mes. At the present moment (March, 1885) trade is in a _very_
depressed state, and it would hardly be correct to give the exact
figures, were it even possible to obtain them, and any statistics that
may appear in the following lines must be taken as showing an average
based upon several years. Speaking at a council meeting, February 19,
1878, Mr. Alderman Joseph Chamberlain said the best way to ascertain the
trade of the town was to take the local bank returns and the railway
traffic "in" and "out," so far as the same could be ascertained. The
deposits in all the banks that published returns were, at the end of
1877, L10,142,936, as against L10,564,255 in the previous year--a
falling off of L421,312, or 4 percent. With regard to bills of exchange
held by the banks, the amount was L3,311,744, against L3,605,067 in the
previous year--a falling off of L293,323, or 8 per cent. The amount of
the advances, however, was L6,041,075, as against L5,570,920 in the
previous year--an increase of L470,155, or 8-1/2 percent. With regard to
the trade of the town, by the courtesy of the managers of the respective
companies, he was able to give the numbers of tons of goods, of coals,
and other minerals, the loads of cattle, and the number of passengers.
The tons of goods were 973,611, as against 950,042 in 1876--an increase
of 23,569 tons, or about 2-1/2 per cent. The tons of coal were 566,535,
against 575,904--a falling off of 9,372 tons, or 1-1/2 percent. The
other minerals were 119,583 tons, against 100,187--an increase of
19,369, or 19 per cent. The loads of cattle were 22,462 last year,
against 19,157 in the previous year--an increase of 3,305 loads, 17 per
cent. These were the returns of the "in" and "out" traffic. The number
of passengers was 5,787,616 in 1877, against 5,606,331--an increase of
181,285, or about 3-1/4 per cent. So far as the traffic went, as they
had been led to expect from the Board of Trade returns, there had been
an increase of business, but a decrease of profits; and as to the
decrease of profits he had some figures which showed that the profits of
trade for the parish of Birmingham fur the year ending April 1, 1877,
were L3,989,000; and of the preceeding year L4,292,000--a falling off of
L323,000, or a trifle over 8 per cent. These figures of Mr.
Chamberlain's may be accepted as representing the present state, the
increase in numbers and consequent addition to the traffic "in" being
balanced by the lesser quant