New-York tribune., 1884-02-04
RESERVE HELD.
The unempIoyed cash held by the banks is

same date in the year Of resumption, ana P19,-
000, 900 larger than was held at the same dlte
in 1880, a year Of general prosperity. Ine
surplus reserve or excess OF the casn
held over the legal proportion OF deposits
is now $40 9,29S,375. Last year at this date 1t
was 81, ,S4OO5O; in 1882 it was S6,3s1, e23, III
1881 about the same and in 1850 less than
81 900 900. The money market is easy, and
the demand so inadequate that rates OF eX-
change stand close to the shipping point.
decrease in shipments of grain or cotton, fur
ther movement of securities to this side, or IN
increased demand for money in EurOpe-cont,n-
gcncics which cannot be considered improbable
might at any time cause exports of gold.
1t is impossible to account for these phenomena
without attributiug them largely to the finan-
cial measures of the Government. Under the
silver act and the gold certificates act the
Treasury is injecting into the circulation 50
vast an amount OF paper and other unaValaple
currency that an unprecedented surplus collects
here at New York. Presently there is likely to
be an overflow, and then. under the universal
law that the poorest currency always remains
the gold will 20 abroad Last week, the Treas
ury took in $71s,952 in gold, $l,2sl,S30 III
silver, $1GS, Old in fractional silver, and S923,-
500 In legal tenders, but it put out IN place OF
these sums 81 ,245,3 $40 additional gold certiii-
Gates, $G75, 900 legal tender certificates, and
only $22,5 silver certificates In erect,
It redeemed large amount of useless silver,
which was thrown back from the circulation,
by Issuing more gold cortiicates-m0re paper
promises to pay gold On demand Since Decem-
Der 81, the Treasury has taken in 50, 5,1s726O
in silver and put ont $G58, 100 silver certlti-
Gates. so that about 81, 800, 900 silver has been
redeemed by the issue of paper promises TO pay
gold The gold taken i'll has amounted to
SO, 451, go, and the legal tender notes III eX-
cess of currency certificates issued to T6,5l5,-
! 152, hut in exchange for these sums and for
the silver redeemed 1t has pat out $l4,4sO,-
44O additional gold notes. Surely it cannot be
said that this indicates n healthy monetary
condition But our Democratic Congress has
had no time to consider financial dangers; It
has been engaged in the Fitz John Porter case.
Concerning the demand for money abroad, If
| should he noted that considerable sums have
been Withdrawn from the balances of foreign
bankers here, in preparation for the new
/ French loan Of $40, ,OOO, 900. The failure Of
! large operator az London has also caused some
ureasiness there, and there have been troubles
! Mt Montreal. It is noted as an astonishing fact
! that S1,5OO.OOO gold has recently been
| shipped from London to Australia, though out
! Of S3S, 600. 900 gold received from nj sources
| by Great Britain last year, over $1l,2oO,OoO
! came from Australia. Such scarcity there as 70
cause shipments from England indicates that
| the demands Of England for some time to come
| cannot be supplied in the usual measure from
| that quarter.
The struggles between labor and capital
are not diminishing The great strike
! of wind0w-glass workers came to an end Last
week, but the spinners at Fall River resolved
to strike. In several iron establishments, work
at reduced wages has begun, but the dissatis-
faction among miners increases in several
States. The prices Of products do not change
! to the disadvantage of the laborer though it is
uuhappily true that retail prices do not always
promptly answer a decline in wholesale quota
tons. If it were, the workingmen might con-
rratulate themselves that the cost of living
| had not been lower since 1873. While pro-
visions, coffee, sugar and tobacco were firm last
week and tea was active with sharp advance
in some grades, and cotton made an advance OF
one-sixteenth the prices of dry-goOds tended
downward and there was a decline Ill bread
stuffs. The only noteworthy change in goods,
curiOusly. was the result of very low prices
made for some brown and colorcd cOttOns, re-
gardless of the market for raw material The
depression in flour, wheat and corn has been in
creased by falling markets abroad and scanty
export demand, but is the natural consequence
of the establishment of artifcially high prices
last fall and the consequent accumulation of
enormous unsod stocks in or markets. To all
| in pfrU m
safely calculate upon cheap breadstufs this
year, at least until July.
The stock market was chiefly occupied all the
week with the struggles sof people whoThad
sold property which did not belong to them.
The purchase of the large blocks of Willard
stocks by a syndicate started the trouble on
Monday, and Oregon Navigation rose about 40
cents from the lowest price of the previous
Saturday; TranscOntinental had also advanced
| 9 cents at one time during the week, Northern
Pacific Preferred S2 cents, Manitoba IL l2 cents,
Lackawanna 73t cents, Union Pacific Us cents,
Louisville and Nashville 6ls cents, Western
Union 514 cents, Lake Shore GA cents, North
western 5ls cents, st. Paul 5i2 cents, Missouri
Pacific 5ls cents, and in some of the other
stocks the punishment of those who had
| sold what they did not own was severe. The
news from the Iowa pool lines was hopeful, and
the agreement upon arbiters between the Lack
awanna and the Trunk lines was considered
satisfactory. But the suit against the North
River Construction caused an unreasOning de-
cline in West Shore bonds, and the market gen.
orally, after reaching the highest average of
the week on Saturday, fell off because of re-
ported cutting of rates from st. Louis and
Chicago eastward. Of the truth of these re-
ports, particularly as to the Grand Trunk, little
became definitely known on Saturday.