The Sun.
London, England, 1839-11-08 00:00:00

The Magistrates have just received a communication
from the Marquis of Normanby, Home Secretary ; and
the Magistrates and officers will meet immediately to
deliberate upon it.

lowed. The Rhode Island banks had stopped,
stated, however, to be temporary, and waiting to see,
how the New York banks "go on." The banks of
Virginia also, or at least a large proportion. Those of
Baltimore and Maryland. The banks of Washing-
ton city and district, with one exception. The banks
of New Jersey intimated their intention to continue
paying out specie for ordinary lifisiness so long as
they were supported by the people. The banks both
of North and South Carolina had suspended, and ge-
nerally, it is stated, that the example would be fol-
lowed by all the Banks of the south and south-west,
from which the interval of time which must elapse pre-
vented information from being received in time for the
packet. The New Orleans banks, it was believed, were
quite strong enough to weather the storm, and from
their vicinity to Mexico, possessed facilities for procur-
ing specie to such extent as might be needful, whilst the
new cotton crop was coming forward, and would afford
ample means of exchange on Europe to be drawn against.
As these banks, with those of New York, enjoy a com-
manding position in the union, their stability may do
much to prevent the further spread of the mischief.
The Bank of Middleburg, 111 Vermont, and the Wil-
loughby Bank at Brooklyn, had announced the intention
of winding up their affairs.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

(THURSDAY EVENING.)
TIMES.—The failure of the United States Bank
on the 10th ult., which was announced this morning
in the accounts from New York brought by the Liver-
pool, has surprised no one who has attended to the
facts stated and the warnings given respecting it tinder
this head during the last two years. This has been,
however, it is to be feared, a very limited circle, for the
temptation of very high interest on the shares of this
Bank, which ought in itself to have excited suspicion,
has blinded the multitude to their danger, and the
mischief and ruin therefore which are about to ensue
must take a very wide range indeed.
If the subject had been as well understood by the
public as it is by the small circle referred to, the
failure of this bank would have been received as an
event equally certain with that of the rising_ of the
sun on the morrow. Its history End its conduct for
the last five years have been before the public, and
there was only one sound conclusion to be drawn
from them. 'We saw this Bank, under its old charter
from Congress, suddenly and rashly increasing its
issues to an unprecedented extent, setting an example
of overtrading which wns eageriy followed by the State
Banks, and produced that expansion of credit which
was the exciting cause of the inflated speculations of
1836. Its next step was. as a cover to its embarrass-
ments, issuing post.notes, payable twelve months after
date, to the New York merchants, under the pretext of
giving them relief, and taking in exchange for them a
portion in money and a portion in short bills. Next to
this was the suspension of specie payments, under the
general stoppage which took place of the whole of the
banks of the Union, when, if really entitled to the dis-
tinction claimed of being the first bank in the country,
it should have stood alone in the example of a conti-
nuance of such payments. To this succeeded the
speculations in cotton, also covered by the hypo-
critical pretence of assisting trade, and trumpeted
forth at the same time as an additional means of profit
and credit to the Bank itself, and which actually
led at the time, under that impression, to a con-
siderable rise in the value of its shares. After thie

The effect of the disastrous intelligence brought by
the Liverpool steamer has not acted so extensively upon
the state of the English Stock-market as was anticipated
by many. It may, indeed, he observed generally, that
accounts of the Stock and Money markets of New York,
however favourable or the reverse they may be, produce
little effect on .the Stock Exchange here, where Ame-
rican Securities are little, if at all, dealt in. Consols,
however, were aff,xted to the extent of s per cent.,
leaving off at 89i to 90 for Money, and 90i sellers for
Account. Bank Stock was 179 to 180: India Stock,
250 to 251. Exchequer Bills, 12s. to 10s. discount.
A suspicion existed among the dealers tbat certain Atlas
of Consols during the day were for account of the Bank.

