ciation of over 9 millions; preferred stock of the same, $2,525,400 at par, declined from 116 to 102, the 14 points representing a third of a million; Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, capital $24,999,800, declined 123, or from 90% to 781, depreciation near a million and a half; Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, capital stock $1,491,800, fell 544, from 934 to 39, nominal loss over 8 millions; Columbus, Chicago & Indianapolis, capital $13,938,972, sank from 41 to 44, a decline of 36g, standing for over 5 millions loss of capital; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, with a nominal capital of $26,200,000, quoted in 1873 at 101 and at the end of 1877 at 51, declined 50, representing 13 millions and over; Erie Railroad, capital $78,000,000, quotations in 1873 67, in 1877 (December) 101, shrinkage 56, making 444 million dollars; Hannibal & St. Joseph common stock, capitalized at $9,168,700, fell 38, from 50 to 121, depreciation of market value near 3 millions; preferred stock of the same road, $5,083,024, declined 53, or over 2 millions, range of quotations from 711 to 281; Illinois Central, capital stock $29,000,000, decline in prices 52, from 1261 to 741, depreciation of market value 15 millions; Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, capital stock $49,466,500, quoted at the first date at 97 and at the final date at 643, or 32 less, depreciated nearly 16 millions; Milwaukee & St. Paul, capital $15,399,261, fell from 54 to 37, decline 17, representing 14 million; Morris & Essex, capital $15,000,000, quoted in the beginning at 92 and finally at 78, decline 13, or 2 millions; Pacific Mail, capital nominally $20,000,000, fall of price 52, or from 75 to 233, showing a depreciation of nearly 10 millions; Ohio & Mississippi, capital $20,000,000, fell in the stockroom quotations from 49 to 101, a range of 39%, showing a depreciation of nearly 8 millions; Panama Railroad, capital $7,000,000, decline from 130 to 125, shrinkage $350,000; Toledo, Wabash & Western, with an original capital of $16,000,000, fell off 604, from 75 to 15, a depreciation of almost 10 millions; Western Union Telegraph, capital stock $33,787,475, declined from 85% to 74, 65 less, shrinkage about 2 millions. These twenty companies represent a total par capital of $482,304,368. The shrinkage in the market value of their stocks during the period mentioned amounted in the aggregate to $174,630,976. A comparison of the prices of the stocks of forty-five railroads, being all the principal railroad stocks dealt in on the New York Exchange, at their highest rates before the panic of 1873, and at their lowest rates after the crash, with the prices in September, 1878, shows a depreciation of 37 per cent. as the immediate sequel of the panic, which was diminished to 31 per cent. by September 20, 1878; the prices, reduced to gold values, sank in 1873 23 per cent. below their highest range, and stood in September, 1878, only about 20 per cent. below that range. The currency value of these 45 stocks was, at the date of highest prices before the panic,

$666,236,787; at the date of lowest prices in 1873, $420,060,673; and on September 20, 1878, $461,060,673.

In 1876, 54 railroads, with a length of rail of 3,846 miles and an aggregate invested capital of $217,848,000, were sold under foreclosure; in 1877, 30 roads with a mileage of 3,875 miles, and a total capital of $198,984,400. The foreclosures for the two years therefore embraced 84 roads and 7,721 miles of rail, with $416,832,400 of capital stock. Proceedings were instituted in 1876 against 30 more railroads, with 5,591 miles of rail and $397,894,000 capital, and in 1877 against 44 additional roads with a length of 5,409 miles and a total capital of $320,681,930; and 16 roads besides, 2,388 miles in aggregate length, having a capital of $255,755,400, were ordered by the courts to be sold out for the mortgages in 1877. The total of all the roads foreclosed or in difficulties for these two years was therefore 174, with a total mileage of 21,109 miles, and a total invested capital of $1,391,163,730. The bonds of roads foreclosed or reorganized previons to January 1, 1876, amounted to $159,373,300. Of this total capital of insolvent railroads, amounting therefore to $1,550,537,030, embracing more than one third of all the railroad property of the United States, probably fully one half, or over $750,000,000, may be considered wiped out. The loss of capital in the railroad business is revealed by the fact that on $1,311,333,503 of the $2,248,358,375 total railroad stocks of the United States no dividends were paid in 1876, and on $642,604,841 of the total railroad bonds, $2,220,293,560, no interest was paid. The interest and dividends together paid in that year gave an average return of only 3.66 per cent. upon the capital invested. Whether, however, taking the share capital and debentures together, the average rate of profit for a period of years has been less on railroad capital, considering only the amounts actually invested, than on other classes of property, must, in the absence of exact information, be considered an open question.

