Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1837-09-13


thirty nine and half mill ions of dollars in
1886, whilst in the preceding year the sales
amounted TO only four and a halfmlllions; the
creation Of debts, to an almost countless
amount, for real estate in existing or antici-
patcd cities and villages, equally unproductivc,
and at prices now seen to lave been greatly
| disproportonate to their real value; the
expenditure ofimrlcnse sums in improvements
which, il many cases, have been found to be
ruinousiy inprovident thc diversion, to other
| pursuits OF much Of the labor that should
have been applied to agriculture, thereby
contributing to the expenditures oflarge sums
in the Importation of grain from European
expenditure which, amounting in 1884 to about
two hundred and fly thousand dollars, was,
IN the first two quarters Of the present year,
increased 70 more than two millions of dollars;
and, finally, without enumerating othes iniul
rious results, the rapid growth among all clas.
ses, and especially in our great commercial
towns, of luxuriop habits founded too often
on merely fancied wealth, and detrimental
alike to the industry, the. resources, and the
morals Of our people.
Al w uS ~ !ipOSS.UlG' k!J1V SuIii GLdlS Vi
things could long continue. that the prospect
of revukioa was present 10 tic minds of con-
I.slIerate men before it actually came. None,
| however, had correctly anticipated its seyeri-
tv. A concurrence OF circumstances made
quatc Of themselves 10 produce such vide
!. .spread and calanntous embarrassmen;s, tend
ed so greatly to agcravate them, that they
| cannot be overlooked in considering their
history. Among tIrse may be mentioned, as
most prominent, the great loss of capital
sustained by our commercial emporium in the
fire Of December. 1S35-a less, the effects Of
which were moderated az the time, because
postponed for a season by the great facilities
of credit then existing; the disturbing effects.
in our commercial cities, of tho transfers OF
the.pnblic. moneys required by the deposIte
law of June, 1856; and the measures adopted
bv the foreign creditors OF our merchants TO
reduce their debts, and to withdraw from the
United States a large portion Of OR specie
However unwilling any of onr citizens may
! heretofore have been to assign 10 these causes
the chief instrumentaluy IN producing the
present state of things, the Developments
subsequently made, and the actual condition
of other commercial countries, must, as 1t
seems to me, dispel all remaining doubts upon
the subject. Ithas since appeared that evils,
similar to those suffered by ourselves, have
been experienced in Great Britain, on the
continent, and, indeed, throughout the com
mercial world; and that, in other countries,
as well as in our own, they have been uni
! fo1mly preceded by ali undue enlargement OF
the boundaries of trade, prompted, as with US,
by unprecedented expansions Of the systems
of credit A reference to the amount oil
banking capital and the issues Of paper cred
It's put in circulationin Great Britain, by banks,
and in other ways, during the years 1884,
) 1885, and 1856, viii show an augmentation Of
the paper currency there; as much dlspropor-
toned to the real wants of trade as in the U.
States. With this redundancy Of the paper
currency, there arose in that country also
spirit of adventurous speculation, embracing
the whole range Of human cnterprzc. Ard
was profusely given to proiectedimprovements;
| large investments were made in foreign stocks
and loans; credits for goods were granted
with unbounded liberality to merchants. ID for
eign countries: and all the means OF acquiring
and employing credit were put in active op-
Grafton, and extended III their effects 10 every
department of business, and to every quarter
of the globe The reaction was proportloned
in is violence TO tie extraordinary character
! of the events which preceded 1t. The COM
mercia community Of Great Britain were
subjected to the greatest difficulties. and their
debtors in this country were not only sudden
! VI deprived of accustomed and expected cred
| its. but called upon for payments winch, IN the
actual posture of things here, could only DC
made through general pressure, and at the
most riinous sacrifices.
In view of these facts, it would seem I'M
possible for sincere inqaIrers after truth to re-
sist the conviction, that the causes OF the
reyulsion in both countries have been substan.
! tiaDv the same. Two nations, the most com
mercial in the world, enjoying but recently the
h,chcst degree of apparent prosperity, and
maintaining with each other the closest reia.
tions, are suddenly, III time OF profound
peace, andwithout any great national disaster
arrested in their career and plunged INTO a
state of embarrassment and distress. In both
countries we have witnessed the same redun-
dancv of paper money, and other facilities O.
credit: the same spirit of speculation the
same partial successes; the same difficulties
and rcverses, and, at length, nearly the same
overwhelming catastrophe. The-most mate
rial difference between the results 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, occasi ioned by the suspension
specie payments by the banks.
The history of these causes and effects, ii
Great Britain and the United States is sub
stantially the history Of the rcvulsion IN al
other commercial countries.
The present and visible effects of these clr'
cumstances on the operations of the Govern
Inent, and on the industry of the people, p,oin'
out the objects which call for your immediate
tat'enticn.
I They arc-to regulate BY law the safekeep'
ing, transfer, and disbursement: OF the pnohe
moneys: to designate the funds to be received
and paid by the Government; to ena6le 1le
,--np,nfir demand