Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 1, 1877, Page 5

Iake marine has been rendered almost worth. less as an investment, owing to low freights; naud building operations have Ianguished nun. deor n further decline in rents, both of resi- donce and business property, * Under thess circumstanccs the following oxhibit of what has bean done in Chieago during 1876, furnishes reason for congratlu- lation and thankfnlness. #0 well when the whols world has been down on the hardpan, thers is certainly good gronnd for o firm and abiding faith in the fature of our city. PRODUCE. The produce trade of the past twelve months compares favorably with that of former years. It was largely In excess of that of 1375, as measured by volume; and exceeded it in value | by nearly 1 per cent, thouzh prices ruted lower on the ascrage than In any former ycar aince Our chlef gain hss been in corny hogs, and hog product; our principal falling off waa nwheat, the latter, however, befng par- tallymade up by an aucmented flour mave- ment. The course of trading has been very steady, on the whole, notwlithstanding consli- erable excltement over the question of war In Few faflures have ovcurred fn the trade, and corner operations have been con- fined to narrow limits. Our Increare {n the produce trade is all the more gratifying as it was uncxpected proba- bly by the majority of those who formed opln- fons on the subject. A decresase of 17 per cent fu the volume of breadstufls handled in 1675 as compared with 1874 was due to causcas some of which were thought to be permauent, and a further decrease was widely lovked for. The very low frelght rates asked by the raflroad companies had formed powerful srguments in favor of the shipping of produce around Chi- cago fnatead of through it; especially a4 rail- roud officials had gane out Into the country, and offered special inducements to ship dircetly to the scaboard on through bills of Jading. The cutting of rates, the underbllling of weights, and saving of time, ns well as tho avoldance of ibe charges for handling in this city, wereall arguments in favor of giving the coll shoulder toChleago. Itwasalsourged that our Inspection system was ngalnst us, and that the new rules of the Board of Trade tended to depress prices to a polnt which would prevent the country owner of produce from sending it here to lind & market. Loud outcries were ralsed against the apathy with which were met all suggestions for 1876 REVIEWED. Trade, Commerce, and Man- ufactures of Chicago for the Past It wo have done Our City Prospers Amid Gen- eral Dullness—The Pro- duce Trade Shows a Fair Increase, Great Falling-Off in Wheat ---A Large Gain in the Volume of Corn Receipts. the O1d World, A Decrease of Four Per Cent in the Whole- sale Trade. Which Is Due to & Further Shrinkage in Prices, and to the Cen- Immense Augment in the Vol- ume of Pork and Beef Packing,. The “ Stink-Factories ¥ Are Im- portant Factors in the Prosperity of to sult tho altering condltions; and there were not o few who propbesied the speedy decadence of Chlcago as & grain cens tre, in consequenco of 8 distribution of her trude to & great number of points all over the Qur Manufactures Foot Up $200,- 500,000 of Annual Pro- But the prophecy I8 not yet tulfllled. Rallroad freight charges haye been kept down to the minlmnm poiut, and warchousiug charges kept up nearly to the top, during the past year; while the rules of the Bosrd of Trade have not been changed—~so far as corners are concerned. Thegrainand provision dealers at other points havedonethelrbesttoattracttradotothemsclves, aa they bad a perfect right to do; but in spite of ail this our produce trade exhibits a marked in- The croakers had begun to wrile #Ichabod" upon the walls of our clevators and on the Chamnber of Commerce, But the partlal inscription hias been completely ernsed; and by the same Indomitable encrgy that bullt up the trade and commerce of the city. Qur trade fn produce has really inereased dur- fng this past year much morc than is indicated Ly 8 comparison of the volune of recelpis and shipments with thoso of 1875. We count up the first selling value of the receipts; and tho total forms the basis of the final reckouing. It has been objected that wo have such account of the of provisions and breadstufls This Is a Gain of Nearly Five Per Cent Over The Total Trade of the City Messured by $662,- Which Is & Loss of Eight-Tenths of Ono Per Cent, in Currency, from 1875, But Is a Gain, if Reckoned on a Gold Basis. city and not sold bere. But even It we Ignore the fact that a considerable percentage of the whole Is bought and sold In this murket many times, the through shipments are much more than offset by the purchases mads Lera of prop- erty which dues not como to Chicagoatall. And this department of our commerciul' activity fs now growing very rapidly, The produce of the interdor is put under mortgage to Chicago cap- ftal, Very many of the country warchouacs are owned or controlled by resident membersof our Toard of Trade, It {8 thelr money that Is pald out at the country station to the farmer In re- turn for bis wagon-lvads of grain or hls droves In thobuilding at thecorucr of Wash- ington and LaSalle streets these merchauts mect the agents of partles in the Eastern States or iu Europe who want the property, and scll to them for dellvery on the seaboard of the United States or In European ports. They then send the vroduce by the cheapest pussiflo route,—it may be through Chilcago, or It may be around 1 Inke frelghts are rclatively low, or f thicre be a lull fu the demand for consump- tlon, or a ripple of speculative activity that car- ries the price here relatively higher thau at oth- er polnts, the stull naturatly gravitates ta Chte cago. If, on the other baud, rall frelghts aro relatively low, or the demand sharp Commerca of tho Port--The Chicago Harbor Improvements. Tho history of the trade, commerce, and monufactures of Chicago during the past twelvo months is far from being n subject for unmixed congratulation ; nor yet does it warrant n desponding tone. Wa have transacted o greater volumo of busiuess, on tho whole, thnn in any preceding year, in spite of the general depression which has roigned in tho West and in the East, with the excoption of a tomporury spur to activity given by the Contenninl Exposition at Phila. dolphia. Outsido of that, the ono-hundredth yoar of our existenco ns o nation has been, commercially spenking, a dull one, though not without signs of improvement in tho near future ; and Chicago bas well held Lier own in viow of all the circnmstances of tho caso, It was only rightthatthe West should pay homnge to tho Enst in 1876, and sho has done so right royally ; but conld not afford an jmmediato repotition of the tributo to the memories of a contury ago. Chicago is tha commercial focus of what wo atill continuo to call the Groat Northwest ; and tho welfare of the one is bound up in As the country prospers, #0 the city thrives. Mako due allowance for