The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-12-31
WITH THE MERCHANTS.
MAR soMR PROMINENT BUSINESS
wESRAYE 10 SAr aBOUT TRADE.
Considering the Financial Depression Col
rectgons Have Been oood--fhe lstin
MAY Have Some Influence.

trade. in hoih Whoittaif anu te-@i
branches. The consensus or opinion seems
10 be mat conditions viii assume normal
tone very slowly. Everybody Is Going 10
no business or couselv6tiE6 plan aud
tie extraordinary spectacle is presented
of tho banks with O. very large surplus OF
funds at mana watch nobody wants 10
borrow GO even the lowest rate Of interest.
because merchants DO not want 10 extend
thfir operations or fO stafl now enter
.rises while trade remains as DUH ana
uf.less as at present. a TING that speaks
wen for Wchmonds future when conn
dence Is thoroughly rcstord Is the iact
tnat despite the hard tines collections
have been very good an through me
sfrne ncy OF the money market
Charles &. Wingo. president or the
Wngo. ELECT and Crump shoe 60. mas
this to say. business does not compare
flyOrably in any way with the volume
done ina lN2 The FIRST few months OF
the year showed zap wen, but during the
r.et eix months the shoe trade has been
much Infected by The money panic. as
ms been nearly every other industry In
na country 10 is very hard 90 form any
conclusions as 90 the coming season. The
return 60 prosperity is going to be slow.
/ 30 not anticipate any evil result from
ne '8rif agitation. ~ the present sched-
Die ior the coal and iron tariffs is adhered
f1 80 may lniurc the demand FOR shoes
supplied 20 the miners of the country"
Due TO Oyerpr production.
rfr r. y. Bcvcridge of Harvic, Blair
and Conn ny said: TRADE has been
nearly as good as in 1872. and we hope
f0r improved conditions from now on
bit IT is hope without any special reason
for q. I think The present low prices OF
farm products. about which there is
prat deal of complaint. are due 60 over
production. The overproduCtiOn Us not so
much due 90 our own section as 10 the
vest The low rates of transportation
have tended 90 divert the sale of the
ovcr-suppiy OF the west from its natural
channel ana as result we have lower
prices here. Collections have been better
for us than last year.
Collections Good.
Mr.. Savage. of Savage. Beverage and
Co.: Trade has not shown any improve
meut in amy portion OF the year 1893. and
j do not see any hope of Improvement
this Spring. Wheat. corn and tobacco
are lower than i'm any previous season.
Farmers have been able to get only
a. cents FOR corn that "a cost 90 cents TO
raise. They arc I'm "a very impoverished
condition This may be partly due 10
ovorproductiOu. The problem TO be- solved
is how 90 open other markets for our
produce. as we DO not seem 10 be able
90 consume an OF &c. collections have
been good, surprisingly so. when the
financial depression an over the country
is brought into consideration"
Has Been "a Bad Year.
Alr. Harvey, OF Ellison and Harvey.
Tho wholesale liquor demand has fallen
Off very considerably Stree the beginning
OF 1893. Buying rs much lighter than ever
before, and collections nave been only
fair for the few small sales shown. #
has been bad year, but we hope for some
Improvement this spring"
Mr. slater, OF slater. Myers and Co:
81 do not think business showed up very
well with amy body during the year. COL
lections seem to have been fairly good
right along. We have had no trouble with
them. 10 SIS pretty hard to- judge of the
iuiure. but OF course we hope for better
times"
Not Question OF Tariff
Afr. Simpson. OF Simpson. Bass ana Co:
amer fhe lsi. OF January L think we are
90 have better times. Trade has not been
nearly 20 good as last year. nor have coll
lections been as good / think we may
reasonably count upon better days after
ihe first IL has not been good year Tor
ANY kind Of business"
Mr. DOnnan. of W. S. DOnnau and Co.
business las fallen locally for us
bat the change so far as Out-Of-town GUS
toners is concerned has varied only slight
ly. Buy crs are very conservative in their
orders for the coming spring. as only act
usl necessities in the hardware line are
o dered IL has been "a tough year / do
not think the tariff viii affect our trade
in any way. Iron cannot very well get
az a lower price than at present We can
manufacture here as cheaply ass abroad
We have tariff ON nails Of 81. per keg.
and you buy them for So cents right here
IN Richmond. Collections have not been
uoticeably bad"
brighter Times Coming.
Dir r. T.. Brown. OF Brown. Davis and
Adkins. Grocers: business increased with
as an during the year 10 September. but
Zen OF very much during the discussion
Of the silver BILL IL picked up a little
on the FIRST OF December and has been
fairly good since. Profits have been
shaved pretty close 10 meet the stringency
ina the money market and this has con-
duced 20 bring about the low prices of
farm products Oyer-production may have
also tended TO lower prices / cannot proph-
esy as 10 the effect of the tariff on
trade generally iu tho spring. but we hope
for better times and our volume OF
business lately would seem to indicate
that 1875 viii be O good year for the couu-
try"
An Unsettled Condition.
Mr. Alsop. ~ Alsop, Mosby and Co. Dry
Goods and Notions: "Our lines depeud
principally upon a revival Of trade The
agitatlon Of the tariff tends 20 create an
unsettled condition and ra.u.f clio
orders 50 far seem 10 be light for all
classes OF goods all over the country.
think there is very little announcement
offered by the calm consideration Of pres
ent prospects. Advance orders are not
large. nor have they been at any time
during the past year Collections have
been only moderately fair. but consider
ing the financial depression they show
up very well. The tendency Of the times
seems TO be towards conservative buying"
A Steady Improvement.
T. ". Wood and Sons. Seeds men: "Ihe
SEED business has shown a steady improve
ment an during the past year; think
something Ike a gain Of over 20 per
cent. Collections have been very good so
FAR as we personally are concerned. The
tariff does not interfere with the present |
tariffs on seeds 80 we can go ahead |
and make out calculations without any
e. Rotations Of having them disturbed. /
We icok for a very large increase for the l
coming year. Orders for January already 4
give evidence Of increased demands"
Mr. FourQurean. OF FOurqurean, Price /
end C, Dry Goods: 81 can see that we /
nave ihade no progress during 1898, and 1
we 10 not hope for any very great inn |
prorement in the near future Most OF i
lhe dbunmers i have seen from the North |