The Express.
London, England, 1867-08-12 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET.-(THIS DAY.)

On OVZOOL

The English funds are in demand to-day, and have
risen per cent., owing to the fine weather and an
expectation that the government broker will com-
mence his purchases for the Sinking Fund to-mor-
row. Home railway stocks opened at a further good
improvement, but have since experienced a partial
relapse, upon speculative realisations. Foreign
stocks show firmness. The transactions generally,
however, are not very numerous, many of the prin-
cipal dealers being sway from the Stock Exchange,
as usual at this period of the year. Attention
will be directed during the next few days to the
fortnightly settlement in shares and foreign stocks.

The rates for choice bills in the discount market
still range from 1} to If per cent., with a large
supply of money offering, and little demand. Short
loans are offered in the Stock Exchange, at 1 to lf.
Consols are quoted 942 to f for money
and 941 to 95 for the account (Sept. 10), and the
Three per Cents. Reduced and New Three per
Cents., 94} to 1.

The railway market exhibits a further improve-
ment, though the best prices of the day have not
been maintained. Caledonian stock has advanced
1 per cent. ; Metropolitan, a ; Brighton, 4 :
Midland and South Eastern, a ; and Great Wes-
tern, London and North Western, and Great
Northern A, f The present quotations are as follows
—Metropolitan, 1271 to 1284; Great Western, 44}
,to a ; London and North Western, 114 to f ; Mid-
land, 118} to I ; Lancashire and Yorkshire, 1281
to 1294 ; Caledonian, 111 to 112 ; South Eastern,
661 to 67} ; Great Eastern, 29 to ; Great
Northern, 112 to 113 ; ditto A, 1131 to 1 ; London,
Chatham. and Dover, 17f to 1 ; North British, 31
to 32 ; Brighton, 52k to a.

The foreign stock imarket is firm, but the only
change in the speculative bonds is a rise of 1 per
cent. in Italian of 1861 and Turkish of 1865, viz.,
to 481 to 1 and 311 to 1, respectively. Turkish of
1862 are quoted 56 to 57 ; Greek, 14 to 14 ; Spa-
nish Passive, 211 to ditto Certificates, 161 to 1 ;
and Mexican, 151 to 1.

United States 5-26 Bonds are in demand, and
have advanced per cent., the present price being
73$ to Erie Railway shares are called Cie tu
464, being per cent. better, and Illinois Central,
771 to I, showing no change.

Atlantic cable shares exhibit no movement.
Anglo-American are quoted 17i to 181, and
Atlantic Telegraph 8 per cent. preference 3g to 1.
Financial shares remain inactive; the present
prices are annexed :—lnternational Financial, 21
to 2/ die. ; London, 24 to 23 dia. ; General Credit,
211 to 21 dia. ; and Credit Foncier, bi to by dui.

A somewhat inappropriate question was put to
the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons,
on Friday night, with regard to the drawing for re-
demption at par of the bonds of the Anglo-Turkish
Loans. Some suspicious holder appears to fancy
himself aggrieved, and has contrived to get his
complaints brought before parliament. It is diffi-
cult, however, to see in what way our government
could interfere, except very indirectly, in the
matter. In the first place it is a well-understood
maxim of our foreign policy that if individuals
choose to lend money to other countries, they do so
at their own risk, and have only themselves to
blame in the event of a breach of faith. Secondly,
there is not the slightest pretence for saying that
these drawings are unfairly conducted. The pro-
cess is as follows :—A series of tickets are printed
corresponding with the numbers of the bonds.
They are separately verified by a public notary, am;
locked in a bag with two, or sometimes three,
separate locks. The key of one lock is kept by the
representative of the foreign government, the
key of the other by the contractor. Where
there are two contractors, each has his distinct
lock. The bag itself remains in the custody of the
notary. On the day of the drawing the notary
produces the bag in presence of the contractors
and the foreign representative, the several locks are
opened, and the requisite number of tickets taken
out, either by the foreign representative or the
notary. The bag is then re-locked and taken away
by the notary, to remain in his custody till the
next drawing. It thus follows that if unfair play
be intended, it can only be done by the direct col-
lusion of the embassy, the agents for the loan, and
the notary public. It is impossible to see what
better security could be devised. Sir J. Simeon,
however, might have done service by adverting to
another point—viz. : How far the issuing of bonds
at, say GO/. or 701., to be paid off at lOW.' by
periodical drawings by lot, infringes upon the lot-
tery laws. It is a well-known fact that the chance
of getting a large prize in this manner is one Gf
the chief inducements held out by foreign govern-
ments to obtain subscriptions here to their new
issues. A direct lottery loan is of course illegal in
England, but indirectly they contrive to evade the
law by adopting the above device.
_ _ _

