FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1883. 



333 



quoted at 2 per cent, on Government bonds 

 and 5 per cent, on other collaterals during the 

 previous part of the year, were taken in Wall 

 street at rates ranging on 'some days as high as 

 20 and 25 per cent, per annum. After nearly 

 three months of fluctuation the price settled 

 down for the summer to from 1 to 3 per cent. 

 When the autumn depletion for the crop move- 

 ment occurred, which is usually the opportu- 

 nity of the bears, the supply was too abundant 

 for any manipulation, and money could usually 

 be obtained on collaterals at the same rates, 

 on no occasion rising above 4 and 5 per cent. 

 The closing quotations of the year were 1 to 3 

 per cent., the lower rate applying, as usual, to 

 loans on Government bonds. The dealings in 

 commercial paper became more and more re- 

 stricted and cautious as the year advanced. 

 This shutting off of accommodation precipi- 

 tated the embarrassments of weak traders, and 

 swelled the total of mercantile failures. A con- 

 siderable proportion of the insolvent mer- 

 chants owed their bankruptcy to speculations 

 outside of the sphere of their legitimate busi- 

 ness. This " weeding-out" process produced 

 no perturbations, and, instead of betraying 

 weakness in the financial machinery of the 

 country, was an encouraging proof of its sound 



and conservative workings. The failures re- 

 sulting from the miscarriage of wheat and lard 

 corners were self-limited. The bonded whisky 

 question and the fate of the gigantic specula- 

 tions in that product involved the banks more 

 seriously. The decline in stocks was con- 

 sidered by many to have reached a point which 

 endangered the stability of the credit institu- 

 tions. Yet there were evidences that the bank- 

 ers amply discounted the decline, and placed 

 themselves in a position of safety more assured 

 at the close of 1883 than at any previous time. 

 By dropping questionable securities and requir- 

 ing wider margins, they contributed in no 

 slight measure to the decline and weakness of 

 the stock-market. 



Prime commercial paper was discounted in 

 New York at 5 to 6 per cent, in January, 5 to 

 5 in February, 6 to 7 in March, 5 to 6 in April, 

 5 to 6 in May, 4 to 5 in June and July, 4^ to 

 6 in August, 5 to 6 from September to No- 

 vember, and 5 to 6 at the close of the year. 



The condition of the New York Clearing- 

 House banks, and the rates of money and ex- 

 change, with the prices of United States bonds, 

 on or about the 1st of January, 1884, as com- 

 pared with the two years preceding, are given 

 in the following summary: 



Appended is the Clearing-IIouse statement of totals at the beginning of each quarter of 1883 

 md at the end of the year : 



Foreign Exchange. The imports in 1883 were 

 eonsiderably less than in the previous year, 

 while the exports were greater. In the later 

 months of the year the export movement of 

 merchandise diminished. The returns for elev- 

 en months of the calendar year show an excess 

 of exports amounting to $86,534,413, against 

 an excess of imports in the corresponding pe- 



riod of 1882 amounting to $18,327,238. The 

 bullion movement shows a -net importation 

 of $5,137,268 for the same months of 1883, 

 against an excess of exports during eleven 

 months of 1882 amounting to $34,817,589. 

 The foreign commerce of the country does 

 not alone govern the exchange market. It is 

 materially affected by the movement of Ameri- 



