New-York tribune., 1879-10-31

taken official action in the matter OF over-certica-
ti,n by the National b. nks OF this city. IL seems
that Mr. Knox instructed Mr.. Meigs. Bank Tx
aminer bv letter, TO examine the several National
banks and learn what banks pursued this practice.
and to what extent il dOne also i0direct the at
tenton OF such banks as were guilty Of the practice
to section 52OS of the Revised Statntes, which de-
clares IL TO be unlawful for any National bank to
certify checks in excess of the amonnt OF funds The
bank holds on deposit for the drawer OF the check
at the time of ccrtfcaton, and also 10 the penalty
provided for violation Of the section, which isl
"Ihe bank may be Immediately closed by the ap-
pointment of receiver" This law which was enacted
March 3. 1859. has been a dead letter from its
date to the present time. Although it has been con-
rinuously and openly violated. we believe the pres
ent s the first time when the Department has taken
any official action under it. The system of
tifcatI0n Of checks for stock brokers has become
part OF the machinery Of stock speculation,
and until some other system is devised,
either by the establishment Of Clearing
House or by settlements on specified days,
it IL q necessary part OF the machinery by which
large volume of business in stocks may be trans
acted. Consequently It is not strange that the
ton of the Controller, looking to the enforcement
at this time of "A lOng-ncg elected provision of the
law was regarded by " tue stree" rs particularly
the extraordinary stringency Of money but We fail
to perceive how that alone could affect the money
market after delivery hour-2:l5-because the re-
stnction OF ceruicauon did not add to the number
of accounts to be made good at O'CLOCK, nor to the
amount required for that purpose.
The effect OF the Controllers acrlOn on the stock
speculation was exhibited in reduced volume ot
business and a general shrinkage OF values. And 1t
would be idle t. attempt to disguise the fact that "
general feeling of uneasness prevailed Is 1t the COM
parativey small decline IN prices IN the face OF such
a feeling proves either that stocks are generally
are under the control OF cliques, and that the
speculation Is less extended than has been thought
10 be the case. that the "pubc' spcculator ~
exhibiting greater amount OF ialth than Is
usually the case. Undoubtedly to-day was set down
IN the speculatorS calendar for day OF unusual
buoyaucy, even for these buoyant times. AT tho
opening such an intention clearly shown, aud
either the first prices those Immediately follow
ing were higher than the closing prices of last even
ing. But there sudden cessation IN the de-
mand from some Of the larger houses and this. TO-
gether with irecr supply of stocks, checked
rhe advance and started decline. Az
ter that the market was rallied several
times but the final sales or quotations gem
orally were the lowest of the day. In some cases,
with the less active stocks. there were declines of
OF per cent without transaction; for instance,
st. Paul preferred dad not sell under 99lI and
It's last sale az 093s, but 1t closed offered at 81
without a bid. The decline uniform
and 50 much effected by cause that there is no
necessity of partcularizing the stocks; none had
any distinctive feature. Mobile and Ohio fell ll2
per cent but Central and Hudson fell lis per cent
Missouri, Kansas and Texas declined liz per cent,
but Lake Shore declined 3 per cent. SO the whole
list might be gone through, comparing the good
with tine bad with little advantage to either.
During the last half hour of business more atten-
ton was paid to attempts to borrow money for to-
days needs tn an to providing for to-morow's ne
cessties by sales of stock; 50 the market cl osed
comparatively quiet
RANGE STOCK HARyKT
Asrspored by ne Gold and Stock TsisJrrDh Company.
Actual Sales Closing