The New York Herald Newspaper, November 3, 1873, Page 3

THE MONETARY SITUATION. The Moral of the Sprague and Claflin Settlements, Co-operation the Panacea for the Panic. The Claflin Banks and What Is Said of Them, with the Statement of the Vice Presi- dent of the ‘Central National. roeeereet THE BALANCE OF TRADE AGAIN. With the settlements already effected in the cases of A. & W. Sprague and H. B. Claflin & Co, it is thought we have tided over the worst danger of the present panic. Great distress, of course, is | apparent throughout the country, and manulactur- ers, railroad companies and other large labor em- ploying sources are reducing their force or their wages. But with THE SAFETY OF THE SPRAGUES AND CLAFLIN & CO. ASSURED, certainly against any sudden smash, it is hoped | and confidently assumed that two large interests most intimately connected with our domestic re- sources are removed from danger—viz., the great manufacturing interests of New Engiand, espe- cially in prints and cotton cloths, the largest staple industry, and the great jobbing interests connected therewith.- The importance of the COMPROMISE EFFECTED 4 im the case of these two embarrassed firms was readily appreciated when first announced on Saturday in the sharp recovery of prices on the Stock Exchange, and it may be noted as showing the quick anderstanding of the peuple of current incidents in monetary affairs and their watchinl- ness of “straws,” in the increased business done fm all the retail dry goods stores in this city and Brooklyn at ‘panic prices’ on Saturday night. The explanation of the embarrassment of the Claflin house is aiready before the pubhe, either through their own statements or tacit admission of statements made on their behalf or concerning them; while the safety of the Sprague Manufac- turing Company and the manner in whicu it was secured, are matters of public record. In each case it has been THE WORK OF SELF PRESERVATION on the part of those who nave rallied to their sup- port. It is certainly not fattermg to American pride to know that it needed the formation of a syndicate to sustain the credit of the largest jobbing house in domestic dry goods at atime when our exports were largely in excess of our imports ana the agricultural and mining production of the country at its highest development; yet rumor asserts bodly that a pool of $5,000,000 was made up 4n this and other cities East, between Friday and Saturday, to help this concern through, when it Was found that the associated banks of this city would not extend the relief asked, in the way asked, a8 an association, but only as Mdividual institutions in 60 far as they felt able. Neither is it likely to enter into a boast among us that at a me when England was exporting gold to this country to buy our breadstuffs the largest manu- facturing establisnment in thrilty New England Went down, and had to be PUT TO NURSE FOR THE BENEFIT OF ITS CREDITORS, instead of being wound up to preserve the credit of a sovereign State and prevent wide- spread disaster throughout that same thrifty section of this great and glorious Union; at the cost, also, of the retirement of one of the members who represents his State in the Senate of the United States. Much suspicion is abroad respecting what 1s known as the Claflin banks, it being feared that the embarrassment of H. B. Claflin & Co., together with the termination of the “pooling system,” would cause ® suspension of all the weak banks, among which some of these are counted. ‘The news of the setticment, however, was peces- wary, 80 that at the close of business on Saturday, with a reported gain of $4,000,000 in legal tenders mong the associated banks, making a total of $18,000,000 of this kind of reserve, but little appre- hension Was felt. Among the banks mentioned was the Central National. Mr. Bliss, the Vice President, on being applied to, explained its re- lations with Claflin & Co. thus, that the firm were simply in arrears in some open accounts which were on their books. These are accounts on which they had made purchases at thirty days’ credit, more or less, and had given mo 3 obligations in the shape of notes. The firm were simply depositors with the bank, and-it bad discounted its paper. There meed be no apprehension, he said, on account of the Central National Vank; it would meet all its obligations in tull. He felt that Clafita & Co. would get through all right.” Itis asserted the house holds $10,000,000 assets over and abo ve its liabili ties, independent of the private wealth of the part- ners, and that its suspension in any event would be but temporary, although those depending upon them would not have the same security of eventual safety. In view of these facts it is not surprising atthe improved feeling that was apparent on Sat- urday night in connection with the banks above referred to. Notwithstanding the assurance con- tained in the facts here grouped there will proba- bly be some anxiety felt to-day for the develop- ments In bank circles to-morrow, especially as THE EFFECT OF THE FRESH ADVANCE IN THE BANK OF ENGLAND RATE ‘will be first known in its influence upon the Lon- don market. Throngh the system of credits that has grown up si nce the war the entire business of the country has become interlocked in one grand co-operative seheme, in which the several parts areso dependent one upon another that the in- jury or destruction of one involves the serious danger of the whole, Thus the results reached in the case of the Spragues and Clafin iurnish an example for the entire country if the salety of the Various parties involved in the present crisis be ght. If 18 IDLE TO TALK AT THE PRESENT TIME ofthe uncertainties growing out of a paper circu- lation—of over-trading, over-speculation or other such sources of danger. Later, these are matters to be dealt with by Congress, in the adoption of, measures looking to bank reform and currency reform, and through the influence of an intelligent public sentiment. The present duty is to adopt such measures of temporary rellef as will give time for these reforms. Virtually we are all in thesame boat, and must sink or swim together. The true icy, then, is to encourage co-operative aid, and ing about a return of confidence if possible be- fore Congress meets and commits itself in the heat of excitement to some dangerous experiment as a mere alleviation of present suffering, not a guaran- tee against a recurrence of the same dangerous symptoms. We have suffered much of late in THE RETURN VALUE OF OUR EXPORTS, owing to the circumstances which made us {ree sell- notwithstanding we had the virtual control of the market. aaa our imports have also fallen off largely, and aithough this is simply be- cganse of the ‘act that we have no