The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-12-30
THE VAULT IN VALUES
AND GENERAL ADVANCE IN
WAGES OF EAIPI.O DYES.
NOTHING QUITE LIKE IT SEEN BEFORE
Export Trade the Heaviest on Record. Bread
stuffs Are Among the Few Things That
Have Failed to Keep Up With
the Procession.
the Procession.

New York, Dee 29,--Bradstreet's re-
view of THE Year in Business" tomor-
row will say.
Rarely have sanguine commercial and
financial hopes or predictions found such
adequate realization as they did during
1899. Certainly nothing like the wide
spread and general upward movement of
values, alike of staples and of securities.
such as occurred during this year, could
havc been foreSeeu. Linked with an inn
mense business and recopl-breaking
production in nearly all lines OF business
ana Industry, except. perhaps in S0Tae
products of the agricultural interest,
vhere was with il an advance of staple
values either of which alone would have
made the year notable. and combined
they have served to establish the year
as a record-breaker and set up new
standards. The volume of domestic and
of foreign trade alike was the largest
ever recorded and the bank clearings
reflected immense business expansion.
active speculation in stocks and immense
new industrial foatings, far surpassed all
previous records.
In industrial affairs the year has been
enc of enormous expansion. Certainly
nothink like the general advance in wages
of industrial employees has been witness
ed for many years and this had been
accomplished with Il minimum of fric-
tion emitting the year to special mention
on this if on no other account. The
close of the year finds order books filled
TO from three to six months ahead in
nearly all lines.
Notwithstanding smaller exports Of
agricultural products during the calendar
year breadstuffs shipments being IL per
cent smaller, cattle and hogs exports
II per cent less and cotton shipments,
owing to the short crop at least Is per
cent less, there was such an expansion
of our manufactured exports that the en-
tire export trade of the year will consid-
crably exceed that of last calendar year
which was the heaviest recorded and
make the year no less notable in the lines
of foreign than in domestic trade with a
total of exports little less than S1,2S0.-
100000, an aggregate. which, if reached,
will mark a gain of 3 per cent over the
record total of 1898. Imports have mn
turally shown marked revival and if
the gain for the IL months is maintained
LOT the IiIOutn OF lDecelnDef IoIdl HLtlc
below $500, 100000 may be expected
which would guarantee total foreign
trade well in excess of $1,000 000,000
an amount it might be remarked, never
before equaled.
That the advance in the price of sta
pies has mot been a fictitious one or
based upon arbitrary actions of combina-
TONS is evidenced by the fact that a SIM
dlar price movement has been witnessed
abroad, the general level of prices in
England, for instance, being higher ON
December list this year than for more
than eight years past.
tBreadstuffs alone of all the classes of
staples are actually lower now than they
We're Il year ago. the decline being about
six per cent. On the other hand the
manufactured or partly manufactured
products, such as metals, raw and man
ufactured or partly manufactured pro
ducts, such as metals. raw and manu-
featured, textiles, building materials,
coal and naval stores, have scored re-
markable gains. Metals, as Il whole, are
20 per cent higher than a year ago, due
largely, of course to the upward rush
of iron and steel prices. which have all
practically doubled III value within the
year.
Raw cotton ard wool have made espe-
cially noteworthy advances, and being
among the most depressed of industries
the textile manufacturing trades have
become among the busiest there is re-
cord of. Other textiles have shared in
this advanced, and the result is that tex
tiles as class are one third higher than
year ago.
Taking bank clearings as an index the
outlook at present fayors total at the
country's clearing houses making com
parison with previous years of fully S93,-
300,000,000, am increase of 36 per cent
over year ago, of "A per cent over
1897 and of 81 per cent over 1892, while
as compared with 1894 the volume of
clearings has practically doubled.