New Britain herald., 1920-01-13
4, ]. SLOPER SEES ERA
 OF GREAT PROSPERITY
Dean of Local Financiers Has Optimistic Outlook
 For Future.

In an interesting informal talk be- fore about so members of the mer- ] cantile bureau of the New Britain Chamber of Commerce at the weekly dinner at the Elks' club this noon,
 Hon. A. J. Sloper, dean of local finan- ciers, gave summary of what he
 considers g,t.tuTe Business Condf- tons will be. His sentiments, which
 he branded as purely personal opin- ionS, were that the city, with the rest of tho country, is to enjoy pe-
 riod Of one, two or three years of continued prosperity, with but two
 possible means of disturbances which would hang up the wheels for
 time." These two menaces comprise:
 The return of the railroads to pri-
 vate control and the calling of a gen.
 eral strike when they are; and the
 possibility that labor will continue to
 desire more than it's share of the pro-
 ceeds of industry.
 Tt is bold and audacious to pre-
 dict said the speaker, "but it is my
 belief that we are due for one year of continued prosperity and probably two or three or four. Daniel Web- ster stated that the future might only
 bS JuUSSd Dy lllO past NhI SlOpST then gave the basis for his belief, which was partially brought about by
 the financial history of the Civil war and the period thereafter, and partly by the present condition of local banks and manufacturing institutions. The United States is the strongest nation | in the world today. It's standard of currency is high and nations buying here have to pay for their stuff at our prices, even though their cur rercy is much lower in exchange. We have no competition from other na- tions in our products and control the world market as a nation. with little to fear from immediate sales of cheap goods from the other side. Prices : during the Civil war period were not i much lower than they are now and 1 wages were as high then, in propor- I ton to q few years before, as they | are now, also in proportion. No panic 1 is to be expected the Federal Re l serve system has provided a reser- 1 voir for funds which is nearly mex 1 haustible. Money troubles are prac- ! tically impossi ble.
 GoVernrlen taxation is very high 1 and it is axiom atic that high taxes ! bring high living costs. High wages and high production costs will follow | but this places a great deal more 1 money in circulation. Thus there is 1 more to spend for the individual, or : inc consumer, who eventually pays the | price, The taxes are bound to be high. l They will be for many years to come and there is no reason to expect a. | drop in costs or wages in the imm edi- l ate future. At this point the speaker 1 ;aid that Eff any of the local concerns 1 had had to spend the same amount in l '62 aas they put into tXes for this year. they would have been bank ] 1-upted. which shows you what New 1 Britain has done.'
 Summing uv. he said the banks have deposits of over S2,0O0,000 and are very strong financially, thereby insur- ing that the business man may be sure of Q reasonable amount of easy credit on fair terms for expanding his busi- ness tThe factories are a year be- hind production, providing they wish to carry the usual surplus of stock on their shelves and the country is clu- 1noring for what New Britain manu- factures. They are all strong finan- cially and no failures in the industrial line are expected. The money paid over the counter of the banks weekly and the bulk of it is wages. is very Continued on Eleventh Page).