The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-09 00:00:00

UNITED STATES SECURI7IES.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
Messrs. Belding, Keith, and Co. have compiled
a pamphlet of much utility to all interested, or
who may become interested, in United States
Securities. The pamphlet is designed to show
the public the method of calculating the cost in
sterling of 5-20 bonds, and of exchange, a subject
of importance to every holder of these securities,
of other property in the United States, as well as
the person engaged in commerce with that country.
To this is annexed three tables. The first shows the
the conversion of a hundred dollar bond, at 4s. 6d.
per dollar, into pounds sterling, with the market
price varying from 65 through every fraction up to
92. Connected is an illustration of a one hundred
dollar coupon bond with coupons. Thus the whole
security is depicted exactly as it would come into
the hands of a purchaser, while at the back is given
the table of the price to the investor at every pos-
sible market quotation. A similar table is given of
a $5OO bond, and another of a $l,OOO bond. The
price at which this banking house will buy or sell
these bonds is fixed and clear, leaving no room for
any uncertainty in the mind of the purchaser or
seller. He has merely to take a newspaper which
gives the London quotations of the day, and if he
wishes to purchase he has simply to take the buying
price (which is the highest), and add to that one
per cent. for a $lOO bond, 1 per cent. for a $5OO
bond, and a -} per cent. for $l,OOO bond, and he
gets the exact sum of his investment, plus commis-
sion, and all other charges. So, if he wishes to sell,
he has to take the lowest or the selling price to de-
duct therefrom 1 per cent, for a $lOO bond, 1 for a
$5OO bond, and :I per cent. for $l,OOO bond, and he
will arrive at the nett sum which the sale will pro-
duce. After calculating the cost of the investment,
the rate of interest is estimated. The dollar ranges
in London from 3s. 11d. to 4s. 01d. But to secure
uniformity this house proposes to pay four shillings
per dollar for all coupons on bonds sold by them,
although the market price may not be over 3s. 11d.
Thus the purchaser will be able to calculate exactly
what his investment will produce. Suppose he
wishes to obtain a thousand dollar bond, and the
market price is 70. On turning to the table the sum
will be shown opposite 70+ to be £lsBls. 3d. Six
per cent, on a thousand dollars is $6O, which,
at four shillings per dollar, gives £l2. Therefore
£l5B ls. 3d. yields £6 on the Ist May and £6 on
the Ist November in each year, or 73- per cent. per
annum ; the purchaser being relieved from all un-
certainty and secure of these payments at a London
bank. Satisfactory as is the security and the rate
of interest, they represent but a portion of the gain
to the permanent investor. These bonds are pay-
able in full in 1882, when the $l,OOO bond will
produce to its holder that sum in the United States,
or, at the lowest estimate, £2OO in London. As the
original cost was £l5B ls. 3d., there will be theref re
a gain in 15 years of £4l 133. 91, giving on the first
outlay a further interest of l 4 per cent., which, added
to the "1:i per cent., makes au aggregate of about 91
per cent. per annum. In a similar way the value
of the investment as an interest bearing security,
can be calculated through this pamphlet at any
price these bonds are likely to be quoted at.

Messrs. Belding, Keith, and Co. explain that there
are other bonds payable in the currency of the United
States which they describe as being equally good,
though they recommend those only that are dealt in
here, which are the gold-bearing bonds, for the
very excellent reason that the latter are readily
saleable all over Europe, while the former must be
negociated in the United States, at a loss of time
and money. Our readers are aware that the name
Five-twenties arose fromthe agreement stated on the
face of the Bond in these words ;—" Redeemable
at the pleasure of the United States after the 30th
day of April. 1867, and payable after the 30th day

of April, 1882," that is, the Government undertook
to guarantee the payment in 20 years from date,
reserving to themselves the right of payment at
their option after five years ; thus giving themselves
an interval of 15 years in which they might pay, and
a range of 20, when they must pay. To the original
bonds, therefore, were affixed 40 coupons, of which
on the Ist May next, ten will have been absorbed.
There is a very important remark in this pamphlet
.which we recommend to the notice of travellers, to
persons whose business sends them to the United
States, and to those more especially who intend to
settle there.
" They can take nothing more convenient in the shape of
funds than Five-Twenty Bonds. Ist, because they are
always saleable at a premium ; 2J, they can be used as re-
quired, and till used are constantly augmenting in value
by the interest." It must toe borne in mind that these bonds
represent the chief issue of the Public Debt of the country,
which is the first claim upon its resources. The Debt
was almost wholly contracted in carrying the late war to a
successful close. The liabilities incurred by previous wars
had long been liquidated, and 13,000,000 represented be-
fore that disastrous period the entire liabilities of the
United States Government. The effort made by the nation
to meet the Debt, as well as its accumulation, is shown
by the following table. The Debt—