mouey, yet as we have lost nothing that cannot be replaced, the in- termediate privation being only a lesser degree of juxary, we can afford to be thankful for this acci- dent of fortune that teaches economy where its tlee Would be most largely beneficial to the st Interests of the country. Yn this crises, with ‘the preines to sell produce and the foreign demand for it, while we have suffered a shrinkageofadout fif- teen per centin our staple articles in our dealings with calys customers jreights have ruled at such rates as t) still lurther aggravate the feeling of the people against Congress for its fatiure to have dis- covered some method of relief that would enabie to compete with our own customers for this carrying trade. At present every cargo shipped in @ foreign vessel represents a bill of exchange et us for the value of the freight charges, , While if our own marine were equal to the necessi- ties of this traficit would largely convert these exchanges in onr favor. WURTHER CONCERNING HM. B. CLAFLIN & €0.'9 CON- DITION. Catching sight of a partner in the house of H. B. Olafiin at the Filth Avenue Hotel last evening, a Manager of one of the departments, who, accord. ing to the system of the house, bave allan interest fn its fortunes, he said, 1 answer to & question as ‘to the condition of tlie firm, that actually it was not At all impaired. It was usual, he said, for creditors ¢o send in their bills on the first of each month, but owing t the vast transactions of the house it alwi took five days to settle up the accounts, and nobody ever thought of insisting on payment before those few days were over. If the bills were Dob vai to phat svagy of time (by the tb of No- NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1873.-TRIPLE SHEET. wing mat nih, had learned of the trouble that the house danger of being in, they had come forward en nase and ¥ cenitered hetp, he beard, wo imein part the extent several matiions : bi of this been - Wen ctncere teste, PROF. AIWATER ON THE CRISIS. Sania » Now. a, 17a, ‘There are certain individuals, removed trom the rush apd the roar of business, unidentijed o the changes snd chances of trade, belated alte gether from those plane and schemes upon the | successtul development of which depend the com fort and security of the general mercantile and financia! world, who, amid the grand panorama ef | passing events, occupy the honorable pomtion ef critics = and spectators, and whe, wt | prejudiced and unbiassed as they are, the | public can approach With every assurance of receiving sound opinion and calm, honest | direction and advice. Pound as they are, & com: | munity by themselves, ¢ither within our Wmivers ties of learning or within the solemn cloieters of the Church, their mission i8 to guide and direct our youth, and explain to them the bidden mean- hg of all things happening im the wortd withoat, To them the different conditions of our morals, Politics, finance and trade, are dietinet and sepa rate problems, and in the jormulas with whieh they | are solved are comprehended many things whieh the external world i* for the moet part either tee ignorant to understand or else too prejudiced to | take into account, Your correspondent has failed in ali bis inter: | views with promineot bankers and brokers to #e- | cure anything like @ fair deduction from the lasues | wrought in the last financial crash, He has sito gether failed to obtain anything resembling the | proper scheme by Which the government ean in future conduct its affairs upon @ more substantial | and enduring basi, Kach man approached was peculiar Interests, No two men held exactly the same opinion, for the simple reason that ne two institutions conducted their business in precisely | the same way; 80 that to obtain ‘what is so mock needed just now your correspondent has appealed to cultured and disinterested men, who have made political economy @ special study, and to whom our present banking system bas been the subject of the most earnest and thorough investigation, They are all men whoeither boid promiaent po- are favorably known to the world by means of many able and extensively circulated volames— individuals, in a word, who are alive and awake to the actual requirements of the hour, and who are best fitted to prescribe the conditions over which our present financial riddle can be solved, It is useless to insinuate that the opinions of such men | will carry with them but little influence, for in many instances those who enjoy the highest ofMfces within the power of our government to bestow received their earlier education and have grasped their present positions by meana of the advice derived from those gentlemen whose opinions and judgment we are thus enabled to present. The first gentleman with whom I communicated was Dr. Lyman H. Atwater, Professor of Meta- physics and Political Economy in Princeton Col- lege. Perhaps there is no man w:'0 stands higher in reputation as a professor, edito: and divine, and none more familia to the gener: | literary, scien- tifle and ecclesiastical worl’. 10 a’private letter accompanying his manuscript, he «ys that he bas given the subject of banking and « irrency no little attention, while his ideas are sub utted exactly aa they were received :— FIVE POINTS FOR CONSIDI ATION. First—Let the nation fulfil the pomises it makes onevery greenback and pay what it there agrees to pay. Levit, in accordance with the terms of these notes and the solemn declarations made by Con- gress in the frat act signed by General Grant, pay these Treasury notes ‘in coin at the earliest prac- ticable period.” Let it Keep its own faith, and then it may insist on good faith on the part of all per- Sons, oficial and private, This is simply RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. If the government fulfils its own promises by re- deeming its greenbacks all else is brought to the specie standard. If the legal tenders are “kept below coin they keep all other paper money, and substitutes for monev, below it. Till this is done not only is the national faith violated, but all our monetary standards must be fluctuating, capri- cious and out of accord with the standards of value in the commercial world. It is on a specie stand- ard alone that the various plans proposed to give needful elasticity to the currency, 80 as to a it fo the varying wants of the country, can be sate or escape the danger of constantly inflating or de- basing the currency; increasing vicious specula- tion and the risk and cost of legitimate business, Second.