The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-04-13

peryade the general business situa- !
ton which indicates that no serious
disturbance Of business is expected. !
Tho coming special session of con- I
gress will affect the volume of bust I
ness in certain lines and in these lines, (
of course, buying will be in small lots. (
IL cannot be said that we have dis (
counted possible tariff revision down. J
ward because a lack of knowledge as
to the extent Of the revision prevents
a fair dlscountiug. bat we have with !
out question prepared for some lower
ing Of the tariffs on every schedule
which will be taken up.
Currency Legislation.
Currency iegigatIon Of q substantial
nature IL hoped fer but II is not even
expected that any wholly satisfactory
banking and currency measures can
he put through. 1t is possible that
some action may be had which VIII
lay a foundation for future amend
ment and improvement
The c1earinKs Of banks for February
showed an Improvement over Febru-
nry 1912, for the entire country, and
for the country exclusive Of New York
city. The February clearings for the
country, including New York or with
out Il, set a new February mark.
Business failures for February fol-
lowed January in showing smaller
number Of failures, bat much greater
total liabilities. The liabilities OF the
failed concerns were greater than Tor
any month since January. 1908. 1t liz
worthy OF mention that number OF
the failed concerns attribute their
troubles not TO shortage Of capital or
70 any falling of In sales, but insist
that the handicaps being placed on
their businesses through State and ma
tional regulation have made IT impos-
sible for them TO continue. The ma
jority Of the substantial business in
tcrests OF the country favor either
state or national regulation or both.
but over-regulation of business, like
experimentation of businesses,
may cause the death OF the business
itself even though economically it
was solvent and sound.
Final figures show that railroad
earnings for January were 81 million
dollars greater than for the previous
f January. a gain of more than IL per
: cent The increase in net earnings
( was nearly s million dollars, or more
/ than al per cent. Several times dur
4 ing the last few months combined rail-
road reports have shown a consider
able increase in gross and still
( greater Increase in net. This ability
/ 10 make the net show a larger gain
( than gross Is placing most OF the rail
roads in an excellent position and, OF
course, enhancing the values Of their
/ properties and their securities
The net surplus of idle cars has in
creased slightly and is considerably
greater than a year ago when few cars
! were idle. More cars are in operation
today. however, than the railroads
owned "a year ago and this is evidenced
/ by tho increase IN gross earnings
which, of course, almost wholly comes
from freight traffic.
4 Exports and Imports
i Our February exports amounted 10
:. 1874 million dollars compared with $50
millions for February of last year and
IFS millions for February, 1871. I'M
ports for February were $50 millions
compared with "a millions year ago
and I22 millions two years ago. The
balance OF trade in our favor for the
;. month was slightly in excess OF AZ mil
lion dollars compared with nearly 90
million dollars for the same month OF
1912 The considerable increase In
imports wiped out good part or our
favorable balance while our failure TO
export greater quantity of farm pro-
ducts caused us to show a decline In
{ exports for the month compared with
the same month eff last year. Grain
prices in this country haNe not been on
/ an export basis for some time except
/, at a few of the interior markets. The
,, large visible supply of all grains as
well as the continued activity In
heavy manufacturing lines would In
dictate an export increase 'oE maECh
or April or both.
In the steel industry activity con
tinues. specifications for the expired
portion OF March being heavier thar
10 rthe same period of January Oh
! February. At the present rate oi
modification and with the present vol
! urne Of contract business, the steel cor
! p0ration and most of the independents
win keep exceedingly busy through
J.. ON, the year ana probably find them
selves at the close Of the year facing
q heavier specifications even than al
present. New contracting Is being
, done at the rate Of about 81 per cent
! Of capacity The fact that specii'ca'
e. tions are going into immediate use
2 makes the steel SITUATION very salts
factory.
, There has been some Increase In pis
q iron activity although pig iron prices
: are easy with r. softening tendency
i The production OF electrolytic cop
= per for February while heavier than
! a year ago, fell 2 million pounds be-
low the January output. The Tislble
g supplv in this country decreased
e slightly for the month and the world
visible supply showed decrease ne
, worlds visible at the beginning OF
/ March was eos million pounds. The
price Of copper has continued to de-
cline.
! Receipts and shipments Of zinc anc
/ spelter at the leading market for the
A year TO date show u slight gain 81
compared with last, year in receipts
and a falling off in shipments, in
dicatng that conditions are not TAI
! from what they were a year ago.
. Coal Market Quiet.
= Trade i'm anthracite coal is very
quiet - The mild weather has de-
, creased the demand, The bitumlnou'
= coal market Is dull, buying Is in sina
: volume and consumers do not seem u
be LAYING in supplies. AS Is usual
this season Of the year. coal prlcel
, viii tend downward, 81
At the last report there were -
~, thousand coke ovens in blast IN th'
, Connelsvile district and nearly
: thousand idle, the weekly output run
ming 4f3 thousand tons shipments arr
running over IL thousands cars
week --- -.
production Of gold ia the transVaa
for February exceeded the showing o
a wear ngo by thousand fine ounce
Der DAY. An authoritative esuinau
= indicates probable production 10
: lsl3 In the Transvahl alone OF owe