The New York herald., 1876-02-23
FINANCIAL and COMMERCIAL.
A Brief Review Of the Financial Situa-
tiOn-The Popular Verdict.
A SUGGESTIVE CONTRAST.
Where We Stand and What We May Expect
The Fallacy of the Present Speculation.
WALL SrRgEr.


Taken as a body there is no community In the world
more suffused with the divine aflatus Of patriotism
than is the Board OF Brokers They yield the pas
TO their observance Of historic days in the
comnemoration Of their country's history. They have
peculiar way OF looking at things, and their Views
are not free from the tincture OF their profession
The birthday OF Washington is appreciated as
"dies dsts in the history Of tho land, aud It is at
the same lime mentally connected with some lucky
date noted Stock Exchange history. They re ex-
pert in drawing comparisons, these brokers, even
though the likeness be feeble one and far fetched at
that
So, while they enjoy the holiday and are filled with
patriotic fervor, they help regarding the rise
and progress u the nation during the last hundred
years other than great bull movement OF which
Pater Patrie the instlgator and support
There arises a difficulty, nevertheless, in comparing
George Washington, when 'long" Of the countrys des-
tnes with stock jobblng operators who get "iong Of
the market
Night and day could not be more unlike. The nrst
all purity and truthfuness the latter smudged
in reputation aud inherit on the paterna side from
their ancestor who cited tho father of prevarica
tions
Washington never told lie Stock operators seldom
tell anything else If Washington engineered a sharp
the British the course OF legitimate
warfare; IL Taurus OF the Stock Exchange essays q
squeeze he has all the trickery OF points"
s'puts'' and false intelligence There is nothing in
common between the two, and the endeavor TO hken
Jay Gould bullng Union Pacific to the Father OF His
Country bung the prosperity OF tho United States
false as il is preposterous
The latter promoted the interest OF his country for
his country's good the former advanced the price OF
the stock for his History will give each his
proper place. despite of the Black Friday business OF
other.
The grand bull movement pushed on by the great
general and Of the day and his successors
did not reach its present enviable position without
meeting many q setback and rebuff The bear niu-
ence was manifested in the hardships OF Washngtons
campaigns, in the Of 1872 and the internecne
strife Of later years STILL the movement fostered by
him the anniversary of whose birth celebrate to-
day has gone rapidly and prosperously.
1t tissue paper stock that, nation, offer
to the world but a security founded upon faith honor
and energy. The national credit has advanced, not
under the influence of cooked reports and washed
sales has been advanced for the purpose of SELL
ing higher prices but is simply held egi
BILE dividend returning security to all investors
1t is only just, then ito say nothing OF the
panying satisfactorily that the nation should apart
one day in the year in commemoration of the great
engineer of countrys prospery-a man who set
going the greatest upward movement public affairs
of any OF his peers and did without recourse to
chicanery fraud
A
The recurrence OF washington's Birthday affords an
opportunity for reviewing the financial situation and
considering the problem whittier drifting Not
few hailed the advent of the New Year har-
binger of prosperity. 1t was to be the "Cen-
tennia of the nations brth and around it there
supposed to be mysterious power that would fur
nish the people with a balm for all their
trials On the Stock Exchange this sentiment feeling
belief whatever 1t may be called, warmed and
nursed into speculative life that readily and with a
hearty good will has undertaken discount the antc
patcd benefits which the country TO derive. Clques
alter another formed to buy different stocks,
and responsive to the purchases thus made prices gen.
orally have materially advanced. To what extent and
how, with few exceptions the speculation has en-
braced ALL from the sound dividend paying shares to
those hopelessly worthless, is SHOWN the subjoned
table OF closing prices yesterday and December 81
1875 as folows:-