—This should be done, in the language of Congress, “at the earliest practicable period,” which, with the adel approximation of our cur- rency to the gold standard, need not be tar of. If necessary, Congress should not hesitate to borrow enough to pay this debt, so long overdue, and peated forced upon the people as an extreme, though then justifiable, exercise of the war power, But such justification no longer exists. It should employ the same means to discharge this as any other obligation, for which its present revenuesare inadequate. Probably no great sum would need tobe borrowed to redeem all the legal tenders presented for redemption, But whatever the cost, this is ae ene im comparison with the inestimable bene- 18 01 STAINLESS NATIONAL HONESTY AND CREDIT | ctreaiateng among the w | os the cloned | tanity, The: bound up in the institution of which he wae the | just wages head, and gave answer in the direction of bisown | sitions in our leading American colleges or else | THE. LABOR PANIC. A Gloomy Lookout for the Be- sinning of Winter. Laboring People Claim Work as a Right. We are told in the good book that men do not tive by bread alone; but universal experience teaches the absolute necessity of some ood to sus- tan We, This question of food is the basis of the | farmest controversy now im progress between employers and workingmen which threatens most serious troanle belore long in this crowded city. Almort every day sees some large factory or other source Of employment to handreds suspend opera- tome and crowds of operatives thrown idle upon | the streets On Saturday alarge manutactory of heopekirts and corsets in West Twenty-sixth wtreet, near Seventh avenue, which had worked #9 Men end Women, closed its doors, as also did a large *itk factory near by. A meeting of delegates from all the Bricklayers’ Assoctations of this city, om Saturday night, was at- tended by 2,000 men, The spirit was most determin- od Bot to submit to the reduction of wages resolved wpon by the builders, and very earnest speeches were, Made which elicited (handers of applause. No t. Henan ‘reporters ingmen found a bitter om toward? these whom they hold to be re- sponsibie for their lack of work and wages. There Were stern segpectiene that perhaps the monetar; stringeucy be relaxed by ~ id STRINGING OF A FRW CaPITraLisTs and & judicious use of crowbars in opening rome anks and other moneyed institutions of the ote. Was estimated by those conversant With the [mets that there are to-day 40,000 people com pulsortiy idle, whe would be glad to work and earn their food, clothing, coals and shelter, tf those who have the means would afford them the oppor- claim as @ hatural right work, and retor. they ere to live through the winter, deprived of both, question whose solution puzzies and worries th inking meu of the laboring class, and must soon force ttseif upon the serious copsideratien of our governing men and property owners. ‘To-day will probably See all the soctety men ab- sent from the building jobs. As there are thou- sands of Gutsiders asking for work it will be no hard matter for the bosses to Mlup the couth the few works now in progress, This, however, will not im the least heip to feed the thousands who are idle and sgh in vain over their — for the jong, gioomy winter, while they ree.y curse the heartless speculators whose mis- deed ve precipitated innocent indus- tne nes this pre t No hint could be heard of violence toward those joed Wages, endeavor to To strike when but little effect, could ag fail to coerce the out of Work Must Lhink Of some More potent rem- edy for their trouble, Would i uot be worth the while of our city authorities and the large property holders to assist the working classes in solving this most serious proviem of supporting a larger population by supplying them with useful work, rather (han at last feeding them upon charity? New York Wants honest labor, not pauperism. These idie men and women must have work, or they will soon clamor for support at the public instututions, DEPRESSION IN NEW JERSEY. onmeeneestemteayeneen Depressing State of Affairs in Newark— The Jewelry Trade Almost Dead— Probably Sis Thoasand Jewellers Out of Work=—Matters Still More Distressing in Paterson As is pretty generally known throug bont th country, Newark is one of the most important and extensive industrial beehives in the United States, and, therefore, as a matter of course, it feels very materially the general depression of trade and the uneasiness and uncertainty among manu/acturers and = other business men which prevail everywhere just now, There have been no failures, to speak of, in Newark since the beginning of the present financial Mutter, but many factories are keeping open end ranning more for appearance’ sake than any real need there isto do so, Rumors of all sorts have been rife during the past few days to the effect generally that this factory or that factory was about shutting up entirely for the present; but, so far aga Hanalp Tepresentative could discover yesterday afternoon, after careful inquiry, rumors of this sort were groundiess. On Saturday night, for instance, a story was circulated to the effect that the exten, sive trunk factory of ex-Mayor Thomas B. Peddie, where are employed several hundred hands, had been closed up and all the help discharged. In vestigation proved the rumor to be true to this extent:—The factory was closed up over Sunday and the hinds were paid of for the week, Still THR TRUNK BUSINESS in Newark—quite an important branch of our industries—is not at all as lively as it has been. This remark would ep ly, too, to nearly every other branch. About the most prosperous trade there now ts the patent and enamelled leather in- terest, and even that feels the general depression, At his residence on Broad street, last evening, EX-CONGRESSMAN HALSEY WAS INTERVIEWED in tegard to the general state of business affairs in Newark and the leather fnterest in particular, M Halsey is ember of one of the most extensi and a sound and stable medium of exchange and measure of value. Third.