New Britain herald., 1918-07-06
Henry CleHs Weekly Letfer
Especial to Herald.

 ditions generally hopeful, though highly confusing and in some respects uncertain The undcrtone of cOnfi- dcnce, however, is still running strong; the military outlook being decidedly encouraging. Germany'S supreme cf- fort has practically failed; since the Allied armies have not been divided, the British are not driven into the sea, and Paris has not fallen into the enomy's hands While the drive will soon be renewed, these contingencies are now less remote than at any tme since the campaign began, and the French and British are confident of holding their own. Driving back the AuStrians over the PiaVe afforded particular encouragement; not only by depressing Austrian morale and raiS- ing the Italian. but also through Sav- ing ItaIN's great industrial plain in the north; the loss of which would have affected all the Allies adversely. The greatest encouragement Of aII however, from the American stand point, is the marvellous rapidity in perfcCting plans for our entrance into the war. There are now over d mill lion American soldiers in France full ly equipped, and by January 1st, it is expected that we will have approXi- mately 4,000,000 men in tho army. Submarines have proved failure. and the huge shipbuilding campaign ini- tiated by our government is now being rapidly carried out. We celebrated the Fourth of July by launching near ly one hundred ships and fourteen destrOyers, aggre Gating about 800 900 tons. These arc wonderful accom- plishmcnts. despite the criticisms ShoWcrcd upon the administration d few months ago. We shall soon also be shipping acroplanes on a Iarge scale. Industrial mobiiHation of the stel industry is complete and the entire war machinery Of the country is running at high pressure and with as little friction as possible. America has certainly gotten it's stride, and the American army will soon enlighten Germany as to it's fighting capacity; so we may hope confidently for the victory which our aid will surely hasten
 Expect Greater Sacrifice
 But there is another aspect to the situation that cannot be ignored This terrible war involves vast sacrifices of life. blood and treasure and the end is by no means yet in sight: for while the enemy may be weakening still he is not beaten, and since 1t is matter of life and death for the mili- tary autocracy of Germany, that party must and will continue the war until conquered by shattering blow, which will require even greater efforts by the Allies than any hitherto put forth. This country must. therefore. be pre- pared for still greater sacrifices, for heavier taxes, for far more rigid econ omy and even luther government reg ulatlon. Sad to say, it must also be prepared for growing casualty list. Price fixing and rationing orders are especial sources Of complaint: neVer- thelesS, such incidents must be ox- pcCted, and it should be added that they are usually cheerfulIy met, the policy of the government unQuestion- ably being to create as little friction as possible.
 The most encouraging business fac tor is the crop outlook. nature in this respect having tarticularly favored the United States. Aside from slight damage to wheat that crop still promises very heavy yield, probably the second largest on record, with the remote possibility Of being a bumper crop. The harvest of winter wheat, which is usually about two thirds of the crop. is now well ad- Vanced, yielding excellent results, and
 should be completed during July. The expected yield is nearly d billion bushels or about 350.OOO,O00 more than last year; an ample supply for our Allies as well as for ourselves. The price of wheat is now $2.26. com pared with a. range of $1.OS to $176 in 1911. In l911. 10 to , cents was 900 bushels Our cotton crop also promises extraordinary results Ac- CordinG to tho government report the accraGe is per cent higher than last year and condition 5.5 points higher, indicating q yield of 15. 300, 900 bales. This would be 4,00O,0O0 bales more than last year and nearly equal to the bumper crop of 15 ,692, 900 bales in1911. In 1911, 10 to 13 cents was a good price for cotton. the present price. being nearl treble those figures. Needless to say tho cotton industry is much disturbed Prices of finished products are very high, staples hay ing considerably more than doubled during the last twelve months while manufacturers are distracted by strikes in one direction. prospects of government regulation and price fix ing in another, and an uncertain cot ton outlook in still another. Two ad- dttiOnal growing mouths are still ahead of us, and August it not July, is us- ually a month of more or less crop