Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1903 — COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL

' —| “Vigorous vitality is eoiiNev York sphm oll3 in- trade and in* —i. ' 1 dustry, despite the^handifidequate facilities for transportationConcentrated efforts to reduce the gestionarafewfaTOredpointsnpparontand inclement weather added a new disturbing factor to an already complicated situation.- Every possible method is be- ' ing adopted to improve conditions, enormous sums are appropriated for sions, yet accidents and -losses are frequent.” The foregoing is from the Weekly Trade Review of U. G. Duu & Co. It continues: Transatlantic vessels failed to leave on schedule time, and many manufacturing pl&nts are closed in’ part or wholly. Labor disputes are m ore numerous, although not prevalent to any extent in the leading industries. As the season ad- ! vanees there is notable activity in building trades, with the customary acceleration of inquiry for materials. Retail dealings in most staples are fully sustained, especially of seasonable wearing apparel, but distribution at many points has suf-_ sered through weather conditions. Wholesale and jobbing trade is steadily improving, although deliveries cannot be guaranteed. Foreign commerce is keeping pace with domestic trade. Railway earnings during January were 8.0 per cent larger than last year and 17.7 per cent in excess of 1901. Bradatrcet’a Grain Figures. Bradstreet’s weekly report on grain says: Wheat, including flour, exports for the week ending Feb. 5 aggregate 3,905,910 bushels, against 4,420,005 last week, 4,800,457 in this week a year ago end 4,907,813 in 1901. Wheat exports since July 1 aggregate 152,505,538 bushels, against 170,140,043 last season and 120,823,450 in 1900. Corn exports aggregate 2,400,310 bushels, against 2,045,999 last week, 109,145 a year ago and 4,171,440 in 1901. For the fiscal year exports are 22,801,010 bushels, against 23,031,130 last season, and 119,500,794 in 1901. . Australia is still buying (jiliGdQO. on the Pacific coast, been reduced to a low point has extended inquiry into the Canadian Northwest. This legitimate demand remains one of the strongest featui-es. Flour demand in general is good and much wheat is being consumed. The two uncertain factors in the speculative mind are the Argentine shipments an<U. the attitude of tlie big Chicago houses,. In the first week of important shipments Argentine sent out 1,080,000 bushels of wheat and in tlie second week 1,200,000. Unless the movement grows heavier than this it is not likely to affect speculative sentiment materially. Our own country is behind in exports so far, having sent out since July 1 152,505,538 bushels of wheat, compared with 170,140,643 bushels in the previous year. In the stock market the new developments of the week were mainly favorable, but they failed to stimulate activity. The listlessness of the market and lack of speculative interest on tlie part of the public is in sharp contrast to the commercial and industrial prosperity of the country. a hull market in stocks have been tlis--nppointed, the comparative quiet that has ruled for a time lias directed interest more towards the channels of trade and manufacture. Many have haiLtimc better to understand the wonderful development west of the Mississippi, where a larger amount of capital is being invested in legitimate enterprises than ever before. The result of it all has been a healthy reaction, ft falling away from the feverish excitement of a period of advancing prices in stocks, and a turning more to the examination of the fundamental factors on which prosperity is based, and to which values in the long run inevitably adjust themselves.