, 1870-02-08
MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL
MONETARY.

MONDAY ETEFfhE; tep. 4
The declsion by the Sop1ene Court Of tue ss]nl-
ted saIes that the LsgalTender act Of non-erect
a. regards debts contracted previous 10 it, pass.
ase is s,up.y The affirmation BY tue Court that
Cergress cannot, IN sccordaucs with lne consti.
tuuon, impair the obligation OF contracts. All
dents contracted prior to the passage Of that act
were contracted upon specie basis, and equity
would, OF couIse, demand that such debts should
be settled Upon the same basis upon which tney
we're contracted,-snas Is, that the dollars" then
contracted 10 te paid should, at the maturity
OF Inc contract, bear the same general relation OF
value to the currency Of the world a. large.
The Chicago Times, In lts 1ssoe OF the 9Th, snay.
hg made either rldiculouB blunder or Wtlful
Misrepresentation OF the provtllops OF the Cur
rercy bill, paused by the Senate Oh last Wednes-
dsy, endeaEoEs 10 Sustain lis false position this
corning BY trick Of wo1ds, IN saying that:
he only banks authorized to be esabll.hsd BY the
II. H. oss o g., i
& Ee pant. ~ aases ses VI IL exssas
:; atssh ths - gu iaese.ae il
found IN iii, sectin It esano be found Ia tie oi!L 0o
Now, tie 1rulh Ia that lhele Is no 1estrict,ou On
the number Of la'.ks tnat may be organized u1der
The present SatioEa1 Currency act; there IL only
restriction OF the aggregate voume OF circulating
Ioies which they nay have This was restricted
10 $50 COO Coo ntd tho Currency bill which passed
s43t000 coo to the $500. 100000 authorized by Sec
ton p CT The National Currency act, This means
that there shall be an acreate Of s5 900 OF the
present kind OF bank calculation. There was Eo
necessity for reciting, in this case, Whist
kiEd Of tacks should hare this 3l5,Goo,000 ctr.
culas1on; that Is made pain enough In the refer.
ence IN Section - Of the act which authorizes the
93C0, 900 already out Tho authority to estab-
ish National Banks Of issue on d specie basis Is
given In Section or the Currency bill, but the
authority Of theie banks to itsue bills 1edeemable
in srecie needed 10 reference to the limitation OF
$s69. COO Of the circulation redeemabie IN legal
tentelH, beeAuEc the unlimited issue OF notes
1edeemable in specie Is authorized BY the bill.
There Ia not very muco prospect OF this curTercy
bill passing the House, and becoming law; but
while 1t IA before the people lis provisions ahould
at least be truihf1lIy Represented.
In connection with the foregoing It may be eald
that while the establishment OF banks OF lssua on
aspec!e bass, as provided fer in The Currency bill,
would be lke;y to meet with favor In tbs South.
cln States, a measure Of much more perunence
to the financial interests Of the whole country Ia
tbnt at TIC end Of the recently reported Funding
bill, which proposes 10 fund the greenbacks into
per cent bonds, which ata1 be reeered al security
for unlimited National Bank circulation 10 the
amount Of 90 per cent {not 50 per cent, AZ the
Timss has III Of theE par value II this ptoposl-
ton should become laWs aud the unjust rkqQ1Ie.
neht that every National Bank shall receive
the notes Of every other National Bank at pa.
Were abrogateo, banks you'd soon be found in all
rarta Of the country that would prefer TO issue
their CIRCULATION on the hasia OF specie at ouce
than to come down 10 1t by degrees; for, ~ they
would otherwise be 1edeemiuz lheir bills III legal
teLde1a that would be steadily appteclattng ia
value, there would be q loss which they would
avoid, II, In loaning their notes. they put them ont
only nt par In specie, and 30 anticipated the time
when they should saye to redeem them In specie.
The week opens with toleraoly active demand
for money though In this respect there 10 q vide
difference In the feeling and experience IN di1er-
ent balkS. The general opinion Is that depoata
are SO low vet thar auy cousldefable increase In
The demand would make money temporarily
tight, but that there could not be any decided
s1flrgency 10 apparent from the abundance of
moreJ IN New Iots, uneza banks Of this city
could get any amount Of re. .dlscounts they might
desire. On the whole ne think tnss, uotwithstaud.
Ing that some OF tie banks are running very close
TO their reserves The general tendency Of the mar.
Aet ls toward an eaaler condition.
Exchange waa sold, between banks, to-day, at
nom par 10 CSC per 81. 900 discount At the count
q, bankers Eell at PSF and buy at LILO dlecount.
Sales at the Stock Board to-day were:
81 sha1es Republic Ina Co ex. div......... 90x
Gil, ,NUU Am. god, seler s0..................1at 50.
The following Offers Of Rtocka md b.ds Tor eame