The New York Herald Newspaper, November 10, 1873, Page 4

yee THR MONETARY CONDITION. Examination of the Present Situation and the Lessons It Teaches. Reform and Economy the Requisite Remedies. WMeavy Gold Shipment from Australia. HOW REAL ESTATE IS AFFECTED. With the close of another week of financial gloom and commercial depression, ttts worth while to paase ere entering upon a fresh week of toil and strife and examine into the general condition in which we stood at the close of business on Sat urday afternoon. some time since occasion was taken to draw attention to the fact that the monetary crisis through which the country is just now passing is no longer a panic, but the in- evitable suffering and disaster resulting from habits of extravagance in living, undue expansion in business to support such extravagance, and un- wise legislation stimulating such expansion. Our merchants and business men generally have ex- tended their operations within their various spheres and beyond them, without a due regard to the capital they controlled, relying too oiten upon government or Congressional aid, being taught in a measure to do 60 by its frequent appli- cation and by the sentiment, seemingly @ party axiom, that fealty to the party in power ESTABLISHED’ A CLAIM UPON THE NATION for private support in a time of distress. How strong this feeling had grown is shown in the urgent appeals made to the President at the outset of the present crisis, which brought the President to New York, with his Secretary of the Treasury, to discuss possible measures o! relief for individual Deneft, Also in the famous application ol a New- York bank president to President Grant for help tor the New England operatives, to be dispensed through the New England manufacturers. The banks of New York, too, have shared in the benefits of this paternal government, in the im- munity granted them for sins of commission as ‘well a3 omission which lie at their doors in respect to this crisis, in having not only done those things which they ought not to have done, but left undone things that they ought to have done. Had the banks since their organization been conducted on conservative—in respect to security, and libera, in respect to accommodation extended—principles, the disturbance of the past month would never have occurred. Those hazardous enterprises, the sudden collapse of which precipitated this crisis, ‘would never have attained the bulbous magnitude ‘which permitted them to be sources of danger ata time when, in THE LEGITIMATE CHANNELS OF BUSINESS, almost universal prosperity ruled. It may be well enough for the Chamber of Commerce of this city to pass a resolution eulogistic of the conduct and character of the banks in the recent struggle. It would likewise be interesting to know how much bank stock is held by members of the Chamber. But the fact remains that in the adoption of the plan of issuing loan certificates, acquiesced in by their customers and patrons and telerated by the public, because necessary as a measure of common relief and security, although @ virtual suspension of currency payments, the banks gave evidence not only of their weakness in a supreme moment, ut as well of either their want of foresight or in. difference to consequences in not making proper provision for an apprebendedemergency. Itis too likely that they also relied upon the government to help them through if a crash came, and the gov- } ernment has thus far answered their expectation * in permitting them THE PRIVILEGE OF SILENCE . respecting their condition when the public most loully called for the fullest information. Accord- ing tO a non-otficial statement their condition on Saturday night was as follows :— LIABILITIES, }201, 000,000 23,210,000 16,767,000 + $39,977,000 5 juired 25 per reserve. Deducting the $22,000,000 loan certificates which are supposed to be amply secured by good collateral, and the $28,000,000 cir- culation secured by the deposit of government bonds with the United States Treasurer, we have oy $151,000,000 as actual labilities unsecured, with @ reserve of $2,227,000 in excess of the ee rer ment. This is a good showing for the ban! but it is ours, not theirs, nor the bank examiners’, ‘They are in detanit under a strict interpretation of the law, and the rejection of their loan certificates and circulation, supposed to be well secured irom their liabilities, 1s necessary to find that comfort in their condition which the public so much need to bring about a return of confluence. No mere scheme of currency reform, without its coroliary, bank reform, will suffice to restore the business of the country to a healthy condition that will endure the strain of our restiess, speculative energy and enterprise as a people. WE MAY TIDE OVER OUR PRESENT DIFFICULTIES by minor expedients of relief, Fresh inflation ‘Would pull us through now, and will doubtless be tried or applied for, but it would be only a post- pPonement of the inevitable day of reckoning which must come sooner or later, with its complete set- Mement, and have to be endured before a final cure can be reached. If a return to specie payments be the millennium, the contident bullion theorists hold, if tt would only serve to temper our disposition tor wildcat speculation and check our headiong in- vestments in such illusions as were so ably de- scribed in Proctor Knott's celebrated picture of Duluth, tt were well that in our new legislation peg the financial situation we held at least that en IN VIRW, RATHER THAN OUT OF SIGHT. To accomplish this two things are essentially necessary—namely, to provide for the gradual retirement of the demand for greenback currency, without contraction, and a steady accumulation of coin on the part of the banks, having in view their ability to resume with the government by holding a due proportion of coin against their paper. In the meantime we want iree banking, that the country may approach resumption gradually and without any fresh shocks, such as we are now suf- fering trom. The present banking system is in Many respects a failure. Let it be thoroughly revised, A SIGNIFICANT PACT. A curious fect, and very significant in the present (olga of atairs, Was learned at the Custom on Saturday, of the shipment, to this direct irom “Australia, of £1,000,000 ster- ode During the past week a heavy arrival at of specie rom Australia was announced, the additional information that it ‘was mostly for rica. We have no notice yet of the arrival of the: amount here. It may be that, with the advance of the Bank of Engiand rate to nine per cent and its expected further advance to ten per cent, with a consequent suspension of specie payments, the shipment direct here i since heard from is made with a view to avoid delay in its transshipment from Engiand. should such direct shipments continue, however, it would be a new Pacer of the decadence o1 the power of the Bank of England, and give additional force to the remarks of the Zeonomist, printed in the HERALD yesterday, respecting our competition with Engiand for specie of the world whenever ‘we shail resume specie