Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1902 — COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

Now that the holidays ar* over business interests are settling down to-a new yeas

New YorL |

of promising activity. On every side confidence is felt that 1902 will witness a continuance of prosperity. Interior trade holds In large volume and merchants and manufacturers are prepared to make a harder struggle for export trade, realizing that they need that business unless they shall reduce a production which now exceeds the demands of the home market. It is too early in the year to compare any results thus far with 1901. Figures of bank clearings and railroad earnings—for the first periods are being awaited •with intense, interestz' What they may •show in comparison with last year will be regarded as an index of the coming year’s volurpG of business. The need fop more railroad cars is critical. With lake navigation closed for some time the freight formerly transported by water is added to the already overtaxed steam roads. In no active industry does this condition hamper so much as in the iron trade. When the number of blast furnaces closed is greater than the number open, as it appears to be, simply from a lack of coke, which the railroads cannot move because of car shortage, there is manifested a graphic but unhappy incident of prosperity. This situation provokes spirited criticism of the railroad management by manufacturers. Officials of roads claim they are using every resource to handle the traffic and are permitting the use of freight cars which under less extraordinary < ircumstances would be sent to repair shops. Good as the demand for sjeel is, the dominant company in this>4ndustry adferef to its policy of not raising prices. The dullness usual at thia Season in iron and steel is evidently to be postponed for some weeks. T ,' • ' Lake copper has been cut again, the present price being 12% cents a pound. From the quoted prices before copper conditions became a problem this is a drop of 4% cents. Independent companies have kept just below the “trust” quotations, and conditions are thoroughly unsettled. The repeated reductions have schooled consumers in buying from "hand to mouth.”

Chicago.

The inquiries for real estate in Chicago poratto an Improvement during ths

year. Especially is this interest manifest in downtown property, the futura of which is assured. There are certain questions of taxation which have not been settled yet, and the purchaser of rg'ah estate does "not know yet precisely what burdens he may have Nevertheless, so vast is the volume of money seeking investment that the real estate market surely will absorb a goodly portion of it. There are no indications that building activity will decrease during the year. Plans for the construction of more “skyscrapers” have been adopted Or are being discussed seriously. The long suspension of building operations prior te lastyear gives an assnrance that building will not be overdone for /Some time to come. Therefore the men in- the buiMing trades can be easy in mind as to th.- immediate future. As regards cereals, there were few notable changes in prices during the week. The monthly government crop bulletin showed that the condition of wheat was better than the trade had been led to infer from reports coming from private sources. May wheat closed at 83% centu on Saturday and May corn at 67% cents. With corn at this figure comparatively little of it will go abroad. The investment demand for stocks and bonds has lifted the prices of the best securities to a point where they possess little attractiveness to the ordinary investor. Money holds firm at 5 per cent and is in good demand at all centers. The foreign exchange market shows that another gold export movement is not improb..’.:'e.