New-York tribune., 1885-09-21
portant effect upon the prices of nearly all the
chief articles of commerce.
MONEY AND BUSINESS.

Wheat and stocks went up t0getner IisO
week. This fact alone goes far to show that
the advance was at least in part artificial In
chara cter The advance in stocks might nave
been attributed to better news about the corn
croD. but the price of corn declined scarcely ut
all. If the advance in wheat meant anything,
il meant less business to come FOR the railways,
so that the events Of the week raise the question
whether the speculation which put up wheat OF
the speculation which put up stocks had basis
i'm fact
No reason for the advance IN wheat appears
in the state of the foreign markets. Since
wheat sold here at 80 cents and in London at
6s. Id, September g. there has been an ad-
vance of cents on this side. while i'll London
the price is still only rs. per cwt., so that the
same wheat winch sold at 9O.39 cents on the
9Th now sells at 90. 98 cents. 1t will be observed
that the price here has all the time been too
high for the price in Liverpool, and yet IL mas
advanced about cents, while the LlverpOoi
price advanced about half of one cent. Inc
receipts mt the West are small, but the exports
fall much further behind those Of last year.
The activity has in fact been mainly in specu-
lation. The sales Of wheat in the New fork
market during the last five weeks have
amounted to 17O,000,000 bushels, against
2O,O0O,O00 bushels for the corresponding
weeks last year, and this Notwithstanding a
great decrease in the receipts OF wheat at
Eastern markets. The speculative activity has
been relatively as great at the West, and 1t
accounts for q considerable part of the apparent
increase in exchanges.
Evidence of Improvement is not to be found
IN the reports of the export trade. AT New
York, the value of domestic exports for two
weeks in September has been only S13, 100000
this year. against $15, 100000 last year, and
In July and August the value was only
$53, SOC, 900 this year, against $6O,2OO,OOO
last year. The decline has been especially
great in exports OF wheat, OF which only
1,263, ,S39 bushels have gone out from the At
lantic coast during two weeks of September,
against 4, 4,2S3 740 bushels for the same weeks
last year, while the total exports both from
Atlantic and Pacific ports, including Hour,
amounted in August to only 5,732,95 bushels,
against 1j.75S,054 bushels last year. The
duncss in provisions results in an apparently
declining market. The cliques still continue
TO control tIn lead and copper, though prices
are weaker groceries have declined shade,
and. Notwithstanding an advance that Is sun
maintained ia steel rails, the tone OF the iron
market appears 20 bo less favorable. Accord
ing 10 The Iron Age, tho weekly capacity OF
furnaces in blast September / was only 90, S53
tons. against G5,375 tons on the lst of August,
a decline sufficient To Indicate that the hopes
of enlargement in that branch of business have
not yet been realized. Nevertheless. there has
been substantial improyementinsOm quarters,
and perhaps moro IN dry goods than in any
other branch of business. Yet the price OF
print cloths has again declined during the past
week. The New England manufacturers have
done more business during the past few weeks
than about the same time last year, and TINS
improvcment finds expression in tne mcreaSed
exchanges at Boston. Bat 10 Is still n question
how far it will extend or how long 1t VIII last.
An examination of the exchanges indicates
that the improvement has been to a considerable
extent due TO the increase in speculative opera
tions at the West. Thus, at Chicago gain OF
81 Der cent appeared during the last week,
and II. 7 per cent the week before, and l1.9
per cent the week ending September 8, but 1t
il not difficult to account for such an increase
when 1t il remembered that the transactions in
wheat have been nc least % per cent larger at
il is noteworthy that the exchanges have
been unusually large at all the gram markets
although the movement of actuIl ani tangible
grain has been unusually small. But the IN
crease in exchanges ut Philadelphia was only
| per cent during the first and only per cent
during the second week of the month, and last
week no increase appeared, while at Plttsburg
there has been n decline each week.
and also at Columbus and Cincinnati,
and at Cleveland during the week
ending September II. The exchanges
ARE considerably smaller than they were year
ago at 81. Louis. New Orleans and Baltimore
and among manufacturing cities also, at Port
land. Worcester and Lowell. Asrespects New
York. after dcducting for transactions IN stocks,
n gam of only 81 per cent appears for the hrsC
week of the month, no gain at all for the second
week. and considerable loss for the third
week. A year ago IN June, the great depres-
sion IN stocks and the numerous failures in
aucnced the fall trade to an extent then not
anticlpatcd. After year of unusual economy,
having remarkably large crops except OF wheat
TO dispose of, hcpeople are buying again some
what more freely, but it is yet a question how
far this natural revival in activity will extend.
The New York banks have expanded their
loans little more than $2O,OOO,OOO since the
18th of July, and have in the meantime lost
Sl7. 800, 900 of their cash. But the Treasury
has absorbed n considerable part Of the money
paid out. and speculation Il great deal more
The Treasury itself is improving In condition;
last week il gained both in gold, legal-tcnders
and silver, whiie its receipts of silver certli-
Gates mt NCw.York were only 80 per cent OF
the total receipts. All admit that there are
signs ofimprovement in trade. But all also
see that the future depends upon the removal
of uncertainty rs to silver payments, and unless
there can be assurance that a sound currency
will be maintained, reaction in business is by