POST.—The suspension of specie payments by the
United States Bank at Philadelphia is an event that
cannot but be regarded as a very great calamity to a
large portion of the American community, especially as
it is one which must, in all probability, lead to a ge-
neral prostration of the Banks at New York, and, in
fact, throughout the whole of the Union. The fall of
this eminent establishment must also most seriously
affect British interests, The shares are extensively

the empty boast was put forth that the United
States Bank would be the first, after the stoppage, to
resume specie payments, instead of which every pos-
sible excuse was resorted to to justify May, and, not
contented with this, active measures were taken to
prevent the other banks, who were perfectly prepared
for it, from resuming. Even then Mr. Biddle, though
compelled to the resumption by the very shame of it,
put forth from time to time through his organs the no-
tion that the resumption had been much too early,
and would be productive of future mischief. Then we
saw Mr. Biddle—another cause of suspicion, not un-
noticed at the time—politically withdrawing from the
management of a concern, the fate of which, with the
knowledge of its affairs which he possessed, could not
have been in his mind for an instant doubtful. Never-
theless, and this is adduced as a proof of the absolute
dishonesty with which the affairs of the Bank were
conducted, the letter announcing his resignation con-
tained the following passage, the knavery of which,
knowing what we now know, is certainly not to be sur-

held by the capitalists of this country, and, where it
becomes necessary to realise at the current market
value, the sacrifice must of course be great. Letters
have been received by the holders of these funds
from the Bank itself, in which its solvency is alluded
to as beyond all suspicion, and the sale of them is
accordingly deprecated in the strongest possible terms ;
yet there is no doubt that, as some uncertainty is felt,
with regard to the payment of the half-year's dividend
becoming due the Ist of January next, many timid per-
sons will turn a deaf ear to the precaution. We have
only to observe that the advice tendered by the Bank
upon this point is supported by the earnest recommen-
dations to a like effect of mine of the most intelligent
merchants writing from Philadelphia and New York at
the moment of the steamer's departure. The stoppage
of the rest of the banks in Philadelphia, the Baltimore,
Virginia (Columbia), Carolina, Georgia, and other
banks, had already taken place, and that their example
would presently be followed by those of New York
was nearly certain. Tile disorganization of the
banking system of the United States seems, indeed,
to be once more all but complete. As a purely
national affair, we cannot say that we think this,
the second failure of General Jackson's metallic
currency project, for such it must, to all intents and
purposes, be considered, ought to be regarded in Eng-
land with feelings of regret, but quite the contrary.
Of the efforts made by Mr. Biddle to prop up the price
of cotton and other American produce in Europe, by
the extensive advance he made to the planters and ship-
pers, we never approved, or could approve. His inter-
ference with the markets has done incalculable mischief
on both sides of the Atlantic ; but the great contest was
between the Bank of England and the United States
Government, backed up as it has been by the lower
orders in America ; and, that the former should again
have triumphed now, as was the case in the first in-
stance, is a result that we sincerely rejoice in. The
repeated disgraces brought upon America through
the egregious folly and the equally egregious obsti-
nacy of the Government, have not failed to call
forth the most unqualified expressions of indignation
from many of her most respectable citizens resi-
dent in London. Such expressions are but na-
tural, and most richly are they deserved. Had the ad-
vice given by Mr. Biddle to the rest of the banks, with
respect to the period when a simultaneous resumption of
specie payments, subsequent to the last general suspen-
sion, should take place been attended to, the break up
which has again occurred might have been avoided. It
is now apparent to every one that the measure should
have been delayed at least a twelvemonth longer, or, in
fact, until the administration should have abandoned its
impracticable theory of a metallic currency. In 1837,
just after the resumption ;vas ventured upon, the corn
crops of America totally failed, and no less than
3,921,259 bushels of wheat had to be imported into
New York alone, so that there has been the same evil to
contend with in this respect as in England. There was
a heavy drain on the national resources to pay for
bread stuffs. Should the New York banks not
suspend before the meeting of the Legislature in
December, it is conjectured that half the merchants
in that city must inevitably give up, owing to the di-
minished accommodation that would, under such cir-
cumstances, be afforded them. It is also considered
that the stock or shares of these banks must undergo a
serious depreciation, inasmuch as thsy will be left with
no other assets than the acceptances of bankrupt mer-
chants to represent their capital. In adverting to the
causes which have led to the embarrassments of the
great Philadelphia institution, we find it remarked in a
New York paper that, " largely involved as the bank
was in the Southern States, holding there an immense
amount of debts—in the ordinary course of things the
most secure—it has converted, as the better alternative,
individual debts into State debts, calculating on the
facility with which the latter were sold in Europe ;
but in this it has been disappointed by the unfortunate
consequences of the failure of the crops of grain in
the north of Europe." This is, no doubt, the true
state of the case. The bank has lying here State
stocks to the amount of 15,000,000 dollars, and the
intention was, as we plainly see, to saddle them
upon the British public. How can we wonder, while
such wholesale absorption of our capital is permitted,
the circulation gets into a state of almost inextricable
derangement? The security may, in many instances,
be good as long as peace is maintained between the
two communities ; but our treasure has been taken
from us in quantities, the abstraction of which cannot
but have done much to bring our monetary affairs into
the condition in which we find them at the present
moment. We may add, that as all the post bills of
the United States Bank would be due by the end of
October, the greatest importance was attached to the
issue of Mr. Jaudon's struggle to overcome the diffi-
culties of that period.

