The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-28
PROSPERITY STORY
aRADSTREET'S MAKES GLOWING
REVIEW OF YEAR.
1901 A RECORD BREAKER.
TRADE EXPANSION EXCEEDS ALL
PREVIOUS YEARS.

The south, With n Smaller Cotton
Crop and Lower Prices, Failed to
Get Her share of the National
prosperity and Cotton Manufac-
turers Also Suffered.
New York. Dec. 27.-The annual re-
,.iew of American trade, finance and
industry prepared by Bradstreets and
piven publicity to-day, declared 1901 to
he a record breaker" among the five
succeeding years of commercial ex
mansion enjoyed by the United States
Its re-eminence, the review stated,
was all the more notable, because it
suffered from a combination of hap
nenings that in a normal year would
have proved depressing if not disast-
rous Enumerated in the latter were
the machinists and steel strikes, the
stock panic of May, the failure of sew
eral imprudently managed combina-
tons, the efforts of some combina-
tions. including that in copper, to fix
prices, the shortage in corn, cotton
and oats, and the assassination of
President Mckinley.
Summarizing the general situation,
the review said:
Briefly summarized, the year has
seen transacted an aggregate of gem
eral business, as reflected in bank
clearings, far in excess of any preced-
ing period; has witnessed stock specu-
lation. rampant beyond the dreams of
old-tirne brokers, checked and curtailed
by one of the sharpest stock panics
in history, and yet, with remarkable
minimum of disturbance of general
financial operations, has watched gen
eral industry and production grow
steadily until new and larger figures
were needed to express the outputs of
coal and ore and iron and steel ana
leather and lumber and multitude of
other branches has seen the freight
transportation facilities of the country,
strained to the breaking point, prove
insufficient to handle the volume Of
business offered; and. finally, has wit
messed a volume of holiday business
passing all previous bounds, both of
quantity and quality, all of which are
evidences of the vastly increased pur-
chasing power of the general public OF
late years.
From the standpoint of present
estimates clearings this year will eX-
coed the highest records OF preceding
wears by one-fourth. Gross railway
earnings have increased II per cent.
and net returns have gained is per
cent. over sthe best preceding years.
Pig iron production will be not Tar
from one-seventh larger than the
heaviest ever before recorded. Shoe
production and shipments, and there
fore presumably leather production,
show almost as large a gain. Iron ore
production and shipments were never
before equaled; certainly Lake ship
ments were never so large. Anthra-
cite coal production will be fully no
per cent. larger than last year and
5 per cent. heavier than the record.
The bituminous production promises
as heavy a gain over past records.
Wooden manufacturing has been helped
by low cost of material and good de-
mand for clothing.
Little Prosperity for South.
All the returns are not so favorable.
There has been less money in cotton
for the South this year and
the margin of profit in the
manufacturer has occasioned
complaint there and in New and Old
England. The agricultural interest has
been favored by heavy advances in
farm products, which have done much
to counterbalance reductions in yield.
Export trade has shown signs of hest
tation after years OF steady advance,
and imports have increased, but main
ly in material intended for domestic
manufacture and the margin in favor
of exports is still enormously heavy"
The bank clearings were estimated
at sis, 900, 100000, gain of SO per cent.
over last year, and 26 per cent. over
the record year of 1899. The Middle
states showed the greatest increases in
Clearings.
The Failures Accounted for.
The failures for the year were
placed at 10,775, with aggregate liza
bilities of $130,000,000 and assets of
$6O9OO000 AS to this showing the re-
view said:
This is a gain of SO per cent. in
number over 1900, and of nearly II per
cent. over 1899, but back of that year
comparisons favor the current one.
Liabilities have not gained relatively
so heavily as shown by the fact that
they are only "a per cent. larger this
year than last, and Sc per cent. larger
than in 1899. In only three of the past
tnlrteen years, in fact, were liabilities
smaller than they were this year. A
point often lost sight of is that there
is a constant accession of new ind-
Vduals, firms and corporations in bus
mess each year. and this alone fur
nishes basis for the recording of
numerous unsuccessful ventures.
people in business than there
were decade ago, an increase of 16
per cent, but failures have only in
creased per cent. in number during
mat period, and liabilities are only 20
per cent larger. A continuing unfavor-
able feature is the small percentage of
assets to liabilities. 1t is only AGA per
cent. this year, as against AZ. 2 per cent.
year ago and So per cent in 1899 and
The Range of Prices.
AS to prices, the review said:
Wheat has reached the highest
point since 1898: corn and oats are
higher than for almost a decade, and
olher produce has sympathized. Food
products as a whole are higher than
IN the general price boom Of 1900, while
manufacturers are lower, notable in this
respect being leather, textiles, coal and
coke, naval stores, building materials,
enemicals and drugs and miscellaneous
PRODUCTS. Prices as whole are per
Teht lower than February, 1900 and
december. 1899. but are higher than
~ any year from 1893 until the third
quarter of 1892"
Foreign Trade Falls on.
In summarizing the foreign trade
sne review declares that there has
oeen falling Off In the demand
abroad for American iron, steel and
upper, a loss in profits In cotton ex-
pufts owing to the decline In pripes "A