Birmingham state herald., 1896-08-22
THE INCREASE IN EXPORTS
Accounts fotSne Phenomenal Variations in
 SterID -xchange and Gold Imports.
COMM ScIAL LOANS HARD TO PLACE
De 2 ssion Continues in the Iron and Steel L>. industries, Bright Spot Being Sale IaI S of9Coo Tons of Rails
 to Japan.

New York, Aug. 21.@R. G. Dun & Go. will say tomorrow in their weekly review
 of trade:
 The failures for the week have been 2S0 in the United States, against 222 last year, and 27 in Canada, against 43 last year.
 The political events of the week had no
 definite influence upon business pros- poets, for the phenomenal variations in sterling exchange and the beginning of imports of gold, although following the great meeting in Madison Square Gar den on Tuesday, may be fairly attributed to the accumulating excess of merchan- disc exports over imports, to which att
 tention has been repeatedly called, ex- ports from New York for the past two weeks having been 20 per cent larger and imports here 21 per cent smaller than last year. The rapid movement of grain and the unusually early marketing of cotton tend strongly to aid the banking syndi- cate which has undertaken to regulate foreign exchanges.
 Withdrawals of money to the interior are rather large, and commercial loans are hard to place, and this difficulty checks many new enterprises and busi- ness in many departments. Bank clear ings are small, being for the week 15 per cent less than last year. Railroad earn ings are not as good as might be expect- ed for the first half of August, exceeding those of last year by only 34 per cent.
 The boot and shoe industry is rapidly nearing the end of past orders, excepting in womens grain and buff shoes, of which there are still orders for some weeks to come, while others are constantly re- ceived; but in other branches the new
 business is light. Prices are a shade
 weaker Leather is weaker with a small
 demand, although restrioted supplies
 have caused a shade of advance in some kinds. Hides at Chicago averaged more
 than per cent lower for the week again, the fall in the past five weeks having av-
 eraged about 20 per cent.
 The iron and steel manufacture has on- ly continued depression to report, and
 Bessemer pig has sold at $10.40 at Pitts prices equivalent to $10 at New York, and nearly all finished products are being sold below the current quotations. There is rapid curtailment of production. but in spite of this the supply of finished products appears to greatly exceed the
 demand for them. The one bright spot is a sale of 5000 tons of steel rails to Ja- pan for reftting railways in that country, which makes an aggregate of 45,000 tons exported during the year.
 Nothing encouraging can yet be said regarding the woolen manufacture and the demand for goods, even at the recent reductions in prices, Is still disappoint- ingly small A heavy auction sale of cot- ton goods brought prices which were con- sidered quite encouraging, and the cur rent demand Is fairly maintained, al- though the mills are not inclined to make large contracts for the future in view of the rise in the raw material. In general the working force in the textile branches does not appear to have increased.