UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



835 



were $817,973,276, an increase of $65,448,512; net 

 earnings, $429,352,345, an increase of $59,787,336. 

 Surplus earnings amounted to $140,319,421; divi- 

 dends declared, $96,240,864. The railroad capital, 

 not including floating debt, amounted to $10,818,- 

 554,031. No dividends were paid on 66 per cent, of 

 the total. The length of railroads in operation in 

 1899 was 191,310 miles. The cost of construction 

 per mile was $62,658. 



Banking- and Currency. Gold coin was re- 

 stored to circulation on Jan. 1, 1879, as the result 

 of the resumption act of Jan. 14, 1875. The 

 amount of money of various kinds in the country, 

 including bullion in the treasury, was reported by 

 the Secretary of the Treasury to be on July 1, 

 1899, as follows: 



The resources and liabilities of 942 savings 

 banks on July 1, 1899, were reported by the Comp- 

 troller ot the Currency as follow 



SAVINGS BANK STATEMENT. 



Resources : 



Loans on real estate 



Loans on other securities 



United States bonds '.'.'.'.'.'.' 



State and other stocks and bonds 

 Railroad bonds and stocks . 



Bank stock 



Real estate \ 



Other investments ' 



Due from banks 



Cash . . 



Amount.* 



8878,126,869 



220,800,406 

 136,930,208 



512,777,886 



167,998.:i'{<> 



36,637,920 



55.469,869 



244,771.495 



34,651, 724 

 $8,400,831,472 



. . . $2,182,006,424 



The estimated coining value of the gold pro- 

 duced in the United States in 1898 was $64,463,- 

 000; of the silver, $70,384,485; commercial value 

 of the silver, $32,118,000. The coinage of the 

 United States mints in 1898 was $77,985,757 of 

 gold, $23,034,033 of standard silver dollars, and 

 $1,124,835 of minor coins; total, $102,144,625. 

 The reserves held by national banks on Sept. 7, 

 1899, against $3,031,500,000 of deposits amounted 

 to the sum of $890,500,000, or 29.3 per cent., con- 

 sisting of $466,300,000 of lawful money, with 

 $414,100,000 due from agents, and $10,100,000 of 

 redemption funds. 



The banks held $137,690.618 of gold coin, $23,- 

 152,390 of Treasury certificates, $148,495,000 of 

 clearing-house certificates, $8.361,974 of silver 

 dollars, $6,543,425 of fractional silver, and $32,- 

 578,638 of silver certificates. 



The resources and liabilities of 3,595 national 

 banks in operation on Sept. 7, 1899, were reported 

 as follow: 



NATIONAL BANK STATEMENT. 



Resources: Amount. 



Loans $2.51(5,100,000 



Bonds for circulation 



Other United States bonds 



Stocks and securities , 



Due from banks 



Real estate. 



229.600,000 

 100,300,000 

 320,400,000 

 685.800.000 

 30,200,000 



Specie 338,600,000 



Legal tender notes 111.200,000 



National bank notes 20.100,000 



Clearing-house exchanges 154,800,000 



United States certificates 16,500,000 



Due from United States Treasurer 11,500,000 

 Other resources 115,200,000 



Total resources $4,650,300,000 



Liabilities: 



Capital stock $605,800.000 



Surplus fund ... 248,400,000 



Undivided profits 102,100,000 



Circulation . . . 

 Due to depositors. 



Due to banks 



Other liabilities . . 



200,300,000 

 2,450,700,000 

 928,800.000 

 114,200,000 



Total liabilities $4,650,300,000 



Total 



Liabilities: 



Deposits 



Surplus fund .'.'.'. 



Undivided profits ! 1 1 1 .' ] 



Capital stock 23,560,050 



Total $2,400,831,472 



The total number of depositors in 1899 was 

 5,687,818, and their aggregate deposits were $2,230,- 

 66,954, making the average due to each depositor 

 $392.13. 



Anglo-American Commission. The joint 

 high commission appointed for the settlement of 

 the outstanding questions between the United 

 States and Canada sat constantly during the early 

 part of the year until Feb. 20, when the meetings 

 were adjourned till August, the commissioners 

 having failed to reach a final agreement on any 

 of the points at issue. The desire of Canadian 

 lumbermen for free entry for their product was 

 opposed by the lumber interests of the United 

 States. The rights of American fishermen in Cana- 

 dian waters were one of the matters in dispute. 

 But the chief cause of difference was the claim of 

 Canada to a part of the Alaskan shore, on the 

 theory that the outer rim of the islands skirting 

 the shore form the true seacoast, not the edge 

 of the mainland, and that the 30-mile strip ceded 

 by Russia to the United States should be meas- 

 ured therefore from this outer rim, which would 

 give Canada one or more seaports. There were 

 12 independent questions, each of which the 

 American commissioners wished to discuss and 

 arrange separately. The Canadian commission- 

 ers insisted that an informal agreement on all the 

 questions should precede a definite arrangement 

 in regard to any one of them. The British com- 

 missioners proposed arbitration of the boundary, 

 which the American commissioners were willing 

 to accept, but not exactly on the same terms as 

 in the Venezuela boundary reference. They ob- 

 jected to different European umpires suggested 

 by the Canadians, who were equally opposed to 

 Mexico, Brazil, or Switzerland, when they were 

 proposed by the Americans; neither would they 

 accept the proposal of a court of 6 jurists, 3 

 nominated by each party, to decide the question 

 without an umpire. The stipulation that exist- 

 ing settlements on tide waters should in any case 

 continue to belong to the United States was also 

 unacceptable to the British commissioners. The 

 boundary fixed in the Anglo-Russian treaty of 

 1825 runs from Mount St. Elias, where the meridi- 

 an 141 west of Greenwich cuts the Pacific coast, 

 to 56 of north latitude, and thence by water to 

 the south end of Prince of Wales island in 54 45' 

 of north latitude; but nowhere on the mainland 

 was the width to exceed 10 marine leagues. Can- 

 ada claimed the right to the possession of natu- 

 ral gateways to the interior, such as the Stickeen 

 river, the Taku inlet, and the Lynn Canal, on the 

 theory that the 10-league line was intended to 

 be measured from the ocean and not round the 



