No cut and dried rules or suggestions can be offered as to the effects of political or legislative issues on prices. Each point must be scrutinized as it arises, and judgment formed thereon. Sympathetic movements will sometimes occur because of apprehension or misunderstanding, but such effects will be short-lived. _Crops and Crop Failures._ The question of crop failures is of great importance. It is not difficult to form a fairly correct idea as to the ultimate yield. The estimates of the Government sometimes go wide of the mark, but it must be remembered that they are _estimates_ and nothing more, and that conditions may change somewhat after the figures are compiled. The speculator is frequently confused by the conflicting opinions of private experts. It is probably safer to disregard the various authorities and pin one’s faith to the computations of the bureau at Washington. These official documents have been criticized at times, and no doubt the criticism has been warranted, but they form our most dependable source of information and will improve as time rolls on. A crop failure, or a short crop, invariably brings forth much fallacious vaporing from the rooters of Wall Street. They are as bad in their efforts to obscure the truth as are the crop-killers with their fabrications. A crop failure is a serious thing and must be faced as such. The contention which is always heard in lean seasons, that the evil has been counter-acted because of the large reserves of Wheat, Corn or Cotton in farmers’ hands is ridiculous. Farm reserves are wealth. They have already found their place in the business structure. In many cases the money they represent has already been spent in the form of credits. Nor do high prices for cereals or cotton overcome the evils of short production. Small crops mean decreased employment for laborers; a diminution of per capita purchasing power, and increased cost of living. They also mean smaller tonnage for the railroads, and consequently decreased earnings. And in examining crop prospects, we should consider the fact that each year’s normal crop should be larger than the one preceding it. This is distinctly shown by tracing production back for a term of years. There will, of course, be fluctuations in this gradual increase, but the tendency is certain. We may also consider that as railroads are constantly extending their lines and increasing their facilities, it follows that increased production in the commodities they transport is necessary to their well being. And short crops the world over in the same year have the same elements of economic evil. The purchasing power of the world is reduced, and even if we ourselves make fair crops and export them at high prices, the world’s poverty is felt in lack of demand for other exportable surplus. The civilized world is too closely knit together in its affairs to permit of the entire localization of the effects of a serious property loss.