

IEW OP 1897. 



cate of the purchase money due the Government 



he road, the Treasury arranging for p, 

 the greater part of this money in specially desig- 

 nated depository banks in this my < ><> I >.-. n the 

 banks reported $675,189.900 deposits the maxi- 

 mum tor the Tear. Predictions for the payment 

 of the remaining installments of fni.-n Pa. -Hie pur- 

 chase money into th instead of the banks 

 it being necessary for the' department to make 

 r ru , <. ; >. .: r fM "'"- i in-.-.,.-* r,s. 



SM Jaiman iVftK i*ed in a,d of the 1' 

 milmad more or less unsettled bank condition 

 f.r the rrmainder of the year. The loans 

 Btatad, stand ing nt $010.606,800 Dec. 25. the high- 

 ... ; ,,.,: taodan were 



reduced. The specie in the New York associated 

 banks showed almost an uninterrupted pun from 

 the beginning of the rear, reaching the maximum 

 Psc.8lT Legal tenders were at the highest, s 



days and 3| to 4 f lays to -i\ months. 



Commercial paper was in comparatively limited 

 supply during the entire year. Merchants were n.-t 

 large borrowers, ami the improvement in bu-me^ 



\\lneli resulted from the paSBSgB of the tarilT made 

 - good, ami therefore Imt little paper was 



maile. Th.- Inquiry was somewhat urgent in th.> 



fall months, ami rates fell <>tT t<> about th.- 1,,\\ 



the year for choice naino dm ,l..-r. \\hen 



indoi- rere 8 per cent, and the boat four to 



six months single names were S to H i-i-.-. m. in 



tiie la.st iniiiitli rates wen- firmly held at :IA t> 

 eent. for indorsements and 4 to ." l..r rhniee ?i 

 names. 



The coinlition of the New York Clear, 

 hank-, the rales of int. i ..\>,[ -ih.-r. 



and the prices of Tinted M.V 

 1898, compan-il with the same it. 'ins for the MV- 



oeding two years are giren in the following table, 



KiwYoac 



!Uvk- 



i HIM;. 



78,728,700 



$10,779,675 



4 to 5 

 6 



.'50 </. 

 $4 88| to $4 80 



104 bid 



'..-; 1. 1> I 

 100 l.i.l 





7M4MOO 

 [9^00,100 



680,786,000 



UMQ6J60 

 MU8MOO 



UM6MOO 

 2 



, SJ, 



102] l.i.l 

 96ibid 



111 t4,lllj 







116,788,760 



84 

 4to6 / 





* Extended 2 per rent*. 



206,600, Jan. 80. They fell to $99.115,000 by May The following is the New York Clearing House 

 8, rose to $11 1.615,100* by July 24, declined to $73*- statement of totals at the bcpnnin^ <! . .i.-h 

 721^00, the lowest of the year, Oct. 9, reflecting the ter of 1897 and at the end of t h, \ 



DATE. 



.MM! I 



|B -', 



Octobers.. 



MV.T'O.I 



BM8B.109 



$10.600.100 

 16,7! 



15.790.400 

 15,507,900 



MO.W.OOO 



H. \.<.^\M*\ 



r,i'...:i.V5.-j.ii 

 0n%06MOO 



108,964,900 



Itrj.rJJ.-Jiiil 

 T'.'.vjj.j.h. 



of ctirn it- v for crop purposes, and then 

 advanced to $84,202,800 Dec. 4. The surplus re- 

 senre of the banks was at 

 Jan. 80. and at the lowest, $11,',: ; i I ire. 25. 



Money on call at the Stock Exchange loaned at 

 5$ and at 1 per c-nt. during the year, Imt there was 

 an abundant supply in the summer and in the fall, 

 and loans were made at an average of about 2 

 per cent., later falling to 1$. Toward the end of 

 October there were free offerings of money on call 

 and on short time on sterling collateral, and some 

 bank* in the int. -n-r competed with city institutions 



:iese loans. In December the market was de- 

 ranged by railing of loans in connection with the 



i Pacific settlements, and the rate advanced 

 to 5| per cent., fluctuating thm-after U-tween 5 and 



2 per ,,-u were quoted at 2 per 



for thirty days, 2$ for sixty days, and from 



3 to 8| for longer dates until after the middle of 

 the year, when there was a firmer f.flint: in this 

 branch of the market, but no material advance in 

 rates for short periods. Those for from four 

 months were quoted at 8$ to 4 percent. In < 



the rates fell to the lowest of the year, owin- 

 light demand. In DpcrmU-r there was a good in- 



. especially for snort dates, and the rpiot. 

 at the close of the year were 8 per cent, for thirty 



The Crops. The grain crop- of Knrop, mid 

 the Argentine Kcpiililic were deficient this 

 and there was a shortage in India due to In. 

 plague and drought, and there was also a ilcfl- 



j in Australia, while conditions in tlu> country 

 w.-n -'favorable at least for small grains Tl. 

 the yield of corn was below that of last year, the 

 Unsold >to<-l<x \\vre abundant. The wheat crop- of 

 Kan-as and of Nebraska were enormous, and nearly 

 all the gnat \\li.at-produeing States had 

 yields of this cereal, which was marketed at m- 

 paratively hii;h prices, these bein^ inlli . i,.-..| by 

 the urgent Kiin-peaii demand MKTalso by an in- 

 quiry from the dome-tic mills. (Hie iVature in 

 Aug'u -.'in in I>ecemb. j.eeiilative. 



ii. 'iit in wheat at Chicago. Thi- carried the 

 price in August to $1.09, the best figures of the 

 year, and the advance to $1.02} in Dec. mb.-r in- 



: the marketing by producers of a large pro- 

 portion of their un- . The cotton crop 

 was lar-e. estimated at HU:7.0:;o bales but its 

 marketing during the fall was greatly retarded by 

 the yellow-fever epidemic at New Orleans and 

 other Gulf ports. At the same time the overland 

 movement from districts outside those quarantined 

 was liberal. On the removal of the quarantine re- 

 strictions exports of the staple were large, but then 



