The Monitor-register., 1896-02-07
A RUSH FOR THE BONDS,
The Treasury Department Over
Whelmed with Bidders.
THE LOAN A sTUPBNDoUs SUCCESS
Over Four Thousand Offers Received. Ar
gregating S55s.a60. .s5O-Morgan syndi-
cate the Largest Bidders-The Whole Is-
sue Will be Floated at Above no.

Over Four Thousand Offers Received, Ag-
gregating $55s, ,ee0. .s5O-Morean Syndi-
cate the Largest Bidders-The Whole Is.
sue Will be Floated at Above no.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6.-Four thousand
SIX hundred and forty bids for s55S 1863. $50
worth of bonds. Such is the tremendous
total of the subscriptions opened at the
treasury department. yesterday, in accord
ance with the terms of the call issued
month ago inviting proposals for 500, ,0O0,-
900 of United States per cent. bonds to
run for thirty years from Feb /, 1885.
These figures do not include about $780,
10000 of ''crank" bids rejected as bogus.
The immense offerings astounded ex-
perts The bids literally swamped the
treasury department, which was SO taken
by surprise that at o'clock last nAght, al
though extra clerks had been hurriedly
drafted, the work of tabulating the bids
was still in progress, and it was impossi-
BILE to tell with defniteness how many
bids and for what aggregate had been re-
ceived at figures in advance of the upset
price of 110.6S77, at which syndicate
composed of ]. P Morgan & Co., Harvey
Fisk & Co. and the Deutsche Bank of Ber-
The bids ranged from par up to a single
$50 bid at 100. 1t Is impossible, therefore,
to say at this time how the awards will be
made Treasury officials regard the loan
as complete success, both as to the popu-
lar subscription feature and the prices OBJ
tanned Bids came from several thousand
individuals and from hundreds of national
banks and other banking institutions.
III +Io
and big insurance companies were repre-
sented in the list of bidders, but with few
exceptions they were out maneuvered by
the Morgan syndicate.
Owing to the confusion caused by the
magnitude of the offerings and the conse-
quent delay in classifying and scheduling
the bids any authoritative statement of the
policy that will be pursued cannot be made
at this time. As the great bulk of the of
ferings were below the Morgan figure it
is believed that the syndicate headed by
the great New York banker will be ac-
cepted for at least $50 600, 900, and possibly
more. In any event no bid below the syn
dictate rate of 1106s77 will be accepted, as
that rate covers the entire loan. 1t is un-
derstood that Mr.. Morgan will procure
part of the gold from abroad, and will not
need to deplete the treasury to furnish
any part of the gold called for under his
bid.
There were a vast number of bids for
figures fractionally rising 10, but under
the Morgan figure, and for amounts ag-
gregating sufficient to take up the entire
loan. Among them were the offers of the
Stewart and Mccall syndicates, including
the big insurance, banking and trust COM
panies of New York city, which stood
ready to take huge blocks of bonds at fig
ures in excess of prices named week ago
as high mark for long lots. Secretary Car
Isle was greatly pleased at the success of
the bond offerings. He said no definite
statement could be made as yet concern
ing the awards to successful bidders, nor
how far, if at all, he would exercise his op-
tion of rejecting any or all bids.
The interest manifested in this loan far
exceeded that of any of the preceding ones,
and when the hour for opening the bids
arrived the south corridor of the treasury
building in the vicinity of Mr.. Carlisle's
office was crowded with bidders or their
representatives and newspaper correspon-
dents.
When at II 80 the door of the secretary's
office was opened a rush was made for
seaUs, ana III very snof6 blme no avail
able space remained untitled. So great
was the crowd that to afford easier en-
trance and exit the door was removed from
its hinges Among the last to arrive were
Messrs. J. P. Morgan and Harvey Fisk, of
New York, who found in the crowded
room ahead of them numbers of well
known financiers.
The committee to superintend the open
ing of the bids consisted of United States
Treasurer Morgan, Comptroller Eckels and
Mr.. Huntington, of the loans and cur
rency division. 1t was an interested crowd
that listened to Mr.. Eckels as he read the
names of the bidders and the amounts
subscribed for, and it is probable that
more millions were represented in Mr..
Eckels' audience than were ever before
gathered together in the treasury build
ing.