New-York tribune., 1878-04-18
OFFICIAL REPORT N. Y. HINLHG STOCK la
va CUIEGE SALES APRIL IL, 1873
ARD--l O'CLOCK p. n
THIRD BoARD-2:30 P. NJ.
WEDNESDAY, April Up. NJ

-Four years ago. on April To- Ao' ""
follows: ..-,.uo g
(ongTeSs becomes day by day more certain so 10 '!n
appearances does it become more ana nioIe vi 80 h
snnnointed 1 IsG The business community understand
certainly that portion endowed with unIeTstahu- !
iDg-that the printing OF 1ortyIour hllilomS nor or
foTty-fOur hundred millions more ol PdPgsl
promises to pay does not add EN-, CEN
value to the wealth OF the couhtry,
ghey do not rush in to buy securities
or merchandise in order to secure the benefits OF the
great advance in prices which the imitation prophc!s
have assured must follow the success Oh f lI'ii
proposed legislation. OF the return OF that c3II,-
dence so essential to successful business Slt Of
has been persstently promised as the IJsu III
increased facihtes mere seeIS in% ~ m d,strnst in
lack but in its place there Is gIo"Img Ei' int to
business circles. Merchants buy spaIlneN' luSC 3 ~
keep up their asSortments manniactuleIs aIe no mo-
extending their enterprises, ana business Ion
orally seem wisely inclined 10 keep theiIl aiidLS
''well in band or under ready control. In shor.,
the men of substance in the country evidently
lack implicit confidence in the brandy rem
edy proposed by the Washington doctors lhey
see that the difficulties of the country DID not re-
suit from a lack of irredeemable paper Dut rather
from too much of that article, ana from over
trading; from railway and other grand enterprises
commenced and prosecuted in advance OF the
cOuntrys needs; from living beyond our means and
running in debt for the difference between lhcoine
and expenses; from expansion IN business as MfiI %
as CurrenCy-and il is not clear to them now as
order resulting from expansion Is TO be cured Dy
further expansion.
We cannot better describe the present exact posi-
tion of the commercial and industrial interests OF
the country than it is presented in the foregoing eX-
tract. In April, 1874, Congress was agitated by
these questions: What sum of money is needful to
carry on the business of the country Shall the is
sue of legal-tenders be 1886 100000 (which it was
in September, 1673) $IOOOOO,O0O, or $3S2,OOO-
OOO the sum to which Secretary Richardson had I'M
lawfully increased iti Finally it was fixed at the
sum then outstanding, and so renamed until
after the passage of the Resumption Act III
1875 Under that act the sum of outstanding legal
tenders has been reduced to S3f7, 100000 Yet the
rate of interest for money during the period which
has witnessed this retiring of $34,200,000 of
"money" has averaged lower than for any previous
years. The CONDITION of affairs at present is similar
to that in April, 1874. The Spring business which
is nearly ended, has proved more unsatisfactory
than in any preceding season. Failures follow fail
ures with even more Tapidity than i'll 1874.
And a rampant stock speculation is dis
counting the effects of an intlatiOn," to
come this time from resumption Of specie payments.
Congress again is agitated on the currency question
Already it has declared 412l2 grains of silver
which can be and are purchased by the Government
at 90 cents III gOld-tO be legal-tender dollar ana
now a conservative Finance Committee OF the
United States Senate proposes not TO repeal the
Resumption Act" but TO report a bill providing that
the volume of legal-teHdeT notes outstanding on
October l, 1873, shall be malntalned
that no portion of them, shall a. there,
and after the date named legal-tender notes
shall be received for duties on imports This propo
stiOn may not be repeal Of tGe Resumption Act'
what is it Making a clear distinction between a
"legal-tender" note and simple currency note,
which passes between the debtor and creditor on
faith of its being redeemable at will of the holder
and which, therefore, circuates only by permission
or bv the requirements Of the laws of trade, the
0uesfion arises of what value is a resumption |
scheme which compes the next creditor OF the Gov
hOldprT
ernment continue TO pay its notes III specie II its |
only receipts of specie are stopped by law making |
legaI-tendeTs receivable for custOms7 10 u.s. the |
Finance Committees proposition seems Ike a |
cOWardly effort to make resumption farce, |
and, under the cover OF honesty TO PerPetu-
ate the curse TO the country OF an ire |
deemabe currency. To be so near the end,
and vet BY Congressional legislation so far, is SUIT
fcient to discourage the most sangulne W ell may
sensible people ask, "Sball we never have a Con-
Qress capable of comprehending that the legal |
tender note is nothing if not debtP And if debt,
nothing but forced lOan-nOt from the wealthy,
but from the labOTers Of the country, and therefore
its most sacred debt-whiCh should be paid before |
all other obligations. Long ago Congress should |
have learned by experience that prosperity is |
something beyond the powers Of legislation. and |
that all efforts to override the laws of trade and TO
fix the sum of money necessary for the require |
ments of a country, cannot be productive of any
either in real or mock re umpton, and those who |
predict it will prove to be false prophets were
their predecessors IN April, 1874.
The stock market to-day has presented much the |
prevailing temper is " bullish to an extraordinary |
degree and not before in four years has there eX-
listed such market to relieve the large operators of
their stocks. At the opening the m9rket re- |
quired stimulant in order TO restore con- |
fdence but this beng applied by a sharp |
advance, the buying again became general for |
the entire list st. Paul common was a |
marked feature of the day, recording sales |
of 43 500 shares at prices ranging from 5O3s to
81 l2 and closing only Il per cent below the best
price The preferred stock was dull at 74a7l3I |
Northwest common got up 10 554 and ended at |
54Ts, the preferred rising to 753i075l2 Rock |
Island active and rose TO 1O7 at which 1t |
closed and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy sold at
105401057s. Hannibal and st. Joseph stocks were |
less sought for the common being at 125s013 and
the preferred at 307sG30. Wabash fell from 20 to
1855, recovering to 1914, and Ohio and Mississippi
was weak from beginning to end, declining from
I034 to Ola, although later recovering to 03A
OF the trunk line shares, Central and Hudson was
again advanced to 109ls0 l09 seeminglyas a cover
for the sale of Lake Shore, which sold at 6S l2060ls
0685s. Michigan Central was dull but firm at
71lsG717s. The dealings IN Erie rolled up the |
handsome record of 34,400 shares, at figures |
between 1925 and 13SsO13ls. The coal stocks |
which did not rise to yesterdays figures, pre- |
sented no features in their dull and heavy move
ment. Western Union rallied l per cent to S33i |
but later sold at S314, and Pacific Mail dull but |
lower at 21lsG20SS. The market closed feverlsh. |
RANGE oP THE STOCK Market
Actual sales.-- Closing Bids Shares |
org High't LOw't Final Bid. Asked sold |
Alb. Sus... 76ia 769 7G 20 IS 200 |