Warren sheaf., 1897-01-07
BuslNE less REVIEW.
More Failures In 1896 Than Any Year
Except 1899.

Except 1893.
New York, Jan .-R. G.s Dun & Co.
In their weekly review Of trade say:
ures In 1886 than in any previous year except
1898. about l4.sa0. against 1897 last year.
with liabilities OF about $225. 100000. against
.O5O last year. an increase in num-
Der of about II per cent. and in liabilities Of
20 per cent.
The year closes with an epidemic Of
failures. mainly at the west. and In banks,
loan and trust companies. or concerns de-
pendent on them. The action of clearing
houses In various places indicates no want
OF confidence. and several banks which
have failed will be enabled to pay in full,
but disclosures of unsoundness In q few
widely-know wn institutions. in the abnormal
state OF popular feeling after an excited
contest on monetary issues. has caused dis
trust and suspicion where it is frequently
undeserved. There has been no monetary
pressure to cause trouble nor have i'm
portant western products declined in value.
There has evidently been too liberal as
sistance given by some flduciary concerns
to speculative operations. No drain on
eastern funds has resulted since the first
alarm at two large failures, and the money
then sent has all returned. Failures often
grow more frequent as annual settlements
approach. ~ r' - r.
THE year 1896 has been one of singular,
and confusing fluctuations in prices. Of
which very full details are given. Wheat
rose to 81 cents February 8, fell to COZ June
20, and rose to 92 cents December 49, Cot
ton started at 1881, with stories of scanty
supply, fell $762 March 5. rose to s8.37 May
Z. dropped to $7.05 July Is, when heavy
surplus was pressing, rose to $S.S7 Septem-
ber 10, with stories that the new crop was
ruined, fell to s7O6, but closed at $7.12. Wool
rose to an average of $l4.74 for all domestic
grades. February l, fell to $12 16 September
l. rose to $13.66 December !, and has since
declined. Iron and it's products rose per
cent. to April and then declined every
month to December I, in all about ~ per
cent. since rising slightly. Boots and
shoes fell 13 per cent. TN the spring, against
leather IS and hides q per cent. Then
shoes rose gradually 20 per cent. to De-
cember and leather II per cent. but has
since fallen per cent, while hides rose Is
per cent. to June 3. dropped 22 per cent. to
July $, rose to 50 per cent. to November
and have since declined Is per cent. Cot
ton goods were at the highest point Jam
uary l, fell II per cent. to August 6. rose
about per cent. to November 9, and have
since declined about per cent The in
congruity of these changes shows wha,
obstacles business has had to face.
''1n none of the industries mentioned has
there been activity the past week. Ho!i-
day dullneSS has been intensified by the
failures and the efforts of great combina-
tions to make new arrangements With
iron, coke. W DOL, cotton and hides all some.
what lower, there is almost universal con-
fidence that business will soon become
large and safer than before for a long time
Cotton mills have enormous stocks of un-
sold goods ir, some lines, the surplus of
print cloths being the largest ever known
and about quarter of years consump-
ton. Wool sales decreased q per cent in
the first four months. and were smaller
than for five years; decreased 56 per cent.
in the second four months when new wool
was coming forward, and were much the
smallest ever known, except in the panic
of 1873; but enormous sales, mainly specula-
tive, made the aggregate during the last
four months nearly equal to that of last
year.
The volume Of business during the year
1896 has varied remarkably. Payments
through the clearing houses were slightly
larger In each Of the first four months than
in 1895, but 20 per cent. smaller than in 1892.
In the six months, May and October inclu-
sive, payments were every month smaller
than last year, Is per cent. in September,
and In that month and October about ri
per cent smaller than in 1892. In Novem-
'er small Improvement over 1895 appeared.
and the decrease from 1892 was but u per
cent, but in December payments were a.S
per cent. smaller than last year, and 90 8
per cent. smaller than in 1893. Railroad
earnings We're slightly larger than last year
III cdCu OIL the UTSI seven months, aid
smaller each month than in 1892. In August
and the later months there has been a de-
crease as great as IL per cent. in November
from 1895 and 1872 per cent. in August from
1892.
Wheat has risen to the highest point
since June, 1892, because western receipts
in five weeks have been but 13, 2S0 900 bush
els. against 22,606,357 last year. The ex-
ports from New York in December were
five per cent. larger and imports u per
cent. smaller than last year."
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VENEZUELAN TREATY.