The  government  treasury  notes  have,  however,  fallen  to  par  with  a  downward  tendency,
and  its  six  per  cent  stock  has  been  yet  utterly  neglected.  The  fall  in  treasury  notes  has
been  mainly  brought  about  by  the  decreased  demand  from  the  banks  for  investment.
Some  weeks  since,  the  New  York  banks  held  upwards  of  ||7,000,000  in  specie — a
cumbrous  and  unprofitable  investment ;  scarcely  any  demand  existed  for  it,  and  it  hung
upon  their  hands  a  dead  weight.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  treasury  notes  of  the
federal  government  being  available  with  the  interest  at  any  moment,  formed  a  very  de.
airable  investment,  and  were  sought  aftec  even  at  a  premium.  That  state  of  aflaim,  if
we  may  use  the  expression,  was  the  **  slack  water**  of  business.  Specie  from  all  quar>
ters  had  been  accumulating  in  the  banks,  both  here  and  in  Europe,  with  but  little  de.
mand  for  its  employment  in  the  channels  of  business.  As  the  new  crops  came  forward,
the  rates  of  bills  gradually  fell  at  all  points.  The  new  tarifl*  operating  to  prevent  importi,
of  course  cut  ofif  the  demand  for  bills  from  importers  at  the  seaports.  The  low  price  of
products  in  the  interior,  and  the  absence  of  credit,  checked  the  purchase  of  goods  on  the
Atlantic  border,  and  caused  inland  bills  to  fall  pari  poMu  with  the  foreign  exchanges.
At  New  Orleans,  where  the  largest  quantity  of  produce  arrives,  bills  first  reached  a  point
at  which  a  new  demand  ia  created  for  the  import  of  specie,  which  commenced  as  we  de.