passed :
" I have waited anxiously for the most appropriate
moment at which I could be best spared ; but hitherto,
whenever I have sought the retirement I so needed,
some difficulty, in which my service was deemed use-
ful, always interposed to deter me. None such exists
now. All the political dissensions connected with the
bank for the last ten years have ceased ; all its extraor-
dinary efforts for the protection of our national interests
are happily ended ; and the Bank has returned to its
accustomed channels of business in peace. I can there-
fore withdraw at length without inconvenience, and I do
it the more readily because I leave the affairs of the in-
stitution in a state of great prosperity, and in the hands
of able Directors and officers."

Encouraged by this, and the gullibility of the public
on this side of the Atlantic, the game of borrowing; and of
" raising the wind" in every form and shape went on
with greater spirit than ever. Post-notes and bonds
were scattered all over England and the Continent, until
the Money Market of every capital in Europe was
full to saturation. No account of the affairs of the
Bank, during all this time, (another cause of distrust),
was ever published, when it was apparent, too, in ithout
any account, that the available means of the Bank were
gradually diminishing, though it had chests full of the
shares of other Banks, and State Stocks, and Joint-
Stock Companies, with all descriptions of worthless
securities.

The following warning, which appears in a New
York Paper, published some days previous to the
failure, is very remarkable, and it gives besides a good
summary of the career of the United States Bank :

(From the New York New Era.)
" GREAT REGULATOR—NEW MODE OF
REGULATING THE CURRENCY.
" A great financier bribes the people's representatives
to obtain a bank charter, and drains the country to
concentrate a banking capital of 35,000,000 dols., which
makes money very scarce. To aid commercial mcn, the
regulator sells them its bonds, having, from notes due in
from 30 to 90 days, trebly secured and paid at matu-
rity, sends the cash received from the bonds to Lon-
don, to form a capital there. When the business notes
are paid, draws that amount of specie from other banks
to form a specie basis at. home. Thus the preliminaries
are consummated.

Enters into the cotton-market, buys up the cotton
crop, pays for it in post-notes payah!e in one year.
Draws against the cotton in Liverpool to pay their bonds
as they mature. Cotton declines, cannot sell without
loss. Cover their cotton bills by buying canal and rail-
road stocks for post-notes, selling the stocks in London
for cash. Discount merchants' notes, and buys up post
notes of southern incorporations, paying out-notes of a
defunct institution.

