98 Frank S. Pliilhrirk 



Finally we may look at one failure table from the point 

 of view of class, and see what were the businesses that 

 suffered most heavily. The eight leading businesses in 

 which failures occurred in 1890 represented a total of 15.2 

 millions- of dollars liabilities. In 1891 the total was 31.23 

 millions, and the liabilities of banks and bankers and other 

 ''financial" businesses (excluding brokers) alone amounted 

 to 16.47 millions. In 1892 these two items were only 12.07 

 and 4 millions respectively. In 1893 they ran thus : banks 

 and bankers, 36.21 millions ; iron and steel, 11. 6G millions ; 

 coal, 5.41; financial, 4.58; furniture, 3.28; provisions, 3.08; 

 nuichinery, 2.86; leather, 2.47. The total is 69.55 millions, 

 and the financial factor is 40.79 — almost 50 per cent of the 

 total. Again, if we take the failures from 1890-93 Ave find 

 that the leading businesses run as follows, with the mil- 

 lions of dollars liabilities involved : 



Banks and bankers. . .56.19 Lumber 7.41 



Iron and steel 15.10 Textiles 6.84 



Financial 12.22 Clothing 6.73 



Leather 7.83 Coal 6.34 



Dry goods 7.78 Machinery 5.46 



The total is 132 millions, and banks and bankers represent 

 42.5 per cent. This shows what indications there were that 

 banks and bankers were to suffer most in the crisis. It 

 would be beyond the scope of this paper to show in detail 

 the facts concerning the condition of the banks during the 

 crisis, as this topic falls within the strictly financial field. 

 But in connection with the sectional study of failures, I 

 shall bring out a few points useful as indices of the business 

 tone of different parts of the country. The total number 

 of national, state, savings, and private banks and loan 

 and trust companies failing in 1893 was 598, Avhile in the 

 three following years the number was 421, and the esti- 

 mated liabilities in 1893 were |170,295,000 as against 



304 



