128 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE, AMERICAN, IN 1881. 



been a progressive decline in Nevada, where 

 the product sank to $15,031,021 iu 1880, but a 

 large increase in Colorado and Arizona! Utah 

 has fallen off slightly, but Dakota more than 

 makes up the deficiency, while the production 

 of California remains at about the same figure 

 which it has now maintained for some years. 

 The fluctuations in the product of the vari- 

 ous States and Territories since 1877, the year 

 of the largest production, may be seen from 

 the following table, made up from the annual 

 reports of Wells, Fargo & Co. : 



The decline in the product of Nevada, which 

 amounts to $36,548,679 as compared with 1877, 

 is mainly due to the decreased product of the 

 Comstock, which in 1880 yielded but $5,312,- 

 592 as against $37,911,710 in 1877, a falling off 

 of $32,509,118 ; but some of the other districts 

 have also declined, as for instance the Eureka, 

 which yielded $4,649,025 in 1880 as against 

 $5,840,261 in 1879. 



The production of gold in the United States 

 in the fiscal year 1881 is estimated, by Di- 

 rector of the Mint Burchard, at $36,500,000 ; 

 that of silver, $42,100,000. As the result of 

 the inquiry into the consumption of the pre- 

 cious metals in the arts, the total use reported 

 by manufacturers for the year 1881 was $10,- 

 000,000 of gold and $3,500,000 of silver; $3,- 

 300,000 of the gold consumed was reported as 

 United States coin remelted. The Assay Office 

 in New York delivered to manufacturers $5,- 

 700,000 worth of gold bars and $5,100,000 in 

 silver during the year. The consumption of 

 gold and silver in arts and manufactures, if all 

 reported, would likely, therefore, amount to 

 at least $11,000,000 in gold and $6,000,000 in 

 silver. 



The total imports of gold during the year 

 ending June 30th were $100,031,259, against 

 $80,758,396 in 1880. Of this, $7,577,422 was 

 in American coin, against $18,207,559 in 1880 ; 

 $61,454,918 was in foreign coin, and $30,998,- 

 919 in bars, bullion, and dust. The gold ex- 

 ports were $2,565,132. The silver imports 

 were $10,544,238, against $12,275,914 in 1880. 

 The silver exports were $16,841,715, against 

 $13,503,894 in 1880. There was a net impor- 

 tation of gold of $97,466,127, against $77,119,- 

 371 in 1880 ; and a net exportation of silver of 

 $6,297,477, against $1,227,980 the year before. 



The net imports of specie amounted to $91,- 

 168,650, against $75,891,691 in the fiscal year 

 1880. 



During the first six months of the year the 

 stock and security markets exhibited an activ- 

 ity almost unparalleled. A veritable struggle 

 among buyers for every investment of ascer- 

 tainable value had given to the market a con- 

 stant character of intense pressure and eager 

 excitement, such as usually marks the sharp 

 and brief crises in the game of stock specula- 

 tion when operators are threatened with check- 

 mate. The unprecedented production of the 

 country for the two years previous, and the 

 profitable disposal of a large surplus abroad, 

 were the cause of the strong demand for invest- 

 ments. The earnings and profits of the peo- 

 ple were so great an aggregate that the de- 

 mand was in constant excess of the supply, and 

 vast sums were invested at rates of interest 2 

 or 3 per cent lower than any which had ever 

 before been accepted as permanent in America. 

 The simultaneous redundancy of capital in Lon- 

 don and Paris sustained the investment market ; 

 though the placing of great blocks of American 

 stocks and bonds in the European market was 

 no longer possible, for of dubious stocks the 

 Europeans had grown wary, and on valuable 

 investments the returns exceed but little the 

 average interest in their own countries. The 

 discrepancy was quite balanced by their com- 

 parative unfamiliarity with the conditions of 

 the enterprises offered, and the certainty of oc- 

 casional legal disputes and uncertainty of their 

 issue. 



As at all times when money is procurable, 

 there were large fictitious dealings on the Stock 

 Exchange. The ascending prices were dis- 

 counted by speculators. The class who are in 

 the habit of venturing money on their guesses 

 as to the tendency of the market, were more 

 numerous and better supplied with cash than 

 usual. Yet the vast overplus of capital seek- 

 ing investment, and the steady upward impulse 

 of prices given by genuine competition, left 

 .less opportunity for the chancing of heavy 

 wagers and for the finesse and strategy of the 

 stock-gambling game than is afforded by a fluc- 

 tuating market. The calling in and changing 

 of United States bonds in the first half of the 

 year flooded the market with money, and dis- 

 placed a large amount of capital. This disturb- 

 ance greatly augmented the demand, which 

 without it would have been enormous, for 

 permanent investments in property which does 

 not call for the personal enterprise and super- 

 vision of the investor. The supply of desir- 

 able shares and securities, though outstripped 

 by the demand, streamed into the market in an 

 unprecedented volume. Companies which had 

 years before ceased to divide any profits now 

 began for the first time to return dividends, 

 and their stock rose rapidly in the market. 

 This class of scrip swelled the aggregate values 

 in request with all the effect of a fresh supply. 

 The fresh issues were hardly inferior in mag- 



