New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-31
MONEY AND BUSINESS.

! of business which require in their application
| only moderate care More than twenty years
! ago II was learned that payments through al
! clearing houses must be read In connection VIII"
records OF disturbing speculative TRANSACTIONS
| at New-York but when so read give fair In
! dlcatIon OF the state Of business. Sales Oh
! stocks in May. 1892, were over six miiiion
| shares and this year but little over three mill
! ion. at an average value nearly quarter
/ lower and moreover. were mainly handled by
! the Stock Exchange Clearing House. when hau
| Just begun to exist in 1892. Outside New-fork
| payments through other clearing houses III -FOUR
weeks Of May have been not quite per cent
| less than last year. and 50 per cent less thah
| In 1892. the year Of largest business hitherto
| 1t was Judged highly encouraging tact tha'
sales OF merchandise in April were only about
| 10 per cent less than in 1892. But prices OF
several hundred commodities. embracing more
| than nine-tenths OF the aggregate OF expenoi-
lures about IL per cent lower than III
May, 1892, so that more than the whole differ-
ence Is covered by the decline in prices. and ex-
cept In that particular the volume of business
must now be somewhat greater than in 1o3-'
The earnings OF railroads give similar indica-
lions. On all roads reporting within the United
States the earnings have been In May Ii per
cent larger than last year. whereas IN Aprh
they were per cent smaller, and only B. per
cent smaller han in 1892, whereas In April they
were 80 per cent smaller. Low rates affect the
comparison. as low prices do the comparison Oh
clearings but in no aspect Is 1t discouragine.
The advance In stocks last week, averaging 10
cents per share OF 500 for railroads and ~ cents
for Trusts was the more significant because
most of the trading and the largest advances
were In important railroad stocks. Some sell
Ing by London when Barnato was reported
sick helped the speculation for decline. but
for the entire week London bought nearly as
much as II sold
One part OF the volume OF business now In
progress is only anticipating that which would
naturally be done I'm later months. The i'm
ports Of merchandise at New York In four weeks
have been $50. 1O4 ,663, against S33. 4J9.S99 In
the weeks last year an increase OF nearly
GO per cent, which Is smaller than during the
first half Of the month, and yet sufficiently large
The imports Of drygoods were S14,3S36J9, against
S5Sl90i6 last year, a heavy increase. because
the movement a year ago was exceedingly light.
and yet a smaller increase than appeared In
the first half OF May Since no one expects that
the aggregate demand for foreign products will
be larger than In 1896. the heavy excess this
|
by the decrease hereafter which WILL indeed.
lessen the revenue. but will materially lessen
the sums that have to be paid abroad on mer
chandse account. II present anticipations re-
garding the crop are sustained the excess OF
merchandise exports after July l must be I'M
usually large.
The crop estimates made public last week were
interesting. and as to spring wheat even sur
oil nd ypt
the prevalent underestimates OF acreage. they
give promise Of liberal yield. Uncertainties of
weather have yet to be faced, but meanwhile the
amount Of wheat coming forward from last
years crop In four weeks OF May has been
90 per cent larger than in the same weeks OF
1896 The price has yielded slightly over
cents. although Atlantic exports keep up well,
and for four weeks, -four included, have been
8315329 bushels. against 4,9SS,177 las, year.
Corn was also nearly a cent lower although
Atlantic exports In four weeks have been
9,360Mi bush,ls against 6OO1, 1856 last year
Similar causes, especially the news OF rapid
progress OF the crop, have turned cotton down
ward again to "a cents. an eighth decline last
week and eighth the week before. The
quantity which has come into sight in May has
tcen 1880 bales. against 156,6s3 last year
and 2Ji n 1897. from the largest crop ever
raised and meanwhile the dulness OF the goods
market here and abroad binders the consuming
demand. With three months Of the crop year
remaining. 1t does not seem altogether unlikely
that the yield may prove about 100000 bales.
Since the abandonment OF the beam pool many
structural contracts have been placed without
change Turing The last week in prices Of shapes
or Of pig. There is more demand for bars from
agricultural, implement works. and for sheets
from tinplate works. which nOm!nally raised
prices. though actual quotations are unchanged
The Iron Age" records fact which marks
an era In American markets. that the pressure
to sell Southern pig at the North is somewhat
relieved by an advance Of % cents in the Brit
ism price for Southern iron. Foreign competi-
ton in cotton ties is also quite shut out the
American selling at 80 cents bundle. New
business is relatively small in boots and shoes
and shipments in May have been smaller than
in any year since 1892 though some OF the
large concerns have orders for months ahead
Another general advance In hides was made by
the packers at Chicago, although leather in
Eastern markets is weaker in tone Sales OF
wool have decreased though still much exceed
ing consumption and Western holders are be-
ginning to accept l to IL cents lower prices
than were recently asked manufacturers find
ing little cnange in the demand for goods
II is still an encouraging sign that the volume
OF commercial loans expands. and last week
the quality offered was also recognized as
better. While manufacturers apd merchants
throughout the country are careful and con-
servative, the retail distribution OF goods has
been large on the whole. which pushes dealers
TO better orders than expected a few
weeks ago. The outgo Of gold excites no appre-
hens bpca,ise ~
paid and 1t is felt that the country will very
soon be in position to draw largely on foreign
supplies II necessary. Meanwhile the progress
Of the Tariff bill and the statement of Secre-
tary Gage have done much to increase con-
fdence and the last month Of the fiscal year will
begin with distinctly better conditions than
Iyere anficInat ed q month or two AGO