Mercantile Conditions of Crisis of 1893 103 



Number, 1892: E 100, M 151.5. S 115.4, W 122.6, N 59.2, P 53.7 

 Number, 1893: E 128.9, M 205.7, S 145.8, W 263.4, N 98.1, P 72.4 

 Increase, E 28.9, M 5i.2, S 30.4, W 140.8, N 38.9, P 18.7 



Doing the same for liabilities and adding another factor 

 or so we have : 



Amount, 1892: E 100, M 183.3, S 111.6, W ICO.O, N 61.5, P 40.6 

 Amount, 1893: E 279.3, M 764.3, S 236.4, W 672.8, N 383.3, P 112 2 

 Increase, E 179.3, M 581.0, S 124.8, W 512.8, N 321.8, P 71.6 



These figures, especially those for liabilities, show plainer 

 than anything I have found the terrible meaning of the 

 crisis. The two sets of figures at once correct and explain 

 each other. Their showing for the different sections is 

 too plain to call for comment. Again, if we take the total 

 number of failures for 1892, and call it 100, then in 1893 

 the number was 151.5 (and in 1896 147.1), and similarly 

 for liabilities, taking 1892 as 100, 1893 was 370.6. 



One other point needs to be added, in order that the 

 analysis be completed. This is a comparison of commercial 

 death rates, which in 1892 and 1893 ran thus : 



1892: E .8, M 1.6. S 1.1, W .6, N .8, P 2 

 1893: E 1.2, M 2.0, S 1.4, W 1.3, N 1.4, P 2.2 

 Increase: E .4, M .4, S .3, W .7, N .6, P .2 



These figures are a part of the "number" table, without 

 which these latter are useless. Unquestionably three, the 

 West, the Middle, and the Northwest, suffered most se- 

 verely — far the most severely. Of course that means also 

 most severe as compared with financial and industrial 

 "bottom" — the wealth and strength to stand the drain. 



And if this w^ere true of mercantile interests, not less 

 was it of the banks. Not only were all the banks low in 

 demand notes and especially those secured by collateral, 

 as we have already seen, but especially in the West tf^re 

 "quick assets" low. Of 360 national and state bank fail- 

 ures in 1893 having liabilities of |109,547,556, no less than 

 343, with 196,409,483 liabilities, were west and south of 

 Pennsjdvania ; and it was about the same with private and 



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