The New York herald., 1877-01-20

In 1870 tho number In business, the percentage OF
failures and tho nycraRc lnhililies wcro follows

An examination OF the above table confirms the i'm
the Western and southern States has bcon less dsas
trous than that Of the Eastern and Middle States 1t
10 i0cant circumstance that tho failures in the
Middle states nrc l In every 81 names reported in
business, while in the Western states the proportion
is IN every u; but tho comparison between the East
and tho South Is even moro significant, for In New
England with all It's wealth and sodity, in every 80
has yielded TO the pressure OF the lmes while In tho
south, with all It's poverty, ils political and other DIS.
abilities, the percentage of Iaiures IL only In every
q. Even in Cnnadn where there Is gold basis, light
tsxation Freedom from political complications and all
other avoring conditions the above showing Is ndic
tive OF much greater pressure than in the United
States the failures In tho Dominion beng In every
81 In Engand very accurate figures arc obtanabIc
and Of yet for the past year, but for
1875 return wus made OF 700 failures among GO 900
firms prominent Ia trade, Indicating failure Tor
every 30 firms reported in business, with an average
liability or sS7 $40. Tho figures for the United staes
showing failure OF In every 63, with an average
liability OF S2l 00", Indicate that the pressure OF the
times has been either not great in this country
elsewhere, or that 1t has been borne with less disas
trous results
ruE BUSINESS OUTLOOK
II the safety and prosperity oil the trade OF the coun
try Is TO be judged by the comparative number OF fail
urcs in business, the above figures for 1876 would
dicatc that thcsc conditions are iurth.r away Than
ever. The marked Increase IN the number OF these
casualties the year Just closed following the equally
large Increase In 1915, reveals condition OF ihngs
Tar from encouraging, and were It not Tor tue rccc
ton that these disastcrs are the results o! circum
stances not directly cargcabc to the business opera
tOns OF The ycor, the prospect would be well nigh
dishearcning But that largo number Of these iai-
principles IN years gone by there can be no doubt
The OF 1o73 and tho condion OF expansion and
over valuation which It revealed, have had far more
10 do with causing tho numerous failures of 1876 tban
havo the business operations thht year. The ELECTS Of
the depression and necessary conract,ns OF 1874 and
1915 were hardly more apparent In the failures OF
those ycnrs than they are In those OF 1916 IL would
be entirely unreasonable To expect that the restricted
and proitIcss trnde OF these later years would 10
sufficient 10 sustain he large number oil traders which
former prosperous seasons seduced into business,
while cvcn those long TINE M trade, and possessing
thpe oln nf fnpnA N AL,
solve TINT most diiicut Of rroblcms-o reducing cx-
pcnscs with The same rapld'ty as their trade ana
profits diminished. To ntrcnch on capital and largely
reduce IL was OF the necessary consequence;
but unfortunately very large number OF traders,
unmindiu oil the axiom that ITO depart from 'csiti-
mate trade rs to losc money had IN the good times in
vested their surplus IN outside opcratons such ne real
estate aud other permanent assets. go that when tho
need for active capital came npon hem, they were IN
position TO respond TO pressing obligations Tho
consequence is IN tho augmented list Of failures
above presented. it is true many OF these failures
arc the result OF other Influences hereinafter referred
TO, but 1t vii, be readily admitted from tho foregoing,
that TO other causes than those which have mated
and prevailed during Tho past year. may be attributed
large share OF the misoruncs which 1t has been our
unhvppy duty 10 chronicle.
II would, therefore, be unfair 10 conclude that the
trndc OF The country Is IN an unpromising condition
because the failures show such n marked increase. A
wider view would include many circumstances that
woud bring moro comfort For instapcc, u Is undc-
niablc hat the past year has Witnessed marked I'M
provcncpt IN the vaiucs OF many Leading staples as
compared with the prices prevailing IN 1873. II ~
equally true tha, extent OF profitable trade there
has been pcrccptlblc gam, nnd there Is no denying
the Tact nat IN many branches u business u
much nreer number have addcd to their avail.
ablc surplus during 1875 than IN 1878.
Many articles had reached par value, IN
illustrntion OF which tho sntcncnt may be vcnturrd
that AS far MS further depreciation IN prices
ccrnc1, specie payments might have been resumed
the carly part OF 1876 without cnusiDg any material
dis; ;urbancc IN values Not only had some prices
reached pnr, and In some cases below H. but u was
settled convection that tho o goods IN all hands
nearest the consumer had reached tie lowest possible
point. Production warned by previous losses, bad
bccn regulated 10 the extent OF positive wants aud tho
pressure 10 sell, apparent IN 1873, largely d.
m,nishcd. Thus. barely The Drst baif oi 1916 Was
icachcd when all the conditions OF stock supply
nnDd and price favored improved condition OF
business. That this Improvement did take place IN
September and october was everywhere evident; Dut
The heated Presidential contest and The MISERABLE
muddle MS to tue rctu Of that contest which
prevailed has almost completely purniyzcd husincss.
Tho last two months oi the year therefore, most
disapI0inting and IRON cnuscs exceptional and icn-
porary IN character, tie promise o the carly autumn
of Improvement IN business was not fulfilled IL ls
synicnnt, however that the failures IN last quar-
ter OF 1916 arc less by twenty per number
tor the last quarter IN 1870 wnic oinl liabilities
for the last quarter OF 1870 onchn o those OF
the corresponding quarter OF 1915. The samc favor
able comparison aiso holds good TO the dccrcnsrd
number o. ailurcs which occurred in The fourth quar-.