The New York Herald Newspaper, November 6, 1873, Page 4

4 THE MONETARY SITUATION, | Fresh Shadows Cast from a Cloomy Anticipation. REFORM AND RUMOR. Facts Concerning Tom Scott’s Difiiculties, Real and Supposed. THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET. The events of yesterday, although not in them- selves important, did not serve to give any better outlook to the current monetary sitnation. The rest of a day had served to bring a calmer and More unbiassed judgment to a review of the facts that have been presented from day to day, and the result is not a more hopeful feeling, but a higher sense of endurance. Itis beginning to be felt that this is no longer a panic, but that we are going through the fire of suffering for the accumu- lated ills of expansion that we have courted and nursed and cherished siuce the first gum was fired at Fort Sumter. Of course, in the su- Preme crisis that was then suddenly sprung upon the country, where the national life ‘was at stake, the popular ear readily accepted the euphonism of the apology offered, that desperate strait required a desperate remedy, and rapidly absorbed the printed obligations of the government to pay at a tuture day in lieu of material value. This may have been a wise step, it may have been a necessary step; with that the present writer does not propose to deal. But, it was THE INITIAL POLICY of the present party in power in respect to the management of the national finances—a promise to pay. “Call round Tuesday and I wili tell you when to call again” became the keynote of our entire dealings as @ people as well as a nation. Begun in war, continued through a period of pro- found peace, is it any wonder that the business of the country should have followed the example of the government and expanded recklessly beyond the power of any sudden contraction without wide- spread loss and ruin? The rapid appreciation of our government bonds abroad, following the suc- | cess of the Union arms, furnished an opportunity for various schemes of a wild-cat nature to float | aheir securities among the ignorant and un- | wary. Money flowed into the country, and the | people, forgetting that it was simply BORROWED MONEY and would have to be repaid at no distant day, revelled in the sense of boundless prosperity. Two | successive Secretaries of the Treasury stimulated this unhealthy condition of affairs by their remon- ‘strative purchase of the public debt beiore matur- ity antl their careful publication from month to month of the reduction so made, draining the business capital of the country in this way in the shape of exorbitant taxes, to give an adver- tisement to rotten American speculative enter- prises abroad, upon which was of course supposed to be thrown some reflection of the wonderful | prosperity of the nation, Three Secretaries of the | Treasury contributed to this result—one o1 them already called to a higher account; another a pres- ent Senator; the third—an eminently respectable citizen, of unquestioned honesty, but wholly una- ble to grasp the present situation, as is shown in his efforts at silver resumption—is the present in- | cumbent. What wonder, then, that with a record like this on the part of the governing power, and THE SAD, STERN FACTS OF THE DAY, with their grave eventualities, staring them in the face, men stopped for & time yesterday the feebie discussion On minor incidents of the crisis, and, moved by the results of Tuesday's ciections to a | higher comprehension of the position we bo! asked themselves, with more earnest for “Whither are we drilting?’ Mr. Spinner, Treas- urer of the United States, whose imprint is as lam- | iliar as are the greenbacks themselves, appears to be the only one who has sought to penetrate the source of the existing ills and apply the remedy where it is most wanted and would be most eni- cacious. The Secretaries quoted above, in their mspagement, or rather direction, of the financial aaministration, have been bu: experimentalists, regulating their action by the expediency Of the | hour. There has been no comprehensive scheme | looking tu a certain end, with a definite resuit, and the lamiliar anbouncement—‘The following ts THE POLICY OF THE TREASCRY for the ensuing month expressed alike the feeble- ness of purpose and the imperfect understanding that have marked the financial measures of the government during the last ten or twelve years, Mr. Spinner, in his report, which was published in yesterday's HERALD and {freely discussed.on the Street, falis into the same error as his colleagues in office, although notin the degree that they do, that this crisis Can be still further postponed, that the invalid who has been suffering for years a | functional derangement at the very source of its Vitality can yet recuperate and recover upon the Same treatment as heretofore applied—stimula- tion, The Treasurer’s scheme is an elaborate one. It has the merit of recommending {ree banking, an elastic currency through the issue of a converti- ble bond interchangeavie jor and with currency and the prohibition of the payment of interest on deposits, Ils objectionable ‘leatures are the in crease of the inte: nm of the country in yolved, which, although according to the Secre- tary’s showing would be but small, shonid not be increased one dollar. The Treasurer's apprecia- tion Of the situation is as short-sighted as that of his colleague WE WANT NOT ONLY CURRENCY REFORM, BUT BANE REFORM, as a condition precedent, In respect to the latter | an opportunity presents itself to reduce the inter- est Durden of the country, Why should the gov- ernment pay the national banks interest on te | security they deposit for their currency and per- mit thein to empioy that currency as they see fit? There is no law of iitness nor principle oi trade en- titling them to this special preterment. Banks are but fiduciary institutions, and the chartered agents 01 their customers to perform certain duties in that relation. The power to issue currency is a privilege conferred upon tkem in the name ot the people to enable them the better to fulfll the object Of their creation. That in addition to this privilege they should be paid for its use and often abuse is absurd. 