rial conditions throughout the country
during the year have shown a marked improvement. For many years prior to
1888 the merchandise balances of foreign trade had been largely in our
favor, but during that year and the year following they turned against
us. It is very gratifying to know that the last fiscal year again shows
a balance in our favor of over $68,000,000. The bank clearings, which
furnish a good test of the volume of business transacted, for the first
ten months of the year 1890 show as compared with the same months of
1889 an increase for the whole country of about 8.4 per cent, while the
increase outside of the city of New York was over 13 per cent. During
the month of October the clearings of the whole country showed an
increase of 3.1 per cent over October, 1889, while outside of New York
the increase was 11.5 per cent. These figures show that the increase in
the volume of business was very general throughout the country. That
this larger business was being conducted upon a safe and profitable
basis is shown by the fact that there were 300 less failures reported
in October, 1890, than in the same month of the preceding year, with
liabilities diminished by about $5,000,000.

The value of our exports of domestic merchandise during the last year
was over $115,000,000 greater than the preceding year, and was only
exceeded once in our history. About $100,000,000 of this excess was in
agricultural products. The production of pig iron, always a good gauge
of general prosperity, is shown by a recent census bulletin to have been
153 per cent greater in 1890 than in 1880, and the production of steel
290 per cent greater. Mining in coal has had no limitation except that
resulting from deficient transportation. The general testimony is that
labor is everywhere fully employed, and the reports for the last year
show a smaller number of employees affected by strikes and lockouts than
in any year since 1884. The depression in the prices of agricultural
products had been greatly relieved and a buoyant and hopeful tone was
beginning to be felt by all our people.

These promising influences have been in some degree checked by the
surprising and very unfavorable monetary events which have recently
taken place in England. It is gratifying to know that these did not grow
in any degree out of the financial relations of London with our people
or out of any discredit attached to our securities held in that market.
The return of