The New York herald., 1863-01-28
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL
TUESDAY, Jan. 27-6 r. n

Tho feeling in ccmneroisl circles has BEEN pain.
faay depressed to-day, and the greatest unessiness
prevails with regard to the Army of the Potomac.
In evidence of this feeling. gosa advanced this
ing TO l55 and exchange 10 IN. Later in the dsy
reaction took place. and gold sold at l541I. l54
and 1881, closing l531 bid. Bills in the after
noon could not have been Sold above no. snd
good bankers signatures chsngeS hands at 1924.
But it s idle to Disguise the fact tAat the political
and military situation has filed the public mind with
dstrust and alarm, and that, until the effect of the
recent changes in the army has bee. ascertaineds
no pccuniary negotiations Of any Consequence can
be contaminated.
Money is abundant; but lenders sye very eau
tious in advancing money on stocks and exact
unreasonabiy large margins. This circumstance
is mainly due to the feverish condition Of the pub
Nc mind. and the prevalence Of vague apprehen-
sons for the future. It is essential to the success
Of the government that the money masket should.
in the main, be kept easy enough to re.der nego-
tiations of United States bonds possible. Other
wise the amount of legal tender notes
and Treasury notes authorized in tho hill passed
BY Congress will fall short Of the wants of the
Treasury Department That bill has now gone to
the Senate, and will be acted upon there. One
which states that notwithstanding the conyerti-
bility of the interest bearing notes into legal ten
der notes, the aggregate issue of the latter shall
never exceed $300,0O0,000 This, of course, null
iies the previousprovisionr respecting conversion.
In order to give legal tender notes in exchange
for Treasury notes, the sub-treasurers must
have them on hand; and they cannot
have them on hand if they have been paid away,
as will soon be the case with the $500, 200, 900
authorized. If it were absolutely certain that
each sub treasurer stood ready to exchange legal
tender notes for Treasury notes, very few or none
at all would be presented for exchange. But if,
owing to restrictions in the law, doubts arose
whether the government had legal tender enough
to redeem Treasury notes, every one would want
to convert Immediately, the Treasury notes woald
flow back to government as fast as issued, and the
whole scheme would break down. The restriction
upon the issue removed, it is not likely that it
would be necessary to issue than $500 900 900,
as the Treasury notes would answer the purpose Of
legal tender.
The tone Of the stock market this morning, as
usual after sharp turn, was quiet and hesitat-
ing. Bears have reappeared in the market and
put out some options on the passage Of the Fnnn-
cial bill through Congress-. As rule, however,
the bulls are confident, arguing that, whatever
Congress may call the issues, they will in fact
be nothing more and nothing less than paper cir
culating as money, and consequently certain to
enhance values. At the morning board to-day
government skies fell "A per cent, with a small
business. The 7.3O notes are steady. State
stocks were firm. Bonds were rather strong,
especially the new issues. The Terre Haute
incomes rose l per cent. In the rail
way shares there was less than usual done, and
little variation in prices Erie declined u. South
ern old *, Toledo l, and Prairie du Chen l, while
Central rose u, Hudson n, Michigan Central "A (,
and Pittsburg 1. At the one P. M. session Of the
public board the market was inactive; there
seemed to be no disposition to operate either way
though at the close the tone rather firmer, and
fewer stocks were offered for sale At the second
board the market fell of on governments and like
wise on railway shares, and closed heavy, though
without any particular pressure Of stocks for SALE
At the four p. NJ session of the public board there
was less excitement than usual. Prices as rule
were steady at the decline Of the afternoon, and
there was pretty general disposition to buy Erie
and the Western shares at the lowest quotation