Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1837-1839, 1837-09-16

Tho consequences Of this redundancy Of credit,
and Of the spirit Of reckless speculation engen-
dered by it, were foreign debt contracted by our
citizens, estimated in March last al more than
thirty millions Of dollars the extension to traders
IN the interior Of country Of credits for sup
plies, greatly beyond the wants Of the people,
the investment Of thirty mine and half millions
Of dollars in unproductive public lands, IN the
years 1895 and 1895, whilst the preceding year
the sales amounted to only four and half mil
lions; the creation Of debts, to an almost count
less amo INT, for real estate in existing antici
pated cities and villages, equally unProductive,
and At prices now seen TO have been greatly dis
PrOpOrtonate To their real value; the expenditure
OF immense sums in Improvements which, in ma
nv cases, have been found to be ruinOusly improv
ident: the diversion 70 other pursuits Of much Of
the labor that should have been applied to agri-
culture, thereby contributing to the expenditure
Of large sums in the importation of grain from
E European expenditure which, amounting in
1884 to about two hundred and fifty thousand dol
year, increased TO more than two millions OF dol
lars; and, finally, without enumerating other in
jIriOus results, the rapid growth among all cas-
ses, and especially in our great commercial towns,
If luxurious habits, founded too often on merely
fancied wealth, and detrimental alike to the in
dustry, the resources, and the morals of
people.
II was impossible that such a state Of things
could long continue, that the prospect Of revul-
sion was present to the minds Of considerate men
before il actually came. None, however, had
correctly anticipated its severity. A concurrence
Of circumstances inadequate Of themselves to
produce such wide spread and calamitous embar-
easements, tended greatly to aggravate them,
that they cannot be overlooked in considering
their history. Among these may be mentioned,
rs most prominent, the great loss Of capital sus-
tanned by our commercial emporium in the fife OF
December, 1854 loss, the effects Of which
were unIcrratcd ut the time, because postponed
for season by the great facilities Of credit then
existing; the disturbing effects, in CONNER
ciai Cities Of the transfers Of the public moneys
required by the deposite law of June, 1896; and
the measures adopted by the foreign creditors Of
our merchants to reduce their debts; and to with
draw from the United States large portion Of
our specie.
H,wever unwilling any Of our citizens may
heretofore have been to assign to these causes the
chief Instrumentality in producing the present
state of things, the Developments subsequently
m ,de, and the actual condition Of other CONNER
cial countries, mast, as it seems to INC, dispel all
rem inning doubts upon the subject. Eh,s since
appeared that evils, similar to those suffered BY
~ss-~s--~, A--- s~~.s sSss~S0 ." 0r01t OrI-
tain, the continent, and, indeed, throughout the
commercial world; an that in other countries,
as well as in our own, they have been uniformly
preceded by an undue enlargement Of the boun-
diries Of trade, prompted, as with US, by unpre-
cedcn:cd expansions Of the systems Of credit
reference the arnuut Of banking o~r's.',
and the issues Of paper ere Its put in circulation
1 in Great Britain, by banks and IN other ways,
during the years 1874, 1885, and 1885, will
show an augmentation Of tho paper currency
thcre, as mnch dispro2ortioned to the real wants
Of trade as in the United States. With this re-
dundancy If the paper currency, there arose IN
that country also a spirit Of adventurous sPecuia'
ton, embracing the whole range Of human enter
prise. Aid was Proflsely given to projected i'm
prov ements; large investments wero made IN TO
reign stocks and loans; credits for goods were
granted with unbounded liberality to merchants
in fJreign countries; and all the means Of acquir
ing and employing credit were put in active oPe
ration, and extended i'm their effects to every dc
partment Of business, and to every quarter Of tho
ylobe The reaction was prOpOrtiOOed IN its vIo
lcncc to the extraordinary characterO Of the events
which preceded il. The commercial community
Of Great Britain were Subjected to the creates
difficulties and their debtors in this country were
not only suddenly deprived Of accustomed and OK
pected credits, but called upon for payments
which, the actual posture Of things here, coul
, only be nude through a general pressure, and a
: the most ruinous sacrifices.
In view Of these facts, II would seem impossi
bic for sincere inquirers after truth to resist tn
conviction, tn the Of the rcvulsion in bot
{ countries have been substantially the same. Tw
3 nations, the most commercial in the world, en-
. wing but recently the highest degree of aPpa
rent prosperity, AMI maintaining with each othe
!, the closest relations, are suddenly, in time {
: profound peace, AMI without any great nationa
dis,ster arrested in their career, and plunged int
h a state Of embarrassment and distress. In bot
e c Duntrics We hive witnessed the sime redundar
!; CIV Of paper m,nev, and other facilities of credit
l. the same spirit Of speculation; the same Parti;
. successes the same difficulties and revcrses an
j. at length. nearly the same overwhelming cata
J, trophc The most material difference betwee
Il the results in the two countries has only bee
= Tint with us there has also occurred an extensiv
4 arrangement in the fiscal aff,irs Of the FEEDER
c and State Gov ernmenss, occasioned by the susPe
n sion Of specie payments by the banks.
v The history Of these causes and effects,
e Great Britain and the United States, is substan
alv the history Of the revulsion in all other COZ
n mcrcial countries.
= The prcsen, and visible effects Of these circur
IS stances on the operations Of the Governmer
e and on the history Of the people, point out Il
., objects which call for your immediate attic
., ton.
" They are-to regulate by law the safe kee
A. ing, transfer and disbursement, Of the public
Of news: to designate the funds to be received al
4. paid by the Government; to enable the Treasu
d. to meet promptly every demand upon 1t; to P'
n scribe the terms Of indulgence, and the mode
-. settlement IN he adooted as we'll in collects