The total grain crop of 1878 was considerably greater than in 1877. The wheat crop of 1878 was estimated at about 400 million bushels. The States of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Dakota, and Kansas produced, it is estimated, 45 million bushels of wheat more in 1878 than in the preceding year. The average prices, however, are 25 or 30 cents less for the bushel than in 1877, and the total proceeds will be therefore considerably less than in that year. The maize crop in the single State of Illinois in 1877 was 260 million bushels, and in Iowa 156 million bushels, yielding in the two States respectively $75,000,000 and $39,000,000. In 1878 their crop was 10 per cent. larger, but prices from one fourth to one third less.

The grain produced in Europe altogether is estimated to aggregate 5,000 million bushels; of this Russia produces about one third or over

1,600 million bushels, France 520 millions, Germany about the same, and Austro-Hungary 500 millions. The aggregate production of the United States is 1,600 million bushels, about the same as that of Russia. The production averages 40 bushels per head of population in the United States, and 16 bushels per head in Europe entire; and the average consumption is about 15 bushels per head. The average production of Russia is 25 bushels per head; that of Germany and France nearly balances the consumption, as does that of the whole of Europe taken together. The production in England is only 4 bushels per head, and that country must therefore import three fourths of the grain consumed. Russia exports, year in year out, not as much as half its crops. The production of the United States is nearly three times the quantity needed for domestic consumption; nearly two thirds of the average crop, or about 1,000 million bushels per annum, can on the average be spared for exportation. The best arable lands in the United States have been or will soon be all taken up under the stimulus which good prices and the export demand for cereals have given to cultivation. Large tracts of new land have been broken in Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Dakota. The wheat lands opened up along the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad yielded in 1878 a fine crop, which made up for the great damage caused by rains in the other parts of Minnesota. Kansas nearly doubled its production of cereals in 1878, and took its place as one of the chief grain-producing States in the Union; the crop of 1877 was 15 million bushels of wheat and 103 million bushels of maize. In 1878, 679,331 acres of new land was plowed up in that State, nearly all held in small parcels and in great part paid for. This gives its farmers a great advantage over those of Illinois and other States of the West, where the ambition to cultivate huge farms, which in themselves are often less economical to till than smaller pieces of land, and the desire to accumulate money, burdened many of the farmers with loads of debt at high rates of interest, while grain prices were high, which at the present prices of produce are quite unmanageable; in such districts, in spite of the enormous crops and the exports of 1877 and 1878, great numbers of farms have been sold under foreclosure of mortgages; and in some parts of Illinois the price of land has sunk from $50 to $20 or $25 an acre.

The movement of grain for the past five years was as follows:-Western receipts: 1873, 167,723,758 bushels; 1874, 171,249,249; 1875, 154,063,413; 1876, 173,561.877; 1877, 169,431,733. Shipments from the West: 1873, 134,862,056 bushels; 1874, 127,631,866; 1875, 124,443,329; 1876, 150,361,872; 1877, 138,386,343. Receipts on the Atlantic coast: 1873, 125,253,186 bushels; 1874, 139,399,192; 1875, 136,963,146; 1876, 163,694,941; 1877, 166, 728,169. The Western receipts in 1876 were

composed of 5,578,950 barrels of flour, 55,834,141 bushels of wheat, and 81,054,249 bushels of Indian corn; and in 1877 of 5,107,531 barrels of flour, 53,776,909 bushels of wheat, and 77,995,208 of corn. The Western shipments in 1876 were made up of 4,977,845 barrels of flour, 48,799,613 bushels of wheat, and 75,010,881 of corn, and in 1877 of 5,340,423 barrels of flour, 44,633,537 bushels of wheat, and 67,587,819 bushels of corn. The proportions in the Atlantic receipts were: in 1876, 9,939,150 barrels of flour, 42,740,235 bushels of wheat, and 86,775,163 bushels of corn; in 1877, 8,546,349 barrels of flour, 46,000,508 bushels of wheat, and 87,804,025 bushels of corn. A calculation of the total receipts of grain at the seaports, published by the New York Produce Exchange, for the years ending August 31st, gives: for 1875, 170,823,767 bushels; for 1876, 208,752,038 bushels; for 1877, 181,791,038 bushels; for 1878, 283,633,261 bushels. The increase has been,.therefore, 70 per cent. since 1875. The exports of wheat and flour from United States ports and Montreal from the crop of 1878 were before the beginning of December about 71 million bushels, leaving about 60 million bushels of the surplus available for export still in the country.

