FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1899. 



277 



ber and in November for call loans. The at- 

 tempts of the Treasury Department, Oct. 10, to 

 relieve the monetary stringency at this center- 

 through the anticipation of interest on the public 

 debt, and later, Nov. 15, through the purchase 

 of bonds, were only partially and temporarily 

 effective, and it was not until early in December 

 that the situation grew more normal. Even then 

 there were almost daily spasms of activity in 

 the call-loan branch of the market, causing money 

 to loan as high as 12 per cent., though loans were 

 made as low as 3 per cent. Toward the end of 

 the second week in December the London dis- 

 count market grew quite tense by reason of the 

 succession of disasters to the forces of Gen. Gat- 

 acre near Stormberg, to those of Gen. Methuen 

 near the Modder river, in Cape Colony, and to 

 those of Gen. Buller near Colenso, Natal. The 

 Bank of England, instead of raising its rate of 

 discount, advanced its price for American eagles 

 and for gold bars, and, moreover, offered advances 

 on gold while in transit with a view to attracting 

 the metals from New York, and consequently 

 gold to the amount of $2,400,000 was shipped 

 hence to London on the 16th. Almost concur- 

 rently the Globe National Bank of Boston, which, 

 being embarrassed, had received temporary aid 

 from the Boston Clearing House, could not ful- 

 fill the obligations which the directors had un- 

 dertaken for the rehabilitation of the bank, and 

 therefore it was placed in the hands of a re- 

 ceiver. At the same time the Broadway National 

 Bank of Boston suspended as the direct result of 

 the failure of a firm of which the vice-president 

 of the bank was the principal member. These 



day of the year and the movement of gold to 

 London continued. It should be observed that 

 assurances were given during the last week that 

 the depositors of the Globe National Bank and 

 of the Broadway National Bank of Boston would 

 be paid in full, and a reorganization of the com- 

 pany made it certain that the depositors of the 

 Produce Exchange Trust Company of this city 

 would sustain no loss. These assurances seemed 

 to aid in restoring confidence in the situation. 

 The national banks of this city and elsewhere 

 throughout the country altogether deposited $17,- 

 000,000 Government bonds as security for public 

 money, and the deposits of internal-revenue col- 

 lections in depository banks began perceptibly 

 to increase. The entirely local character of the 

 monetary derangement above noted was again 

 strikingly illustrated by the fact that rates for 

 money did not materially advance in Boston dur- 

 ing the disturbance at that center; neither was 

 there any special demand for money on time in 

 this city, while commercial paper was nominally 

 quoted at 6 per cent. 



The clearings of the New York associated banks 

 were unprecedentedly large during 1899, amount- 

 ing to $60,761,791,901, against $41,971,782,437 in 

 1898. Clearings of all banks in the country were 

 likewise beyond precedent, amounting to $93.977,- 

 903,186, against $68,931,197,724 in 1898. The 

 clearings on April 11 at New York were the great- 

 est on record, amounting to $352,882,567, and the 

 largest balances were $19,340,997, May 23. The 

 following is the New York Clearing House state- 

 ment of bank totals at the beginning of each 

 quarter of 1899 and at the end of the year: 



embarrassments in Boston had more or less influ- 

 ence in this city, and on the following Monday, 

 the 18th, there arose, toward noon, a sudden 

 demand for money, due to the suspension of the 

 Produce Exchange Trust Company of this city. 

 Panicky conditions immediately developed, and 

 the rate for money on call at the Stock Exchange 

 rose to 186 per cent. A conference of representa- 

 tives of large banks and prominent banking in- 

 terests was promptly called, and in half an hour 

 a pool of $11,000,000 $1,000,000 from each of 

 those present was contributed by these banks 

 and bankers and loaned upon the Stock Exchange. 

 This abundant supply of money caused the rate 

 to fall to 6 per cent., but later there was a re- 

 covery to 40 per cent. On the following morn- 

 ing the Clearing House committee promptly as- 

 sembled, offering $10,000,000 on the exchange, but 

 only $5,000,000 was required. Late on Monday 

 afternoon-, it should be noted, the Secretary of 

 the Treasury announced that the Government had 

 decided to increase the number of depository 

 banks and the amount of deposits in such banks 

 by diverting to such of these institutions as 

 would qualify by the deposit of Government 

 bonds as security all of the receipts from in- 

 ternal revenue estimated at about $1,000,000 per 

 day for the ensuing thirty days or longer. This 

 action by the Treasury Department and the 

 above-noted action by the New York Clearing 

 House committee fully restored confidence, and 

 nearly normal monetary conditions thereafter 

 prevailed for the remainder of the month, though 

 money loaned on call at 25 per cent, on the last 



Stocks. The stock market was irregular dur- 

 ing the first week in January, influenced by 

 profit taking and also by reports of somewhat 

 strained political and financial relations between 

 Great Britain and France, and the tendency was 

 downward. The market was partially affected 

 also by reports that our army in the Philippines 

 would meet with obstruction from the insurgents 

 in seeking to gain possession of the territory. 

 There was, however, a recovery in the tone of 

 the market early in the second week in January, 

 and then the conspicuous feature was enormous 

 transactions at generally advancing prices, and 

 there were also indications of buying of Ameri- 

 can stocks in London for New York account. 

 The movement continued large and the tendency 

 upward for the remainder of the month, and the 

 market was influenced toward the close by ru- 

 mors, which, however, were unconfirmed, of the 

 formation of a through line of railroad from 

 ocean to ocean by the consolidation of the Union 

 Pacific with the New York Central system. The 

 rise in prices was so rapid not only in invest- 

 ment but in speculative properties that it was 

 not surprising that a reaction began with the 

 opening of February. There was evidence that, 

 tempted by the high prices, many Europeans had 

 disposed of their stocks, and there was likewise 

 evidence of comparatively free selling of invest- 

 ment properties by domestic holders. Lenders of 

 money were, it may be noted, inclined to dis- 

 criminate against certain classes of the new in- 

 dustrial stocks when they were offered as col- 

 lateral on loans, and this conservatism had its 



