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Federal Reserve Banl~ of Da las
This summary of agricultural and commercial conditions In
the Eleventh Federal Reserve Dlstrlot Is Issued In the beUef that
a concise review of trade will be of interest to our member
banles, business men of the distrIct and friends of the Federal
Reserve System.
The Information given Is obtained by the Federal Reserve
Agent from various sources throughout the district, and in our
opinion the same is relluble.
'l'hose desiring the letter furnished them regularly will receive It without charge upon application.
DALLAS, FEBRUARY, 1919
Headjustments to peace times are being effected in the outlook, and farming conditions are very favorthe District without any undue disturbance, and able.
according to the reports received business condi- Heavv rains and snows, av raging from two to
tions following the turn of the new year have been eight "inches, have fallen over the ~heat belt of}he
Panhandle, and a bumper crop IS assurecl. n"e
fair ly satisfactory. \Vith the transition from a war Government report for December-the late t availto peace basis it is expected, of coursc, that con- able-estimates the condition of wheat in Texas at
&ervatism will be exercised, and there is a strong 100 per cent, as compared with the ten-year avera.ge
tendency toward caution in entering upon future of 83 per cent. The same report estimates the 111ereas·e d acreage at approximately one-third more
Commitments.
than in 1917. If present prospects materialize the
~Ocally, trade reflects the after-holiday dullness and
l!1"~'entory period. We may expect thi condition for State will unquestionably produce the largest wheat
thIrty Or sixty days longer. The lull is, however, crop in its history. 'While too early to begin
no mope apparent than in previous years and has preparations for row and feed crops, which conb.ee~l partially offset by other activitie , of which th tribute to the prosperity of the Panhandle, conoIl ll~dustry predominates. Thc excitement caused ditions are very favorable for such crops in 1919.
by 011 op rations in Central and Northwest Texas
ha;'l Spread like wild fire and a genuine "boom" Banking conditions have not changed materially
during the month. 'fhe strong dee~lsts in many of the smaller towns in Eastland,
BANKING
mancl for funds continues, on acErath, Comanche Wichita and other counties 0
count of
~le State where ~",ells are b~ing b.rought in daily. ton and the very heavythe slow marketing of cotcalls upon banks in the
11 Sorts of rumors arc bC111g Circulated to endrouth section for financing their customers in
COurage speculation by the small investor; princiresult the member banks
~af lly those, of course, which chronicle the n~a~(i.ng another crop year. fA a ties of this in ti tution, and
contin ue to seek the acili
fortunes over night. As a result of the actIvItIes
l1le t'
.
I 11 loned local business at the smaller towns In our total bills discounted and bought show an int ~e oil fields is the heaviest of record. The influx crease of ov r $6,000,000 in the past 30 days. Duro. oil men an 1 the consequent increase in popula- ing the same period the amount of member banks
reserve
over $3,000,000. The
~IOIl .of the .d,ri.lling centers. has caused a deart~ of demand deposits has increas·edgreat that many memfor loans has be n so
OllSIIlg facIlIties, and locatIons for new enterpnses
tre greatly in demand. 'rhe ovcrAow has contri- ber banks have found it practically impossible to
)llted to the business of the larger towns adjacent subscribe for the Treasury Certificates of Indebtedness now being issued
anticipation of the Fifth
~~T the fields and is reA ctecl in Dallas and Fort Liberty Loan, and thisin district has consequently
'1' .orth particularly, in the opening of Boards of
been unable to meet its quotas.
I ade and Exchanges for trading in oil stocks.
An analysis of the reports of member banks, on the
Comptroller's call of December 31st, shows an inIn .0111e COunties of South and East Te.x as the very crease in deposits and a slight decrease in loans
A.
heavy rains h~ve interfered with over the call of November 1st. Except with banks
GRICULTURE crop preparat10ns and the farm- in the oil producing sections, deposits are still great\\
ers are badly behind in their ly below what they should be for this season, and
t{ork. . Over most of the agricultural helt, however, the deferred liquidating p~riod and unprecedentecl
19~ Winter rains insure unusuall,Y hea:,y. cr.ops in demand for funds for livestock and agricultural
9. Our correspondents are qUIte Optl1111StIC 0"\ er financil1g have permitted a very small reduction in
This publication was digitized and made available by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Historical Library (FedHistory@dal.frb.org)
the loan account. Interest rates are practicall y unchanged, and 6 to 8 per cent prevail for customer's
paper.
