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Show ing the crop situation is its effect upon our foreign trade. We should have had much larger exports of agricultural products this coming year in order to restore our trade balance to normal proportions and to strengthen our credit abroad. Evidently we will not be able to depend upon exports to accomplish this desirable result; the July ' statement showing a heavy decline in exports of wheat and cotton; but trade depression here is likely to check imports, and by such means we may at least partly recover our loss of surplus exports. There are depressing influences at work in business circles. For instance a slackening in the demand for merchandise at the hands of distributers is observable, but no serious reaction; manufacturers are moving cautiously, and in some lines of industry there has been considerable lessening of activity; the iron trade has taken its full share of depression, due partly to lessened purchases by railroads and also to a falling off in building operations, the latter being estimated esti-mated as much as 25 per cent. "If all accounts provo true, depression has been keenest in structural lines," says Clews. "Our great textile industries arc quiet, but not unduly depressed. The political situation confuses business men to some extent, because they especially dread a re-opening re-opening of the tariff question this coming winter. Upon the whole, however, there is no longer any special cause for anxiety regarding the business outlook.. The general situation as a result of recent liquidation is much sounder, and as soon as harvest is over trade should again become normal." BUSINESS PROSPECTS. Henry Clews is cheerful over the business outlook and, in his weekly letter on money, crops and business, he says: "While the general situation is not without drawbacks and uncertainties, un-certainties, tho tendency is certainly towards improvement. The rest cure is at last producing positively beneficent results, especially in Ihe money market. Not long. ago there was well founded apprehension, apprehen-sion, both at home and abroad, that a serious money squeeze would develop this fall. Fortunately, however, such apprehensions have already al-ready undergone considerable modification. Extensive liquidation in stocks, contraction in loans, conservatism of bankers, liquidation in commodities, slackness in trade, liberal importations of gold and continued con-tinued rising of bank reserves have all contributed to afford real and perfectly natural relief to the monetary situation. It was feared that, owing to the largo land and grain speculation in the West, the interior banks would not be able to finance the crops this season with, out unusual assistance from Eastern bankers; but for the reasons just stated these fears have considerably diminished. .Some stringency strin-gency is of course to be expected, and better rate3 for money will probably rule during the crop-moving season, yet there is now no reason to anticipate serious consequences. In all probability the assistance as-sistance of the proposed Currency Associations will not be required. Their formation for the purpose of dealing with emergencies was, is intended, reassuring and proved a useful influence upon sentiment. A.s business requirements are slackening, and money appears to be accumulating in all principal money markets of the world, unneces-lary unneces-lary uneasiness regarding the monetary article should be dismissed it once; for at the worst nothing more than temporary stringency r merely local difficulties are to be expected. " Evidently the scare period has passed and bankers have been reassured within the last month. As a result, money should begin o circulate as freely as it did early this year. Treating on crop conditions, the New York banker declares that vhile the crop prospects are not all that is to be desired, the out-'ook out-'ook is for an average general result. According to the last report of the Department of Agriculture ihe condition of all crops combined on August 1 was 6.5 per cent ower than a year ago and 5.3 per cent lower than the average of the ast ten years.. This low condition vail of course be offset by in-jreases in-jreases in acreage, and a large crop of corn is now likely, poa-libly poa-libly 3,000,000,000 bushels. It must be remembered, however, that ttie crop is more than two weeks late and, therefore, in particular danger of early frost. Should we have a satisfactory yield of corn It will do much to offset shortages in other directions. It is also to be noted with satisfaction that the wheat yield is turning out much better than at one time expected. The poor condition of cotton is an old story and ha3 been amply discounted. The worst feature regard- |