The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-12 00:00:00

Miscellaneous American News.

On Dec. 15 a delegation of loyal Alabamians
called upon Mr. Stevens. They urged the entire
overthrow of the present ex-rebel State Govern-
ment, and declared that any reconstruction that did
not provide for the protection of Union men, black
and white, and enforce to some extent the Con-
fiscation Act, and reimburse Union men for
the property taken from them by the re-
bels, was a virtual surrender of the victors to
the conquered, and an abawlonment of the
only friends that the Union has had, or now has, in
the South. Mr. Stevens informed them that he
should again press his bill for confiscation, and sent
the delegates to sea certain Senators, whom he
thought prevented the realisation of their desires,
which he pronounced to be just and according to
the law of nations.

A bill is being prepared in Congress to provide
for the purchase and working of all the distilleries
in the country by the Government. It is said that
twenty millions of dollars will pay for all the
property now used in the lawful manufacture of
ardent spirits. Two years ago there was one
hundred million gallons of whisky made and con-
sumed, the annual tax on which, if all paid to
the Government, would be two hundred millions
of dollars, whereas there is now received less than
twenty millions from the whole. The South is
filled with illicit stills, an enormous quantity of
liquor is being made, and good brands put upon
it, and then it is sent North for sale. The tax
upon this reputed good liquor if properly collected
would be nearly enough to pay the interest on the
National Debt.

There are four hundred and three vessels laid up
at the port of Chicago for the winter, including
three steamers, nineteen propellers, thirty-five
tugs, forty-eight barques, eighteen brigs, and
twenty-nine schooners.
The great cities of the kingdom may be thus ar-
ranged according to their rates of mortality during
the past year. To 1,000 persons living the deaths in
Birmingham were 24, Hull 24, Bristol 25, Edinburgh
27, Sheffield 28, Dublin 28, Salford 29, Gasgow 30,
Manchester 32, Newcastle-on-Tyne 32, Leeds 33,
Liverpool 42. The mortality was lower than it was
in the year 1E65 in Manchester, Salford, Birming-
ham, Hull, Edinburgh, Glasgow; and higher in
Leeds, Bristol, Dublin, Liverpool. Cholera was
excessively fatal in Liverpool.
The following is the latest intelligence from Cali-
fornia :—" San Francisco, Dec. 19.—The taxable
property returned in San Francisco during the
months of September and October have paid an
internal revenue of $1,600,000. Negotiations are
pending for the introduction from China by the
new mail steamship line of a large force of labourers
for the Central Pacific Railroad. The steamer
Constellation, for Panama, sailed to-day with
$1,061,700 in treasure, of which $870,000 is for
New York account. A shock of earthquake was
felt at Sacramento about 3 o'clock this morning.
Some persons report a shock here some time pre-
vious. A meeting of the stockholders, to perfect
an organisation to construct the railroad from Sa-
cramento to the Colorado River, was called yester-
day. The leading mining stocks are generally
weak : Belcher, $137 ; Savage, $1,980 ; Empire
Mill, $l9O ; Chellar, $2OO ; Gould and Curry,
$690 ; Ophir, $lBB. In the cases of the assessors
of the fifteen counties indicted for making returns
to Avery instead of Bigler, the United States Dis-
trict Judge yesterday fixed the bail in each case at
$1,500, allowing it to be given before any State
magistrate, thus avoiding the necessity of the per-
sonal attendance of the assessors here. The sur-
veyor's and engineer's reports brought here recently
for the projected railroad between Guadalajara and
Lake- Chapelle, Mexico, a distance of 14 leagues, is
under the charter obtained from Maximilian last year.
It is thought the Imperial Government will sanction
the enterprise. The receipts. of the Treasury from
the Interior during the present month is $9,000,000.
The money market grows easier. Leading bankers
quote corn drafts on Atlantic cities at 21 per cent. ;
currency drafts 2 per cent. premium on gold ; tele-
graphic transfers, 21 per cent. ; English exchange,
481 d. Eastern butter is quoted at 31c. Mining
stocks generally closed weak. Gould and Curry,
$7,30 ; Savage, $1,375 ; Imperial, $1,40 ; Yellow
Jac*et, $1,165 ; Chollar Potosi, $2,16. Legal ten-
ders, 72.
A Washington correspondent of the Anti-Slavery
Standard calls the members of the Senate to account

for the frequent allusions in the debates to Mr,

Sumner's recent marriage. "In no other legislative
assemblage in the world," says the correspondent,
" would such an allusion be tolerated." This point
is well taken. The New York World considers that
" It is indecorous, even insulting, for Senators to
" ' chaff' each other, after the manner of bar-room
tipplers, touching so delicate a matter as marriage.
The Senate ought to be an assemblage of gentle-

men."