—In accordance with the views already phblished by me last April in Scribner's Monthly, I would relax the present legal tender reserve requi- sition upon our national banks, and this in two particulars, besides considering the question whether it might not bear some abatement from twenty-five per cent in our great cities. First, instead of bemg made up exclusively of legal ten- der notes, the banks should be free to make it up | indifferently, either of these or of national bank notes, whose convertibility into the former is amply secured by pledge of gold-bearing govern- ment bonds. These, to all intents, are as good as greenbacks, Next, 1t should be an average yearly reserve, but perfectly flexible in amount at any given time. This would secure two very indispen- sable things, the first of which alone 1s secured by our present law—the providing of such a reserve as now when money is plenty, and the free use of that reserve, now prohibited, when money is scarce, in order to facilitate sound trade and ward off FINANCIAL STRICTURE AND PANIC. Tiis is simply the principle on which all prudent bankers, merchants, indeed all sagacious men pro- ceed, They husband stores in time of plenty for use in time of famine, This is a far safer course than to abolish the law of reserves entirely, as now advocated by many. Let banks, like individuals, be free, when necessary, to draw upon their re- serves; but let us make sure that they nave these reserves to draw upon when needed. Now both these ends may be insured by the law of yearly aver- age yet at any given time perfectly flexible reserve. It is, indeed, said that banks, like individuais, may be safely left to their own prudence and discretion in thig matter, and that, if imprudent, they and they alone must bear the penalty. This is @ mistake, Banks are public institutions, Nocanerarn by law to om ublic services not mere! in the way of loans of capital, bi ft affording, in the torm of bills, checks, dra bees what, if not strictly money, serves as a substitute for money. Their conduct, therefore, affects our whole monetary system and reaches interests vastly beyond those of their stockholders and‘cus- tomers, Which government ought not to leave to the greed or shortsightedness of their managers, Many banks, perhaps most, would, of th doubtless, rdctice thin prudence.” But enough others would always act on THE PRINCIPLE OF GETTING INTEREST FOR EVERY 4 thus be left utterly without 4 and thus utterly lout reserves in tit of need, whether this need arise from Tegttimate causes or from the nefarious combinations of the bears of the Stock Exchange to tighten the money market. Such are sure to Ee helpless in times of diMeculty and stringency, This not merely disables and hurts themselves, but is liable to involve prudent banks and the whole mercan- tile community in the consequonces, Surely our late experience is sad proof of this, Moreover, if the system of average reserve were kept currency would be accumulated tn summer suftk clent to move crops in the fail, tnsteed of being loaned, as now, stimulate speculation, often leather firms in the city. He said that, while the: was no general discharge shands and no stop. page of factories, there was a strong dis) ition on closely and cautiousiy, yee upto their or ders, In his trade this was the dull season anyhow ; but so far as his concern was affected they were now dq@ng only three-quarters the business they were this time last yea isually they had more busi- ness than they could attend to, but now they were so that they could afford to take time to make ai- terations in thetr building. Collections, he said, were remarkably good, considering the present state of monetary affairs, Business generally, he thought, was fair and he had never known the manufacturers of Newark to be in a better condi- tion to pull through a crisis than just now, There was no reduction of wages in his trade, and things were going on easy and safe. Other gentlemen in the leather trade were interviewed, but they aid not speak so hopefully and encouragingly a8 Mr. Halsey THE MOST SERIOUSLY CRIPPLED industry of Newark, a8 ordinarily it the most important probably as regards amount of money invested and number of hai employed, is the jewelry business. One gentieman who is con- nected with a leading firm and bas been im the business for the last twenty years or so stated that he had never known this interest to be so nearly dead. Now, coming on the holi a Se factories: ought to be running night and }, but instead of that they were scarcely doing anything. Some were rutning half time, others three-quarter and others again eight hours, and all had merely o corporal’s guard of hands compared the customary number. One factory, ay ordinarily employed about 200 hands, had now oniy enough to finish up the work on hand. Ano’ Manufacturer was employing & few hands merely to ap them irom starving. The Heratp re) sentative next called on Mr. R. Howkins, of the of Carter, Howkins & Dodd, probably the largest manufacturers of jewelry in the country, ir. Howkins stated that their factory usualiy employed 560 hands, and if business was as brie no’ was last year they would have 600 hands, oe of that, however they were running only 250 hands, and these were ere not altogetl deceuse there was need of them, ‘but to KEEP THR MN FROM STARVING. There was no sign or prospect that we conid see of an early improvement either, He thougat there were about 8,000 jewellers in Newal of these two-thirds were idle, Sales had dr opece to @ large extent, and as for collections nobody had any money. Everybody was praying for x tension of tume. THR SADDLERY TRADE, according to Mr. George Peters, an extensive manufacturer, has been hurt greatly, not only by the money” panic, but oy Yellow Jack at the South, where the ) incipal saddiery market is, Hatting, another important branch of Newark trade, is very low, as is also the wholesale manufacture of clothing, Taken altogether things are in anything but a happy condition in Newark and the fear 1s almost universal that this will be ending in panicky autumnal collapses if it is callea in, When needed, for its proper uses, Here, as elsewhere, extremes meet. The extreme of arigid andinfexibie legal tender reserve renjers the banks helpless and the prey of gambiers aad specu- lacors when the limit o/ this reserve is at any time reached. The other extreme, of leaving them free to go without even an average reserve, ieaves them equally helpless and the financial public equally exvosed at sreh times, GREAT BENS6IT OF A FREE BANKING LAW. Fourth.—Ouder the foregoing conditions of specie paying lesal tenders, a proper average money re- serve, and bank notes duly secured on national Stocks and bonds, I see no evil bat great benedt in ® Free Banking law. A TRUE AND SAFR ELASTICITY, 7th. —Tt is requisite to the free and right working of the foregoing, or any other monetary system, that the Usury laws be abolished. Then, with Free Banking, « specie standard, and the saleguarda above indicated, just as much sound currency will be furnished by capitalists as the Pap is} need and and ore willing enough for to render it prof- rua fy above provisions wil give itable to furnish A WUC AOd pate elasticity to phe cur the hardest winter in many years past, for the la- oring claases especiaily. IN PATERSON things are in s condition still worse than tn Newark. The number of men now out of employ- ment in the Jarge machine shops and factories is reckoned by the thousands and every day the num- ber is being augmented. Erie Railway Employes Dtscharged— Distress in Paterson—Tom Scott's Policy eof Reduction. The approaching winter is likely to prove one ot extreme distress to the laboring class in Jersey City, Newark, Paterson and other large cities of New Jersey. Employ¢és onthe Erie Railway have been discharged in gangs during the past two weeks, and a notification has been issued to many now in employment that they must hold them- selves in readiness to leave a8 soon as the frost sets in, It is not, perhaps, generally AnowD that, Mage the change 1b the mavocement the part of manufacturers to ran their business | with | of the Erie Railway, many months ago, the wages of employés were reduced considerably.’ Mr. Ked- dingvon, superintendent of the Eastern division, was trangierred to another division, and a°member of the clerical staff in the Grand Opera House ap- cmore to succeed him, ‘The coange Was not at all neticial to the working men, Those whose regular salary was $70 u month have been to this @ay receiving only $50, and all appeals tor the res- toration of the balance have been made in vain. To make the case more aggravating to the em- ploy és, ®& rumor has been on the wing ‘or the pest ve weeks that Mr. Watson is negotiating 1p Eng- land for the Importation of engineers, to be paid $65 a month. ‘This, if true, would throw out of employment every engineer who would - re- fuse to work ‘at the reduced rate of wages. No little excitement now exists among the working staif of the road, for, as if to mive color to the rumors afloat, about 250 men have been discharged along the line of the Kastern division alone within the past two weeks, Several of the workmen stat to a HERALD re- orter, afew days ago, that they are convinced that an attempt is being made by the present management of the Erie to tmport cheap labor from England as the shortest road to large uivi- dends. One of the speakers was @ prominent member of the Order of United American Mechan- ics, and that Order, it is well known, is opposed to the employment of foreigners. ‘The distress in Paterson is on the increase. The number of operatives, male and female, now out of employment reaches 5,000. ‘The Board of Trade on Saturday nignt appointed a committee to confer with the Common Council and, if neces- sary, Lo calla public meeting for the purpose of devising measures to meet the present emer- gency. ‘The wages of the workmen on the Pennsylvania Ratiroad have been practically reduced, for the hours of labor are made shorter, and the men are paid by the hour, This course was recommended y the President, J, Edgar Thompson, as preferable to the discharge of any considerable number of the employés, : DIFFICULTIES OF TENNESSEE RAILROADS, Reduction of Salariec—Strike of Em- ployees—Passenger and Freight Trains Sto; de KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 2, 1873. One of the results of the financial crisis now agitating the country has manifested itseif here, as in other cities, by the reduction of the time and pay of workmen in the large workshops and manu- factories; the former having been done imme- diately after the suspension of the banks, the machinists and carpenters in the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad shops having been on three-fourth’s time for the past four weeks. In view of the decrease in travel and freights- the Management of the above-named line, ex- tending {from Bristol to Chattanooga, resolved on @ decrease of the pay of the employés, and accordivgly last Friday morning a notice was published announcing a reduction of twenty per cent on all salaries exceeding $1 per day, and of ten per cent on those receiving that ora less amount, which resulted in the stopping of regular trains. The engineers and firemen refused to work at the reduced scale, All day Friday it was apparent that trouble was peerings but nothing occurred until that night, at eight o'clock, the hour oi the departure of the night freight train, when the engineer reiused to run it. However, tt ‘Was sent out alter some delay in charge of the fire- man. At eleven o'clock the Southern bound train arrived from Bristol, but on @ side track, because noengineer or fireman could be induced to run it througd, and the passengers were detained at the hotels till one o'clock on Saturday. The engineers Were not consulted as to the reduction of pay, but on the publication of the oraer a committee from the brotherhood waited on Captain Jaques, Vice President of the road, and protested against the decrease, offering to do anything to lessen the ex- ne by parce | on short time, but positively re- wing tO work for less than the present wages. The committee were received with the greatest courtesy by the Vice President, who, alter listening to their grievances, requested them to call that evening for his answer. Accordingly, when the appointed —_ hour arrived, thé committee were told that the reduction had to be regarded as @ matter oi necessity, after the most careful consideration, and could ‘not be rescinded, whereupon, on receiving the ultimatum of the Management of the road, the engineers and | train hands quit work. They were sustained in | their course by the other machinist® and black- | smiths in the employ of the company, and work ac- cordingly ce: in the shops. The trains have also ceased running on the Knox- ville aod Ohio road from the same cause, the last | Commodate passengers living along the line who | Wished to return home, he ~* promising | Rot to do so again. Yesterday and to-day one train each Way, east and west, was run, carrying | the mails and ‘passengers, the railroad officials | having, by extraordinary exertions, induced fire- | men and conductors, and even the master ma- | Chinists, to take charge of the engines. No freight trains have run for two id however, and busi- ness Will be seriously delayed if a satisfactory ad- Jjustment of the pee yr ba sv0n eflected. The Brotherhood of motive Lngineers and the Machinists and Blacksmiths’ Union are very stron and the members of both organt- | Batons express their belief that matters wil soon be arranged and business | resumed, They have uotified other unions of the | situation of amairs, and have no fears of being sup- planted by workmen from other points, but pro- | test that they mtend no violence in the event that | men could be induced to take their places. The engineers to-day notified the railroad oMiciais of their Willingness to ran the mail trains free of charge if they would not pay the reguiar | price, but thetr offer was declined. ‘To-morrow morning (Monday) the Executive Committee of the railroad will hold @ meeting, as will also the engineers, bué with what result remains to be seen. DIFFICULTIES, TOM SCOTT'S Pennsylvania PurLapetruts, Nov. 1, 1873, Whether the numerous rumors afoat concerning the Pennsylvania Railroad are true or