payments. THE SUSPENSION OF LABOR all over the country, either in the total closing of shops and factories or the reduction of the hours of labor, hasin it si stive lessons that it woulda Spui ih fapsingetensniligen sop apply. It m1) je, if an in! apprecia- tion of the importance of the present crisis prevail at Washington, in Congress, during the coming winter, anda steady progression ‘ards specie Yesumption be entered upon, that the present or Tather recent schedule of wages among skilled or oo hag tas among the en forced u ‘ond a figure proper to the legitimate ues of ital fn nts employment. Intation, undue speculative enter- rise and reckless living have permitved this to be pon the pressure of the trades unions. We are ut entering, however, upon @ Teverse movement. Contraction has followed upon un- healthy expansion; extreme caution has sup- planted Speculative enterprise, and economy takes ie “9 of extravagant expenditure. It 18 im- le that labor should maintain an excep- the face of a shrinkage fn all combination can secure this re- me Capitalist has the alternative BK ‘Apital (a8 so many have alread: m Present employment, and wat return of more propitious times, o wee. falls to recognize these aren Or ted = or = under = the. akg ort-gighted, designing men, who live agitation without any knowledge of Ai ads, The labor Antexcat of Kula compe, i SR OM ME. oi Rie ER Sanmepped teak of a i assertion of jegimate rights and privileges, and is in a full measure re- sponsible for the events Of to-day. That aympathy i8 extended to them in their present distreas is not because of any exceptional claim they possess in their irresponsibility for the evil ¢imes that has overtaken them, other than such a8 arises irom thetr Rim agen ge os of their duties and relations to capital, which has led them into error biind- folded, while capital entered upon wrong paths with its eyes open. It is almost LIKB AN OASIB in @ desert of distrust, fear, doubt and uncer- tainty to note the prevailing firmness of resi estate in and around this centre. It is truo there isnot much doing and sales are adjourned day after day. This is because of the refusal of owners to sacrifice their property. The fact is, the best property of New York is now in the hands of strong holders, who are largely beyond the reach of the aan yg so far as their private propert; at all events, is concerned; while there is no doul that the witudrawal of money from speculative uses has tended to give relief to others less strong in their monetary condition. THE BUSINESS PROSPECT. The Situation in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa and IWinois—Reduction of Work and Wage: NEW YORK. Railway Car Shop Closed in Schenec- tady—Woollen Mill on Half Time—A Few Fortunate Workmen, Scowensctapy, Nov. 7, 1873. Originally a trading post of great importance, owing te ita being at one time on the extreme western frontier of the settled parts of America, this city was known to the Indians as ‘‘the end of the pine woods,” and yet bears the name, in their language, which conveys that appellation, It has communication through the Erie Canal with the Hudson, and with the whole system of inland navigation from Whitehall, on Lake Champlain, to Duluth, at the extreme end of Lake Supe- nor. Five lines of railroad connect here, three of these being under the management of the Central and Hudson River Railroad Company, and the others are leased by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. Its central position, in reference to the immense traffic passing through it, renders it a great focus for distributing along its iron fingers the goods and passengers bound from all points, especially to and from the West and South. 473 MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. The principal manufactures carried on are the Ellis Locomotive Works, Clute’s Machine and Boiler Shop, Barhydt & Greenhaigh’s Steel Spring Works, Ray's Shovel Factory and a railway car building shop. The number of men usually em- ployed in these (leaving out Ray’s Shovel Factory) is about 1,000, of which the locomotive works take two-thirds of whom are femalea and boys under fourteen years of age. About two weeks ago the car shop, which is quite a new enterprise, owned by @ company, Started work, but feeling “the pinch’? which all industries experienced about that time, and possibly being more impres- sionable on that subject than older undertakings, paid off its hands—about forty—closed its career and suspended operations for the present. Since Monday last Ray’s factory has been running on half time, ant if any inference can be drawn irom appearances, I shoula imagine that the condition of the market for its excellent goods must indeed be disadvantageous and quite abnormal. The aj pearance of the receptacies in which the well carded, soft, fleecy wool is stowed away, and the substantial, comiortable look of the hundreds of shawls in the looms suggest, in this somewhat chilly weather, the desirability of at once having those useful garments placed within reach of the shivering forms for whose service they are in- tended. The present is precisely the season when the demand for woollen goods would be brisk and lively but for the bapeful effect which the upas tree of wicked gambling has had on everything whose value can be measured in money. LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, At the Ellis Locomotive Works, about two weeks ago, some fifty men were laid off, owing to the work on piece jobs being curtailed. Since then an order for twenty-eight locomotives has been received, which will afford full work for ali hands until next summer opens, Atpresent In various stages of construction, from the shaping of the plates to the starting ont on its uncertain career of a finished 1ocomotive—brilliant with the sheen of polished brass and steel—some twenty engines are in progress. The tools and machines in use at these works are of the most improved pattern. MACHINE SHOPS. At Clute’s Machine and Boiler Shop some 350 men are constantly employed at good wages and plenty of work ahead. Messrs. Barhydt & Greenhalgh are also the fortunate met of provid work in these very uncertain times for at 120 mea, at the manuiacture of steel springs. The position of affairs in Schenectady is, taken al- together, much more satisfactory at present than many other cities in this direction of iar more pretentious appearances, This, no doubt, arises irom its industries being unaffected by the prevall- ing epidemic; but how and why they have so far escaped, Icannot undertake to say, for it unfor- tunately has happened in the present crisis that yery much in the proportion of the wealth dif- fusing nature of employments has the pestilential breath of the Wall street Malbolga poisoned the more effectually the atmosphere of their existence, The Prospects of Labor Not So Alarming— A Probability of Cheap Coal. Newsvre, N. Y., Nov. 8, 1873. With the exception of the Newburg Steam Mills, which stopped work afew weeks ago, the manu- facturing establishments of this city seem not to have seriously felt the results