Bankers' clearing house.
| In | 1870-71 | the total | Clearing | was | ... | ... | £ | 4,018,464,000 |
| „ | 1878-79 | „ | „ | „ | ... | ... | 4,885,091,000 | |
| „ | 1879-80 | „ | „ | „ | ... | ... | 5,265,976,000 | |
| „ | 1880-81 | „ | „ | „ | ... | ... | 5,909,989,000 |
Do any of these figures give one an idea of decay?
Let us now look at our Railway traffics:—
10.—Railways.
| Year. | Miles open. |
No. of Passengers. |
Total Receipts. |
Per Mile. | |||||||
| 1870 | ... | 15,537 | ... | 330,004,398 | ... | £ | 45,078,143 | ... | £ | 2,794 | |
| 1875 | ... | 16,658 | ... | 506,975,234 | ... | 58,982,753 | ... | 3,541 | |||
| 1879 | ... | 17,696 | ... | 562,732,890 | ... | 59,395,282 | ... | 3,356 | |||
| 1880 | ... | 17,945 | ... | 603,884,752 | ... | 61,958,754 | ... | 3,453 | |||
Here again we have to notice the effects of the depression, and the indication of a fresh start, which the figures of 1880 afford. There is one thing, however, to be noted. Considering that since 1875 some 1,300 miles of comparatively unproductive lines have been built, we cannot but see that an enormous advance in the general prosperity has taken place in this department also.
Let us now take a few figures from our agricultural statistics:—
11.—Agriculture.
| Year. | Acres under Corn Crops. |
Average price of Wheat. |
No. of Cattle. |
No. of Sheep. | |||||
| 1870 | ... | 11,755,053 | ... | 46s. | 10d. | ... | 9,235,052 | ... | 32,786,783 |
| 1877 | ... | 11,103,196 | ... | 56s. | 9d. | ... | 9,731,537 | ... | 32,220,067 |
| 1878 | ... | 11,030,175 | ... | 46s. | 5d. | ... | 9,761,288 | ... | 32,571,018 |
| 1879 | ... | 10,777,459 | ... | 43s. | 10d. | ... | 9,961,536 | ... | 32,237,958 |
| 1880 | ... | 10,672,086 | ... | 44s. | 4d. | ... | 9,871,153 | ... | 30,239,620 |
Here is the one bad exhibit in the national balance-sheet. Bad as these figures are, however, they do not, at first sight, convey any idea of the disastrous years, 1877, 1878, and 1879.
To obtain anything like a correct notion of the circumstances, it must be borne in mind that an almost total failure of crops, especially in 1879, was accompanied by very low market prices. The result was disastrous to the agricultural interest, and to every other interest which depended on it.