Clearings at the principal cities of the District in
December show an increase or 1.9 per cent over'
December, 1917. For the years of 1917 and 1918 an
increase oE 15 per cent will be noted. Detailed figures follow :
Inc.
1917
17,865,299
5,072,416
92,134,348
17,398,767
74,366,078
30,036,760
71,655,205
12,857,133
Total ____________________ $321,385,996
or
Dec.
*27.4
24.6
20.2
19.5
*21.8
* 3.1
6.1
5.5
1918
$ 12,975,434
6,318,245
110,758,577
20,782,340
58,155,278
29,096,247
76,060,650
13,561,914
t.he same periods a year ago, are shown below :
DECEMBER
1917
No. Valuation.
________ ______ 11
$ 15,035
Austin
60,602
Beaumont ..... --- ....
Dalla s ________________ 28
128,115
58,700
78
E l Paso ____________ 26
______
136,345
Ft. Worth ________ 171
4,051
Galveston
712,683
Houston ____________ 120
234,945
San An tOllio ___ 204
17,605
Shreveport ______ 37
$327,708,685
Austin .... _ ...... _____ .. _ ___ $
__
..
Beaul110n t .......... ____________
Dallas .. ________________ .. ________
E l Paso ________________________
Ft. Worth ____________________
Galveston .. __________________
Houston ______________________
Sh reveport __________________
*
Decrease.
TWELVE MONTHS
1917
Austin .. __ .. ____________ .. ______ $182,1(}51,911
Beaumont ____________________ 58,340,430
Dallas __ .. ______________ .. ________ 790,312,730
E1 Paso ________________________ 206,696,077
FL Worth ____________________ 668,322,419
Galveston ____________________ 283,295,093
Houston ______________ ____ ____ 703,647,253
Shreveport __________________ 109,023,913
1918
$185,372,224
68,216,730
1,076,092,264
226,641,693
694,451,202
278,382,862
796,351,625
132,002,711
Inc.
or
Dec_
1.8
15.9
36.2
9.6
3.9
* 1.7
13.2
21.1
Total... ____________ _
$3,002,189,876 $3,457,511,311
Increase-$45,321,435-15 0/0
*
Decreas e.
vVeather conditions have b een extremely unfavo rable for the building industry durBUILDING iug January, and temporarily
checked any tendency ther·e might
have been to re-open operations. Contractors are
qui.te optimistic over t.he outlook, however, and believe that as the new year advances unpre cedented
activities w ill prevail in the build ing line. Manufacturers of construction materials report increased
inquiries, and feel encou r aged over the outlook_
The high price of labor is affecting operations to a
serious extent. Every effort is being made to encourage and promote bui lding activities, in order
to provide employment for men discharged from the
army- In some of t he larger cities of Northern
T exas, t he inft ux to t he population caused by t he
oil industry has created a very active demand for
b usiness houses and dwellings, a nd m ade additional
housin g facilities ab solutely essential.
P ermi ts issued at the principal cit ies of th e D istrict
in Decemb er , and during 1918, as com pared w ith
No.
7
33
65
38
415
172
118
54
1918
Valuation.
$ 3,400
35,583
61,635
52,668
53,312
15,062
149,784
82,963
18,024
Inc.
or
Dec_
*77.3
*-11.2
*5 1.8
*10.3
':'60.9
271.8
*78.9
*64.6
2.3
TotaL _________ 675 $1,368,151
902
$'172,431
Decrease-$895,72'0----65.4%
'I' Decrease.
TWELVE MONTHS
No.
