It is astonishing how fully Providence sometimes squares accounts with the falsifier. Whatever may be thought of the advisability or inadvisability of the hemp duty rebate, there is no escape from the conclusion that it does not determine the price of hemp. While it is true that there has been a time during the past two years when the hemp grower received half, or less than half, the price for his product which he obtained ten years ago, it is also true that during the latter part of this same period he has received very much higher prices than either he or any of his ancestors ever before obtained. This apart from the fact that the price ten years ago was quite abnormal, due to crop shortage resulting from a bad state of public order. It is a poor rule that does not work both ways. If the hemp rebate is responsible for the recent slump in prices, it must also be responsible for their having later “kicked the beam.”
The facts set forth in the following tables are also significant of improved conditions:—
Banking
| Fiscal Year | Total Resources of Commercial Banks | Increase (+) or Decrease (-) |
| Per Cent | ||
| 1906 | $15,351,690 | |
| 1907 | 17,054,358 | +11 |
| 1908 | 17,454,214 | + 2 |
| 1909 | 18,138,425 | + 4 |
| 1910 | 22,856,455 | +26 |
| 1911 | 24,557,697 | + 7 |
| 1912 | 35,885,728 | +46 |
| 1913 | 31,210,177 | -13 |
Postal Savings Bank
| Fiscal Year | Depositors in the Postal SavingsBank | Total Amount DueDepositors at Close of Year | ||
| Number | Increase | Amount | Increase | |
| Per Cent | Per Cent | |||
| 1907[7] | 2,331 | $254,731 | ||
| 1908 | 5,389 | 131 | 515,997 | 102 |
| 1909 | 8,782 | 63 | 724,479 | 40 |
| 1910 | 13,102 | 49 | 839,123 | 16 |
| 1911 | 28,804 | 120 | 1,049,737 | 25 |
| 1912 | 35,802 | 24 | 1,194,493 | 14 |
| 1913[8] | 38,075 | 1,252,189 | ||
Coastwise Tonnage Cleared
| Fiscal Year | Tonnage | Increase (+) or Decrease (-) |
| Per Cent | ||
| 1899 | 237,852 | —— |
| 1900 | 482,685 | +103 |
| 1901 | 676,307 | + 40 |
| 1902 | 773,243 | + 14 |
| 1903 | 832,438 | + 8 |
| 1904 | 905,821 | + 9 |
| 1905 | 840,504 | - 7 |
| 1906 | 774,032 | - 8 |
| 1907 | 899,915 | + 16 |
| 1908 | 978,968 | + 9 |
| 1909 | 1,045,075 | + 7 |
| 1910 | 1,053,426 | + 1 |
| 1911 | 1,303,606 | + 24 |
| 1912 | 1,362,620 | + 5 |
| 1913 (at the rate of) | 1,262,136[9] | - 7 |
Importations of Coal (Equal Consumption Very Nearly)[10]