NEW ORLEANS, December 21.—(General Sher-
man is the guest of General Sheridan. A
salute was fired this morning in honour of Gene-
ral Sherman by United States artillery. He remains
until the reception of despatches from Washing-
ion in answer to those sent by him last night. He

is almost immediately to proceed to Washington,
his mission to Mexico, as Minister Campbell's
advising agent, having been fulfilled. Minister
Campbell will probably reach New Orleans on
Sunday morning. General Sherman and Minister
Campbell will undoubtedly both proceed after the
exchange of despatches with the Washington Gover-
ment, on board the Sysquehanna. The Susque-
hanna is anchored off the bar.

The General Land Office has just prepared a
patent in favour of the Central Pacific Railroad
Company, containing 42,000 acres. The patent is
preceded by a beautiful miniature map of the United
States, handsomely coloured, exhibiting all the
States and territories with great distinctness, as also
the line of the Pacific Railroad from the Valley of
the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.
The Hon. T. J. Coffey cannot leave his cases in

the Supreme Court to go to Europe for the Govern-
ment, and J. S. Redfield, of Lexington, Massa-
chusetts, having been tendered the mission, has
telegraphed his acceptance. He was once the Chief
Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, but of late
years has been practising law at or near Boston.
He will go out at once, and take charge of all the
United States litigation in Europe.
There are now in the Government arsenals of the
United States 250,000,000 rounds of cartridges for
small arms, worth five and a quarter millions of
dollars, and 900,000,000 of percussion caps, worth
800,000 dollars. The Ordnance Department hav-
ing decided to change the calibre of small arms and
dispense with percussion caps these will be nearly
a total loss to the Government. There is also in
store 86,000,000 pounds of lead, worth seven and a
half millions of dollars, and nearly $l,OOO worth of
nitre.

The New York World informs us that while
General Butler was there he was incessant in his
efforts to prevail upon Congress to impeach the
President. He conducted his movements in a man-
ner that would produce as much of a tragic effect as
possible. He occupied the rooms at the Kirkwood
House which Andrew Johnson occupied at the time
of the assassination. Closeted in these quarters, he
spent his time, not :otherwise taken up, in drawing
up articles of impeachment. No doubt he imagined
the spirits would communicate with him and .reveal
some extraordinary fact in regard to the assassination
which would materially assist him in his -work.
But in this it is presumed that he has been disap-
pointed, for he felt there somewhat out of humour
at the hesitancy of the Senate to take up his
impeachment idea. Neither the spirits nor the
walls of the rooms revealed sufficient facts for him
to convince the Senate of the necessity of adopt-
ing his scheme. His tragic flourish was all for
nothing.
Mr. Elliott, of the Montana Post, is the fortu-
nate possessor of a remarkable fossil, which was
accidentally discovered by some miners in Bivin's
Gulch, Montana, and for which Mr. Elliott has
already refused $l,OOO. It is a molar tooth taken
from a fragment of jawbone sft. in length, and
weighing 571 b. The tooth itself weighs 31b., and is
described as of " curious configuration, not unlike
a cluster of fog beavers' olaws oygrlying each Qther,

It is believed in Denver City to be the largest fossil
of the kind yet discovered.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
NEW YORK, Dec. 24.
_ __

To-morrow being Christmas-day will be a holiday, and
little business will be transacted during the week. In-
deed we have had a dull time of i` for some weeks past.
Gold has fallen heavily, as I expected It opened to-day
at 1331 and closed at 134; a fall of e than 4 since I
last wrote to you.

The demand for money is loss active. On call it is at
from 6to 7 per cent. The Bank statement is more favour-
able than expected, and shows no unusual changes. In
last week's report there was an error, ono bank having
given the gross instead of the net deposits. These deposits
show a reduction of over $4,000,000, but a part of this
sum can be thus accounted for. The wants of the people
at this season account for the withdrawal: and the sum is
considered small.