Austin _____________ 289
Beaumont ________ ____
naJlas ____________ .. __ 807
EI Paso __________ 1,785
Fort Worth ____ 524·
Galves ton ______ 1,818
Houston _______ 2,388
Sail Antonio_2,004
Shreveport ______ 707
1917
Valuation.
$347,561
1,1066,331
3,575,259
3,469,5'07
1,790,612
226,610
3,129,246
2,134,868
915,.112
No.
102
555
1,030
630
3,957
2,227
2,612
593
1918
Valuation.
$252,615
1,304,421
1,667,729
6'16,149
2,067,887
175,614
2,222,151
3,756,344
552,257
Inc.
or
Dec.
*27.3
22.3
*53.3
':'81.3
15.4
*22.5
*28.9
75.9
*39.6
TotaL. _______ 1O,322 $16,655,106 11,706 $12,M5,167
Dccrease-$4,005,939-24%
Incrcase in number-1,384.
* Decrease.
Continued rains have curtailed production and shipments of lumber fully 50 per cent during the past
two mont.hs. As this is written January promises
no improvement. The demand is very light, although no decline in prices is noticeable. On the
contrary, prices are somewhat higher t.han were
Government schedules in effect up to D ecember
23rd. Stocks in the hands of manu Eacturers are
very low and badly hroken, and, on account of
weather conditions, are not being replenished at the
normal rate_ Manufacturers are hopeful that Spring
trade will be very active, as it is expected the railroads wi ll shortly resume buying 011 a large scale,
and that the export demand will be limited only bY
t he bottoms that may be available for shipmentS.
The Government will soon place a large quantity 01
lumber (estimat·ed at 400,000,000 feet) on th e market, but it is expected it will be offered in such a
manner as to not undu ly disturb prices. O n t he
w hole, it is anticipated that the lumber industry,
for t he next two years at least, will enjoy t he greatest prosperity in its history.
Export.s from the Galveston Di strict in November--the latest month for whi ch figure~
EXPORTS
are available, a g g r eg a te d
$15,050,744, a decr ease of $14,884,779
--or 49.7 per cent over Oct ob er.
The record of commercial suspensions for December shows a slight decrease in nUlTIFAILURES ber, but a substantial increase in
the amount involved, as compared
.
with December 1917.
'l'l:e record for 'the year is an excellent one, considenng' the uncertain conditions as a resu lt of the
country being at war. The figures which follow
show, by months, the number of failures in the
Eleventh District, and amount involved, in ] 918, as
COmpared with 1917:
No.
{~anuary ....... _............... 58
~< [ebruary .................... 50
JV.arch
90
~yjl .• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~
s ugust ........................
oe p tel11 bel' ..................
N ctober ......................
] oV(!l11ber ..................
Jecember ............. _...
56
42
52
57
50
1917
Liabilit ies.
$498,256
518,042
310,418
228,577
503,691
376,200
292,589
344,273
223,142
392,822
421,936
380,506
No.
48
41
31
32
31
33
33
46
33
30
32
33
1918
Liabilities.
$455,538
288,227
192,997
251,858
262,671
470,752
311,032
298,340
272,521
410,202
293,019
1,191,850
'fotal.. .................... 684 $4-,490,452
423 $4,699,007
Decrease in l1umber-261-38.1 %
Increas e in liabilities-$208,555-4.6%
'I'he labor situation in the District is be oming complicated by the rapid demohilization of
LABOR
soldiers. A large number of the men
are unable t.o find employment, as
l1lany concerns are refusing to re-employ soldiers
formerly in their service. This, of course, has resu!tecl in a large surplus of labor, skilled and unskt1led, and the situation is becomi.ng very acute.