July, 1860, was $64,000,000 Revenue, $56,000,000
77 /I 1861, „ $90,000,000 $41,000,000
77 1862 17 , „ $514,000,000 $51,000,000
77 1863, „ $1,098,000,000 „ 8112,000,600
77 1864, „ $1,740,000,000 „ $264,000,000
7? 1865, „ $2,682,000,000 „ $333,000,000
1866, „ $2,783,000,000 „ $558,000,000
The pamphlet opens with a full explanation of the
currency of the United States, and the mode of cal-
culating exchange with England. It says—

The dollar formerly in use was the Spanish dollar (in
silver), the value of which was 4s. 6d. sterling. This was
taken, and has since been, and still is, used as the basis of
exchange, and to this cause may be attributed most or
much of the misconception as to American exchange. If
$1 be worth 4s. 6d., what is the value in dollars of £l,
or 20s. ?

4s. 6d.=4i. shillings.
Then 20
—4O
=4.41.4, or 4 dollars 41 cents., and
41:— 9 10
of a cent, or 4 mills. Now, supposing the standard of
American currency to be still the Spanish dollar, it is clear
that $1.41-4 would represent at par the value of X 1 ster
ling. But that standard has been changed, first by a
United States silver coinage, and then by a gold one, so
that now the par value is about 9i per cent. above $1•44-4,
or $4-86 per X. Hence, when exchange is quoted, say 109 k
to 110 iu New York, it is about par—Le., it is just as profit--
able to buy exchange at that price for a remittance as it is
to send gold.

If the price be 111 to 112, it would pay expenses and 1
per cent. to 2 per cent. in addition, to send gold ; but if
below 1091, there would be loss in shipping gold.

All exchange is calculated upon a gold basis, but at the
present time the usual business of the United States is
transacted in currency. This has to be taken into account
in settling any price quoted from there, or sending remit-
tances for payments; and this is done in the following
manner; for instance :
What is £lOO worth in currency, with exchange say at
1091, and gold at 40 per cent. premium ?

£l=-1.444.
Therefore. £100=144•44.
And 411.44 at 104=8486.65 in gold.
Which at 40 per cent. premium=B6Bl.3l in currency.
The same process gives the true result, let the rate of
exchange and premium on gold vary as they may. And,
vice versa, to find the value of a given amount of currency
in sterling :
A in New York wishes to pay B" in London the value of
48,600 currency in sterling. Gold is 136, and exchange
1081. How many pounds, shillings, and pence must he
send him ?

$4.44.4 at 108} gives say $4.82.2 in gold.
Which at 36 premium=_-$6.558 per £ sterling.
$8,600
Therefore = £1,311 7s. 6d. amount to bo remitted.
$6.558
And so again :
What is the value in sterling of $l,OOO in United States
5-20 Bonds, when quoted at 111} in New York, with gold
at 134, and exchange 108 ?
Price ©f bonds-111, i.e., 111 premium.
Then $l,OOO at 11 premium-11,115.
$1.444 at 10y $4•80 in gold.•
Which at 34 premium,-.16•132 per .£ sterling.
$1,115
Therefore
$6.432
The difficulty to be overcome by those inexperienced
will be with regard to the decimal points, in multiplying
and dividing; but tho working of one or two examples,
and bearing in mind what the numbers represent, will fully
obviate this. By noticing the prices of exchange and gold
quoted daily in the papers, a correct answer to any query
as to exchange can at once bo wrought out by the above.
As all American articles of produce are quoted [in cur-
rency, this calculation must be made to determine the cost
in sterling, and as the premium on gold and the rate of
exchange are constantly varying (though the latter to a
much less extent) any one wishing to know the value of
any commodity from thence must make fresh calculations
almost daily to insure exactness.
We cannot let such a favourable opportunity pass with-
out offering a suggestion which, it seems to us, might be
so easily adopted, and thus save much time and trouble in
making calculations in exchange. Why not adopt the
standard of money now in use, and quote exchange at
$4.75, $4.80, or $4.85, or whatever it may be, and do
away with an obsolete sterling value, which has to be in-
creased by 8 p3r cent., 81 per cent., 9 per cent., or 10 per
cent. It is only necessary for a few of the leading bankers
and merchants of New York to say that they will so quote,
and it would become universal in a short time.

