THE FINANCES OF RUSSIA. The Paris Moniteur publishes the following article on Russian finance: According to the last official documents published in Russia, the general total of the home and foreign debt of that empire amounted on the 1st of January, 1853, to 401 millions of silver roubles, (1,604 millions of francs,) namely:— Quota of Russia in the old Dutch Loan .......silver roubles Russia has also at her charge other obligations, viz :- 33,100,000 24.049,000 110,867,055 223,861,476 5,280,000 397,157,531 1. The reimbursement of what are called credit notes, payable on presentation, circulating without interest, guarantied by the reserve of precious metals deposited in the fortress of St. Petersburgh, and may be considered as a kind of paper money. 2. The reimbursement of what are called series bills, issued successively according to the necessities of the Treasury, payable at eight years' date, and producing during that interval an interest of 4 per cent, 3. The guaranty given by the government to all establishments of public credit, such as the Lombards of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Loan Banks and Commercial Banks of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Odessa, Kharkhoff, and other places, a guaranty which establishes a complete joint responsibility between the credit of those establishments and that of the State. In order to sum up the financial situation as far as regards the three categories of obligations in question, we will muention-1st. That on the first of January last year, the credit bills in circulation amounted to 3:1 millions of silver roubles, guarantied by a metallic reserve of 146 millious of silver roubles. 2. That the series of bills formed at the same date a total of 57 millions of silver roubles. 3. That the deposits confided to the different establishments of public eredit amounted altogether to 806 millions of roubles, the reimbursement of which may be demanded at any time. On the other baud, the budget of receipts is estimated in Russia at 200 millions of roubles, the half of which is furnished by the customs duties and the monopoly of the brandy manufacture. On the most moderate calculation, the deficit in these two branches of the revenue, caused by existing circumstances, will amount to 50 millions of roubles. It is therefore with a revenue reduced to 150 millions of roubles, that the Russian treasury is compelled to meet its expenses, necessarily increased by the state of war. Commerce, agriculture, and manufactures, are now suffering in Russia, as well from the difficulty of exporting, both by sea and land, as from the refusal of foreign merchants to grant the facilities for payment which they have hitherto given. This must have for effect to multiply the calls on the public establishments for the reimbursement of deposits. If the credit of the State and of those establishments has not yet been directly attacked, it is only a question of time. The day on which the State shall cease to exchange its paper against the precious metals will be the signal for a tremendous crisis; and if the war should be prolonged, this is a fact which must inevitably take place. CURRENCY OF SWITZERLAND. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 2, 1854. Official information having been received at this Department that the government of Switzerland have adopted the franc of France as the standard value of the Swiss franc federal," equivalent to 18 6 10 cents money of the United States; the consular certificate of value in the United States currency, heretofore required to invoices of Swiss goods, wh n the same are made out in the franc federal, will in future be dispensed with the amounts of such invoices to be reduced at the custom-house into the currency of the United States, by the same rule as at present applied to invoices from France, made out in the French franc; provided, however, that the said invoices be accompanied by a certificate of the American consul, showing that the above mention ed standard of value of the franc in Switzerland remains unchanged; and by the customary certificate for the authentication of the invoice cost of the goods. JAMES GUTHRIE, Secretary of the Treasury. A CALIFORNIA BANKING HOUSE. But few persons are aware of the enormous amount of business transacted by the various banking houses in San Francisco. Millions of dollars are handled by them weekly, and the deposits are enormous, perhaps greater than in any other community in the world. In order to give a proper view of the immense business done, the San Fran cisco Commercial Advertiser succeeded in procuring a complete statement of the shipments of specie of a single house, made during the past year. The house referred to is that of Messrs. Page, Bacon & Co, one of the heaviest in that city. It illustrates the way of doing business in that city, and will interest the readers of the Merchants' Magazine. There are twenty-nine banks in Illinois based upon public stock securities. The circulation of these banks on the first of June amounted to $2,283,526, and the specie on hand to $565,161. The amount of public stock securities as received by the auditor is $2,495,741. Ten of the banks are in the city of Chicago. For a more detailed statement of the condition of these banks the reader is referred to the Merchants Mogazine for July, 1854, page 94. The commissioners have carefully inspected the stocks deposited with the Treasurer of State by the several banking associations, and we insert below a correct table of their kinds and amounts: Illinois & Michigan Caual Bonds at 45 a 50c.. Illinois & Michigan Canal Interest Certificates at from 24 to 40c Illinois New Internal Improvement Interest Certificates at 38 a 48c 1848.. 