" Heavy importation of foreign goods exchange in
demand, regulator' sells bill on London to any amount
for cash, so long as fancy stocks will sell in London, in
order to keep down the rates of exchange.
" Post notes for cotton coming due ; regulator's'
bills drawn on London in had repute ; stocks won't
sell ; no exchange to be had except the ' regulator's'
kiting bills ; a desperate effort necessary. The great
financier resigns ; leaves the institution in a prosperous
condition. Goes to London for the benefit of his health.

" Regulator' sells post-notes for cash in Wall-street ;
becomes a creditor bank by this means ; draws upon all
the banks for specie ; ships the specie to London to
revive confidence' in its kiting bills ; sells more bills
and post-notes for cash at I per cent, a month dis-
count ; draws the specie from other banks again ; small
banks frightened ; dare not discount, because the money
would be used to buy exchange from the regulator ;'
and the regulator' would draw the specie again ;
money very scarce ; regulator's' post-notes flood the
streets ; merchants must get shaved to meet their pay-
ments ; cannot sell their business paper, because the
regulator's' post-notes are preferred ; the regulator'
discounts merchants' paper having 30 to 60 days to run,
as an especial favour, giving them post-notes due in six
or nine months as cash ; small banks find it more pro-
fitable to supply brokers with money to buy post-
notes with, at 1 per cent. a month discount, than
to discount business paper. Merchants sell 're-
gulator's' post-notes to brokers ; pay their notes
due in • the banks ; banks hand their money back
to brokers to buy more post-notes, and so on. Money
awfully tight ; small banks about to issue post-notes too.
" Great Western arrives ; merchants poring over the
news to see if the Bank of England has got any more
gold ; if the corn crop in England is geod ; if the Char-
tists are frightened ; if any particular kind of stock
will sell ; or it John Bull will be gulled a little longer
by the promises of some new way of settling balances.
" Merchants ! merchants ! ! How long will ye lick

We shall see if the Washington authorities are pre-
pared to carry their " experiment" any further, or whe-
ther commerce is at length to be afforded an opportunity
of righting itself.
Specie was selling at a premium of 15 per cent. at
Philadelphia on the 18th ult. The exchange on New
York was at the same rate. On London 20 to 25 per
cent. was the nominal quotation, but even on these
terms not a bill was offering. Flour was shipping freely
for England.
The Liverpool Steamer from Ncw York is under-
stood to have brought specie, chiefly in sovereigns, to
the amount of 400,000 dollars. They were shipped
for the most part by the firm of King. Prime, and
Ward. Some further quantities are coming forward
by the next two packet-ships. Messrs. Morrison. Cry.
der, and Co. have charge of most of the present con-
signment.

the file that draws your very life-blood from ye ?"
It is a great misfortune obviously, both to England
and to America, that this event has been solongde-

HERALD.—The unfavourable accounts which have
been received from the United States by the Liverpool
steamer have created a very great degree of anxiety
amongst all parties connected with the commerce of
the feeral union. At present it would be difficult to
predict with accuracy what eventually may be the re-
sult and action of the suspension of the specie payments
by the United States Bank, and those banks imme-
diately dependent upon its support, on the commerce
of this country. That it will be far from favourable
may well be imagined ; but it is to be hoped that this
decided evidence of the rottenness of the banking sys-
tem of the United States will prove to be a sound
lesson to our commercial and monetary interests ;
.whilst we trust that the passion for laying up capital in
United States state loans will soon be abjured by all
who lately have deserted the commerce of their own
country for investments in such speculative securities.
For a long period the commerce of this country with
the United States must remain in a deranged and un-
certain position, in fact, until the currency system of the
United States is wholly reformed. Trading to the
American Unions will prove but a venture, as in the
late instances, which the commercial transactions with
`` the
g l ori
has b
o u s republic"oen tricd haveono proved. In fact the expe-
rimente ,
twice, and thrice ; and,
after some hard rubs, our capitalists will probably now
disco
foundedverthata spuriousupona spurious and feeble metallic
banking and state paper cur-
rency,currency, must essentially possess the elements of mis- 1
chief to a new country, and, at the same time, be a
curse to the old country, from whence the money job-
bers of its offset may expect relief by the exports of
natural products, bolstered up in the import market
here, as well as in the original export market, by spu-
rious paper on the one side of the Atlantic, and paper
equally spurious on this side of the Atlantic.
Very speculative opinions have been advanced to-day,
respecting the position in which these untoward affairs
will probably place the agency of the United States
Bank. That it will stop the late negotiations for the
19 1,T1.: or !0100,/,410 11,1•:V :r, AI, ,tf.,(l'.):; :: !;,--I ti." ccr-
tali; ; but there is au impression with many respectable
parties that it is but due to the many creditors of the

