The Montreal Gazette call loan rate, 1871-1907

Economic historians have assumed that the call loan market in Canada was in significant before 1900. In this paper I present a monthly series for the c all loan rate recorded daily by the Montreal Gazette between 1871 and 1907, which corresponds closely with the known post-1900 rate in 1900-07. Eviden ce from monthly bank returns further indicates that the mag nitude of the d omestic call loan market rivalled that of Canadian call loans in New York p rior to 1907. The Montreal Gazette call loan series bears little relation t o call loan series for New York and London, partly because the Montreal mar ket was less centralized and less liquid.