The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-25 00:00:00

NIONi,-3? MARIiET

AND
CO iMEROIAL iNTILLI.64-4140k,

CITY, Two o'CLoca.

in the foreign exchanges this afternoon there
were again no material variations from those by
last post.
The sum of £28,000 in gold was taken to the
Bank to-day.

The return of the Bank of France this week
shows a further diminution of £192,000 in the
stock of bullion.

It has been notified that the Secretary of State
for India in Council does not intend to draw any
more bills on India during the remainder of the
present official year—that is, till after the 31st of
March next.

A facility is given by the Bank of France which
uld be imitated by the Bank of England. They
receive in deposit for the public for a small fixed
charge all descriptions of securities, the dividends
of which are payable in Paris, and collect the d‘vi-
dends and place them to the credit of the proprietor.
The tariff for this service is about 2d. sterling per
annum for every share or bond of the nominal value
of £5O or less, 3d from £5O to £BO, and 4d from £BO
to £l2O, increasing by a penny for every additional
£4O. The minimum charge for any one deposit islod,
and no dividends payable out of Paris are collected.
At the same time, for a charge of 10d for every £4O
the Bank undertakes the trouble of paying any calls
upon shares deposited with them, and for exchang-
ing old bonds for new the rate is a penny for every
share or bond, and a halfcenny for every £1 Rente.
The payment of dividends through the branch
banks is subject to a charge of 1 per cent., or a
minimum of sd. Apart from the satisfaction the
public here would feel at being_able to resort to so
safe a system of deposit, the convenience the plan
1117 ould afford in the conduct of p►actical business is
incalculable. At each fortnightly settlement in
the Stock Exchange the value of the bonds car-
ried from office . to office amounts to many millions,
and each parcel requires to be examined when de-
livered from one party to another, whereas if a
Bank of England system of deposit existed the
receipts or certificate of deposit might pass from
hand to hand.

The colonial produce markets will be closed until
Tuesday, the sth proximo. During the present
week the transactions have been much contracted,
as usual immediately before Christmas. Coffee is
steady, and quotations remain unaltered. The tea
market has been dull, with very limited sales. No
change has occurred in sugar. Afew floating cargoes
of foreign are reported to have been sold for the
United Kingdom on former terms. Saltpetre is
again rather higher, and some contracts have been
made afloat, including a parcel to arrive from Liver-
pool. A renewal of speculative demand for white
pepper has caused another rally in prices, which are
now almost equal to the highest current last week.
Rice has been inactive. Common cargo Bengal has
slightly declined. For rum the quotition is rather
More firm.

Tha return from the Bank of England for the
Week ended the 23d December gives the following
results when compared with the previous week :--
Rest
PuLlic deposits
Other deposits 17,850,762 ... Dscrea.se .. 121,691.
On the other side of the account :
government securi-

ties £14,124,874 Increase ... £50,000
Other securities 18,339,395 ... Increase ... 844,417
Notes unemployed 9,251,730 Increase ... 75,235
The amount of notes in circulation is £22,940,185,
being an increase of £.215,510 ; and the stock of
bullion in both departments is £18,291,621, showing
an increase of £133,306, when compared with the
preceding return.
Subjoined is a comparison of the present position
of the Bank of England and the prices of Consols
and French Rentes with the corresponding week of
last year :

Same Week

At Present.
last Year.
Bullion
_Reserve
Notes in circulation 22,940,185 ... 23,362,865
ituto of discount
Consols
French Routes