Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-12-07
DuN'S REVIEW.


The General Condition OF Trade ana FL
nance Throughout the Country rs Eo-
nected by II. G. Dun T. Co.'S Weekly re-
view-TarifY Uncertainties Thought 20 Do
Affecting Some Lines-Money Abunoans
and Rates Lower, But Industries WAIT
ing for More Settled State OF Anaiks-
Business Failures, Etc.
New YORK, Dec. 2.-R. G. Dun q
60. IS weekly review of trade, issued To-
day, says:
1t cannot be said that business during the
past week has grown better or worse TOT
some days the gain in demand and In transac-
actions which had been previously nobleeu
continued But afterwards tarlH unceTLs1iusloS
were thought to affect some branches OF pusi
ness. and whatever the causes. the state Oh
trade was less clear Money was everywhere
abundant, with rates comparatively io"e1'
and commercial demand was remarkably
small, while the demand for specuia-
tive uses appeared to be 1ncreaslns.
When these are symptoms OF o transltloh
state, ordinary indications based upon the
course of business down to few days ago are
not as valuable as usual, but on the whole sucn
signs are. however less encouraging than tney
were a week ago. Reports OF different
branches OF trade and from different clues
frequently mention the tariff uncertainties as
cause OF natural hesitancy. but it will take
some time to determine whether the general
tendency toward Improvement has been
checked, or to what extent.
The volume Of trade has been somewhat In
creasfng, and yet not as much as expected, the
exchanges for last week showing decrease OF
365 per cent compared with last year. in part
because the week covers only FIVE business
days against six last year. For two weeks.
covering the same working days, the decrease
has been 1913 per cent The railroad earnings
for the last week OF November show larger
decrease than for either of the preceding weeks,
but in freight alone the business was about the
same as for the first half OF the month. In gen.
eral the statement shows o Slight increase In
eastern traffic and heavy decrease on western
and Pacific coast business But the report
covers period ending more than q week ago,
and casts only an uncertain light on the present
situation.
change except for trust stocks which average
& per share lower, with railroad stocks but a
shade lower Wheat is slightly stronger, re-
ceipts being considerably smaller than in re-
cent weeks, though exports are also remarks-
bly, small Corn Is unchanged In price, with
heavy western receipts and large exports
Pork and hog products practically IN
changed as well oil Cotton is q shade
lower, as receipts from the plantations con-
tinue to exceed those OF last year, in spite OF
the very positive estimates Of short yield,
and the average OF guesses by operators on the
New Orleans cotton exchange Is over 7O),0OO
bales greater than the government estimate.
The stocks of American cotton in sight are
oSGlu So largo tAot tuSJ IStdIA dAJ IASC la
prices.
The industries are waiting with visible un-
certainty regarding the outcome OF legisla-
tion, and beliefs that the pending tariff bill
will or will not be passed. affect action rs
much as the varying judgments in regard to
its effect If passed. At present the iron in
dustry shows no GAIN on the whole, with the
demand for pig iron not urgent, and bessemer
iron little lower at Pittsburgh with no sales
OF rails at the combination price, and with
Slightly lower prices for some finished prod
uctS, and rather scanty demand for any. 1t
is questionable whether the working force en-
ployed is larger than it was 4 week ago The
cotton ma nufactureS show decided Improve
ment because the market is in urgent need
OF more goods. but there is no change
il prices. The sales OF wool are
again larger than for the same
week last year. amounting to 6619. 800 pounds.
against 1854 500 pounds last year, but that part
of the transactions said to be speculative
in their nature being based on tho theory that
whatever may happen later the necessities OF
the country will compel larger consumption
of wool within the next few months. Never
theless. dispatches show that several wooden
works have been closed within the past week
for lack of orders, and the increase In demand
for goods, which appeared to some extent o
week or two ago cannot be said to continue.
In boots and She's 70 increase in the working
force is seen. and while eastern shipments are
only about 8 per cent. less than year ago, the
greater portion Of the works have orders only
for part Of their capacity.
The vast accumulation Of idle money tends to
stimulate speculation, but 1t is not good
symptom 1t Shows remarkable shrinkage
in the volume OF trade, aid the reports from all
quartePs make 1t s1aar that the demand for
money Is unusually light for the season. Rates
are exceptionally low here, and this helps to
prevent the movement OF gold which the state
of foreign trade might now usually cause.
The domestic exports for four weeks from
New York amount in value to $50, 112 $50,
against s29. ,173. while the decrease in i'm
ports is over $4,000 coo, or SO per cent for the
four weeks. so that the excess OF exports for
the whole country must be large. But ex-
change bills against productions are excep-
tionally scarce: no gold comes this week. and
heavy shipments OF silver are made to Lon
don. the price declining, although India is TAX
ing more than last year. Apparently the coun
try is paying of with its surplus loans amount
ing to many millions which were effected in
Europe to avoid very great disaster last sum-
mer.
The failures this week number 278 In the
United States. against 236 last year; and 10 in
Canada, against 80 last year.
kNADD~IhIH