The commencement of the Russo-Turkish war in April, 1877, occasioned a large speculative movement in breadstuffs and provi sions. The price of No. 2 spring wheat advanced from $1.44 per bushel in January, 1877, to $1.53 in April and $1.65 in July, and then declined, in consequence of the extraordinary size of the new crop and a clearer estimate of the European demand, to $1.35 in October, and stood at $1.36 at the end of the year. Indian corn, Western mixed, was 624 cts. per bushel in January, 1877, 51 cts. in April, 60 cts in July, 59 cts. in October, and 66 cts. at the close of the year. In the begining of 1878, on the expectation of the early cessation of the European war, there was a breakdown in the prices of grain and provisions, accompanied by an improvement in the cotton market. In the middle of January, No. 2 spring wheat sank below $1.30, and Indian corn below 60 cts. In the beginning of February wheat sold as low as $1.22, but toward the middle of that month the price rallied to $1.30 in conse quence of the diplomatic complications Great Britian in the Eastern question, but gave way again after a few days. By the middle of March the market had again strengthened, with the price at $1.25; and new war rumors caused an upward movement toward the end of the month, and the market continued generally buoyant through April. In May the price sank to $1.20, and the fluctuating market, dependent upon speculations on the prospects of a European war, gave place to s steadily falling market; and, when the expe tations of a still greater crop in 1878 were confirmed by a generally favorable season, prices sought a much lower level, sinking be

low $1 in the latter part of June, but rallying somewhat in July, in consequence of reports of rains in the Northwest, the unwillingness of holders to take the low prices, and various speculations and combinations. In August and September there was a recovery of 8 or 10 cts. from the lowest midsummer quotations, and large speculative transactions took place, causing considerable irregularities of price. As the stock of spring wheat became depleted, winter wheat stood relatively considerably lower. The foreign demand fell off in September, and again depressed prices. In the beginning of October the price had again fallen to 96 and 97 cts., and in the middle of the month to 90 cts. In November there was a slight upward tendency, and by the beginning of December the price had returned to $1.

The price of Indian corn was subject to the same influences which governed the price of wheat, except that it was not so disturbed by speculative operations. The market was dull, and prices were irregular at the beginning of the year, ranging from 50 cts. to over 60 cts., with a downward tendency, which showed signs of improvement in February. The market was moderately active and firm until in April large shipments filled the market and broke down prices for a few days; but they recovered and slowly advanced, until in May they began to recede, ranging from 45 to 50 cts., with a very active market and extraordinarily large transactions, under a demand for shipment abroad. Large supplies poured in, and the price sank, 40 cts. being taken in the middle of June. In July and August there was an active demand and an upward tendency, which culminated in the latter part of September at about 50 cts. The demand fell off in the latter part of the season; and, as favorable reports were returned of the new crop, there was a steady decline in prices and a great falling off in operations toward the end of the year, excepting a temporary activity in the lower grades in November.

In none of the staple exports of the United States except breadstuffs has the increase been so great in the ten years from 1868 to 1878 as in the class of provisions; and in no class has the percentage of increase been so large, it being over 300 per cent., or from $30,278,253 to $123,549,986. Of the exports of provisions in 1877-'78, amounting to the above-mentioned sum, bacon and hams formed the largest item, 582 million pounds, of the value of $51,750,205;lard was the next largest, 343 million pounds, valued at $30,014,023; and after cheese, and beef, salt and fresh, salted pork came next, 71 million pounds, valued at $4,913,646. The business of raising hogs and that of preparing them for the market have increased, to satisfy this great foreign demand and the augmented home consumption, to immense proportions; and in this last year they overstepped all bounds, and so exceeded the natural demands of the market that in the twelve months ending No

vember 1, 1878, 4,593,000 swine were slaughtered in the Western packing and curing houses that is, 30 per cent. more than in the foregoing year-and the price of hogs sank during the year 50 per cent., or from $4 or $5 to half as much. The price of mess pork declined steadily, in the New York market, from $18.25 per barrel in January, 1877, to $13.12 in December of that year; no other article, except petroleum, exhibited such a marked and rapid decline in value. Other hog products went down in price in the same ratio. The prices continued to fall in the beginning of 1878; in the winter and spring months the lowest prices were paid that had been known for generations, mess pork going down several times below $10 per barrel in New York, lard selling at $7 to $7.50 per cwt., and bacon much of the time at 6 cts. per pound. In the month of May the lowest ebb was reached, pork going below $9.50, lard down to $6.70, and bacon selling at 44 cts. There was a recovery during the summer months from this extreme prostration, pork fluctuating above $10 and lard from $7 to $7.50; bacon was almost a drug in the market much of the time. September saw another sinking of prices, pork at $9, lard below $7, and bacon quoted at 5 cts. and under; in October they declined to a still lower range. In the beginning of December old mess pork was selling at $7.40 and new mess at $8.75, lard at $6.02, and bacon at 43 cts. per pound. The price for mess pork, which was $7.40 on the 1st of December, 1878, was $13.50 at the same date in 1877, $16.75 in 1876, and $21.25 to $22.25 in 1875.

