GOLD RECEIVED IN SAN FRANCISCO, PAID FOR BY TELEGRAPHIC EXCHANGE ON NEW YORK.

Deposits of gold to the amount of $17,489,290.89 were made in San Francisco for which telegraphic exchange on New York was given in payment, during the fiscal year 1906.

The transactions, by months, for the fiscal years 1905 and 1906, are recorded here:

The custom prevailing of giving exchange on New York for deposits of gold bullion at the mint in San Francisco has resulted in the accumulation of an excessive amount of gold in the mint at the latter place. In the movement for the relief of San Francisco after the disaster in April last $37,360,344 of the amount was shifted to more accessible points without expense.

If the accumulation of gold at San Francisco continues, it becomes a question whether it is equitable to pay to the depositors of gold bullion its full value at the place of deposit and transfer the proceeds for them free of expense to commercial centers; this is practically what is being done under present regulations. Should the Government find it necessary to transport this coin to points of greater demand for its use it would involve a cost of $1.75 per $1,000. This threatened expense, together with the fact that it is not even safe for too great a sum of money to be located at one place, should impress us to conservative action in the future.

SHIPMENTS OF CURRENCY FROM WASHINGTON.

The total shipments of currency from the Treasury in Washington during the fiscal year 1906 show a decrease of $17,357,818 in amount, as compared with 1905, while the number of packages sent is increased by 3,479.

The comparison follows:

The moneys received at Treasury offices on account of redemptions and exchanges during the fiscal year 1906 amounted to $1,104,449,492, a decrease of $46,176,271 as compared with the preceding year.

The kinds of money received and paid are shown in the subjoined table:

KINDS OF MONEY RECEIVED AND PAID IN REDEMPTION AND EXCHANGE ACCOUNTS AT TREASURY OFFICES DURING THE FISCAL YEAR 1906.

For gold coin and certificates.
For silver coin and certifi-

cates..

For United States notes and
Treasury notes...

For national-bank notes and
minor coin..

$286,960, 641 $19,731,832

Total...

$1,764, 236 $2,673,283 $311, 129, 992 $799,405 143, 349, 246 270,274,966 17,715,242 11,645,005 23, 396, 247 71, 372, 158 122, 873, 419 8,759,494 102,016, 519 18,226, 328 252, 479, 801 123, 672,824 450,714,386 415, 419, 564 109,077,964 4,939, 683 1, 103, 824, 421

717, 101
945, 258
604,041

432,855,960

107,358, 668

REDEMPTION OF NATIONAL-BANK NOTES.

The national-bank notes presented for redemption amounted to $296,292,885, or 55.07 per cent of the average amount outstanding during the year. Notwithstanding an addition of $65,392,554, or 13.19 per cent, to the volume of notes during the year the amount presented for redemption was $12,005,875, or 3.89 per cent, less than the amount presented in the preceding year. The sums received from the principal cities were less than in the previous year with the exception of Chicago and Cincinnati. The notes presented for redemption in January amounted to $36,711,000, the largest monthly sum ever presented. The number of notes redeemed was 25,906,503, and the average denomination was $11.42. The average denomination outstanding on June 30 was $11.29. During the year 470 national banks were chartered and 113 charters were surrendered, making a net increase of 357 banks and a total of 6,107 on June 30. Bank-note circulation, which had been below $300,000,000 for nearly fourteen years (since November, 1886), began to appreciably increase after the passage of the act of March 14, 1900, and by May of that year it had reached $300,000,000. Since then the increase has been continuous, and on June 30 last the circulation amounted to $561,112,360. The rate of redemptions also increased from 37.25 per cent in 1900 to 65.84 per cent in 1905, but declined to 55.07 per cent in 1906, albeit there was an increase in the circulation during that year.

The average circulation during the fiscal years 1900 to 1906 and the rate of redemptions are shown in the table which follows:

The ratios of the denominations outstanding to the total circulation on March 14, 1900, and at the close of each fiscal year since are given in percentages in the following table. A notable change has taken place in the $5 notes, which have continuously decreased until they represent only 13.70 per cent of the total.

The rates at which each denomination have been redeemed during the fiscal years 1900 to 1906 are here exhibited. The tens show the smallest rate of redemption and the hundreds the largest.

RATE PER CENT OF REDEMPTION OF THE AVERAGE OUTSTANDING CIRCULATION BY DENOMINATIONS.

At times during the year small notes were not available in sufficient amount to meet all requests for them in redemption of bank notes, and for this reason the payments by United States currency practically all in small denominations were but $123,371,142, as against $146,595,108 in the previous year. The payments by checks were $122,852,833, and by silver coin $109,491. The balance, $48,840,954, was paid by credits in accounts with this office.

The deposits of lawful money in the several redemption accounts amounted to $315,862,057; those to reimburse the 5 per cent fund for notes redeemed and reissued were $279,186,849, and those for the retirement of notes $36,675,208. Of the latter sum $9,609,791 was received from banks whose charters had been extended, and under the operation of the law an equivalent in a new series of notes was issued at once. Similar deposits and issues in 1905 amounted to $4,504,057. The applications to make deposits for the retirement of circulation under the act of June 20, 1874, limited to $3,000,000 monthly by the act of July 12, 1882, amounted to $33,093,305, but of this sum only $17,467,743 was deposited. Applications to make deposits in the months of October, November, and December were received early in May, and the movement was pronounced for all months except July, August, and September. At no time either before or after the limitation was enacted has it appeared that any considerable retirement of circulation was due to its redundancy, but rather to the operations of the Government in refunding and retiring its bonds, and for the purpose of making available the margin between the value of the bonds pledged and the circulation issued against them. This difference in value was practically eliminated by operations under the act of March 14, 1900, and correspondingly affected the retirement of circulation. The act, however, created a demand for bonds by new banks and this demand and the desire of banks at certain times to use their circulation bonds for public deposits account for most of the current transactions.

If a necessity arose for the retirement of circulation on account of a redundancy it could be effectively accomplished under provisions in the original national-bank act if banks would elect to have their notes as redeemed by the redemption agency retired instead of reissued.

Redeemed notes were assorted and delivered to the amount of $298,216,662.50. The notes fit for circulation amounted to $88,930,700, or 29.82 per cent of the total. This was a falling off of 4.85 per cent as compared with the percentage of such notes in the redemptions of a year ago.

The expenses incurred were $250,924.24. They have been assessed on the banks in the usual manner at the rate of $0.84528 per $1,000 of their notes redeemed.

RECOINAGE IN THE FISCAL YEAR 1906.

The remintage of gold, silver, and minor coins was in 1906 less in value than in 1905. The details for the two years follow:

To the ceaseless vigilance of the Secret Service agents and the expert money counters in the Treasury offices are due the gradual elimination of spurious issues from our circulation. Moneys of the various kinds, greater in value than the entire circulation of the country, were received and disbursed by the Treasury offices during the fiscal year 1906. The receipts were subjected to a close inspection, and the experts rejected only $11,717.33 in counterfeit coins and paper currency.

SPECIAL TRUST FUNDS.

A further reduction of the indebtedness of the Central Pacific Railroad to the Government, amounting to $5,881,271.56, was made during the fiscal year 1906, and the two notes paid and the bonds held to secure said notes were released as the payments were made. The kind and amount of securities held in special trust and the transactions therein during the last fiscal year are enumerated in the following table: