Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1835-06-30


nary height gentleman under date OF the 2Sth ult.,
writes me from Philadelphia, that rail roads and canals
are the order Of the day thcrchat the papers scarcely
find room for politics. lie says, two subscriptions
have been opened for canals since here. The
whole stock for the first taken in thirty minutes
In the second the whole stock taken by the
missioners before the doors opened A rush and
disappointment followed Millions could have been la
KEN, &c All this arises from restored credit: from
throwing suddenly the boarded portions OF money into
crculaton-irom increased velocity oil circulation
from issue of banks, &C. all of which have contributed
spirit of speculation wild and reckless When | saw
certain politicians congraulating the patton upon fresh
arrivals OF gold and silver short time since could
not but reflect upon the shallow knowledge Of political
economy which such congratulations proved. The in
aux OF gold and silver the ccaes proof that could
be furnished, of the general distress OF the country;
OF the loss of confidence and credit and of the stagna
ton Of trade and the circulation The importation of The
precious metals could only be effected by parting with
l..Fge portion OF our wealth. aad sound
ency and healthy circulation could be restored this new
~ acquired portion 20 be entirely redundant and
cv'n seheVous mt operation, by raising in the
| nunty spcculang mania.
Hhat 8 70 eheck tbs prizes and spirit IF speoaas;oe
| VIII now examine into the manner in which this
se IN prices Is ultimately 10 be checked and the spirit
or speculation 10 BE- cured. And here lei observe
hat as there certain point of depression below which
prices viii moi go, consequence of the igF.r of pre
cous metals which this lowness Of prices viii ccrtainv
produce likewise. there is certain point in the ele
vauon OF Prices beyond which they cannot well go be-
cause oil the e9iur of the precious metals. 1t is this
einN which finally checks the Specializing mania I
VIII explain; A rise in prices when very great makes
our country good market To sell az. but bad
20 sen r0m hence our imports will greatly overbalancc
our exports and money Lalancc will he created aniat
me nation which must be paid in money This produces
me expectation OF money until the redundancy is Sc Off
then prices fall and overtakes the most adventurous
in The goncotspcc uaton-thcy others nr;ces
sink from loss of confidence and crcd, md
agnaiion in circulation below their average level TO be
brought up agan by the operation OF causes already
pointed out Whenever the pendulum Of price Of
may use the cxpcssion has, either by the operation of
the natural course Of events, by the unwse and un
skiliui tampering OF government been thrown far into
one extreme OF the arc, it WILL in its effort regain its
natural position go almost far into the opposite ex
irene ana Tie vibrations viii frequently last through
u long period of time
DO these fluctuations depend entirely upon he ahse
Some suppose these fluctuations depend entirely upon
.he operation of the banking system. This however is
notlhe TACT Banbs may do great deal, but by no
means omnpoent IN the regulation OF a currency. For
example When loss of confidence stagnalion OF crcu
lnton and fall Of prices. deange the whole credit svs
TEN, Banks affected like individuals they are obliSed
TO cnral ihcir operations and check the farther emission
OF paper lest run upon them may break them. They
may not under these circumstances, have the ability to
relieve the distress, however strong the inclination; the
relief must come through the wasting process of Juadns
metals from abroad. Again: When prices begin to
mount upwards banks by seiznr upon the favorable mn
men may enlarge their issues and thus swell still far
Their the already bloaIed of the currency But they
cannot prevent If they be specie paying banks the cor
rccton OF the evil by cxpornticn of the metals for so
soon as these are redundant they will be gathered up
Tor foreign market; necessary win iife.f take
place on the banks, for the purpose of making the
-oiectloi and these banks must either suspend spe-
Gle payment, curta theF issues, or break On The
first snpposon, the evil would have To- correct i,
sell by rise in exchange against us with oreGn conn
tries, TO the amount of the depreciation caused in the
currency by suspension of specie payment lin the
second case prices would be lowered by contraction of
the currency from curtailnient la the third by con-
tracuon from Inc Withdrawal OF all paper which had
enanated from the broken Banks and loss Of conf.
dencc IN the whole banking SYSTEM which would by
e runs mace upon them, force all TO curta break
and thus may always confidently look forward sooner
or later om causes, whose operation have pointed cut
for either in prices when they are very low or (a
lrl l,pna nrica ~.
urbed it is long time before the equilibrium is again
restored
Effect IF foreigA demand for some of our ogyicuur0i
products, on present prices
So far have been arguing if the present state of
things were the result solely of that reaction which must
sooner or later take place after great depression and star
nation of trade. But the rise in prices NAV be rapdIv
accelerated by an extraordinary foreign demand for some
OF great staples. Most undoubtedly the rise in lie
price Of cotton has this very great agency in
the high prices, and rage for speculation nanesIing
themselves every where The price of cotton in this
country Is regulated by the prices abroad because the
foreign market taking about iour-iiths of the whole
product OF the United States il is evident that tie value
OF the article must be determined by the foreign and not
by the home demand. What is the cause Of the i'm
mense rise which has taken place in the price of cotton
within few months, am unable to sny / am not at
this moment in condition TO GET at the statistical
information, required for the investigation of this
subject, and my mind not Icing particularly direct
ed to IT. until within day or two past. have moi
iotlced from time TO time in the papers such at
clcs as might perhaps have given NE clue to the
explanation OF this interesting phenomenon. What
ever may NC thc cause, however, whether a gene
q dehc IN Tie cotton crops all over the world in the
United States particularly; TO the rapidly ncreasin
demand Tor cotton fabrics all the world or TO sn
rlt OF speculation M Engand the gradual reduction
OF the tariff; or To all these combncd certain is
that the price OF tins most important agric staple
is 4 height which well indemuifes the nlan,or
for his labor and WILL iii could continue dausc wealth
and prosperity the whole ofour Southern country
Let us now examine into the influence cxered by this
rapid rise III the price Of cotton And in the first place
IT IS manifest that the rise III the price of must
have had important influence on the FOREIGN ex.
changes. This article alone, constituting very large
proportion Of the whole Of exporssay thirds
rise ~ It's price has therefore tended swell the valuc
oil our exports, and II course, to make money flow more
rapidly into the countTy-throu the agency Of avo-
rabic balance Of trade From this cause then tho lae
riency may iiavo lasted shorter time than il
would under other circumstances.
Influence IF tie price Of coo4 on tho raIuc of sleres
AGAIN; the rise IN the price Of cotton has most un.
doubleday given an impulse to the price of slaves Cot
ton is Che great agricultural pie throughout almost the
whole OF our Southern slave holding States and conse.
q1eny, the marketable value of slaves il eyer lie do
labor~ In Virginia and Maryland the price of slaves will
always depend upon the external demand and net on
their intrinsic value in those two States
1.-THE price depended the rca demand arsin among
themselves, doubt whether those States could atfos1
raise them even fL = would be their marketable
value.
Bot there is anot,c which believe al nj, mn.
Wtn is operating ~ raising the price Of slaves and Will
exert stll n1UTe powerful influence in future mean
the late cnancpGt'0R W the SaroS in tie Bish H. Indies
That act certainly ndeicnsble upon every around Of
cxpcdiency, morality, and religion But lis i,npoiev
appears most glazing when considered in politico.eco
nonicel light Now, VIII tever may be said about the re-
avc efficacy and value of free and slave labor hcrc is
40 question but that free labor produced BY sudden
emancipation OF slaves IS the most worthless and inci-