1t does not want much logic to convince a man thatata time when money is locked up all over the country and merchants are sinking into the appearance of bankruptcy jor want of a medium of exchange, the banks should still be drawing interest upon this money tual 18 unavailable for public uses. Much com- plaint is made also that FAVOR D NEPOTISM RULE IN BANK PARLORS ugerous to the man who cannot in- uds to help through his application for accommodation; and further, that bank officers are not above shating in usurious rates, politely calied “commissions,” in times of pressing stringency. Tus there is nothing in the record of tne national banks, nor tn the estimation in which they are at pre t held, to im to the favorable con- sideration oi Congress when that body proposes to deal with the financial probiem now submitted to it for a solution, that shall not only give immediate eliel, but provide against a recurrence of a crisis such a8 We are now passing through. Let men not be deceived by the present outflow of gold from Engiand hither. Iv is an unbeaithy sign, We owe too much abroad to hope to keep this bule lion permanently with us. Tue balance of trade js temporarily in our lavor, because our importers have not money to buy goods abroad with—es ts shown in the limited demand for exchange, which caused @ decline yesterday to 10 ‘or prime bank: ers’ sixty days sterling—and the short crop of Burope has created an exceptional detmund for our breadstuis, But this situation piay change st any moment. LONDON 18 NOW MOVED TO GREAT UNEASINESS by the present outflow of bullion and the rapid advance of the Bank of England rate of dis speedily followed by the rate in the open me ‘There were ramors of failures yesterday, happily without contirmation. The fresh rumors here had reference to the condition ol the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the condition of the city banks, the report ot the Clear- ing House "Association that the capital stock of the Central National Bank was Impaired seeming to excite fears concerning the condition of the other banks. Nothing was done, however, to satisfy the desire for positive information on this head. Jt 18 not likely the banks will voluntarily jurnish this Iniormation, but asthe Bank Examiner has it in Als power to make such investigation the opinion is that It would be prudent for hum to do go at this th time, as it better we bad 4 CLEAR STANDING OF OUR PRESENT POSITION velore Congress meets, in order that an intelligent and cuucated public opinion may be brought to pic Sal bony When it proceeds to deliverate ¥ ie ures g ect t on trl of relorm necessary in this iy Aunouncement was made yesterday THE CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS CONSTRUCTION COM: PANY had suffered a note of $200,000 of thelr: protest, and that the con re aul sartnes bur dened with heavy Habilities, The following state. Ment of the velation of this company to the Penh- aylvania Railroad Company is made:—This com. pauy Was Or; Zed to build tue Texas and Pacitio tauroud, Bud Lad v capital of $10,000,090, Of Whicu $9,000,000 had been subscribed, $6,000,000 called in and $4,000,000 actually cash, The sub- scribers are liable not only for the $2,000,000 not yet paid on the various but also for the entire remainder of the $9,000,000 stock sub- scribed, It is proper to remark, however, that some of the sul bers Were prominent bankers who have recently Jailed. THE TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILROAD has no bonds out, and consequently the scapention of this constragion company does not affect the people at large the same as other railroads have done which have recently defauited on their regn- lar mterest. The Valifornia and Texas Construc- tion Company was closely identified with and un- der the immediate patronage of parties controlling the Pennsylvania Railroad, and among the heavy endorsers of its paper are said to be Thomas A. Scott, J, Edgar Thompson, Matthew Batrd and Samuel Felton, The officers of the Texas and Pacific Railroad are Thomas A, Scott, President; W. A. Wallace, Vice Presiaent; Edwards Pierre- pont, Treasurer, ana Emanuel B, t, Secretary. Later in the afternoon it was stated that the Construction Company would probably get an ex- tension, THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD directors met yesterday and adjourned without action. What they propose to do in respect to & dividend will be found below, ou the authority of anagent of the company. Summed up, tt would appear to mean that tiey intend to try and bor- row the money to pay a cash dividend, and, failing im that, will declare a scrip dividend, Truly @ choice of evils, In regard to the many leased lines of the Penn- sylvania Raiiroad, about which there was so much talk yesterday morning, tt 1s explained that an erroneous impression is current. Of late years the “Pennsyivania Company,” an offspring of the raul- road, has done the leasing business, OUR EXPORTS, ‘The total shipments of produce from this port for the week ending yesterday amounted to $5,952,355 nuxed values, which is a decrease from last week of $ 49. The exports for the corresponding period of the previous year were $5,470,104, and in 1871 $4,915,236, The total exports 0. produce since January 1 this year are $250,350,474. SPEAKING AS OF AUTHORITY. “The Pennsylvania Railroad Company held & Meeting yesterday, but adjourned without doing any business,” This message was passed over the wires of the telegraph yesterday morning, through the stock commanicator, and received im every broker's office and other places where an ‘indicator’ 1s patronized. The announcement that a railroad company held a meeting is in itself ol very little in- terest to anyone but the stockholders; but in these “piping” times, when confidence is lost tn the most potent financiers, every twist and turn of a moneyed or corporate institution is watched with a jealous eye, not only by those dgrectly in- volved in its success, but by the outside world i general. ACCORDING TO THE CHARTER of the Pennsylvania Railroaa Company the annual dividends are usually declared at tueir first mect- ing in November. The session of this corporation was held, but no dividend deciared. alr. David Salomon, the fiscal anu purchasing agent of the company in this city, Was called upon and interro- gated concerning this “oversight.” This gentie- Inan in response said :—“Our charter provides that all dividenas deci by the board of directors must pve paid thirty days after such deciaration is made, ‘The strin- gency of the money market at present | will not permit the company to fulfl this exaction, hence there was no action taken op th bject at this meeting. We are in negotiation fora certain project, wuich only involves a slight tecuniculity to close up, from which the company wil! realize very largely, and mall probability & meeting of the Bourd will be held on the 1gth or 20th inst., when @ cash dividend of five per cent will then be de- clared, We might at present give our stockholders turee per cent cash, or five per cent in scrip, but we preier to wait and ailot to our stockholders the larger amount in ready money.” | r, Salomon turther stated that the $10,000,000 | reserve capital deposited in Engiand is of agreat | deal oi service to the company at present, but the low standard of exchange does not make it profit- able by any means to draw for itin heavy amounts, THE VALUE OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE yesterday was 10544, and this dropping off occurs also on the annouucement of the rates of discount | being advanced by the Bank of England. One of the most prominent German bankers iniormed the HERALD reporter that European exchange was a drug in the market and the supply much greater | than the demand. This financier Stated that the standard par value of foreign excuange, consider- ing the differeuce in money, was 109. Whatever amount it touched below figure was » ‘‘dis- count,” hence exchange