faise itis diMcult to ascertain, but it is certain that the dis- appointment of ny people who, with the coming of November, failed to find in the recent card ts- sued by the company any allusion to the regular semi-annual dividena of five per cent, is very great. It is useless to demy that there are many anxious minds about Third street, and that with them | this one subject excludes every other, It | is true that the company have the whole of the | present month to make their statement, but it | equally true that assurances of the semi-annual report have been made bitherto ata time corre- sponding with the present, so that the whole dim- Cally NOW resis in the lect that the people are dis- appointed, because they expected something | which did not come, The | of the road and their abroiute refusal to auswer train being run by tie conductor, in order to ac- | _of a free circulation will come its corollary, confi- | accumulation against the chances of an EXTREME RETICENCE OF THE PROMINENT eons} | all qeemicas which, if replied to, would set the | mip oniy feeds the fame of mbiic imto such a jy begun to anticipate nt Was assured this fouitt appreach Coi, Tom with the Queen wld Deither | the worst, Your corre: morning that t a | Boott ag it was of bngland, and wat Girectly sor indirectiy obta: | him. Alt this statement ts in a @ | ure true, am the result of any in althougu with the Vioe President is seldom worth the trougle | UNdergowe to secure it, your correspondent Of Calone! Scott to-day and seat ta card. He simply stated on the Card that from t many rumors afloat he desired to lear os a ie truth. Colonel Scott sent | oo wate seoretary, abd the following is Of the intervie ated thats rumor had been started to the | effect that the President and Vice President of the the am | } | | semi-annual dividena, | t * rumor had already appeared ia | the papers, The gentieman said that be had neard it, DOL that such was hot the case, fle stated, moreover, that the semi-annual dividend was not | Gaually declared upom the ist of November, but later in the Month, } T asked him whether I could state that the divi- declared dend @ould be at all, assuring bim tont the people were troubled with the confiiotin; Stories Which they heard and werr anxious vo lear the trath. The genticman refused to give me an: information one way or the other upon this poin He said What neither of the boards had met yet, and | that they had all the month to work in. wonld Not, of course, state whether the dividend would | be in cash oF ia stock; in a word, MB STATED NOTHING AT ALL, Gave No assurances, offered no encouragement. The jothing. Colonel no to the street | there. | other measure left than to gu | ana try to solve the ramors foati iz At the time of this writing the stock of the road ad he difference betwee is selling ver ny & >. & = THE WASHINGTON BANKS, ~ Wal @TON, Nov. 2, 1873. From the best data that can be obtained the First National Bank of Washington will pay ita creditors from its present assets avout Afy per cent inal, The payment of a larger dividend wilt -depend on the business capacity of Jay Cooke & Co, he receiver of the Washington City Savings Dank has informed depositors that they will re- ceive ultimately seventy-five cents on the dolar. The time may be long distant, as owing to the effects of the panic the money cannot ve realized | for the experience that that which we Ob DLCKENS OM BOWE Of Lbe coliateraln, REAL ESTATE AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, | Further Lessons of the Late Panic as | They Apply to This Market. WHERE VALUES REST. | Reduction of Wages in the eae Trades a Stimulus to More Rapid Improvement. | If any further proof were wanted, after recent | analyses of the present financtal situation, that it | 2 1s the result wholly of monetary distress, and ts not the consequence of loss, disaster, greater compett- tion or any considerable revolution in the law of supply and demand, it is to be found in the quiet, confident tone of the real estate market. THE LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND has been traversed in many departments pelong- ing to its practice—in some cases purposely, for cer- tain effects; in most ignorantly, through misap- prehension of its inevitable results. The demurrer, the pleain abatement, the motion to show cause, the application for a postponement, have all taken one shape in this case, and the hoarding of cur- rency has almost dried the founts of justice in re- spect to the law here quoted, But it will not be so always, and already there is en- couragement in the resumption of the banks, in the reports of the express companies respecting the movement, in bulk, this way of our paper representatives of value and in the current rate of money on “the street,’? With this revival dence; and, with these two elements restored to their normal influence, will comé renewed activity in real estate, The general situation never pointed more strongly to THE APPRECIATION OF REAL ESTATE VALUES than at the present time. Witn the gravest dis- trust in other forms of convertible values, the man who owns the house that shelters him and the lot upon which it stands feels that here, at least, is something that cannot dissolve into nothingness witnout his volition, @ substantiality that cannot wholly perish, even in a Wall street nightmare. Hence, while there have been flurry and ‘haste, dismay, anxiety, weak- ness, in respect to other values, real estate hasbeen confident, reliant, even assertive, as is shown in the frequent withdrawals from the mar- ket at this time, because of unsatisfactory bid- ding, a8 was the practice throughout the whole crisis. Thus far ite steady appreciation has been uninterrupted, and, with the hoped-for recurrence at an early day of monetary ease, an active mar- Ket may yet be looked for ere spring, Asa further Ulustration of the fact that the present interrup- tion in business movements is wholly abnormal, traceable to no suflicient material influence, it may be added, in connection with the steady feel- ing in realestate, that atno time during the late excitement was money unprocurable upon govern- ments as collaterals. The difficulty was to get the governments. Those who had them did not wish to part with them, and generally did not need to pledge them. Upon these TWO FOUNDATION 8TONES— first, the ownership of the land, and, second, the belief in our certain inteiligent Use of it, typified in our respect for government credit, rests our en- tire financial structure, The present tendency of rea) estate speculation is north—into Wesrchester county and up the river. This is naturatin the present tone of the market. New Jersey and Long Island offer fine in- ducements in prosperous times, when money is | strength ctremation. to pe coming, and it (® fiercest he Saddest are themes “Lt unghe bave been.” ‘This is the monotone of our present position. 