The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-01
GENERAL LETTER ON
 TRADE CONDITIONS.
Business Forecast for the Month
 of August, 1913
Issued by Connecticut National
 Bank of Bridgeport

laid its hold upon business generally and things have quieted down consid- erably. The decline in business which has taken place during the past three weeks is not, however, the same sort Of decline which was in evidence dur ing the several weeks previous. For a time, uncertainty about tariff and cur renoy legislation, the upset conditions of Europe and the threatening labor situations in this country, coupled with an abnornalIy tight money mar ket, caused 8. nervousness and unset tlement in business which had a threatening aspect. Business contin- ued to decline through this period. That the more recent falling off in bus mess is the usual midsummer Quieting is evidenced by the improvement in sentiment, the slight upturn in both circles and the somewhat increasing activity in financial dealings.
 Money remains tight, but there is no real pinch and the quieting influences now affecting business will probably continue in a measure until the early fall.
 Europe has begun quietly annexing a few of our securities she is usual ly wise enough to do when they have jus about touched the low mark. She will have them to sell back to us later on when prices are what they should be. She bought them from us at low prices in 1893 and sold them back to us at high prices later, repeated the operation in 1896 and again in 1903 and in 1907.
 During the past fiscal year, we have created a tremendous favorable bal ance with Europe through both excess exports of merchandise and gold. It is not possible to say just what DOT ton of this balance still remains to our credit on the other side, but that portion must soon be paid to us in gold as it is not probable that European holders will dump any more of their American securities at present prices. They will rather be on the buying side and in this way increase their debt to us which should send gold shipments this way in the near future.
 One of the causes of the recent tight money market which has received but little consideration is the very large marketing of last years grain crops A good percentage of the entire crop was held for better prices and nearly all of this has been marketed within two months AS the old grain has now been sold and the money returned to circulation, tA will be easier to finance the new crop as it comes Money will probably be close, however, until the late fall or early winter. Tn the mean time, sufficient money will be available for the legitimate needs Of business and to take care of some dncreas in stock exchange transactions.
 June bank c1earings exceeded those of June, 1912, but exchanges for the first half of July dropped below last years figures.
 The number of business failures dur ing the month of June was 1,145, which is a less number than has been shown by any previous month this year. The liabilities were nearly 21 million dol lars, however, as 28 of the failures were for more than 100 thousand dol lars and account for il million dollars of the total liabilities. Failures are decreasing.
 Final figures for the month of May show that the gain in gross earnings of all railroads has continued, the May report showing an increase of nearly over 13 per cent. At the same time, net earnings made gain of million dollars or nearly Il per cent. This continued improvement in the railroad situation is gratifying especially as 1t covers the entire country. The roads in all section of the country made a May increase in gross earnings but the New England group, the Southern group and the Pacific Coast group showed a decune in net income. Re- cent wage advances and the demand now made by the employees of eastern roads are the two handicaps to rail- road prosperity Wage demands and unusual expenses are more than keep ing pace with the growth in earnings.
 The number of36le cars has been in creasing recently, there being at the present time about 65 thousand usable cars which are without loads. A year ago. the number idle was 124 thousand, two years aga 16S thousand,-three years ago 115 thousand and four years ago 382 thousand. Fhe present number of idle cars is not sufficient to insure the prompt handling of the crops and an annoying car shortage is expected dur ing the early fall, although the roads have added materially this year to their car equipment.
 Onr enormous foreign trade for the fiscal year 1912-1s just ended has ere ated one of our best assets Our mer- chandise exports amounted to 2,46S million dollars while our imports were only 1,s1s millions, leaving a favorable balance of trade of 653 millions com pared with 551 millions the previous year. Our net exports of silver totaled 30 million dollars and of gold nearly g millions so that the favorable credit balance created by the years move ment was 692 million dollans compared with 577 millions the previous year. The year 1907-08, when our imports were unusually low on account of bad business, conditions in this country, is the only heca.l year which has shown a. better net ibelance. The favorable pal ance that year was 666 millions Our exports of all the principal crops ex- cept cotton showed increases for the year. The most notable decline in inn ports was the decrease in sugar ship ments which was probably occasioned bv importers awaiting tariff action. A great. decrease was shown in our meat a.nd provision exports for the year.
 Consultation with leading steel in- terestes fails to bring out any definite ideas in regard to the steel industry beyond the next few weeks. Orders already booked are enough to make It reasonably sure that most mills will operate ora ctically at capacity for the balance of the year. The recent great activity in steel, it is believed by some interests, indicates a probable Hull dur