The New York herald., 1871-03-02
FINANCIAL and COMMERCIAL.
WALL STREET. I
WEDNESDAY. March l--6 +. M. I


WALL STREET.
WEDNESDAY. March la =. M.
On 'Change to-day wheat was only nominal In
| quotation. The cotton market continued heavy
especially after cable dispatches OF lower market
In Liverpool.
THE PUBLIC DEBT STATEMENT.
The monthly exhibit Of the Treasury Department
shows reduction In the national debt since Feb
ruary of s7,al7sie. The decrease during the past
year was $117, 632, and for the two years since
March /, 1869, the decrease is $204, ,764,413.
MONEY FOUR TO FIVE PER CENT.
The money market was easy at four to five per
cent. Business was about evenly distributed be-
tween the two quotations, the increasing volume of
business at the Stock Exchange having tendency
20 cause greater absorption Of the phlethora
OF money IN the city, Doubtless there will
be full return to four per cent within
few days. as the Assistant Treasurer announces
that he will pay for the government bonds bought
to-day with two-thirds legal tenders and one.third
national bank currency. Prime commercial paper
is still IN good request from the dealers in this class
OF investments, and passes quite freely at 6H per
cent, with occasional sales at as low as per cent
Foreign exchange was steady, but dull at the rates
last quoted
GOVERNMENTS sTEADY-TEN- -FoRrIEs BuoYANT.
y
with the peculiar frmness OF the ten-fortes, the
price OF which, 1t will be remembered, took sudden
upward turn yesterday, both here ana in London.
This movement contlnued to-day, as Will be seen
by our closing prices further on In which the ten
forties are quoted ex the pa per cent coupon due
March l. ana are now fully one per cent higher than
few days since. This fact, accompanying as did,
the weaker tendency OF the dve-twenties and the
general market resulting from the decline in gold
and slight reaction in the fve-twenties in Europe,
gave rise TO
CURIOUS BIT OF GOSSIP
viZ-that the agents OF the Treasury Department
were at work both here and in London to give the
market swimming buoyancy for the purpose Of
nOating the new loan, for which purpose they were
manipulating the ten-forty i've per cents as lever
for moving the whole market. or course, the astute
discoveries Of this theory may be mistaken
but 1t Is difficult, certainly, to account for the so-
lated activity Of the tenforty issues So far the
efrec; upon the nve-twenties is concerned the at
tempt has been failure for it took all the force Of
the upward movement in the ten-fortles to keep
them from going OF a fraction sympathy with
lower gold. At best they were only steady
''BULL" MARKET FOR STOCKS.
The day at the Stock Exchange was one OF great
excitement and intense activity IN the speculative
railway shares and many Of the miscellaneous list,
rites, while not abandoning the old. In
TACT the whole speculative element OF the
street seemed TO have gone over to the
.bullr side and given free rem to the most san.
guine views 10 The future Of prices 1t seems
almost incredible that the present extraordinary
animation is SO near a successor OF the late
dulpess and inactivity The few bears who were
tempted at each rise to throw out speculative
lines were overwhelmed IN the rising tide, which
spent force only when the crowd on the sidewalk
after the regular closing Of business had .egun TO
separate. The special features were Union Pacific
which jumped to 80 on the prospect OF the passage
by the House Of Representatives OF the inter-
preting the law in favor OF the company Rock Island
which quietly advanced to Ill; Northwest, which
touched 9o1 for the preferred and sos for the com.
mon, and Ohio and Mississippi. which advanced
another one per cent, to 42S. Our comparative
table Of the extreme fluctuations will, however best
illustrate the character OF the days business:-
HIGHEST AND LOWEST PRICES OF STOCKS.
The following table shows the highest and lowest
prices Of the leading speculative stocks during the