The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-01-15

go Gold was higher at New York on
Saturday, and this mornings dispatch
says that the feeling in regard to Its ten.
dency has changed during the last few
days. The New York correspondent Of
the Philadelphia Ledger says in that pa.
per Of Saturday that
1.-THE tenor Of all the private kilograms
received here within the twenty.four
hours past from well informed parties in
Washington, are to the effect that the
Congressional committees, both as re-
gards the Southern contested States and
the mode Of counting the Electoral vote,
will present majority and minority re.
portS, in which party lines will be strictly
drawn, thus really settling nothing, hut
leaving things pretty much in the same
position they occupied before tho COM
mittees were appointed. / dare say q
good many Of these private kilograms are
to be found in the Wall street brokers
Offices, and that fact may partly account
for the upward movement o,day in the
gold premium. Wall street, in times
past, has always managed somehow to
anticipate important Washington news
from the committees, and it would seem,
II these conjectures be correct, that it Is
ms enterprising to-day as 1t ever was"
The New York banks, by their last
statement, held more than SO million
dollars in gold, mainly ns collateral se-
curity for loans Of greenbacks. This
sum Ia probably larger than the amount
held at any previous time. 1t is three
millions more than the amount Of green.
backs in the same. banks, a circumstance
which has not happened before since the
suspension Of specie payments The ex.
cessiye supply has depressed the price
very greatly, and is the main cause Of
the near approach Of the currency to a
coin value. The average premium on
gold during the month OF December was
lower than during any previous month
since June, 1862. Since the 7th Of De.
cember the price has on only one day
touched Sper cent. During the past week
the price Of gold, expressed in our paper
currency, has been rs low as 1859, and
this is the lowest price since June Il,
1862. This low price results from the
fact that the supply in the market has
been increased largely, while at the same
time the demand has been diminished.
In explanation Of this statement, the New
York Post says, it is only necessary to
say that our exports, exclusive Of specie
during the first eleven months Of 1876,
amounted to S5l7,355,0l7, against S452,-
0GS,564 in 1875 and that our imports,
exclusive Of specie, were, during the
same time, only S395,SOl ,4Sl, against
S47l,s3S,1Sl in 1875. The increase in
our exports enabled US not only to dim.
inish our exports Of specie but late in
the year to import specie profitably. The
falling of'in our merchandise imports
diminished the demand for gold to use in
paying customs duties, and this is at pre-
sent the principal domestic use for
gold. Aside from these commercial
considerations it has been favora-
bic to u lower price of gold
that the Treasury stands pledged to the
resumption of specie payments in 1879,
while speculative influences have also.
been directed for the most part toward
depressing the price. The situation to-
day is this: We have, beside the amount
owned by the Treasury, about $4,000
00Ogold; this is mostly in the New York
banks, where it is chiefly represented by
certificates of deposit issued at the Sub
Treasury. Gold can now be used-frst,
as money to the extent that the mer-
camille transactions in gold require; Sec
ond, in payment OF customs duties, and
and this is the main use for il; and, third,
to export. It is estimated that the
amount required to be held by the banks
for the first purpose is an average sum
Of Sl5,OOOOOO, and for the first two pur.
poses an average sum OF S2O,OOO,OOO is
ample. 1t follows, therefore, that we
now have 100000 Of gold which is a
burden on the loan market.