tho still unpaid debts whichk wers incurred by our business men as a consequenco of tho Groat Fire, and then the aituation and condi- tion of the one will be an oxact retlex of the If the farmer has poor crops, or ro- celves but low prices for what ho has to scll, heis unableto invest in luxurios, and even his ‘purchinses of necessitiesaromatericlly curtall. ed, The city merchant and manufacturer On the contrary, if the farm- ing community be prosperous, the coun. try merchaut has his points, the property sceks tho shortest and quickest route to the ultimate purchaser. In both cascs the busfness s transacted here. ‘Thls I8 tho focal point of the entire trade, ani it {s a mere matter of routine whether or not the goods purchased pass through the office of tho vast mercantlle estavlisiment on thelr way {owsrds the storchouse of the buyer, Take, for fnstance, the case which sccrus to bear most heavily ugainet us,—the clalm thae Milwaukeo Is rapidly absorblug our wheat trade, Thare. celpta of whicat in the Cream City Lave sceined to bo increasing, ot our cxpense, tor two or three years past. But the jact fa that no small prapartion of the wheat thit goes to Milwaukee, and by far the largest percentage of the pro- vislons packed there, move out of that city in obedlence to orders aent to and from Chicago. The buslness of Milwaukea {8 really ceuterlug here, in & pecunlary sense, more and nioro with eacl succeeding year, and is now ncarly as much depeudent upon Chicago capital and Chi- cago Influence as is that of the Unlon Stock- Yards near the southwestes tory controlled by our Munlcipal Government, Blmilarly, the lnmenso transfer business in yeraln at Jollet s virtfially con! dictated from thls city. This system {s the growth of a very fow years, and has grown during the past twelvy mooths more rapidly than ever. period New York controlled nearly all the foreign trade of the United Btates, with much ol that between the scaboard aud the Weat, The men in England sud on tho Coutinent of the prominent cluss kaown used to send thelr orders for bacon to fuctors In New York, who Wiled those arders there, and fuslsted on Laving the produce of the Weat offered to them st their own doors, and nessly on thely own terms. But the mujority of those furclgu buy- era have found thut they can do smuch better to deal directly with the West, und nuw send their onders bere, past the men who were formerly the autocrats uf our Western {nterests. The pean fmporter thus obtains meny He asoids tho charges of the mid- He goes direct to the fountain-head, where the miaterst desired fs plentiful enonzh to prevent a bl dus to the tilling of an order wishes to buy the property and hold it for cheaper transportation, clilties which do not ¢xlst outhe scaboard, where the wmandate of the cman, aud “keepmoving,' though slowly, 1f bo wislics hls purchases to be for- his ageot here Las the reat Inland mulu‘ : N that of the other. golden horn of plonty, and the clectric-wires, and lines of railroad, which are the nerves and arterics of commerce, convoy the pleasurabla throb to the city, awakening its wholesalo establish. ments and mannfactorics into ronewed ac- tivity, The gonial influence is at once felt in resl estate; for that market is simply the pulse which indicates accurately the tone of the general circulation in the grand commer- limits of the terrl- tr‘lled by orders Up to & very recent The country has prospered but indifferent- 1y well during the past year, gle vxcoption of hogs, the products of the farm have commanded relatively low prices, in spite of the cheapeniug of freight-rates, which ought to have operated partially to juterest™ of well as of the cousumer. really guled much appear from an inspoction of comparn. tive tables of prices on the speoulative The percentage of the lower grades in the total quantity of wheat, oats, and barley has been fearfully large; and the cash paid to the producer was much less, therefore, than would be supposed from a cursory glance at market quotations. The hog alone has asserted his dignity during the past year, while cattlo-feeding has ceased to bo profitable on the eastern sido of tha Mis- sissippl, and sheep lLiave been a drug. R Hence there has been no spur to activity in the centres to which flow the property of the farmer, and from which he draws his supplies, 'I'rade has languished all over the continent, except as affected by the Centen- nlal. There has besn no revival in railroad buildiog to stimulate the iron jnterests, The Europe who for With the sin. lower thau would grades of grain, o tiuds biers storage [a- wardéd _tmmedtately, cholee of no lues than five g the winter, each of which connects directly ocean llnes of steamers at the seat H during the summer b has the sdditivual cholve 1he 1ime being, and vften obtaius importagl vautagres over tbe rates via New York. Baitimore, Pbiladelphls, g Montreal vying with New York and each’ otber for the houor sad profit of transhipment, Tuute can alwsye bo chosen. And the European Tiik Liiilauu TaiaduNid: importer ia at length satisfled, though he has mw::d st the £fl"cl|fln but slowly, that the il of lading given by the Infand agnt of the througlt route 1s as recure a document as can he fasued hy any aeaboard magnate, and wiil com- mand the rest advance upon the properiy while fn tranait. 1{e hian aleo recently been alle to obtain a guarantee of welght on produce purchased {n_the West, and thus finds nothing more to e desired fn the modo of conducting the transaction. £th Commanding, as she does, s large part of the rodien of the K ortiwest n Hio Visces where It s ralscd s anuinz the abllity to hold it in the country till wanted,and the facilities for storing 1t In fnimense quantitics within her own Jimit it thatbe dcemed most aidvisable; aftunted al the focus of & network of rallroads which rami- fles mll over the Weat; and possessed of capital sufliclent to control the movement In every stage; Chicagn, as_represented in licr commer- cinl "community, holda the moster-key o the situation, and has Wtcrally forced the merchant rinces of the Old World to_come hitlier, a8 to e greateat primary market {n the world, Atis true that we have powerful cornpetitors lu other countries, The States on the Pamfic coast (which, in_a_commercial sense, form another country), Indin, Australis, apd’ Chill, have all recentfy entered the race with our old compet- ftor, Russia; but that very incrcase ol competi- tion only teilde to enhance the jmportance of Chicagu, by making ft neceasary to_ dispense, as far an possible, with the intermediasy charges on the Atlantic seaboard, and save mioney and titne by concentrating the busiicss as near o firat hiands na possible. The ssme arquments apply to the trade of the Fastern Stater, which nsed tobe supplied chiefly from New York. Now our bacon goes dircctly South, and onr corn goes direct to the New England consumer, without the intervention of the Now York merchants, Itfs true that the tendeney totrade with first