Stocks opened heavy and lower upon th 3 acliv3 11t., but
w,.re in b otter deloand after the bank statement was
made, and at advancing prices. The favourite of the day
was Michigan Southern, which sold at 82f North-Western
shares were very active, at steadily advancing prices, the
common closing at 441, and the Preferred at 831. Govern-
ment stocks wore steady upon the gold-bearing issues,
and higher on the 7.305. As compared with the morning
Board of Saturday, the active shares are all higher.
Western Union rose 11, Quicksilver 1, New York Central
11, Reading 47 Michigan Southern 21, Milwaukee and St.
Paul 11, Illinois Central 1, Cleveland and Pittsburgh 1,
North-Western Common 1, do. Preferred 2, Rock Island
1, and Fort Wayne 1. After the call the market was
strong, and stocks in demand. Later in the day prices
wore very strong, with a large demand to cover short
contracts. The last prices were :—New York Central,
lot to 1091 ; Erie, 68 to 684; Reading, 1041 to 1044 ;
Michigan Southern, 824; Cleveland and Pittsburgh, 86 to
86k ; Rock Island, 1031 to 103} ; North-Western, 441 to
434; North-Western Preferred, 83} to 831; Fort Wayne,
1054 to 1051.
The following shows the condition of the New, York
City Banks this week and last :

Dec. 15. Dec. 22.
Loans $258,452,330 $258,255,514 Dec. $196,816
Specie 13,991,200 13,231,917 Dec. 759,283
Circulation 31,797,655 32,433,429 Inc. 655,774
Deposits 206,458,271 202,029,877 Dec. 4,428,394
Legal Tenders 63,994,309 64,816,962 Inc. 822,653
Leading houses ask 1094 for 60-days Sterling. We
quote—Prime Bankers', 60 days, 108} to 1094 ; do., sight,
109/ to 110 ; Paris, long, 5.16; to 5.15 ; do., short, 5.134 ;
Antwerp, 5.21 f to 5.20; Swiss, 5.21 f to 5.20; Hamburg,
36} ; Amsterdam, 411 to 411 ; Frankfort, 41f to 411 ;
Bremen, 78/ to 79 ; Berlin, 721.
Exports (exclusive of specie) from New York to foreign
ports for the week ending December 24, 1866. Total,
$3,254,610.

. ,
The trade of last week closed with a steady feeling.
During the late interim of improved activity agents have
seized the opportunity for selling out a part of their accu-
mulations at a brief concession, and there is consequently
less appearance of an anxiety to realise, and more appa-
rent firmness. flow far this will be sustained must de-
pend chiefly upon the tone with which the spring demand
opens and the period at which it sets in. For the re-
mainder of the year little business is likely to be trans-
acted, firms being engaged in making up their annual
accounts and taking account of stocks.

(Glenn and Co.'s Weekly Circular.)
In the fulfilment of our promise made last week, we now
reopen the discussion on the merits of Secretary M'Cul-
loch and his Financial Administratibn.