ruled yesterday at three and & half per cent discount, instead of a premium. | The reason therefore may be platuly stated, and is no less than an excess of exports over imports, Whoever has any liabilities to pay in Europe at this time endeavors to purchase American staples, with which he not only liquidates the indebted- uess but also realizes a protlt. IN 1357, the memorable year of a huge financial crisis, for- eign excuange dropped as low as ninety-five per ceut. ‘The resources of the country at this period were not one tenth what they are now. Commerce then was at a periect standstill. Our means of export now are of the most prolific kind, and all that 1s required is enhanced means of bringing the products of the country from the interior to the sea- oard, thence 1o Europe, where substantial prices are readily realized thereior. Another reason given for the cheap rate of ex- change 1s, that importers bave no means to pay their indebtedness to their toreign creditors with whom they have open accounts. Hence there is so little demand. TRADE IN PHILADELPHIA. Continued Paralysis of Business—The Hotels Empty—Deplorable Condition ot the Poor. PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 5, 1873. There are no assurances for your correspondent to state that the coming of another day has im- proved the local situation, for the very reverse is true. The general trade of the city amounts to | Teally nothing at all, business men frankly coniess- ing that it is the dullest and dreariest season they have ever beheld. Financial matters present the same discouraging features, and borrowers ask in vain for loans unless they can bring with them col- laterals for seven times the desired amount, Southern and Western drummers have all gone home, following the hasty retreat of Southern and | Western buyers. The hotels, which should now be gay with their accustomed merchant guests, are empty, silent and almost entirely deserted. Com- paratively there 13 NO BUSINESS BEING TRANSACTED at all, and at present the Quaker Cit, is stagnated, | Most of the theatres, alarmed at their dreary gs leries and empty parquets, have reduced t prices until they correspond with those which were recoguized as standard long before the war, and | yet the people who support the most popular re- sorts here are destitute of mouey, and the reduc- aon of the prices does the Managers but little | good. | The condition of the laboring classes, bad as it | is, 1s BOthIng to what it will be. The Baldwin Lovo- motive Works, the cotton and iron mills have dis- | charged immense numbers of their banas, who | now have nothing to do but idly roam the streets, At the police office the complaints for petty lar- | ceny are Very humerous and, trom the indications, | i are likely to greatly increase with each day. A great many laborers were paid their months Wages when they Were discharged, and the sum received has in most cases up to date been ade- quate to supply their Immediate personal wants but when this 1s exhausted their condition will be deplorabie, and uniess the public enterprise and public charities mentioned in my last come jorward to relieve their distress, it must veut itself in theit, robbery and murder, In no more direct Way can the present situation of the masses be descrived than in the following tender and appealing ietter, Which appeared ina little local journal tiisafternoon. The press have, as a rule, discussed every other topic rather than the one now most urgent and pressing, ihe letter, which explains itsell, 1s from a lady :— AN APPEAL TO THE CHARITABLE, Painfal as is the reflection, it is undeniabie that there is before us @ prospect ot much suffering among the work- | ingmen of our city during the coming winter. Already many sad Cases of destitution among my own sex have ne to my knowledge. It is a shocking sight to see | ready and willing to work, nay, imploring it, yet shing for want of bread. Doubtless our churehes and Volent societies are doing all they ean, but in ordi- | ry winters they have their hands full and are otien | ve . What we require now is that there shall be a relief association established in every ward of our city, t organizations to be divided into committees for each and every precinct, whose auty it shall he to. pro- vide for the wants heir respective neighborhoods ex- clusively. The more local the distribution of bounty, ood will be accomplished. Ifeel it a duty to IS suggestion, and trust that some of your read- ers will improve upon it’ Thisis no me for’ croaking. Sympathy alone is too spiritual @ food for hungry stomachs, ans let us show it by acting, hot tarking. ADELAIDE W, MURDOUH. Something like that advised above must be done Tt we are Chri: at once, or else thousands will have no other | fe a Wee wees than those derived irom | nest, hat will the Philadelphia 1 aboutit? : iit He More Workmen Discharged, PHILADELPHIA, Novy. 5, 1373. Porter & Dickey, proprietors “of the extensive cotton and woollen miif$ corner of Morris and Howard streets, in this city, have just discharged 800 men, Women and children, who are now out of spperen and me increase the numbers of h now idle to the immense tot S000 sais nmense total of THE MASSACHUSETTS “SQUEEZE,” —_--+—— Boston, Nov, 5, 1873, On and after Monday next the Eastern Railroad | will reduce the hours of labor twenty per cent ana make @ corresponding reduction in the pay at their car shops in this city. | A meeting of the representatives of the Lowell mills was held in this city yesterday to consider what course is best to pursue in view of the present depression. Ali the corporations, viz., | can do 80 with even a prospect of savin; | two or three week tae Merrumag, Hamilton, Avpleiva, Lowell. Mid- NE W YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1873—TRIPLE SHEET. dlesex, Tremont and Suffolk, Gawrence booth ana Massachusetts, were represented, These mills em yy about 12,000 hands and operate 600,000 spin- 103 Bes and about 13,000 looms. Up to the present they have ron fuil time, It was voted, after care- ful consideration, to begin at once to run ou three- fourths time, and continue so to run until the con- dition of affairs changes. THE AMERICAN NOTTINGHAM. The Cohoes Mills Nearly All Closed—The Water Shut Off—10,000 Hands Idle— Hopes of the Future. Counozs, N. Y., Nov. 4, 1873. If the name of a place should bear some refer- ence toits prominent features this city might be appropriately called “the place of mills” in the Indian vernacular, if, indeed, the language of the American aborigines possessed a word 80 sug- gestive of industry, The resident population of Cohoes numbers some 23,000, and the oity is planted on gently rising ground, between a small bluff and the Mohawk River, near the junction of the latter with the Hudson. The origin of its being selected as a site for a manutacturing centre is, that the Mohawk here falls over a ledge of rock some 70 Jeet high and 500 yards in extent across the fall. About a half mile above the falls a dam has been thrown across the river, which diverts three- fourths of the volume of water into a