Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-07-20
THE BUSINESS SITUATION.

r. q. Dun & Co IS Review for this
week says: because every prospect
pleases, it is the right time to watch
most closely for signs of trouble. But
it is not easy to find them when the
volume of business is Go per cent larger
than last year and 75.5 larger than in
1892, the best of all years except the
last, or when failures continue the
smallest ever known, or when the OK
ports of staples begin to improve ma
terially, or when railroad business is
by far the best ever known, or when
New York bankers appear in interna-
tional operations, listening to Rus
sian inquiry and undertaking Mexi-
can loan. The Bank of England finds
iG difficult to borrow more from this
side, and frankly raises it's rate while
this country begins to ship fresh crops,
for which Europe will run into debt.
Foreign trade is more satisfactory, OK
ports for the week being slightly larger
than last year. Exports of staples In
June, though much smaller in bread
stuffs, owing to low prices, were in all
only 6,2l5, 026 less than last year,
while exports of other domestic prod
ucts Increased sS,031, 461, making the
excess of exports for the month
S35, 1871, 937 and the excess of exports
of merchandise and specie for the fiscal
year 1904, 500, 497 While exports of the
chief staples have decreased SS5, o78, :
$50, manufactured exports have in
creased nearly as much, making the
total decrease only So, 921, 608. Fail
ures for the first week Of July, covering
but four business days, were not quite
the smallest ON record PER day, though
only $500, 903 against 81, 1914, 974 in five
business days last year. Manufacture
ing were SlS3, PSI, against S946, GIL,
and trading, 1854, 221, against $500, 1853
last year. Failures for the week have
been 1863 in the United States, against
2l5 last year, and twenty-four in Can
ada, against twenty. three last year. ~
Bradstreet's, in its issue for today,
says: New features in the general
trade situation this week are of an
almost uniformly favorable character.
Additional statistics of past trade
movements received are certainly of an
encouraging nature, foremost among
these being exceptionally coed railroad
earning returns for June and the
first half of the year, and ascertained
totals of an enormous export trade,
practically equal to the phenomenal
business of the preceding fiscal year.
Among current news features might BIO
mentioned the quite favorable July
crop report OF the Agricultural Depart
inent, which, while confirming earlier
advices of more moderate yield of
winter wheat, and therefore of a smaller
aggregate crop than that gathered last
year, admitted, however, to have been
largely underestimated, point to a
large acreage in corn and conditions,
which, il maintained, would easily
result in crop in excess of 1000, 900, 600
bushels.
"a number of wage increases are
among the weeks developments. The
iron blast furnace report for July LIST
points to an Unprecedented current
weekly production, but available stocks
of pig iron are down to less than one
weeks supply. From several centres
of industrial activity come reports of
scarcity of labor, initiating against
even more pronounced activity. Iron
and steel, while rejecting the summer
quietness to some extent in the East,
are quite active in demand at the West,
| and some heavy sales are reported from
Chicago, with further Price advances
in structural material. Bessemer pig
is now slightly more than double what
it was one year ago. Reports are cur
rent that final arrangements for book
ing large quantity of foreign business
have been closed. The price situation
is naturally strong one, wheat and
coffee alone of all the prominent staples
being lower on the week, aud the
former only fractionally so, owing to
large receipts at the West and to the
check to export demand caused by
reaction from the price reached some
time ago.