handahassentagreat many orders sround us; but fhis has atread heen found to besfar from an unmixed good, anglnot a few of those who have tHI recently traded with country points haye within & few months past changed back to Chicago. They Inve found thatour fnepection aysteima throw safeguards around the trade in graln, flour, i, aiid meats, which are worth more than the handlingchargea hiere, thuugh it cannot hedoubt- ed that the latter mizht bo materially reduced with advautage to all parties concerned. The purchasers of graln at country points, when the same would not pass (nepection as No. 2 in Chicago, hins been forced to swallow Y A& bitter pill during the past twelve months; and the expericnee has taught them o lesson which all are not slow to proit by. The yolume of ourspeculative trading {n prod- uce continues to incressc, but ifs character has undergone an lmfionnnl. chofize within the ast two years. Hefore the sage of the oard-of-Trade rules intended to prevent cor- ners, pricea used to fluctuate up and down wildty, Now we hiave comparative steadiness— changes still, but within narrower limits. It iwas abjected to those rules that they turew the markets entirely {nto the hands of the slarts, and would diminish the volume of our trade by lowering the averago of prices pald hero for roduce. ‘Therels no doubt thst those rnics ave prevented the range of quotations fromn golng 8o high as formerly, and thercfore we do not now ofier the tempurary fnducements to ship avalanches of f)mdux:n to this city which used every now and then to exist. But the collapses that followed those fever-heats of ex- dtement have alro dropped out, and thesteadler vourse of quotations lias induced larger specu- Iative onlers from people who used to {uvest but sparingly for fear of belng ruined. Of course no micrely teatative legislation can pre- vent upward and downward movements due to War news, crop reports, cte., mnor partfal squeezea inchient to the fact that some people are extensively long and others luritely short wlhen those exclteinents oceur. Ience there have been heavy losscs and large galns, and now and then ojierators were unable to mect thelr cngagements, But fn such cases the rules of the Board have forsued an efficient protection agalust the oxtortion which was not scldom practiced under the old order of things. Theo- retieally, & man who has sold a thing ought to be oblfzed to deliver it, but the mvasurs of dumuges for fallure to perform such contract sbould never be placed o hizh that it cannot be enforced_ by an appeal to the Courts, The smended rules of the Board of Trade are based on this prinddple of equity, and the objections urged agalnst them scon after thelr adoption arp now but feebly heard. An fncrease fu the volume of our operative trading has been fostered during the pust year by the continued plethorn of mouney Inthe hands of capitalists. Bank rates of fnterest have ruled very low, under a dearth of applica. tlons for mouey to be used In business under- tukings, and stocks in raflvowds and manutue- turing enterprises have not {nvited fnvestment, Jienee thero bas been o pood deal of money e, except as it could be Invested In prod- g Ithas been sent here in the slape of margins o wheat, corn, pork, and lard, In the hope of at least making ecaouzh to pay o fulr Intevest on the Investinent. This city has thus become the grand centre of speculative trade for the entlre continent, taking now the atling position that vas formerly held by New York. The effect of this tradiug s not ouly to make money plentiful In Chicago asa dircet consequence, but to wonderfully foster the ex- tent of the produce movement itself. It pro- videa o market in which property can shways bo sold without having to walt for the adveniofa nhlll'rplng order, It Invites the accumulation and storage of farm products In large quuntities lere, thus mrnlnhln‘: a_rescrve of power that ncts like the tiy-wheel on the steam-cngine, and at onee tenas to check exeessive excitement and to prevent fnanition. It results in providing stocks hiere which ateract buyers from sll parta of the world, on_the principle that one must go to the market for lish, And, lustly, this ac- cumulation provides emplosment for a large arny of workers, fn audlifon to those who would be required to mesely haudle the props crty In transfers 8o that on the whole this apee- ulntive trading fs a vastly lmlmrtmn. factor in the growth und development of our ey, It must, bowever, be admitted that the ton- dency uf the present rallroad polley [n the West 18 to diminish the dircet produce trade of Chil- cuzo by discriminating heavily agalnst this city; and It ‘sppears to be equally certain that we must luok to the luke systew, which enubled us to build up that trade, us the means of con- serving it. A large part of the work will bo dune when wo have cetabllshed direct trade with Europe, through the culurged Wellunid Caugl, Taut eulargement cflected, our new modeled eraft will take 814 centa to Montreal, instoad of 5 cents to Kingston, as now, will Ilhter dawn the River 8t Lawrence, take un cargo againon reaching deepwater, and lond with deals enough to compensato for the greater bus anvy of sen water; thus making the passage at & cost which rail nnd ocean cannot compete with. The same facllities will mive us command of the great yolume of the New En- k"lnnd trade, which used to be fliled entirely from New York, Qur constiming markets for bread- atuils Jie north of a parallel of latitude which passes through the head of Lake Michiizan; and the waters of that lake, with Its coatinuations, olfer the chapest and beat outlet for tho food we have to sell to the consumers of that vast territory, Pending the changes necessary to perfect the water route to_our customiers, it will be neces- sury to materfally reduce the cost of haudil I:roduce in Chicago, it wo would preserve an ncrease tho yolume of our trade. The charges for drst storage of grain ousght to be very much less that now, und the charges for switchmg and loading cirs ahould be altopetherabolishod. ‘There (s tuo much competition to make It sale 1o pursuc the extortionuto policy; and it 1s not fmprobable that our warchauscmen will volun- torily reducs rates i elfvct if not i theory. Bome of them are understood to be Iu favor of handlng and storing graln at a cost of 1¢ per bu for tho nrst ten days, which would undoubtedly case o larze Increase in receipts, and probably gIve 88 lurge & revenue on storaze as s now cul- eeted on the lesser ?u-muy of gruln. ‘The rutes of luke frelghts wera so Jow dur- Ing 1875 that it was generally thought they could not possibly go lower,” But they have been still further Teduced, and were Kept ot wuch more unitorn rate thanusual, The high- est point ou corn to Buflalo, Oct. 17, was 4iged the lowest, July 13, wus 135¢. The averago was 2.7c. The following shows the average rates un wheat and coru by sall from Ulliun,t;n to Buffalo, and by canal trom Buffalo to New York, for beTen yeare pust: —fake, — ~—Canal—— Wheat, Corw. Wheat, Corn, e “/l‘ll. Rreater part of the yeur the nominal rate was only 20 ceots per 100 1bs from Chicago tu New Yo on graln, and even that low figure was ex- tenslvely cut. Inthe begiuuing ot December thio ratu was ralsed to 80 cents on Fnln. aud the year clused with tho prowise of 8 fyrther fo- trease, to-day, to 85 centa per 100 ibs “on grain and 40 cents on meats to New York, with rates to otner seaboard points In proportivn. For the bandtivg of gralu lu Chicago we now bave nlucteen elevators, including the ** Pacitic recently built, with a prescut capacity of 100,000 bushets, aud Juseph Armiour’s, the capacity ol which bas been doublul, maklng it now 450,000 bushels. The total capacity ls about 15,750,000 bushels. In sddition to these wo have immense storebouses fur four, provisious, salt, wool, secds, ¢ic., besldes s large aggregation of * pri- vato” storsge cupacity. About 430 pairs of bands are employed la'ths public zrain elova- MONDAY, JANUARY i, dosri—' WELVE PAGES, tors, besides the lm{:edm, and the men who move the rars on track, el The conduct of the warehousing business dur- inz the past year has huen upexceptionable, un- less os the charges were lugher than many They were, however, ned the warchousetnen e the storage charges on They are also to he credited with great eare o expinse, with no little loss fn_weleht, In thy continuous handling of graln during the ger- minating season, by which means it was kept in fatr condition all through the year. The conduct of the graln fnspection has not heen il that could be desired. On the contrary, very much dissatisfaction has heen expreseeil, chiefly in regard to barley, corn, and wheat, The f{nspection of corn was vigorously com- plained of fn the sumimer, and the blame laid chiefly on the Committes on Appeals from Grain Inspeetion, which resulted 1u a change In the yeremnel of the Committee. This was In Au- gust. After that the Inspectlon of corn was more satlsfctory, but that of barley anit wheat was alleged to be very unieven, and'a difterence of several centa per bushel [n actual value wus alleged to cxist between the stand- ards ot the Inapectors st different houres, The Indiguation wus so strong that s meeting was held {is Octolier at which acommit- tee was appointed to recomimend sultable action inthe matter, and they have recommended that a radical chauge be askid for. 1t Is probable that during this winter the 1ilinols State Legislature will be asked to abolish the State tnspection of grain, and permit the matter Lo he regulated by the men who own and ought to control the vroperty. There can be no doubt that the State Faection, s condutted Mtherto, s been a grievous burden to the trade, and operated to the detriment of Chicago. There are, of course, wide differcnces of opinlon In the matter, capeclally as between re- cetvers and slipers, which can scarcely Le har monized. The recelver s too apt to ‘want his graln inapected into the highest grades, irre- rpective of its quality; and It all their wislies, In separate cases, werd carried out, there would he & continuous lowerfog of pgrades that _would soun drive = off custom- cra. The _shipper, on the other hani, 18 interceted in secing the grudes Kept up, su that the quality of lis purchases may attract more orders to hn{'. W belleve that the Inter- eata of all particsin the trade wouid be best consulted by fixing & moderately high standard of quality, and strictly adhering to it fu every case. This would attract buyers, and the de- mand could be depended upun to call out a supply equal to the requirements of the men who represent the consumers, An undenlably article Is always In demand, and brings prives which pay for Keeping up the standard of quality, Wit tho registration of graln there has been but little fault found, and s0 much security to the holders of recelpts I hound up In the plan that there Is a strong fecling in favor of having the registry of receipts cxtended to those for provisions. At present thiere 1s no adequate protection agalnst overissue or duplication of recelpts for pork, land, or meats In store. \ PROVISIONS. TR MARKET FOR 10O PRODUCTS has been active during the greater part of the year, and {rregular, though the fluctuations were leas frequent than In most former years. The course of prices was gencrally upward during the firat threc months, tended downwards for the next six months, aud then reacted to a moder- ate extent. Thetradowas not so well controtied by capital as in 1875, the largest investors being thosc who lost the most moncy on bath the up- ward and dowuward turns. 'The reason for this {s the fact that the rapldly-changing featurcs of the trade have not beeu followed with sullicient celerity by the parties whose long cxperience might be supposed to have given them the in- slde track of the busincex, Tho trade has been less unevenly distributed over the whole twelve months than ever before, though centering chielly In the cool weather, as usual. There {s now not only the product of the winger season to be carried and cared for, but the contlnuous work of summer packing invites to speculatlon, and to Investment of capital, through the Lot months. ‘The tendency 1a also to ake packiog lcea active in Novem- ber and December than heretofore, throwing more of the work over into Junuary and Febru- ary, and enabliag ua to compare more closely the progress of tho trading by calendar years. Formerly the business of packlng and tie trading fn product was almost equnlly ddivided between those two periods of two months each, 50 that the etatistics of the calendar yoar em- braced those of two halves of two scusons, It is truo that the bulk of the product manufue- tured here {n sumimer cousisia of meats cut to the direct order of European operators; but it doea not the less employ wipital here, and to some extent [nfluences speculative trading in wiater~cured product. COURSE OF THE MARKET, In January and February the tendency was to hisghier prices, and tho winter season closedat a higher range ot quotations, due to the general beliel that the hog crop was practically exhausts ed, and that few would come in durlng the suta- mer. This Idea was partlally based on the foct that 8 zood many hogs of the rcalawag ciass came In at the close, and the recelpts were quite light for some timo after the iinter packing was over. It was calculated that with the stendy fncreuse in the consumption of pork products the bulk of tho stock would be worked off ut not much Tees than $24.00 for pork, 14¢ for lard, nnd 125c for short rib middles, There was a continuous #peculative demand, of the steady order, which took up the stock not ouly here but at other points in the West, and_under thls prices djd ndvunce March to $20.733¢ for pork, $13.00 per 100 ba on lard, asd 12¢ on short pibs, But these flzures were not long sustatned, aud the people who bought In vear_the top, ineluling some of those usinlly cousidered to be well posted, lost heavily under a subsequent severe and