The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-04-18
The w orla's Trade Results Of Finan'
[ II eial Depression.s

[ II eial Depression !
>tAfter.reviewing the state Of trade
III Great Britain and Germany, The
London Telegraph says with reference.
to the United States: lnl87tstnlgIg]
American railways, covering s.o]
miles in length, and $2I,S4S, 900 OF M es'
vested capital, " ere sold under foresa
closure of mortgages; receivers ln3
bankruptcy were appointedsss0r tores11
closures determined upon inSthe case
of forty six other lines extending over
1916 miles, and involving total ex.
penditure in construction and NANTES
nance of 1886 900, 900; ten railway
companies figure in the list OF default
, ers for the same year whose aggregate
lines measure 2,757 miles and. show
$l55, 66l 900 to have been invested In
them, making total Of eighty.six
railways, consisting Of IA, 10 mileage.
) and exhibiting a loss to the share
holders of $0l2,5O9,000. The list,
> therefore, as far rs it has been made
s up, discloses the painful fact that dur
& ing the past year one.fifth of the entire
railway mileage of the United States,
o. representing a similar proportion OF
the total railway capital Of the coun'
try, was brought from various causes
into state of insolvency. But this
melancholy revelation naturally awak'
ems our curiosity to learn how far the
business classes proper shared III the
general financial visitation.
Out of 100000 firms in the Union re-
ported to be engaged in business in
1876, no fewer than 1902 became
bankrupt and the gross amount OF
their liabilities reached $l9l,ll7, 7S6.
The increase in the number OF failures
compared with 1875 was 1850 while
the latter year showed the number to
be 1000 more than in 1874. The total
Indebtedness of insolvents in 1876,
however, Notwithstanding the aug
mented number of failures, was less
than in 1875 by nearly $50, 100000;
but the description of firms which col
lapsed last year, combined with the
reduced average liabilities chargeable
upon the previous year, plainly lndl'
Gates that the wave Of financial embar-
rassment is not yet spent, and that af-
ter engulfing the mammoth houses it
has been gradually swallowing up the
smaller traders. 1t is, moreover. sig
niicant of the manner in which bust
ness has been conducted in the several
divisions Of the Union that the fail.
ures in the Middle States are one in
every ffty.seven trading firms. and in
the Western States one in every sew
enty.two. In the Eastern States, not
withstanding their reputation for
wealth and stability, one in every
ffty-nine firms have succ lmbed; while
in the Southern States, which have
been depopulated and exhausted by
the civil war, and are still laboring
under heavy political disabilities, the
percentage of failures is only one in
every sixty.four. We're the facts we
have adduced to constitute the sole
basis of our calculations in estimating
the prospects Of American trade, the
outlook must be deemed eminently dis
couraging. But there is an diverse
side to the picture.
Many of the failures 1--WE have emu
merated are believed to have been
caused by departure from the princi
pies of legitimate trading. During a
period of prosperity not a f,w mer.
chants invested their surplus earnings
in speculative operations. They
bought land, or became interested in
mining and railway undertakings,
without forecasting the possibility of
comm ercial reverses; and when the
crisis came and strained their resources
they found the additional capital they
required to meet urgent obligations
locked up in investments which they
were unable TO. realize. It is to be
presumed, therefore, that the bitter
experience they have undergone in the
past may impose check upon reckless
tendencies in the future. Again, in
proof that trade is returning to d normal
state, production has of late been more
strictly limited than before to the re-
quirements of regular consumption.
and universal disposition prevails in
the community to economic expendi'
ture to the utmost. Happily, too, the
potential riches lying in the soil of the
American continent are practically
boundless, and every year the profits
derived from the cultivation of cotton
grain, sugar, and tobacco steadily in
crease. Gold, silver, and petroleum
also will continue for an indefinite
period to be an exhaustless source o.
profit to the United States.
Another Charlie Ross Case, q
Willie Haven, little four year ole