'n\c severe weather durino' the month has caused
b
some heavy losses in cattle in the
LIVE STOCK Panhandle, and northern and east.
ern New Mexico; in the latter
. eCllOn especially losses will be heavier than for
inters past. The heavy snows remained
several \i\T
On the ground for several days and necessitated
large quantities of high-priced feed. The extremely. cold weather, coming as it did rather earl yin the
winter, caused cattle to lose in flesh and strenoth
and. will make it necessary to feed heavily u~ti l
~pnng opens. The \i\Tinter rains and snows insure
. ne ran.ge conditions in the Spring and w ill 1110rc
t!lan .ort. et any temporary damage to stockmen.
h.ecelpts at t he principal markets in Jan uary have
been heavy, though a slight decrease is shown in the
nUl11b-er of cattl e, and a substantial increase in hogs.
T he unsettled condition of t he copper market a nd
th e high price of labor and material
MINING
h ave greatly restri cted m ining ope rations in t he T ucson, Clifton and
Douglas sections. The volume of busin ess in thi s
particul ar line has b een sub stanti all y r edu ced as a
result, and the prospects for the imm·cdiate future in
the industry are not good.
Coal mines in the Albuquerque section are having
a very heavy demand for their output, and orders
greatly exceed the production. The Oklahoma mines
are also running on full time.
Post office receipts at the principal cities of the
District in December show a
decrease of 1.4 per cent. SevPOST OFFICE
eral of the cities report subRECEIPTS
stantial decreases, as will be
disclosed by the figures foHowing:
1917
Austin ...............................
$ 22,788
Beaumont .................................... 17,627
Dallas ......
167,647
EI Paso ........................... --........... 42,967
Fort Worth ............. __ ............... __ 82,9~4
Galveston __ .................. --.............. 23,370
Houston ..... ____ ........ __ .... __ .. __ ........... 106,702
San Antonio ............... __ ............... 108,217
Sh reveport .............. __ .................. 25,272
Waco .................. ______ .................... 50,456
00 . . . . . . . . .
0 0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ _ •
191tl
$ 24,789
16,450
179,909
41,288
68,650
24,044
104,604
105,740
26,347
33,808
Inc.
or
Dec.
8.7
'" 6.6
7.3
'I' 3.9
*17.2
2.8
* 1.8
* 2.2
4.2
*32.9
'1' ota 1 ______ .......................... __ .. $565,046
....
$556,979
Decrease-$8,067-1.4%
* Decrease.
A comparison of 1917 and ]918 at the same cities
shows an increase of 35.3 per cent. The increases
were especially conspicuous at the cantonment.
cities. The figures in detail were :
1917
Austin ..................................... ____ $209,185
Beaumont ............. __ .......... __ ....... __ 126,145
Dallas .......... __ ....................... __ .... 1,499,260
E1 Paso ..................... __ ................. 365,490
Fort Worth ................................ 582,551
Galveston ................................. __ . 182,300
Houston ...................................... 772,981
San An tonio ................................ 682,830
Shreveport ............. __ .. __ .......... __ ... 221,708
\. aco ......... __ ............ _................... 256,650
V
1918
$268,167
171,261
1,849,146
400,543
842,180
232,349
1,'029,550
1,145,426
278,269
416,075
Inc.
28.2
34.9
23 .3
9.5
44.5
27.4
33.1
67.7
25.5
62.1
To ta 1.............. ______ .. __ .. __ ........$4 ,899,100 $6,632,966
Increasc-$1,733,866-35.3 %
Ret.ail trade during the month has been only fairly
activ'e. The lull is especial ly
noticeabl e following the holiWHOLESALE
days. The inanguration of barA ND RETAIL
gain sales, the . demand fo r ciTRADE
vilian clothing by demobilized
sold iers, and concessions made in the prices of merchandise for quick t urn-over, incident to the stock
taking period, hav-e partly offset this seasonal dull ness.
vVholesale trade is unsettled and cancellations of
orders are quite num erou s. \i\Thile a good business
is expected in 1919, fo r the present at least merchants are r estri cting t h eir purch ases t o actual r equirem ents, are careful not to over-stock, and a rc
awaitin g more settled market co ndi tions befor e
placing large contracts. 1 his is very noticeable in
the grocery trade, and dealers report that orders for
future delivery are being cancelled and contracts repudiated. The grocery trade is therefore not brisk
and is less active than a month ago . There seems
to be no immediate prospect that prices of goods
will decline. They certainly will not until labor
gets cheaper, and as lon g as living costs are abnormal, as at present, the wage scale will be well
maintained.
