New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-26
INDUSTRIES AND WAR ALARMS.

The disposition of some business men 10 cover
their own errors in judgment or Ill success by
reporting a depression caused by war excite
. ment Is no new thing. Before 1t breeds mischief
. affecting others who have been more enterpris-
+ ing and successful It may be well to point out
1ust how the more noticeable differences origi-
mated AS samples three may be taken-in GER
tain lines of cotton goods. in raw wool and a
few lines OF woollen goods, and In fraction OF
the boot and shoe business. From such quarters
come reports that business has been checked,
and yet 1t is larger in the boot and shoe manu-
facture, as whole, than ever before, and also
in the woollen manufacture as whole, and in
almost every branch Of the iron and steel manu-
facture, as in many other industries OF impor-
lance. Further, the records Of actual payments
show that the aggregate of all business Is con
siderably larger than in the most prosperous Of
past years, and that failures have been remark
ably small, over % per cent less than last year
and SO per cent less than in 1895 Obviously
exceptional and not general causes may be
safely reckoned accountable under such condi
tons for differences In portions Of the great in
dustres
The difficulties IN cotton manufacture were
exhaustively discussed before the destruction OF
the Maine. 1t was shown that In certain kinds
Of goods which Southern mills were beginning
20 produce largely with cheaper labor and with
out the restrictions which Massachusetts laws
impose, the production In that State was at
great disadvantage. AS this was the deliberate
finding of the Arkwright Club after investiga-
ton, before any alarm of war arose 1t Is rather
superiuous TO call in the war news TO account
for embarrassments which have existed for
months In that branch Of the industry
One OF the Qucerest mistakes on record Is the
editorial statement Of 1.-The Shoe and Leather
Reporter" that there is some depression in that
industry on account OF war alarms The sue
cessve issues Of that same paper for the last
five weeks have duly reported the heaviest pur-
chases OF boots and shoes ever known in the
history Of that Industry. in some cases exceed
Ing within the first quarter the entire purchases
IN the whole Of last year, and in the aggregate
30 far ahead Of all past records that the biggest
output by Eastern works ever known at this
season Is continued IN March, and seems as
sured for months TO come. In the face Of such
reports. abundantly sustained by all other ac-
counts. everybody will see that since the de-
struction OF the Maine the trouble appears TO
De connned to those manufacturers who have
declined to accept orders at a reduction in prices
wnich other nrms have been willing to make
Whether the higher prices Of leather give good
reason for their refusal Of orders which others
accepted does not appear, but In any case for
eign affairs have not caused H.
Wool has been pushed upward to prices which
many believe the manufacture could not afford
to pay after its stocks Of wool bought before
the rise. had been exhausted How long those
stocks will last nobody can tell, but results go
to show that they will last longer than any OF
the wool operators have imagined The manu-
facturers who had laid in great stocks of cheap
wool before the tariff went into opera ton have