FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1887. 



265 



dition of all, with the exception of Russia, 

 shows an improvement. 



In this country nothing of a disturbing char- 

 acter occurred; the laws were enforced, 

 anarchical demonstrations were suppressed, 

 and the growth of socialism was materially 

 'checked. The organization of the Knights of 

 Labor was, at the close of the year, less formi- 

 dable than it was at the beginning. Apparent- 

 ly, members of the association found that their 

 leaders had, in too many instances, been gov- 

 erned more by a desire for personal gain than 

 for the good of the order, and gradually the 

 power of the executive officers lessened, and 

 disintegration of the organization commenced. 

 The most serious blow which the order re- 

 ceived was in February, when members of a 

 district association refused to quit work for the 

 purpose of assisting in the strike of the long- 

 shoremen and coal-handlers. The rebellion 

 quickly spread to other districts of the Knights, 

 and then those who had by blind obedience to 

 the demands of their leaders suffered privation, 

 sought to return to their former employment 

 only to find their places filled. The signal fail- 

 ure of this strike encouraged employers to re- 

 sist unjust demands when made by their work- 

 men, and the result was more peaceful if not 

 harmonious relations between capital and la- 

 bor. Manufacturing interests revived, and in 

 almost all branches they were active and at- 

 tended with profitable results. The workmen 

 had steady employment at fair wages in place 

 of the irregular labor from which they suf- 

 fered during the greater part of the previous 

 year, and, in view of this experience, doubtless 

 the large majority of intelligent laborers de- 

 cided at the first opportunity to abandon the 

 organization which, while promising so much, 

 resulted in so little real benefit. 



That the year was a prosperous one for agri- 

 culturists is shown by the fact that our crop 

 of wheat is valued at $419,520,000; that of 

 corn at $917,280,000, and that of cotton at 

 $334,620,000, making a total of $1,671,420,- 

 000. The production of anthracite coal is 

 valued at not far from $140,000,000. The con- 

 struction of nearly 13,000 miles of railroad 

 called for the distribution of about $254,000,- 

 000 among the iron and steel manufacturers, 

 land-owners, and men who were employed 

 upon the work. The speculation in lands and 

 town sites West and South brought fortunes to 

 those who were in a position to benefit by the 

 rise in values. The industrial development of 

 the South was in some instances marvelous. 

 Earnings of railroads in almost every section 

 of the country were unprecedentedly great. 

 Capitalists obtained satisfactory returns for the 

 money they had to loan or had invested in 

 banking or other enterprises. Commerce was 

 generally in a flourishing condition, and, al- 

 though mercantile failures were in excess of 

 those for 1886, doubtless many resulted from 

 the unprofitable operations of previous years. 



The silver question, which was a source of 



anxiety in 1886, had less of a disturbing influ- 

 ence, mainly because of the utilization of the 

 coinage through the issue of silver certificates 

 of small denominations, which, to a considera- 

 ble extent, satisfied the want for currency, and 

 therefore proved of great public convenience. 

 The report of the Treasurer of the United 

 States shows that during the fiscal year ending 

 June 30, 1887, 27'3 per cent, of the receipts 

 for customs at the port of New York consisted of 

 United States notes, 59J of gold certificates, and 

 12 of silver certificates. During the previous 

 fiscal year the percentage of the latter was 13*1, 

 and for the year ending June 30, 1885, it was 

 35'6 per cent. This is an indication that the 

 withdrawal of small United States notes and 

 the substitution of silver certificates of low de- 

 nomination was a wise measure, resulting in 

 keeping the latter in active circulation. With 

 a view to prevent the embarrassment which 

 may some time occur from the continued coin- 

 age of the standard dollar, the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, in his report to Congress, suggested 

 that the 214,000,000 silver dollars in the Treas- 

 ury at the date of his report will more than 

 suffice to redeem all the silver certificates that 

 can be issued against all the dollars which will 

 be coined for years to come under the present 

 act, and he therefore advised that the law be 

 so amended as to authorize the Secretary to is- 

 sue certificates against the coining value of the 

 bullion bought, and to coin only such number 

 of dollars as he might deem expedient. 



The constantly accumulating surplus in the 

 Treasury was a source of great anxiety during 

 the last half of the year, and the conviction 

 that the Secretary was unable, without further 

 authority of law, to distribute this surplus, in- 

 duced bank-officers to pursue a very conserva- 

 tive course, fearing trouble should an emer- 

 gency arise. The President and the Secretary 

 promptly called the attention of Congress to the 

 subject, and asked for early legislation, at the 

 same time suggesting a remedy for the evil. 

 Toward the close of the year some bankers 

 feared that the action taken by Congress might 

 compel the Secretary to withdraw from the de- 

 pository banks a large proportion of the funds 

 he had placed therein for the purpose of assist- 

 ing in relieving the money market ; but these 

 fears were partially allayed when it was seen 

 that the withdrawal could be gradually made, 

 and that if the money should be taken for gov- 

 ernment disbursements it would pass from one 

 bank to another like any other deposit, and 

 thus remain in the channels of trade. 



While legitimate business in almost all 

 branches was good and generally profitable 

 during the year, speculation was not attend- 

 ed with satisfactory results. The attempt to 

 corner coffee and wheat in June met with a 

 disastrous failure, and the subsequent manipu- 

 lation of wheat at San Francisco seriously 

 involved all the parties connected with it. 

 Toward the close of the year there was a very 

 decided rise in copper, caused by the operations 



