FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1898. 



259 



tially recovering when it was seen that the Spanish 

 dynasty was not imperiled, and also that the in- 

 terest on these securities would continue to be paid 

 though the war had involved Spain in financial 

 ruin. 



Though there was some disturbance in our money 

 and security markets following the disaster to the 

 " Maine " in the harbor of Havana, Feb. 15, and also 

 immediately succeeding the declaration of war, the 

 derangement was only temporary owing to the 

 strong financial position which the country enjoyed, 

 and after the destruction of Admiral Montejo's fleet 

 in the harbor of Manila by Commodore Dewey, on 

 Slay 1. the utmost confidence was felt in the speedy 

 termination of the war. The annihilation of Ad- 

 miral Cervera's fleet at Santiago de Cuba, on July 

 3, and the surrender of the Spanish Gen. Toral, 

 July 17, were quickly followed by overtures by 

 Spain for peace. The war ended Aug. 12, one 

 hundred and ten days after its beginning, and the 

 treaty of peace was signed at Paris, Dec. 10, one 

 hundred and twenty days after the signing of the 

 protocol and seventy days after the assembling of 

 the Peace Commissioners. Puerto Rico was for- 

 mally surrendered by the Spanish on Oct. 18, and 

 at the end of the year preparations were completed 

 for the surrender of Havana. 



On March 9 both houses of Congress unani- 

 mously placed at the disposal of the President $50,- 

 000,000. to be employed at his discretion in the 

 national defense. This fund being inadequate, 

 Congress, on June 13, passed the war revenue act, 

 authorizing a 3-per-cent. popular loan, not to ex- 

 ceed $400,000,000, and also provided for additional 

 internal-revenue taxes. The law required that the 

 bonds should be issued at par, and that in allotting 

 said bonds the several subscriptions of individuals 

 should be first accepted and the subscriptions for 

 the lowest amounts should be first allotted. Sub- 

 scriptions for $200,000,000 of the bonds were opened 

 on June 13, and on the closing of the books, July 

 14. it was found that the total of subscriptions for 

 $500 and less was $100,444,560, and the total in 

 greater amounts than $500, including certain pro- 

 posals guaranteeing the loan, amounted to more 

 than $1,400,000.000, the loan being subscribed for 

 seven and a half times over. The number of sub- 

 scriptions for $500 or less was 232.224, and the 

 number for more than $500 was 88,002. Allot- 

 ments were made to 325,000 persons, but from the 

 moment the bonds were issued a movement of con- 

 centration began, and gradually the original hold- 

 ings of about 116.000 subscribers passed into the 

 ownership of a little more than 1,000 persons, firms, 

 and corporations. Toward the end of December 

 the market price of the bonds was 107, indicating 

 that the compulsory offering of the bonds at par 

 resulted in a loss to the Government of a premium 

 of at least 5 per cent., and, in the opinion of the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, the whole loan of 

 $200,000,000 could have been sold, at the moment 

 when the authorizing act was approved, at a pre- 

 mium of probably 2^ per cent. In order to avoid 

 derangement to the money market resulting from 

 payments for the bonds, provision was made for 

 settlements in installments of subscriptions for 

 amounts of $500 and over, and the Treasury De- 

 partment also made liberal selections of special- 

 ly designated depository banks throughout the 

 country for the custody of public money. Conse- 

 quently the money market was disturbed for only 

 a brief period early in the fall, when there was a 

 concurrent drain of money to the West for crop pur- 

 poses and into the Treasury for bonds. After bond 

 settlements were practically completed the holdings 

 f the national bank depositories were about $97.- 

 000,000, of which nearly $50,000,000 were in banks 



in New York city. At the end of the year the 

 total deposits of public money in the banks 

 amounted to $94,085,680. 



The expenses of the war with Spain were official- 

 ly estimated by the Treasurer of the United States 

 at $164,932,228 up to the end of October. This re- 

 sult was obtained by deducting from the total ex- 

 penditures of the War and Navy Departments the 

 cost of the peace establishments of the previous 

 year. Though the disbursements by the State De- 

 partment were not included in this estimate, it was 

 regarded as probable that the total war expendi- 

 tures to the date above mentioned would not materi- 

 ally exceed the amount here stated. Adding the 

 payments during November would make the total 

 $1 77,150,229. The disbursements in December were 

 about $16,000,000, making the total war expendi- 

 tures for the year approximately $193,000,000. 



The following tabular survey of the economical 

 conditions and results of 1898, contrasted with those 

 of the preceding year, is from the " Commercial and 

 Financial Chronicle." 



The foreign commerce of the fiscal year ending 

 June 30, 1898, was phenomenal. Exports of domes- 

 tic products and manufactures amounted in value 

 to $1,210,291,913, while imports were $616,049,654, 

 an excess of exports over imports of $594,242,259. 

 The value of exports of agricultural products alone 

 was $853,683,570, exceeding by $54,355,338 the 

 highest ever before recorded. Exports of manufac- 

 tures were $290,697,354, also the greatest on record. 

 One notable fact shown by the foreign-trade state- 

 ment was that for the first time in our history ex- 

 ports of domestic manufactures were larger than 

 the imports of foreign manufactured goods, while 

 the total exports of the fiscal year were twice as 

 great as the imports, and the favorable trade balance 

 was more than double that of any previous year. 

 The imports of gold for the fiscal year were larger 

 than in any preceding year, amounting to $120,391,- 

 674, while the exports were smaller than in any year 

 in the present decade, being only $15,406,391, mak- 

 ing the net imports $104,985,283. Domestic gold 

 deposits at the mints were $69,881,120 and foreign 

 gold deposits $73.687,448. The improvement in 

 foreign-trade conditions continued after the close of 

 the fiscal year. The returns for November showed 

 the unprecedented total of $129.783,512 exports, 

 while imports were $52.100.560, making a favorable 

 trade balance of $77,672,952. The statement for 

 eleven months of the calendar year ending Nov. 30 

 showed exports of $1,117.681,199, and imports $579,- 

 844,153, a favorable trade balance of $537,837,046. 

 Net gold imports for the eleven months were $134,- 

 421,054, and net silver exports $22,048 ; 703. The 