1849. 1850... PRODUCT OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA FROM 1848 TO 1853. $58 902 1851. 8,196,678 1852. 48,241,168 1853 339 216 00 70,306 74 414.737 29 253.892 93 25,000 00 $84.434,355 80.150,000 99,864,753 BUSINESS AT THE CLEARING HOUSE IN NEW YORK. We publish the following table merely to show the amount of clearings at this establishment since it went into operation, to July 10th, 1854: THE UNITED STATES BRANCH MINT AT SAN FRANCISCO. The United States Branch Mint, located in San Francisco, opened for deposit on the first of April, 1854. The San Francisco Price Current examines the subject of the mint, the country which produces the gold, and speculates after this manner upon its influence at home and abroad, present and remote: In 1848, a long time ago for California, the few of us who were in San Francisco, found Collector Harrison the guardian of the public moneys in the old adobe customhouse on the plaza. Gold dust passed in trade at $16 per ounce, which was the price previously agreed upon at a meeting of the merchants, while at the same time the market value for it, in exchange for coin, ranged from $10 to $12 per ounce. The accumulation of public money in the collector's hands actually gave him serious uneasiness; it was all in coin, for he did not deem himself authorized to receive gold dust, and had previously sold at auction the amount accumulated on his hands as deposits for duties, at about $11 50 per ounce. It must be remembered that we had no brick vaults then. The assay office and coinage of Messrs. Moffat & Co. worked some change; but when those gentlemen commenced operations under their contract with government to assay bars and issue ingots of the denomination of $50, trading in gold dust assumed a specific shape, inasmuch as we had a basis for our operations. Various private coins have been issued during the past four years, some of which have been productive of good—some have worked pecuniary loss to the community. At the expiration of the contract with Messrs. Curtis, Perry & Ward, (the successors of Messrs. Moffatt & Co.,) efforts were made to procure the erection of buildings here, planned for an extensive mint. The government were fortunate enough, however, to correct this, and to make instead an arrangement with Messrs. Curtis, Perry & Ward, by which the latter turned over to them their building and machinery, both sufficiently enlarged to meet our wants, by which we probably have a mint two years sooner than if it had been concluded to erect one. It must be remembered that the first appropriation limited the sum at the disposal of the Secretary to an amount much too small to erect a building according to the plans proposed, and supply the same with the requisite machinery. Another appropriation would have been necessary for finishing, and as this want would have had to come before the present Congress, we may consider ourselves truly fortunate in having escaped the chances of defeat which might have ensued in the present disturbed state of affairs at the seat of government. The stamping of bars is likely to make some difficulty, as it is questionable whether this branch mint has the right to stamp and issue any but refined bars. The officers consider that they are acting properly in so doing, but as it is not permitted at the other mints, we presume the Secretary of the Treasury will not make any exception in favor of the one located here, although to make it fully useful such permission should be extended. The establishment of the branch mint among us will be advantageous to the community generally, not specially and particularly to the miners. This class has for a long time past been receiving quite the value of their dust, and in some sections of the State more than its fair value per ounce; this last, because certain shippers prefer the chances of shipping dust, to the certainty of good bills of exchange. The stability which a fixed standard will give us, can only be appreciated by experience; all descriptions of money operations must be by it greatly facilitated. It is true we must not be too sanguine, for some changes may yet take place in the mint itself; but after some consideration we think ourselves that the only one likely to be made is the alteration in the per centage charged for coinage. We have no idea that such perfect and beautiful machinery will or can break down, but the law which gave us this mint contains a clause by which the charges for coinage are to be regulated by the actual cost of the same. The charge has been fixed here at 1.1 per cent. On a careful examination of the matter