The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1916-07-14

The United States is enjoying the
greatest era of prosperity in its his
tory, and the outlook for the future Of
the country was never so bright. I'M
like all previous periods of great bus
mess activity, the present ascendency
in all lines Of industrial endeavor
possesses all the elements Of perma-
nence, provided we avail of the OPP
portunities, which are being literally
thrust into our hands, with that intelli-
gence energy and enterprise so char
acteristic of the spirit of the American
people.
Prosperity has permeated every
corner of the country. Every line OF
business is pulsating with it. Every
industry is driving at top speed of
profitable activity Labor is employed
throughout the land at the highest
wages ever known, and the demand
for labor in all parts of the country
seems to be in excess of the supply.
Never in American history have con-
ditions been so favorable to American
business and American industry. We
have not alone the full dinner pail,
but the overlooking dinner pail.
Agriculture, which is the basis Of
all prosperity, is experiencing a most
wholesome growth. The farmers of
the United States never in their his
tory have enjoyed such splendid re-
wards for their toll, and never before
have the economic conditions and the
laws already enacted by Democratic
administration so justly favored them.
The Rural Credits bill, which has
been passed and approved by the
President, will emancipate the farmer
from many of the most serious ills he
has so long endured and provide the
long time credits, at low rates of in
terest, so essential to the remunera-
tive and productive development of
the farming industry.
Money and credit are abundant;
the ghost of panic has been securely
laid. In the midst of war-torn and
war-worn world, with adversely crum-
bling the economic foundation of al
most every other great power, the
financial, commercial and industrial
conditions in the United States are
phenominally sound and exceptional
ly strong. This is due not to transit
tory war orders, or phenomenal trade,
but to the amazing economic strength
of the United States.
Work of Reserve Act.
The Federal Reserve Act, which is
now generally conceded to be the most
constructive measure placed upon our
statute books in a half century, is the
greatest contributing factor in this
happy condition. The Federal Re-
serve system has been in operation less
than two years, during which time
the nation has passed through the
greatest crisis Sand strain the world
has ever seen. We have successfully
withstood the shock of the European
cataclysm and have rebounded into the
most uneXampled prosperity any ma
ton has ever known. The Federal
Reserve system has provided the elias
tic and responsive credit sources for
the expansion and growth of the bus
mess and the development of our coun-
try.
The straight jacket in which the
business and industry of the United
States have been cramped and limited
by the old financial laws of the Repub-
lican party has been shattered and the
country may grow without restriction
to the full limit of healthful and le-
ultimate expansion. Not only has the
reserve system provided ample credit !
resources and strengthened the finan-
cial structure of the country immeas-
lrably, but it has caused more equit-