The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1847-11-08

ures and commercial distress in England, we IN
vain look for the cause in any OF the Engisn
journals. The press of London takes secuonsi
and narrow view of il. The Liverpool Journals
the journals in the manufacturing DISTRICTS
take a sectional view of it, and on comparing
The various views thus given and the opinions
,b,. .xnr.ssed on the cause of the commercial
rsxrl.;an now SCATTERING the bankrupt houses,
- sod ma two of them to agree, and the whoie
a bomogenous mass of opinions and surnises,
zach adapted to the particular locality from which
IL emanated, but not applicable to the country as
a whole, nor to commere as whole. The truth
is. the cause, though in one respect proximate,
can be traced back and shown TO have existed
number of years since, and shown, too, to have
developed itself on various occasions since It's
origin, in precisely the same way in which 1t 10
now manifested. The provimate cause has been
the waste and extravaganza In living, owlngto
corrupt and vicious social system. This IL the
proximate oause, and grows out OF the defective
social system, and to certain extent out of the
remote cause, which is the scarcity of specie,
produced in various ways-by luxury In the
manufacture ofjswslry and other articles of or
nament, and by the growing commerce of the
whole world. and its non produce from the mines
of America.
We need not inform our readers, that previ-
ous to the discovery of America, the amount of
the precious metals was, compared to the amount
at present in circulation, extremely small; and
that in consequence of the scarcity, 1t was much
more valuable than it is now. When America
WAS discovered. its mines-those OF Mexico, es
pecially-were worked to great extent. The
produce of the mines of that country alone, since
the conquest, amounts, at an estimate made by
a person well qualified to form one, to $443, O0O,-
900 Since the year 1910, in consequence of the
revolutionary condition of that country, the
mines have produced little or nothing. With this
great influx of specie, from the bowels ofthe earth
20 the hands of man, prices of commodities ofev
nv kind increased in price exactly in proportion to
the increase of specie. The one regulated the
other. Thus, at one time commodity worth,
say a dollar in specie, would again be worth two
dollars Again, about hundred or hundred
and fifty years after the discovery of America,
the paper system of currency was invented and
increased in similar ratio, until between 1t and
the increase of specie, the price of commodities
of all kinds reached price unheard of previous
ly. The price of commodities and the amount
Of circulation having thus modified themselves
to suit each other, it took, In some instances, ten
nmes-forty times, as much money to pay for
a commodity as it did before. The price increas-
ed in proportion to the influx OF money, both
specie and paper. With this currency of this
double kind, trade was conducted and carried on,
banks were established with power to issue
notes to a certain amount, in proportion to the
amount of specie in its vaults But within the
last twenty or twenty-five years, the amount OF
specie mined in Mexico has been extremely
small, and in many years nothing, while paper
money has gone in the same proportion as 1t
formerly did, until the amount Of paper money
exceeds by millions, and we might say billions,
the amount of specie. In addition to this
want of supply from the natural source, mil
lions are annually distracted from the chan
nels of trade for the jewellers crucible. The
proportion that formerly EXISTED, no longer
exists The withdrawal of the one by the
means last mentioned, and the increase
of paper money has been so great, that the whole
commerce of the world is based upon paper mo-
ney, leaving the exchanges between each coun-
try to be settled and regulated by specie. If
from extravaganza on the part of its inhabitants,
specuations on the part of its merchants, or
from any other cause, country imports more
than she can pay for by her exports, the balance
must be paid by her in specie. That balance
goes from her in the ordinary course OF trade
the country to which it goes is so much the
richer, and the country which pays it is so much
the poorer. The vacuum caused by this export is
Immediately felt-the equality-the relative pro-
portion, between the specie and the paper, is de-
stroyed, and shock comes. Such is the crisis in
England at present The balance oftrade has been
against her-she has been obi ged to pay the diff
ference in specie-the equilibrium is deranged
IL l. r. a. L
many failures must take place. The same causes
are likely at any time to operate in this,A or any
other country. In 1895 and '87, the balance of
trade was against as; we had to pay the diffe-
renee. Our specie was exported, and bankrupt
roll of four hundred millions of dollars was the
penalty we suffered. The waters, however,
celmed-the equilibrium was restored, and
we went on smoothly again. We are now
verging on a similar track, with the balance of
trade in our favor. We are still none the richer
for the stream Of specie, while our imports are
large, our exports are diminishing What we re-
ceive goes TO Mexico what we have, will 90
to pay for our imports; for, to a certain extent,
our exports have failed, and it is not improba-
BILE that before the middle of next summer a
crisis will be on us In conclusion, those are the
causes, in our opinion, which have producedhe
crisis in England; and after the wreck is cleared
away, and clear sailing again is obtained, the
same causes will be at work here, and produce
the same result, unless, in the mean time, the
commercial aspect of the country assumes diff
fersnt shape.
As we have before remarked, the injuries result
ing from this revulsion, although hey may shake
10 the centre the whole commercial credit of
England, will not derangc the solvency of the
Bank of England. Under contingency can
that institution, as now regulated, be forced to
suspend, as long a. the government stands.
There is another interesting aspect of the case.
London has been for years the great commercial
IL. ahn,,ld 81 &c