mill race, from which power is distributed to the various mills along its course. TUR HARMONY MILLS, Textile manufactures from the products of twenty or more mills. Of these five are worked by the Harmony Company, which is the only com- pany here confining their operations to the spin- ning and weaving of cotton. No, 3 Harmony Mill is supposed to be the largest in the world, Its frontage ts 1,300 feet long, 18 six stories high, con- tains 2,500 looms and 150,000 spindles. The water power is obtained from the mill race and is de- veloped in six turbines of enormous dimensions situated on the ground floor, The Harmony Company, in this and their other mills, gave constant employment to 4,500 persons, three-fourths of whom were women and children, until October 25. On that day, about three P. M., an. intimation was made by putting a notice on the doors of the various rooms that “THESE MILLS WILL BE CLOSED FOR ONE WEEK.” This notice was of a too ominous import to those for whose information it was aMixed, The works have been stopped since then, and it is impossible to conjecture safely when they will be re- opened to the operatives, In strict accord with the readings of the monetary barometer do the chances on this sub- ject rise or fall. Welcome to many a household in this industrious community would be the news that some one with the keen perception of “Old Probabilities” had predicted a decreasing pressure on the New York money market, with rising de- mand for muslins and knitted goods, not omitting i0r benefit of the mill owners, to state how those products were to be paid for, Sixteen mills make up knitted goods, composed of wool, wool with cotton and cotton solely. These knitting mills have experienced the result of the scarcity of money for the last five or six weeks, so much 80 tnat the sales in September were thirty-three per cent and in October filty per cent below the corre- sponding periods in 1872. A step was prudently | taken about the middle of September which jessened the production by one-fourth. The storm increasing and sales falling, another reef had to be hauled down, which took of another fourth, and under this short canvas—in time and | its earnings only—it is confidently believed and hoped that the gale may be weathered. This relers to the Knitting mulls only, for the “Harmony Com- pany” may be likened to a large ship “hove to”— Teady to pile on the muslin whenever a favorable chance offers, In addition to the ‘textile mills’? there are a pin factory, an axe factory, a gas pipe tactory, a machine shop, an iron rolling mill, a bed- stead iactory, and three or four others making bob- bins, r boxes aud wooden boxes, It is safe to say that between reduced wages and short time the earnings of the workers in this group of shops do not make up more than half ol the amount it used to, woen the works were all in tull swing, NEARLY TEN THOUSAND MANDS IDLE. Ten thousand workers constitute the force of the industrial element here—a very large propor- tion, indeed, of the population. Of these about five-sixths are this week ‘playing,’ or, as some call it, “enjoying enforced idieness."’ The water being shut off from the race (but two mills being provided with steam power) bas ied to the pres- ent stoppage of most of the works in the city. EARNINGS. The monthly earnings may be safely taken to have been $350,000, Girls of fourteen to twenty years made $13 to $36; boys and men, $30 to $55; while ‘section hands” in the cotton mills footed up from $50 to $55 per month. In all cases the money earned has been paid regularly once a month, two weeks’ ¢arnings always remaming back until the workers are finally discharged. ‘The Harmony Company have not yet paid over all the money.so retained, which is taken as a ground, trivial though it may be, that they intend to resume soon. That they will resnme wi eed, themi- selves irom lossis generally believed. Their mills, true palaces of industry, are being carefully ex- amined and repaired; new machinery is being added and everything put in readiness for an immediate start. Though the thread remains wound on the “bobbins and the “flies” are still, while the ‘mules’ are resting from their mo- notonous journeys and the long alleys between the thousands of looms are as silent as the Collseum, | the certainty exists that the tume of suspension is but a limited one RESOURCES AND SAVINGS, Tn all communities there are two divisions, recog- nized by their possession of money and known in words as “the thrifty and the untirifty.”’ Cohoes is no exception to this. Probably filty te cent of its peopie may be ranged under each of these heads, All may be considered free from immediate Want, and probably no suffering may be felt for yet, even if no work 18 re- sumed. ‘The storekeepers, to whom about $100,000 are due, have issued acard stating that they in- tend to supply their customers as heretofore, and I Witnessed through the sireets deliveries of food ot various kinds being made by butchers, grocers and bakers, whose Wagons were sent around to cali on those who might require supplies, Some of the wanulacturers have determined to Stand by their hands with monetary aid if ree quisite, and rely on being repaid in even a more valuable medium than gratitude when times mend. Nearly all the workpeople of the Harmony Company live in excellent houses belonging to the firm, and have them at a very moderate rent. Many of the workmen in that and other employ- ments live in houses which they own and have wholly or Msp f paid for, AS the class of gooas made in the knitting milis are certain to be re- quired as the cold increases, and there are no Stocks of such on hand, employment in that branch is looked upon as being very likely to be lively soon. XO FEARS OF THE FUTURE. Altogether little apprehension exists just now that much suffering is likely to be encountered, At present the Poor Master has but four or five on. is oooks, being the family of a man who died last week from violence at the hands of @ policeman. By those best informed it 1s thonght that the new year is likely to bring in a much increased demand lor labor. None of the workers have left, or have even thought of domg so. Allare hopeiul. But ot has “hope told its fluttering tale,’ aud why should it alter its habit? THE IRON TRADE. Work Suspended in the Mills of the Pennsylvania Iron Works. DANVILLE, Pa., Nov, 6, 1873. The iron trade is very materially affected here, and two large mills belonging tothe Pennsylvania Iron Works have 80 reduced their time of work that they only run on alternate weeks, Measrs. Waterman, Beaver & Co., proprietors of the works, are also owners Of large stores irom which. their laborers can obtain everything they need, and these gentlemen have assured their employés that, although they may not be able to pay them their Wages month by month, they can still supply them With ali the necessaries of life aud bodily comfort. THE HAT TRADE, in Reading Eighteen Manufactories Stopped. READING, Pa., Noy. 5, 1873, Eighteen large hat manufacturers located here haye suddenly ceased operations, and 2,000 men are thrown