The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-16 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

COMMERCIAL and MONETARY NEWS.

MONDAY NIGHT,

THE money market up to Thursday remained in
a state of inquietude, owing to the general anticipation
of another rise in the minimum rate of discount, and the
apprehension which existed as to its probable effect in
assisting the designs of speculators for a fall in the funds,
who seemed unscrupulous as to the means by-which they
endeavoured to accomplish their ends, and even freely
made use of the names of commercial firms, in order
to increase the feeling of distrust. Thursday, how-
ever, passed over without any change being made by
the Bank Directors, and as it was believed that the
worst of the crisis had passed, the funds rapidly reco-
vered, and money for commercial purposes was easy,
the rates for first class paper being even lower than
that fixed by the Bank, and confidence in mercantile
security remaining unshaken. The Bank Returns on
Friday showed another decline in the stock of bullion
to the extent of £659,647, but this is not more than
may have been expected with a decrease in the Public
deposits of £1,037,685, and in the private deposits of
£600,312, and an increase in the circulation of
£118,870, so that the decline in bullion is more than
accounted for by the other changes. The " other
securities" have decreased £124,470, so that the pres-
sure for accommodation is at an end, and as the sur-
plus of notes unemployed is about five millions and a
half, the grounds for alarm are in reality compara-
tively slight, notwithstanding the difficulties created
by the Bank Restriction Act.
We quote the following from the city article in the
Times of Friday :---
The belief in any new and direct Russian Loan having been
covertly managed at Amsterdam seems for the present to
have been dissipated, and the public are disposed to hope for
security upon that point, not only from the fact that no Eng-
lish or French house, even of the most questionable character,
would be likely to co-operate in it, but also from its being the
recognized duty of any firm to whom proposals of the kind
might be made to communicate them at once to the allied
Governments. The possibility of such an attempt will un-
doubtedly call for watchfulness ; but, so far from seeking fur-
ther explanations than those afforded by the action of the
Bank of France for the present state of the London money-
market, the most experienced persons have, as has been
already observed, reason to feel surprise that the disturbance
has not been greater. If those who have noticed the effects
of a sudden exportation of gold upon trade and the prices of
stocks had been previously told that any amount approaching
£4,000,000 was about to be withdrawn by an artificial and
secret operation, extending over only six weeks, they would
have felt convinced that disasters of the most serious kind
could hardly be averted. In 1847, during the heaviest period
of the panic, from February, when Consols were at 91, to Oc-
tober, when they touched 78.11-, the total diminution in the
bullion was exactly £3,975,309. Yet here it was spread over
nearly nine months, while even from the highest point during
the inflation of 1846 the falling off was only £8,000,000, or
just twice the sum now alleged to have been taken from us.
The difference in the results between the two periods is to be
attributed partly to the lower point whence the decline in
the bullion commenced, but chiefly to the difference between
the desperate unsoundness then prevalent and the universal
'healthiness of our existing commerce. Even by the most
sanguine, however, this healthiness could scarcely have been
supposed to be such as to have enabled the shock to be with-
stood in the manner thus far witnessed. When it is recol-
lected, moreover, not only that the Turkish Loan and the sud-
den demand for grain came at the same moment, but that
speculators and alarmists of all classes had previously, in their
ignorance of the real state of the country, and before even the
first whisper of the movements of the Bank of France, been
eagerly putting forth statements, that instead of being in a
safe condition we were approaching a crisis from natural
circumstances, the public will see they have the highest reason
to rejoice that, not having permitted themselves to be deceived
as to the actual causes of the inconvenience they are forced to
sustain, they have been in a position to look upon it without
that dismay which would incalculably have increased its evils.
Trade in Manchester has been affected by the unea-
siness in the money market, and business has been
dull even at lower prices, particularly in yarns. A
failure is announced to the amount of between £40,000
and £50,000 of which it is said about £25,000 is
owing in Liverpool for cotton, but is believed to be
covered by securities. In the woollen trade, though
busines is flat, prices are not lower. The hosiery and
lace trades are also dull, there being an indisposition
to enter into fresh transactions until money affairs
have become more settled.

The shipping returns of the Board of Trade for the
month of August show a decrease in the entries in-
wards but an increase in the clearances, the decline
being chiefly in British shipping. The following is a
comparison with the corresponding mouth of the two
preceding years :---
ECONNAGE ENTERED INWARD.
1853. 1854. 1855.
British Vessels, . 495,225 534,492 427,464.
Foreign Ve55e15.......... 424,241 388,397 281,392.
T0ta1........... 919,466 922,889 708,856.