The following is a recapitulation of the principal
railway dividends for the past half-year compared
with the same period of 1866. In every case but
one—the Metropolitan—a decline is shown.
Making allowance, however, for the financial pres-
sure that the railway companies have latterly ex-
perienced, the results shown can hardly be viewed
as unsatisfactory :

'Amway DIVIDZSDS TOR THR MT: HALT OF 18.77.
Bristol and Exeter 4 wind 44 for the corresponding hall 1880,
Great Northern 4 „ 5 ditto.
Len. and York. 6l et ditto.
Loa. andN. West 5 „„ 6 ditto.
Lon. and & West 3 „ 4 ditto.
Metropolitan 7 „ 7 ditto.
Midland
North Pastern 6 „ 64 ditto.
Ditto York
North Stafford
The traffic return of the Great Western Railway
of Canada, for the week ending the 26th ult.,
shows an increase of 1,9731. compared with the
corresponding period of 1866.
Subjoined is an extract from the monthly circu-
lar of Messrs. Sillar and Bateman on the colonial
produce markets:
A reduction of the Bank rate of discount to 2 per cent.,
which was considered unavoidable for some weeks before,
was made on the 25th July. The rate had been 24 per
cent, since the 30th May, and a strong contrast is exhibited
in this as in the various details of the Bank returns, with
the corresponding period of last year. Only twice during
thirty years has the official minimum been so low as at the
, present time, viz., in April, 1832, and in July, 1862, and
' both bullion and reserve are now much larger than at
either of those dates. Notwithstanding, however, the
plentifulness of money,
_trade has shown no signs of
improvement, and indeed the capitalist finds almost
as much difficulty in employing his fund' as the
trader in obtaining a market for his goods. At
this time of year there is little probability of imme-
diate improvement, and until such time as a more
definite aspect is assumed by the railway finance question,
the pressure that lies upon all sections of the community
will not be removed. The colonial produce markets have
fully participated in the general dulness of trade, and so
movements of importance have taken place. Finger, with-
out change in value,. has meta fair trade demand,- with oc-
casional speculative inquiry. Coffee has maintained its
value, and some of the finer descriptions show an advane-
ing tendency. Saltpetre dull and unchanged. Rice has
been in better demand, and higher rates have been paid
for floating cargoes, in which a considerable business has
resulted. Spices generally quiet and unaltered.

SATURDAY EVVRNO.

Consols, which closed yesterday at Ai to 1 for
the 10th of September, opened this morning at
941, and so closed. For money the last price was
94i to $. The Three per Cents. Reduced and New
Three per Cents. were quoted at 1 o'clock 94 to
The official business report is as follows :—Three
per Cent. Consols, for money, 941, $ ; ditto,
for account, 941 ; Three per Cents. Reduced,
941, ; New Three per Cents., 941, ; Annuities
1885, 13 1-16 ; India Stock, 2201 ; ditto Five per
Cent., 1121_, ; ditto Five-and-a-Half per Cent.
"enlaced" rupee paper, 101, 8 ; ditto Five per
Cent. rupee Debentures, 102 ; ditto 1882, 1027, ;
ditto Bonds, 655. prem.
The Indian Five per Cent. stock met with less