The Lamar register., 1905-01-11

I Ing months of last year about $1,000.
| 900 below those Of the corresponding
| months Of 1901 and about s26.o00.0oO
below those OF the corresponding months
| OF 1900.
| When 1t is remembered. however, that
/ in breadsturs alone there has been a
| reduction OF $94. 900 600 as compared with
| the corresponding months OF last year
\ and of SlT0. 900 as compared with the
| corresponding months OF l?ol. me iaet
| that the figures of 1904 fall but SiOOO.00o
| below those of last year VIII prove an
extremely gratifying one in its evidence
of the advantageous effect upon our
export trade OF diversified production
Labor.
| The year 1904 in the history of organ
lied labor furnished a contrast with the
twelve rnonths preceding. For the most
| part the labor struggles OF 1894 We're
| contests In which the labor unions were
| combating wage reductions. the open
shop" the institution Of piece work sys-
TENS and the .'no-asreement policy OF
employers organizations. In 1903 the
| unions were more aggressive
Passenger Traffic on Railroads.
| The magnitude of the railway mileage
| Will be understood when 1t is stated that
/ the present rails. excluding second track.
| sidings. etc. would make. II laid side by
side. sixty-eight sixty-nine complete
| lines reaching across the United States
from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.
The vastness of their transportation Is
inconceivable to the people OF other
| countries In the fiscal year they car
| ried 1.000. 900. 900 passengers. the passen-
ger mileage reaching 90s95. 100000 miles
which is equivalent to saying that If
every inhabitant Of city of 100000
| people were to be transported nearly
around the world the passenger move
ment of the American railways would be
| duplicated.
Colossal Freight Business.
The freight moves aggregated 1906
900, 600 tons. the mileage being l,2s2.
| 00o. 600. This colossal total was possi-
| BILE despite the drop in breadstuffs ex-
ports-which forms an important ele-
ment in the freight of the carriers. The
decrease was almost wholly due to the
shortage in the wheat yield the fall-on
amounting to approximately 100000
GOO. But the earth yielded enough for
the country-and a little more-hence
the better prices for the cereal com
pensated the growers for the lack of
bountiful crop. Corn and cotton. how
ever, have much more than Offset the
loss in wheat. obviously shown by the
plethora of money in the west and in
the south. for not the least important
of the years fiscal aspect was the inde
pendence of the western and southern
bankers during the crop-period move
ment-
West and South Independent.
For the first time in the country's
financial history the east was n oompar-
atively negligible quantity pending har-
vest time Formerly eastern bankers
supplied the funds with which to get the
, crops to market. This year the west and
south had money TO lend whilst farmers
and planters were sending their stun
to market The agricultural regions not
only did not need the eastern capitalist.
but they were in the market for securi-
ties-they bought bonds. some of them
even purchased the shares of the much
detested railways that traverse their
farms.
Farmers Are Now Bon ndhoders.
The contrast is wonderful Less than
n decade ago the southern planter and
the western farmer Were 'mortgaged to
their cars" as the phrase was in those
days. Now the people who were so
mortgaged are buying up other peoples
mortgages-after having acquired more
land. paid for. spot cash. In the south
the transformation has been marked.
During the depression from 1890 to 1899
the planters lost annually S1oo. 900. 900
through the marketing of the staple at
prices below the cost of production. In
the last lustrum. owing chiefly TO
HANGED prices. the volume of the output
not materially increasing. the value Of
the crop has exceeded by $1,000 900. 900
that OF the five preceding years. The
worth OF this years cotton is put down
at 5000 900. 900. notwithstanding the
cent slump. The improvement is exhib-
tied by the statement that whereas in
1850 the total value of all agricultural
the cotton crop OF the last year almost
equaled the latter sum. Even in 1890
ali southern products did not exceed
s173. o00. 900. while at present the worth
OF those products Is about sI,1o0, 900.
Failures Of the Year.
Moreover. 4 quarter OF a century ago
the south had 81. .0o0. 900 invested In cot
ton manufacturing industries. which
consumed 225. .OO0 bales annually. while
now $500 coo, 600 of capital is SO invested
| 10 NJ fS hal
and while the south has expanded In this
wise that section OF the country did not
swell the total of failures. which
throuGhout the United States were (for
manufacturers) 2ss3. against a.sI2 In
1903 though the liabilities were only
s55. 9s3. 1877. compared with ss6.3sl.los a
year before. Traders made less credit
able showing Here the insolvencies were
.O93 in number and s6s.i7l.3ss in
amount against 5000 and SIS. sos. 3ss re-
spectiyely last year.
That the aggregate makes a favorable
comparison with that of 1903 is not
gratifying as the quarterly separation.
which shows that the returns have i'm
proved as the year advances. Thus. the
first quarter was much the worst of the
year, but still contrasted favorably with
the last quarter of the preceding year.
and the closing three months contained
| a much lower commercial death rate
than the same months of 1903. This
means that the depression reached its
disappeared. until at the present time
the business situation is sound.
Deaths During the Year.
With war and assassination to assist
! him. accident and suicide and Illness to
! further his ends. Death in 1904 reaped
| a notable harvest. As the months have
passed that made up the year which has
| just closed. first one nation and then
| another has seen called behind the
scenes some figure which had stood well
| to the center of her stage; now this pro-
| fession and now that craft has seen its
work laid by forever as some foremost
| disciple has passed across into the great
| beyond. From the death in January OF
| those venerable Generals. Longstreet
| and Gordon. and of that Princess Bona
| partc who had linked the era of the first
| Napoleon with present day history, on
through weeks to the deaths OF Car
| dinal Mocenni and President Drown OF
| Iehigh university and "Var' Princep.
! the artist. in the twelve months clos
| ing days roll of world known names
| has been forming which now totals at
| 26e.
There is real loss in the passing of
such men Henry NJ. Stanley. Laf-
cadio Hearne. William Vernon Harcourt
| Count Won Waldersee, Pierre Waldeck
/ Rousseau, Antonin Dvorak. George Fred