continu- ous decline. A TIIE BUMMEN AFFHOACHED 1t waa found that tho euoruious stucks of poor, cheap corn which was scarcely fit to market, and too damp to keep, were belng used for feed- fng hogs early; and that in consequence there would be & Uig excess of summer hogs—espe- clally as prices ruled high enough to jueke the feeding process a profitable one, The result ‘was that the munber of hogs cut here between Feb, 2 and Nov. 1 waa ahout 1,250,000, or more than twice us many ay in the correaponding tine in 1875, Under this prices declined through the summer, as there was little demand for winter- cured stully the current cuts befug shipped for consumption ns fust as manufmiured. The winter prochitct was shifted from hand to hand on future sales, belny usually carried at very low flizurcs by capitalista. In'the cury autumn thero wus quite & rald in tho other direction, The constant hog supply, compured with the low pricea ruling for breudstuils, caused many 10 thiuk that prices would ruls unprecedentedly low, and they sold freely ubead. They talkel of hogs ut 443ge per Won foot In November, and worried prices down slowly. In August spot lard tonched 80,4214 per’ 100 Ibs, wnd short ribs ot 73e per 1, ~perhaps lower,—while cash porls sold down to $13.135 - Octaver. And theso prices on pork und lard were fre Wisconnted on year . A zood deal of progi- erty clignged hands near the bottom, upd msuy thousahds of pounds of meats which Lud beeit held all mrmfi:h ut poluts on_the Miasouri River were sold at a loss of 83{@Hc per Ib, be- sides carryfug charges, THE BEACTION CAMB near the beginping of the winter's work, A woud many stitl belleved {n cheap hogs; but they did not come forward frecly at the prices, Farmiers preferred to bolid them back and fecd for fater dellvery. ‘Phe large wales made for future had to be diledand people bought freeiv. Tueklngopened even more slowly ut othier pofits, amd some uf the short sales uf fard made (s New York hud to be filled from Chicago, whis ed lard to rule ut & good premiuin on dells made early enough to reach the scaboard betore the close of November. Both Liverpool and New York had sold lurd to go to the Cuntluent of Europe,~cnlefy to Germany, Meats bad also been s0ld ubead, in large quantitles, by our packers, wastly to go to Liverpool, wnd as inuch of the hoyg was turned into meat as pussible. In vonsequencs of this the manufactuie of both pork uud lard was relatively small till the Jast wonth of the yesr. Then the h:{;ncmu Treights caused English ordens to full otf, though tmcats cut on contracts made previously continued to 1uove out, inunprecedented Yolunse, to the close of thy year. With this u better speculative de- maud sprung up for pork and lard, ebletly on interior account, aud pork was manufuctured inore freely to carry against sales made for fy- ture, whils the production of lard was ué respondingly fncreased. Pricea rulixd relatively low o the latter part of the yeur, notwithstaudlng the fact of & good demaud_{or consumption. Operstors in Cia- cinuatf, Loulsville, aud other Southeru pojnts Dad lield Yaswo stocke liere early. An In former years, they wanted to exercise & coutrol fu thia warket 50 a3 to keep up our quotatious to their own level, 80 that they could obtuin gued prices for thelr home maufacture. Weslern dealers fu boga had also fnvested largely, thereby hel| oz to_kcep up the price of the raw material. ub sll these B partics lost so hcavily (though I they had made money uxlxln the scason) that thes held off fn the fall. Another reason why Sauthern ovperators were not disposed to take hold was the fact that the Bouth has a plentiful crop of hogs this winter, and will probahly not need to buy so much product from the Northas in former yen For this reason the pnckersof Cinclunatt and Lonlstille are now turning their attention more Jargely to boxed meats for En- rope, which keeps up a steady demanid. Prob- abd to 80 percont of the purchases of Jard and meats in this market during No- vemher were on Furopean account: the meats chiefly going to the British Jeles, and thelani to the Continent of Europe. The shipments of meats Jduring the cold weather have been enor- moue, thnee of middics alone aggregating more than 16,000,000 ths during the first week in De- cermber. PRICES ON TPOIK. The following table shows the manthl{ range and the avernze price of casl and scller-the- month mesa pork, throughout the year: Month, Joweet, llmhru“ .‘1"6 PRICES OX LAGD. ‘The following table shows the rmmtblirln:e, and the average price, of steamed lard, throughe out the year: Honth, Lowest, Hiahes Japuary .. $12.00 12,3 Febrnary .. 026 Mareh B0 Keptember ... Uctober November. December PRICEY ON MEATS, ‘The following table shows the monthly range and averaze prices of cash short ribs, loose, throughout the year: L Uctal November ¥ Riy BT December, By Year 12 14 Year Yenr 1874 1% Shoulders, loose, sold at 83¢c per I {n March and April, down to 58{c In November. Theav- crage price of the year was §7.05 per 100 5 RECEITTS, The follawing were the receipts of provisions and dressed hogs in thils city, during three years: T A Ly Beef, bris and tcs. 0 Pork, bri $ Meats, tons 27,223 lLard, tons . ‘Tullow, ton D, tiogs, No.. EIIPMEN ‘The vorresponding sh Teet, brinand tes., Fonchris. . CHICAGO ROLS THE TRADE of the entire West in_provisiuns. She not only packs about as many hogs an Cincinnatf, Louls- ville, 8t.Louls, Judianapolls, and MNwaukee conbined, but has become the model for opera- tions outslde, and the centre for tradinig on tho part of both busers und sellers all over the world. Outslae packers ure now disposed to follow the example of those fn Chicago, and not hoard stufl At prices which eannot” be malutained un- der competition. Thc?' now tnink of the next sammer's movement In determining the prices they can pay for hogs In winter. And there is a dechled téndeney to concentrate stocks here, wWhere they will connnand the speculative aud consuming trade of the world, With the best and largest storaze facllities for Kecplue prod- uet sweet, aml for rapid bandling, and our nu- merous connections by rall with almost every pofut of the compuss, the demand of the world centres here, unl the materlal must centre here alno. The mierchont here can sell | to Eogland, Germany, New York, New Luglend, Balttmore, St. Louls, New Or- leans, and other Southeru points, as well 18 Lo the lumber reclons of the Northwest; and can find the means L carry the Frupcr' as Jong s may be desired tn the hone of realizing bet- ter prives ot some future time. The packing products of other plaves are now largely sold here, and the tendency to this, even when the property Is not brought bere, 18 growlng ut a very rupld rate,~aa the advantages offered by Chfentzo aan mrarket for both fiogs and hoj product are better uuderstood with cuch succeed- g year, FLOUR, TIR MARKET ¥ORt PLOUR has been generally quict, and often dull, with few excitements, and a very steady feeling durlog a great part of the year. The