, 1870-05-11
MONETARY and COMMERCIAL.
MONETARY,

Tuesday ErHsSo.. May 49,
We find the following item circulating
through the press generally and find 1t last IN
the Boston Commercial Bulletin:
~ The United States mint at Philadelphia has
tust styuck specimens OF the new silver coinage,
OF the denominations Of ten, twents s-1ve, and nifty
nation have been sent to the Treasury, for exami-
nxtsoh- The standard ralue Of the coin Is 50 re-
<1nced as to correspond IN actual Ealne with our
instead Of the len, twents-lye and tffY cent
notes.
The standard value Of the coinage is fixed
,E Law, and. though tho Secretary Of the Traaa-
MY has large discretionary powers in the mat
ter Of the redemption Of the present fractional
currency, he would Lave no authority to issue
COINS OF eng other value than the legal stand
au for that purpose, and we think it probable
TINT the new co'ns referred to are specimens
posed i" "unifcnGou7 Of the coinage OF the
principal nations of the world. Bur, even in
the event that tho Secretary were authorized to
Issue debased fractional coins in exch.nge
for the present fractional currel,c
with the view Of putting the retail trades ca a
Specie basis. it would be Impossible for any
1nsta1Gc currency to correspond in actual
vafue with our present currency" until the
litter is at par, because, until it ia at par it
viii fuctuate in value, and as any metallic cur
rency, no matter how much debased, has a
fixed salue, it could never exactly correspond
70 tue value of our paper currency. During
thn last five months the value Of tho paper
currency has luctnated between so cents and
80 cents to the dollar, and during the last si1
weeks has ranged from s. ceuts to 80 cents on
the dollar, and, should such al attempt be
1oade, II would be Eurious question OF
1ow much the coin should be
detssed. II ninety cents on the dollar was
accepted as standard, and coins debasea to
that standard put in circulation, it would re-
quire that gold should not bear . higher pre-
1niun than IL to III else the new coins would
be OF Fo much higher value than currency that
they would flow out Of the country in exports
out Of Canada ls now being exported from
New York. # 30 per cent OF value were au-
fho1lzed es the standard, tho silver would
probably continue to circulate as long as gold
WnFno higher thau 1oG to 127, but the adop-
ton of such standard would be An implied
confession on the part Of the government Of
fte Intention to rer7ut7iate 20 per cent OF it's
obligations IN che fractional currency.
In connection NTH changes in the stand
ards Of the coinage, however, il NAY be men
toned that there is probability TINT SONS
pfau VIII be adopted for the tt unifcation" OF
the eoirages OF the principal commercial M
. tons, 60 as to dispense with many confusing
elements in the foreign exchanges AS, for in-
stance; the nominal premium Of 91SS per cent
On sterling, and the paradox in franc exchange
BY which the advance in the price Of the bill
on Paris is indicated by figures of lower de-
Eona!nation (thus franc exchange quoted at
" '.
becE1ee in the one case the dealers give
flanc8 16 centimes for a dollar, aud in
the other only francs Il centimes).. Unihca-
ton Of the the coinage IS. therefore, desirable,
N order to simplify foreign exchange. Two
plans for this are now under constellation, one
of which, proposed by Mr. S. g. Ruggles, il to
make the franc the universal unir and would
require reduction in the value of the Ameri-
can guld dollar Of ~ per cent Another Is By
Judge Kelley: BY Which it is proposed to
make twenty dollars equal in intrinsic value to
four pounds sterling, or one hundred francs or
five half-impe1ials Of nussia, or three Germ1n
.S1osns. To make twenty dollars the equiEa-
lent Of four pounds sterling, it would be neces-
BaE to reduce the standard Of the dollar to
97-32 cents, or r1ise the sovereign to S5 instead
Of 81. .s6-6 IS at present
In the rairoad article recently adopted by
ahe Constitutional Convention, the first sec
ton provides as follows
t.SECT1DS1. /. Every railroad corporation Organized
and dung business In this State under The laws OF
lie once or place lu this State for the transacton
OF It's business, where transfers Of stock may be
made, In which shall bc Kept for public inspection
saTital stock subscribed and By whom, the names
OF the owners Of its Stock antl the amounts owned
hy them respectively; the amount Of stock paid In
und by whom; the transfers Of said stock; the as
Bets aud liabilities, and the names and p1ace Of
Teskenecs OF its officers, and the General Assem-
the provisions OF this section. The Dirccturs Of
every raiiEoad corporation shalt annually make
report 10 the At0tof OF Public Accounts. or BONE
on;cer 70 1e DESIGNATED BY Law, Of all their acts
End dongx, which report shall inc.ut1e such mt
ten zeiaslrs to railroads as may be prescribed By
12w.r
The foregoing Was probably intended to pre-
vent the railroads chartered by this State
d7cm becoming the footballs OF Wall street
ePeculators. II the facility Of transferring the
ftceks is necessary to TIC gamb1i;st; operations
Of the cliQues. this section will certainly inter-
fcre with them, as it provides that t the trans-
fc1s Of said stock" shall be REGARDED in it's
of1icc in this State AS there cannot be dup1i-
cate transfers of TIE same stock, it follows, as
stocks cannot be made elsewhere than at the
office OF the company in this State. In pro-
portion rs the facilities for gambling in the |
stocks in New York arc removed, 10 will the |
Inducements to cliques to get control Of tho |
roads to secure the use Of their revenues
diminish It is not to be expected that - great
Eeroiution as Is brewing in railway una1sge- |
fnent can be accomplished ut once. but the.eare |
moves in the right direction The foregoing |
Eection provides for more public information /
1uzcEaru to tho railroad companies chartered |
By this State, than is now accessible in regard |
to any railroad in tho United Suites.
The abundance Of money in this market be-
gins to tell on the p1ice,of grain; Speculation
wss rampant in the wheat market again to
day, and the speculators have just found out
4h1t, With the leverage Of two or three mill
san1 Of surplus funds in the banks seeking
employment, they can LIT the price Of that
Ete7pie in all the other markets Of the world
: business at the banks WAS hifie more ao-
tive to-day, though money continues plenty,
md the banks continue to make demand loans
at per cent Discounts Of merchant paper
are u1de at 10 per cent.
The movement Of currency to the country
continues very light. and is fully balanced BY
tie amount coming in
Exchanse continues firm at 25c to Soc per
q ,ooo premium for sales between banks At
the counter bankers sell at Ito premium. and
buy At par. buffalo grain iilis are taken at u
Oh. Gold drafts OH san T1ancisco aro sold It
par, and currency drafts at Der cent pre-
niam- n foreign exchange, sterlin. is sojd 1t !
$50 to 49j. and francs at 5l5. 40 '''o ~
The following bids for and o,rcrs of 1oc,1 |
stocks were made At the Stock Board to,Gar.