Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1837-05-05
VERMONT PHGNIx.
Friday Morning, May 8, 1891.

ana 0ll-abSOrDlng Topic OF CouNeIchllou vi
every hand The papers from the cities are
filled with accounts OF mercantile failures,
and discussions upon the causes and RENE
DIV the present scarcity of money Prop
eity of every kind is daily depreciating in
value; produce is declining in price; manu-
hcturers are stopping their works; mer.
chants are curtailing their business; and all
are striving to fortiiy thelnseles as best they
may, to resist the fury of the storm. Hun
dreds of mechanics and operatives in the
manufactures are thrown out Of employment
and hundreds more must soon be in the same
situation; and however farmers or any other
class may be now paratively easy in the
midst Of the tempest, they must sooner or la
ter feel the shock. Let no man flatter him
self that the storm will pass by and leave
him unscathed Hundreds Of the most ex-
tensive mercantile houses in the cities have
been obliged to yield, after the most prodi-
gious aud unprecedented efforts, and stop
payment; and among them many who have
heretofore been regarded as among the most
wealthy A general gloom seems to hang
over the land; and those who have visited the
cities saw, that instead ofthe life and ANNA
ton and the hum OF business which usually
pervade the streets at this season of the year,
all is now comparatively quiet and sunday
like and despair and melancholy brood over
the faces of all classes.
What a scene is here presented to the
view Of our government, and those who have
sustained the previous administration or aid
ed in elevating the present one to power
That the government is the sole author Of
the present troubles we do not affirm or be-
lieve. Speculation and overtrading are, no
doubt, among the mos! active causes OF the
prevailing pecuniary distress-but these are
not alone the causes. The foolish, uncon-
stitutional and unjusii6abe money measures
of the government-the tampering with the
currency-aided by the senseless and noisy
movements of the loco foco radical branch Of
the Jackson-Van Buren, party, in reference
to a specie currency monopoles, &c. must
be charged with no small share ofthe blame
Had the government merely confined itself
to the legitimate sphere of its operations, in
stead of attempting to restrain speculation
and dictate to what limit our citizens may
extend their business or when the pressure
commenced, had it done all in its power to
alleviate, rather than aggravate the evil, it
would have deserved our highest praise and
gratitude and would have insured to itself the
we do not say that the government is exclu-
sively responsible for originating the present
distress, we do say that it ought 10 answer
at the bar Of public opinion, for its cOntinH-
oneS SO long as one importan! means of ~
-SiiefNn its power reu{iius Unlricd. Whfe
every business man irithe community is On
the rack-whle ruin and desolation spread
themselves over the land, the government
stands aloof in the greatest unconcern, and
refuses TO try measure which nearly the
whole mercantile portion Of our citizens de-
clare it TO be their conviction would tend,
more than all other means, to remove the
distress (See the account ofthe meeting of
the N Y. merchants) Congress by a large
majority decided that the Treasury Order
ought to be repealed-(and Gen. Jackson
pocketed the billy; public opinion every
where expressed, calls for it, and the ruin of
hundreds and thousands of our most enter
prising citizens demands it, in a voice which
it would seem that nothing but despot
could resist Why, then, does Mr. Van Blu
rem sullenly refuse to yield2 Because, for
sooth, party humbug must be carried on.
He believes the nonsensical plan Of specie
currency will be popular with the majority,
and therefore we must keep all the gold and
silver now in the land, locked up, dead and
useless. in dark vaults instead of leaving
tito follow the course and demands OF trade,
and perform its legitimate office. And why2
To be able to say there are eighty millions
Of specie in the country We have now
more than double or treble the proportion
Of the whole specie in the world, which we
are entitled or able to hold And vet the
government retain it with an iron grasp re-
CARELESS of the consequences; force our citi-
Zens to sell their produce at half price; and
scatter ruin all around-while the govern
ment paper, under the very eye of Mr. Van
Buren,, proclaims "Gsere as no pressure 1chich
any honest man ought to regret" Fellow
citizens, will you sustain an administration
so reckless OF the public veal and PLEDGED
TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEM OF MEASURES, al
ready proved to be so ruinous to thous-
ands9 No, we know you will not. Proud
we are in the rehectionthat the Green Noun
tain State may wash her hands of any parti-
cipation in elevating such an administration
to power, and happy are we in the confident
belief, that she l0iH aereT be enlisted IN as
support.
Let the treasury order be repealed, and let
the specie find its way into its accustomed
channels, and let so much of it as is necessa-
ry, cross the Atlantic, and pay our honest
debts-at any rate let the government try the
experiment. and then they will at least have
the credit of having done what they could,
to afford relief 10 the suffering thousands Of
our fellow citizens.
CoNUNDRUms. A Chicago paper in
quires, "Why is General Jackson now ia
retirement, like Daniel Webster2 Because
he is an exPOuader of the Constitution"
We were lately asked, why are the la
dies Of the present day, like the Lilies of the