7_-..-£173 75., value of $l,OOO in sterling.

We suggested in our last issue ou Interna-
tional Coinage a plan which would simplify to
even a greater degree, the elaborate calculation
in vogue. The public are indebted to Messrs.
Belding, Keith, and Co. for this useful pamphlet,
which, every one who gets it, should keep as a table
for reference. Those who are not holders of United
States securities cannot tell when they may become
interested in these bonds. Their steady rise shows
that they are daily growing in favour. However
prejudiced many may be whose knowledge
of United States securities has not yet enabled them
to understand the difference between a Mississippi
bond and the debt of the nation, they can-
not tell when their knowledge may become more
general, and with their ignorance will disappear
their prejudice. They would be rather astonished
if a province of New Zealand repudiated its debt,
and this was brought as a charge against the Impe-
rial Government, and knocked down the price of
Consols 10 per cent. We therefore again recom-
mend all people who get this pamphlet not only to
read its contents, but to place it in where they can
hereafter get it for reference.

British Army Reform.

- -

From time immemorial arms have been held to
be a noble profession, demanding the greatest
sacrifices and returning the fewest material rewards.
The soldier sought honour, not gain. Yet, strange
to say, so inveterate is the money qualification by
which England measures all earthly good that she
has managed to import into her own service this
as the only qualification she recognises. If NA-
POLEON I. had wished to illustrate his saying, that
the English were a nation of shopkeepers, he could
have alluded to the fact that commissions were sold
at the War-office like bales of cotton. To measure
a man's qualification for command by the length
of his purse, is one of the strangest acts ever sanc-
tioned by a nation. Once the principle was intro-
duced it could not be limited by regulations fixing
the price, and decreeing that the senior of each
grade, who could pay that limit, was entitled to the
promotion. The wealthy man, determined to se-
cure the command, induced his poorer seniors by a
douceur to forego their right of priority, while he
tempted the holders of the higher commissions to
sell by offers far beyond the fixed limits. Money
freely spent became a quick and sure means of pro-
motion, enabling the possessor by a succession of
jumps to leap from grade to grade over the beads
of his seniors, till the command of the regiment
fell into his hands. Thus a direct premium is held
out to money, and wealthy men are induced to pur-
chase commissions at sums far beyond their intrinsic
worth, buying baubles at a cost which would fall
heavily on their families in case of death, and by
fancy prices placing the legitimate objects of ambi-
tion to their fellows beyond reach. At the same time
every inducement is withdrawn to young men to
enter the service as privates. That the system is
opposed to the teachings of human nature can be
readily discerned. The most wealthy officer of a
regiment may be the best, and, on an average, he
will be found to be at least as good as his poorer
brethren. None are more imbued with the spiritof
honour, none have displayed a more daring gal-
lantry, none have more cheerfully endured the
inevitable privations of field servic But men of
wealth will not seek these privations ; they
avoid them where possible, and only endure
them when fairly caught. Iu a word, they are
not spurred by inducements to risk their lives
and health for the rewards the service can give.
They seek command for the pleasure they derive
from its exercise, and the personal importance
it confers, but they do not seek to toil and die in
ditches or in obscure skirmishes, to return bereft
of every future enjoyment by ruined constitutions
or frames shattered with wounds. They are not
therefore the men on whom a nation should rely in
an emergency, and this was fully shown by the
cavalry (the essence of the system) during the cam-
paign of the Crimea. If the case be looked into
deeply, it will be perceived that all other considera-
tions are sacrificed in the British service to secure
this class, and yet this is the most unreliable
class a nation can have. While the army re-
cruits in the gin-palaces of the large cities,
trusting to the starvation arising from