Collections are slow, on account of the cotton situation and bad weather.
Due to the relaxation of passport restrictions with
Mexico, and the elimination by the
GENERAL
'vVar Trade Board of a great many
articles from the export conservation list, r etail trad·e with the Republic is improving rapidly. Wholesale business, however, is practically at a standstill, as the merchants below the
borcler seem to expect an early return to pre-war
prices from the pres·ent abnormal market. Th ey
are therefore purchasing from "hand to mouth."
This has curtailecl local business to a considerable
extent and necessitated merchants at border point
holding large stocks of goods.
STATEMENT OF CONDITION OF THE
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALLAS
At the Close of Business JANUARY 24, 1919.
RESOURCES
Gold
Gold
Gold
Gold
Gold
coin and certificates in vauIL ............................................. .................................................................................... .. $ 5,883,385.00
settlement fund ............................................................................................................................................................. .
6,625,757.35
redemption fund ........................................................................................................................................................... .
2,184,450.00
held with foreign agencies ........................................................................................................................................ ..
204,010.61
with Agent for retirement of F. R. Notes ..................... ................................................................................... .. 22,246,995.00
Total ............... _.......................... _.......... _............................................. .......................................................................... . $37,144,597.96
Legal tender notes, silver, etc ...................................................... .................................................................................... .
1,745,084.50
Total ....... _.............................. _................................................................................................ ........................................ $38,889,682.46
5% redemption fund-F. R. Bank Notes .................................... .................................................................................... .
314.200.00
Bills discounted-members .............................................................................................................................................. .. 48,702,103 .10
Bills bought in open market ....................................................... .................................................................................... ..
2,625,000.00
Total Bills on Hand ............................... _.. _............................ ................. .................................................................... $51,327,103.10
Tnvestments-U. S. Bonds ............................................................. ............................. ........................................................ .
3,973,025.00
D . S. Certificates of Indebtedn ess ................................................................... ............................................... ................ ..
4,400,000.00
Total earning assets ................................................................................................................................................... .. $59,700.128.10
Federal Reserve Banks-Transfers Bought-(net) ............... ...... .............................................................................. ..
3,572,635.53
Checks and drafts in process of collection ..................... :.......... ................................................................. ,................... . 11,780,363.25
Due from other F. R. Banks........ ...................................................................................................................................... ..
3,511,005.59
All other resources ........................................................................... ............. ..................................................................... ..
3,519,412.52
Total Resources ........................................................................................................................................................ $121,287,427.45
LIABILITIES
Capital paid in ................................................................................... .................................................................................. .. $ 3,169,750.00
Surplus .......................................................................................................... ...................................... ................................. ..
592.204.25
Government deposits .......................................................................................................................................................... ..
5,277,246.06
Due to member banks' reserve accounL .................................. _.................................................................................... . 38,484,403.66
Deferred credits, account checks and drafts in process of collection .............................................................. .. 10,739;179.28
Federal Reserve Notes in cireulation ............................... _......................................... ................................................. . 55,980,390.'00
F. R. Bank Note Circulation ............................................... _......................................................................................... ..
5,791 ,400.00
All other liabilities ....................................................................... _.. ..................................................................................... .
1,252,554.20
-----
Total Liabilities ............................... _.............................. _...... .......................... ,......................... ................................ $121,287,427.4 5
OFFICERS
W. F. RAMSEY,
Federal Reserve Agent.
R. L. VAN ZANDT,
Governor.
LY N N P . TALLEY,
Deputy Governor-Cashier.
CHARLES C. HALL,
PAUL G. TAYLOR,
R.R. GILBERT,
Ass't Federal Reserve Agent.
Assistant Cashier.
Assistant Cashier.
R. BUCKNER COLEMAN,
FRED HARRIS,
Assistant Cashier.
Assistant Cashier.
@FedFRASER