BETTER YEAR PREDICTED

The outlook for 1924 from a local standpoint is full of encouragement. The wheat crop upon which we rely for most of our income is promising. The prospect for a reasonable price, as compared to the price of things the farmers have to buy, seems good, since the manufacturers and financial beads have learned that all prosper-tiy rests upon the basic industries.

The volume of business done by merchants and other dealers here is about the same as last year. December business was practically the same, with the holiday trade a little lighter. Despite the low price of wheat the people living on the farms and in town have been able to do about the usual amount of luying. Many are still holding the 1923 wheat crop, hoping for a better price. Probably half the crop is still in the hands of the growers.

Turning to the national situation we find words of encouragement from prominent and well-informed men on every hand. Secretary of Agriculture Wallace says: "Those who stay by the farm and do good farming can look forward to better times as a reward for their years of toil and hardship. Those whose businesses depend directly upon farm purchases can find decided encouragement in the growing gross income of the farmer, for lie will buy as his income expands.

"The year 1924 comes with the promise of continued improvement in the material prosperity of the farmer, and the farmer continues to be the material and spiritual backbone of the nation."

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover says: "The present is the platform of the future, and that platform has never been sounder than at the moment. There is more employment at higher real wages, more buying power than in a decade. There is a large demand for homes and a great buying of building materials. Agriculture is behind, but shows distinct improvement. Aside from that we have never had a clearer situation than at present. There is an absence of speculation. Goods move swiftly from the producer to the consumer. There is nothing in the credit situation making for a collapse. There can be no slump without a boom. There is no boom, and therefore, can be no slump. Caution combined with activity has created the present favorable situation. The situation in Europe is not encouraging, but with continued caution we will not be precipitated into a boom, and if we do not have a boom there will be no collapse."

The Washington State Retailers' association in a New Year's bulletin declares: "This New Year ought to be better than 1923—many business readjustments of 1923 have paved the way for sounder business conditions."