As we expected, the defenders of the Secretary,
heautua nowles
have replied to our arguments urging t
happily growing smaller by degrees ahn
the an
of Usuyrplus;
did sell a large amount of gold, and t
gold, by stating that Mr. M'Culloch
h "onceupon aon the
same premium
statement is perfectly true. But what same almost immediately afterwardsat
wadevreantcheed,which
s ocircum-
stancesn,s
a abseweneed:raiandg
hPurtesotadee,nwt
when
ahni-t
LiNnioswtra, ttihoenrejushtaos
was not desirable for the Government to part with its
specie. The Secretary, of course, sold a large amount,
over $30,000,000, that very week. Had he not done so, he
would have lost his reputation for consistency: consistent
blundering we mean. It was the eventful week following
the now historical Black Friday. The great house of
Overend, Gurney, and Co., had just gone down with a
crash that shook to its very centre the whole commercial
world; money was 10 per cent., and not to be had even at
that—the Bank of England for the first time in its history
refusing to loan money on Consols, and gold was leaving
this country for the Continent at the rate of nearly a mil-
lion a day—into the thick and constantly deepening gloom
that hung over London but one ray of immediate relief
penetrated. It came from America, and to that country
every banker and merchant who had any inflnence there
sent imperative messages for gold ; instant and large ship-
ments of the precious metals for Europe of course followed.
Had Secretary M'Culloch been anything of a financier
he never would have sold the large amount of gold he did
to the Loudon bankers—gold they were obliged to have,
and only;too glad to get it at any price--$139, when
he could just as easily have sold it for 5160, at which
price it advanced immediately after he had done selling.
We repeat with emphasis, at no time, before or since that
eventful week, would the gold premium not have rapidly
declined under free and legitimate sales by the Treasury
Department. There are two things, and but two, that re-
gulate the price of gold the world all over: they are supply
and demand, and public confidence. No one who has
visited America during the past year can have any doubt
whatever of the perfect confidence displayed by all classes
in the legal tender-money of the country, viz., greenbacks
and National Bank notes, secured as the latter are by do-
Posits with the Government of United States Bonds, to
something more than the amount of notes issued by the
said banks; and yet the Secretariltuagines that a return
to specie payments would cause a run on the banks for
gold, and another run on the Government for specie in
exchange for greenbacks. But why should there be ?
Good redeemable paper money is always preferred in busi-
ness to gold and silver. It is not so bulky, is more conve-
nient for exchanges, and so long as people know it is con-
vertible, and have entire confidence in it, as we have
shown they have in America, they never desire, as
a general rule, gold and silver for their notes, which fact
we humbly think wholly removes the Secretary's imagi-
nary danger of a collapse, when specie payments are
resumed. Now as to supply and demand, it is a notorious
fact, that the foreign exchanges are now, and have been
for three-fourths of the time in the last year, in favour of
America, showing a balance of trade against Europe —and
there would have been no shipments of gold at all from
America during that time, had it not been that the Phila-
delphia Mint charges nearly one per cent. for coining gold
dust, silver, and bullion ; whereas the English Mint charges
nothing—(the latter institution, very properly pays its ex-
penses from the alloy introduced in the money it coins),
and yet the Finance Minister that insists upon keeping up
this absurd charge on home coinage, thereby driving large
amounts of gold and silver out of the country, has the
reputation, in certain quarters, of being a great financier.
Bat notwithstanding this drainage, the mines on the
Pacific Slope are yielding so abundantly that at the
present time it is estimated there is in circulation,
and in the vaults of the Government and the
banks $300,000,000 gold and silver; but at least
ono half of this sum is now entirely unavail-
able, it being locked up by Secretary M.LCulloch
and other misers. Were specie payments re-
sumed to-morrow all of this gold and silver would
immediately circulate as money, thereby increasing the
circulation of the country by just so much ; and also im-
mediately ease the money market throughout the United
States by bringing down prices to such a standard that it
would take very much less -money to do the business of
the country than is required at the present time. Gold is
the life-blood of a nation, and to stop its free circulation,
as Secretary M'Culloch purposes to do until the Ist July,
1868, is more than folly—it is a species of ignorant
treason, for which removal from office would be a punish-
ment far too small. The amount of gold held by the
banks and Sub-Treasury at New York is now
$100,000,000, quite enough to redeem all the National
Bank notes that would in any emergency be pressed for
redemption ; for there aro less than E,,,O,),000,000 of such
notes issued, while greenbacks are so.largely hoarded, and
public faith in them is so great that no one would think
of converting them into gold ; and if some were so con-
verted there is quite gold enough constantly coming in
from custom duties to do it. In specie-paying times in
America, before the late war, the Sub-Treasury and New
York Bank usually held an average of $30,000,000
specie, then the paper money of the country was about
one-third what it is now ; but there is more than three
times the gold now held in New York there was
then, besides the wants of the country for paper
currency are much greater on account of growth
in population, higher prices, &c. ; and far less
amounts of notes in proportion could now be
gathered in for making runs on the banks. Money is
not idle in America, and but very little could for any
length of time be spared from the legitimate channels of
commerce and business for any such base purpose as
breaking the national banks. If these banks were in such
danger, by clubbing together they could easily support
each other when any of the 1,300 (which is the number of
national banks in America) were assailed. Especially is
this the case when nearly every national bank note is now
redeemable either in New York, Boston, or Philadelphia,
where all the specie of the Atlantic States is held. But
did Secretary M'Cul:och really wish to ruin the national
banks, he could not go about doing it in a more summary
manner than by contracting the greenback currency, or
the legal tender money of the country, and at the same
time continue issuing more notes to the banks ; for as the
latter are now only redeemable by the former, it follows
that the decrease of greenbacks and increase of the bank
notes must soon lead to bankruptcy nearly every national
bank in the United States. Yet this is the very policy the
Secretary of the Treasury proposes and vigorously urges.
We maintain, notwithstanding the voluminous argu-
ments of Mr. M'Culloch and the American newspapers in
his interests, that the amount of paper money in circula-
tion has but ysry little to do with the premium on gold ;

