FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1887. 



267 



Government. The money market had been 

 only temporarily relieved by this policy of the 

 Secretary, and therefore he decided, on Sep- 

 tember 22, to buy 4- as well as 4i-per-cent 

 bonds to the extent of $14,000,000, also for the 

 sinking-fund, and to pay, without rebate, $6,- 

 500,000 interest due October 1. Purchases 

 of about $13,000,000 of these bonds were made, 

 thus completing the sinking-fund requirements 

 for the current fiscal year. This resulted in a 

 little easier feeling, and the market was fur- 

 ther relieved by the increase, commencing in 

 October, of the number of the depository 

 banks throughout the country and the aug- 

 mentation of the amount of public money 

 which each bank was entitled to hold. As 

 this increase in the deposits naturally called 

 for United States bonds as security, no further 

 purchases of them could be profitably made, 

 even if the Secretary had authority of law 

 therefor. Both the President and the Secre.- 

 tary of the Treasury called the attention of 

 Congress, at the opening of the session in De- 

 cember, to the fact that the power of the de- 

 partment further to distribute the almost con- 

 stantly-increasing surplus was exhausted, and 

 prompt legislation asked for. Summing up 

 the operations of the Treasury for the relief of 

 the money market, we have $68,612,250 3-per- 

 cents. called in for redemption, of which $62,- 

 377,150 were redeemed; $11,565,300 4|-per- 

 cents., and $13,000,000 4-per-cents. bought for 

 the sinking fund, and $25,714,417 public money 

 placed in the designated depositories since 

 July 1. This makes $112,656,867 distributed 

 from the Treasury independent of interest pay- 

 ments. The net gold imports for the year to 

 November 30th were $34,306,111, which, 

 added to the above, makes a total supply of 

 $146,962,978. Notwithstanding this, however, 



the demand for customs and the drain to the 

 interior kept the reserves of the banks com- 

 paratively low. The highest amount of sur- 

 plus reported was $22,298,450 on January 29, 

 when the banks held an average of $118,038,- 

 900 reserve, consisting of $92,851,600 gold and 

 $25,187,300 legal tenders. The surplus gradu- 

 ally fell to $3,345,900 by June 25, but the 

 gold dropped to $68,120,400 September 10, 

 then recovered to $78.816,600 by October 29, 

 and again fell to $68,146,800 December 3. 

 The demand from the interior for legal tenders 

 reduced the amount to $18,989,500 by April 

 9. Then came an increase to $24,889,200 by 

 May 28, followed by a fall to $20,328,800, 

 October 1, and then there was a recovery to 

 $27,259,800 by the end of the year. The sur- 

 plus then stood at $8,559,150, against $11,- 

 962,175, October 29. Discounts were $370,- 

 917,500, April 9, the highest point of the year. 

 Then came a fall to $344,338,900 by Septem- 

 ber 3, and a recovery to $356,540,000 by the 

 close of December. Deposits were at the 

 maximum $392,771,200, February 12. The 

 fall was gradual to $341,935,900, September 

 24, and then came a recovery to $358,763,- 

 400, November 4. Bank-clearings showed the 

 highest daily average, $134,794,859, January 

 9. The lowest average was $84,251,283, Au- 

 gust 20, and the highest after that date, $129,- 

 654,229, November 19. 



The Comptroller of the Currency reports the 

 failure, during the year, of eight national banks, 

 with an aggregate capital of $1,550,000, and six 

 of these failures resulted from mismanagement 

 or embezzlements. The condition of the New 

 York Clearing-House banks, the rates for 

 money, exchange, and silver, and prices for 

 United States bonds on or about Jan. 1, 1886-8, 

 are shown in the following summary: 



Appended is the New York Clearing-House statement of totals at the beginning of each 

 quarter of 1887 and at the end of the year: 



