Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1852-03-26
The State of the Country.

and Commercial fabric was on the brink
of collapse. The Sheriff stood at the
door. on the point of winding up the con-
cern. In the midst of peace, health, ac-
tivity and plenty, with a steady influx of
Gold from our Pacific territory at the rate
of Five Millions per month, we were
threatened with general bankruptcy. And
why Simply because our National
! Policy had been so changed in 1916 as to
discourage the production of Metals and
! Fabrics at home and largely increased
their importation from Europe. Conse-
quently our National income, large as it
continued to be, did not suffice to meet our
/ current expenditure. We were sending
/ Europe all the Cotton we could grow, all
/ the Grain she would take, and all the
! Gold we could spare, but these did not
. suffice to pay for the ship-loads of Wares
/ and Cloths, of Laces and Gimcracks, that
! we were rapidly importing. In vain did
we endeavOr to combat the deficit with
Federal Stocks, State Stocks. Railroad
Bonds and every form OF promise to pay
which Europe could be induced to accept
in lieu of actual payment. Her traders
alive and stimulate our habits of extrav-
agance, to urge us on in the dOwn-hill ca
reer on which we were SO giddily driving,
but they would no, take all the securities
we urged upon them, for they lacked ade-
quate safety therein. In vain were smooth
tongued nOtabilitleS sent out TO wheede
them BY Burcombe speeches and brilliant
figurings of the certain net proceeds of
the wild lands and prophetic Railroads
they offered 10 mortgage the very men
who had admired the deXteritv and dashing
abandon Of the mathematician IN Treasury
Reports and other documents designed TO
be swallowed, by Yankees alone, could not
see the point of the Joke when they were
asked 10 stake their own fortunes on the
soEndness of his calculations. They
shook their heads, buuoned their pockets,
and hurried on. And so the imminent
danger OF reyulsion hung over us even
down 10 the opening ot the present year.
AT length, all is changed. How long
the new breeze may last must depend on
circumstances, and cannot be fOreseen
but for the present all danger of crash
is at an end.-The merchants, manulac-
turcrs and capitalists of Europe, seeing
how steadily our Cotton, our Grain and
our Gold are poured upon them, while the
interest on nearly all our recent Bonds is
promptly paid, say to each other Why
should we kill the goose which lays us
such golden eggs Why even lei her
commit suicide! Rather let us keep her
alive and prolific as long as possible
they stop pressing for cash payment, and
belake themselves TO wider examination
and more extensive purchase of Public
Securities. One million dollars of these
Securities of various kinds have been
bought here on Foreign accounts within
the last week or two, niusing new po-
tency into the lately tottering knees of the
Stock Market, and giving the Bulls brill
liant prospects for the immediate future.
How long the new tides may flow, we do
not pretend 10 guess; but there Is 40 OBJ
ylous reason why it should not hold for
months at least. Meantime the outward
drain OF Specie will be checked by the
abundance of bills drawn against the va
rious Stocks and Bonds purchased here on
British account; so that ii is not impos-
siblc that our Currency may be expanded
Prices inflated, and Speculation generally
range beyond all recent example.
- Glory To goodness : said the woman
who had hnanciercd out of quandarv
4 have borrowed money enough to pay
all my debts = This female Walker had
at least as much reason for exultation as
: our Country has in view of the recen
turn of affairs. For. be it ever borne in
mind, we have paid nothing, and are now
paying nothing, but only sinking deeper
and faster in debt. Instead of paying of
the bills that were worrying US, and taking
due precautions against like botheratior
III future, we have simply Y transformed
them into obligations maturing a remote
day. For every Million that we found i
inconvenicnt to pay when due, our polite
: creditors have agreed to take Sixty 1hous
and year for fifteen or twenty years, anC
the principal at the end of the term. Ant
we are dealing with this as though we hat
wiped out the debt, and plungiug furthe
] i'll debt at double speed on the strength o
] il.
A Meantime the Furnaces and Factorie.
which should turn out the Iron and Cloti
for which we are thus running our face,
, stand idle and deserted; the Artizans ant
Laborers who should have produced them
wander hither and thither in search of EN-
ployment, or are desperately contrivin!
: and scheming to reach the Land of Gold
: where Labor is not such drug. Fo
every hundred dollars worth of Metals
Cloths or Wares that we have run in deb
for during the past year, there has been al
n American workman standing idle for months