The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-01
SUMMED UP.
The Year 1907 Was Not So Bad
After All.
r.. G.. Dun & Co. Review Busi-
ness and Finance.
BROKE ALL RECORDS.
For Value of Crops and Foreign
Commerce.
Failures Well Below Those OF
Other Panic Years.

New York, Jan 1.-The withdrawal OF
$125, 900, 900 from a few large trust com
panies, precipitating season OF hoard
ing and sending currency to premium
at a time when it was most needed
throughout the country is credited In
R. G. Dun & Co.'S annual Review or
Trade, published today with having
been one of the great factors in turn
ing the year 1907 from its promise of
new records in prosperity to closing
period of financial disturbance that
caused many plans for future extern
sons of business to be either abandon
ed or postponed The restoration or
normal conditions, the review declares
depends upon easier money and a re-
vival of confidence both of which seem
nearer today than at any time since
October, when the Stringency began.
While failures were frequent during the
last quarter of the year, the review
points out that if the comparison is
carried back to previous periods of dis
tress there is much cause for congrat-
ulatiOn in the insolvency return. Ihe
review says in part:
The year 1907 started under auspices
that seemed bright beyond precedent
and the movement of trade attained
velocity that constantly promised new
records of prosperity. For almost ten
months statistics of production, bank
exchanges, railway earnings and other
measures of commercial activity COM
pared favorably with any previous year
and in many instances, the total for
the IL months was never ecHpSed.
Products of the farm far surpassed all
earlier records, high prices more than
cOmpensating for smaller crops of some
cereals and cotton in banner years. I'M
MIG tinn and foreign commerce both
exceeded any previous year. Gold in
the NeaSury rose to $3.50 200, 600 and the
amount of money in circulation per
capita became greater than ever before
despite an increasing population to
over $4,000, 900. Conditions changed rad
ically during the last ten weeks of 1907
the financial disturbance that started
ir October unSettling confidence so
completely that currency commanded
a premium and plans for future extesH-
sions of business were abandoned or
postponed. Failures were larger than
at any time since the crisis of the pre-
vious decade and a number of banks
closed, some of them only temporarily.
Orders Were Cancelled.
Orders were cancelled and new con-
tracts came to the mills SO slowly that
forces were reduced and production
materially curtailed.
Probably the year might have ended
without any sensationally high quota
tions for money had it not been for the
heavy Withdrawals of deposits from
few large trust companies that precipi-
tated a season of boarding. No ac-
curate figures are available regarding
the extent of this movement, but it is
estimated by well posted bankers that
the cash withdrawn from New York
banks alone amounted to $125, ,000, 900
and perhaps four times as much
throughout the country.
'tInSolvencieS were not unusually
numerous in 1907, despite some increase
in the last quarter. but as the year ad
vanced there were more defaults of eX-
ceptional size, and liabilities in the
fourth quarter exceeded those of any
three month period since 1893. Con-
sidering the severity of the financial
disturbance and the inability of the
bani-s to provide mercantile accommo-
dations it is extremely gratifying that
failures were not much more numer-
GUS while the comparative lightness OF
the aggregate amount of defaulted in
debtedness is the more striking when 1t
is realized how vastly the nations bus
mess has grown. Based on ratio Or
liabilities to the amount of capital In
volved the mercantile mortality In 1907
was comparatively light. Taking the
last quarter, which supplied the largest
amount of liabilities the percentage of
defaults was only $2.4 to each $1,000 OF
payments through the clearing house,
whereas in the corresponding three
OnCnS OF 1888 the TdllO was Si.oo
the average for the same quarter for
ten years ending with 1896 was over So.
New Record in Iron.
Changes in the iron and steel indus
try during 1907 were more striking than
elsewhere particularly in respect to the
volume of production During the ear
ly part of the year there was a gradual
increase in output. the weekly active
capacity of blast furnaces constantly
establishing new records until the high
point was reached on July 1, with
total of 52S,170 tons of pig iron per
week. From this point a moderate de-
crease occurred until toward the end of
the year it was estimated that not
more than about SO per cent of the en-
tire iron and steel capacity was in op-
Grafton While this recognition of the
reduction in orders for the time being
was unmistakab it is significant that
the leading interests in this country
had great confidence in the future be-
cause at no time was work suspended
on the plant at Gary.
Although in many cases the size of
crops in 1907 fell below some preceding
years, high prices made the return to
the farmer much larger than ever be-
fore To some extent short crops in
other countries accounted for the high
prices, notably in the case of wheat,
for which foreigners were willing to
pay more than a dollar per bushel, dur
ing the Closing months. MOI only dld
the high price fail to check shipments,
but the returns for November showed
more than 90 900, 900 bushels sent abroad
the first time any monthly total was
as large in over five years.
Adding the value of cotton, meats.
dairy products, poultry, eggs. and all
other items raised by the agriculturist,
the years total attains the phenom-
email value of S7,4Q0 100000 Cotton has
ruled at high position throughout the
year, while the latest statistics of the
crop indicate yield of II million bales.
or 10 per cent less than the high record
established in the previous year The