out of employment. These factories were the large supply shops of the New York market, and trade 1s so dull that it has been neces- Sary jor them to abandon work altogether. Mr. Nagie, President o: the Hatters’ Association, says that he can give the men nv assurances that work can begin again before January, at the earliest. ‘the factories employed also a great number of women and cbildren, HEAVY FAILURE IN ST. LOUTS. St. Lovrs, Mo,, Nov. 5, 1873. The heavy commission house of Sterling, Price & Co,, in this city, has m an assignment, and its atairs will be wound up by George J. Davis, the genueral assignee by appointment of the United PUAWs COUrL jor Uda dlswich, | bo eal, belong to the unorganized masses, an LABOR AND TRADE. The Building Strike—Membership of Trade Unions— Dull Business in Sugar, Oils and Paints—Short Time, Stagnation and Low Wages—Hard Times in Brooklyn. It was generally expected that yesterday, the election being over and the country conscientiously saved, as far as the individual or combined efforts of the workingmen could do, the striking bricklayers would be seen vigorously wielding their trowels, as before the little unpleasantness between them and the bosses, These latter met on election night and resolved to stand firm by the Wages reduction which they had agreed to last week. <A morning paper stated that the brick- layers had been successful in enforcing their claims, and most of the contractors had put the men to work at the old rate. Yet, when the HERaLD reporter met the bulld- ers on ’Change they denounced that asser- tion as incorrect. They said that they had full confidence in the return of the bricklayers and laborers to work under the new rates of wages. ‘They admitted that some half a dozen small jobs had kept the men by agreeing to pay the old rates, while others, such as the Western Union Telegraph ofMice and the Tribune ofice, had no men at work, Employers expressed the opinion that they could soon go on with a full supply of labor outside the trade socicties, and there seemed no inclination to court the strikers back. The wish of the contrac. tors obviously 1s to weaken the societies, and in the end to restore the old system of requiring ten hours’ work tor a day’s wages, THE BRICKLAYERS IN COUNCIL. At their rooms, Seventh avenue and Twenty- sixth street, tne General Council representing the several lodges was in session through the day. From the sentiment which obtained among the members it was apparent that nu idea is enter- tained of making any terms with the bosses other than those which have been In use during the last two years. They claim that tnere ts no reason in the profession of the bosses that their action is intended to stimulate building another year. “If that had been tneir object,” say the strikers, why did they not resolve to consult us upon putting down wages next spring?” They fail to see how the retention of fifty cents per day from mechanics and laborers’ wages in the con- tractors’ pocket, instead of paying it to the men with families to support, will reduce the cost of building or foster the trade, CONTRACTORS GET RICH. Citations were made of scores of contractors, who, by following the trade a few years, have risen from the position of penniless journeymen to comparative wealth. According to the plan of business, as understood by the society men, the bosses estimate the cost of materiais and labor, add to it a itiberal commission to cover the builders’ salaries and a fatr profit over and above the expenses, and make this calculation tne basis of their contracts. They are in effect receiv- ing from the owners of property sums based upon the rates of wages fixed for the year. No devia- tion from these prices has been attempted hy the bricklayers, but they charge that the bosses have broken the compact and are really only attempt- ing to take a hard advantage of the workmen on the verge of winter, when it ismost important for every man to earn the utmost cent for the sup- port and comfort of his family. NUMBER OF MEN IN TRADES UNIONS, A HERALD reporter has made diligent inquiries in regard to the number of workingmen embraced in the several trade organizations in the city, and the results are embraced in the following esti- mates, which are derived from the most reliable sources :— Number of — Kumber of Trades, Unions, Members. Bakers 4 800 Boilermakers. 1 800 Bookbinders. 1 250 Brasstounder: 1 200 Bricklayers. 5 4,560 Brushmaxers 2 ‘500 Cabinetmakers. 1 4,000 Carpenters .. 1 2500 Amalgamated carpenters.. 2 G0. Cartme 1 2,000 Carver 1 ‘500 Cigar u 8 3,000 Cuban 1 “4 3,0C0 15 400 1 150 Engineers... 8 00 Amaigamat 4 1,000 Ferry engineer: 1 150 Gasfitters. 1 300 1 40) 1 100 1 400 4 yoo 8 5,000 4 3,000 & 3000 1 250 Je polishers. 1 200 Packing box makers and sawyers.... 4 600 Painter: 7 2,500 Paper banger: 1 ‘300 Piano makers. 1 300 Plasterers. 1 2,000 Pluinbers 1 306 Printers. 1 2,000 Stair builders 1 ‘300 Steam fitters 1 ‘200 Stone cutters, 1 2,000 Stone masons t ‘300 Sugar refiner: 1 200 ‘Tailors 1 2,000 Roote: 1 "300 Upholsterers. re 100 FUNDS OP THE UNIONS. Among the richest of the society treasuries are those of the printers, who are supposed to have $10,000; the bricklayers, tauors, plasterers, long- shoremen, carvers, coopers, machinists and black- smiths, painters and carpenters, some of which have from $5,000 to $7,000, and all will, probably, average over $2,000. No accurate return of these funds can be got. The members are bound to secrecy and do not consiaer-the public entitled to know exactly how their bank books stand. No present disbursements ure being made on account of the bricklayers’ strike. Men are ex- pected to live at first upon private savings, and after they are exhausted they will be aided by drafts upon society funds. Sbould the strike long continue the time cannot be far distant when the corporate treasury will vegin to dwindle, PLANS FOR RELIEF, To meet the emergency severai plans have been suggested. The Workingwen’s Central Couucil has adopted two plans whereby, it believes, the laboring classes may be properly cared jor and saved irom much suffering. ‘The first is that ail the separate labor organizations of this city appropriate from their respective treasurie: sufficient money to purchase flour, tea, coal and other staple articies of living by wholesale, on the plan already adopted by the delegates to the Council, to Supply the necessities of all their mem- bers who may be im destitute circumstances, It 13 expected that much gooa will result to the mem- bers by the co-operative principles involyed in tuis wholesale supply. The secona proposition of the Council is that the great majority of the working people out of their only relief lies im their obtain- ing public employment, The Council does not wish to encourage pauperism while there 18 abundance of public improvements to be made which would beneiit the whole community. It holds the opinion that a rapid transit railroad should be buiit from the Battery to Harlem River, and that the best method ts to do it as a city work, the money to be borrowed from the United