The New York herald., 1867-02-21
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL.


tho rstss fcr money, the supply being abundant q six
per cent railway coatenls and I'VE on govsrnments
"A noticeable caution Ia however shown with regard 70
miscellaneous shares. There h moderately active
business being nnsacted discounts and nrst ciass
commercial paper quoted 1t sevsn per cent with ex.
captions q onshalf per csnt below this rata The con-
versions OF sevsnthrty notes into 1vstwsnty bonds
now going forward Involves : drain or currency
Into the eub sssuzy and s balance This evening has
risen . shs unusually large amount Of e1ss the
Wesesm money narkess show diminished stringeney,
and = Chicago the tone Of monetary aA indicates
gradual approach 70 comfortable saansas although
balances show no marked signs of improvement .Ths
Bosson money market is active the aomand bengi In ex-
cess Of the available supply at the ana Cali loans are
rated q seven per solid collsteaa and at
governments but inferior securities are not acceptable
20 lenders Prime commercial paper submits to eight
per cent discount and inferior grades out OF favor
Railway shares opensd Ut decline from the closing
prices Of last evening and At the FIRST public board New
\ York Ccntrh sold q loox 1915; Erie, 55s5 * !;
Reading, loa<; Michigan Southern, 72ss RI Glove
land and Piitsburg, so; Northwestern, s5lf do pre-
ferred, o4k q; Rock Island, 96x e; For. Wayne,
s5x u; Pacinc Mall q. lo lss. At the lrst reruler
board the market showed an improving tendency, hut
the volume Of business hight, except Tor Pa
clio Mail OF which SIX thousand shares were
sold at prices ranging from 134 to 13s, against
1857 q 155 yesterday morning The immediate cause
Of the further decline the decision OF the ccapary
to declare dividend OF three instead OF i've per cent
usual for the quarter ending January 3l the
payable the 1st Of March, New York Central closed
Il lower than at the time yesterday Erie IL Read
ing u, Michigan Southern x, Cleveland and Ptshurg
" Northwestern e, do. preferred & Fort Wayne s
Pacific Mail l5H, Atlantic Mail ~, Cumberland i
Western Union Telegraph *. Chicago aud Alton 7:
higher Government gold bearing stocks were aru bit
sevcn-thiry notes dull, and n y lower. Coupon
skies Of 1881 showed advance OF u, Hve-twenEesof
1862 ri issue of1s65 1; 1885, ten fnrties
r. Tennessee skies y lower, but tie issue
advanced u. At the open board O'Clock New
York Central sold at 1918; Erie 55sss; Reading Io4
Michigan Southern 721z ~; Rock Island, o65 North
western, 35ss; do preferred, 6+ss n; Fort wayne.
95N; Pacific Mail 1879 1861
At the half-past two regular board tile market d
fraction lower Pacific Mail continued active and auc
tuated widely, selling from 1856 down to l32iS tho
call. New York Central closed y than the irst
regular board, Erie n, Cleveland and Pittsourg ~
Northwestern ", do preferred =, Pacific Mail 5k
Reading was higher Michigan Southern Il. Govern
ment securities strong aud coupon votwentcs OF
1882 advanced n new issue Of 1865 II acyen-thir,y
notes Of the first series ~ Fivetwenesof 1865 de-
clined II. Tennessee skies Of the issne were y
higher At the open board at halrpast three the market
was shade lrmer. New York Central sold at 1ol n;
Erie, 55x Reading 1o4 b 81; michigan Southern 725s
. r.; Rock Island, 81 s75~; Northwestern, 3bH do
preferred, 64X; Fort Wayne, s6iy. Subsequently Il
continued to improve, and Eve o'clock the following
quotations currcnt--New Terk Central 1919
1o2; Erie 55k u; Reading, 1854 ioi; Michigan
Southern, Tx X; Cleveland ana .tsburg. so soh
Rock Island, 97i4 " Tcr NsyDe 90 q II. North
western, 35is "; do prefS-reSs 5s54 "a " VI AS,
- Particular attention has Eaeriy been orected to
the msmanagcment Of railways in OHIO b. lie reg.
siAture Of that State, and c6ar tce d Investigation
has recently made nrepors on tbs saaecA Tits shown
by this that the laws passed regulate railway
poEations are TO great sextepi dead lettcr An
act for instance prohibiting directors Of railways from
spsculAting 10 the stocks Of the companies OF which
they are officers Is systematically ignored and the
violation Of the act has been punished IN single
instance yet The passage Of other laws are recon-
mended by the copn,iitce 10 meet the dlculty. The
local journsa however. argue that tho remedy must
b sought for ID the mcn aoi the measures that the
.0nly policy which can be adopef with any pros
psct Of suocess, for stockholders 70 attend to their
business by electing the rsh, and that II The lat
ter VIII not interest themselves sufficiently TO attond
che meetings Of corporations IA which they have
pecaniary stake, II h hardly reasonable 70
ask the Legislature 10 attend 70 ttsir interests The
arxpneut is that u sockodcrs will elect honest and
capable men their business viii, rule be ven roaz
aged bat that they the wrong men these cannot
- made honest By legislation To the watchfsnsrs and
digsnos Of the stockholders than 70 the acts OF
the Legislature therefore must reforms In railway
agemsnt be due TO pass dividends generally arcuses
stockholders 70 action where the stock Is bold mainly
By investors but long they receive their dividends
regularly they iisle or nothing where The money
comes from Or how the roads zged The apathy
70 their managoment t prpyerbial. and the rc;navk
applies N some degree 70 Their directors, the majority
OF whom never take the sronhc ,ororm themselves OF
she real STATE OF affairs Railway directors are however,
generally shrcwd, uuscrupu!ous, money making men.
who only value their position for s psernisy advan-
tages themselves, and th representing the lines
whose stocks are actively deaii IN the New York
Stock Exchange sre pre-sminent'y 50
In the expsnditurss and income OF every large rail-
way there Il good deal Of lsayagc. which generally
dads lss way into The pockets Of the mansgcmenA con.
tracts for supplies given at pccs sbovc the market
Lsases are granted highly favorable terms and fast
express trains at ratcs which hardly pay the
cost or wear and Ths company IN such case Is the
sufferer the greatest parasite American railways
and the one most dicus destroy Is undoubtedly the
express sysssm, which skims away the cream Of their
proau rhen the, pracscs of allowing heavy dis
count upon passenger tickets sold by agents
b 70 much money thrown away. Passengers
could supply thsnssIves with tickets at the railway
satioas bsfos starting their journey just as we'll
me- prsosios q leasing Sleeping cars on terms which
bss no fsmusevseson 70 the companies concsrned is
likewise bad But hess abuses are Of advantage
y indivIduss ard . tAsy ass pcpstuAted With
rssps 70 shess sas vhoss socks ths footballs Of
spe5ulusioa n wall ssss there Il no Incentive 70
form These spscuatos escs themselves directors BY
buying up enough Of their sock 70 majority Of
votss and psrmansnt reform IN such railways cannot
b expected Tin their stocks taken out Of the stroot
snd held for investment ~ u Is these roads are
nannesd uaisly IN The bsns0t ss their managers and
OhIs b 10 wcs 81 ID tAis rsspsct than other States
but noticeable svsyvaers that the railways whose
ocks ~ hssd ost q VAN street uch better and
more scsuomloalIy managed Than thoss vhoss names
msss tho go n svssy New York stock list
me gold msrkss W. very nrm. ~ extremes Of the
~ having bssn laex and ls7k and ns closing price