COMMERCE AND FINANCE, AMERICAN, IN 1882. 



Ill 



There was a corner in wheat for July delivery 

 at Chicago, by which the price was run up to 

 $1.35 a bushel. The losers appealed to the ar- 

 bitration committee of the Chicago Exchange, 

 which decided that they must settle at the 

 price which the buyers were able to fix. The 



St. Louis Exchange shortly before decided that 

 contracts should be settled at a price even be- 

 low what the sellers were willing to agree to. 



The difference in the commercial conditions 

 of the two years is shown in the following ta- 

 ble: 



The prices of the leading staples on or about the 31st of December for three years were as 

 follows : 



FOREIGN COMMERCE. The returns of the 

 exports and imports for 1882 present a re- 

 markable contrast to those of the preceding 

 year. This was wholly due to the diminished 

 exports of breadstuffs, cotton, and provisions. 

 Petroleum was the only one of the great sta- 

 ples which showed an increase. The three 

 classes named constituted nearly three quar- 

 ters of the total exports in 1880-'81. The to- 

 tal exports decreased from $883,925,947 in 

 1880-'81 to $733,073,937 in 1881-'82, over 

 $150,000,000 less. In the three leading staples 

 the falling off was still greater, as shown in the 

 following table : 



For the eleven months ending November 30th, 

 the total exports were $675,021,019, against 

 $756,487,485 for the same period in 1881, and 

 the imports $693,310,224, against $612,871,846, 

 changing an excess of exports of $143,615,639 

 into an excess of imports of $18,289,205. But, 

 for the last five of the eleven months, there 

 was again a favorable balance of $21,147,825, 

 nearly half as much as for the corresponding 

 period in 1881. The exports in November 

 were heavier than in any month since March, 

 1881. The large total was due to the heavy 

 shipments of cotton, of which over 700,000 



* Mileage November 30, 1881, 42,160 ; in 1882, 46,636. 



bales were exported. In December the cotton 

 movement reached still greater proportions, 

 more than 750,000 bales being sent out. The 

 exports of breadstuffs amounted to $165,606,- 

 693 for the eleven months, against $210,318,- 

 432 for the same period in 1881. Nearly as 

 much wheat was shipped as in the previous 

 year, the export amounting to 100, 345, 387 bush- 

 els, valued at $114,441,885, as against 109,814,- 

 650 bushels, valued at $128,318,378 ; but the 

 corn export was less than one fifth as great 

 in quantity, amounting to 13,057,940 bushels, 

 valued at $9,944,652, as against 70,263,464 

 bushels, of the value of $42,266,154. Indian 

 corn finds a certain demand in Europe, princi- 

 pally for stock-feeding purposes in England. 

 When the supply is insufficient for the domes- 

 tic requirements, the foreign consumers com- 

 pete for it until, as in 1882, the price approaches 

 that of wheat. The exports of provisions for 

 the eleven months were in value $84,863,003, 

 against $120,345,092 in 1881. In hog products 

 there was a decrease of over 37i per cent, nearly 

 350,000,000 pounds. During the eleven months 

 of 1882 there was a net export of specie of 

 $34,817,589, against a net import in 1881 of 

 $47,211,166 for the eleven months. More 

 than half of this came in the last five weeks 

 of the period. There was still a small export 

 of gold at this time in 1882, but with the ex- 

 port movement of grain retarded, and the pros- 

 pect of a turn in the current at the opening of 

 the new year. The foreign trade movement 

 for each of the eleven months was as follows, 

 in thousands of dollars : 



