Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-09-23
'rne consequences of this redundancy offered.

gendeTed by 1t, were foreign deb. contracted
by our citizeps, estimated in March last, a
more than thirty millions of dollars; the exten
sion to traders in the interior of our country O
credits for supplies, greatly beyond the wants
of the people; the investment OF thlriy-nine ano
half millions of dollars in unproductiye pub
lie lands. in the year 1925 and 1886, whilst in
the preceding year the sales amounted TO only
four and hall millions; the creation Of debts
| to an alnos, countless amount, for real estate
in existing or anticipated cities and villages,
equally unproduc,ive, and at prices now seen
i to have been greatly dtsPT0P0Ttfonatc to Thefl
/ real value: the expenditure Of immense sums
| in improvements which, in many cases, have
been found 10 be ruiDously improvident; the
diversion to other pursuits of much Of the labor
that should have been applied TO agriculture,
thereby contributing to the expenditure oflarge
Sums IN the importation of grain from Europe
an expenditure which, amounting in 1884 TO
about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
was. in the two first quarters Of the present
wear. increased to more than Two millions Of
dollars; and, finally, without enumerating 9TH
or injurious results, the rapid growth among
all classes, and especially in orr great CON-
mercial towns, Of luxurious habits, founded
too often on merely fancied wealth, and detri-
mental alike to The industry, thcresources, and
the morals Of our people.
Il was SO impossible that such state of
things could long continue, that the prospect
Of reyulsion was present TO the minds Of con-
sidsfa,e men before it actually came. None,
however, had correctly anticipated its severi-
ty. A concurrence Of circumstances inadequate
of themselves to produce such widespread ind
calamitous embdrrassments, tended 80 greatly
to aggrava.s them, that they cannot he over.
looked In considering their history. Amono
these may be mentioned, as most prominent
the great loss Of capital sustained by our com.
mercial emporium in the fire of DECEMBER.
1885 "a loss, The effects of which were under.
rated at tba time, because postponed for sea.
son ~ the great facilities Of credit then exist
ing; the disturbing effects, in our commercial
cities, ofthe transfers of the public money re.
quired by the deposit law of June 1896; and
the measures adopted by the foreign creditors
Of our merchants to reduce their debts, and to
withdraw from the United States a large por-
ton Of our specie.
However unwilling any of our citizens may
heretofore have been to assign to these causes
the chief instrumentality in producing the pre-.
sent state Of things, the Developments subse-
qucntly made, and the actual condition of 9TH
er commercial countries, must, as il seems to
me, dispel all remaining doubts On the subject.
1t has since appeared that evils, similar to
those suffered by ourselves. have been expert
encedb by Great Britain, on the continent, and
indeed, throughout the commercial world; and
that, In other countries, as well as in our own,
they have been uniformly preceded by an un-
due enlargement of the boundaries Of trade,
prompted as 18th us, by unprecedented expan-
sions Of the systems Of credit. Adherence to
The amount Of banking capital, and the issues
Of paper credits put in circulation in Great Bri-
AIN, by banks, and in other ways, during the
years 1884, 1885, and 1896, will show an
augmentation of the currency there, as much
to the real want of trade as in
he United States. With thisredundancy ofthe
paper currency, there arose in that country al
30 spirit OF adventurous speculation, embra-
cling the whole range ofhuman enterprise. Aid
was profusely givento projected improvements;
large investments were made in foreign stocks
and loans; credits for goods were granted with
unoounded ilberality to merchants in foreign
countries; and all the means of acquiring and
employing credit were put in active operation,
and extended in their effects to eyery depart.
ment of business, and to every Quarter of the
giooe. The reaction was proportioned in its
violence 70 the extraordinary character Of the
events which preceded it. The commercial
community Of Great Britain were subjected to
the greatest difficulties, and their debtors in
THIS country were not only deprived Of accus-
toned and expected credits, but called upon for
payments, which, in the actual posture of
Things here could only be made through ge-
neral pressure, and at the most ruinous sacri-
fees.
IN view OF these facts, it would seem impos-
slole tor sincere inquirers after truth 10 resist
the conviction, that the causes of the revulsion
IN both countries have been substantially the
same. !wo nations, the most commercial in
Tue Worlo' enjoying but recently the highest
ueg1ee OF apparent prosperity, and maintaining
win each other the closest relations, are sud-
den'y' IN time of profound peace, and with
out any great national disaster, arrested in their
career, ana plunged into state of embarrass-
ment ana distress. In both countries we have
Witnessed the same redundancy of paper mo-
ney and other facilities of credit; the same spi-
rit OF speculation; the same partial successes;
the same difficulties and reverses, and at length
nearly the same overwhelming catastrophe.
The most material difference between the re.
suits In the two countries has only been that
with us; there has also occurred an extensive
arrangement in the fiscal affairs of the federal
and state governments. occasioned by the sus
pension OF specie payments by the banks.
The history of these causes and effects, ir
Great Britain and the United States, is sub
the history of the revolution in al
,ther countries.
The present and visible effects of these cir
on the operations Of the govern
nent and on the industry Of the people. point
,ut the objects which call for your immediate
lttention. i5fI
They are.--to regulate by law the safe-keep.
ng, transfer, and disbursement Of the public
aaneus; 70 designate the funds to be receiyed