of the panic. From the fact that work isto be resumed on three- quarters time in the Lowell (Mass.) Mils on Monday next, favorable anticipations have been indulged in regarding the resumption of the cotton mills in this State, but nothing definite is known here of such a movement. Owing to the great fall- ing off in the demand for coal, caused by the stop- page of manufactories in the Middle and Eastern States, the shipments of that article have materi- ally decreased since the commencement of the panic. At the works of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, where several hundred men are employed, fifty laborers and boatmen were discharged Tg ihe The Tremont Bieachiny and Highland Hat Works are running with ll complements of hands and on full time. The same istrue of the saw mill of J. Bigier & Co., the foundery and machine shop of Ward, Stanton & Co., the boiler works of Boland & Delaney, the planing mill of T. Shaw & Sons and the Excelsior Lawn Mower Works. The engine works of William Wright & Co. sre running on full time, except in the machine shop, which runs on three- quarters time, owing to the lack of castings, and not by reason of the panic: No cases of suffering have yet been reported among those thrown out of employment by the stoppage of the: Newburg Steam Milis, and ample preparations are being made by charitable societies for the relief of such, should need occur, during the coming winter. MASSACHUSETTS, The Panic Not Seriously Felt in the “Spindle” City—No General Re: to Two-Thirds Time=—The Manutac- turers Confident that the Crisis Will Soon Be Over—A Tour Among the Mills and Operatives. LowEut, Nov. 8, 1873. The stories which have been telegraphed over the country concerning the condition and pros- pects of the manufacturing and industrial interests ofthe “Spindle City” have been sar wide of the truth, They have asserted that on Monday next— by common and universal agreement of all the corporations—the various miils would commence running on three-quarters time, that the wages of the operatives would be reduced in proportion and that such a state of affairs would exist for an indefinite period. It 1s true that there was a meeting of the Boston agents of the mills held in that city this week, at which the hard times and the light demand tor goods was mourned and discussed, and that these agents decided unanimously that a Teduction to three-quarters time was the wisest course to pursue, This meeting, however, was not Composed of the proper persons to dictate the policy ofthe several corporations which they represented, and when the result of thetr deliberations became known the directors very properly refused to recog: nize it except in the light of a suggestion, After a jew informal interviews between the presidents and directors of the various concerns a meeting ‘was held to-day to determine what course to pur. sue, but no definite or concerted conclusion was arrived at, and propably none will be, It was ascertained that the inter ests of the seyeral corporations were so varied that anything like a combination in the matter of running the was impracticabie, Some find it to their advantage to run three. NMR LATA MMe, Bbers faYor Aull LUIS one-half, In Ray’s factory about 200 work, - taon of wages, and there are others who favor full time anda continuation of full pay. Oneof the agents of a large corporation, in commenting upon this state of affairs, remarked to your correspond- ent that it was not altogether a diversity of inter- ests that prevented united action, but the agents and directors, being asharp set of fellows, were afraid their rivals would get the best of them, and, therefore, they preferred to’ act independently. Just what they will do is not yet known, but it is certain that NONE OF THE MILLS WILL SUSPEND OPERATIONS AL- TOGETHER. The majority of them will probably come down to three-quarters time in the ourse of a few days if there are no signs of easier and more prosperous times, and some will run full time, with and with- out a reduction of pay, and one or two have sufl- cient orders on hand to demand the running of the machinery beyond the ordinary eleven hours which constitute a day's work in the majority of ‘the mills here. In brief, the various corporations will do just as they please, and none will be guided or influenced by the action of its neighbors. 4 MANUFACTURER'S VIEW OF THB MANUFACTUKING INTERESTS, «We are ail cheerful, and look upon the present crisis as only temporary,” remarked the agent of one of the iexget cotton Corporations to your cor- respondent ti aiternoon. “Of course, if the present times continue it will not do for us to keep ,Manulacturing and piling up goods. When the \afairs cf tue Spragues and Clanin get settied I think the manufacturing interests wit brighten. ‘Vast ouantities of their ds have been thrown on the market at cost and less than cost, and of course the solvent manutscturers and dealers can- mot compete except at & ruinous sacri- fice, and hence it is that we are obliged to pile up our goods, except those we are making on contract. Another effect of their failure has been a reduction in the price of cotton from three to four cents per dd, and as all the corporations of any maguitnte haa large quantities on hand at the commeucement of the panic, it is obvious that the goods they manufac- ture now are from stock which was purchased at a rate considerably above the present market. If money was easy we coud buy up cotton at the preselt reduced rates and mike a gvod thing of it. But the Spragues and Clafiins are now out of the borrowing money market, and I feel confi¢ent that rates will soon come down, and that tue man- ufacturing business, at least, will not long sulfer embarrassment, 4 TOUR AMONG THE MILLS AND OPERATIVES. To go around among the various corporations one fails to discover any signs of depression or any evidences of the hard times which we hear 80 much about. Allo! the great temples of industry which line the Merrimack resound with the click of the looms and Wp the same as they did six months ago, and at morning, noon and night the avenues to and irom the milis are thronged with the happy operatives. In the evening the streets and retail shops are tilled with the young: women, and the dry goods dealers say that their trade from the operatives was never more brisk than 1t isat present. The Lowell mill girls are notable for their love of dress, and to see them out ona pleasant Sunday afternoon one could hardly distinguish them from a Fifth avenue belle prome- nading Central Park. Silks and jewelry are not strangers to their general toggery, an ieee fl of them have quite a snug little sam in the savings banks, Mr, Horsford, President of one of the banks and aa officer of one, of the savings institutions, told me that there at some girls who have as high a8 $4,000 or $5,000 drawing interest, and there are hundreds of them who can show amounts of from $300 to $1,000. Ever since the war they have made from $125 to $2 r day, and, as their board is only §225 a week, the valance in their favor is quite