The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-04-11
From the Boston Mercantile Journal.
Secretary Of Stale.

From the Boston Mercantile Journal.
The pecuniary condition of the country at the pre-
sent time is indeed deporabe; the currency In ma
ny places is terribly deranged being composed almost
entirely of irredeemabe paper money business IS
Frustrated, and failures among eminent merchants,
for immense amounts are daily taking place Every
body is complaining Of the scarcity of money OF the
hardness of the times which according TO the state
ments of many worthy men, have never been equal
led since the days Of the long embargo. This, how
ever is a great mistake. The pecuniary embarrass-
ments in 1919, consequent on the gross misconduct
and Frustrated credit Of the United States Bank cast
gloom the country which has hardly been
equalled since The measures adopted by MI. Cheyes,
who at that time elected President OF mat
institution, to save the Bank, also tended to increase
the public distress-but the Bank was saved, and
the people were ruined"
In Gouge's Journal of Banking for March, extracts
given from various papers, showing the dreadiu
condition, far as related to money affairs, OF the
people. Mr.. Miles, in his Weekly Register OF April
10, 1879 says: "From all parts OF the country, we
hear of severe pressure on men OF business, a gen
eral stagnaton of trade, large reduction IN the
price of staple articles Real property IS rapidly de-
preciang in its nominal value and its rents or profits
are exceedingly diminishing. Many highly respecta-
BILE traders have become bankrupts, and 1t is agreed
that many others must go.' The banks are refusing
their customary accommodations, confidence among
merchants is shaken, and three per cent per month
offered for the discount Of promssory notes. when
| a little while ago were considered as good as old
gold and whose makers have not since suffered any
losses TO render their notes less valuable than hereto
fore y
Again in four months afterwards, it is stated, in
the same publication, that there were TO- 900 persons
daily seeking work in Philadelphia In New YORK,
100 900 said to be wandering about the
streets looking for work In Baltimore there were at
least 1000 persons suffering, because they could hnd
no employment. A committee In Philadelphia on the
ID of October reported that in the mechanical and
manufacturing branches of trade which they enume-
rated, which gave employment to 9,loo persons In
1914 and to 9672 in 1916, there but 2,l37 per-
sons employed in 1879 A report of similar charac-
ter was made a committee Of the citizens OF Pitts
burgh. The Frankfort (Ky.) Argus said, "neyer,
within the recollection OF our oldest cizens has the
aspect of the times, it respects property and money
been so alarming. Already has property been sacr-
feed in considerable quantities. in this and the neigh
boring counties, for less than half its value Ina few
months debts be paid, money will be In elf
culation TO the ordinary purposes OF human
life Warrants executions, and suits, will be more
abundant than bank notes, and the country will pre-
sent scene of sculng for the poor remnants of in
dvidual fortunes, which the world has never wit
| messed"
Bankruptcies were of frequent occurrence all over
the country. Among others, mention is made of the
failure of merchant tailor in the little town OF
York, Pennsylvania, for the sum OF $4,000 III.
however, sunk into insignifcance in comparison with
some of the failures in the large lows and cities
Niles Register of 5th June, 1919, says /" So extern
sive were failures among the merchants OF the cities
east of Baltimore that il seemed dSreptabLe TO stop
payment for less than hundred thousand dollars, the fash
io,,abie amount being from two to three hundred
thousand-and the tip-top quality, the support Of
whose families had cost them from eight to twelve
thousand year, honored with an amount Of
debt exceeding five hundred thousand dollars and
some nearly as much as a million Of dollars"
Again, in Niles's Register of August IA, 1919, we
are tod-"Twenty or thirty years ago, If man fail
ed for 500 900 the people talked as fearfuy about
it, as about that time the old women did of the full
filment of Loves Prophecies who had determined
that the world should to end before the close
of the last century But through the blessing
of the paper system the facilities which it afforded
and the specuations it nourshed It is not decent for
man to break for less than 5000 00-and if per-
son would be thought respectable bankrupt, he ought
to owe two'or three hundred thousand If with this
extent of credit it should appear that he had not been
worth cent for twenty years. and was not entitled
to be trusted for pair of shoes, much the better
it is evidence of his qualifications as fnancier
And if out of other peoples money he has given his
wife SO or S600O0 it shows his prudence in providing
for his family"
So much for the year 19l9-and such were the
fruits of an irredeemabe paper money system, grow
ing out of the misconduct of the u. 5. Bank Extra
ordinary facilities were first granted for obtaining
money! and credit was expanded to an unexampled
extent Curtailment" was then the word-"no
more dscounts'-and the bubble burst, and ruin
spread the land. The present generation has shown
itself no wiser than the which has gone before
The country is embarrassed by pecuniary evils-and
a remedy must be provided in industry, prudence and
economy, and in eschewng irredeemable paper mo-
ney-or aught which has tendency toward manu-
| featuring the worse than useless trash
| ,Il n Va L, A A