The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1897-06-09
BUSINESS OUTLOOK.
Commercial situation Said tn Conn
pare FavorabIy with That of Most
Prosperous Years - Depression
I'm Prices Only Temporary.
New York. June 5.-R. G. Dun & Co.,

New York, June 5.-R. G. Dun & Co.,
In their weekly review of trade. say;
1.-THE statement OF failures in May by
branches of business gives much encourage
ment. In amount OF defaulted liabilities
the month was the smallest since Septem-
Der, 1895; In manufacturing liabilities. the
smallest since November, 1885, and In trad
ing liabilities. the smallest since September,
except the last month. 1894. Failures OF
general stores have not been as small In
any month as In May, 1897: In only two
months out OF SO have there been smaller
failures In books and hats. only in grocer
les. and not one trading class in that month
has reported failures larger than In the
half the preceding months though In fur
niture failures are rather numerous. In
clothing manufacture the month was the
smallest except out OF 36. except In chem
icals, In wooden goods. In machinery.
lumber and miscellaneous manufactures,
and exceeded the average only in iron and
cotton goods and earthenware, owing to
few failures OF exceptional size. Nobody
can mistake the meaning of such returns.
A Favorable Comparison.
THE statement that except for the tenn
porary depression in prices. the volume OF
business transacted is now larger than 1t
was In 1S92-the year of prosperity--has
been questioned by some. But compari-
son of prices this week In the leading
branches or manufacture not only confirms
that view. but shows a remarkable siml-
larity to the course OF prices In the earlier
months OF 1879, when the most wonderful
advance in production and prices ever
known In this or any other country was
close at hand. The key OF the situation Is
the excessive production of some goods in
advance of an expected increase in de-
mand. SO In 1879 consumption gradually
gained. month by month, until suddenly
II was found that the demand was greater
than the possible supply. All know how
prices then advanced. and the most mar
velous progress In the history of any coun-
try resulted within two years.
Distribution Increasing.
reports from all parts of the country
now show that retail distribution OF prod
ucts is unusually large and increasing.
There Is no improvement In the market
for farm products. Cotton is not higher,
and the belief that the next crop will be
large, in spite of the floods. is general. while
the demand for goods does not change.
although In this country II is large enough
TO keep the markets for most goods steady.
Nor Is there any satisfactory demand for
wooden goods. The transactions greatly
exceed the demands OF the mills, although
these are larger than of late. because the
manufacturers Of wooden goods have stead
fly increasing orders The iron industry Is
apparently expanding production. and Is
certainly getting larger contracts. in part
because OF very low prices. i cent being
made for beams. Bessemer pig is strong
er, and gray forge a shade weaker under
pressure of southern anxiety TO sell. The
rail mills are all full, the Illinois Steel
company having orders for railway and
bridges in Corea, and there Is better de-
mand for plates and sheets. and from
makers OF agricultural implements at Chi
cago for bars.
Crop Prospects Good.
"Crop prospects are so good that the
rumors customary at this season have no
attention. 1t was stated week ago that
were remarkably bright, and highly favor
able reports have since appeared from
Kansas and from Texas. and are given
In dispatches from the Pacific coast"
Failure Statistics.
New York, June 5.-Bradstreet's pub
fishes this week the results of what is
claimed is .ae most important statistical
Investigation ever made concerning bust
ness failures in various lines of trade. 1t
covers the past three years, and the sum-
mary of the results presents the total num-
Der of failures in lines OF business in which
there were ten or more annually during
the three years named. Purely CONNER
cial enterprises, wholesale and retail, are
seen TO furnish 20 per cent. of the bust
ness failures each year and manufacturing
embarrassments about 20 per cent Out of
the increase of nearly 100 failures in 1885,
compared with 1895, 1,l35, or more than one
half, were of retail commercial concerns.
The counting of the total number Of indi-
viduals. firms and corporations in business
in 81 groups OF the more important lines
of trade is an unprecedented work These
totals constitute what may be termed the
business population Of the country in these
lines, and permit, with the totals of failures
in these lines, the calculation Of the COM
mercial death rate in the departments or
lines of business specified. This record
shows that in 1896 II out of every Loo
clothing concerns and 81 out of every 1000
bicycle houses failed in business, the two
lines having relatively the greatest COM
mercial mortality last year. The rate
year was IL commercial deaths out OF every
1000 in business Commercial failures were
relatively most numerous, after the two
lines specified, among manufacturers of
or dealers in hats, furniture, glassware,
dry goods. notions. woolens, jewelry lum-
Der and hardware. After that the rate OF
embarrassment Appropriated more near
ly the normal.