grati- fying. Excepting the overseers they earn better wages than the men, and as a class they are much more frugal with their funds. If there was suffering among the operatives it would fall most heavily upon the men—heads of families— who have earned only about a dollar and a half per day, a sum scarcely sufficient to keep them com- fortabiy along, and of course admitting of no sur- plus jor the savings banks, But there are no an- ticipations that the present crisis will bring about such a fearful condition of affairs. Among the evi- dences that the corporations amean to keep along are the enlargement of the present and the ERECTION OF SEVERAL NEW MILLS, This is true of the Merrimack, Hamilton and Massa- chusetts companies, and some of the other cor- toes, will add to their sacilities of production in the spring. The corporations owning and con- trolling the seventy-four large cotton, woolen, carpet and shawi mills here are ten in nusmber, and they afford employment to about SIX THOUSAND MALES AND TEN THOUSAND FEMALES. Ten or twelve years ago these milis were con- trolled by Boston stockholders, but now most of -the stock is held in Lowell. Among those of na- tional reputation who are largely interested are General Butler; G. V. Fox, late Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Dr. J. C. Ayer, the pili ana physic man of the world, who is reputed to be the wealthiest man in Lowell. His fortune is set down at not legs than $10,000,0000, and it is said to be increasing at the rate of $1,000,000a year, He has a good many business irons in the fire and has always been successiul in everything in which he engaged, omitting, of course, & lew unsuccess- fulefforts which he has made to represent his fellow citizens in the national Congress. THE PRINCIPAL CORPORATIONS here are known as the Merrimack Cotton Manu- facturing Company, which employs 1,800 females and 700 males; the Hamilton Cotton Manutactu ing Company, which employs 824 females and 400 males; the mgd Cotton Com- pany, which employs 470 females and 120 males; the Lowell Cotton Manufacturing Company, which employs 1,000 females and 450 males; the Middlesex Woollen Manutacturing Company, which employs 834 females and 481 males; the Tremont and Suffolk Cotton Mills, which employ 800 females and 400 males; the Lawrence Cotton and Woollen Company, which employs 1,380 females and 250 inales; the Boott Cotton Mills, which employ 1,100 Jemales and 400 males; the Massachusetts Cotton Mills, which employ 960 females and 360 males, and the Lowell Bleachery, which employs 40 females and 360 mules. Besides, there is the Lowell Machine Shop, which does a large busi- ness in the manufacture and repairing of cotton machinery, furnishing even now employment to over 1,000 men. The foregoing are the most extensive corporations in the Spindle City. but there are such other industrial ana sig- nificant concerns as cashmere, flannel, twee: stocking yarn, bunting, shawl, carpet, hosiery, wadding, felting, card and clothing and paper Manufacturing establishments almost without number, none of which have yet been seriously affected by the crisis, A few have slightly re- duced their working force and a few are running on three-quarters time, but as a whole they are jogging along about as usual; and, unless the panic 18 prolonged beyond a period which the Manufacturers oi Lowell tei! le its effect upon the 20,000 operatives here will not be very disas- trous, - CONNECTICUT. A Nearly Five 'TYhousand Workmen Out of Employment—A General Reduction of Time Among the Factories—No Serious Embarrassment or Distress Appre- hended, Hartrorp, Nov. 8, 1673. This State, if any, should feel the ill effects of the panic which appears to be sweeping over all the manufacturing areas of the country, for Connecti- cut is essentially a manufacturing State, in which everything that ministers to the convenience of man ismade. There is nothing too large and com- plex or too small and simple for the in- genious industry of this extraordinary people. They take in everything from a mousetrap to the mammoth machinery for an ocean-going steamer, All that is curious and bizarre in myention gets a trial here. A new idea in a button, an itnprovement on a clothes pin, ora fresh wrinkle in & pocket com» will start a joint stock company for the purpose of giving ita trial and with the hope of deriving a fortune from it, The State is DOTTED ALL OVER WITH FACTORIES, employing from five men to 1,500. Wherever o stream of water can be made available for turning & mill wheel there may be found 4 hive of industry. Perhaps there is no territory of its size in the world where 80 much varied mechanical skill 1s brought into active development. Directly and indirectly, half the population live by manufactures, Tne spreading waves of the late panic have struck the eastern and southern parts of the State with some force, and the carriage factories of New Haven feel the effect, This city, which is at the centre of the State, and not so much given to manufactures, pretends to be unconscious of any panic having occurred in the country. The capital of Hartford is chiefly invested in insurance, banks, Teal estate and railroads. Of course, the insurance companies feel the stringency of the times, but they won’t acknowledge it, There is no form of Jealousy, except the matrimonial, whieh is go bit- ter and uncompromising as that which existe be+ tween insurance companies. Let one of them be on its last legs and ready to drop into the grave of oblivion and bankruptcy, it will still contend that itis more healthy and prosperous than its rivals. There are over forty insurance companies in this city, and though they lost about $15,000,000 by the Chicago and Boston fires they say they were never better off. Capital and assets combined, these companies are in possession of about $10,000,000. In real estate, banks and railroads the rest of the surplus capital of Hartford is in- vested, CONSERVATIVE NATIVES, The natives are conservative, exclusive and up 0, respectability. They rather look down upon Nor- wich, New Haven and Waterbury, because they are engaged in vulgar methods of maxing money— such a8 cotton, clock, carriage factories and the like. They feel no dread of any distresa this win- ter among their working people. There are about 4,000 operatives of all kinds in the city, and they are distributed and situated in this way:—In the Pratt-Whitney Works 550-men are employed, and no reduction in time or wages has taken place, nor is there a likelihood of any, for tue reason that the firm has orders from the Austrian and Russian governments which will take them to the middle of next year to execute. Their speciality is the manufacture of machinery for making guns and sewing machines, and their establishment 18 quite an extensive one. Everybody has heard of THE @OLT FACTORY where the famous Colt revolvers are made. It is an immense concern, but it has fallen away since the death of Colonel Colt, There was a time when it employed over 2,000 hands. It is now content with a force of 600. It ts running ten hours @ day, and the superintendent thinks there will be no occa- sion for a reduction of either time or wages. Lock- wood & Brainard, book printers, employ 200 hands at tull time and customary wages. Identified with this firm is that of Case, Lockwood & Brainard, who had the contract for Greeiey’s “American Con- flict.” ‘The first volume went off their hands like hot cakes, but betore the appearance of the second Greeley went to Richmond to attach his autograph to Jef. Davis’ bail bond, and that proved the death knell of the second volume. Thousands of good republicans who read with & ravenous zest the first instalmefit of Greeley’s story never cared to see the second. This incident should be in- corporated among the “Uuriosities of Literature.’’ There was A GREAT FACTORY here in the days of the war, where Sharpe's re- eating rifles were made. As the government failed to repeat its orders the factory closed, but was subsequently taken by the Weed Sewin chine Company, Who employ 300men. They have reduced the hours of labor to three-quarters time, but have discharged none of their hands. P. Jeweil & Sons, leather belting, sixty men employed, are running eight hours, Kellogg & Bulkley, litho- grapbers, full time; Hartiora File Company, full time, and Washburn Wheelworks, same. George 8. Lincoln & Co., machinists and founders, employ 120 men now, having discharged twenty-five. They are about to cut down from ten to eignt hours. James L. Howard & Oo., railway supply manut{ac- turers, have only thirty men employed, though in better times they have had as many as 100. They explain the failing off on the score that all over the country the railroad companies are retrenching and curtailing, and vhat the demand for railway supplies ia confined to barely what is necessary for ene | purposes. The National Screw Com- pany employ 150 hands, and have so tar made no reduction in the number or in the wages. The Woodraf Iron Works have 250 hands, and the su- perintendent says that very soon they will be com- Poin to run night and day, 80 that there is no jikelihood in that quarter of any !ack of employ- ment for the hands. They are engaged in ing the engines for the St, Louis Bridge. AMERICAN SILK PRODUCTION. I paid a visit to the manufactory of the Cheeney Brothers, which is rather a remarkable institu- tion, as 1t is one of the few attempts in this coun- try to compete with the silk productions of France and England. The great feature of the manutac- ture ts the weaving of spun silk into silk cloth for ladies’ dresses. They employ 300 hands in Hartiora and about 600 at Manchester, seven miles east, and have no immediate intention of reducing the force. They say the panic has cut of & montn or six weeks Of fall trade. Last September was the largest month they ever had, but October showed a falling of of fifty percent. They are now en- gaged preparing for the spring trade, and have no apprehension that the present depression will continue, AN IMAGINARY PANIC, I find from conversation with the manufacturers that there is no sense of positive alarm among them as to the juture. They insist that this panic started on a fictitious basis, that there is no sound cause for it, and that no analogy exists between this year and 1857, As for the operatives, this is the language I heard from a gentieman o! Hart- ford:—‘‘Here and everywhere else you will find many operatives who are shiftiess and inefficient, who live trom hand to mouth, and are no better of 1n the best than in the worst of times. Good, sober workmen are seldom or never discharged, except, of course, where a tactory shuts down altogether, In the class of manufactures confined to Hartiord the men employed are kept all the year round, as a Tule, because it is not easy when your hands have been with you for some time, and happen to be od ones, to replace them satisiac- torily by strangers. In other places, especially in England, they close their factoriea in dull times, Jet the bands disperse, and trust to luck to get them back again when they open. We preler to trust to luck tor better times and keep our hands on work- ing in that hope. The work people appreciate this and their labor is all the better for it.” “What might be the comparative difference in the prospects of the operatives im the city and in the country places?”’ “The country, undoubtedly, is easier for the work people. Inthe city there is the question of rent to be met punctually, If the city landiord fails to get hia rent atthe end of the month he turns his tenants out. In the country the opera- tives may owe for six months’ rent and not feel anxiety about being thrown out of shelter, That is one great consideration, and then those in the country bave a chance of Seay rest vegetables, rear- ing poultry, and, altogether, living more cheaply and comfortably sn in she city.’’ RFFECTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. So far it 1s certain that the manulacturing inter- ests of the State have not been seriously alfected ; but, in anticipation of any further embarrassment, there is a general disposition to cut down expenses wherever the cutting can be done with the least Possible inconvenience. Taking the State alto- gether there are now out of carmorment in the manufacturing centres about 4,500 hands. Tne New Haven carriage factories and the New Haven Melodeon Company are stopped altogether. At East Hampton the Gong Bell Company, the East Hampton Bell Mar A and D. B, Niles & Son have ring) a entirely. Veazey & White and Bevin Bros. Oo. are still open, with a reduced number of workmen, * At New Brighton the Stanley Rule Works have reduced wages twenty-five per cent. At Bridgeport the Howe Sewing Machine Com- pany have Stopped and the Wheeler & Wilson are ranning on reduced time. At West Winsted the Empire Knife Company and Latorop’s Cutlery are running on reduced time. At Winsted the New England Pin Company uave reduced the hours from ten to eight. At Bristol all the factories are on reduced time. At New Miliord the button factory is running with a diminished number of workmen. At Wolcottville the Turner, Seymor & Judd Man- ufacturing Company are running on halt time. All the other shops continue on iuiltime. The Union Hardware Company informed their employés last week that they should run full time for the pres- ts the monthly payments would not be made At Meriden the Britannia Company have deter- mined, after consultation, to run their present help on full time until after. New Year's, unless some extraordinary emergency arises. The pay- roll of this company was hali a million last year. At Plainfield the cotton factories of A. B. Fenner are running on hall time, and the chances are that there will be nochange for the better this winter. At Unionville the Union Nut Company has re- duced the wages of its employés irom flteen to twenty-five per cent. At Naugatuck the Connecticut Cutlery Company is running on reducea time. The Giove Company have just erected a new building, which was to have been filled with hands, but owing to the state of the money market they have determined not to put on any more help at present. At Ansonia the Sterling Organ Company have shut down, except to finish some littie work left unexecuted, alter which they will hold up until more orders come in. The Shelton Company patd their hands in fuil last bop oy but are running their mills on ha‘f time. The Wilkinson Company have — down the wages of all ther hands twenty per cen’ At Birmingham the pin factory is running on re- ducéd time. The tron ioundry has reduced the pa: of its hands twenty per cent, but gives them tuil time. Somers & Howe and the iron and steel works id their eines % part of their wages on Satur- tt "Salt the 5 wrague “Oneton Mills, r tic the Sprague Cotton employin; 1,200 hands, are running on half time. saiukiaed At Riverton the Stephens rule factory is on half time. a to Danielsonviile all the factories are on reduced e. ~ At Thomaston, Plume, Atwood & Co., brass man- turers, and the Seth Thomas Clock Company are on Yeduced time. