The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-01-12
DUN'S WEEKLY REVIEW
Prices Dropped Below All Pre-
vious Records In 1904.
DECREASE IN BANK CLEARINGS.

.ObOhIADu AN Oa4h O1uAI1NNS
Sixteen Per Cent Us, Than In the Panic
Year l~S93-SmRlle,t Aggregate For Nine
Years-No Material Improvement In
General Trade Within a Week-Who,e-
salers Sending out Commercial Travellers.
NEW YORK, Jan. 6.-R. O.. Dun &
CO. weekly review of trade says:
Failures for 1894 are fully reported this
week, being 1855 in the United States
and 1896 in the Dominion of Canada.
Liabilities in the United States We're
SIP, 1892 $50 and III Canada, ST. ,6l6,2l5.
Neither the decrease Of Ove half III this
country, o. the increase Of over 10 per
cent in Canada is surprising, but the
statement shows that most OF the de-
crease III the United States was in man
;1facturing liabilities, while the entire
increase in Canada is in liabilities of
trading concerns. A few states, includ-
ing New York and Pennsylvania show
more failures than in 1898 and in a few
southern states the amount of liabilities
is larger, but in central and western
states very much smaller. In II of the
last 3S years reported liabilities have
been larger than in 1894, though for
this year and 1898 the statement is con-
fined to commercial failures as it was
not in former years. The failures have
been l2.5 in every 1000 firms doing
business; the liabilities have averaged
$132.77 to each firm in trade and in pro-
portion to the volume of solvent bust
ness reported by all clearing house ex-
changes 1858 for every 81 900.
Lowest Prices Ever Known.
The complete review of different
branches of business places in a clear
light the fact that prices Of commodities
are at the lowest level ever known.
Eight years ago i'll July prices averaged
on 49, per cent of the prices for the
same articles and in the same market
Jan. I, 1860, and this remained the low
est point ever touched until Aug. 10,
1898, when the average fell to 2.76, but
early this year prices dropped below all
previous records and have never re-
covered, the average for Dec. 26
being only IS. 73 per cent of the prices in
1860. The fall since a year ago has
been 51a per cent, but very unequal in
different branches. In iron and steel
products II per cent, in wool 1874 per
cent, in wOOlsns and cottOns about Is
per cent. These changes contrast
sharply with the decline in wages paid
per hours worked. which average only
1.2 per cent less than a year ago.
Consumption Has Not Kept Pace.
The condition of industries has been
largely governed by the fall in prices
and while production is much greater
than a year ago, the aggregate increase
being fairly measured by the increase of
S.24 per cent in hours of work done in
November compared with the previous
year it has been the controlling feature
in almost every important industrylthat
consumption has not kept pace with the
output and has not sustained prices. In
iron and steel, the lowest prices of the
year are at the close and the lowest
ever known, the demand calling for less
than half the annual quantity Of rails,
with large decrease in many other
branches though probably the use of
structural forms was larger in 1894 than
ever before. The WOODEN industry re-
cords a production for the year about a
quarter less than normal and for the
last four months 2S.47 per cent less than
in 1892 in quantity of wool consumed
but in value of product the decrease was
of course greater.
The year has been especially note.
worthy for the lowest prices Of wheat
an0 cotton on record. Both suffer from
wholly unprecedented accumulation o.
stocks, the crops being large. Outside
this country wheat production has no
increased enough to justify IA price of &
cents at New York, and the accumula
zion is largely due to false reports o
yield intended to frei&l"en buyers ant
raise prices. The sul.l3 influence ha
been felt in cotton, which is also ~affecte,
by world wide depression III bushes
and decrease in consumption of goods
In other produce markets the year ha
been relatively less important.
Decrease In Bank Clearings.
NEw VnpE Ian h-RraHSt,.aat