Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-09-04
COMMERCIAL EPJTOME.-

e COMMERCIAL EPITOME.-TL
weather has become cooler and nor
{, comfortable, and the change of seaso
b. has brought with it a slight improve
S ment of trade. Thercity is beginnin
G to ill up with those who have bee
) absent for the summer months, an
l the attendance of people at the bus
: ness centres has largely increased. -
I There have been"spurts" of activity i
f leading articles, but i'll important do
mestic staples decline of prices NOR
or less severe has taken place. Fal
. goods are being rapidly received b,
, our large wholesale dealers ant
; an active revival of trade seem
promising. On the general situation
, OF trade, the Commercial and Finan
J cial Chronicle says:
: The distributive or home trad
is slowly reviving, and though the sea
son may not meet the expectations o
the more sanguine, there is no reason
to doubt that it will be moderated,
prosperous, Certainly, a good foun
dation has been laid. There has beer
an immense amount Of indebtedness:
ilquidated during the past twelve
months, and as the stocks of goods
have been permitted to run down to {
comparatively low figure, through the
universal desire for economy and re
trenchment, the business interests OF
the country are more at liberty for &C.
tive operations than for a long period.
But more general cause for the re.
vlval of trade, as we have frequently
mad occasion to remark, exists in the
fine crops Of cereals, wool, cotton, pro-
visions, &c. Owing to the fruitfulness
OF the harvests, prices of the principal
food staples have already materially
declined, and 1T Geems to be Il fore
gone conclusion that we are to have a
year of cheap bread and meat, which
! the political economists tell us is the
main cause of diffused industrial pros
! perlty. When the food staples are
! cheap the masses of mankind have a
larger daily and weekly surplus to spend
! than at other times, which goes main
! y 10 the staple manufactures, which
{ become prosperous in turn and pro-
! vide Il larger surplus for those en-
! ployed, available for expenditures Oh
other manuf actures. There is sound
sense in this philosophy of industrial
action and reaction, and the chances
| are that it will be justified and con-
tirmed by events. Our export trade
in Wheat has been promoted during
the week by the fall in prices and the
low freights to Europe. After two or
three years Of unwonted activity in the
exports of Breadstuffs, it looks as
though the outward movement the
coming year would be comparatively
light, as the European Wheat harvests
are exceptionally good. It is to be
remembered, however, that the har-
vest year will commence with the for
eign granaries unusually bare Of stock,
| and that the minor crops are short,
which will probably ensure. ii good de
mand for our Corn and Provisions. 1t
is also probable that England will re-
Quire considerable of our Whea that
IS, If our farmers are willing to com
| pete with those Continental countries
which Lave a surplus. On the whole,
though general trade is not altogether
satisfactory, we see no occasion to de-
spair of n reasonable amount Of pros
pelity Outing the Autumn"
Our Naval Store trade fer the
week las been very quiet and
there was decline of most
Of the aiding staples. The exports
for the week show u large increase of
valuation on those of last week and
were as follows: %, 7O7 bbls Resin, Gin
ending 1881 bbls destroyed by fire
{ n Friday, 28th of August > 6,355
casks Spirits Turpentine and 191 bales
Of cotton. against 1851 bbls Rosin,
1854 casks Spirits Turpentine and 112
bales Cotton for last week. The new
crop Of Cotton is arriving slowly. We
! have received some Sor Il bales during
/ the week. Picking viii become general
about the middle of the present month
and then We may expect an active mar
ket. A destructive fire occurred OF the
2Sth ult., which destroyed 2,144 casks
! Spirits Iurpentlne and 5.GS1 bblsRosin
and caused a slight reaction in the
market on the following days but on
Saturday, there was decline to form
CT figures. Foreign freights remain
firm at IS. for Rosin and Is. for Spirits
! Turpeitine.
The course Of our local money
market has been tending Il lit
lie toward reduction in the supply of
| lOanable funds, the demands for dis
count exceeding the current maturi
ties OF paper, while the receipts OF cnr
rency through mercantile channels
and otherwise has been short of the
shipments to the country, so that de-
posts have run down somewhat; still
there is not much animation In bust
ness. and while the money market is
firner in tone rates of discount remain
| unchanged.
The chief features of the market and
the changes of prices of produce and
merchandise for the week ending were
as follows:
COTTON.-Thereh has been very lit
| tie animation in the market during the
past week, transactions being limited
| tn rooI1 ca1oc RI avrnrtarG daily
| On Monday quotations were reduced
| ! to cent and it wss difficult to effect
i any considerable sales at the reduced
prices, while holders did not seem in
clined to make concessions, and appear
to think that the time for reaction in
the market, especially in the light of
the late evidences of the drought and
damages by caterpilers cannot long be
| deferred. Some new cotton is ar
and irving, some seven or eight bales
were received during the week.
The ro~oints for the week were
$50 bales, against 100 bales for last
week, and % bales for the week pre-
vious. The exports for the week were
| l91 bales, against 112 bales for last
week, and 131 bales for the week pre-
vious. The stock in yard is 232 bales.
against 2T3 bales for last week, and
1862 bales for the week previous.
The general Cotton movement for
the week was as follows: It appears
that the total receipts for the seven days
have reached 5,88S bales, against
$3.50 bales last week, 1864 bales
the previous week and 1914 bales
three weeks since, making the total
receipts since the first of September,
1873, 3, 79S, 784 bales, against 1851 .586
bales for the same period of 1872
70, showing an increase since September
1, 1873, of III, 1913 bales. The exports
for the week ending, reach a total OF
1926 bales, of which 5000 were to
GIt~: D.itian, s. to France, and
80 to the rest of the Continent,
while the stocks as made up are now
los, 40 bales.
The Financial Chronical of last Sat
urday says: eve have this week 6
continuation of reports from some sec
tio1 of injury from drouth and exces-
siveIv hot weather now prevailing IL