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE. By the toregoing it may be seen that while the panic is hat & Widespread effect in diminishing the business of menufycturing, there is as yet no serious embarrassment. This State is noted for its hardware, boot and shoe, hat aud clothing business. Among the wholesale dealers in these the report is that there is some falling off. The 0 trade is very dull. One dealer remarked whereas # year ago he was selling four or five pianos a week, he should now thin! crazy who came to ask for one, The wholesale dry gouds men say that while trade kept up well during the month of Octoner it is now be- jing to decline, as the opener’, of the manu- vories {n Various towns around the State, and the consequent throwing of men out of empioy- ment, to lessen the de: upon the retail dealers. It is apie possible that before the season closes some of the jen have to shutdown altogether ; for the heavy stocks of goods on hand as to the panic will have to be worked oif fore it will be considered prudent to prodace more. It is this state of affairs that makes the re- tall trade dull and collections slow, There is no distress in this city, and when it comes itis be- feved there are adequate resources in this rico and benevolent community to meet it. PENNSYLVANIA. to the Unemployed ablio Improvem To Be Pushed Forward=Lumber Inter este at Williamsport. PHtLapstrnmta, Nov, 8, 1973. Jn one of the communications concerning the 1873.—TRIPLE Spondent referred, at considerable length, to the | or: CMG Of the nano ewe Quaker Mie you corre Likom tug la fact that while there were 32,800 men at present unemployed here there were at the same time cer- tain circumstances which gave this city ® better Prospect than that ofany other tn che Union. I referred to the public buildings about to be under- taken, to the various bridges now in process of erection and to the opportunity of steady work afforded by the. unci¢an and unhealthy condition of the streets, It wilt be gratifying for the public to learn that each of these things has been at length considered in turn; that arrangements aro being made to push everything forward with vigor and despatch, and that by this prompt and earnest movement thousands upon thousands of those now idle wiH find means to earn their daily bread. WORK FOR THE UNEMPLOYED. + The Director General of the Centennial Exhibi- tion, in @ recens communication addressed to Mr, Stokeley, Mayor of Philadelphia, submittéd the fol- lowing propositions, four tn number, clothed in these words:— First—Girard avenue, from the Schuytkill to the Exhi- bition buildings, will be the principal thor re, and itis of the greatest importance that it sha to at least 100 (cet from the bridge to Elm avenue, graded and paved so as to admit of the heaviest travel. Its propent state precludes its use during the winter and ring. qaamt—Sewert, should i) laid eid the avenues fer the rainage of the Centennial grounds. Third—Mains for tho water and gas should also be laid tn the avenues and Wherever mecomary, ‘so that the road- ways may not be disturbed during the progress of the Centennial work, and so that the drainage of fic meounds may be secured before the erection of the buildings is commenced, Fourth—Fortieth and Forty-first streets should be briaged over the railroad, paved and graded without delay. Until the Girard Avenue Bridge is finished, these streets, with Belmont avenue, will be the only available spprosohes to to the Fark tor the conveyance of material ie grounds, . With those Geyirge te order, with proper drainage, &c,, the work on the Céhtennial buildings can be prose- cuted more rapidly and cheaply than would be possible were they leit in their present condition. The Mayor has just replied to these as follows:— “I recommend to Councils the consideration of these things at the earliest possible moment. It is |. of the greatest importance that the drainage and cleaning of our streets be speedily completed that employment may be given to many of our citizens who, owing to present financial troubles, have need of all the aid that canbe giventhem. The work can now be proceeded with without delay.’ Yesterday afternoon another communication was sent into Councils, reading thus:— Orriox or ux Cura Commssiow PuILADRLPit To mx Prestonnt axp Memsuns oF Gouncius:— GeNrixuex—In reply to your resolution of inquiry in roterence to prosecuting public work during the winter, I respecttully iniorm you that the Department of High- ways can, if necessary appropriation be made, profitably employ at least 1,000 ‘men during the moderate weather ofthe entire month in doing ordinary repairs and m opening and grading streets. Cautious and economical as the Councils are in regard to appropriations for general improvements, it is hoped that the present alarming condition of the laboring classes will urge them to act in the Tight way, and, instead of considering 1,000, appro- priate money to pay 5,000 men. TH E STRERTS alone could engage 3,000; the public squares— which in New York would be called parks—are in 8 disgracetul condition, are foul, muddy and fillea with weeds; immense sprouts and suckers are draining the life and strength from old and his- torical revolutionary trees, 80 that at least 1,000 men could find plenty to do trimming the trees, crushing the great, tall, bungling iron fences which surround them, ripping to pieces the rough and splintery sticks which at present serve aa benches, and in doing other things about these squares which I have not time to mention. The new public buildings could employ hundreds more, the new Post Office more stilt; while tor the Oen- tenmal Exposition buildings, now about to be undertaken, an almost indefinite num- ber could be constantl, employed. Not only will this buildin ive labor to large forces in the designated grounds of Fairmount Park, but from the immense amount of iron used in covering the thirty acres it would furnish work to at least @ hundred of our large iron mills. This national enterprise alone could engage at least two-thirds of those thousands who, hungry, snd in some instances homeless, are now wandering in the streets. The Mayor deserve