layed. What with the ignorance and credulity of its
victims, both here and in the United States, its liabili-
ties have probably doubled since the time when it ought
to have been bankrupt, and the mischief is in proportion
extended.

All that remains for the English creditor to consider

is what is likely to be saved from the wreck, and they
will do wisely not to form in this respect any sanguine
expectations. Our feeling and that of many of the
merchants in the city with whom we have conversed on
the subject, has been, that any impediment, such as
that which occurred in Paris, to further supplies from
Europe, would be the signal for the stoppage of the
Bank, and looking to the complication of its
affairs, the number of its branches, " corresponding"
Banks, and other close connexions, together with the
preference of payment, which is always obtained,
where any assets exist, by the native over the foreign
creditor, nol% to say anything of the fraud and rob-
bery to which such a scene of confusion must lead,
we fear that for England the dividend left will be very
small indeed.
The attempt on the other side to cloak the failure by
calling it a mere suspension of specie payments, and
drawing in the other Philadelphia banks to take the
same course, is another specimen of the astounding im-
pudence which has been displayed throughout, and adds
insult to injury. The course taken was obviously pre-
concerted and determined, by the news from Paris car-
ried out by the Liverpool steam-vessel. This lead has
been followed by all the weak banks in the Union ;
but the trick is seen through in New York and other
States, and will not be imitated.
Among the late transactions of the United States
Bank will not. be forgotten at this time the contract of
a loan to the State of Pennsylvania, nor can the sus-
picion be avoided that the union of Bank and State is
much closer on this occasion than it ought to be.
Tho following list of the banks whose suspension is
announced, or immediately expected, is collected from
tll iinti ival v;
I• ; ail tiap,e tin ougn.
I out the State of Pennsylvania are stated to have fol.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER S 1839

United States Bank, that some fair explanation should
be made as soon as convenient.
The exchange at New York had fallen, and was
quoted at 84 a 9 pm. ; the shipments of specie were
small in comparison to those of the past few months.
American gold had receded to 7 per cent. pm., and
the new coinage to par a pm. Sovereigns had de-
clined to 4 dols. 85 cents a 90 cents each.
The private advices from Canada do not contain,
any more than the papers, much political information.
The Pique had not arrived out at Quebec, with Mr.
Poulett Thomson, the new Governor-General, who
was expected to proceed immediately to the Upper Pro-
vince on his arrival. It seems from the advices that the
moderate Conservative party had resolved to receive
him cordially in the first instance, and to avoid any party
demonstrations. Little is said about the commerce of

the two provinces ; it is considered to have been in a
tranquil state, and not affected by the suspension of
spec►e payments by the Bank of the United States and
its Philadelphian compeers. The banks of New York
had notified to the banks at Montreal and Quebec that

they did not purpose to suspend their specie payments,
and intimated that they might rely upon them. A short
time will, however, show how far this isolation, as it
were, of " specie paying," can be sustained by the Banks
of the City and State of New York.
Sufficient time has not elapsed for any parties to form
any opinion as to what may yet be the final result of the
unfavourable accounts from New York and Philadel-
phia on this Money Market. In a few weeks the divi-
dends of the United States Bank, and many other of
the public securities of the union, would become due ;
then, to comparatively retired capitalists who hold them,
the action will be severely felt, as for some time they
can only be viewed as a dormant, unmarketable security
here, except at a great depreciation. These accounts

have not yet bad much influence upon our commercial
Money Market ; but on the Stock Exchange money
has, in some instances, commanded ten per cent. per
annum, and with the natural desire to use Exchequer
Bills now that American securities are of not much
avail, it has caused them to fall to 12 a 10 dis., and
India Bonds to the same rate.

