﻿THE MONEY MARKET

US

iod of our war borrowing are so striking that they
may not be entirely neglected.

The number of business failures reported in 1917
was 20.7 per cent. less than in 1916, 31 per cent, less
than in 1915, 22 per cent, less than in 1914, 8
per cent, less than in 1913, 5 per cent, less than in
1912, and but 3 per cent, greater than in 1911.
The liabilities of those failing were 5.4 per cent, less
than those in 1916, 41 per cent, less than those in
191:5, 53 per cent, less than those in 1914, 43 per
cent, less than those in 1913. Not only were the
failures the lowest since 1911 but the liabilities were
the smallest since 1909, this despite the fact that the
number of those in business in the country had in-
creased some 18 per cent. The percentages of
those failing to those in business was .71 per cent, in
1917, as against .92 per cent, in 1916, 1.07 per cent,
in 1915, and .95 per cent, in 1914. The percentage
of business mortality in 1917 was actually the lowest
— with the exception of the years 1906 and 1907 —
in the past thirty-seven years.6 This lessened mor-
tality has since continued. The failures reported
for the first nine months of 1918 showed a decrease
of 24.8 per cent, from the like period of 1917 and
were only about one-half of what they were in the
like period of 1915—“a very favorable year up to
the time of the outbreak of the first Balkan war in
the autumn.” Liabilities were the smallest re-
corded in any year since 1906, being 15 per cent,
smaller than the year before and less than half those
of the years 1914 and 191s-7

6	Bradstreet’s, January 5, 1918.

7	Bradstree f s, October 5, 1918.