Repeal was supposed to restore confidence and, with it, the economy; instead, more failures followed. In 1893 alone 360 national and state banks—343 in the Midwest, South, and West—shut their doors, with an eventual loss of roughly $42 million. The iron industry suffered the worst year in its history; textile mills closed, and railroads steamed into the abyss, unable to meet their interest payments or repay their loans. In all, 119 railroads went into receivership in 1893,
