The age-herald., 1898-01-01
a. G. DUN & co.
Failures For 1897 Have Been Comparatively
 Few and Small.

New York, Dec. S1.--R. G. Dun & Co.'S weekly review of trade will say in its issue tomorrow:
 Failures for the year which closed last night have been smaller than in any other year since 1892, in number smaller than in any year except in 1885, and in average lia- bilities per failure smaller than in any other year during the last twenty-three. except four. The aggregate of all failures. commercial and banking, was s1sQ.p00 90. of which 900 was in banking. In 1S. 360 commercial failures the amount of lia- bilities was s154,s00.OOO, of which s69,00o,00O was in manufacturing and $73.I0)0,0 in trading, with $12, 0O0oO in brokerage and other commercial lines. The average of liabilities per failure was only s1i ,5S9. and in 1892 only $11,O25, but only three years in the past twenty-three were rivals, 1888, with $11. .595; 1886, with $11 651, and 1885, with SHOTS.
 A new year opens with conditions radi- cally different from those which prevailed a year ago. Great financial distrust ex- isted then. but has passed away. After whole year of entire freedom from disturb
 ance and alarm, in which the country has paid heavy foreign indebtedness. taken and
 
 abroad, and accumulated credits against other countries represented by merchandise balance more than ss2O, 900 900 in it's favor for
 the past five months, with deferred ex-
 changes for more than s2O 600 held by
 New York banks alone, while the great in-
 dustries have been pushing their way into foreign markets with unprecedented
 schemes, the monetary situation is no xhox,
 half million of men in a few states, ac- cording to official reports, are employed now who were idle year ago. and the gen. eral advance in wages for those employed has gone far to restore the rates prevail ing before the panic. The volume of bus mess through clearing houses for the week. 14.2 per cent. larger than in 1892, has for the month been of 03 per cent. larger than in that year and in many industries and branches of business the latter months of this year have surpassed all records. The iron industry has been greatly en- couraged by increased demand during the past few weeks, and while the slight im- provement in pig iron at Pittsburg has been maintained, notwithstanding the greatest output ever known, the new con- tracts for finished products have been unusual for the season. They include 3o,- 900 tons steel rails to one eastern mill, 12,- 900 tons structural work for improvements at New York alone, with large operations at Chicago and other cities, and greatly increased demand for manufacturing ma terials generally, and especially for sheets. Minor metals have been rather weak, with tin at 15.6 cents. and copper at 10.S7,
 in spite of large exports, while lead is quoted at 3.721s cents, and spelter at 1885. The best Bessemer full weight tin plates are selling at s9.05, against $40 for foreign. No change in prices of coke appears, though the shipments were the largest for any week this year.
 The cotton industry is halted by the question of wages, although general re- duction now seems probable. The manu- lecturers have been buying largely on
 material for worsted goods and their pur- chases have stimulated buying by wool manufacturers so that the wool markets are stronger, though without changes in quotations
 After the great excitement at Chicago, wheat still goes out of the country as large ly as before. Atlantic ports S,570,7S3 bushels flour included, against 1,542 54O last year and from Pacific ports 1712,625 bushels. In the four weeks the Atlantic exports. flour included, have been 15,06o,0E bushels against S,5OO,1e1 last year. Heavy western receipts are only refecting temporary con- ditions in the Chicago market. But extra ordinary exports of corn, 4,404,9o5 bushels against 9,444, ,s53 bushels in the four weeks last year, shows how sorely foreign mar kets are pushed by the increasing demand | for bread stuffs Wheat has declined 1-3c on the Chicago market and corn has mean while advanced % of cent. The cotton movement continues remarkably heavy and yet the slight advance last week is nlain- tained. The movement to date, although
 more than 100000 bales have come into | sight, scarcely supports the largest current estimates.
 Failures for the week have been 395 in | the United States against 439 last year and 21 in Canada, against S9 last year. THE FlNANCIER.