failures in various walks of industry, and to the
craving for drink, it is not probable that many
thus obtained will be qualified for the grade of
officer. As a rule, promotion from the ranks has
been a failure, for the line is too broadly drawn over
which the man is thrown. The whole atmosphere
around the new-made officer instantly changes.
He finds himself in a society which has scarcely
anything in common with himself, and barred from
all intercourse with the society he has just left.
From a non-commissioned officer of weight and
consideration, he becomes an ensign or cornet of no
account whatever— with inadequate pay to support
a dignity which, instead of being an ascent, he finds
in reality to be but a descent, with little chance of
anything beyond. The position is nearly always
attained too late in life, when the character is not
easily moulded, when the hopes are less buoyant.
He becomes a man by himself, however kindly re-
ceived by his brother officers—ejected from the old
society, unfitted, and therefore repelled from the
new. When the extremes meet in his case they do
not amalgamate, and he is the victim. The great
question to be solved is, can the nation offer to re-
cruits sufficient inducements to attract an ample
supply of the sturdiest young men of the kingdom
Can the army be framed on such a system
that there will be no desertion, and that it
will be a punishment to be dismissed from its ranks ?
We believe this can never be accomplished while
promotion is mainly based on a money qualification.
Few doubt that the supply of recruits would be
ample, if every grade were freely open to the pri-
vate; if study, exemplary conduct, and good ser-
vice were the passports to promotion. Such a
change would draw thousands of young men who
now fill the ranks of volunteer regiments. If the
ranks could be purged of all the open and
audacious wickedness, barrack-rooms would cease
to be the repulsive dens they now are. Young men
of the common habits and training of a respectable
class would not shrink disgusted from such con-
tact, and if they were free to come and go, without
a binding obligation strictly enforced to serve, the
experiment would be freely tried. The change that
such a class would introduce into the army would
be magical. The restraints that at present act as a
strong barrier to recruiting would disappear ; roll-
calls, punishment parades, restricted hours, and the
hundred annoying restraints which mar enjoyment
in a soldier's life would cease, the men would be
freely trusted, and those who could not be trusted,
or infringed the liberty given, would be dis-
charged. Such discussions as that now occupy-
ing Parliament would be out of place ; there
could be no flogging in such an army.
Though the condition of the soldier must
be improved as well as the prizes of commissions
thrown open to his ambition, yet what the nation
gave with one hand would come back to it through
the other. A small army of this class would be
worth a large army of the other. Trained men
would be constantly passing from its ranks, and a
general knowledge of drill diffused. It is extraor-
dinary the speed with which a large superstructure
can be built on such a ground-work. Tens of thou-
sands of recruits could be absorbed into such a machine
without clogging its working powers. The nation
would possess a skeleton which could be filled UP
for war with surprising speed. We advocate a
small army of highly-trained men as the uncial;
fora big army when England takes the field. In
that army she will have an abundance of what
is mainly required—officers and non-commissioned
officers, qualified to command and to instruct. The
army would become what it ought to be—a gigantic
school to prepare leaders for the nation, in time of
war. We grant it is easy to theorise and hard to
put into practice. Yet the writer has had better
opportunities of practically learning this subject
than even Sir CH ARLES E. TREVELYAN. He
has served in the British army, in barracks and
in the field, through every grade of regimental
officer. We would go further in Army Reform than
Sir CHARLES, though we fear even his moderate
measures are more than the Government would
venture on.—Anglo-American 7inzes.

COUN TILY MAitKET B.

COLCHESTER—Arun, 6.

A very short supply of grain, and millers had to pal
very full prices for what wheat they required. The supply
of barley may be now considered exhausted and we slit"
not quote it again for the present. Beaus and peas veil
scarce, and prices against buyers.
‘Vheat, witice
red: 65562 tiyis, Beans,mida 15elaaznacig,:nra.iii.....43:
414.4
38s 00 Barley .... ..
"Gs 420
Oats ..... .—s BI grey

NORTHAMPTON—APRIL 6.
New white wheat, 588 to 655; now red, 46s to 64s ; old
white, 62s to 68s; old red, 61s to 66s per 36 stone. 8ar1.9.
for malting, 42s to 51s per qr. ; grinding, 29s to 36s per du
stone. Oats, old, 26s to 33s ; new, 23s to 32s per 24 stone'
Beans, old, 46s to 49s ; new, 42s to 45s per 38 stone. Pegg,
38s to 428 per 36 stone.

