Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-01-03
BUS|NESSBOOMIS
NOW nation WIDE
New Year Brings Dawn Of Greatest
Era OF Prosperity in His
tory.
COMMITTEE MAKES A REPORT
Spirit OF Optimism Found to Prevail
Generally = Is Work For
Nearly All.

Washington, D. c., Jan 3.-The
birth of the new year brought with
it the dawn of the greatest era of
prosperity in the history of the coun-
try, according to the report of the
committee on statistics and stand
ards of the United States chamber
Of commerce, which was made public
today.
The report asserts that the business
outlook is much brighter than it was
this time last year. 1t adds that a
spirit OF optimism such as never be-
fore has been found throughout the
country permeates the whole land.
There is a general belief among bus
mess men, according to the commit
tee, that the prosperity Of 1916 will
more than recompense them for the
dull periods of the last few years.
The committee attributes the rosy
outlook to the impetus given bust
ness by the European war 1t states
that TIE present prosperity of the
country is based on war orders and
! the firm belief among business men
that the United States will not be
dragged into the conflict.
Fear War May Come to {. S.
Referring specifically to conditions
caused by the European war, the re-
port of this committee, of which A.
| w Douglas of st. Louis is chairman,
says:
THE adverse effect of the conflict
in Europe still prevails in some sec
tons. There are still scattered fears
of the possibility of this country be-
ing involved in the strife, but as
| against this the large portion of the
people are paying less and less at
| tention to the war and are concen-
| trating their efforts on domestic mat
| ters
Beyond this is the striking fact
| that the influence Of the war at pres
| ent as whole is more favoraL g than
| adverse, because of the tremendous
impetus it has given to certain lines
of manufacturing.
While there are many conjectures
as to the consequent effect upon bus
| mess of such a contingency, the gen.
eral belief centers around the con-
viction that the war will last for some
time and that the part of wisdom is
to make the most of the present sit
uation and not take undue thought
of the morrow by attempting to fore
cast the likelihood of what will hap
pen if peace is declared"
Cotton Yield Best Ever.
The report says the crop yields in
general, other than cotton, exceed
those Of any year known in our his
tory The quality Of the corn crop is,
as rule, below the average in the
most northern territories and gen.
orally good throughout the south,
where it was raised this year to an
extent never known before
1T seems now well settled that the
cotton crop will be one of the small
est for several years. the report
says, but it is being sold at remun-
erative prices. 1t is practically all
picked, and a large portion of it is
sold
Because Of the unusual diversifi-
cations in the south during 1915, there
resulted the largest grain and for
age crops Of all descriptions ever
known in the history of that section
There are also more hogs, cattle and
dairy cows in the south than ever
before. The southern states as a
whole are more self-contained than
at any time in their history, and are
apparently on a sure and solid foun-
dation in all agricultural and indus
trial ways.
'The oil and gas industries have
experienced revival because OF
much higher prices This favorably
affects Illinois, West Virginia, Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and
southern California"
Less Winter Wheat Acreage.
The acreage sown of winter wheat
according to the report, is about 1919
per cent less than last year at this
time and the condition is not quite
so good. The decrease in acreage tC
large extent is in the principal win