New-York tribune., 1899-01-16
MONEY AND BUSINESS.

i
,rooodo,, bv the election Of favoring Congress.
prices OF railroad stocks averaged then Soo 10
or ,bereab bouts and closed Saturday last AZ
sGo % making an advance Of about one-slxth
in tho value Of such securities. That means
over A thousand millions gain for security "o''-
ers and Is yet but part OF the Improvement
already realized. In truth, the pace IL se'''"s
so hot that words Of warming are no" u'tele'
| nv many OF the thoughtful and experienced vet
erans In transportation and Investment Du'
| H. nuIJic ia etill buying quite az largely as
| ever. and paying higher and higher prices every
| week The rise last week was for railway s"a' 20
| 81 a. per share. and the end. though opN'o's''
| rs.rer in the matter of time. looks just as far
| of as 1t did two months ago Last "eeh ""''
ing market. with the heaviest record ever mace
| OF shares Sold the heaviest single days recoru
and the heaviest Saturday. not only wiped out
| q .ood many high-water marks. but started
| most persons considering how much the ran
ways have really advanced in value
"Tbe Financial Chronicles" reports Of earn
| ines are considerably the fullest this month en-
| braclng 1873 roads for the full year, ana slx'!
| seven more for eleven months OF lo'o' WIN
! 1631St miles operated, and Nl,ii''ol''''"
| earned, a gain over 1897 Of SIS3l6'l9 Ihis Is
| a large addition to gross receipts anu rea"S
means more than some realize. because on many
| OF the roads no proportionate increase III eN-
| penses results when traffic is very heavy IN
| stead of a gain of little less than per cent
| for the month the earnings have in erect III
| creased much more, as many ROADS nave al
! ready shown by their enlarged distribution OF
| profits And these are results for fu year.
while the December reports exclusive OF large
| gains on Canadian and Mexican roads, stiil
| show an increase Of 80 per cent over 1891 when
| ol, -
| December and - - per cent In November over
| the year 1896 Certainly there Is solid ground
| for an important advance Of prices in such an
| expansion of business and profits Whether the
! rise has gone as far as 1t should Is the one
| ouestion which everybody must always answer
| for himself for the rise after specie resumption
| from an average Of less than S33 per share for
railroad stocks early In 1879 to $02 ID per share
| In 1881 has not yet been matched, and may
| never be- But the chief characteristic of the
market is its broadening. OF the twelve most
| active stocks eight were OF trunk line railroads,
! Of which l. 100000 shares were sold. only 1.o42,-
| 600 we're sold Of four trusts and street roads.
| and over 3 900 600 shares were sold Of 107 other
| concerns.
| year ago the volume Of business had ex-
| banded SO much that some were AFRAID that
| things were going too fast. January showing a
| gain OF IS per cent over 1897 in the exchanges
| But the first half Of this January shows a gain
Of 279 per cent over last year. and '3'o per cent
| over the same weeks in 1897 These are not rec
| ords which any specuator can manufacture or
MANIPULATE but are the records which actuai pusi-
| ness makes for itself. Nor is there room to DIS
pute the official record Of produce exports, which
were in December, 1897. by far the greatest ever
xnown in any month, over Sl25, 100000 in value
dah tha
| nr,rc,nal stapJes have been in value $464290O
greater than in 1897 in spite Of some decrease IN
ol, cattle and hogs. The low price for cotton
| has not prevented an increase in the value eX-
norted OF SO. 3.4O5. .0S4, nor does the low price Of
| wheat prevent the increase of Sl3909iZ for the
| month. Within a day or two, it is evident, an
| other enormous excess Of exports for the month
Will be recorded and meanwhile January ex-
norts from this city show an increase thus far Of
| 475 per cent over last year. and cotton exports
| from all ports this month show an increase OF
| l51 900 bales or more than 40 per cent.
| IL Ia this great excess Of exports, creating
| foreign Indebtedness to this country at the rate
| OF about S1,OOOOOO every halliday, that causes
| and I'm some degree justhes the confidence
| shown The West Is still shipping grain beyond
| even the unprecedented rate OF last year. In
| two weeks OF January the exports OF wheat,
| -four included. have been 1901 ,339 bushels,
against SIP O33 for the same weeks last year,
| and meanwhile the exports OF corn have also
been 7190913 bushels. against 6,O0l.57S last
| wear To date all records of wheat exports have
| been surpassed In this crop year with corn only
| about 9 800 600 bushels behind last year Wheat
| has been growing a little stronger In price, but
| not because Western receipts run short. for this
month they have been 100000 bushels, or %
| per cent larger than last year. The cotton
| movement has clearly fallen off this month,
rather TO the surprise OF those who had grown
weary Of the usual predictions that 1t would, but
the decrease in quantity coming forward has
been only about $4,000 bales thus far in Janu-
ary, leaving 32S0O bales excess over last year
remaining for the crop year thus far. Northern
and Southern spinners have taken this month
$1,000 bales more than last year. presumably be-
cause the price has shown signs OF advancing
with heavy exports continuing.
| The output OF pig-iron January l. accord
ing to The Iron Age" 243,516 tons.
against 23J.52S last month and 226,6O8 year
ago Meanwhile unsold stocks were reduced 10
50G. $40 tons. decrease OF 81 449 for the month
These data warrant an increase OF about IoOW
tons In the estimate Of consumption for the year
but as the official statement will now quickly ap-
pear comment may be deferred quite general
| advance In prices occurred during the last week
in part because Of the action Of combinations re-
Gently formed 20 defend against excessive com
petition and In part the natural result Of the adj
vance realized In pig-iron and blets owing to
the enormous purchases recently made. The de
mand does not seem to abate I'm the least, and as
to plates two foreign orders for 1900 tons are
still seeking restngplace. All the minor
; metals are also considerably stronger, in har-
mony with advances in Europe and the tinplate
makers have advanced the price to SO a box
Trade in boots and shoes Is for the time rather
slow so that shipments run smaller than In 1895
! or 1895 but are larger than In any other year
Although reductions effected in severa
kinds Of leather the discrepancy between price: