, 1865-02-05
FINANCIAL and COMMERCIAL,
M0NETAnX.

SATURDAY Evening, Feb. 4. 1865.
The reports to-day" are that the President and
Secretary Of Statc hare returned from Fortress
Monroe and that the attempt to negotiate peace
Il failure. This Is what VIC predicted-what ne
had right to expect That gold: should 90 up
unler such intelligence, wonld be strange wosc It
1ot wcl-known fact that money and gold specu-
lators IRE the moatmercuria1 OF animals but that
sane business men should hare allowed their wits
TO be carried away with any hopes Of peaee
through the agency Of old Blair Is altogether In
ezcusable. And get tho moment It WAS known
that he had gone to Richmond, merchants, pro-
duce dealers and provision brokers. rushed heller
skelter over each other in their .engerness
70 cell. We huye never had fuith in high quota
tions in gold, or high prices; but when trade gets
mad, let there be some *method'' In It. Snch op-
erat1ons as hare been gone through with during
the past two weeks are highly detrimental to the
general welfare Of trade and commerce. True
few Epecu1ator: may have made fortunes, and
few lost them; but this state ofantra disarranges
business relations, unsettlcs general confidence,
and keeps the market In constant state Of tur-
MOL and confusion.
The t1uc remedy for all this is to speculate less
md tral&more. Whenever a community neg
1ects tGitrnatc pursuits Of lie to engage In
gambling or speculatfng, from that moment 1t
will suor in Its reputation, It's business and its
trade. This is exempliacd in almost every mar
ket in the United sntes at prcscnt-in almost
every branch of commerce. The dealers in
1our, wheat, corn, oats and provisions have
been too much engaged In buying what they did
not need, and selling what they did not have, and
BY plactng themselves In such m unnatural posi-
ton, they were liable to bc affected by every silly
1umor or scheme set about. II operations were
regulated by the great law Of supply and demand,
instead OF by rumors and fruitless schemes, there
would be comparatively little cause for uneaslness
in the minds OF merchants a. to the future.
The money market during tho week has been
very close md stringent. This is not 20 much on
account Of scarcity OF currency as IN indispost-
ton On the part Of bankers to extend The rate
Of discount Is noninal!y 10 per cent per annum;
bnt the most Of the transactions have been by
private money dealers at q range OF sD3
per cent per month. As soon as gold be-
comes more kteady, the BANKERS Will have more
confidence in the markets, md the street 'sharks''
will tnve less 10 do. During the past two weeks
they have had it all their own way:
We nre happy to learn that tho payments due on
the 1st instant have generally been promptly met.
Much anxiety was felt for = day or two as to ths
result; but bankers to-day express themselves In
q manner highly latterIug to the credit OF our
merchante.
In the Provision trade several contracts with
irresponsible parties have been extended, buttheY
were generally for small amounts. The heavy
contracts were met promptly at maturity. Con-
sidc.ing the state Of the market, this speaks well
for the ttadc,
Tho supply Of Eastern Exchange IL very light,
and, under good demand, rates are firm at par
buying and premium selling. The bankers havo
had to ship g.ecnhacks almost daily to meet the
demand. The high rates OF freight on the rail-
road. and the absence Of margin between this
and Eastern markets, have placed a complete en-.