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Jan. 1, 1862, and continued until Jan. 1, 1879; both gold and silver practically disappeared from circulation except on the Pacific coast, where, it is estimated, there was generally about twenty-five million specie in circulation. Small change was so scarce that Congress authorized, first, the use of postage stamps, then, a modified form of the latter called "postal currency," and, finally, paper money in fractional amounts of a dollar. There is practically none of the last in use now as money, but $15,245,183.88 is still outstanding, a little more than half of which is officially estimated as destroyed.

Sweating. A method of diminishing the weight of coins by shaking them in a confined space, as a bag; the dust so collected and retained being a dishonest profit. This used to be a wide-spread evil in England and strenuous efforts were made to break it up.

Sweeten. To give more

collateral" or margin." When a loan is asked for and the collateral offered is not satisfactory to the lender, the borrower "sweetens" it by improving the grade or adding more to it.

Swings. Ups and downs of periods of business activity. From the close of the Civil War these swings," back and forth from good to bad times, followed this course;

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Note the fact that the periods of depression are of shorter duration than those of advance.

"Swings" in market prices refer to the movement of prices in one direction followed by considerable change in the other. Like the action of the pendulum of a clock.

Switching. See "Grain."

Syndicate. A group of men, bankers, or any combination of the same, who combine their mutual interests for the purchase or control of certain properties or securities. The members of the syndicate are generally bound by what is called a "syndicate agreement;" in other words, in other words, a written instrument to carry out the terms of the agreement, signed by the parties. (See also "Underwriting.") Some person, firm, bank, or trust company is usually selected as a "syndicate

manager," whose duty it is to see that the terms of the "syndicate agreement" are fulfilled by all parties to it.

Before signing a "syndicate agreement," it is desirable to note carefully its provisions, it being especially important that it should not become operative until a sufficient amount of the issue in question has been subscribed to ensure its

success.

Syndicate Agreement. See "Syndicate."

S. & M. September and March; interest or dividend payments semi-annually, beginning with September.

T

T. The "ticker" abbreviation for "terminal."

Tael. The "tael" is a weight as used in the Chinese money system. It is in no sense a monetary unit.1 (See also the subject" Cash.")

1" One of the worst of the evils from which China now suffers is the lack of uniformity in her standards of value. Her finances are in an absolutely chaotic condition, on account of the instability of her currency and the constantly changing ratio between one kind of money and another. The coin in common use among the people is the copper cash, but the standard of value in all large mercantile transactions, as well as in the Government service, is the silver ounce, or tael. If there were only one tael, and if that tael bore some fixed and definite relation to the copper cash, the state of things would be no worse than it is in silver-standard countries generally; but there are more than seventy local varieties of tae, each differing slightly from every other; and the values of these taels, expressed in terms of cash, vary not only from day to day in time, but from district to district in space. In one village the tael exchanges for a thousandcash string and a half, while in another village eight hundred cash make, nominally, a thousand-cash string, and a tael can be had for a string and a quarter. But the tael is not the only silver coin in circulation. The Chinese make or import four or five different silver dollars, and each of these has an uncertain value, in taels or cash, which also fluctuates widely in accordance with varying conditions of time and space. There is no uniformity even among the cash. A ten-cash piece issued by one provincial mint is not equal in value to a piece of like denomination issued by another mint, and neither of them will buy ten-cash pieces separately. In Ningpo, for example, a local ten-cash coin exchanges for nine separate one-cash pieces, while in Tsingkiangpu a ten-cash coin will buy only seven separate cash. Then there are the paper notes of private Chinese banks and private foreign banks, which add still another complication because they are discounted at rates which vary directly with the distance from the place of issue. A Tientsin bank note may pass at par in Peking, but it will be taken only at a discount of five per cent. in Shanghai, and perhaps ten per cent. in Canton or Hankow. The same railroad company will sometimes accept a bank note at par in one of its ticket offices and cut it five per cent. in another. In my own experience, bills of the Russo-Chinese Bank were taken at par by the railroad ticket agent at Peking, while they were refused altogether by the ticket agent of the same railroad at Paotingfu, only a hundred miles away." —George Kennan in the Outlook of April 7, 1906.

Tailer (or Tailer On). One who has but little capital or selfconfidence, and who follows some one else's lead.

Take Up. A very common term used to denote that the purchaser of bonds, stocks, or whatever it may be, has paid for and obtained delivery of the same; i. e. "taken up; up;" got rightful possession of.

Tale. "By tale; " i. e. by count. In transactions regarding metallic money, "by tale" is used to distinguish from "by weight." The former would have reference to the sum total of a given amount of gold coin, for instance, without any regard to the abrasion; whereas "by weight" would mean its actual value, abrasion deducted, and would naturally give a less total sum than as if reckoned" by tale."

Talent. "Talent bought the stock." Those very close in touch with financial affairs; members, for instance, of a stock exchange; bankers and brokers or "professional traders." (See "Traders.") The ordinary investor or speculator would not be included among the "talent.”

Tamarack. Tamarack Mining Co. (Copper.)