move- ment through the city exhibits a declded in- wrease, the recelpta being 8,014,250 brls, agalnst brls fn 1875, and the mills of the ¢ty n kept running nearly to thelr utmost capacity durlog the entire year, so that the shipments arc also larger than for the preceding twelye months, Dut this wuement of volume 15 no pauge to tho relative activity of the wholesule trade. There is o growing ten- deney on the purt of the baker and the store- Keeperto order direct from the wmlll, and the operations of the whalceale merchants are ve- duced accordivgly. A good deal of the Hour recetved here passed through without belng hought or sold fn this market, not a lttle being sent here that t lght he subjected to our ad- mlrablesystem of inspection, which Isconducted uuder the eupervision of the Buard of Trade— not by the State. Shntlarly, the product of our Jucal mills has nearly all gone direct to the consumer, or to the sgencies of the mills which have |beew establlished at other poluts, The change1s apparent in the volume of sales on 'Chunge. A few years szo the com- merclal reporter dld not clironicle tho flour mar- ket as active unltess the sales of the day had amounted 1o 15,000420,000 bris. Now the dally sales seldom cxceed 4,000 brls, and the average market of the year a searcely above 8,000 bris perday. However, we have no real decline to veport for the past yesr, The sales of 1870 wera sumewhat greater ln volume than those of 1875, and the general tone of the market has been healthler, there baving been no undue sccuniu- lation of stocka here and na speclal pressure to il THE MILLING CAPACITY OF 1TIK WEST has increased so much dusing the past few years 28 to furve this chanze upon the trade., For- werly, all the surplus flour produced found reudy buyers {n Chicago for shipment to the Eastern States and for export to Eurupe. That was fu the days when the transfer of wheat i bulk ta the vesset on the scaboard was a long and expensive process, compared with the 1t fnig of u burrel of four Into the bold of & shin; und the wheat cost juwore In Europe thau the flour, The cheaper handling of wheat enabled the European miiters, with low-priced lubor, to compete with the Auerivan, I uddition to giv- g him the adbvantage ol belug. able to mix our grlu with the cheap wheat of other ~ countrics, and produce an orticlo asatlsfuctory to the greal mass of consimers. Aunothet feature ot the trude which makes the lust-nsmed fuct still more complete, [ the chonge that has recently been effe.ted in the mills of G Britain. “Nearly all of them ure now fitted with the middlings puriticr, which esables theu to take more loir froms the wheat tbun formerly, sud te work o lower class of wheat Into sat isfactorv four. Wi the demand Lero fell off, the Western production was fucreasinz, ‘Tue millers of the West cunvassed the East for orders, aud seat thero the our for which they could uot obtain direct orders, while the demand for it was still further lesseued by the fuct that they were already suppiyiug von- sumers who had hitherto, bougbt In Chicago. ‘They theu reached out to Europe; aud now, no snuall proportion of the tlour sent from the l’mml States to the Dritish lales te shipped through frot the mills witkout the futerven tlun ot an_American commieslon mercbaut or broker, The result lis breu sn enurimous dimluution ol our fiour trade with far-off points; but this 1s compensated in some weayuro by an sugmented loval de. wand, This fncludes uot only thesupply of the & city, but of the sarrounding territory, our trade reaching even Into the winter wheat re; where apring flour §s growin; ‘The old rule is thus being raplily reversed. Peo- pleatill talk about using nothing but flour ground from white winter wheat, but the term is & mis- The greater part of the winter wheat Is verd, and the greater part_of the “ winter wheat flour " consumedd In the East and West {s made from wheat sown In the spring—nay, it is much preferred to the other, PATENT PLOURS, This change has been chiefly by the recent Introduction of the process, now in very extensive and ro rowing use in the spring wheat reglons of Fully 20 per cent of all the spring wheat flour now produced In Minnesota 1s by the pat- ent process, and it {# universally conceded to ho fully equal to that made from the best winter ‘wheat, while many clalm it to be far superior. In conscquence of thia the being raptdly introduced in other sections, and the change {a amply justifed by fncreased pat- runage among cousumers, RAGGED FLOURS, Quite a demand has sprung past_year for flonr in_haus for’ ehipment. The purchiases were made by Canadian parties, but 1t In helleved that the flour was shipped to Europe, via Montresl, and most of it to Glas gow. The demand was for a quality of flour somewhat helow the average of spring extras, and one establishment In the interior of this Btate has done a good deal of inixing of medium with Inferfor flours for this purpuse, dearer In Great Britain than here, and for that reason the bag is cheaper than the barrel, and the British miller puts up his flour 1n_bags or The hag Is thus a” homelike institution, and many private consumera will give more for the satne quality of flour when In a baz than if The demand at one tline packed in a barrel. ‘waa much greater than the supply, but the in- quiry was not cuntinuous exceptfrom one houso TNE QUALITY OF TNE FLOUR made from wheat of the old crop (1875) was rather poor, Jike that of the wheat iteelf. was evident carly In Jast winter that the flour conld not be depended upon for keeplng,~the —nni the flour changed reason the character of rwent n decided change. was no disposition to atock-up, here or else- where. Buyers took liold only for the supply «of current wants, and the miliers did uot care flour here to wheat having been dmn the market steady, on a large number of small transactions, and the course of prices was un- quotations exhibiting lesa change lormer ycar in the history of the trade. Tl flour made from the new crop I of good quality, and has given the best of satis- A fow lots were rushed to market very carly, made from a mixture of old and new wheat, and these were open to objection. during the past three months no complaints have been heard s to quality, snd our Inspec- tlun has been above reproach, Kansas flours eome hither more sparingly now than they used to do. readily as those made In other sections—they goud, but not white enough to sult the mafority of the trade. During the past three, months Nebraska millers have sent flour to this market, for the first time, and met with a read; sale, the article belng generally lked. do not “scll so nearly 3,000,000 bu which they had valnly. trled - .; to carry through to the ope.fing ot nm{uunfi Ny Our market han barely recovercd from this = stroke, and attracted” a moderate order - danand, when ft was acain depressed by rumors of bad condition, and went down_ to 83c—the lowest d:ohl. touched 1in 1873, and to within 134 of the Iowest notch reached in 1874, The