth Of world trade
for even as economy will be the
watch word at home, so, "get the bus
mess" will be the European slogan
in every great mart and market upon
the habitable globe.
Hardly had the march to Paris be.
gun when the great German captains
of industry and the German trade ex-
perts got their heads together to make
plans for the future to see what com
mercial policies should be inaugural.
ed regardless Of whether in the end
Germany should win or lose. IN a lit.
tie while France and England follow
ed suit while here in the United
States we have become intoxicated
with the idea that we are prosper.
ous'.that the goose hangs high
and hence we have paid little or no
heed to the rude awakening which is
almost certainly in store for us and
with which we may have to deal at
any moment
That it will find US with a merchant
marine hopelessly inadequate is al
ready certain-and this means that
we will be dependent upon ships own
ed by our commercial adversaries in
which to transport our goods That
we should have put in more time cul-
tiyating friendly neutral markets while
the other fellows were fighting and
less time joy riding with war babies"
this also is certain. And yet at this
late day lamenting over these matters
is good deal like crying pver spilled
milk. Manifestly the overwhelming
need of the hour is to put our own
house in good ordern-to see to it that
our great industrial enterprises are
put upon sound footing at the earli
est possible moment in order that we
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