New Britain herald., 1919-01-01

\ lIal IF |.)l .sssssI sllI gfeater mum Der psfrg II lsfospeet) Tie August l number, howeverl ref1ecting. as it did gover ernment price-fxing of cot ton goods showed aYdecline. and the following numbers showed a rather uncertain, but, on the whole, down ward trend until December 1, when, contrary to many expectations based on the return of peace, the Index Number moved sharply upward, due to the rise of meats and dairy pro- ducts, which, of course, are and have been in a class by themselves, owine, to war demands. Illustrative of this it might be said, selected list of meats, breadstuffs, dairy products and groceries on July 1, 1918, showed gains of 65 to 160 per cent. as com pared with the prices ruling at the outset of the great war in 1914. Brad streets approximate Index Number of December 1 shows that prices as a whole are only seven- tenths of i per cent. below the high point of July 1 are per cent. above Dec. a year ago, and 11S per cent. above the level rul- ing on August i, 1914. Compared With April 1, 1917, on the eve of our entry into the war, the advance Is 30 per cent. The Index Number for the entire year 1918 is $1S.73, which is 216 Der cent. above the low record year 1896, twenty-two years ago.
 Of the crop outturn of 1918, it may be said that it was excellent In part, fair in other respects and bad in but few, the conspicuous shortages being, however, in animal feeding stuffs, corn, hay oats and potatoes, which has been an unfavorable element in the matter of meat production and prices. Owing to a record yield of spring wheat, the wheat crop as a whole was classible as good, though 1000, 10000 900 bushels below the high record of 1914. Oats and potatoes fell off little, but the loss In corn due to drought il the summer is hard to make up, Barley, rye, sweet potatoes, peanuts and beans and tobacco all showed record yields. Cotton yields were larger than in either of the pre- ceding two years, but short when measured by the yield of 1914. Tn the matter of prices paid, farm pro- ducts left little to be desired, corn, potatoes, rye. beans and cabbage be- ing among the few showing smaller financial returns. Cereal crop values as a whole $6.971, 634 900, break all records, exceeding 1917 by 4 per cent. and all crops, valued at $12,272, ,412.- 900, gained per cent. over the pre- cedi1g year, itself a high-record point in values. These financial returns, could with the planting of d record area. 49, 9,027, 1000 acres, in winter wheat, with the third highest concli- tion recorded, contain excellent prom ise for the coming year so far as the farmer is concerned, especially so In that an excellent price is guaranteed him for 1919, in case, as is possible,
 a yield exceeding that of 1914 is re- aIized
 Looking Forward.
 While a certain amount of the buoyancy with which the victory of the Allies was greeted has disap- reared, and readjustments from a war to a peace basis in industry have made for good deal of uncertainty, due mainly to the question of the flu tlre of prices and the disposition of unneeded war supplies, there seems to be no good reason for taking counsel of our fears as to what is to happen after peace terms are signed. Much Weighty talk of problems to be sa1ved appears in the papers, but unless all past experience is at fault, most of the problems arising are very similar to those encountered in other periods of readjustment following widespread hostilities. If the result had been diff ferent and Germany had won, there might have been good reasons for a vast deal of worry. But civilization has won; the rattling sword, the shin ing armor and other properties" of the Berlin snowman. as Harden called him, have been "elegated to the scrap n l1aS n ten with bated breath 10 the rantings Of people who in the past had made murder and robbery profitable while n1asQuera ding under the COmpara- lively respectable name of war. We dc not believe the millennium has come, or that We have seen our last war, but something like what the poet TennysOn termed q Parliament of Nations" is about to meet, and un- der the agreements likely to be evolved therefrom. the world should be a safer place 10 live and do busi- ness in.
 We believe that a big potential de- mand for goods exists, at a price, and it is known that there is and will be a tremendous demand for food products from Europe, while mate rials for clothing and for shelter and implements of agriculture will prob ably be badly needed. The United States, having suffered the least of all the belliGorents, should be in posi- ton to sup@ly these demands, as we have a good share of the food and the raw materials which the world needs, and our prestige has certainly not suffered at the hands of the two million men who have represented us in Europe. We also have-What we hitherto lacked-a big merchant ma-