Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1877-05-18
Increase of Business.

There can be no doubt that the volume of
business in the country is steadily rising. 10
the first place, the internal revenue, by
which the English are accustomed to guage
the condition of the people, is steadily ris-
ing. In the second place, the imports,
which have fallen steadily for about three
years, have begun to rise again. We took
notice of the fact that those for March at
the port of New York showed an increase
and now those for April show a still great
er increase, namely, from 23,700,00O in
the same month Of last year, to
S2S,000,000, exclusive of specie, an in-
crease of IA per cent. Taking the first four
months of tho year at New York, the i'm
ports of merchandise are almost exactly
equal to the imports Of merchandise in the
same time last year. The specie receipts
for the same time were s6,300,0O0, against
S1,576,000 last year. The volume of I'M
ports indicates two things, the extent to
which foreign manufactures and labor take
the place Of our own, and the extent to
which we can afford to buy foreign products
which we can't produce at all in this country.
An increase in the former respect may be
prejudicial to domestic industry in the lat
ter not SO. We find that the English ex-
ports of steel nails to this are increasing,
which is not on the whole favorable sign,
but most Of the increase in imports is in ar
tices under the free list, that is, those which
do not compete with our own industries.
The increased consumption of imported goods
bearing duty also would be Indicative Of in
creasiDg means of expenditure among the
people. The exports at New York are con.
stantly rising, except in specie. For four
months the exports from that point have
been $S6,650,000 of merchandise aud
S5,5OO,O00 of specie, against $40, 100000
of merchandise and SIS, 267 900 of specie
for the same time last year.
1t is a common experience Of traders at
this time that, while the volume of their
business increases, the profits OF it are still
small and this is true Of business gener-
ally. The volume of it is increasing, the
body of unemployed labor is diminishing
every day, more men are getting adjusted
to the new state of things. For the mo-
ment, the actual experience of the day is
not encouraging, and yet it is constantly inn
proving. AS this increase in the employ
ment Of labor and Of capital goes on, people
ultimately have more money to spend. Tho
first step in the line Of recovery from de-
preston is to re-establish industry and find
new places for the idle. That process is 60
ing on quite rapidly The next will be for
the newly employed to become spenders and
accumulators of capital, and as this process
succeeds the other, consumption will gain
upon production. Print works are coming
more and more to run upon contract and to
suspend whenever business is slack A Fall
River contributor to the New York Bulletin
says the contracts for print cloths in that
market called for $4,000 pieces weekly in
April, 5000 in May and $4,000 in June,
whereas, for the five weeks already elapsed,
the average deliveries have been 10000
pieces per week, and the market is now firm
ar 4a4i, according to the terms. These two
processes, the unemployment Of labor and
the resumption of expenditure, are not, of
course successive in point of time, but go on
together in varying stages under varying
conditions. They are both gong on now,
and from them we shall get a higher state
Of prosperity.
The South is reported to be very des-
pendent at the prospect Of high prices for
breadstufis and low for cotton. 1t is rather
too early, however, to assume that cotton
will be low in consequence of the war