The herald., 1898-06-04
OFFICE OF THE HERALD,
Los ANGELES, Cal, June 3, 1898.
''self trust is the first secret of success.

''Self trust is the first secret of success"
1t is pointed out that ut the present time
the New York banks hold the largest
amount of gold ever in their possession.
The New York bank statement of the 21st
OF April gave the average specie holdings
OF the siXty-four banks composing the New
York Clearing House association as $780,
4O2 500, Allowing $4,000 900 for silver on
hand. leaves s1G4 900 900 odd in the form of
gold. 1t may be further remarked that
eleven banks out of the number have over
S1O7 600 900 of the aggregate. and one institu-
tion, the National City bank, has no less
than $2S, ,S93 600 in gold, or one-sixth of the
entire specie reserve of the associated
banks. says Bradstreets. This is
the natural result of the enor-
nous influx Of gold which has marked
the current fiscal year. Since July l. 1897,
treasury statistics show gross imports of
10000 .000 and deducting exports of about
slo,Vooooo, the net result is a gain of some
SsO,OOO0OO gold In less than eleven months.
IN fact with the amounts yet in transit
from both Europe and Australia, and as
suming that there will be gold exports
before July !, 1898, it is safe to conclude
mat the net gold imports for the fiscal
year will reach 800 900 900, as compared
with Sii 100000 in the fiscal year ended
June 80. 1897. The record q the present
year, 1t is already assured, will exceed the
goid imports in any year of our commercial
history, even of 1881, when the excess of
specie imports over exports attained a total
OF $97,0oosOOO. There have been only eleven
years in the past thirty-five when the gold
imports exceeded the exports. and they
were mainly confined to a well-marked
group of years-those between 1873 and
1885, again in 1885, 1887 and 1888, and again
in 1897, and in the fiscal year now ending
In only one instance, however that of 1881,
was there anything like the present inflow,
either in point of magnitude or the COM
paratively brief period within which the
bulk of the gold exports were affected In
the ten months ending April 30, 1885, the
coinage of gold has amounted to $50,0lS, 900,
and is considered likely to amount fully to
$65,OOO,000 by the end of the year. There
will thus have been added to the circulation
from gold imports and gold production more
than $3.50 900, 600
Duns New York Review says: "Start-
ing this month with the greatest consump-
tion ever known, the iron industry has made
surprising progress in new orders, which
reached about 1000 tons in bars alone,
over 10000 having been placed at Chicago
and 1900 at Wheeling mainly resulting
In the extraordinary demand for agricul-
tural implements. Heavy contracts for
structural works amount during the week
to at least 10 900 TONS with others reported
at many western cities. Plate contracts
outside of the heavy demand for the gov
ernment, are very large, and include $500
tons for shipyards In Glasgow and Belfast.
Many structural and bridge contracts at
the west are pending. with probability of
large orders during the coming week. A
petter demand appears for textile goods
with slight advance in print cloths and
substantial gain in sales of staples.''
ba Iicb oe+
ufacturing industry in the United States
was bad blow to the British iron and
steel industry. Just how severe it was,
was pointed out in paper read before
the British Iron and Steel institute re-
Gently. The exports from Great Britain
In the year 1880 aggregated 419.025 tons. Vhe
exports in 1897 amounted to only 271 800 tons
falling off of 147116 tons. The United
States in 1897 only took S5,475 tons, against
S1S los tons in 1890. The decrease in the ag-
gregate exports, it will therefore be seen,
was not as large as the decrease in the
demand from the United States, showing
that takings by other countries must have
heavily increased in order to make up so
large a loss. The loss of the United States
business, 1t waA admitted, threw the Brit
fish tin-plate trade back about ten years, or
In other words, the business done today is
only what it was ten years ago. 1t would
appear, however, that the British tin-plate
prouucerS nave NOT entlrely lOSt nope. Iney
speak hopefully of keeping a good share
of the trade of our Pacific coast states,
and of the trade in drawback plates, which
are exported and re-exported in the oil
and canned goods trades.
Just how much of basis the hopefuness
of the British tn-pate maker has may
be estimated from the statement, made by
the writer of the paper. that American pro-
ducers of plates, not satisfied with making
plates for timing purposes only, are now
actually selling steel to tin-plate makers
in Wales. How long the Welsh industry
can stand this is a question, as is also the
time when 1t will be possible for American
tin-plate men to sell timed plates in Wales.
Point is given to the latter observation by
the statement, made within the week, that
the Illinois Steel company has sold
5000 tons of steel ship plates to be used in
the building of warship for the British
government.