The New York herald., 1871-03-29
FINANCIAL and COMMERCIAL.

fiNAAUiAL hND VUilniDfaUllH.
WALL STREET. |
TUESDAY. March 2S-6 Z. NJ
on ,Cnange to-day wheat was firm but less active.
The cotton market was quiet and steady
FOREIGN EXCHANGE WEAK.
The foreign exchange market was nominaliy un-
changed, but weak on the basis Of 1oo'4 1907. for
prime banKcrs' sixty day sterling, and 1l0s lloh
for sight bills. The mercantile demand Is light,
temporarily, for the reason that many still believe
in lower gold. while investment in exchange meets
with the competition OF the gold loan market where
the coin Ia worth consideration OF per cent
FOR use from day TO day.
MONEY FOUR TO FIVE PER CENT.
Money was four to five per cent on call but was
vari0usly quoted In different parts OF the street.
Thus, on Broad street several houses reported an
active inquiry at five per cent, while on Wall and
Nassau large balances were refused ut four per cent
The market is perhaps, best quoted at four to five
on stocks and four per cent on governments In
discounts nothing new is said, and rates are, there
fore, quoted as befOre-yiz. per cent for primo
double names.
GOLD ACTIVELY wEAK-l10h 1l0K.
The gold market showed further Generalization
Of the bush sentiment, and IN spite OF fresh short
interest az each downward step continued declining
until 1t touched bottom for the time Deng at l10H
The decline was assisted by Washington kilograms
that the R0thschilds were negotiation for large
portion OF the new five per cent loan, and
that the Secretary OF the Treasury had ex.
tended the time for subscriptions indefinitely
the original twenty days allowed for sgbscrlp.
tion to $2oO6oo6o6 OF the i've per cents
having expired to-day. There is no doubt that the
generous subscriptions already made at home to the
loan have much to do with encouraging the specu-
nj for md ha prn Of n
has surprised even the most scepucal of those who
thought the new loan would be complete failure.
The prices Of 1ve-twenties and gold are steadily ap-
preaching each other despite the prophecies that
any forced effort on the part OF the Secretary OF the
Treasury to accomplish SO abnormal a movement
would be frustrated by the natural inertia
OF the two markets. The appreciation or the new
loan thus confirms what we have often advocated In
the HERALo-viz: that long bond at 3.65 per cent.
running fifty years, could be easily placed and the
whole debt refunded into an obligation which would
cost the government only cent day interest on
every hundred dollars 1t owed It is because the
fve-twcnties, with the exception OF the 1S67s and
lS6ss. are now liable to be paid of at par that
any market at oil Is made for the
new I've per cents, which will not be
payable in less than ten years from the lst OF May
next. IT would seem also that the fact OF so many
subscriptions In gold to the new loan settles the
point that the Secretary OF the Treasury has the
power to pay or the e2s, '64s and '65's But as to
his dong 30 when he may buy them at discount,
as ne does every week, we doubt the rumors which
have been given considerable currency In the
street. The effect OF his purchases, II con-
tlnued, will Doubtless be to advance the
fve-twentles to par In gold, when Of
course, the propriety OF drafting allotments
for redemption Will come In. The Treasury balance
In coin even after making allowance for outstand
Ing certificates and accrued interest on the public
debt, Is sufcient to allow Mr. Boutwell, to buy fully
thirty millions Of fvetwenties during the month OF
April. So handsome reduction OF the debt would
save the Item Of nearly two millions annually in In
teest and give general satisfaction to the people.
Mr.. Boutwell, ewes It, as q matter OF justice 10
the country, that this vast sum OF principal
and interest should be taken from their burden.
The Treasury balance should be simply q generous
working figure Without q useless surplus The
next Congress should limit the payment Of the debt
TO sinking fund OF one per cent and forbid these
extra purchases. Then, with q reduction in the in
terest OF the debt to average Of four and half
per cent. and with sinking Iund suggested, the
annual taxes could be reduced $15O,O0O, ,o00 which
sum- left with instead OF extracted from the
peoples profits in their business industries, would
give the country so strong impulse IN its
prosperity that the payment OF the national debt
would become trining ten or twenty years hence,
while Its burden meantime would be insignificant
The course of the market is shown I'm the tablet