St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-11
The STATE OF TRADE.
No Perceptible Change In the General
Course Of Business.
IMPROVEMENTS IN ST. PAUL.
Collections Are Poor in ALI Quarters
A Resume of the General
Outlook.

NEW York, Feb. 10.-R. G.. Dun &
Co.'S weekly review of trade will say:
In tide general course of business there
has been no pereeptible change. The
volume OF payments including paper
maturing Feb. 1, was over 13 per cent
larger than last year outside of New
York; evidently the gain in volume of
New transactions is much smaller.
Railroad tondage is enlarged by the war
OF rates, and the ratio Of expenses to
earnings grow less satisfactory. At
nearly all interior points reporting
trade is dull or inactive, though percep-
tible improvement within the past ten
days is noted in st. Paul d Omaha.
But collections are slow at St. Paul,
Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, and
the number OF failures in the Northwest
beyond the Mississippi seems larger
than usual. The cold weather evil
IDENTIFY has retarding influence in
many quarters, the failure of bank at
Cincinnati with the arrest of the Off
GERS Oh account of speculation in real
estate, Oil and gas, and the failure of
Bensley Bros, at Chicago, an old grain
house with large credit, call attention
to the chief cause of hesitation in buSi-
ness. A vast amount of capital has
been locked up and vast body of in
debtedneSS created, III connection with
the real estate, grain
AND OTHER SPECULATIoSS
OF the past year. Indebtedness based
Oh fictitious valuations of property or
commodities, in not few cases, will
have to be liquidated at loss. On the
chance Of war in Europe, wheat sud
denly advanced so far that peace pros
poets involve disaster to many. The
capacity of iron furnaces in blast Feb
ruary l, was 406 tons weekly less
than January l, and, contrary to expect
alton, much more than half the de-
crease was in other than anthracite
furnaces. The effects of the strike in
the coal regions increase from day to
day, but are not as great as the depfess-
Ion due to shrlnkage III demand. Of
the latter, part is attributed to tariff IN
certainty, and part to the excess OF
railroad building in the West, and the
consequent wars of rates. Including
$4,000 tons deferred from last year, con-
tracts for steel rails so far reach about
500,o0e tons, without any lifting of the
price, S31.50, at the mill. Pig iron is
weaker at PittSburg. but stiff at the
East for the better grades on account of
their scarcity. In manufactured iron
the Slaekened demand still causes
weakness. The effects of the coal
strike, which does not seem to approach
an end, are felt in slow collections, and
several failures at Philadelphia. The
war of rates between Western roads
has now gone SO far that the rates
charged are said to be on the whole not
more than half those charged before
the trouble began, but no sign of set
tlement is seen in any quarter. Those
who have put money into many new
lines where new lines were not needed,
have
No REASON TO EXPECT RETURNS
until the business of the country has
largely increased. Meanwhile the in
terState law makes any settlement more
difficult and places United States roads
at a disadvantage in competition with
Canadian. Through rates for export
have been cut also; efforts of trunk line
managers to settle difficulties have not
yet succeeded. Nearly all the markets
are lower; stocks about 80 cents per
share for the week; wheat about cent
per bushel. and corn 81 cent; oats "a
cent; coffee Il cent per pound and sugar,
both refined and crushed, "A cent; hogs
10 cents per 100 pounds, and tin Il cent
lower. Cotton has been held steady by
the report OF large consumption abroad.
The dry goods trade continues good for
eottons, which are steady in price, and
slightly improved for woolens. The
wooden manufacturers meet on Tuesday
to consider questions of credits and
under valuations and to perfect organ
iZatien. In groceries, there has been
some improvement in tone, and in dis
tributiOn; the tea trade shows more
activity and hOpefulness, but the de-
mand for butter and cheese is hardly
satisfactory and meats are very dull
and weak. The treasury has added half
million to deposits during the week,
but otherwise but slightly diminished
circulation. Business failures during
the last seven days number for the
United States 2S77, Canada So; total $50,
as compared with 267 for the CORE
spending week last year.