average of Aungust was even below that of July, due to a growlng dis- frust of the oulity of Tho old Whest. Durln this seadon of depression xpawerlul combina~- 7Y tion quictly obtalned control of the market, aod = & the unfortiinate shorts slowly woke up to s con- eclousness of the fact that tgey wers coopal np in one of the most gigantic corners ever known, _ . though the new rules wera saflicient to pmv::l 3% r?n“g:lemlvg‘ -quleeu vln prl‘cen a8 had been e reviously. ‘ery fortun: s cnmer(ngppm; ¥e 'y fortunately . for THR TURRISIE QUESTION : loomed up at this juncture, which, added tores *- ports of a shart crop in the United 8f en-: | abled them to realize & handsoms profit without forcing the rettling prica more than & few cents )&' above the shipplng value to otherpolats, Undee & this * September deal ” tho distinction in price between old and new No. 2 was entirely obliter- i ated, though the difference in actual valus was 7 generally catimated at 10212 cents per bushel, 1o —the rame as hetween new and old No. 8. The wheat In one houre (Nutt's) was declded by tha - & Directors of thu Board of Trado to be ‘of ont of condition, and the houss was I declared Irregular, while the Inspectors stoutly | malntained thst the wheat was not In sufficent- o 15 vail condition to deserve posting, the 5 owners of the wheat inststed that it was equal ° to sny wheat tn the efty. Tho whent waa soon 7 afterwards moved out without being thrown on - ]nu: market, and the house again became regu- ar, During October the market continued to bo excited by war rumore, and the speculativa furore was atrong enongh to keep the old and new No. 2 at the eame price il the word “new" was dropned from the Inspector’s lists on the 1st of November. The market then earcd off alichtly, but agein advanced, and riuled strong in Deceinber, the highest point of the year belne reached {n that monll':’ Tho canst of the advance was not 0 much the an- tiudpation of war fn the Old World as 8 growing conviction that the supply Is short in Eorope as well as In the United States, and a belief that our wheat will be wanted for consumnption at much bigher prices next spring sud summer. PRICES. ‘The following table sho vs the monthly rango and the average price on No. 3 spring wheat throuzhiont the yesr; the lowest point was N touched July 20: £ Zownt, Iighest, _Average. §705 stlom 8o 58 2. 1 1w 00 Lio® 1008 THE OUTWARD MOVEMENT was rather slow during the autumn months, for brauch of the trade bids fair to grow to much larger proportions than now. TUR COURSE OF THR MARKET lias been very uniform. The year commenced with madfum stucks, and trade was the tirst three_nionths, at &4.25@4.7 plog extras. In April there was a demand for MInnesotas, at £5.50@0.25, with no shipplug grades; stocks were reduced, was & fair demand from Montreal, both for bagged aud barreled lots, the average price being on the busls of §4.25, the buyer fur- In June the stock was nishing bis own bags. tinued il September. with o It by Canadian buyers, In July the trade was troubled with sour flour, and hal more of it to deal with than in sny yearof the Most of the flour had what s nown as * the damp wheat smell,” and would ass the Chlcago inspection as sound flour, uzust Canadiun buyers took frecly of bagged flours, and the old stock was pretey well cleared off i September. ensucd for new fours, and prices advanced 2vig "lots selling 8t $1.0K¢5.25, Nebraska was now shippinge this flour frecly, und there was & good demand for it, ns it was the only flour that would take the place of Minnesotas; heing very strong, and withi Nttle color, though some of ft was Father dark, Large quantitles were taken for Canada in September, 82 §5.00 Canadlan buyers wouls more had our stocks been niore ample. tober the trude fell offy but revived towarda the close of the year, with a material stiffening in prives, fn aympathy with wheat, The average price of the year was about 84,73 per barrel on shipplng extras aud §5.75 ou Min- The !{txlm:r averaged $4.0234 I 1675, revious decade. A goud dewmanil 50e per brls hagy packnges Include Including cotton [ have taken much THE MOVEMENT OF WIEAT through Chlcago was azain less than during the preceding twelve montha; showing o very large falling off slvce 1674, when the recelpts wero the largest in scveral past years, A great deal of wheat has gone around us, snd large quan- the reason that our market was kept constantly above o sbipping basis ever since August. Thers was some advarce In prices on the nsher sido of the Atlantic, the war rumors having stinulated a speculative movement among the Greck mer- chants, but {1 was not extensive. Enplish oper- ators seemed to gencrally believe that there would be no war wide-spread enough to serious- Iy utfect breadstufs, amd they were all the more wary #8 the excitement of the past four years had unifurmly been agalnst them, aml maost of their bud lost heavily . by bldding up pr A elizit advarnce In quo- - tations hus sufliced Lo bring out Increased sup- plies under which prices were sure to decline. And the arca of this supply hos widened mate- rially within the past tew years. Only tbhres years ago the firat sample of wheat from the East Indles was recelved in Loudou, and now u large volume Is offered from that couotry, = - that lins been grown st a cost with which Amer- feun Jabor eannot combete, Chill and Australia, too, have recentdy entered the lats with Call- fornin lo competing with our older rival, Russla, fur the honor and profit of supplying the Britlsh deflddency In breundstufls, slann wonder, theretore, If the Enslish Importer feels independent of the United Stutes, and ays less. attentlon than beretofore to the tr'ulp' stort, ¢ crop " ou the castern slde of the Kovky Moun- tains. We may add that they ndvies us to the effect that the” wheat crop of 1876 on the Euro- =~ pean Continent and fin thy Britlsh Isies is up to an effective average, the fulllug off In yleld be- fug compensated by the fact of superior quality, which gives more llour than usuul to the mess- ured bushel, The bushel of wheat there meana &0 many enble fnches and pot a certatn number of powids. . THE YIZLD OF THE UNITED STATES was esthinated at the cluse of October by tha Agricultural Bureau to be only 24-1&)\),(1!] * buahels, which is nearly one-sixth fess than the .. 300,000,000 bunhiels usually regarded as our full crop. It I8 probuble that™{f tuis cstimate had been rewarded as trustworthy, o conslderabls ¢ advance, from war-unior prices, would Lave oeenrred. With the sssurance of such s crop, whest would have eold fn Chicago at $1.20@21,50 per bushel, But the estimate was nut generally aceepted, The trade in New n ' R It o o ‘0 = r 5. 5 s 1 1 § 1 :s have been shipped dircetly through the ‘We may add that the inspectiva fnto store would have been even less than ft was but for the fact that In the sutumn mouths a great many lots fntended to be simply travsferred here were placed in store becanse cars could not be procured for transportstion further East. Prices, too, have ranged lower, averaging nearly the same as In 1875, and the course of the mar- ket has been steadler, ns will be scen by refer- ence to tha subjolued table. The recelpts of wheat s reported by the Sec- retary of the Board of Trade, were 17,491,050 bu, aguinst 24,200,370 bu {n 1873, The ship- ments werp 15,204,443, ngalnst 23,184,349 bu in The luspection into stare, as reported by the State authoritles, was 42,624 car-loads, which, at 850 bu to the car, would equal 14,018,400 bu. The difference between this and the Hoard of Trade report Is duo to grain consigned on track, and wheat billed through Chicigo. The chief reason for the depresslon In the wheat movement was the fact that there was comparatively little demand for poor wheat, white wo had little elre to offer. The crow of 1875 was not of the stumptall order, containing little flour, but {t was harvested during very bad weather, and would ot keep. centage of {t was fnapected (nto the lower erades o this city, and it {s clalned that the tngpection sirict fu reganl to the require- But the events of last summer shawed that the inspection had ot been severe enough to prevent our No.?2 from heating, while it bad beeu sutticiently high wos unusually sment that No. 2 should be dry. BENDING ALOUND US of large quantities that it was feared would nat pass our fnspeetion. The latter was sold Kast aa equal to Chicago No, 2, and was fouml to be sodamp that it would not keep, even fn cool weather, when madsed o big bins. This was one reason why our re~eipts exhibited a marked falling off; and {t partially sccounted for the lesscned demand. The new wheat Inspected here as No. 3 duringthe sutumu of 1873 was all bought up by parties who seut it East, pasalng the sereenfug-uills at Buffalo ou the 1o the seabuard, whiere most of it wus sold e shippers hoped to be to advantage li:ago No.2. were mibstaken, transportation )y rall wero kept down to a low polut, which invited Western shlppers to opurate through the winter—und all the wore so wy they tho wheat would uot bo_sound ‘The vonsequence was that New York storebiouses and boats were londed down with pour wheat all through the winter, the “visible ply belug the Jargest ever’ ki s were kept down to s low polut fu conses quence, 1 spite of chicap frefghts, And this re- scted powerTully on Chicago, UK BEPUTATION OF WERTERN WIEAT stimatiou of European vrred to order their wheat u thero was no induce East, us no bids would be obtalocd for It which would anything lke y tho cost of purchase aud transpurtation, 'ho sssurauces by cablo, and fetter, that our No. 2 wus & very Wilerent article 1o that on the sea- board, were recelved wish silcot fucredulity, or replied to with expressions of distrust. he_cumbluation formed hero fu tho autuma of 1875 to furward the (low grude) whest to New York ouly laated sbout two montbs, sud Jost heavily by the operution. Sowue of thelr wheat was sold vut n the spring ut s deud Joss 0f S 40c pur bushel. THE NARKEET DRAGGED BADLY all through the spriog, betug lepressed by the accumulations of wlcat on the scaboyrd, whicn would vt move acruse the occan, and wero staken sluwly for house cousumyption, I here was inere: blow failure in Milw was dusged fu th yel from other sources mentto seod our No. 3 York, and munv operators bere, reganled tha figures ux much too mnall,—based too much on the etatements of those who are intercated ! in epreading the ery of “small crop’ ;. Tll!‘{ reniembyred that the * statistics " tssued by the same authority In 1875 led us to expect i that the Middie States would draw largely from | the West, which was unerror: and they belleved ' that the facts of the present diseredited tha * statenient for 1570, "There Is no doubt that the yield of the Northweet (Minnesota, Wisconsin, und fowa) is short, but there is o broad band ot country between ws und New York which has a Jarze crop of winter wheat, und hos been offer- fngg It on the reaboard in Jurge voluine, at prices Delow what it can be lotd down there from Chi- cago, The winter wheat crop of the Middle Htates 13 undoubtedly sn abundant one, sutliclently s0 to " muke an the shortage of apring wh notlee, too, that tho receipts at Bt. cate a biz crup in the Southwest, ~ There was & | bl purplus in Kansus utid Nebraska, some of i il which has come licre already, Good prces hera will unnuuhmu( draw must of the remainder | Nitherwurds, With comparutively low prices - here, the remainder will sind its way to Balti- i suore and Philadelphia, s THE CROY, The following are approximates to the esti- mates of the Agricultural Burcau of the total vheut yleld of the United States formscriesof * W 1s superior, but we huve not enough lu the Nurthwest to make the erup a profitabile one, u un good orices, : There was a good demand for uhl wheat dur- ing the later months b the yeur, English mill- 3 ers wanting it to give strength to the wheat grown in other countries, But they bave drawn chlelly un the winter wheat reserveo of the Mid- e Stutes for this purpose. Milwaukeo has 3 shipped rutber freely, hermerchants having had the good sepse to muve out all the old whest _ carly, 56 thot there was no quotation excepton & new duringghe lust two mouths, which lavited v orders to that wsrket, buyers pot being afrald ol belng served with an inferior artlcle, MINNBSOTA GKADES. Tha wheat grown i Minnesota has been found by English witlers to be best suited to thelr wants, giving the prestest proportion of strenggth fu mixing with other wheats; aud Eg- glish dmporters therefore prefer that wheat, often paylog & liberal preavain for ft, as com+ 3 pared with thut grown farther Bouth. Forthis | reasan Milwuukeo bus always recelved o liberst run of orders, which geverally kups that markes § wbove Chicago, for nowlnully tho same us the bulk of the recclpts in that city ure drawun fiom Mionesots. Tids bas tended to druw to that wmarket wheat from sectlons further gouth, which would otherwlss be tributary to Cb! Since the Fulton Elevator fn this ity was set apart {ur the receptivn of the Mlunesota grown wheat, we have recelved a falr proportion of i here. In 1875, and the tirst half of last year, iv constituted ubout vne-third of vur totsl receipts of whicat, and generally_commanded s good premfum. The State of Minucsota yielded but 4 mmall harvest in 1876, and has markeied com- paratively little wheat, for which reason our re~ celpts have beca Hgbt recently, and gmmlu to bo sunll during the romatuder of tho present - crop year. 5 Iu the tirst half of 1876 the premium on Noy 9 ranged ut S0:3¢ per bu. In July the i nearly vanlshed, usdes a falliug off in the de- wnand, as Essteru buyers becanie afraid of the coudltion. Iu August it again commauded 8. prefereace, which ross to 5a ¢, aud then dimin fbed to Bude, and 10 warcel ur?i‘ i1 Ahtober. The prefercnce wus greater ng thie last twa months, ot because of 3 Europcad od, but for the reason that Mionesots wheet bad recently grows lu favor with utssior millors fa ”» a3 et R TN