The New York herald., 1870-02-24

"WEDNESDAY, Feb. 23-oP M
Wall street. presented unusually interesting fea-
lures to-day not The least important OF which was
| the
suAKP DECLINE IN GOLD
With the closing quotation tonight OF 117A q
| l17y. the salient point Of the market Is indicated.
But that point was reached through the operation OF
numerous influences so curious in their connection
with ana bearing upon the gold premium that they
merit more than brief notice Behind tho present
movement there Is OF course considerable manlpua-
ton, but the SPECTATORS who are ssssting the de-
cline nave blundered into success rather than Iore-
seen the tendency OF the market Remote as the
cause is 1t is no less true that gold continuing TO
experience the reaction from the "corner' OF last
September when the price was forced to l65.
Before that eventful Friday It was . common re-
mark that no article was safe to deal in. "long"
or "short" a. gold because the movements In 1t
were SO deliberate and so free OF violent nuctuatOn
In Time OF peace that An operation either way was
attended with little or no risk Of q sudden obtera-
ton Of margin. But that corner'' proved 1t was
dangerous al speculation in stocks and as CONN.,
dence IN vne market was the more widespread 80
tho collapse Of the corners cntaied greater disaster
and has since ELECTED unusual caution among specu.
lat0rs Hence the daily clearNnces now range from
twenty to forty millions only where formerly they
ranged rp TO q hundred and even two hundred MIL
lions, those Of the fatal Friday being estimated
at over Ave hundred millions. The CONNER
cial bankruptcies and distress produced BY
the great tumble in gold have also rendered
business men very conservative and the disposition
to reduce importations Is shown In the marked
diminuti0n In the introduction or foreign goods.
Now, the imports are the chief sources OF the de-
mand for gold and the cause OF the premium there
on. gold has continued to fall since September,
parties Of "bulsh" propensities have occasionally
interrupted the decline III expectation OF upward
reaction; but the causes OF such Q reaction have
been wanting. Since the beginning of the year
there have been two deliberate efforts the part
OF the professional spectators to put gold back TO
$780, but both tailed ana the "bulls" were glad to
get out without loss after forcing the price to 12S
and pnning 1t there until they sold out LaUery we
have had the decentralization produced by the foreign
demand for our government ana railway securities,
and the cable reports constantly advancing market
for the nve-twentes In Europe, where the rates Of
interest falling to SO low figures that our six per
cents are In active request. These shipments OF
bonds and stocks do away with the necessity OF gold
shipments, and the precious metal remains with us
IN all its plentnde. Again, there 1s sort OF no.
m9opathy about the gold market-a decline pro-
duces decline. The feeling that gold was cheap
anywhere below 1876 brought buyers into the market
constantly. Hence the great mass Of dealers we're
"longn of 1t. In the absence of both natural de-
mand and speculative demand there is but one
destiny for the prlce-a decline. The universal I'm
preston that gold was cheap kept the
'shortsn out, or rather limited their numbers
and hence the "bulls'' have gone on day
alter day paying five or six per cent
to have their gold carried but without the satisfac
ton OF seeing the market advance. When the mar
ket would decline O few points they sold out In dis
gust. The new buyers sold out In turn, and so the
market was slowly falling. IL was In this condition
this morning when telegram from Washington an
nounced Secretary boutwels intention to pay the
March interest on the ten-forties without rebate;
following which came the government sale at the
SubTreasury at noon Of only portion OF the amount
offered, the gold dealers being Indifferent as to
bio for only $685. 600 OF the million advertised to
be sold; while, at the same time, foreign exchange
was weak, on the enhancement of nvetwenties at
London and Frankfort The condensed result was
decline In gold to l17H-the lowest point since
September, 1852. Curiously enough the temper OF
the Gold Room changed to the "bear'' side, and OF
the sales at the lowest figures OF the day very
many were on speculative account. II there Is O
reaction Of any moment from the present quota
ton, in the absence OF outside influences, It will
be due to this temptation to oversell the market.
DECLINE IN GOVERNMENTS.
The effect upon the government market OF the de-
cline In gold has also been curiously interesting In
earlier transactions prices were steadily maintained
at those OF the past few weeks, the demand on
foreign account, five etwenties in London advancing
to-day to 803x, being such as to Offset the lower
premium But the sharp decline to 1171 worked its
influence at last and lowered the general list of gov
ernments quarter to half per cent. The curious
feature, however, Is the equalization OF the
price OF 1ssl's and gold, both selling to-day
| at 117H. In this steady approach OF the
two quotations TO each other the market seemed to
cumlnate for with the present condition OF our ma.
| tional debt and finances the maximum price OF a
bond Is not more than Its equivalent in gold. Al
such appeared To be the opinion Of holders fol
the Sis were freely and generally offered at their
par in gold. The more recent issues however, still
show margin or several per cent difference, but
| that margin is tonight the narrowest In their
| record for while gold has fallen several per cent
within the past few weeks the 65's, 67's ana 68's
have yielded only about half per cent. In BRIEF gold
manfests q tendency to overcome and obiter
| ate the difference between It's price and
that OF all the issues. The market closed
steady and quiet tonight at the following
quotations. United States currency skies, 1113i
! a 1ll5s; do. skies, 1884, registered, 11714 1l7I
do. do, coupon, 117s a1l7; do. hve-twenties regis
tered, May and November, la ll44; do. do, 1882
coupon, do, 1l5 1155s; do do, 1864 do. do 1141
1l4is; do. do 1855, do. do., 1147s Haas 90. do.
registered, January and July, 112s 11s1s; do. do.
1865, coupon, do 113 113h; do. DO, 1857, do do.
| l134 1l3ss; do do, 1858, 90. do, 1874 113]a
do. ten.forties registered, 100 1895 DO. do. cou
| pom, 1925 1928.
DECLINE AND REACTION IN STOCKS.
The course Of the stock market likewise presented
interesting features. AT the opening prices wer
barely steady and business was dull after the holi
day Of Tuesday. With the "break'' In gold how
ever, an active downward movement set IN, AM
before the close OF the last call prices had gone of a
average OF about one per cent. In some OF the liz
the decline was assisted by outside influences
the falling or OF nearly $4,000 in the earning
OF Northwestern for the third week In Februar.
rendering the stock weak and operating aaversel
on the other Western railways. Exceptionally Net
Jersey Centrnl was strong and active, the pric
rising to l041a, while Erie was firm at 2S1z, the TN
n hat fu I'M or 1ofta