FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1899. 



283 



shipped hence to London on the 16th. Exchange 

 grew firm, with figures adjusted to conform to 

 the higher open-market rates in London, and the 

 tone was strong. The Bank of France, it may 

 be noted, advanced its rate of discount on the 

 21st to 4J per cent., while on the 19th the Im- 

 perial Bank of Germany advanced its rate from 

 6 per cent, to 7 per cent. Moreover, the Bank 

 of France raised the premium on gold to rates 

 which prohibited withdrawals of the metal from 

 the bank for export. The crisis in money at this 

 center on the 18th had a temporarily unsettling 

 effect upon exchange. Offerings were, however, 

 restricted, because of the almost entire absence 

 of demand, and therefore rates did not show ma- 

 terial declines. Later supplies of bankers' bills 

 for remittance came largely from those drawn 

 against gold exports, and, while there was a good 

 supply of commercial drafts, they were promptly 

 absorbed at full prices. The higher discount rates 

 at London caused a gradual fall in long sterling 

 in the third week of the month to $4.80f to 

 $4.81, while short sterling advanced to $4.87| to 

 $4.874, and cables to $4.88| to $4.88|. Gold to the 

 amount of $5,425,000 was shipped to London in 

 the week ending the 20th, and in the last week of 

 the year the shipment to London was $3,350,000. 

 The exchange market closed quite strong at $4.8 If 

 to $4.82 for sixty-day, $4.87i to $4.87| for sight, 

 and $4.88| to $4.89 for cables. 



Railroads. The business of the railroads 

 showed almost uninterrupted gains during the 

 year. Tariffs were well maintained from the be- 

 ginning to the end of the year, and the railroad 

 traffic was so great in the fall that, notwith- 

 standing large additions to the equipment of the 

 principal lines, there was a remarkable dearth of 

 transportation facilities. Among the notable 

 events of the year was the successful readjust- 

 ment scheme of the Central Pacific Railroad Com- 

 pany providing for the payment in full of the 

 claims of the Government, amounting to $58,812,- 

 175; the lease by the Southern Railway of im- 

 portant lines, including the Mobile and Birming- 

 ham, the Northern Alabama, and the South Caro- 

 lina and Georgia; the purchase by a syndicate of 

 the Chicago and Alton; an increase of $15,000,000 

 in Great Northern stock; the sale by the Dela- 

 ware and Hudson of its canal; the lease of the 

 Boston and Albany by the New York Central; 

 the purchase by the Baltimore and Ohio of the 

 Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern; an increase 

 in the capital of the Southern Pacific from $150,- 

 000,000 to $200,000,000 to acquire the Central 

 Pacific; the consolidation of the Pullman and 

 the Wagner Palace Car Companies; the increase 

 of $15,000,000 in the stock of the New York Cen- 

 tral to provide for 15,000 additional cars; the 

 purchase by a syndicate of the interests of the 

 Crocker and of the Stanford estates in the South- 

 ern Pacific ; the authorization by the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad Company of an allotment of $13,000,000 

 stock to provide for new equipment and construc- 

 tion ; and the acquirement by the Hocking Valley 

 of control of the Toledo and Ohio Central. Divi- 

 dends were increased by the Burlington, Cedar 

 Rapids and Northern, the St. Paul and Omaha, 

 the Louisville and Nashville, the Union Pacific, 

 the New York Central, the Chicago and North- 

 western, the Boston and Maine, and by other 

 more or less important roads. Dividends were 

 declared for the first time by the Iowa Central 

 on its preferred stock; by the Chicago, Indianapo- 

 lis and Louisville on its preferred stock; by the 

 Chesapeake and Ohio; by the Evansville and 

 Terre Haute; by the Hocking Valley; by the 

 Pittsburg, Bessemer and Lake Erie; and by the 



Flint and Pere Marquette. One notable event 

 was the acquirement by parties interested in the 

 New York, Ontario and Western of the coal prop- 

 erties of the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Com- 

 pany in the vicinity of Scranton, Pa., estimated 

 to contain from 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 tons of 

 anthracite coal. It is noteworthy that very few 

 foreclosure proceedings were instituted during 

 the year, indicating the prevalence of prosperous 

 conditions throughout the country. The Balti- 

 more and Ohio receivership was terminated June 

 30, and later large purchases of the stock by the 

 president of the Great Northern gave some color 

 to a rumor that a close alliance between the two 

 roads was contemplated. 



The listings of railroad bonds on the Stock 

 Exchange during the year amounted to $446,634,- 

 000, and of new railroad stocks to $410,716,630. 

 Of the $525,384,240 of bonds of all companies 

 listed, $154,304,760 represented new issues, $22,- 

 908,000 old issues newly listed, and $346,171,480 

 for replacing old securities. Of the $704,172,605 

 stocks listed, including railroad and miscellaneous 

 companies, $311,420,285 represented new issues 

 and $392,752,320 for replacing old securities. The 

 above-noted total of stocks listed was greater 

 by $175,918,609 than the total listings in 1898, 

 and larger than the listings in ten years. The 

 stocks placed on the " unlisted " department of 

 the Stock Exchange, including those of 11 indus- 

 trial corporations, those of the Brooklyn Rapid 

 Transit Company, and of the Wagner Palace Car 

 Company, amounted to $286,313,650 common and 

 $142,187,400 preferred, a total of $428,501,050. 



The following shows gross and net earnings of 

 the trunk lines: 



Manufacturing Industries. The most not- 

 able feature of the year was the enormous increase 

 in the organization of industrial concerns, else- 

 where referred to. There was marvelous improve- 

 ment in the iron and steel industry during 1899. 

 Production of iron steadily increased, the demand 

 was urgent, unsold stocks were depleted, and 

 prices were more than doubled. At the end of the 

 year the pig-iron production was 296,959 tons per 

 week, of at the rate of 15,500,000 tons per annum, 

 against an output of 11,773,934 tons in 1898. The 

 price of Bessemer pig iron at Pittsburg at the end 

 of 1898 was $10.64 per ton, while at the close of 

 1899 it was $25 per ton. Steel billets advanced 

 from $15.90 per ton in December, 1898, to $36.37 

 in the same month of 1899. Steel rails and, in- 

 deed, all manufactures of steel were in urgent 

 request, particularly in the latter part of the 

 year, and the principal railroads bought largely 

 of rails and equipment, while the export demand 

 for iron and steel products was entirely unprece- 

 dented. There was also a great expansion in 

 the cotton-manufacturing industry not only at 

 the South, but in New England. Standard print 

 cloths at Fall River advanced from 2| to 3 cents 

 per yard, and, under the influence of the im- 

 proved condition of the industry, wages of opera- 



