Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-12-05
FRANCE AND TRADE.
OFFICE OF THE DAILY APPEAL.l
MExPEIE. December 4, 1865.
FINANCE


There was more inquiry for city bonds
today than for some time back and they
have advanced. A sale ofS15 900 paving
bonds was effected at SIC. to a broker
who we presume has bought on eastern
account.
City Scrip is nOminally the came Of
yesterday. There is lone offering, bui
dealers profess their willingness to buy
at SOGS0}c. Selling IN small amounts al
sS@s4.
County Warrants are firm. Speculs
tors take sl offered at 75@T6c. Dealers
sell TO tax payers at 77@7ss.
Currency is easier with 8 large i'm
provement in small notes. Cotton bills
cOme in steady, and the market 1t IL
thought will be rather dull until Monday
or Tuesday next Rates are governed
very much by the supply. We quote
New York bills st discount buying and
on outside points st discount. New
Orleans sight bills are taken at ! dis
count, the difference in exchange be-
tween that point and New York admit
ing even Of lower rate here, and in
some instances we learn that sales were
made at discount on large amounts.
The New York quotations on Ster-
ling exchange are not generally
well understood, ard coniectures
are often made as to why 10
or Ill per cent. is nearer the par value
Of this exchange than 100; various res
sons are given-one that the Spanish
mill dollar, by which the standard was
regulated, is worth 4s Sd or 54 pence.
while the present Americana dollar, by
alloy or light weight, Is worth only A %
or 50 pence sterling. Another, that d.
ring Gen. Jsckson's administration
81 A Of gold coin would purchase as
much as 81 81 afterwards, the gold coin
age hsving thus been degraded.
Both are wrong. The conventional
rate for the pound sterling, was adopted
By national legislation in 1892, when q
silver dollar was COMPUTED at IS. Sd. but
was not long maintained in that actual
relation. The original standard estab-
lished in 1892 was go grains Of standard
gold for the eagle, or 247.5 grains Of pure
gold. This was reduced in 1885 Ljust as
Jackson left Office to 25S grains, because
the silver dollar, which was practically
the standard, had become relatively
cheaper. The standard was also changed
for convenience to the decimal, so that
the new eagle had about six per cent. less
gold than the old. The great difficulty
with our rate Of sterling exchange is that
1t assumes a fixed OF conventional value
for the pound in Federal currency, in
stesd Of quoting the fuctusti)n intended
in the rate at which the bill is sold. It
is precisely IS window glass, or carpet
tacks, have been sold for many years at
an uDaltersble card price, changes from
which are regulated by a discount. Thus
tscks were sold at g. per cent. or 20 per
cent. this mesning that, charging the
goods at cid card rates, this discount
would be taken of the bill at the foot.
The card prices, originally the selling
rate, had ceased to represent the current
quotation. The true way to quote s.er-
ling exchange would be 81 SIS to 81 90 8.
instead OF 10 to III per cent; in other
words, the exact frsction of the real dol
lar 10 the pound should be given, in
steEd OF the rate Of premium or discount
on An old assumed valuation. Attempts
have often been made to secure this re-
form, but it has signsljy failed, custom
proving too strong for principle.
The Louisville money market, says
the Courier, OF the p, continues in about
the same condition that has distin-
guished them for several days past. The
demand IS IN excess Of the resources OF
the banks, who discriminate 10 favor Of
prompt borrowers and depositors, and, ss
a consequence, 8 good deal OF paper is
Offering ia the outside MARKET. Bank
rates vary from 8 10 y per cent. and
street rates at from II to 2 per cent 8
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