The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-01-01
1905 The BEST.
In a Series of Prosperous
Commercial Years.
Manufactures and Railroads
Unable to Fill Demands.
100000 FOREIGNERS.
Absorbed Without Glutting the
Labor Market.
Prices the Highest That Have
PREVAILED for % Years.
1,OOO.0OO FOREIGNERS.

New York, Jan. 1.-Dun's annual re-
view Of trade for 1905, published today,
says in part:
In the history of the great nations. the
year 1905 stands out as the one of most
rapid progress and greatest success. 1t
has become so customary to establish
new records in this country of appar-
emily unbounded resources and oppor-
tunities that sites of unprecedented
achievements asion little comment.
Yet the past year has been so excep-
tlonaily prosperous that the attention of
a busy people should be called to some
OF the most noteworthy ACCOMPLISH
ments. If over million immigrants
were absorbed in a single year without
Cutting the labor market in any other
nation sociOlOgists would ponder the
problem with amazeme~+ but such an
unheard of occurrence in the United
states arouses little comment So as to
reports of foreign commerce and prac-
ucally every measure of internal trade,
TO say nothing of agricultural prOduc-
tion and transportation. The mileage
Of the railways has steadily increased
and the issues Of stocks and bonds are
beyond preCedent- vet the market value
of the sixty most active securities has
risen far above all previous records, the
earning are much greater than ever be-
fore and frequent complaints have been
heard because traffic facilities were in
adequate. Manufacturing plants have
turned out quantities of products much
In excess of any earlier year without
causing accumulation; in fact, it was
oIl6n the case that goods could not be
delivered as specified, and in the iron
and steel industry orders viii be car
ried over into 1906 equal to the entire
annual production few years ago.
Prices of commodities, as shown by
Dun's Index Number have risen to the
highest position in twenty-five years, a
striking evidence Of the consuming ca
pactty of the people, for it is not pOssi-
bic to maintain the quotations Of an un-
surpassed production of the various ne
cessities of life unless there is a COM
uensurate broadening Of demand. Fail
ures are fewer in proportion to the num-
Der of firms Ia business ana Liabilities
are at the minimum ratio to solvent
'ayments through the clearing houses
shlch have Also reached new Aig,L
ater mark Faster than the growth of
population has been the increase in the
amount Of money in circulation the
average now standing at the heretofore
unequaled sum of S31.75 per capita, and
the stock of gold in the federal treasury
has eclipsed all previous records of this
or any other nation at over S165, ,00O, 600.
Nevertheless, commercial and other de-
mands have SO drawn upon the available
supply of funds that rates for loans rose
so high during December as to suggest
the possibility of serious stringency.
This is another index that tells a story
Of national prosperity to the student
Of economies.
Agricultural Results.
Industrial pursuits in the United
states have become so diversified that
it is no longer possible to speak of this
country as a farming nation, and agri-
cultural products now scarcely provide
more than one-half the value of exports
whereas the percentage was formerly
OverW helming; nevertheless, prosperity
for the tfllers Of the soil brings success to
all Hence, the years results on the
manufacturer and the financier, quite as
much as by the agriculturist. Business
begins to feel the impetus or the retard-
ing influence as soon as it is possible
to determine closely the size and quail
fly Of the crops. Investors purchase the
granger stocks long before the roads be-
gin to move the grain. and dry goods
JCbbers feel the broadening demand, as
dealers in rural districts increase their
stocks, without waiting for the actual
harvest if the outlook is bright There
still exists some uncertainty regarding
the cotton crop but otherwise the final
official report has been issued and, if
the least favorable cotton estimates are
added there still appears on the whole
the best exhibit ever made in any year
on record. In addition to the liberal
quantities secured, the farmers have
been been fortunate in obtaining most
profitable prices. Corn has made a phe-
n0menal record of 2701, 1893. $40 bushels
with an estimated value of S1116, ,696 738.
These stupendOus figures for a single
crop suggest that the farmers viii be in
position to purchase freely of not only
the necessaries, but the luxuries of life.
AS the grain crops began to move, there
was a return to the liberal exports that
had been missing in the two previous
years when this nation had little surplus
for customers abroad and the closing
months OF 1908 recorded a total value
of breadstuffs sent abroad greater than
I'm any month for over two years. Inso-
far as prices were conc @rned, fluctua-
Fra
gyious wear early strength giving place
TO less abnormal figures as the crop out
look became assured, and the end of the
period produced prices 20 cents lower
than a year previous. western receipts
and exports since July i show a large
Increase over the corresponding six
months Of 1904. as might be expected in
view of the larger crop ana lower quo
cations. Corn has 'shown less change in
COMPARISON with last years prices. Gin
ners5 returns Indicate that the yield of
cotton win fall far behind the previous
record -brea king crop. even arter making
v,~o7a7 e1Ioyvance for the concerted eff
fort to hold the cotton by planters who
are now in financial position to carry
ont such a plan. Yet prices have not
APPROACHED within about $50 a bale of
ne FfeI7 water mark of 1904 owing to
the enormous stocks carried over and
the loss in foreign buying.
Commercial Failures.
Incomplete returns of mercantile in
Bolvenciess exclusive OF DanAlns sus-
pensions We're 1882 during the year
1895. according to r. G. Dun & Co,
vvith defaulted Liabilities of s103,502,-
OI6. These figures compare With final
returns of 12,199 failures and $l44,-
2O8.811 liabilities in the previous
wear. while losses were still heavier in
1908. In fact, it is necessary TO go
hack to 1890 to find year when the
total defauIted indebtedness was
snaifer than in 1905 and no other
year makes as favorable an exhibit in
over two decades. The real signtd-