The New York herald., 1863-09-07
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL.

NANCIAI ANU COMMERCIAL.
O~~~O~~~~~>~~~>~~>>>o~
SUNDAY, Sept. 8, 1863.
The money market has been very agtated and
irregular all the week. On Monday and Tuesday
money was easy enough at a per cent to bor-
rowers who had the right kind of securities and
could afford to give proper amount of margin.
On Wednesday there was visible tightening of
the strings, and on Thursday and Friday it was
impossible for spectators to borrow money at any
price, and quite difficult for regular brokers to get
it at per cent, unless they were prepared to
lodge governments or New York Central as secu.
rty. Yesterday the msrket worked more smoothly,
and there was less difficulty in making up bank
accounts. Much Of the embarrassment of the
week arose from q change of policy by certain
banks with regard to certifying checks. There are
two or three banks, especially known as brokers'
banks, which are in the habit of certifying their
customers checks up to certain point in antici-
patton Of deposits to meet them. On Thursday last
these institutions refused to certify anything unless
1t was already covered by deposits. The conse-
quence was that a large proportion of the checks
ofhouses in large business not good till three
p. NJ, or even later, which naturally caused no
little difficulty, and some apprehensions--fo a
time-of failures. It is clear that this is an evil
which ought to be remeded. or the policy Of GER
tifying checks at any time the individual credit
Of the drawer, the banks are the best judges; but
If the practice be established it is surely bad man
agement to suspend it suddenly in the midst Of
blind panic, and sound regard to the interests Of
the banks and their customers, apart from concern
about stock speculations, would justify the strong.
est condemnation Of SO mschievous q departure
from settled custom at critical time What
the banks have to gain, on the other hand by sud-
denly calling in their loans, Withholding their
money from borrowers, and precipitating panic,
as was the case last week, it is not very easy to
discover. In reply to inquiries, they say that
speculation had become wild, and that it was de-
sirable to check 1t, in order to avoid collapse.
But this very collapse, which these parties say
they wanted to avoid, was the inevitable conse.
quence Of the policy they pursued, and it was not
their fault that half dozen Of the heaviest
houses in the street did not 60 to pieces in the
storm, bringing down with them merchants, rail-
roads, and probably banks themselves. The whole
capital Of all the banks in the country is invested
in paper, whose value depends on the maintenance
of confidence. Some of these days the ingenious
bank spectators who engineer panics for the sake
Of stock operations may push the game too far,
and find, as in 1857, that they the first people
to be buried in the ruins they contrived. The secret
Of tho panic Of Thursday and Friday morning may
be gathered from one small incident. An outside
speculator held 1000 shares Of Erie, with an ample
margin. He endeavored. unsuccessfully. to borrow
money It, To one prominent banker and
lender he offered "a per cent to carry the stock
for five days; the offer was declined. Thus driven
to the wall, the holder was forced to SELL and sold
the 1000 shares at par to the very man who had
refused to carry it for "A per cent for five days.
In an hour afterwards the stock was selling at l04.
Mercantile paper has not been affected by the
pressure in the market; the best names are in de-
mand at o 9 per cent.
The gold market was more active last week and
the premium higher. 1t sold on Friday at l34L,
and yesterday At l31. Exchange rose to las,
closing yesterday at lab 4. Various causes are
assigned for the advance in gold. One is the dis
appointment felt by some sanguine operators in
regard to the fall Of Charleston. The low price of
breadstufs, which foreshadows exports of bull
lion, likewise encourages purchases Of gold The
premium is also urged upward by the new issues
Of paper money which the government is forced
to make in consequence of the decline in the SUBJ
scriptions to the five-twenties. And there are
those, finally, who affect to believe that the policy
longation of the war; and consequently indefinitely
increased issues of currency and still further de-
probation. On the other hand, the prospect of
the fall of Charleston, Chattanooga and Knoxville
is not calculated to inspire hopes of any perma
nence in the recent advance IN gold, while the rise
in exchange has stimulated exports not only of
various articles Of merchandise which could not
have been sent abroad at lower rates. but also of
American securities, for which there is a steady
inquiry in Germany. II is certain that the sue
cesses of the Union arms within the past six
months, and the, general confidence in the govern
ment, which has been evidenced by subscriptions
of 1915 900 TO the ve-twenty bonds since last
spring. do not justify apprehensions Of any much
greater depreciation of the national currency.
The following table will show the prices Of stocks
at the close OF the past five weeks:--