296 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The tonnage of vessels built, as given by the 

 Register, is 176,592 tons, being a decrease from 

 that of the previous year of 26,994 tons, or 

 over 15 per centum. 



The number of vessels built is 1,029. 



The number of entries of American vessels 

 into ports of the United States from foreign 

 ports for the fiscal year ending June 80, 1877, 

 was 10,660 ; the number of clearances of Amer- 

 ican vessels, foreign, for the same period was 



10,790. The number of entries of foreign ves- 

 sels into ports of the United States from foreign 

 ports during the same period was 18,379; the 

 number of clearances of foreign vessels, foreign, 

 for the same time was 18,174, showing a pre- 

 ponderance of foreign over domestic tonnage. 

 The range of prices in New York for Gov- 

 ernment securities, for the year 1877, and the 

 amount of each class of bonds outstanding, 

 January 1, 1878, were as follows : 



The range in prices during 1877 and 1876 of the most active stocks sold at New York Stock 

 Exchange is shown in the table below : 



The range of United States bonds in London 

 in 1877 was as follows: 



Gold opened in January at 107|-, and gradu- 

 ally declined to 105 at the end of the month, 

 notwithstanding the great political excitement 



over the presidential election. "Within this 

 range it fluctuated, owing to various circum- 

 stances, such as market influences at home, or 

 political news here and abroad, as well as the 

 excitement of the labor riots, until August, when 

 a steady decline commenced, in consequence of 

 the small demand, the large surplus of domes- 

 tic products, and the low prices of foreign ex- 

 change, and it reached 102 as the lowest point 

 of the year. 



The business failures of 1877, as reported 

 by Messrs. R. G. Dunn & Co., presented the 

 following results : 



