Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-05 00:00:00

AMERICAN AFFAIRS.

FllO3l AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.

NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 1857.
44 few lines from this, at the present moment,
pea). not be uninteresting to your readers, and,
worthy of a small corner in your j )urnal.
tailed
all-absorbing topic is the late panic. It is
adthe "late" now, as it is generally marked down
4
441, event of the past, although its effects are now
elelble as they ever were. The first question
,tnaturally occurs to the mind is, what caused
448 Panic ? This no one can answer definitely,
10. I will put down a few notes that I have made,
all put together, may serve, in a measure, to
llain the cause of the late crisis.
he importing trade here is carried ou entirely
the credit system. A house commences busi-
-48 11 credit ; they go to one of the Anglo-
44:dean Bankers, deposit some securities for a
gm, receive a credit on the Banker's house in
4eland, where the goods are purchased ; these
els come out here to the charge -of the
ker, who delivers them on the deposit of
tuaterals, that is, the bills of his customers,
ket here again is credit, goods are sold to
it country dealers on credit; their notes or
4148 being taken in payment at dates ranging from
tY days to six months, usually 90 days—thus a
leek, with a small amount of ready cash or good
tlrities, may commence business on a scale that
trading,
in Liverpool would be called excessive
%aiding.
744 Will be said that even this system of trading
tittlit have flourished when the country was so
Acts
but she was rich in crops only, for the Western
iciller held back his produce in the face of low
:lees he paid for his purchases by note, which
tlere readily taken by the banks and importers, as
Ige farmers were known to have good stocks. In-
%tea(' of higher prices, - lower ones came;
k:,/ Western man had to renew his
f;'e ; the banks and merchants had their
41148 all locked up by this means. Then
,_4le the result of the Railway Building Menia ;

I,
tcie seized the stock holders on some lines,
d 1;, cased by newspaper reports the Ohio Trust Co.
tolLed, it broke confidence in the West ; a flood of
utes Came back upon the New York merchant,
Catlic
O had all his funds laid out for the fall trade; his
,ters would not take his collaterals and sue-
ietlaion followed, bringing down others, holding
i 3 endorsement ; until, by the ramification of this
eiteciit system, New York has become almost a
tY of bankrupts, a state of things not realised
to
tagland, by any means.
ftExtravagance has been put down as one cause of
t 6 crisis ; it is, doubtless, true to a certain extent,
I' the little necessity for capital, induced persons
t° Invest their money close up to their require-
ments, and this they did by building collossal
tt
i4es, built of the most costly materials—in some
Stances white marble. Their private residences,
sad style of living, accorded well with the magni.
tale
of their stores. Any one walking up Fifth
Venue in this city must be struck with the number
44 magnificence of the private dwellings, and
ask himself the question, are these people of the
meddle class to occupy these houses, without taking
11tO consideration that, to reside in one of these
1,
u
katlaCeSt whose rentals vary from 2,000 dols. to
dols.
and 7,008 dole. a year, a man must be
Xlnost a millionaire.
he pr,:spect of trade is not very bright ; the
(Nage of credit facilities will restrict business
citsome time; and when any demand does spring
li
tP. there are plenty of. goods here held in deposit
by
the banking houses in deposit that will be forced
NI the market.

ARRIVAL OF THE AMERICAN NEW
STEAM-SHIP ADRIATIC.

fOl4O arrival of this vessel, which has been looked
"act,
to with so much interest for some months
".11st, took place yesterday morning. She left New
r°rk on Monday, the 23rd ultimo, at noon, and
o,rived i,ff the port on Thursday night, a'; nine
(~leek. entering the Mersey shortly after ten
I,elelek yesterday morning. She has brought 37
4',,seengers, and 390,325 dollars in specie. Also
h'vices from New York, five days later than those
',,,"iously to hand.
b,the Adriatic passed r.-x Sti am-ihip Europa,
1 vuud W., on Tuesday, Ist December, in lat. 01.20,
'ol4f.r. 20.21.
of the
Atlantic arrived at New York on the evening
the 22nd.ult.
a The Commercial Accounts combine to partake of
'avourable character. The Banks were still
cheerfulo, lendin„d where acceptable paper was
'ered ; but as this description of security was
11'Y scarce, they ware not likely to expand their
a 148 materially for some time to coma. Those,
1,-ttYs the Miv York Journal of Commerce, who ex-
a`'et that confidence and credit can be reestablished,
tticept upon entirely new fenndations, will find
ueltsalves mistak na, but there need be no further
I'ere pressure in the progress toward that con su-
q station. Foreign Exchange closed steadily on Satur-
-10/IY, 21st, at 105 to 107 for commercial signatures ;
• ti; Ei,to 108,a for Bankers, and 109 to 110 for short-
jut on London. The New York Stock Market,
irp,' the 21st, was more animated, and closed with an
Previous
in prices upon the quotations on the
~ 'FiLevions day.. The Cotton Market was heavy, with
13.'''"111 sale - at 123 and a fraction under for
, 4 Ici. citing uplands. The Flour Market was rather
1 I,llye and prices had advanced from Sc to 10c per
,:oref.
I,eour despatches from Washington announce the
4Ption, by the 'United States' Government, of
tenor Yrisarri, as Minister fiiont Nicaragua, and the
f tigeciation of a convention which will set at rest
lio
ale transit dispute. The transit is to be free to
` nations, and the United States is to keep the
tinter open by force of arms if necessary. Some
iai . .
ng formalities remain to be observed before
h Teße important matters attain their full effect, but
,
' 8. day or two the Minister would have entered
open his functions, and the treaty have been duly
Oiled and despatched to Nicaragua in charge of
special envoy.
h The telegraph reports a collision of the steam-
t'llta Opelousas and Galveston somewhere between
tiQt'arick Bay and Galveston. Some twenty-five of
tle Passengers of the Opelousas were drowned,
''°llg them General Hamilton, of South Carolina.
11a• correspondent at Philadelphia says :—The
17,ticling Railroad Company have not assigned, but
aile left for record a mortgage to Mr. Galen, pre-
I "It; Mr. Norris, and Mr. Charles S. Baker, for
400
,000 dollars, to secure bonds to be issued for
tti,,yts• And it is provided in the mortgage that on
t,,' ton-payment of the bonds, interest, &e., the
Tii`!ltees may take entire possession of the road.
aa Is amounts to an assignment at some future
I,,Learlier or later.
4, The War Department had received important
B, patches from the army for Utah, including
'Ohara Young's declaration of martial law in the
, th'tritory, a letter from Young to the commander of
kit advance of the United States troops, Colonel
aZander's reply, and a letter from Colonel
ha listen relative to the position of affairs. Brig-
en Young expressly forbids the troops from
tjo7hg Utah. The language of the proclama-
a4 18 emphatically hostile to the Unted States,
of • must be regarded as an unqualified declaration
War.
tiA. correspondent at Nassau, N.P., writing on the
butt— says :—The barque Irma, from St. Thomas