CHELMSFORD—APRIL 5.
This market was fairly supplied with wheat, the bee,.
samples of which realised the prices of last week, but f°:
inferior sorts, to press sales, a slight reduction had to be
submitted to. All spring corn remains without alteratioof
and business altogether was slack.
WheAt, old white.... 530 76s , Peas, Partridge 41$ 43g
300
new ...13s Ns White ..32s
__l
old red 518 60s 13„iling - s no
new. 51$ 63s
Barley.... 2os 33s diVo, new....--s L5O
Dun.... ........38s 4,:,
Chevalier -_ 8 —s Beans, Tick, old ......40s 4'.0
Cirind.ng 'ss 30s new. ...38s ,60
Malt 58s tOs Harrow i icks.42s ', 0
Chevalier Gus 62i new.... 403 1430
Oats ... 2ls 27s Mazsgan . 393

GRANTHAM—APRIL 6.
Old white wheat, 65s to 725; old red, 60s to 68s; neR
white, 68s to ils ; new red, 56s to 64s per 36 stone. 13''t
ley for malting, 38s to 455 per qr. ; grinding, 30s to 34s 6.
30 stone. Oats, old, 30s to 32s ; new, 25s to 30s per 4"
stone. Beans, old, 42s to 52s ; new, 39s to 46s per 38 stogy
Yeas, 35s to 40s per 36 stone.

ABERDEEN—APRIL 5.
Our market continues without alteration, business being
mostly confined to transactions in seeds.
White wheat 54s Od to 58s OLD 621 b bushel.
Red wheat 45s Od to 48s Od;
Potato oats 24s Od to 26s Od}
401 b 11 buBbøl°
Common oats 23s 6d to 25s Ad
Bere 31s Od to 32s 6d t. 53111 a bushel'
Barley 32s Od to 33s Ods " „It,
Oatmeal 20s 6d to 21s 6d V boll of 28n-,.
Flour, fine 47s Od to 53s 6d V sack of 280"‘
V

KIRKCALDY—APRIL 6. tA
Small supplies of all kinds of grain, which sold frail
an advance of is per qr. on all sorts.
Wheat. Barley. Oats.
358 ud 26s (Al
second 578 Od I 388 0d 21. s Od
Toad bus Od 403 Od 31s (Al

.COAL MARKET.
Price per ton at the closeof the market.
s. d.
Holywell Main l6 6
Lanibert's W.Hartloy 16 - 9
West Hartley
Kepier Grange l6 0
Original Hartlepool lB 6
Ships at market, 78—sold, 53.

a,
S. 6
Walls End Hetton ra 6
Bradyell's Hetton :.I`. 6
Walls End Haswell 1° 6
10
Tunstall

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-.4

Births.
BAILLIE —On the 6th inst., at 50, Queen's-gate-ter-
raC4
Mrs. Duncan Baillie, of a daughter. 05!
Nonwoon—On the 6th inst., at 23, Queon's-gate-gar:e
W., the wife of C. M. Norwood, Esq., ALP., of a so Ergo
WINDUS—On the 4th inst., at Grecuhithe, Mrs.
Wincing, of a daughter.

Marriages.
vertY
Jas
-11AmivroN—On the 4th iust., at Leny,
shire, Robert Jardine, Esq., of Castlemilk,
shire, M.P., to Margaret Solon, eldest daughter of fib
Buchanan Leuy and Bardowie.
KENRICK—MORGAN -Oil the 6th inst., at St. ac°,,Ljaf
Church, Catnpden-hill, George lieurick, of 10, East "0,01
and 23, Kensington-crescJut, NV., solicitor, to l'%"00'
fourth daughter of the late W. Morgan, Esq., of 1511
end, Glamorganshire.

Deaths.
BUCKNALL—On the 7th inst., at Westwood Field, gva°9'
ham, James Badman, Esq., aged 74.
MACKINTOS —On the 7th inst., at The Lodge, Totter
H
lierts, James Mackintosh, Esq., aged 75. COI
PENIUTDDOCKE—On the 4th inst., at an advanced age, diet
Win Thomas Penruddocke, late of the Scots Vus
Guards.
WILKINSON—On the 7th inst., at 23, lianover-sqll3re,:ao
Thomas Wilkinson, K.C.S.T., Lieut. Colonel
Army, aged 72.

London: Printed and Published by WILLIAM AND:.;
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TI SUN P'°;), 0
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the eQuii-
Mithllesex.—Tuesclay, April 9 ISI7.