The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-07 00:00:00

ANNUAL TRADE CIRCULARS,

TIM MONEY MARKET.
(From Messrs. 7. and H. Littlodes % Co.'s Circular.)
The money market has presented some singular features
during the past year. For the first eight months the supply
was most ample, and though loan after loan was announced,
they appeared to create only a momentary influence, and
although it was the season of our heaviest imports and
stocks of produce, the rates of discount steadily declined
from 5 per cent. in January to 31 per cent. in June. But
why this decline?—simply because the bullion increased
from £12,000,000 to £18,000,000 ; not from the want of
demand for money—the deposit on the loans, the lame
requirements of C'

the outfit of the secon

campai

cis of commerce

led to the

constan

)rt of "a

e demand, bat an ample supply"
kept remarkably

—and yet .the eireulatio.

of the , ha

steads, and

me within £150,0n0 in January and

a to ebb fro-m
us,

'hole phaseof t

Ltters was oh

been overtrading, and the bank of France in the vain
endeavour to keep her rate of discount at 4 pe
allowed her coffers to be so drainrd of bullion that she must
get a supply at any cost, and made a contract with Messrs.
Rothschild for £4,000,000, which was supplied from this
country. To stop this and oth

T cent

drains

the bank

began yin September to put on the screw—compelled

to do so of course by the act of 1844, to check
their circulation of notes in proportion, to their declin-

of bullion—in sii weeks (from the 6th of
September to the 18th of October) they raised their rates
7, and what did they affect by it ?—the
circulation of notes actually increased £540,000, from
£20,104,000 to £20,648,000, whilst the bullion on the con-
trary, continued to decrease at ac,more rapid rate than before.
But how fared the commercial public ?—every banker
armed himself with a reserve, and parted with his notes so
grudgingly, as to create a famine in the midst of plenty.
The average circulation of the bank for the first six months
of the year was £19,672,000, with abundance of money at
rates steadily declining from 5 to 34 per cent,—for the last
six months the average circulation has been £19,985,000,
with money apparently scarce and difficult to get, at
advanced rates from 34 to 7 per cent and the stocks of
produce diminished to their lowest point. But this is only
half the picture, for not only has the actual circulation of
bank notes been £310,000 greater, but from the moment
the rate of discount exceeded 5 per cent bankers' bills have
circulated in payments of every kind, to a much greater
extent than bank notes, and to their substitntion. There
have been few years recently when the commerce of the
country has gone on with greater uniformity as to supply
and demand. Imports and exports alike steady and
moderate—nndertrading rather than overtrading—no heavy
stocks and no lengthened speculations :—if then, with such
a sound state of things, commerce is to be taxed with a
double rate of interest, what may we expect in the course of
the next few months—when our unusually large imports of
cotton, corn, sugar, &c.. will be met by equally large loans,
and government-, demands for a campaign double in extent
of what we have yet seen, both in this country and France ?
and how far will the bank be allowed to raise the rate of
discount, should the drain of gold continue, before an
expedient be resorted to, to relax the metallic law ? The
bullion has again decreased, and the year closes at
£10,820,143; reserve of notes £5,963,850; notes in
circulation £18,700,615.

'rom 32 per cent. t