and history certainly proves the truth of our assertion. In
1816, shortly after Waterloo, paper money in England was
nearly on a par with gold; but in 1819, after a contrac- •
tion of paper money had taken place, gold rose to about
40 prem., though there was far less notes in circulation
then than in 1816. In Scotland, a century ago, no one
scarcely ever saw any gold or silvermoney at all, because
there was next to none in the country ; yet there was a
large amount of paper money in circulation, and, what
is more, none of it was at a discount. Again, the pre-
sent and, in our judgment, wise policy of the Bank of
France pursues, viz., of issuing notes without limitation
as the wants of the country require, contracting the same
as trade languishes and money becomes idle and cheap,
surely most conclusively proves how erroneous Mr.
M'Culloch's views are on this question ; for the Bank of
France issue and contract their notes regardless of the
amount of specie held in their vaults, and yet French bank-
notes are never at a discount, or, more correctly spo:('-iug,
have not been at a discount for many years,-:---and yet
neither Euglaud, Scotland, nor France are gold-producing
countries like America. Why, take the history of Secretary
M'Culloch's own administration of American finance—then
gold fell from 240 to 127 within a few weeks about one
year-and-a-half ago, and yet there were more notes in
circulation when the premium was 27 than when it was
140. Again, about a year ago the price of gold in New
York was 135. The Secretary soon after suddenly drew
in and cancelled $50,000,000 greenbacks; the money-
market was much disturbed, and so was the price of gold
—for, contrary to Mr. M'Culloch's theory of contraction,
gold very soon afterwards advanced 15 per cent. to 150,
and remained there some time. •We repeat that it is supply
and demand and public confidence that regulate the price
of gold, and not the amount of paper-money in circulation.

;From E. F. Satterthwaite and Co.'s Weekly Circular,
January 9.)

The last advices from New York by the Cuba are to the
24th ult. They report an active demand for money, and
a fall in nearly all descriptions of stock. Governments on
the week were about one per cent. lower, and railroads
from two to eight per cent. under previous week's quota-
tions, with the exceptionief Cleveland and Toledo, which
had advanced $5. StaixdVbcks were also flatter, Georgia
alone showing an advance. Gold continued to decline.

In the London market for American Securities there
has been an average amount of businps during the past
week. United States 5.20's of the earlier issue were at
one time taken as high as 7317 and looked strong at that
price, but the unfavourable political intelligence from
Washington has had a depressing effect, and they close
72/ to 1, or about / per cent. lower than this day week.
Eries have been neglected, but for Illinois Central there
has been an active demand at advancing rates, touching 821
to 2, but from that pointthey have reacted, and leave off 801
to 811 only. Erie Third Mortgage are last quoted 65 to
68, and Pennsylvania Sterling Second Mortgage 89 to 91.
Atlantic and Great Western Debentures at one time ad-
vanced to 55 to 57, and the Consolidated Mortgage Bonds
to 42, but leave off weaker; the former being 51 to 53, and

the latter 40 to 41.
The detailed report of the New York Central Railroad
has come to hand during the week, and fully confirms the
figures which we gave in our last. To pursue the com-
parison of the annual statements for 1856 and 1866 it
appears that, besides regular payments of dividends and
important additions to the track and buildings, there has
been an increase to the rolling stock of 67 locomotive
engines, 114 passenger cars, and 2,278 baggage, freight,
and gravel cars, which cannot have cost the company less
than $4,000,000, and thus added to the permanent value of
the road and its appurtenances. This large addition has been
provided for entirely out of the earnings of the line, so
that it cannot create surprise that, during the past year,
the working expenses have been charged 75 per cent. of
the gross receipts. On analysing the accounts, it will be
found that of this 33 per cent. only was the actual cost of
" operating the road," while 42 per cent. was expended in
"repairs of machinery" and "maintaning roadway and
real estate." The contrast between the system prevailing
in this country and that on which American railroads
generally are conducted is well exemplified by the New
York Central, and while we err by constant enlargement
of capital account, it is, perhaps, hardly just to stock-
holders to make such important improvements out of
revenue.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

WAKEFIELD.-FRIDAY.

The wheat trade to day is firm, at last Friday's prices,
with a steady consumptive demand. Fine barley fully as
dear. Beans and oats unaltered.

LINCOLN.-FRIDAY.

New white wheat, 60s to 70s ; new red, 59s to 63s per 36
stone. Barley for malting, 49s to 51s per qr ; grinding,
26s to 36s per 30 stone. Oats, 24s to 345. Beans, 483 to
50s per 38 stone.