The New York herald., 1869-02-16
FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL
MONDAY, Feb. ls-6P y. n.

MONDAY, Feb IS--6P. n.
The measures acted upon In Congress on saturday
afternoon were the topic Of conpdersble discussion
m Wall street to-day The bill to prevent the cert
ncation OF checks s perhaps the only one OF the Sc
ries which received unfavorable comment. II u q
biu gotten up in the interest or the millionaire
brokers and capitalists OF the street, who are de-
Srous OF concentrating all It's business within their
counting rooms. In this opinion OF . great many
there Is a loophole which may be made available
should the bill become a law. There is
nothing 70 prevent the banks from making
loans 10 the drawers Of checks JUST before
or at the moment Of their presentation. A
certain Irish statesman once said he could
drive coach and four through any act OF Parlia-
menf. This ncipient act OF Congress seems already
provided with as capacious doorway. The bill re-
quirng the banks TO make monthly instead OF quar-
teriy statements 10 going TO produce ',squeeze''
every fonr weeks hereafter instead OF every three
months The original suggestion to have the Comp
troer call for the report for past day Is the
one which should have been adopted. The bill to
prevent loans greenback or currency collaterals
NJ nnquesoned as a salutary measure TO prevent the
blocking upr OF money to make stringent market.
Intense satisfaction is manifested over the bill to
prevent the increase OF the bonded debt
The Supreme Court OF the United States has rem
dered the important decision that contracts made
for tine payment OF gold are binding where 1t ia spe
cffcaly stated that the payment shall be In coin.
This settles number OF cases long In dispute and
will enable the fulflment OF many new contracts
which have been hesitating for The want OF an au-
thoritative ruling this point The Chief Justice
held that where coin was not specifically mentioned
the debt was payable in legal tenders. One eject
win be 10 induce the investment In this country OF
large amounts Of foreign capital which was appre-
bensive OF paper payment under the Legal Tender
act.
Gold was dull between the extremes of 135 and
1861. The cash metal was in abundant supply
despite the large amount withdrawn by the clique,
and loans were made at from five to seven per cent
for carrying. Both parties to the contest are conf
dent OF success-tne ..bus that the market is CON-
pletely within their control and the ..bearsn thar
''gold is going to $780," The clique were SO confident
to-day, despite the immense purchases of bonds for
foreign importation, that some Of the more timid
operators in the streer are inclined to wonder n
their power does not also extend into Con-
gress, and Il the Hooper bill was not engineered
with view to produce the present activity in gov
ernrnent securities and Ill the market with bills
against foreign gold, the whole to be succeeded by
its defeat Ia the Senate which would result in the
reshipment or bonds from Europe and dearth OF
gold at home. large number OF brokers received
orders to-day 10 sell gold" short, based upon the
news that resolution had been introduced in Con-
gress TO authorize tie sale OF s3oC0 oo0 OF the rca
sury gold. The price fen TO ls5 under these sales It
is question, again, II this not portion of the
cique's strategy 10 induce short" sales
aud thus increase the short interest In
the market. From ntimat!ons freely gwen to-day
10 conjectured that the clique expect TO defeat the
Hooper bill in the senate and thus put the
foreign demand for government bonds. Shoud
such fate attend this measure 1t would be dalnniug
10 our national faith and credit in the eyes ~ I'll
Europe, and the good results which have been
already experienced from the passage Of the bill
well as from the iattering character OF General
Grants speech. would be lost 70 US, perhaps for
ever The clique are desperate in their purposes
They have millions at stake IN the present contest
ana they will not hesitate TO risk millions to secure
their object especially as the weight of onehalf the
stock market Is also upon their shoulders The
gross clearings to-day were s4l,.os,ooo. the gold
balances sl,ss3, 1876, and the currency balances
S2,2T, ,22s The range OF prices was follows