The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-10-05

premium bonos closed weak at 31H@31@
against s1N@s21 on the previous day.
The towboat Port Eads, with four barRes ar
raved here yesterday. The following is por
ton OF her cargo: 10000 bbls flour and 24,74
bushels OF wheat In bulk. In addition to q large
assorted cargo Of Western produce.
The Eureka New Sentinel tells of man In
that town who carried o potato In his pocket for
eight or ten years. until 1t more resembled q
specimen of Hoosac ore than anything else. 30
ne concluded to have 1t assnyed as such. The
assayer he gave It to to ascertain what was In
it," returned fattering certificate of twenty
five per cent lead and $500 In silver" We copy
this, for being mining article, 1t comes under
the financial and commercial head
There were two arrivals yesterday of new
r gugar-the first OF the season. In the morning
the steamboat Belle arrived with six hogsheads.
from the plantation Of Mccall Brothers, Ascen-
sion parish, consigned to J. W, Burbridge Co.
Afterwards came the steamer Henry Tete, from
Donaldsonville. with five hogsheads Of new
sugar from st. Emma plantation. parish of
Ascension. and consigned to Delgado d Co.. of
this city.
The total shipments OF potatoes from Troy
to New York thus far this season are about
$4,000 barrels. The prices range from 81 so to
VI 90. As illustrative of the growth Of that
fruit" whereabouts, the Troy Wing mentions
that Garrett Vandenburgh. of North Green
bush, dug 152 barrels OF potatoes from five bar
rels planted making the average yield over
fifty barrels to the acre. From one barrel of
the snowflake variety he obtained thirty-Ave
barrels. and from four Of early vermonts the
yield was LIT barrels.
The Rome correspondent of the London
Times remarks that the abolition Of the Grist
tax. one OF the reforms promised by the pres
yent ministry. IL now violently opposed by the
owners Of real estate The Grist tax bears
directly and heavily on the masses OF the peo-
pie. and removing 1t would make 1t necessary
to collect more faithfully other taxes more OBJ
ieotionable to the influential classes. The ex-
tent to which taxes are evaded By the rich In
Bone appears from the fact that $4,000 owners
of real estate have by some means or other en-
tfrely escaped the payment of any tax whatever
on this property. At the same time the COL
lection Of the income tax has been enforced
with such vigor that hundreds OF poor work
ingmen have had their tools seized In default OF
the payment Of q few francs. The ministry that
is pledged to the abolition Of the Grist tax are
putting greater energy into the collection Of
the building tax, and the cutlery against the
abolition of the one and the collection Of the
other comes from the same classes
The demand for silver dollars. according to
the latest Washington dispatches. now averages
about four tons daily. This 10 less than the
coinage. and indications are that the treasury
will not be able. under the present order, to cir
culate the amount coined. There Is o large Co.
mand now from the South for dollars to pay
cotton pickers, as the negroes prefer them to
any other money. When Secretary Sherman
II announced that he would pay out silver dollars
fnvs hen fn1I -
sixteenth Of per cent but when he retracted
that order 80 that his acts might be clearly
within the law. the outflow of silver from the
treasury was checked, end gold rose to three
eighths Of per cent premium. The stock of
gold in the world Is increasing faster than sill
yer, $2b 100000 more gold than silver being
mined yearly. India end other parts of the
East absorb 100. 900 900 in silver annually and 1t
never comes back. This Oriental sink and the
wider use OF silver will soon Bring silver bull
lion up to more than par with gold, ON the
American basis of coinage, viz: sixteen of sill
yer to one of gold.
The MOVIE Vremya, in an article on the late
Russian war. says that the whole sum OF 3oo,-
100000 roubles has been subscribed for the SUBJ
scriptions having amounted to 3o436s. 900
roubles. The subscriptions In the whole OF
Russia. except st. Petersburg and Moscow,
amounted to 45.ooo,ooo only: those at Moscow
amounted to like sum. and of the remaining
213, 0o0 900, 100,000.000 were subscribed by the
agents Of bankers In Western Europe. The re-
suit shows says the writer, that only about one
half OF the loan has been taken up by the Rus
sian nation; and of the Russian subscribers,
there are very few indeed who have invested
large sums in 1t.
Our system Of taxation is unfavorable to small
savings, as nearly the whole of the incomes of |
Gl6 peasantrV, who form the most numerous |
class Of our population. are absorbed In taxes
Meanwhile the charge for the interest and sink
ing fund of the new loan will also fall upon the
peasantry. A series Of loans following upon
each other have. in consequence OF the war. al |
Eeady become necessary. and this should move |
the government to carry out as speedily as pos
posed and accepted In principle long ago. y
n income tag In some shape has become In
dispensable; the necessities of the State are Inn
mense and urgent
Letters from the British iron centres. so late
as September ~, give doleful accounts of the
continued depression In trade. About the first
Of August the situation seemed more cheerful
and buyers had begun to place orders with the
furnace men. but this ray of hope proved delu-
sive. and g Wolverhamp ton letter says the bur-
den of correspondence received by the Dig iron
manufacturers has been to delay delivering for
the present. The makers Of finished iron are
all overstocked with pig, and the furnaces have
large quantities on hand. AS is inevitable I'M
der the circumstances. prices have weakened.
and the rates for Scotch iron. for instance, are
now lower than at any time since 1871. THE
worst. am afraid, has not yet happened"
says the correspondent whose letter Is our au-
thority. and he mentions the Sheffield rumor
that Member of Parliament from the North of
England. largely interested in the iron trade. is
unable to meet his liabilities. In South Stat
fordshire q large iron concern. the John Bag.
nall Iron Company. has been trying to reorgan-
ize with fresh capital, but out Of $4,000 shares
needed $4,000 only were obtained within the
time first proposed. The undertone In all these
gloomy advices Is the sharp competition Of
American iron. and. though the times are dull
ON other accounts. they would be greatly i'm
proved II once more the markets of the United
States stood ready to absorb the product OF