Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 June 1902 — COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

Mow Vnrk I “ N ? diminutlon «» **•!• nCI lUlll. | ness is apparent from labor 1 ~~ 'controversies, owing to the prosperous condition of the agricultural sections and the bright outlook for this year’s crops. Retail distribution of lightweight wearing apparel has felt the stimulus of higher temperature. Ra'lway earnings in May were 8.7 per cent larger than last year and 21.7 per cent above those of 1900.” R. G. Dun & Co.’s Weekly Review of Trade thus sums up the busiuess situation. Continuing, the review says: There continues to be a wide discrepancy between the amount of business offered and the contracts closed in many branches, of the iron and steel industry owing to inability of producers to assure delivery at a specified time. Contracts runnjpg well into, next year indicate that the end of activity is not uear. Pressure is still most conspicuous for railway and structural supplies, ami agricultural Implement xvorks are crowded with orderß. Sales of Bessemer pig iron at Pittsburg for delivery next year were recently made at $16.50, while immediate shipments command about $5 more. Limited stocks are still the cause of steadiness in all branches of textiles. Holders are not urging sales, and buyers show a disposition to wait. Purchasers of cotton goods are influenced by the prospect of cheaper raw material after the new crop begins to move. Cotton rose slightly on a few unfavorable weather reports, but the outlook is very bright In many States. Tardy deliveries of sample pieces by the woolen mills has caused complaint among the clothiers and fall orders are not placed freely. Wool sells more freely at leading eastern markets, and quotations are steady

7, , From the fact that there UIICaQO. are labor disputes in so a Tnnnv places it is evident that the spirit of unrest is at work. The country is unusually prosperous with many industries taxed beyond capacity. Money is plentiful and the people have more of it per capita thau ever before. Any willing man may find employment and wages—on the whole —are higher thau for years. With these conditions it would seem that this should be a time for contentment, yet it is not entirely so. Unreasonable as are some of the demands of the workingmen, there Is something to be said for the general cause of labor. An important consideration, and one rarely given sufficient weight by employers, who look askance at an increasing wage scale, is the increased cost of living., Uun's index figure, which is a pretty reliable guide, shows that while the cost of living in 1897 was 75.5, it is to-day 101.5. The southwestern wheat movement is getting under way, and while Kansas will have a yield considerably under the average, the general outlook for grain tonnage is good. The government lias issued'the first-bulletin of the year bearing upon the new spring wheat crop. It is found, as was the general expectation, that there is a much smaller area in wheat than last year, the government putting the decrease in Minnespta an<» the Dakotas at 2,511,000 acres. This does not mean that the northwestern railroads will necessarily have less grain to haul, and indeed with favorable weather the outlook is for a heavier grain tonnage than ever. Practically all this abandoned wheat land has gone into other grain, and even yet farmers are planting flax and barley in scattered places, where seeding conditions were the worst earlier in the season. From this time on the reports from the growing spring wheat will take precedence as the price influence. The Northwest holds lip wTII ip the general volume of business. In Minneapolis the bank clearings at $12.450,023.27 show a gain of 15.9 per cent, which is especially gratifying in the face of a decrease of 23 in the total for the country at large.