New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-25
MONEY AND BUSINESS.

More encouraging signs have been seen in bus- /,
ness within the last three days than az any other
time since November. After the elections IN that
month. which gave strong hope that there wouIi
be no more destructive meddling with the cur
r,ncv or the industries everybody felt that there
n,s GOOD reason TO look for Improvement in bust
ues, and bank exchanges gained little, the out
nut of iron and other industries increased ana
the feeling Of hopefulness was general But theh
came the crazy fanatlcsm Of Congress, the WHO
cat banking scheme and all the mischiei-makihs
performances Of the last session, ana capi'a 'ooA
alarm gold went out In a food. and disaster was
only avcrted by another large and costly lodr''
IN actual records. February was. on the whole
about the worst month for year. When Con-
gress died March 4. men gave thanks ana look
courage but still the signs Of gain have oeen
somewhat questionable until the last week. Iney
enncar now not In the speculative fever IN some
markets which does more harm than good, OUT III
roal and considerable increase In commercial
loans I'm actual enlargement OF the working FORCE
I'm some sorts OF industry in few important hu-
vances in wages Of labor, and In relatively id'se'
payments through clearing houses. Last WEEK
these payments were s20.O0O.OOO per day larger
than In the third week OF February. ana the aver
age for March is only 249 per cent less thah III
1898 while in February II was 1874 and IN January
294 per cent less.
Clearings reflect IN part. Il Is true, the specua-
tive transactions. which have OF late been large
But the indications OF larger substantial business
vet to come are. on the whole. moro faVo'dp'e'
Perhaps the most important OK these Is the a"-
vance in wages Of coke-workers by the FLICK
comnanv which has been followed by other Con-
nellsville producers AS the Carnegie interest Is
not managed as n benevolent society, but with
4 nd Chr
ferred that the condition and prospects OF the iron
manufacture as whole considered good
enough 10 warrant higher prices for fuel DOUBT
lose il was a choice between better wages ana u
strike but as tho large producers had accumu'
| lated enormous supplies OF coke ana pig iroh'
| strike would have looked attractive II 'he PROS
pect of fair employment Of works had not oeei
| Judged good. The great number OF ne" ''ee'
buildings going up all over the country ne'P"
! much to make up for the practical stopP"se Va
railway building. But prices do not advance ana
for Ressemer iron and some other produc'S are
for the moment rather weaker. copper Is aiso
lower at ga cents. and large sales OF ieau nave
occurred at slightly lower prices. but TN ana TN
plates are stronger
Another feature Of importance Is that Ill ooo'S
and shoes, instead OF scanty ana scattering OF
ders at the advance asked quite Il number OF i'm
portant contracts are now reported winch mas
set several more factories at work though not full
time Shipments from Boston. compiled from
records of The Shoe and Leather Reporter
| amount for three weeks OF March to 42,4Zs cases.
against POI 1902 last year and 2i7,lO9 In 1898.
| though prices are much lower than In 1898 anu
cheaper grades are still preferred Leather Is
strong and some qualities are still higher Inc
demand for cotton goods has been spurred 10 acS
| tiyity by the advance in raw cotton. and some
| beavv transactions are reported In coarser
grades with slightly better prices for some, ana
renorts from various cities indicate somewhat
better distribution to consumers. AS yet the
movement here results from advance III III"
rather than increase in demand. sales OF WOOL
grow smaller. and are falling oehnd last yea D
though but little. and for the whole perioo since
August have been about 20 per cent less thah ior
the same season in 1929 The termination OF
strikes at some mills Is a help though reports OF
cancellations do not cease
Speculation In stocks has been kindied py the
reported formation OF a pool at London IN
Louisville and Nashville, and by large buying on
London orders which frightened shorts. the more
as II was noised about that the bond syndicate
had taken charge OF a bull movement In order 70
control the exchange market more easily. Prices
of railway stocks rose on the average 81 IS per
share, and are the highest since the middle OF
February. There is not much to buy Stocks
about. except that prices were lower than at
any time in 1894 or in 1893, but for about month
| when the panic was worst. Earnings for Marcn
thus far, In the United States alone. are 1S pei