Kansas City daily journal., 1897-02-08
SITUATION Is IMPROVING IN THE
BUSINESS WORLD.
BETTER FEELING NOW PREVAILS
THERE Is 4 RENEWED ACTIVITY IN
BANKING CIRCLES.
Leading Philadelphia Finnncier Says
the Incoming of the New Admin
istration Is the Last Dose
of Tonic That VIII
BE Needed.

New York, Feb An Improvement in
thu business situation is apparent. This
Goes not mean SO much - material increase
In the volume of business DOING as tits the
lucyalencc OF n better feeling. In cartaIn
lines OF industry The demanc is actually
greater than last week.
The wool market has continued very act
i've, though the aggregate sales Tor the
week show decrease oyer last week to-
ial and the week before. but They are StIll
very large. amounting 10 about B50,WO
pounds AT Boston, New York and Phia6el-
phia Prices remain firm and steady.
WccIen goods have been more inquired for
and some OF the smaller mills which had
kept away from the raw wool market ow-
ing to the lack of demand for the finished
product have been buyers this week
Cotton goods have been quiet They un-
deIWent Il decline early in the week, but
subsequently recovered and closed at about
last weeks figures. Tine print cloth manu-
facturers have come to an agreement 10 re-
strict the output. which is expected TO ca
ercise a stiffeninE effect on values. The
Ecrtr raj dry goods trade presents no new
features of interest. There is nothing new
in the iron. steel and coal trades.
In banking circles to-day there was some
show of new activity. The fact that the
weekly clearing house statement shows
large gain in the item of loans-the first for
ttIE llltlt-lltAS ttt'f AipN 81
of inducing agreeable feeling among New
York bankers. They take it as an indica-
ton that before long there Will be a much
more active market, based on developing
business enterprises.
William II. Rhawn, president of the Ma
tionai Bank of the Republic OF Philadei-
phia said to-day while in New York:
The country is Just in the condition OF
II man who has gone through long illness.
We are gradually recovering. The installa-
tion Of the new administration March
will be the last dose of tonic that we will
need. From that time on we will be strong
enough to get along without help.
The better feeling is everywhere notice
able. People have had their fears set at
rest and are hopeful and confident. Every
business man is expecting and looking for
ward 10 revival and d period of pros
perity.''
During the week money on call was Of
fsred at 1isd2 per cent the bulk of the
loans, however, having been placed at 1is61
IA per cent The time money market
throughout the entire week continued to
exhibit the same features which. have
characterized IT for a month past. Offer
ings were in excess of the demand, the lat
ter having remained light. Rates were .
per cent for sixty days, ~ per cent for
four months and per cent for five. six
and seven months. In the commercial pa
per market there has been no appreciable
change in the general conditions which
have prevailed for some weeks
The New York Financier says this week
The statement of the clearing house
banks of New York for the week ending
February was of an unusually favorable
character showing, as it did, an unex-
pected increase in loans after several
weeks STEADY decrease in this item. Jan
ba lpauG pf the NapV York hanks
were S4s1 ,S75aOO, which represented gain
of about $i9,DO0.00O from the low point
recorded November I. The loan total ac-
Cording to the current statement, is $751;
5l36OO. The gain for the week, therefore.
seems all the more surprising. The only
reason for the gain seems to be the employ
ment of the large volume of money here
being used in the reorganization and trans
ftrs of several OF the Northwestern and
Pacific roads These operations call for
great sums of money, and New York Of
fered the most advantageous market in
this connection.
The other items in the statement reveal
the effect of the heavy loan expansion. The
banks increased their deposits and de-
creased their cash holdings, making the
total change in these two items OF sS,S300OO.
which corresponds closely with the loan
expansion. Ii Is noticeable that the cir
cuatiUn of the banks shrunk sharply,
bringing the total circulation down to $16
$4,000. Il decrease of nearly $,O0O,000 since
october. AS this circulation has been re-
ured largely within the past four weeks.
the decrease in cash holdings may be due
in part TO the deposit of legals with the
treasury to retire the bank notes. The
receipts of currency fer the past week
have been small and the decrease in the
available cash held by the New York banks
makes the question of rates for money an
interesting one
1t does not seem probable that the cur
rent decrease will have anything like "A
permanent influence on interest rates the
outcome depending largely on the dis
position OF the funds now withdrawn. The
cash reserve of the banks is still $lS6 7S0. 500
and the excess reserve does not indicate
either a pressing demand for money or an
incentive to higher rates"