11 remains to be ed whether there ts rug, m_ this Angio-Saxon-M! tonte nature we have inherited to rise abov the weak sentiment thus poetically dignified, take an liad of our fatare. With the omg out of property, or rather sales on the ground, about Luis time, will probably come & a fou to praperty nearer thé cel tre of re may probably portion extensive operatious until r Congress has and shown its disposition in the matter of fi reform, but mm the meantime there is not like! from present indications, to be any effort made the market, The offerings this curren! are few and unimportant. . SPRAGUE'S EMBARRASSMENTS, The Worst of the Difficulty Considered Past. CONTENTS OF THE DEED soeen vee Provisions of the Document Providing for the Satisfaction of Creditors—The Arrangement Satisfactory. Provipence, R, I., Nov. 2, 1873. , I called this evening at the grand residence Senator Sprague to hear what his views were upon this crisis in the fortunes of bis house. His brother-in-law, Mayor Doyle, who answered the, summons of the bell, informed me that the Senatot Was illand not to be seen, I asked Mr. Doyle anything had transpired since yesterday worth cording. He answered:—The deel of ieaeel is now in course of preparation, and if it be a able to the creditors there is little more to be aait or done. On the acceptance of the deed will pend whether the house will be allowed to recov itseli—which it can do—or be thrown into bapk- ruptcy, which means ruin, All we have got to d now is to make the deed as acceptable to the; creditors with due regard for all the interests: |. concerned as possible.” * After leaving Mr. Doyle I went in quest of Mr4 Amasa Sprague to his residence at Cranston, surey of finding him, for Amasa is @ domestic sort off man, who lives in a modest way for the possessol of millions. Amasa was not athome. He had nm yet returned from town, and there was no tellin exactly when he wouid. I drove afterwards to the house of the lawyer for the company, Mr.j Thurston, and that genial, intelligent gentlemam, spent an hour in a rapid condensation of all tl vast concerns of the Spragues, the nature of deed of mortgage, and. in fact, in a gener: analysis of the subject which is now the chief co! cern in the conversation and thoughts of the people of this State. CoRrRESPONDENT—Is there any influence at work, Mr. Thurston, to utterly ruin the hoase of Sprague? THE ENEMIES OF THE SPRAGUES. Mr. THURSTON—I am sorry to say there is. ‘Thera, is a faction here that would like to see thef Spragues annihilated, to have this great propertyt dispersed and pass into other hands. Among these, people are some who have no material interest] whatever in such a result, It is simply a malicious} propensity. There ia notrath in the statement, that Brown & Ives have taken any steps to em~ barrass the Spragues, They have held, 80 far, a sort of negative position towards them, There are many persons here whoy unfriendly to the Spragues, suppose they inter- plenty and the mdustriai hum of the metropolis is heard on all sides; but the growth of New York, the steady advance of its metropolitan develop- ment (that which goes east and west of it is simply its redundant overfow) is upward, on- ward, as is the motto of the State. im the direction it was planted and pointed in its early history. Thus in THE TENDENCY OF THE SPECULATIVE MOVEMENT AT THIS TIMB and the search for sound investments is to be found a lessou for those who, examining the map of real estate operations around this centre during the last ten years, still inquire, Where is the real sub- stantial Value that shall grow as steadily in the juture as it has in the past¥ And late experience, born of distrust, of doubt, of uncertainty, of mor- bid anxiousness, answers, “It is here: as it was in the days of our fatners, so 1s it still with us.” Recent sales in Westchester county demonstrate this, current transactions at private sale approve it and the future offerings already announced show its understanding. There is one element want- ing now in the market, it is true—viz., enthusiasm, | the feeling that comes of a long, undisturbed cou- | fidence, Confidence exists now, but it ts the calm feeling of endurance, not the combative sense of emulative progres: Hence values rest, in @ Sense ; not that the appreciation does not go qn; it does, because that is a matter that is carriea%n silently, unceasingly as the city grows, despite Beet purpose, private endeavor or private wish; ut this appreciation does not find the ready, frequent expression that it would in @ period of | antes activity in business. Our tests of the con- ition of the market at the present time are few, but more valuable in that respect. One of these rare opportunities of gauging its strength or weakness just at this time, NOT NECESSARILY REFLECTING ON THE PAST NOR FORECASTING THE FUTURE, was expected in the offer of the “Barney Bowers tract” last week. Fairly presented on its merits, duly and not unduly advertised, it was thought certain to command the attention of tie mass of real estate. operators who base | their operations upon substantial, not merely supposititious ate ay as eventualities to existing conditions. ence it possessed a two- fold interest in showing atike the disposition as. well as the ability of the market at this time- ‘That it resulted 1 disappoimtment to those inver- ested in its lessons is but the consequence of the mal apropos qvarrel between the owners, although sometuing of tuis may be referribie to the existing hoarding oleurrency. It may yet prove, and at no late day, the Mecca of many old purposes and newly formed resoiutions to provide a certainty of hour, There is A BEFORMATION IN RESPECT TO CAPITAL AND. LABOR ‘ foine on just now that is at once instructive ana teresting, as it bas & most direct bearing here, For years the labor uulons, noticeably among the building trades, have checked the built-up growth of this city, and, by their combined efforts at ecdvancing wages, made improvement so costly shat none but high priced houses could be pot yp wita afiy prospect of a ait Fetarn upon the double investment in ‘and and jabor. This baiting 2 about to a large ex- vent the emigration to New Jersey and Long Island, and consequent appreciation of real estate im these localities, and, by the inevitable law of compensation, @ reaction here, upon those who, iargely responsible for it, were thereby doomed to the miseries of tenement house life. It is said, with how much trath has yet to be discovered, that one reason of the rapid closing of manufac- tories throughout the country is not wholly