great praise for the spirit and Prompeanes with which he urges the Councils to relieve THE MISERABLE CONDITION OF THE POOR, and confidence is felt that the Councils will act in harmony with his advice. If the immense num- ber now idie couid find means to earn their living retail business of every kind would at once “pick up’? and much would be done to restore y Hignwars, Nov. kot axp Common courage. THR EXPORTS - during the week, while not being as large as usual, nevertheless have not greatly fallen off, the ful- lowing table, indicating of what they consist, as well as their ditferent value: lenge: ay & 76 tons. Tron'manutactures. Tobacco leat, 336,003 , 372, The employés at the Mint are busier than usual, and during the present month $700,000 in silver will be coined, The situation is no better at the close of this week than it was at the close oflast. On the con- trary, a8 was predicted, itis worse. To-night it 1s rumored that several mills are at last compelled to Yield to the panic and discharge tneir hands. Others are tobe run for the next month on half time, so that, instead of improving, general busi- ness interests are on the decline, A communica- tion just received from Wiiliamsport, the great lumber centre of this State and country, brings tne information that this branch of trade is beginnin: to suffer, and that many firms find it difficult an: others impossible to raise sufficient money to pa; their hands. It is thought that, owing to the small demand for lumber at present and the difficulty in collecting money for that already sold, the lumber business will be obliged to suspend in a great measure, which renders the future of Williamsport for the next few months anything but bright. Visit to the Cambria Iron Works— Hands Discharged, Hours of Labor Shortened and Wages Reduced. JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Nov. 7, 1873. Here is & town of from 18,000 to 20,000 inhab- itants living by and dependent upon the great Cambria Iron Works, the largest manufactory of railroad iron in the United States, There are, in fact, few larger establishments of that character in the world. Nothing 1s manufactured at the works but tron and steel rails and the tools and machinery for carrying on the work. When in full operation— as before the present financial dificulties—the Cambria establishment turned out 1,600 tons a week, or about 85,000 tons a year, of iron and steel rails in equal quantities. The steel is of the best Bessemer kind, and is claimed to be equal to any made in Europe. Some 6,500 men and boys have been employed in the iron works, mines and other establishments belonging to the Cambria Company. I said nothing was man- ufactured but iron and steel ratls and tools and machinery for that purpose, but there is connected with the establishment a brick factory employing hands and 4 woollen factory in which 200 to 800 are employed, besides the stores for goods, where some clerks and bookkeepers are engaged. Four thousand of the empioyés are in Cambria county and chiefy in Johnstown. The rest are scattered about at tne diferent mining and other works over the mountains. Tho Cambria Company manufactited all its owt Materials. It mines its own coal, about 1,400 tons @ day, as well as the ore it uses, except that it has heretofore brought ore from Lake Superior for making the Bessemer steel rails, Hereafter it will use ores obtained in its own mines for making steel, of which there are three kinds that when mixed make an excellent quality of metal. The company owns 40,000 acres of mineral lanas in Cambria, Somerset, Huntington and Blair counties. ‘The financial trouble of the time presses heavily updn the Cambria Company, though it is strug- gling, like @ bold swimmer in rough water, to keep the works going and its numerous trained work- men together. It has been =. to discharge, temporarily at least, 260 to hands, and to shorten the labor of others. Wages were re- duced ten per cent in October, On_ the 15th of this month the company intend to inform the men that another reduction of ten per cent must be made. Lhe workmen behaved well when the wages were reduced in October, accepting the terms a8 @ matter of necessity on the part of their employers, What the effect will be on the 15th of Iwas told by the this month remains to be seen. ntlemen managiny affairs of the company jt i the men should refuse to accept the further ther ten per cent in their wages establishme! all its branches, pag the 6,000 oF 7, to the the ans would have to is would be to the CE ea a Wile Sa Sees fe consol and, and their are a 9 to the not having the means to lea’ re 18 Toason vo hope th ‘may focept peaceabiy the terms to bo proposed. ‘nere SCARCELY ANY MONBY HERE. Even the company has none with which to pay wages, It_ ts compelied to per is Supplies of pro- ns and clothing from its stores, In this, how- ever, | learn that it deals ‘airly with the workmen, not charging more thau the fair market price for these supplies. Itis generous even tn some cases by supplying thdse out of work or on reduced work with necessaries on credit vo a limited extent, A. group of men were discussing at the railroad depot, while I was standing there, the chances of gotting @ little more advance im the way of a plies, The rate of w: has varied greatly according to the kind of work and skill of the workmen. The greater ~ of the work in the iron manufacturing establishment and mines {s done by the piece or ton. Puddlers have earned $6 to $7 a ar. others $4 and $5, while the lowest grade of ordinary laborers were paid $1 20a day. Just-vefore the panic, the Cambria hed orders for railroad iron and steel five months ahead of its power to fill them. When the shock game, those who had meang to pay for rails with- drew their orders, and, of course, the com} saw 1 would not do to execute or take the order of others who could not Pay. It had sold cbte: to the Pennsylvania Railroad and to Western Toads. Well established railroads, doing a profita- ble business, generally took steel raus. The Cam- bria Company has done a | business with railroads by taking their bonds at discount, but is afraid to do that now, though it ho; credit may be restored again by and by, 80 that this practice to some extent might not be unsafe hereafter, Having po orders worth speaking. about or that woula be safe to acneys at present, & smal amount oi rails comparatively are manufactured. Still, 1saw the turn: going and rails turned out. A large portion of the work done just. now, fm order prinoipally to keep.the men employea and together, is in inaking repairs and putting the establishment in good order. Only tron raile are made at present, The blast furnaces for making Steel rails are being overhauled and put in the best condition, ready for the resumption of work, It the men consent to a further reduc. . von of wages the company will continue to manulacture, and either sell rails for the time at a Jower price or accumulate a stock for future demand. it believes that by next spring, at latest, the crisis will be over, and ita business will be as flourishing