Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1849-10-04
VOL. xxvn.--No. Is.
MISCELLANEOUS,
NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY APPROACHING
IN ENGLAND.


Among the various speeches and documents elected bv
the late peace convention. was one which PISS. sses pecn-
liar claims TO attention. aud happens also Ia contain some
es prtsslons oil a very startling import. Mr.. Samuel Cur
ney. u member OF tho Society of Friends, holds The doc
tflne of Peace, aud his oplniuns on this subj, ct NECESSARY.
y assume n dogmatic and controversial character. His
nhjeclions To rmaments Is referred to his creed. But Mr..
Samuel dnrney has another capacity in which he 10 sup
posed TO aai and talk more by calculation than The theoto-
gical bias. lie is a banker aud bill -broker. and 10 he.
lleved 10 he slngularly prudent aud successful ia that bu.
slness. That he has had extensive experience is evident
enough. MOI IS there the least doubt tina, he has turned
II To the proper account. As TO he only remaining point.
whether he can BE- trusted when he oilers to others tho
benefit Of lls Judgment. probably there Is NJ one in this
metropolis VINO would venture 10 moot Thai question. Il
IA, then, the first bill broker in the land, aud a man fhis
wotd, Nho say -
10 respect 10 my own country. more boldly assert
Tat It Is my judgment, that, unless she wholly alters her
enntso In these resnects. bankruptcy will ultimately be-
The resolt. We have spent from fifteen t., twenty mil
IONS sterling per annnin Tor wad,ie purposes since the
peace of 1919. Had Thai money bern applied Il, tho dis
charge of the national debt, by this lime il would have
been nedny annlllllaied; but il our military expenditure
be persisted in, mud no reduction Of our national debt take
place, al a period of out history certainly ella raelerized
by very fair prosperity and general political cal u. how it
Is 10 DO expected That he amount of revenrs will be- MAIN
iaincd. III n time oi adversely, which we must, from lime
Ia Tune, ahllclplte In our iniun history 7 Sl,ould such
adversely come upon US, venture 10 predict that our rev.
enne VIII MT be maintained. nor the di, i1enJs paid, I'M
ltss a more efficient means be taken 10 prevent such a en-.
lasltophe IN these days Of prosperity aud peace"
u Is n very grave p.pnlieey, and II is 10 lnconsiderable
ata'le which has ptunpuneed It. Lombard ST. is the Del
pin ct commerce. MIS-. Guney has had 10 do will
indebted tnen and estates. lie knows tho history OF ma
ny oncnnbfances. lie has seen the vast .iorIpsge living
Ike IN incubus TN HE resources Of nature AID The energy
of man. lie has traced the sllw bu, sure drain ola 6xed
interest paid nni ot a f'uetiating aud perhaps a falling rev.
enne. lie has watched the debtor struggling for many
years, and jest keeping pilbal, I'LL there ennes sumo tx
ttaoldlnaiy aggfasatlon oi his burdens, and then down he
fats. lie has noticed. that llr chapter OF accidents is
anofe trtiio IN disaster than relief. aud in The lang run
tells against the debtor. From what Has epnle under his
own observation In he exercise Of his private pr fessions,
III draws u political Inference. Unless the na,ion pays
II ila debt while II can. tue day will cone when II can
nai, aud when II will find even the interest Of that debt
TN much for lis revenue. The prediction is 80 serious
aud ~a nnamb nnasly expressed. thai II II were found in
the lnenhiations al a eefe amphIeteef it wnulj be thought
an exaggerated hltrH, or a mischievuns sugQesiion.-
! here ale those. " ho think the mere mention of National
Bankr1pfcy treason and rebellion. and WIN feel a patriot.
le ehu,der at the word "sponeo.n We own to a degree
uf thus aniipnihy ourselves, and candidly confess that had
No read Tho passage we have quoted without knowing its
author. we should have conceived an unfayorable opinion
not IN much of his Judgment rs Of his dolicacy and tact.
but the name at the foot of he letter Isl sufficient reply
10 ANY such s%nspieions. II is San,acl Gurney, who tells
us. thai If we persist in our present course, and do no,
avail ourselves of our comparative prosperity u pay of
onr debt, a time Of adversely Will eouie when we shall be
bankrupt.
~ , II llifn AhYiH', ht nevertheless q true 0ne; and,
however, we may dislike the obIfision of such unpleas-
ani thoughts. we cannot disprl them. Indeed. our read
cts will remember. that we have repeatedly said the same
IN substance ourselves. Not 10 reduce debt, we have
3 I'd, is 10 increase II. Debt is ultimate insol vency.-.
lankfnpioy is revolution. These are topics we ha we Of
ten urged. and we applied them Ia France and her des-
pernte finances long before.tbc starving inhabitants of the
%faubonres set Europe in a flame. The Flench Revolu-
ton Is very near event. Prorinlus ardct. II is e,i-
dent, thai France has hitherto only agnravated'her fnan-
plaI difficulties bV rpVuluttnn Nlp lna ut1u uiIenp1 thu
gap between her income aud her expenditure. She has
put on the screw, )" but IN vain. a large military force,
we read today, Is employed 10 collecting the 40 c niimes
additional, added last March twelye-munrh to he direct
taxation, while Government Is endravoring 10 borrow at
a high rate Of interest. But France is only before us on
The same path. Within three wears We have added
twelve millions Ia our debt, and have barely at aimed, II
we have attained, AN equilibrium between orr mornings
and our onig0inas. At the present moment, therefore,
we are Al a ~slandslill with a debt the interest of which is
about CPS 100000 per dnninn But 81 I reasonable, is
II possible. 10 suppose that we can maintain this eqnilibri-
UNI Any Dne of ntany very probable casualties may
compel u Sudden increase Of expenditure. and hurl the
State Another step in tile downward course to bankrupt
cy. War is ,ioi the only danger; nor is increased expen-
dttare. There are other less violent changes which
might render the present taxation intolerable.
ofcourse 'here isa bright side, MS well as a dark side.
10 the pros peei before MS, The embarrassed trader hopes
for a god send. and perhaps II comes. We may have our
windtalls. 1t has even been suggested, that a great de-
probation Of the valuable meals would proportionally re-
dnre lhe pressure Of our debt, which is a metallic under
thktng. Amer borrowing in a dear market, we pay in a
cheap one. But such a result Is mucl, loo problem alic,
moi To say runantic. 10 be allowed a place in our financial
sPocnl tlons. The most rational supposiiion is. that the
currency VIII remain IN all our time much as it is now,
and that there will be no change OF any kind in our favor.
In other respects. experience teaches US u expect a
change for the worse. Changes generally are for the
worse. Should the year 1850 produce any great e, snt,
II will most probably be an expensive one. Even in phi
vete life, unexpected bequests, lucky ~vlndfalls, profitable
! IINsDNpTIRs unI midi far.nttnpG mo vDFu rnra aAunp nr