con- nected with the present monetary stringency, but is an advantage taken of that opportunity on the part of the manujacturers, by @ concerted move- meat, to check THS IMPERIALISM OF LADOR AGITATION. Such is not an uniikely circumstance. Most of the factori nounced as closing report fall stocks om hand waiting a market. Advantage has been taken before by the combined operatives to dictate terms to their employers, not undue perhaps in respect to the labor performed, but out of propor- tion to the current jaw of trade, barter and ex- = This was bound to work ita corrective, ae me prsweigle had been violated and had to be re-estaliished, It ls working its correction now. New Yor! & whole, will share to some extent in tats re-distribution of existing values, while frac- tuonally 1. may suffer. With the release of capital obtained through the late settlements of complica- tions in Wall street, that rested as enormous incubi upon the active monetary movement so necessary bo local as Well a8 ational prosperity, clogging it as though with the pressure of a brake, wil come restored contidence, Tuere is NO PRESENT CONDITION THAT THREATENS RRAL ESTATE INTERESTS with serious hurt, The events of the past few Weeks in a single department of speculative activ: | ty bave brought confusion to many connected pret the sentiment of the Brown & Ives people, andy gratify them accordingly, by giving utterance to everything likely to affect injuriously the credit of, the Spragues. It is true that if the Brown & Ivem folks took an active part in befriending tha | Spragues they could do a worid of good. Mr. Wil~ liam Goddard, the active man of the concern,; might, if he chose, step forward and lend a help~ ing hand to his rivals, By doing so he would show’ arare magnanimity and win a reputation and a genuine popniarity that he ts not aware of. He,, however, takes no part against the Spragues, yet THE ATTITUDE OF INDIFFERENCE has its bad effect, as he accepts the situation, sm tospeak. Ifthe Spragues are wiped out of exist ence it will not make him sad, He will be content! to think it was the imevitable consequence of tha, manner in which they were doing business. Sen-. ator Sprague bas few friends and many enemies int the State. His action im the Senate a few years ago has left him many foes, and at this critical mo ment they take advautage of his situation to mag~, nify and distort everything likely to tend against; him, In this way the feeling is created that ist made to act on the minds of the creditors towards embarrassing acceptance of the propositions im the deeds of mortgage. Mr. Thurston was satisfied that the aeed of mort~ gage would be accepted by all the creditors. The corporation have chosen as trustees Governoi Henry Howard, ex-Governor James Y. Smyth an Rulus Waterman, and these appointments and the deed of the property are subject to the action of tirey creditors, @ mneeting of whom, lam informed this | evening, will be held within afew days, pursuanw to a call to be issued to-morrow. * GOVERNOR HOWARD isa man thoroughly conversant with mercantile, affairs, actively interested in business affairs, being) treasurer of the Arkwright Manufacturing Com- pany, and possesses the confidence of the business’ community. ¥X-GOVERNOR SMYTH, who is largely identified with manufacturing ine terests, and who for three years, during the tryingy time of the rebellion, filled the position of Gover-: nor of the State, is a man rather positive, yet! withal a very shrewd calcalator, and probably he,, on account of his Known positiveness, might bej objectionable to some few of the creditors, wha have their individual interests and preferences im ah especial degree and would désire to have suc! trustees as would be pliable and readily ylela bal their wishes, RUFUS WATERMAN is one who moves considerably within the sphere of Brown & Ives; yet his appointment shows the confidence reposed in him, and he is, it i@ believed, generally acceptable. As tothe powers vested in the trustees I am enabled to autbori- tively state substantially THE CONTENTS OF THE DERD. The trustees are empowered to sell a part or tha whole of the property, descretionary with them~ selves, to liquidate the indebtedness of the com~ pany, which is mostly in Rnode Island. They are also empowered to issue notes to a sufficient amount to Macet the funded debt, estimated at $20,000,000, a& @ rate of seven and three-tenths percent, It im expected that they will dispose only of the land@ outside the mill property so as to preserve tha latter intact, or at least the central core or bulky of the property, which includes the Cranston Print Works and the Natick and Quid~ nick manufacturing establishments, the first men~ tioned being that upon which tho immense for~ tunes of the house were principally built. The out~ side property might be disposed of with less sacri-. fice to the house, The property in Baltic, Con! for instance, though desirable and valuable to the concern, can be better parted with than any por- tion of the Rhode Island interest, THE GENBRAL PURPORT OF THR DEED iain favor of making all reasonable sacrifice to with that department, but nothing has been lost. lt is nos as though an epidemic such as recently desolated Memphis and Shreveport bad swept way from Us our best men, with their full thought, Tipe experience and yet active brains; it is not as though another Chicago fire bad strewn our earthstones with the ashes of incandescent hopes wiped out material values. We bave lost nothing but the possible result of our an- os ons. The undue expectation hax me with dull response. i. wae me mot © 18 consequently the ‘onan have Here is wisdom for us. t us ap reciate our existing advantages, al i not in sense- less fear, because of the coliap' { visionary schemes of profit, suffer real sources of weaith to we could not. satisfy the creditors, and, not yet-being executed,, 1s subject to the requirements of the creditors, wha will make manifest their wishes, Every effort thus far made, I am informed, is towards conciliating all interests, and it is claimed) that ander this deed the creditors stand a better, show of getting satisfied than they would be under: an act of bankruptcy, Which would be the only al< ternative should they reject the deed, Under an act of bankruptcy the assignee would have to pursue the piain directions of the Bankrupt law, the land would be indiscriminately condemned lie fallow. Whaé bas gone does not affect realestate except to give it greater preferm jt as a aaio in- vestment. All that is wanted now to e this market an active. busy Cope ad DUFROAG Ls a Teer and sold, and again the operatives, who have theia CONTINUED ON SEVENTH PAGE. AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. THURSTON, 3°