Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-04-10
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ing policy Of the Opposition for many years. to seize
upon every period of arrangement in the business and
finances of the country, to create panic by perverted
statements and artul appeals popular feeling They
have been willing to provoke all the evils consequent
upon their own nischevous fibricaons, If they could
only TIE tide against the Administration aud were
reckless enough 10 brave the moral turpudc OF such
iniquv These disrcputable expcd;cnts have red'und
ed 80 little TO their honor, ard have 50 invariably re-
suited in their discontinue, that il might have been
reasonably inferred, they would not again have resort
ed to So shallow and WORKOUT an arthce. But they
turn heedlcssy away from the monitlons Of the past,
and push their desperate fortunes without regard TO
means or the moral obligations of honorable warfare
The times are now thought suspicious for another
panic, and national bankruptcy, general ruin and all
the direfd consequences that the Imagination can
paint are again heralded and charged upon the Ad-
ministration evils Of its cTeat;on and change of
rulers is TO furnish the remedy.
In all this, we join issue with our adversar!es and
appeal TO facts to sustain our position. The picture
that is drawn Of the present condition of the country,
mere fiction Of the brain, and is disproved by the
actual condition Of things. Analyze the sweeping
charge Of general run and how far does it really
tend Its extent is limited chiefly to those who were
reckless adventures with hut little lose and those
who rushed into the vortex Of desperate speculation,
which in fact is ony another name for desperate gan5-
ling, and might have been expected, they met the
gamblers fate The not less unwarrantdbe assertion
Of an existing national bankruptcy, gra,uitous
as it is untrue and is as dishonorabe the tone Of
ultaton make il base. Where is the proof any
one debt Of the government has been dishonored AL.
though its funds have been unustly withheld from its
control by those who should hare recognized them
sacred trust vet has 1t mel ell its obligations II has
millions Of surplus in the hands Of banks and
IN the custody of the Sates. Independently OF this
its available ;cr the whole year equal 10
its engagements Where then is the insolvency; If
under any contingency rs obligations should rot be
met. il will be in consequence OF tie desperate
.l,, rI.1
dlshonor the government b. Withholding facilities
which ARE required in the common course OF legisla
ton That fearful responsibility with all its consc
Gnenccs will have to upon those who brave public
opinion and who invoke such stain. The rash and
unwarrantable charge that the Administration 10
ponsble for the present condition of the country,
the last effort OF adversarIes to shift responsibility
aud which we repel with indubitabe proof.
With a desire nothing to eXtenuate, we admit that
the monetary affairs Of the country seriously de-
ranged, and that great revulson has taken place IN
the business and pursuits of life. We admit that there
is pervading embarrassment, from which recovery
must necessarily be slow and through protraccd DIFF
fcucs This is the inevitable consequence of state
of things which has been brought about against the
efforts of the Administration TO countcract II. But
all the elements upon which the nation has prOspered
and upon which il must rely for its future advance
ment are still within our reach and require nothing
but triumph and the corrective of wise
legislation to re-cstabsh them in all their beneficial
operations.
Who that will look back TO the last few years and
trace the mania that ragged without reason and out
stripped The worst cras of folly-the mad EQUATIONS,
the visionary schemes the prodiga extravaganza and
the artificial value TO which every thing had attained,
but will find abundant proof that powerful and dis
trcssnr reaction must have followed as an inevitable
consequence,
The whole scheme and action total departure
from the sound calculations ofbusncss and prudence
and carried the eemcn is Of their overthrow. Ea-
aerness grew the bubble expanded and victims null
tiplied as they caught glimpse oftle bauble. When
had reached its utmost capacity it burst with dcvas-
tating effects and not without serious injury to the
country. 1t had cncompasscd the which
enter into Legitimate business and controlled the
ton of prudent operations, that they felt the shock and
shared in great degree the calamity.
This identical state Of things tells the whole story OF
the causes by which the embarrassmens under which
the country is now laboring brought about. The
following brief narrative will show the modus operandi
The rapid and uncalled-for increase in the amount
of banking capital beyond the actual wants of egiti-
mate business, made it necessary that the rival nstitu
tons should extraordinary exertions to get their
paper into circulation, and the facility with which
discounts could be obtained held out the most seduc-
ing alluremen;s for speculation, which spirit Of
cupld!ty ever more or less active, seized upon with
avdity. The banks pampered the appetite for en-
terprze and gain, and the horde of spectators made
and more avaricous the cravings Of the banks
1t reciprocal action, mutually fostered and bat.
tened upon indulgence. 1t went from the seaboard
to the interior and thence to the utmost limits Of the
Union; after it had encompassed the circuit Of our own
country, it entered upon the wings Of commerce and
stretched out to all the nations of the eat and laid
them under contribution to feed tie mammon spirit Of
home born folly. The banks themselves that their
profits too small under system of discounts how
ever large, and resolved that they too would become
spseuG.ors and brokers: accord they entered the
list for specr!atons upon cotton four pork stocks
and notes! This monstrous innovation threw every
thing out of its natural channel and the country was
inundated with the food Of bank paper snd the gam
bling pu7ui:a Of visionary enterprise.