The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-12
GOLD COMING FROM EUROPE.
Consignment of japanese Yen Re-
cefved at New York.

In the summer of 1893, when the so-called
Sherman silver law had caused a panic
which was followed by a money famine,
the Clearing House Association of this city
issued nearly $45 10000 in clearing house
certificates. These certificates. were accept
able in payment Of balances at the clear
ing house, and they were the chief agency
in bringing temporary relief to the banks
and to merchants. Two months later every
one of these certificates had been Cancelled
They had done the service expected of
them; the need for them no longer existed
after the repeal of the Sherman law, and
they were redeemed and destroyed.
For the past six months the Clearing
House Association has been issuing certih-
Gates of another kind. Within the clearing
house they are available for the payment
OF balances, as the certitica ties of the sum-
mer of 1898 were. In these six months
about 1850, 900 600 of these certificates have
been issued and not one of them has been
redeemed. They are in constant use in the
settlement of balances; they are as good
as the gold they represent in the payment
of obligations and they are impressive and
visible proofs Of the enormous impulse
which is bringing gold in almost fabulous
quantities in this country in settlement
of balances which England and Europe
owe to the United States Recently the GER
tificates have been issued daily, sometimes
for as much a million dollars, and it is
the expectation that these transactions will
continue for a long time to come. If war
begins between the United States and
Spain the daily amount will probably in
crease.
1t may be interesting to know exactly
what the operation is which these certif-
Gates represent and what part they play
in the daily financial transactions in this
city. Besides, it may be of importance in
case war comes to know this.
Almost all of the gold which has been
imported since the latter part of Febru-
airy has come 10 pay balances which Eu-
rope owes TO the United States Very lit
tie of 1t represents gold purchased for inn
portation or procured for any purpose ex-
cepting the normal business one of pay
ment of obligations. Most of this gold finds
its way into the banks and from the banks
it goes TO the clearing house, both as a
matter Of convenience and perhaps for the
better conservation of the resources of that
association,
A committee of the clearing house meets
daily between l and 2 o'clock to examine
the gold that is offered by the banks, to
supervise its storage in the clearing house
vaults and to issue certificates to the banks
which place II in these vaults. This opera
gold day is frequently counted. Count
is a technical word, for it means weighed.
The gold is weighed; If it is found short
1t is credited with exactly what its weight
indicates its value in dollars to he-and is
then disposed of as seems best to the bank
owning it. Very little short weight gold
has been received, however. When the i'm
portation began, most of the gold that
came was of American coinage. 1t was
gold which went from this country some
years ago to pay our obligations in Eu-
rope and some of IL is a reminder of the
panic in 1894 and 1895, which led to the al
most complete exhaustion of the gold in
the Federal treasury.
Recently, however, gold minted in the
European minis has begun to appear in
the importations, a good proof that Amer
lean eagles and double eagles have been
practically exhausted over there by the
importation of the metal from Europe
Yesterday the most remarkable of all
! the jmportations of gold this country has
| ever known excepting possibly San
Francisco, was received by the clearing
house committee. 1t was a consignment
| of about $1000,000 in Japanese yen. The
consignment might without great anxiety
| have been loaded upon truck and carried
to some of the fruit markets in Washing
ton street under the impression that it was
foreign fruit of some kind.
| The packages were in bamboo cases, GU
| rIously wrapped up, with rope handles at
each end and the committee being inexperi-
enced in that method of packing gold did
not know at first exactly how to handle
! it. This Japanese gold is in payment of
| balances due merchants of the Uniteo
States and is significant OF the great in
| crease in trade with that country.
| After the gold is counted" and it's value
established the committee issues certifi-
Gates for the amount which each bank has
deposited with the clearing house. The
| certificates are not as brilliant and attrac-
tive pieces of paper artistically as the gold
certificates which the government used to
issue were. They are printed upon blue
background and the back of them where
the Endorsements are placed is of a duh
yellow tint.
A bank which has deposited one million
in gold in the clearing house receives a
million in certificates in denominations of
| $4,000. These pass from bank to bank
just as legal tender note or as the god
coin would, but they cannot be redeemed
by the payment upon demand of the gold
which they represent until they are in
dorsed by the bank which first received
them. Having thus Endorsed them the
bank can present them to the committee
and receive the gold for them.
1t is not deemed expedent by the Of
| HCSrS Ol the Clearing mousse 10 make pup
lie report of the amount of gold now
stored in their vaults. There are diplo.
macies in finance quite as important with
in that field in politics Recently the
Press reported that the gold in the clear
ing house vault was $S0,OO0OOO and it can
be safely assumed that that amount has
not been decreased.
1t is known that the banks hold I'm addi-
ton to the aggregate in the clearing
house about thirty-five millions of gold,
and the estimate here is that the banks
of the United States, including those of
New York, but excluding the clearing
house deposit have about a hundred mil
lions of gold in their vaults The treas
ury department has not far from one hum
dred and seventy-tlve millions, so that the
banks and the treasury together have two
hundred and seventy-five millions. and
two weeks ago the clearing house of New
York held eighty millions, making a total
of not less than three hundred and fifty
five millions
II is not too great an estimate that the
financial institutions of all kinds, includ-
ing life insurance companies savings
banks national and state banks and the