Year: 1868

SUNDAY, April ., 1865,


The past week witnessed an aggravaiiOn Of the
monetary stringency which has been the leading
feature Of affairs in Wall street for nearly month";
and In many Instances seven per cens in coin and
quarter per cent commission were paid for loans on
call from day to day; while the difference between
the cash and buyer three price CT railway shares
varied from eighth to three.eighths per cent An
eighth per cent day paid for turning" govern
ment securities in not few cases. and a quarter
per cent for other stocks until Monday this being the
time to which the great majority Of borrowers have
abridged over" Hence, Notwithstanding the partial
abatement OF the pressure which was experienced
yesterday and which caused loans to be made before
three O'Clock at seven per cent In currency there Is
likely to be sharp demand for money from the Stock
Exchange tomorrow and during the remainder OF
tne week. Meanwhile, however, the supply of loan
able Tunds will be likely to increase gradually through
thereturn ow'sf currency from the INTERIOR the out
ward drain 70 which has been somewhat heavier
than usual ut this season. Another cause besides
"settling das and the preparations for the quarterly
returns OF the banks for the unusual sringency we
have latteTly had to record is to be found in the
active real estate speculation now going forward,
which In the aggregate absorbs very large amount
OF capital and will probably continue to do so on an
increasing scale for considerable length of time to
come. How far this will interfere with speculation


IN Wall street remains to be seen, but 1t Is reasonable
to suppose that will diminish the number of buyers
OF speculative stocks and induce sales by those who
| have hitherto held them for investment. The Sub
Treasury bought seventhirty notes and sold gold to
| q moderate extent; and as its purchases of the
| former, on the whole, exceeded Its sales Of the
latter, these operations had some little influence
in mitigating the severity Of the money pressure and


sustaining the market for governments but its cur
rency balance was too small toenabe it to extend
any substantial relief to borrowers on stocks. The
banks as well rs the private bankers did all they
could to accommodate the last mentioned, the high
rates oTered being great temptation to money lend


ers to strain point. 1t was impossible, as may be
| supposed, to obtain discounts or sell commercial
| paper on ordinary terms, and this source OF
4 some embarrassment to the mercantile community
| and contributed largely to the dunese of trade.


The statement Of the associated banks Of this CITY for
the week ending yesterday shows farther decrease of
in net deposits and s3 09o 356 In loans and
dscounts but the loss In reserve is smaller than was
| generally expected the legal tender notes having
been reduced $4l3 372 and the specie $228Oss while
the circulation has increased $36 30O The liabilities
OF these institutions in deposits and circulation az
gregate $251s s64 upon which the legal reserve of
twenty-five per cent would be $50, 1885, 9ss whereas
they actually hold sos sO7, OO5 In specie and legal


tender notes, S15,0l1,o17 in excess of the legal
limit IL must, however, be remembered that the
active or available reserve is very small in compari-
son with these figures, which include compound in
terest notes and three per cent certificates besides
coin. There $25, $685. 900 Of the certificates out
standing on the 1st OF March, and although they are
not specifically redeemabe In greenbacks, but in
'!awfu money" which the Treasury construes to
include national bank notes, the national banks are
allowed by the authorizing act to hold them as q
portion Of their legal reserve provided that at least
twofths OF their in "iawful money of the
United States''-namely, in legal tender notes and
specie. II we were to deduct the certificates CON-
pound interest notes and specie from reserve the
actual amount OF greenbacks held would appear
surprisingly small for the transaction Of the business
OF the banks OF this CITY, and it becomes serious
question whether specie should be allowed to
constitute portion Of the legal reserve
In view OF the fact that there Is not a
bank In New York that would not elect
to suspend payment rather than pay out its specie
at par. An amendment to the National Currency
act forbiddn2 specie to form portion Of the legal
reserve until after the resumption Of specie payments
by the Treasury would have sautary effect. The
totals OF the bank statements for Of the last two
weeks are as subioined.-