The New York herald., 1868-03-15
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL.

SATURDAY, March 14-6 6P. N.
There has been renewed excitement in Erie on the
Stock Exchange to-day, owing mainly to the ap-
pointment Of receiver for the proceeds Of the last
sale OF new stock by the company, and the nuctua-
tons were from 75x to 7lK, with the closing trans
actions at 72H. This further decline took the street
somewhat by surprise, and disposed some OF the
speculative holders to sell out in disgust 1t was
queried whether the Vanderbilt party were letting
the price down in order to buy stock at the re-
duced quotations or whether they found themselves
unable to support it by Of the heavy load they
are already carrying, and opinions, as usual In such
cases, are divided the subject. That there Is no
nducement for the outside public to buy the stock s
very evident, and the present indications are that
the bull party In it will lose heavily unless they are
prepared to continue buying. With respect to the
contest for the control Of the property the re-
suit is doubtful, and public sentiment is
strongly against the establishment OF mo-
nopoly OF the railways centring at this point
Already the New York Central, the Hudson River
and the Harlem lines are under one man power,
and to add the Erie to the number thus controlled
could not fail to be injurious to the public interests
1t would then be in the power Of this monopoly to
dictate It's own rates Of fare and freight; for the
Legislature, we may rest assured would abolish all
restrictions which it wished to have removed; and
where fair means not sufficient to accomplish
this result bribery and corruption would doubtless
do so. The resolutions adopted by the Chamber Of
Commerce Of this city on Thursday last in favor Of
the separate ownership and control Of the railways
leading to this city, reflects the tone Of public feeling
with regard to this attempt to add the Erie to an
already powerful combination 1t is true that the
Pennsylvania Central and the Baltimore and Ohio
lines would still compete with the Vanderbilt roads,
supposng Erie to be one of them for Western traffic.
but the tendency Of such monopoly would
be to extend itself by absorbing other lines to act
feeders, and 1t would be to the interest Of the
peting roads mentioned to work In harmony with
this monopoly by adjusting their tariff to that OF the
Vanderbilt lines, and in this way there would be
danger Of the whole railway system Of the country
being virtually controlled by the monopoly in ques-
ti0n The Legislature should therefore act upon the
suggestion Of the Chamber Of Commerce, and con-
slider the propriety of reviving an old law of this
State forbiddng any person to be director OF more
than one railway company in this State. With re-
spect to the proceedings before Judge Barnard to-
day. 1t is not probable that the receiver appointed
will be able to discover the funds OF which he is
powered to act the custodian-the cash in hand as
we'll as the archives Of the company having been
removed according to current report OF the State
namely, to Jersey City, and, therefore, beyond the
jurisdiction OF the courts here We may mention that
the receiver is O sonn-law OF Mr.. Cornelius Wander
bilt, and what further action may be taken under
the peculiar circumstances of the remains to be
seen. Meanwhile the greatest railway contest in the
history of Wall street is being waged. The Legisa
tive Committee appointed to investigate the affairs
Of the Erie Company at Albany has adjourned its
sttings until Thursday next.
The money market showed further signs Of relaXa-
ton, and under moderate demand from the Stock
Exchange the supply of loanable funds was ample at
seven per cent on call. II Is probable however, In
view OF the unavorable character OF the bank state
ment for the week and the near approach of
"settng day. in Pennsylvania and several
of the Eastern States, as well as the
time for making up the quarterly re-
turns OF the national banks, that we shall have
seven per cent market for the next two or three
weeks, although there is no ground for apprehen-
sions of stringency, unless produced by artificial
causes.
The gold market was unsettled, and the nuctua-
tions were from 1SsH to 1895, with the closing
transactions ut 139A. Coin continued In super
abundant supply, and loans were made chiefly ut
seven per cent per annum for carrying The ship
ments Of specie for the week aggregated $1,o96,9l6
The daily range OF the market during the week is