States ‘Treasury, or let the city issue scrip bearing no in- teres! A mass meeting is called for an early day, to be held in one o! the large city parks, jor the purpose of laying these plaus belore the people and de- manding that something be done to avert the dis- tress which threatens to follow in the train with hard times and entorced idleness, THE CIGAR MAKERS—AN OMINOUS DESPATCH FROM KEY WEST. It was reported td pe iva the Caban and Spanish cigar makers in this city (of whom about 600 are out of employment) that Messrs. Mora & Lierana will probably take @ portion of their men back to work in a ew at reduced wages. Mr. Escass!, a member of Protectora” Cigar Makers’ Association, receive; elegraphic de- ts from Key West yesterd: ing, All the cigar manulactories are closed here. Teli our iriends of La Protectora that itis usel to come herein search of work till a change takes place.” ‘The society above alluded has paid out large sums to the cigar makers op strike, single men receiving $7 and marricd men $10 per week. The ieeling among the men yesterday was more hopeful than it had been for the first wo days of the week. THE SUGAR REFINERIES, Great Dalness of Trade and a Hee duction of Wages Proposed=Views of Prominent Ketiners=Men of Kam- flies Living on $10 a Week. The various large sugar refineries were also visited yesterday. The statements of the priacipal refiners, which are given below, show that the panic bas seriously affected this branch of busi- ness, Ameeting of sugar refiners was held last wook for the purpose of agreeing upon @ reduction of wages, and it is provable that most refiners will reduce the wages of the workmen at least from ten to fifteen per cent from the 1st of Decem- a ber, The present average earnings of the men are ouly $10 of $11 a wegk, aud even this pittance Is te be cut down, just at a time when the bleak winter necessitates an increased outlay for even the poorest family, Many men have already been dis- charged, and it is feared that a still greater num- ber willbe out of work by the 1st of December. The reflners, as many oi them stated yesterday, are generally losing money, 80 that the present Prospects of this branch of trade would seem to be far from encouraging. WHAT MR. HENRY 0, HAVEMEYER SAYS, Mr. H. O. Havemeyer, of the firm of Havemeyers & Elder, 98 Wall street, said that trade would probably continue to be in a very unsatisfactory condition for the next four or five months, andail in consequence of the ae The decline in the price had been 1%¢c. per 1b, Qn the refined article and 1}¢c. on the raw material, The natural result would be a tendency to cheapen the cost of refin- ing and to compel the trades unions to accept a Teduction of wages. The only question now before the refiners was how much the reduction should amount to, and Mr. Havemeyer thought tt would be twenty per cent @tany rate, They (the firm) were adverse to re- ducing the wages of the men because they had had them for so long a time, and would only do so if all the other refiners should cut down the rates and thereby compel them, for their own protection, to follow their example, Last (beg owing to the high price of gold, they were able to export 50,000 barrels, whitch relieved the hard sugar market, but this year this outlet was closed owing to the low prices of gold. The firm would not discharge any of their men, If they did less work they would have to get an advance on, their refined article to ofset the additional cost ot refining consequent upon the reduc- tion of their capacity, One great diMecult, was that groceries which generally carried a mod. erate stock of sugar bought now only what tueir immediate necessities seemed to require, which compelled the refiners to carry the stock, They, however, had not sufficient storetiouses, and were, therefore, compelied to sacritice it at a 10w price. It was that which “broke” the market. There were about 35 refineries in the city and the number of men employed in them was prob- ably 5,000, The average pay of the men was $45 a month, which was very high; before the war it was only $26 & month, The firm employed 500 men, mostiy Germans. Two- thirds of the men employed in all the refineries were Germans,.and the other third was composed of Irish and Italians, Mr, Havemeyer predicted that the reduction of wages would probably be twenty per cent on the new bg and from ten to twenty per cent on the old men, the latter class of men being more valuable, because they were inured to the great heat in refineries, which was never lower than ninety, and sometimes as high as 160. Before the panic sugar (crushed, powdered and granulated) was 11% cents per pound, and now it was quoted at 10% cents, which was cer- tainly a great decline, At the close of the interview Mr. Havemeyer re- peated that the firm had not discharged any of their men and did not intend doing so, but that Some of the other refiners had reduced their force of workmen, WHAT MR, DURANT, JR., SAYS. Mr. Durant, Jr., of the firm C. W. Durant, said that the panic had caused a great depression in the trade and depreciated all the values mate- rially. The decline in the price of sugar has been from 13; to 2 cents per pound in the various grades. The scarcity of money kept job- bers from buying to any considerable extent, 80 that the firm only did half the usual work, and other refineries had been closed entirely. The trouble was that the refiners had always bought the raw material on time, on four months, bat now they nad to buy it for cash, and they had not enough money to do this, What was the natural consequence? That they could buy but very little, The price of sugar was so low, however, that 1t could not possibly be much lower—the panic bad done all the harm it could do, The firm had reduced the wages fifteen per cent on November 1. M. Durant thought that there would surely be an improvement in the trade aiter January 1. DE CASTRO AND DONNER. Messrs. De Castro and Donner, who employ 500 men, were not in their oMce, but some gentiemen connected with the firm thought there would probably be a reaction within twenty days. Wages would be cut down from ten to fifteen per cent and the reflners would probably meet again this week to talk the matter over. They smployed 500 men, none of whom would be discharged. Another prominent sugar refiner saia that there would probably be no further decline in the price of sugar, because the downward tendency would necessarily be checked by the diminished supply, He thougnt that at least one-fiith of the workmen employed in the sngar refine:ies were out of work. Most of the refiners were of the opinion that the men could not resist the proposed reduction of wages, They said they had hundreds of applica- tions for work every day. OILS AND PAINTS, Depression in the Petroleum Refinerics— No Export Trade—Reduction of Time and Wages. A HERALD reporter yesterday went among the oil men and to a few of the paint establisnments seek- ing information as to the effect of the panic on the oil and paint business. The oil men had nearly all the same story to tell. The export trade