FINANCIAL REVIEW OP 1894. 



273 



came from drafts made against gold exports, 

 and during the last half of the month the de- 

 mand was urgent from bankers who were re- 

 mitting for July coupons. The shipments of 

 gold were large, amounting for the month to $21,- 

 150,000, and rates of exchange were maintained 

 at $4.88! f r long an( i $4.90 for short. The mar- 

 ket opened easier in July, the demand to remit 

 for coupons having subsided, and rates fell to 

 $4.87! for sixty-day and $4.89! for sight, but 

 before the end of the first week there was a 

 firmer' tone caused by the check to the move- 

 ment of staples to the seaboard resulting from 

 the railroad strike in the West, and there was a 

 shipment of $150,000 gold on the 3d. Gradually 

 the market grew firmer, and it closed at $4.88 

 for long and $4.89! for short. The gold ship- 

 ments for the month were $10,700,000. Early 

 in August exchange was easier because of the 

 absence of demand, and it was also influenced 

 by offerings against stocks bought for European 

 account, and by a few bills against cotton fu- 

 tures and some loan drafts. Rates fell off to 

 $4.86 for sixty-day and $4.87! for sight, and the 

 market closed easy. The gold exports were $3,- 

 (iOO.OOO,and none of the metal was sent after the 

 middle of the month. In September the market 

 opened at $4.86 for long and $4.87 for short, 

 falling to $4.85 for the former and $4.87 for the 

 latter, in consequence of a light demand : but 

 after the second week the tone grew firmer, be- 

 cause of an unexpectedly small supply of cot- 

 ton bills, and the market closed at $4.86! for 

 sixty-day and $4.87! for sight. Early in October 

 the tone grew stronger in consequence of an ur- 

 gent demand for remittance by bankers and im- 

 porters, and though the supply of cotton bills was 

 fairly large they were promptly absorbed. There 

 was an advance to $4.88 for long and $4.89 for 

 short by the third week, and $1,000,000 gold 

 was shipped to Europe. The tone was firm at 

 the end of the month. The market opened in 

 November at $4.87! for' sixty-day and $4.88^ for 

 sight, and though the tone'was easy, in the ab- 

 sence of urgent demand $1.000,000 gold was 

 sent to Europe on the 10th, but not as an ex- 

 change operation. During the next week the 

 market was somewhat affected by the announce- 

 ment that the Treasury would sell $50,000,000 

 of 5-per-cent. bonds, and rates fell to $4.87 for 

 long and $4.88 for short; but after the middle 

 of the week the tone grew firmer at $4.87! for 

 sixty-day and $4.88! for sight, and one feature 

 was the shipment from London of $1,000,000 

 gold to New York in expectation of investment 

 in the new bonds. The large subscriptions for 

 these securities announced on the 23d had an un- 

 settling effect upon the market, and posted rates 

 fell to $4.86| for long and $4.88 for short on the 

 following Monday, and then rates for actual 

 business declined sharply, bankers expecting 

 that they would get some 'of the bonds for Eu- 

 ropean account ; but on the news that all the 

 securities had been awarded to a syndicate the 

 market grew firmer, and it closed strong at $4.87 

 to $4.87! for sixty-day and $4.88! to $4.89 for 

 sight, in consequence of an urgent demand for 

 remittance, and also to cover bills sold on Mon- 

 day. The market was generally strong during 

 December, influenced by its oversold condition. 

 by the current demand for remittance, and by 

 VOL. xxxiv. 18 A 



the scarcity of bills. The Bank of France accept- 

 ed American gold at 899 instead of 900 fine, the 

 Bank of England reduced its price of gold bars 

 from 77s. 4%d. to 77s. 4d. per ounce, and the gold 

 supplied to the foreign bankers by the New York 

 Sub-Treasury was somewhat worn by circulation, 

 averaging for the poorest 5-362! pennyweights 

 per $5,000, and for the best about 5-375 penny- 

 weights. Consequently, when shipments of gold 

 began, the rates of exchange were slightly above 

 the normal gold exporting point. The market 

 opened at $4.874 for sixty-day and $4.88! to 

 $4.89 for sight. By Dec. 7 it had advanced to 

 $4.88| for long and $4.89 to $4.89! for short, and 

 then $1,250,000 gold was withdrawn from the 

 Sub-Treasury for shipment to Europe. On Dec. 

 10 rates advanced to $4.88! to $4.89 for sixty- 

 day and $4.89! to $4.90 for sight, and on the 

 15th $3.580,000 gold was shipped. Then came 

 a reduction in the rates to $4.88! for long and 

 $4.89! for short, and the demand for remittance 

 grew smaller, but by the 22d $4,000.000 gold had 

 been exported. On Dec. 24 the sixty-day rate 

 was reduced to $4.88, and the market closed at 

 $4.88 to $4.88! for long and $4.89! for short ; and 

 on the 29th a shipment of $850,000 gold was 

 made, while on the last day of the month $800,- 

 000 gold was withdrawn from the Sub-Treasury 

 for export Jan. 3. The shipments of gold to 

 Europe for the year were $71.421.151, of which 

 $15,438,000 went'to Great Britain, $21,123,900 to 

 France, and $34,858,451 to Germany. 



Manufacturing Industries. Nearly every 

 industry in the country was depressed during 

 the greater part of the year, and the prostration 

 grew deeper and more 'pronounced as the year 

 wore on. There were occasional spasms of re- 

 vival due to consumptive demands and to other 

 causes, but they were generally of brief dura- 

 tion. Much of this depression was caused by 

 delay in acting on the tariff by Congress, some 

 resulted from the bituminous-coal strike, and a 

 great deal was caused by the diminution in the 

 purchasing power of the people, the outgrowth 

 of the panic of 1893. One impediment in the 

 way of sustained business and industrial revival 

 was the unsettled condition of national finances, 

 which compelled borrowing, thus largely dis- 

 turbing confidence. Early in August the' indi- 

 cations seemed to point to a failure of tariff 

 legislation by Congress, and a disposition was 

 manifested by merchants and manufacturers 1o 

 push their various enterprises, so stocks of goods 

 were low, and it was fair to assume that con- 

 sumptive requirements were great. Prices of 

 raw material had then reached about the lowest 

 point, wages were small, and there seemed to be 

 much to encourage industrial enterprise. After 

 a brief period of activity, somewhat stimulated 

 by the agreement of the House to the Senate 

 Tariff bill, the revival was checked, the demand 

 for textile fabrics slackened and became con- 

 fined to the cheapest grades, the cotton manu- 

 facturers at New Bedford and Fall River, Mass., 

 shut down rather than yield to a demand for in- 

 creased wages, the condition of the national 

 finances grew disturbing, goods accumulated, 

 and the price of cotton continued to fall. The 

 New Bedford and Fall River mills started up in 

 October, and there' was in that month an in- 

 crease in iron production, the weekly capacity 