asever, It is will- ing to run some risks and to strain all its resources inthe meantime rather than close. Itis impor- tant to keep the works going, even under disad- vantages, in order to hold on to the experienced and skilled workmen, and to avoid both the loss on capital and the cost of resuming work on such, am extensive scale. My intormation has been ootained chiefly from the chie! mining engineer, Mr. Morley. @ ver! rene gentleman, who has been wit the Cambria Company many years and who under- Stands perfectly all 1t8 a! At Johnstown there is & mechanical company, for building purposes chiefly, independent of the Cambria or which has in its employ several hundred hands. Itis now doing little or no busi- ness. There is also a tannery, employing about fifty hands, which has not suspended work. These are all the industries worth naming. There is not much farming or farming land around or in the immediate neighborhood of Johnstown, but of all the places for a great iron manufacturing business there is none, perhaps, superior or equal... The works, lying in the narrow valley, or gorge almost, of the Conemaugh, draw their ores und coal by adit levels or tunnels from the sides of the hilis that enclose them. Nature has done everything for the company, which has wisely selected the most favorable spot for operations. Dniene diMculties cannot prevent this region from manulacturmg development in the (utate, OHIO, The Aspect in Cincinnati—Political Ragtags Creating Discontent Among the Unemployed. Crncrenatt, Nov. 7, 1873. The inflammation seems to have been let out of the financial sore, but it isin no wise healed. Two weeks is a very long time to men out of employ- ment and without the means of support. Time hangs heavily with them, and, accustomed to pay for what they get every week at farthest, they feel driven to the wall at the end ofthat tima, when they have nothing better than promises te pay the grocer. It must be apparent that whem the laboring classes are reduced to ask credit for the common necessaries of life the condition is . very bad. Such is the case here to @ great extent; but there is mo actual suffering, ior there is an abundance of produce im store, but the shrinkage of values 1s such that te sell seems suicidal. Every transaction almost in- volves loss at this time; but affairs are falling inte such an adjustment as shall distribute the loss all round, so that the burden will be more easily borne. There is a great depression in trade, owing partly to the apprehension of monetary troubies im Europe, which might materially affect the value of our exports; but it is to be kept in view that the moment the sunshine appears the thermometer wiil rise, the sap will fow and plenty will appear. The trouble now is to get at it. How mach does * it signify to men out of employment what the re- sources of trade are? There might as wellbe no resources as far as they are concerned. Hungry. people cannot be fed by looking at the loaves im he baker’s window. It has been the desire as well as the of manulacturers here to keep their employés fed at least, and to effect this an ex of prod has been carried on to the di result is very satisfacto! and undoubted)! has prevented mischief, which always grows of the discontent and idleness of a stagnation of industry. The number of operatives out of em luyment is not considerable, Pi a Oe ea jor the peace of the communtt, , the sitnation made the occasion for fulminating discontent by a parcel of idle scoundrels who call themselves re- formers, and who are identified with labor movements and popular demonstrations against capital on all occasions, whether it bea local election or @ presidential campaign. These pests, a8 far as Cincinnati is concerned, are not workers; they are industrious idlers, breeders of sedition, disturbers of the peace and theoretic in- cendiaries. This is no e of speech; it is literal truth, The murder ofa pin aiew months age was one of the overt acte, the legitimate outgrowth of labor reform teaching, as insanely opposed to capitgl li one of these fellows can only get & whack at capital {t docs him as much good as guttp derived from clubbing the Admiral and ncing his demon dance around the battered and discarded figure-head. aie} ‘The panic _Qubsequent stagnation of trade and business rded a rare opportunity for plath- erskites of the labor reform kind to shoot off their. mouths, but the newspapers paid very little atten- tion to their fuiminations, and, as far as the prea- ent event is concerned, it proved abortive for them. Our status to-dav is this:—In the banks. the pressure for discounts is not severe. The Clearing House Association Committee surren- dered its trust, all certificates were taken up‘and the banks closed out all their business without a singie failure. They have, however, nearly all de- termined hereafter not to pav interest on current deposits, The pork merchants have made few it any contracts, expecting hogs to be lower, and because there is a ver: Ly amount of old staff ae a @ loss. Very few hogs have been packed us far, An effort was made to-day to settle the Gaylord Pipe and Iron Company iailure, a joint stock concern—liabilities ry 000,000—by giving it six, twelve, fifteen and eighteen months’ ey settlement to be for full value, and it 1s not im- probable that it will be effected. The failure of Suire & Co., wholesale 4! only other smash in this city. involved seriously a few years ago and been shaky since, No estimate of the has been made, but they must figure in the hua- dreds of thousands, and the smash is considet complete and disastrous; at least that is tne street rumor. IowA. No Particular Financial Distress and No General Reduction of Wages— ™M y Wanted. ’ Dosvgue, Nov. 6, 1873. Botore the pabic strack this city, over a month ago, business prospects were the brightest known for years all through Northern Iowa. Crops were large, prices fair and likely to be increased by the foreign demand for breadstuf™. Farmers had already marketed a largo amount of their grat, and money was plenty everywhere. The first visible effect of the crisis was the sudden and almost complete stop put to the movement of grain. From 200 to 300 car loads of wheat every day passing through to Uhicago it ran down to thirty and fifty cars and even less, Prices of Grain fell off and farmers. refused to sell. Country merchants were, therefore, afraid te purchase goods as they had been doing and jobbers immediately found their trade dropping off, In- stead of trying to sell goods the drummors were turned into collectors who scoured the country for money. The amount of currency i circulation Proved to be better than was feared, and collec- tions have all along ruled good and greatly beyond the expectations of business men. Matters were Made worse in this city by ths collapse of one of our principal banks, the cashier of which proved to be adefaulter to the amount of $260,000 and the President to about $60,000 more. A largo portion Of this has boen made good by the disposal of prop- crammed ory te dung paren nd toe sae La ea eae Ai ti a a ie