is en- tirely at a standstill, and the domestic trade is paralyzed for want of money and want of confi- dence. AS @ reason for the cessation of foreign contracts it was stated by all those visited, that during the year tire Price of ofl so steadily decreased that foreign stocks were laid in very fully, When the panic came there was no immediate want of oll, and the condition of the gold market and exchange was so bad that no ventures could be made. None of the Principal oil works, however, have entirely closed, continuing in operation, not upon current contracts, but in the fulfilment of old ones. When these are exhausted there must come utter stagnation, and _ this must necessarily cause the disemployment of thousands of workmen in the middle of the wiater. Some Jew of the works are running on part time only. The domestic trade in oil has also suffered, though there 1s good demand for small quantities. So far none of the clerks in the offices of the va- rious firms or companies have been discharged, but if the effect of the panic lasts to the end of December they will be all adrift at New Year's. Below will be found the statement of a tew of the firms visited, which will be sufficient to show the general state of the trade :— Libby & Clark, of Maiden lane, say that their ex- port trade at the present time is simply nothing; but they have old contracts to supply which will enable them to keep at work until January, In their four refineries in Brooklyn they have 125 men employed, and they hope to be able to retain them all at least until the end of nextmonth, Their do- m estic trade is not large, This firm is exclusively concerned in parafiine oil. ‘The Standard Oil Company, whose offices are in Broad street, carries a vast business in Cleveland. The wages paid weekly to the employés amounts to $35,000, The contracts on the hands of the com- pany when the panic broke out have kept all the men at work 80 far, and probably willbe able to keep them going for a few weeks hence; but, should there beno change, business must come to a standstill, and the large army of employés must go adrift until & healthy condition of business is revived. In the storage warehouse in Brooklyn 400 men are employed, and these also are being stillkept on. The company is engaged entirely with petroleum, The house of Charles Pratt, Fulton street, so far as the export trade is concerned, isin the same condition as tle two establishments named above, It has a factcry in Williamsburg and another at Hunter's Pott, and the wage-roll foots up per week $6,000, ‘he contracts on hand wili keep the men at work until about January 1. In the do- mestic trade there has been no very sertous falling of, but the usual increase in the ‘business of the house at this time of the year is missed. This house also ts engaged with petroleum. The Brooklyn Olt Company, Pear! strect, also a petroleum concern, have their works at Green- pa and are at present employing 100 men, one- all of whom are to be discharged at the begin- ning of the new year, unless there be a change in financial afairssooner. They had had, previous to the panic, an export business equal to the full capacity oi their works, Like the other establish- ments the only export business on hand consists O/ the old contracts made belore the panic, ‘The Dowaer Kerosene Ot] Company, Maiden lane, State that of the 700 men employed in their re- fineries at Corry, Pa., and Boston, not one bi as yet been discharged. The firm owning the Atiantic White Lead and Linseed O1 Works, Pearl street, report that their business, hich is entirely domestic, 18 only about one-half What it was, Payments for orders sup- plied are tolerably good, and business, all things considered, rung along more smoothly than might be expected, About 300 men are employed at tn works, but only on half-day time. It is expecte by the firm that they will be able to keep the men So employed and thus weather ont the storm, ‘Tbe StatLinseed Oil Company, Whose works are in Jersey, wwe running pair every alternate week, In the pint business ©. T. Raynolds & Co., Ful. ton street state that in their Jersey factory they have 75 men working on half time and in their Erooklyn factory 120 men on two-thirds time, Tht collections are about one-third of the usual monent, This shows in @ Jew words tue conditiono? the trade, Devoe ¢ Co., paint manufacturers, in Fulton street, tae that their business ts good under all the cireunstances, and ho annoyance has been oc. casioned in the collection Of bills, Only a iew men have beer discharged irom thetr factory, in Hora. Ng ayere They autiowate ay embar Faapunesyss ), Ms = but should business not mena py the ne; the Mew year serious chanyves must ageenane he LABOR PROSPECT IN BROOKLYN. A Blue Lookout for the Working Class- oT rtors Two-Thirds Time,” with Hard Tt Antictpa= tion—Splendid Opportunity for the Charitable to Exercise Their Virtu: While the successful candidates are grinning from ear toear over the bright prospect of lucrauve terms of office, the great masses of their con- stituency, the working classes, are puzzled as to what will become of them during the approaching inclement season. Factories and workshops upon every side are curtailing expenses or closing their doors entireiy, and the discharged employés may be seen in groups discussing their distressing position, and wondering what ts to be done to maintain their families and keep the wolf remote from the heath. The Brooklyn white lead works on Front street, which, whem in full operation, give employment to about 150 men, are now engaging less than half that number, and the hands are paid at the rate of two-thirds time, The indigations are that the supply of white lead being ample for the winter market, the establishment will close in a few weeks until business becomes more brisk. At the Webster Manufacturing Company, on Front street, there are 100 men and boys employed in tne manufacture of silverplated ware; but they are now working on three-quarter time, and alter this week the men will be employed only four days each week. Orders here, as else- where, are’ coming in very slowly, The employers anticipate a very duil season an Much trouble for the poor, At the Bote Brass and Copper Works tne work- ing force has been reduced from 120to 75 and next week but four days’ work will be given the men, The Atiantic Steam Engine Works, on Water, street, have but 60 machinisis employed instead of 200, the force before the panic. Urders for work; are large at this establishment, but the dimeculty of collecting money due compels the reduction of the force at this time. Applica- tions tor work at the offices of all tiese factories are constant, and skilled labor may be had a& greatly reduced rates, a circumstance which the; employers invariably remind mechanics of upon every Opportunity. As for the lavorers, hod carriers and others, @ majority of whom have families depending upon their earnings for sub- sistence, their energy in “looking tor a job’ 13 pain- Tully set at naught by the non-success of their efforts. Itis a pitiful sight to observe the