CHRONICLE.---By the Liverpool steamer we
have advices from New York of the 191 ult , from
Philadelphia of the same date, Montreal of the 16th,
and Quebec of the 14th ult. On the arrival of this
vessel at New York with intelligence of the dishonour
of the bills drawn by the United, States Bank upon
Messrs. Hottinguer, of Paris, and of the embarrassed
state of the London agency, a large portion of the
banks! in the United States suspended specie payments.
Beginning with the United States Bank it spread over
all the banks of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Virginia,
Wilmington, and the interior of Pennsylvania ; and it
was supposed that all the banking institutions, west
and south, would follow the same course. The Liver-
pool brings specie to the amount of 400,000 dollars, in-
cluding some gold, for the agency of the United States
Bank, and on private account. Had it not been for
the offer of Mr. Thomas Ward, agent of the Messrs.
Baring, to allow the New York Banks to draw upon
his principals to the extent of 1,000,0001, sterling, the
remittance by the Liverpool would have been much
lamer, and considerable shipments of sour were about
to °be made fee this country.
Our Philadelphia Correspondent states the amount
of specie in the vaults of the United States Banks at
4,000,000 dols. the day when it suspended specie pay-
ments, and that the other banks of the city of Philadel-
phia had 2,000,000 dols.; but that in four weeks after
the day of suspension it must have been nearly all paid
away by the . Philadelphia merchants to those of New
York, which would have drained them dry ; and it was
thought better to suspend while in that strong position
than to do so with empty coffers. Specie was at a pre-
mium of 10 to 12 per cent., and money in New York
on the very best commercial paper worth 2 to 3 per
cent. per month. Still our Correspondent states, on
the authority of the Philadelphia and Baltimore news-
papers, that the most wealthy men were offering real
estates at a valuation for United States Bank stock, or
United States Bank notes, at par, and that a Baltimore
merchant of great opulence offered 100,000 dols. of real
estate on these terms. The Banks of New York and.
Boston had determined to hold out. In the circum-
stances by which they were surrounded we do nut see
what else could be expected ; and it was reported
in the city that the steamer was telegraphed
that the New York and Boston Banks had stopped
immediately after her departure ; but for this report,
which produced some sensation, we know not that there
is any good authority. The intelligence carried out. to
New York by the Liverpool brought matters at once to
the crisis, and it was a mere question of choice whether
the banks should suspend specie payments or allow the
merchants to become bankrupts. The first alternative
has been adopted, and we think judiciously. The ex-
traordinary scarcity of money had almost put a stop to
business, and discounts were nearly at an end. Things
could not continue in that position, and recourse was had
to an extension of the circulating medium, by its depre-
ciation, which has relieved the pressure considerably, by
enabling the banks to discount freely, and thus gig e
means to the merchants to provide for their engage-
ments.

The suspension of cash payments had produced a
heavy fall upon all kinds of American stocks, the shares
of the United States Bank having gone down at once to
70 ; but when it was explained that funds had been re-
mitted to cover the whole of the drafts on Paris, the
panic subsided, and on Wednesday, the 16th October,
they had advanced to 83 in New York, and to 96 in
Philadelphia, rising and falling alternately both there
and at New York ; and on the 19th the last prices at
New York were 74i for United States Bank Shares.
Exchange on New York with Philadelphia, 15 pre-
mium ; and Exchange on London varying from 8 to
10 premium.
Immediately on the stoppage of the banks the Go-
vernor of the State of Pennsylvania issued a proclama-

