Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-21
vANDERBILTs BONDS.
The Amount He Holds, and Other Gossip
from Washington.


WASHINGTON, June 20.-Every time the
government pays the interest due quar-.
terly upon its bonds there has to be print.
ed an entirely new list of the holders OF
registered bonds. By far the majority OF
the bonds are registered. The coupon
bonds are but small in number when
compared with the registered. Checks
have to be sent. according to the quarterly
printed list of registered bond holders.
and prepared by the loan division. /
asked the question to-day why the govern
ment went to the expense of printing en-
tlrely new lists every quarter; why not
leave space in the old forms to fill
IN the changes which are made
IN the ownership of the bonds
during the preceding three months. The
treasury official from whom sought this
information said that it would never do.
IL would cost more to make the changes
IN the old forms than it does to print
entirely new ones.
"There must then be a good many
changes in the ownership of registered
bonds," l said.
There are, indeed" was the reply,
You would be surprised to note the
changes. 1t is popular belief that peo-
pie who invest in registered bonds do so
for the purpose of holding them perma-
nently. They, doubtless, do in many
cases. but there are more instances where
they do not. And then it is by no means
certain that a man who buys with the in
tentlon OF holding permanently will be
able to carry out his inten-
tiOn. He don't know what is
going to happen that may compel him to
sell his securities. For these reasons the
changes in the ownership of registered
government bonds are very many. And
there are more of them every quarter.
1t used to be criterion that the people
and not spectators held the bonds when
they were registered. That criterion no
more exists. You cannot tell much more
accurately nowadays, simply because
they are registered what kind of people
own the bonds than you can tell who hold
the unregistered coupon bonds. BY the
way, the papers have got the figures in
regard to w. III. Vanderbilt's ownership
of per cent. bonds wrong. | saw
the check to-day for the quarterly
interest which will be sent him, 1t is for
$402,OOO, or at the rate of ST, SOS, 600 in
terest year. This represents holding
OIL S4o,2OO,OOO OF four per cents, A few
months ag0-at the commencement of the
present quarter-that holding was $47,-
300, 900. w
Inc PRESIDENT has received letter from
georgia politician, which is full of ad-
vice about how to fix things down there
promiscuOusly. The writer saws that if
the advice he gives is carried out liberal
ism IN Georgia will become respectable:
and all the Republicans and thou
sands OF young Democrats will
flock to its standard. The Long,
street and Speer factions will be one. The
programme outlined can be briefly told.
1t is to make Peter f. Lawshe. of Games
vile, Internal Revenue Collector at At
lanta, retain Speer and LOngstreet where
they now are, and make DR.. FELTON, Post
master at Atlanta in place of Gov, Con-
ley. This on the Atlanta side of the State,
On the Savannah side it is recommended
that Tom johnson, Collector of Customs,
General McLaws, Postmaster. II. d,
Locke, Marshal, and Darnell, District At
tOrney, he retained. 1t is also suggested
that Judge Cunningham be made success
sor to Judge Erskine and j, III. Wimberly
or X. Il. Wright, Postmaster at Augusta,
in place of Holden. Then will the mil
lennium be in the near horizon.
The recent reductions and changes in
the several navy yards which Secretary
Chandler decided to make, upon the re-
of the board appointed to
report upon the subject, will take effect
on the 10th day of July next. There will
be wholesale discharges of employees and
much cutting down of work on and after
that day. 1t will he remembered that
among the things included in Chandler's
is the abandonment of the
Pensacola navy yard. The officers will
be detached from the yard, and nearly
everybody employed there discharged.
The yard will be then left in charge of
small number of men, who will take care
Oh the government property there.
When Congress recOnvenes Chandler will
report what action he has taken in regard
10 the several navy yards, and will, it is
expected, recommend that the Pensacola
yard be sOld
The government is not going to realize
very heavily from the sale of the old YES
in number-which will
soon be put on the market. Two of these
vessels are iron-clads. The boards of Off
GERS which was appointed to appraise
them have submitted their report. They
put the value of the whole outfit at about
S3O0,OOO The vessel appraised at the
highest figure of the lot is the Florida, She
is said to be worth $64, 900. She cost about
y, ,OO0,O00 The most worthless vessel of the
tWenty-four is tug at the League Island
Navy Yard. Her value runs all the way
up to $500. She cost about $4,000, Other
vessels range along. There are two or
three worth $1,000; two worth about $40
DOO, and others in figures from $4,000 to
$780, 900. What a magnificent market of
old junk! What a mighty balance of loss
between what these twenty-four formid-
able men-Of-war cost and what they are
now supposed to be worth, Most of them
will be bought for the wood and iron in
them. The Florida, the most valuable of
them, is wooden ship, and could not
possibly be used for any purpose. She
was an unwieldly thing at best. 1t is a
good mornings walk from her quarter
leck to fOrecastle and back. The officers
who made the appraisement certainly
srasped the situation. They knew they
we're not putting values on vessels, but
upon so much old wood and iron.
POTOMAC.