weary manner of many of these poor men as they meet With the invariable reply to their solicitations for work, poring for you, my man,’? They are ready to give their services for half pay, almost any pittance, and it is too bad that such honest efforts to earn @ livelihood should meet with & refusal. There are those who loudly pro- claim that they will not starve, no matter where the food comes from. If they cannot get a chance to earn it honestly they will provide them- selves by some other means. — It is often asked,, “Why is it that the public works are not pushed forward now while the weather is open?” If this were done it would give employment to hundreds, who will, later in the season, become a charge to the Board of Commissioners of Charities, This Bureau anticipates a very heavy drait upon its resources, The savings banks tell of small accounts of the working classes being drawn wherewith to provide the necessaries, at the ex- pense of their suvings of months. The private and public charities alike anticipate an increased field for the exercise of their labors, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society officers are making every Preparation ior gleaning the iruits of the vineyard by earning the future reward promised to those who “give even a cup of water in His name,” &c, Economy is being practised by the charitavie, that they may have more wherewith to “remember the poor’ whem called upon, and the “outlook” warrants the pre~ caution, At the Planet Mills, in South Brooklyn, work hag been almost entirely suspended, thereby throwing 300 men, boys and girls out of pe At the “Soothing Syrup Factory,” of the Winslow estate, Third street, but little syrup is now in process ot manufacture, although the article was never more needed, perhaps, in the City of Churches by the defeated republican candidates and partisan adherents at this juncture. But itis not for either the loss sustained by the soreheads which collided with the ballot box and were knocked out of time by the popular vere dict, or for the iniant victims 01 the cole, that regret is to be attached to the suspension of this syrup factory; it is because of the fact of the loss of work by many poor people. The sugar refineries on Water street are seriously affected by the stagnation of business. and have been necessitated to dispense with the services of many workmen, The ‘longshoremen of South Brooklyn, too, begin to complain of the lack of labor. ‘The ships have not been so numerous of late at the docks, and consequently there are fewer cargoes to handle. The song of “hard times” would appear to be the besi hummed air just now, and its application to the ‘crisis is forcible. THE LABOR CRISIS IN NEWARK. Manufacturers Trimming Their Sails Lest a Storm May Come=The City, Officials Taking Time by the Forelock, There is little new to report in the conditiun of affairs in Newark beyond what has already been printed in the HERALD. The disposition among Manufacturers to curtail their hands and stock still spreads, however. ne of the largest of the trunk factories, where are employed abont five hundred hands, has reduced its working hours per day from ten to eight, On all sides employers are trimming tuelr ig as though they dreaded the approach of severe storm before long. People who, @ few days ago, ignorantly sneered at the facts given in these columns and denied some of them, have at last discovered their mistake, and adinit it by retailing the now stale facts. Yes- terday a visit Was made to the principal depot of the local horse car railroad companies, and the discovery made that, while the number of persons using the horse cars was nearly up to the average, still there was a tendency to faliom, This, how- ever, the gentleman in charge suggested might be owing to the weather, Mayor Ricord seems determined to take time by the forelock, and, so far as lies iu his oficial power, to prepare for any serious necessity of the poor working classes, As aiready announced, he has suggested to the Committee of the Common Coun- cil on Poor aud Alms the propriety of its tak- ing hold at ouce and making some arrangements for the amelioration of the needy and destitute, who are already beginning to make piteous ap- peals for help in default of work. A meeting of the committee will be held early next week. THE CRISIS IN BOSTON. A Large Dry Goods House Discharging Employes and Reducing Wages. Boston, Nov. 5, 1873, There was a rumor current this afternoon of the failure of Jordan, Marsh & Co., the weil known dry goods dealers and importers of New York and Boston, The facts are that the firm has not yet suspended; but they have commence’ a reduction of expenses by discharging some of their help and reducing the time and pay of those whom they retain, HELP THE UNEMPLOYED. Pieaiel i: Settee see 0g To THE EpiToR OF THE HERALD: The press has generally sounded the alarm of coming distress among the poor of our city and country generally. As the charitable institutions of the city are, it is stated, taxed to the utmost it is evident that an independent organization must be Inaugurated among the citizens in order that the great mass of people thrown out of employ- ment may be protected from want during the coming winter. It is reasonable to suppose that a large proportion of those who are engaged in busi- ness will have as’ much as they can do to carry their own families through the present crisis, and will have but littie, if any, time to think of any one else, While the great mass of those w wre 1a Com Jortable circumstances are though subject or totaily indifferent to others, Still, there must be those who have more or les# of leisure and a disposition to tend a helping hand in the present emergency, among which number J count mysell; aud as no action has as yet beer taken inthe matter L hasten, through your journal, to offer my humbie services, if no ohe better can be found for the work, J offer tue iollowing suggestions:—That thoso persons who have floors or batldings suitable for. ofices for this movement, either up town, in the central part of the city or down town (there should be at least three), no matier in what street, which they are willing to devote to this work during the winter till spring, they can communicate with me on they subject. And I would suggest further that all ‘those who have buildings or floors which bs are trying to rent, unless absolutely necessary to themselves, puil down their notices and stop loasing them fii spring, and consecrate them to this work, Inthe meantime jet every man and Woman having old clothes cast away In garreta and closets take care of them, and as s00n ag the oMeces [have mentioned shail be made Known, to send them tn. I say to others who are in the habit of counting their gains for the purpose of laying them up, Stop doing 80 till the present crisis is ov feed first your own family, and then teed others, We shail endeavor to organize a corps of workers inall parts of the city. Any iniormation with reference to tne under- signed can be had at the Astor or Historical Lis 1, By MULGATE, lw Washington street,