Arizona republican., 1898-12-16
OUR INCREASING WEALTH
James R. Keene on inc Nations
 Financial Condition.


 the folloTing int-cvi.w with tha noted
 James R. Ke1ne: James R. Keene is i seldom interviewed for the newspapers
 He was asked yesterday to give his
 views of the financial situaticl cf the United States in these, the closing days
 cf an eventful year.
 ITO my mind" said Mir. Kean2. '"tte foreign trade Of the United States is 1 the fundamental factor in the pres ent situation. MOs5 people have app2r- emily net yet appreciated it's signifi- canoe. The government fgures Of for eign trade show: Excess Of exports year ending June 30, 1886, $85, ,999, ,933; i; | excess Of exports year ending June 30, 1897, $265, ,621 ,112; excess Of experts year ending June 3O 1893, S615 259 ,124 Total fer three years, $966, ,S7S,2 Ex- cess experts July 1 to OctCbar 31, 1898, four months, $165, ,799, 8S4, making a to- tai Of s1, 100, ,O00, 0OO
 Here is an addition Of over $1, ,100,- 100000 to the wealth Of the country from surplus products in a little ove- three years. There is persistent and importunate demand fer cur grain, pro- visions, cotton and manufactured prod ucts, which insures fer the fiscal y5ar ending June 30 next another large ex- cess of exports. The total gain to the country in four years will probably be in excess of $1, 300, 100000.
 "The trade statemen. fcr the three preceding years is important, showing the gradual growth of fcre.gn trade: Year ending June 3r 1893, Kcess of imports, SIS, ,735,72S; yeax.sh hg June 30, 1894, excess Of expor L145, $50; year ending June 30, 1895. ss of ex- ports, S64, ,076. TSP. These neY salss of surplus products must be paid for in some form. Foreign nations did nc. have $1,100,000,0 ,000 gold to remit, but they sent us some gold and some secur- tics TCday they eve us in various forms large amounts of mCney in the shape of various liabilities, as, fer ex- ample, exchange, the collection of which has been deferred. The debt, moreover, will grow instead Of decreas- ing. We have net demanded money due us by foreign nations because of the fear of disturbing mcnstary affairs in England, Ger many, France and other countries, and because it p1ys US to leave it a. interest.
 "A gratifying feature Of our for5 ign trade is the growth in exporis of manu factures. In eighteen years thsse have nearly tTebled. Lss. ysar they were nearly $500, ,O0O0G0. There is ev-ry prospect that this growth will continue. We have imported fawer manufactured goods because we have learned how to make cur own, and with improved ma chineTy, abundant raw mat rial and skilled and wlll-fed workmen, we com pete with the world in manufactures as never before. The opening Of Chinese and other eastern markets will furnish new and almoSt unlimited oppOrtuni- ties.
 Ut is this enormous debt Of fore. gn nations to US which has made money 1 so easy throughout the country, flooded | the west with capital, filled western | banks to repletion and brought western l men in large numbers to inVese in our securities.
 Hardly enc man in a thousand in | the United States realizes this change. The power of $1 1,500, 10000 increased | wealth no ono can controvert. The figures ar5 so stupendCus and the lcgic Is so irresistible that the student stands lghast. Few have ever seen these fig Ires grouped in this form, and even the financial writers Of the press, clever and able as they are, have not seemed o grasp their magnitude, and the ire iistible inves ment and specula i've mo- nentum they have unqu5stionably ex- srcised. It must also be rem embered hat, while this increased wealth is rom exports cnly, the country itself las grown richer in even greater pro- portion There has been nothing like his foreign trade statenent in the his O1v Of 4ho commerce Of sdlY COuntrV
 "As to the material exhibit Of wealth, he United States treasury's morthly eport shows that in five years, to the irst Of the pres mcnth, the visib e upply of gold coin has increased $222,- 5S,543, gold bullion has increassd $79,- IA 4,O62, in all S301. .172, ,6O5 of which I 54 ,000 GOO has gene into circulation, ] nd tIhe balance is in the United States reasury. The currency of the country as been inflated by this large amount, nd the imitation is all gold.
 "The only conclusion I can reach , rom these facts is that higher level l fl prices for our securities is inevita- ] ple. I cannot advise what stocks to uy. Of that investors must be the udge. There are certainly many locks selling much blow their intrin- ic and prospective value. There may e others which are selling above it. ln the whole, however, there is abun- ant money, foreign and domestic busi- ess conditions are the best in the his Ory of the country, and these can only nean material increases in the value f railroad and industrial securities" , -