The exports of dairy products, butter and cheese, which amounted to less than, $1,250,000 in 1850, and less than $2,750,000 in 1860, in 1870.amounted to nearly $9,500,000, and in 1877 to $17,125,243. The development of the factory system of dairying, both for butter and cheese, and the employment of refrigerator compartments in railroad trains and transoceanic steamships, have cheapened and improved the average product, and brought the American producer as near the European consumer, as regards the time, facility, and cost of transportation, as he formerly was to the consumer in the nearest great city. Owing to this, the area devoted to dairy productions has been and is still being immensely extended; a large portion of the northwestern regions is being occupied by this industry. The dairy business, now so well systematized, and capable of indefinite further extension in proportion as the demands of the European market are met, has undergone considerable changes owing to these causes. Winter dairying in the Western factories has done away with the necessity of carrying heavy stocks over winter, and has created a demand for a fresh-made article all the year round. As the European market is conquered by the cheapness rather than the quality of the American products, the prices, which have fallen considerably already since the export

movement began, will have a tendency to gravitate still lower, while improvement in quality, which from natural causes must be very slow, can not be accelerated by the competition in cheapness, unless it is attempted to imitate the higher-priced foreign makes of cheese; the tendency to conform to the taste of the European consumers is already observable in the cheese now sent to market. The export price must henceforward rule in the market for dairy products, as it does for cotton, cereals, and the other chief exports. The price for choice butter ranged in New York from 25 to 28 cts. per pound in the spring and summer of 1877, advanced to from 33 to 40 cts. in the winter, and was between 25 and 35 cts. in the spring of 1878. The exports from that port froin May 1, 1877, to the same date in 1878, were 27,500,000 lbs. Oleomargarine has affected the price and interfered with the sale of all the lower grades of butter within the past year or two. When this oil is churned with sour milk, and a quantity of cream or butter is added to it, it has a very close resemblance to genuine butter. The provision merchants of New York and elsewhere organized the vigorous prosecution of all dealers who sold the article without complying with the laws which require it to be ticketed with its name. As much as 25,000 lbs. of this artificial butter have been sold in some single weeks from the New York factories, and over 5,000,000 lbs. of it were exported in 1877.

The manufacture of cotton, like that of iron products, has within the past decade passed through an epoch of excessive acceleration and extension in all lands, and, like it, is now suffering the effects of too great an accession of capital and enterprise. The congestion and stoppage succeeding the over-stimulation of these two mighty industries all over the world, and the accompanying derangement of the functions of economical production, are one of the chief causes of the general prostration of trade through which the world is now passing. Each nation, encouraged chiefly by a general inflation of prices consequent upon an unusual abundance of money of different kinds, hastened simultaneously to establish its industry, and above all the great textile and metal trades, on an independent basis. No country took a more vigorous part in this struggle than the United States, and none is likely to emerge from it more unscathed and more victorious. In the accessibility of raw materials and in the abundance and cheapness of food it was strong er than its rivals, and with methods of mechanical production it was better armed; its protective tariff, the unusual home demand for railroad iron, and the long-fostered patriotic resolve to furnish its own supply of cotton manufactures, whose accomplishment was aided, under the protection of the high tariff, both by the original high range of prices and even by the extensive fall in prices and the depression of general trade in so far as it occasioned the substitution of native cotton goods for dearer

foreign fabrics-these and various other cir cumstances combined to place America on a ground of vantage in the desperate international conflict which has raged most fiercely in the field of the cotton and iron trades. The cotton industry of the world must for some time to come suffer from the sharp competition and slow trade resulting from the excessive extension of manufacturing facilities. This extension has been over 50 per cent. within thirteen years, the spinning capacity of the world hav ing increased from about 2,000,000,000 lbs., equal to 5,000,000 bales of 400 lbs. each, in 1865 to over 3,000,000,000 lbs. in 1878, as is shown by the following table, giving the number of spindles and their consuming capacity in the different parts of the world, according to the latest reports:

Consuming Power of the World in 1877-78.

This sharp international competition has been detrimental to the foreign trade of England in cotton manufactures, which is fast losing ground year by year on the Continent and in India as well as in the United States. Of the total consumption of raw cotton in 1877-78, which aggregated 7,343,000 bales, England took 406 per cent., the Continent 33.7 per cent., the United States 22.6 per cent., India 3.1 per cent.; of the total consumption in the year 1870-'71, 6,246,000 bales, Great Britain's share was 47.9 per cent., that of the Continent 314 per cent., of the United States 19.3 per cent., of India 14 per cent.; in 1860 the Engworld's total takings, the Continental mills lish mills manufactured 49-4 per cent. of the 31.5 per cent., the United States 19.1 per cent., and India none. The English exports of cottons to the United States, which were 226,000,000 yards in 1860, were only 47,000,000 yards in 1877-'78, little more than one third of the exports of the United States the same year. The export of American cottons has increased with remarkable rapidity of late years, as the following statement of exports for the last five fiscal years will show: