The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-02
BIRMINGHAM TRUST
 MONTHLYLETTERON
 TRADE CONDITIONS
Immense Reserve in Banks for Handling Crops Should Bring Prosperity to
 the Farmer

follows in part:
 The purchasing power of the people or this country Is greater today than ever before in history and will be steadily increased each month for the next few months at least. Our financial ability to handle our tremendous crops Is vitally important factor That our crops will be tremendous is generally conceded and the total farm production will exceed in both quantity and value all previous records. On the other hand corn. oats and some of the smaller crops will probably fall far short Of present estimates but a decline of sev erai per cent from present expectations could not be considered a calamity as even with such reductions our com bined crops will be record breaking. The surplus reserves of the banks all of which can be used to help move the crops, exceed SEQ, 000, 900, while last year at this same date we had only S14.0Uo,000 in our surplus reserves. It is apparent that moving the crops this year will not be felt in commercial cir cles as the bank position for the whole country Is such that while the crops are being moved arple funds will be available for all legitimate commercial l needs. This will be a novel situation as crop moving has always brought a considerable financial pinch in manu- featuring circles.
 Business failures for July numbered | 1591 compared with 1915 year ago and 1117 two years ago. The failures were of less importance however, as tho lia bilities totaled only $l7,000, 900, compared with $25.600, 1000 year ago and $3S000.000 two years ago. As the assets of the failed concerns for this
 July amounted to over s7.oO0, 900 the net ! liabilities of failures were less than i $19,0e0.000, compared with $11.000,000 year ago and $16.000,000 two years | ago.
 Disbursements of dividends and in 1 terest for August will almost reach $i21 900, GOO, nearly s57,000,000 of the
 amount being dividends and more than | $6i, 000, 900 being interest. This com pares with dividend payments of nearly S5y.00c,0o0 last year and interest payments of nearly $60.000.00 last year. Dividends on railroad stocks will
 he $27.000, 900, only slightly less than 1 last year; on industries nearly $26,OOO
 900, more than $1.000,0O0 less than last year, and on street railways. slightly | over $4,0G0,000 or a trifle less than year ago. Total disbursements for the month of August of nearly $121 1,000.O0O, compare with slightly over s11S,000,- | GOO a year ago. No dividend increases
 have been announced by other than | mining companies and only one rail- l road company announces a reduction in ! dividends. Maturities of corporate se | curities for September will be about | s55 900 ,00o. most of which has already been provided for.
 l Full report on July foreign trade are not yet available, but the IS principal 1 customs districts handling over 90 per l cent of the foreign trade showed inn ports for the five weeks ending July | s1 of $47,000,000, and exports of $240- | 900. .0O0. The same districts for the first two weeks of August report imports of l nd 0 GOO O0O l Cotton exports during July were 244.- l 0O0 bales. compared with 126,000 bales l a year ago. and imports were 36,0OO l bales compared with 24,000 bales a year ago.
 The production of gold in the Trans 1 vaal during July was lIo.00O fine 1 ounces compared with 755,000 ounces
 a month previous and 732,00O ounces l d year previous. The value of the ] July output was approximately $16.O00,- | QUO compared with a value for July
 d year ago of something over Sl5,- l 900, ,000.
 Commodity prices on August showed a fractional decline as com pared with the month previous. but are still higher than at any time pre-
 vious to July 1 of this year.
 So far as reported gross earnings of | steam railroads for July show de-
 crease of about 10 per cent as com pared with a year ago, the grain movement having been far below that | od last year. The movement of cotton while light, was somewhat ahead of July, 1914. The gross earnings of all
 steam railroads for the first six | months of 1915 were 1888 million dol lars compared with 14S0 million dol lars for the same period last year. a | decrease of 41 million dollars or nearly l per cent. Gross earnings for the same
 period last year showed decrease | of nearly per cent as compared Wtih l the year previous. Net earnings are
 not yet completely reported but on ac- | count of economies in operation they | will make much more favorable show l ing than did gross earnings.
 l On the first of the month idle cars numbered 264.0O0 compared with 276.- | 00G a month previous and 191,00O l year ago. An increase in idle box cars 1 was largely due to lighter grain ship ments but a considerable decrease was reorted in idle coal cars and flats.
 Mill shipments of western pine for l June were S9,O00,00O feet compared l with 84,0000O feet in May and S6,000 feet In June of last year. No figures l are available for the production and shipments of lumber since March, in l which month the cut was 790 900 rect compared with 737000.000 feet a year ago and shipments were 772,000,- l 900 feet compared with 69000.000 feet | a year ago.
 July domestic consumption of cot l ton amounted to i9S.000 bales com lpared with 44S.000 bales a year ago.
 The number of cotton spindles active l during July was 31.194 thousand com pared with 3O,s77 thousand in July of l last year.
 There will not be a failure this l year of any individual crop. although we will perhaps have about 20 per cent
 less cotton. 19 per cent less apples and i oil 100000 acres in the IA principal crops this year compared with 3O1, ,0OO.- l 0O0 acres a year ago and 300, 000. 900
 two years ago. Crop conditions on Au- gust were per cent above the 10,- l year average and the average of all l farm prices was per cent higher than
 a year ago and II per cent higher than 1 two years ago.
 | General domestic trade Is improv- ing as the results of our tremendous l exports are. through the expenditures l for raw materials and labor. finding l their way into every branch of domes- | tic trade. Heavy shipments of gold l already arrived. in transit. and in pros- l pect from Europe to this country. are putting us in strong position from | monetary standpoint. The general stock of money in the United States now exceeds v4.000. .000,0
 Business conditions generally arc good throughout the country and will improve as soon as the movement of crops ia well under way. The best conditions are found in the western and Rocky mountain states and the l poorest conditions In the southeastern | 4.-