we cannot but ask ourselves the question, what would be the result? what the disarrangement of our financial matters, should this charge be found to be inadequate? We consider it quite certain that an increased rate would be established should such prove to be the case, for with the law plain in view, no officer could ask government to make a deficiency appropriation for this mint. We much prefer, however, to see its workings a while yet; it is not improbable that, in the progress of operations, a reduction may ultimately be made to Philadelphia rates of about 4 per cent. Depositors at the mint are allowed the value of what silver may be contained in their deposits of dust, when the same amounts to five dollars; and in this connection we would call attention to the fact that there is probably a sufficiency of silver in California gold to supply this State with all the silver coinage necessary for the purpose of change. LIABILITY OF STOCKHOLDERS IN INCORPORATED COMPANIES IN OHIO. The General Assembly of the State of Ohio, at its last session, (April 17th, 1854,) enacted the following important provision, viz. :- All stockholders of any railroad, turnpike, or plank road, magnetic telegraph, or bridge company, or any joint-stock company organized under the provisions of this act, shall be deemed and held liable to an amount equal to their stock subscribed in addition to said stock, for the purpose of securing the creditors of such company, and the trustees or directors of every society or association incorporated under the provisions of the sixty-sixth section of this act, shall be deemed and held individually liable for all debts contracted by them for their respective societies or associations. This provision is an amendment to section 78 of an "act to provide for the creation and regulation of incorporated companies in the State of Ohio," passed May 1st, 1852, and to repeal the act amendatory thereto, passed March 11th, 1853. CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF MASSACHUSETTS JULY 1, 1854. FRENCH NATIONAL DEBT. In January, 1854, according to the Paris correspondent of the National Intelligeneer, the annual amount of interest payable on the public debt was 372,314,577 francs. The amount of rente or annual interest, payable on the public debt, at various great political epochs, was as follows:— In 1789, at the opening of the revolution, (Necker's rep,) 161,465,000 francs. In 1793, Gambon, in his famous report, makes it, after divers important diminutions, 127,801,951 livres or francs. In 1798, the annual interest or rente, amounted to 174,714,951 franes. In this year, (1798,) a law was passed ordering two thirds of the whole debt to be liquidated by bouds payable to bearer. In a short time those bonds were worth only 20 per cent of their nominal value. The other one-third was inscribed in the Grand Livre as 5 per cent rente, leaving payable annually by the State a rente of 40,216,000 francs. Under the Consulate and Empire this was increased by the addition of some twenty three millions of rente, which made the annual charge upon the State, 1st April, 1814, aut to 63,397.637 fra 193. The first year of the Restoration, burdened with the expenses of two invasions, saw this sum tripled; so that in 1823 the annual interest on the public debt amounted to 195,000,000 of francs. From 1816 to 1823 eight loans were contracted, amounting in all to 95,938,669 francs, of rente, 5 per 100, and representing a capital of 1,918,773,330 francs. Such were the charges imposed by the allies upon France, in consequence chiefly of the wars and spoliations of the empire, which was overtbrown at Waterloo. In 1823, the total capital represented by the rente was 3,185,000,000 of franes. The Restoration closed in July, 1830, bequeathing to the State a public debt of which the annual interest was 199,417,208 francs. During the reign of Louis Philippe, from July, 1830, to February, 1848, the national debt underwent notable augmentation. Louis Philippe left France burdened with annual rentes amounting to 240,808,965 francs, representing in capital a debt of 5.200,000,000 francs. Below is the condition of the public debt at the commencement of the present year, (1854.) arriving, as above stated, at the large sum of annual rente or interest, of 372,314,577 francs : On the 1st of June, 1854, the small note law of Virginia went into operation. The chief enactment of the bill is contained in the second section, as follows: SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That in every case where a note of a less denomination than five dollars is offered or issued as money, whether the said note be issued by a bank, corporation, or by individuals, the person, firm or association of persons, corporation or body politic, so offering or issuing such note, shall pay a fine of ten dollars, to be recovered before any justice, alderman of a city, or court in this Commonwealth; and any person whose name is signed on the face of such note, shall be deemed an issuer within the meaning of this act. The fine may be recovered by motion before a single justice or alderman-onehalf to go to the informer, the other to the city treasury. |