Tangible Assets. Property which one may possess himself of, such as real estate, machinery, etc. Good-will would not be considered a tangible asset.'

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Tape. See "Ticker."

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Tape Price. The price of a security as indicated by the tape." (See "Tape.")

Tare. Tare is the weight of the vehicle, cask, or package in which a commodity is shipped; as in the case of a load of hay, the difference in weight between the total weight, including the cart, and the weight of the hay itself is the tare, and must be deducted from the total weight to ascertain the true weight of the hay.

Tax Certificates. See "Delinquent Tax Certificates."

Taxes on Stock Transfers. Since June 2, 1905, the State of New York has enforced a stamp tax law on stock transfers, which, in part, is as follows:

"A tax is imposed on all sales, agreements to sell, deliveries, or transfers, of shares or certificates of stock in any domestic or foreign association, company or corporation.

"The unit upon which a tax is imposed is one share of stock, and the minimum tax is two cents thereon.

"Every share of the face value of one hundred dollars or less is taxable in the sum of two cents.1

A recent court ruling has decided that the tax is now 2c. on each $100 of face value. By the first interpretation of the law, two shares of $50 each, to illustrate, would have been subject to double the tax of one

"Where the par value of one share exceeds one hundred dollars, an additional tax of two cents is required for each additional one hundred dollars of par value or fraction thereof.

"The original issue of stock by a corporation is taxable. "A sale of stock made outside New York State is subject to a tax if it is evidenced by entries in transfer books or by any form of written instrument within the State necessary to effect such transfer.

"A transfer of stock in a building and loan association is within the provisions of the law. A surrender of shares to such a corporation for cancellation upon maturity is not a taxable transfer. Shares transferred are taxed upon par or face value in the sum of two cents each without regard to whether the share is partially paid in or not.

"The surrender of a certificate of stock to a corporation for the purpose of receiving other certificates to be issued to the same owner in smaller amounts, but in an aggregate equal to the amount of the surrendered certificate, being a mere exchange of certificates without a transfer of ownership, is not taxable.

"A certificate when divided and re-issued, part to a new stockholder and part to the original owner, is taxable to the extent of the transfer to the new purchaser and not taxable in the portion retained by the original owner.

"The law does not make an exemption from the tax of stock in religious or charitable associations.

"Stock held by a corporation as treasury stock is not taxable until shares are issued and transferred to a stockholder. "Shares of stock held by an executor or administrator and transferred by him to other parties, whether heirs or not, are subject to a tax."

The total receipts by the State of New York resulting from the imposition of the above taxes, for the calendar year 1906, were $6,500,654.

Tax Exempt. See "Non-taxable Investments."

Tax Free Investments. See "Non-taxable Investments." Tax Relief Bond. Bonds issued in anticipation of payment of taxes; that is, a municipality needs money for some purpose immediately, the expenses of which would ordinarily be taken. care of by taxation, the taxes, however, are being paid slowly and not coming in fast enough to furnish funds for the purpose needed. Consequently, bonds having a short time to run are issued, but more frequently short time notes are sold for this purpose.

share of $100 face value, although the face values of the two lots were identical. This was held to be unconstitutional.

Technical. This is used in reference to an artificial condition of the market, which has been brought about usually by "manipulating" or over-speculation; an unnatural level of prices, which cannot last.

Tecumseh. Tecumseh Copper Co.

Telegraphic Transfers. See next subject.

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Telegraphic Transfers of Money. A method of obtaining immediate use of money at a distant point in the same country, and effected in the same general way as cable transfers.' The telegraph company charges a certain fee according to the sum transferred, plus the charge for the telegram.

Telephone. American Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Telephone Securities. Bonds, stocks, and notes of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company and its licensee companies. For the sake of brevity we will refer to the former as the parent company and the latter as the operating companies. The impression prevails that an extensive amount of securities is being issued from time to time by the parent company, but, if the following facts are taken into consideration, it may not seem so excessive. A large percentage of the telephone business is under the control of the parent company through ownership of stock in the operating companies. The securities of the former are issued to pay its proportion (51% or more) of new stock as issued by the latter. Instead of this 51% being put upon the market, in each case, as the stock of different operating companies, it is represented by an issue of securities bearing one name, as it were. Of course the telephone investment is small compared to that of the railroads, but imagine, by way of illustration, that one parent railway company issued a uniform bond to pay for its subscription to a controlling interest in all the new stock issues of a large part of the operating railways of the country. The idea would prevail that there was an enormous over-issue. The bonds of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. are virtually a stock issue without voting power on account of having for security the stocks of the operating companies. The soundness of these bonds as an investment rests largely upon the success of the telephone business of the country as a whole, and the success or non-success of one, or even a few, of the operating companies, stocks of which are behind the parent company's issues, are not to affect the payment of the interest or principal of the same.

One point deserves serious treatment, and much literature has resulted from its consideration, viz., the large amounts of money which seem to be required, from time to time, for the development and the equipment of the telephone business. Yet, such a demand for money must be the result of the enor

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