NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 356, 3 August 1875, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. The London correspondent of the Argvs, writing on June 11th, says:— When writing my last letter (to go or not to go by the San Francisco mail) we were on the threshold of a great commercial crisis. To be or not to be was the anxious question that was agitating all the trading classes of the country. Rumor for ten days previously had been conjuring up all sorts of spectral terrors. A heavy blow and great discouragement was known to be imminent, but only the initiated few knew the quarter from which the tempest might be expected to arise. At length it was announced that on Monday, the 31st of May, the fateful decision was to be made which would hurl down several great firms in commercial ruin, or by effectual succour enable them to continue to maintain their position in the world. The day of doom arrived, the decision was adverse to the insolvent companies and dependant houses, and June dawned upon what, for the moment, seemed the foreshadowings of a long stretch of gloom and desolation. The leading journal, indeed, indulged in the prophecy of a wide-spread disaster, resembling that which followed the collapse of Overend and Gurney on that never-to-be-forgotten “Black Friday.” Happily, the prophet was utterly false in his vaticinations. Messrs Sanderson and Co., a billdiscounting house, and an offspring of the great fallen firm, had succumbed it was true, but there the resemblance ended. The circumstances of the cpuntry at the two epochs were quite different. Trade and speculation have for some time past been healthily contracted, and sufficient warning had been given to all the dealers in money to enable them to make suitable preparations Lor the shock, so that when the bolt fell it was matter for surprise how calmly it was

received. The excitement subsided almost at once. The effects of the had been discounted, and although it was impos sible to tell to what extent and in what directions this commercial unsoundness might have spread, yet there was a general disposition to take the more hopeful view of things, and this view fortunately has been justified bj our experience to the present date. Beyond the group of firms implicated in the unsound financing of the Aberdaieand the Plymouth iron companies no new mercantile failures of any magnitude or significance have occurred, and under these circumstances the feeling of distrust and uneasiness is gradually dying away. Of course, events of this kind could not occur without great precautionary disturbances in the money market. The last two or three Bank returns afford a curious study. The jointstock banks had called in all available resources, and lodged them with the Bank of England, so as to be prepared for any emergency. The deposits showed a sudden increase of millions, while an equal augmentation of other securities showed that the commercial public had provided themselves pretty liberally with funds. This disturbance over, however, the market is resuming the quiet appearance interrupted by these failures; the temporary stringency of discount rates is passing away; and in the absence of any unfavorable events a fall in the Bank minimum is probably not far off. The reserve in the Bank is now slightly over eleven millions. Coin is flowing back from the country, and large amounts of gold are about arriving from abroad, while there is no demand for export, beyond some small amounts for South America. It is estimated that within the next fortnight about £1,500,000 will arrive from America and Australia, the bulk of which will probably go into the Bank, raising the reserve of that establishment to £12,000,000. The stock markets are gradually surmounting the adverse influences which have been in operation during the past month. The Philliport collapse in Paris, throwing upon the market large quantities of international stock; the announcement of the suspension of the Erie Railway; and the sinister rumours floating about the city, implicating important firms, necessarily caused a good deal of agitation and fear. This anxiety reached a climax on the 29th and 31st of May, and, in anticipation of the settlement, securities in which there had been heavy speculation were freely offered at a considerable fall. English railways were especially in this plight. Five brokers succumbed on the settlement day, and as this was not so bad has had been anticipated, the survivors took heart of grace, and the panic feeling was allayed. The foreign market is stagnant, waiting for some favorable breeze ; home railway stocks are slowly recovering from their depression ; telegraphs have taken a slight start; banks have suffered from the failures; and thecolonialmarket has been dull and several Australian Government bonds, New Zealand especially, are quoted a shade or two lower. Two other undertakings >re announced of an old and well-known type, and of which we have already a surfeit. One is the Standard Fire Office, capital £1,000,000, the promoters of which propose in the first instance to invite applications for only 20,000 £lO shares. The other is a form of appeal for money, almost worked to death—an Imperial Investment Association, formed for the purpose of affording facilities for the acquisition of and to make advances upon freehold and leasehold estates, life interests, reversions, policies of assurance, stocks, and shares, &c; the nominal capital is £100,000,' of which one-fourth is tentatively applied for. The experiences of the past two or three years have taken the romance and fascination out of such pretensions.