The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1880-03-12
INTERNAL COMMERCE.
Suggestive Figures Showing the Dusines
Activity or the Country.

Suggestive Figures Showing the business
Activity OF the Country.
The statement OF bank clearings in
twenty-five cities for last month, as com
pared with February, 1870, shows gain
of 40.S per cent. The aggregate for last
month was s3,S4S, 54S,2O4, against s2,574,'
056, 22S for February, 1870. These figures
will serve to convey an idea not only oil
the remarkable increase Of commercial
activity since the restoration OF our paper
currency to par, but also OF the enormous
business transactions Of the people OF the
United States. The exchanges in the
twenty-five cities during last month were
at the rate OF more than forty.six thousand
millions annually. Should the exchanges
20 on at this rate for q year. the value
OF property changing hands in those
cities alone during that time would be
considerably upward Of one.hall more
than the value Of all the property in the
country in 1870, according 10 the United
States census OF that year. Assuming the
population OF the country 10 be so, 600, 600,
these exchanges would be at the rate Of
1920 for every man, woman and child in
the country, or 81, 100 for every one OF the
one.third OF the population shown by the
census 10 be engaged in some recognized
branch OF productive industry. Although
the clearing house cities are thegreat COM
mercial centres OF the country, yet 1t is
not probable that the bank clearings re-
present more than one-half, at the out
side, OF all the exchanges OF the country,
and the aggregate may be safely estimated
at not less than ninety.two thousand mil
lions annually, or more than three times
the value OF our realized wealth, and
more than ten times the value OF our pro-
duCtion in 1870.
To return to the exchanges, the state
meme shows an increase for last month
over February, 1870, in every one Of the
% cities, except San Francisco. where
there was a decrease Of so per cont. The
decrease there is unQueStionably due
more to Kearneyism than to any other
cause. Tho increase in the other cities
was pretty evenly distributed among the
larger cities, except New Orleans, where
the gain was only III per cent. The
largest gain per cent was sol, in Column
bus, Ohio, city OF comparatively little
commercial importance. The gain in Chi
CagO was 81 4 per cent, or somewhat more
than the average, while the gain in st.
Louis was 1872 per cent, aud that in Gin
cinnati pa per Cent-both considerably
below the average. Chicago ranks as the
fourth city in the Union in the volume OF
Clearing House exchanges.
The Public adds: perhaps the most
encouraging feature OF tho returns is that
the increase in speculative operations,
whether in stocks or in merchandise, does
not appear TO be anywhere greater than
the increase in other business, for the
manufacturing cities, such as Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, Providence and Lowell, com.
pare very favorably with the cities more
largely engaged in trading" In support
OF this statement, the figures show an in-
crease OF 645 per cent in Philadelphia,
$50 per Centin Pittsburgh, Ola per cent
in Providence, and 24 per cent in Lowell.
In every case except that OF Lowell the
increase is above the average.
While this seems 10 DO encouraging, 1t
must not DO forgotten that the great adj
vauces in the price OF the articles manuiac.
tured at these places will go.far to account
for the increase In the volume OF ex-
changes. While it is undesirable that there
Is very great activity at the manufacturing
centres, there is some reason to apprehend
that this activity, as well as that which Is
80 noticeable in other directions, will not
prove to have been perfectly healthful. |
Since the event which Is generally called |
resumption, but which, strictly speaking,
was simply an equAliEing OF paper with |
coin, Imitation, both Of money and
prices, has been going on with