Our Prosperity Will Continue Its Reign During 1903

THE PROSPERITY OF 1903 WILL, I THINK, IN EVERY RESPECT KEEP PACE WITH THAT OF THE YEARS THAT HAVE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDED IT. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO OBSERVE ANY EVIDENCES OF RETROGRESSION IN THE SITUATION.

Business in every branch continues to be conducted on a profitable basis, the crops are abundant and the railroads will have offered them during the present year a tonnage that will exceed that of 1902.

The corn crop has now begun to move in heavy volume, and all signs point to a larger export trade than that of the year just closed. Manufacturers are finding a growing market for their output, the farmers are prosperous and happy, and domestic trade will also increase in volume. The railroads will take care of their increased cost of operation by a moderate advance in rates, and their physical condition has been brought to such perfection that the large sums heretofore devoted to betterments will now become available for the dividend or surplus account.

THE ONLY DIFFICULTY IN THE SITUATION IS THE FACT THAT THERE IS NOT ENOUGH MONEY IN THE COUNTRY TO TRANSACT THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS.

If the new year brings us intelligent and adequate currency legislation, the continuance of prosperity will be assured not only for 1903, but for years to come.