The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1910-10-29
MARKET LETTER
Of HENRY CLEWS

Continued from page nre)
than expected the strlngency antlci.
rated this fan having thus tai NO, ma
terlalized The surplus reserve Of New
York banks Is now down to a rather
low level, but regular trade demands
are less than usual and bankers are
persistently discouraging undue specu.
lation. II is quite possible that firm
spells may be experienced between
now and the first of January, but no
crisis is anticipated. Perhaps the
worst feature in the situation is the
excess of loans over deposits observed
i'm recent bank statements in various
parts of the country. This is a signi-
ficant development and will bear
watching. Money is firm in Europe,
which will tend to discourage gold ex-
ports to this country. Our foreign
trade, however, is assuming more nor
NAL proportions and our exports of
agricultural products especially are in
/ creasng noticeably. In September
they were ahead of last year, and it
would cause no surprise If in October
they would also exceed last year in
value Cotton shipments have been
rushed forward in anticipation of a
deadlock over the cotton bill contro-
versy. After October 81 British bank
ers will discontinue guaranteeing cot
ton bills, unless some agreement is
made with bankers on this side. OF
course some settlement is inevitable;
for Britain is just as much in need of
our cotton as we of her money. The
latest project is the creation of a cor
pOration to guarantee cotton bills up
on terms agreed to by both sides. Ne
vertheless, a deadlock or trial of
strength may happen before reaching
a settlement, and the rush movement
of cotton which is now going on is no
doubt to enable the British bankers to
take a firmer stand, if necessary.
General business is quiet and small
Ter in volume than year ago There
has been a large shrinkage in bank
c'earings, amounting to Il per cent in
the month of September. This, how
ever, is explained by a shrinkage of 26
per cent in the clearings at New York,
which alone constitute more than half
| the entire clearings of the country. In
this city the loss in clearings was, Of
course very largely due to diminished
speculative activities. In other lead
! ing cities the decline for the month
was much less noticeable. For in
stance, Philadelphia showed loss of
5 per cent, Boston s per cent and Chi
cago 4 per cent, while Baltimore show
ed an increase of 16 per cent, Kansas
City per cent, Minneapolis II per
cent, San Francisco 10 per cent, Los
Angeles % per cent, st. Louis per
cent, New Orleans percent ,Galvas-
ton 80 per cent and Atlanta 10 per
cent Taken by sections, the Middle
States show a decrease in clearings of
% per cent, New England 6 per cent
and the Middle Western States only
1 per cent, while other Western States
show an increase of 9 per cent, the Pa
cific States an increase of 10 per cent
and the Southern States an increase OF
per cent 1t will thus be seen that
New York is still the great center Of
depression; that the further away one
travels from this city, the less the re
action; and that in many cities, es
pecially in the West and South, the
volume of business is still consider
ably ahead of last year. When com
pairing clearings some allowance mus
be made for the fact that values are
generally on lower plane than year
ago. In the iron trade reactionary
symptoms are still observable owing
to much of the present capacity being
unemployed, and lower prices are
needed to stimulate orders. Some
what more activity is observable in
cotton goods, due rather to buyers re.
cognizing the scarcity of cotton thar
to any increase in consumption of cot
ton fabrics
The present situation as a whole
warrants more cheerfulness. The
country is still passing through a pc
riod of readjustment, evidently not en-
tirely completed In all probability i
is going to be a quiet winter for trade
at large. The disasters so long ex
pected, however, have not occurred
and the outlook for a satisfactory so
luton of some of the graver economic
problems of the day is more encourag
ing than has been the case for man,
months. Industry is taking compul
sorry rest after a prolonged period o
excessive activity. Under the ney