tion for the enforcement of the law against all utterers
of notes of a lower denomination than five dollars, and a
circular was in consequence sent to all the banks of that
State by the law officers, directing their attention to
the subject, and intimating that proceedings would be
commenced against all banks violating the law, as de-
clared in the Act of Assembly passed the 12th day of
April, 1828, entitled " An Act concerning Small Notes
for the payment of Money."
We take the following paragraphs from the procla-
mation in question :
" It is proper that I should state that in directing this
proceeding, I do not intend or believe that it will operate
to shake the confidence of the public in the ultimate
ability of most, if not all, of the banks of this common-
wealth to meet all their obligations, and to redeem
their faith plighted to the community ; nor do I think
it will throw any obstacles in the way of their doing so ;
on the contrary, I firmly believe the exclusion of all
small notes from circulation will tend more directly
than any other measure that can now be devised, to
protect the public from frauds and impositions, and to
enable the banks to fulfil their respective engagements.
" The circumstances by which we are surrounded will
doubtless lead to the cultivation of a spirit of mutual
forbearance and moderation on all sides, as the course
best adapted to restore a sound and healthy condition of
affairs. Every attempt to aggravate existing embarrass
ment unnecessarily, should be discountenanced by all
cool and reflecting citizens.
" There is beyond question abundance of specie in
the country to fill all the channels of domestic circula-
tion, without distressing its private holders or the hanks ;
and as the suspension of specie payments by these in-
stitutions cuts off a great portion of the foreign drain
upon it, it must readily find its way into the hands of the
people."
This limitation of paper money to notes of not less
than five dollars. and a vigorous enforcement of the law
to that effect, would be valuable, but we doubt whether
its spirit can be carried into practice at present, and
observe that the Philadelphia papers already complain
of it, but console themselves by remarking that the
difficulty had been removed, in part, by an importation
of " small notes from Delaware and New Jersey.'
The causes which have led to this suspension of specie
payments by the American banks are now so well un-
derstood, and the result was so generally looked for,
that it is perhaps, unnecessary to recapitulate them.
We find the subject, however, so well han-
dled in the Pcnsglvaieia Inquirer of the 15th
October that we cannot refrain from giving the fol-
lowing condensed account from its pages. Indepen-
dently of over-trading, over-banking, and over-specu-
lating, the writer of the subjoined extracts from that
paperjustly refers to the premature resumption of cash
payments in August, 1838, as one of the causes which
have led to the present embarrassments in the monetary
system of the United States. He goes back to the peace
of 1815, which found that country with a debt of
120,000,000 dollars. The first day of the year 1835
again exhibited them free from debt, which was the oc-
casion of a national jubilee. Then began their misfor-
tunes. The revenue continued to accumulate beyond
the wants of the Government. Prom sales of the public
domains it had increased from 6,099,981 to 23,283,192
dollars ; and the amount of foreign imports from
126,521,332 to 189,980'035 dollars. Thus from 1836
to 1838 they had a surplus of forty millions of dollars ;
and that surplus Congress, with the sanction of the Ex-
ecutive, directed to be distributed among the various
States.
" But," observes the writer to whom we have referred,
" it was not these difficulties alone which had befallen
the country, and against which the banks had to can.
tend. The impulse which had been given to enterprise,
and which had produced a spirit of improvident specu-
lation, had led to an excess of foreign imports beyond
our exports, in the year 1835, of 21,202,165 dollars,
and in 1836 of 61,316,995 dollars, making an aggregate
of excess of imports over the exports in two years of
89,519,160 dollars. This created a direct demand on
the metallic medium of the country, and a draft on the
vaults 'of the banks.

it We now pass over the interregnum between the
suspension and resumption of specie payments, which
toi,k , iii August 1838. That period,
it is well known, most of the banks in Philadelphia
believed at the time to be too early to undertake a suc-