Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-07-06
BUSINESS FEATURES.

/ "A new llSCdl year has commenced uil
| der more favorable ausoices than ap
peared possible short time ago, thu
Improvement being due in no small
measure to the greater conservatism
that was an outgrowth of unsettled
conditions. Seasonable weather ha:
also contributed to the better distribu.
ton of merchandise, besides encourag.
ing buoyant sentiment in the agricul-
tural districts. Absence of reckless
speculation in securities has prevented
pressure in the money market, and July
dividend payments to The extent OF
s137,000,000 were arranged without
causing a stringency. Half yearly fig
ures are only available in few In
stances, but those at hand are most
encouraging. Bank exchanges were al
most identical with last years, which
means much heavier payments in COM
mercial channels, since sales of securi-
ties were smaller and at materially re-
duced quotations. Railway earnings
and output of pig iron were larger,
while insolvencies were fewer. Govern
ment finances showed a surplus of $52,-
100000 for the fiscal year. and latest re-
turns of foreign commerce indicate
that, while imports have been estab-
Fishing new records, the outward move
fnent is also reviving; exports from the
port of New York alone for the last
week exceeding those of year ago by
$1,605.094. Earnings of railways. thus
far reported for June surpass last
years by 10 per cent and those of 1901
by 1914 per cent. Bank exchanges for
the week at New York were IA per cent
smaller than in 1902. while at other
leading cities there was a gain Of ga
per cent.
More inquiries for pig iron have ap-
peared, and altho the actual contracts
are for comparatively small quantities,
the tone is distinctly better.
Steel rails are still the best feature
in the markets for finished products;
fully half million tons are now booked
for next years delivery, and many or
ders for 1903 will be carried over.
Structural material moves freely, con-
sidering the labor situation in the
building trades, while there is notable
activity in bars, especially for agricul
tural implement and machinery works.
Footwear manufacturers in New En-
gland have received liberal supplement
tary orders for fall shoes from eastern
jobbers, in addition to a fair supply of
contracts already on hand. Slight ad-
vances are recorded in some divisions
of the cotton goods market. but the
changes are practically nominal since
demands are limited to immediate ne
cessities.
Needed rain has improved the spring
wheat outlook, and winter wheat is be-
ing harvested under generally favorable
conditions. Prices have weakened
somewhat, stltho there are frequent
evidences OF speculative support, Re-
ceipts for the week were 1889, 124 bush
els, against 2,463.393 bushels year ago,
and exports from all ports of the United
States, flour included. were 2,054.144
bushels, compared with 2.274,635 BUSH
els last year. Favorable weather is
rapidly making up the time lost earlier
in the corn season, and 1T is stated by
experts that the crop does not average
more than two weeks late. Interior ar
rivals for the last week We're 4.3S3,6IS
bushels, against 1,5lS,T55, and Atlantic
exports were 965,Sl9 bushels, compared
with 5000 bushels last year.
Statistics of failures foc the half year
just. ended contain much that is en-
couraging as evidence Of the sound
condition of the nations trade and In
dustry. Untoward events were numer-
Gus. and the business world was sub
jected to several severe strains, espe
cially in respect to disasters by the ele-
ments and speculative occurrences. Yet
the number of commercial failures was
only 5.62S, against 6,165 last year, and
an average of 6,2T4 in the eight years
preceding In view of The large in
crease in the number Of concerns in
business during that period, numerical
comparison is remarkably gratifying
Liabilities aggregated $66,i9i,26O,
against s60,374,S56 last year, and an
average of s77,505,O3S in the eight ear
lier years of the decade. Current con-
ditions are more faithfully represented
by the defaults for the latest MONTH
and liabilities of sS,326654 in June We're
the smallest of the year, comparing
with $10,1939l7 in 1902. and $l05S95bo
two years ago. During the second quar-
ter of the year the defaulted indebted
ness averaged only S25.51 for each con-
Germ in business, while the ratio of la
bilities to solvent payments thru the
clearing houses was $1.15 to each $l,Oo0,
a low financial death rate. especially IN
view of the fact that exchanges were
not swelled by active stock speculation.