The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-13
=, r.,prr BALANCES ABROAD.

IN pursuing thelr Nocatioh' onSee os"'VH
,..,b,r AMI standard Rope and TWine nave
- ol,.rna'cy put up and put down during
tse .ia., week to an extent which must have
'ns '.,oI in great profit To some people. and In |
Fsu .,r er.at losses to others. Mn who play
'Gus'1 ,,,re must, however. take their chances |
h " iuck and bad luck. and are as little to |
es.oorerotula,ed when they win and pi'isd
,hay lose as other gamblers are.
WIZ "n,.,is Of the speculative ring, no complaints
I'D. of A scarcity OF money anywhere In |
wv nonntry Rates o. interest are. indeed. |
W., ,bon they we're few months ago. but
.ho,s ra,es every borrower for legitimate
,..Inos. purro.es can get all the accommoda-
w.. IL entitled to. A clamor has been set
h,, the Government, through the opera
w. ain. War Revenue act, II drawing into
". ,,ul,s and locking up there much money
a., o,berwisc might he employed In relieving
,',.s...d debtors but there 10 no justinca-
..toru The balance in tho Treasury. ex-
n deposits in national banks. was on
s.,a,,,v only about S2000.000 more than 1t
..on oct .. so that the community. during
".i,., II. weeks at least. has suffered very
v,,. hy Treasury absorptions. The report
49,, the Secretary OF the Treasury was about
VOC" VA, r,oyernment bonds In order to release
..o A, the money in his custody has been
'.srntlv and pers silently denied by him. with
~. ,1dsd Information that he Ia aware that
...,rv for more money comes almost exclu-
.,., from, speculative borrowers, and that
,rs o.bers nre paying tho excessive rates for
,s,o,ad ia tho newspapers. In the natural
.,a-.e q, events. the Treasury disbursements
,,,h, ,treiny TO exceed its receipts. and.
.,,,oysr the currency, which has been going
,.,,,hs Interior TO move the crops to market.
lii .oon begin to return to this and other
,,,rcl,l centres. and thus. without special
government intervention. the stringency will
,.l,, and the money market will be more
:nply supplied.
Nevertheless. the question may fairly be
,t,l; why do not the scarcity OF money. such
,.n,s and the high rates OF interest paid by
h.r,nu.rs from whatever cause their needs
,,.e draw gold from Europe to this country
The Treasury statistics Of our foreign trade
,ho,,ho, for the first nine m onths Of the cur
mt calendar year. our exports In merchandise
b,,a IN ya'uo exceeded our imports by more
n,p s3l7. 600 $50. while our excess OF imports
=, cold for the same period amounts to leas
,,ansl COZ 600 Here Is, apparently. a balance
c'sSl8 OOO. 900 owing us, OF which We are en-
,tsd,o demand payment. and why We do not
tenanl aud receive that payment In gold at
slime when gold could be lent out here a.
,-or,,h'y "a il can be now Il o problem
which rerre1es many minds.
martial cause Of the pcrplcxity arises from
,,sying the balance Of exports reported by tho
Treasury as one great debt due. as 1t were.
from single debtor 10 single creditor.
whereas Il i owing by n multitude to multi
,uiS. Consequently. the payment OF Il IL ad-
wrei te'wscn large number OF persons and
rron a variety Of terms and considerations
eur EXPORTS consist chiefly OF Agricultural
trrdqc's. much Of the money to paw for which
sllvancad 10y ranks and bankers from funds
iaor.lrg 10 European capitalists, and has to
t4 ra,nrrei n them The portion which Is
,lrr.lel nv Americans. thew may. for reasons
c',heir own. allow to remain to their credit
tFroal. although they could. apparently. make
Lr-os,ahle use ~ Il hera From the innumer-
40 accounts between individuals. the aggre-
g .errsu', Is uut 70 he calculated without q
krow'edgc ~ all the details. and this II Is i'm
possible to get
,rart from this complication. the actual
rrount luA from he American importer for
N" rnmmcli' "a h. IMPORTS ia larger than
Ma; reported 20 the Treasury by tho charges
'or raivay ~ ocean freight from the point
nvhich he makes h's purchases to the rort a,
which thHvhre received here, and these charge,
4 not apr"ar in tho Treasury statistlcs How
mrrh they are n is impossible TO commute &C.
cHra's'v bur A. m more than = per cent. upor
80 suOOOOoOO o. imports for ths curren
v.Nrthus far. they would amount 10 5000
tn0 the whole NJ which goes to foreign railwa!
and steam ship lines. They may not he .,
much "a : rer cent. in the case Of goo's o
small hulk and great value. but in that o
coarse an 'ow-priced commodities. they mus
10 moro r. them. also. must be added he eos
o'neurance most ~ which 10 raid abroad
ThsTraasurv returns OF imports are. further
Yellow the truth hy the amount nv which IN,
'mror'S re frequently undervalued In the IN
vor"s which nra tent with them as n basis To-
computing al vo'nrem duties These forma
irvoras arn the only materials from which IL,
Treasury S'l'is'ics are compiled and a yer,
,~aN percentage ~ correction would add
lN'cA sum 70 the total value Of years i'm
r"-'N'iors. Tn" importers do not swear false
Is, hu' that they strain the truth In their tavo
i-mnch sc "a consistent with the avoidance o
r-i0irs' renal'ics ia proved by the many dis
T1ss letwe"n them and the Govern ma
trrrhsars, which end In their valuations heinz
mlsed ESrorts. on the contrary. are valued
p may le presumed. correctly. and are wortl
h''e.- 'hHn hey are represented TO he.
u nay Re saii. therefore. without mucl
'ylEg'Fatnn, that from every years. apparen
'orirn 'rNHo balances In our favor som ethini
I've slonOpo coo must be deducted for trans
lortat'on charges and for differentiation
from them. tor. must he deducted the amount
'''rt rs our citizens who visit Europe an
who ray m the aggregate n large sum /
'ot"'cn steamship owners for their passage,
10 foreign hotelkeepers for entertainment
AMI n foreign tradesmen for clothing. Jew
cry. hric-A.hrac. AMI other articles. whic
IN SPITE ~ TIE strctest wntchfnlness the
hrhg hack with them without reporting Their
hnH paying duty on them. The number q
ue'" travellers may be safely estimated q
l""o annually and their average eIpend
Ilr- abroad NJ $500 each This gives a
aggregate NJ SI0,OOO.OOO. and accounts 70
mat much ~ the balances due us on our 81
lo0s In addition, there are many wealth
americans, Ike Mr.. Aston and tho Bradley
Martins who reside permanently abroad an
Nen'their incomes there. To London. Par
florence. Rome and other cities. the Amer
ran coonies are numerous and their eXpent
"u's In III" aggregate very considerab BILE.
An lng"n. Qua correspondent OF THE SUN ha
'ugges'el another unconsiAercd and unr,
ported Offset to the balance which would oths
wise h". 10 he paid us In gold by our forelg
customers II Il tho multitude OF sums. sma
g. t.N4..f