Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-12-18
Hard Times.

mercial men IN u nut shell. | he following are
his views:
The Secretary OF the Treasury estimates the
amount of specie in the country, GA the 3oth OF
September last, at S2Il ,0oOHD. lie says; "ot
this sum there was about S60,0Oa,Uo IN the
banks and $40, 600 600 in the United States Treas
ury; the rest being in circulation among the pco-
pie or boarded up.
AT the period OF the discovery of gold in Cali
fornia there was in the country about sloll~n,-
900, and Of This s50,0ou,um was held by banks
and S50,O00, 900 by individuals.
Thus, in about seven years the amount III the
bank vaults has only increased Sio6o'oen WINE
the amount in private hands has increased ssa'-
0O0,OU0.
II is chiefly held where it is moi wanted, and
has not materially increased where 1t u NItaily
necessary; for the enlargement ct business "Pe,
ratious has rendered essential an extension Oh
bank facilities. requiring corresponding III
crease of the specie basis ,
The arrangement of credit, caused by the di
minution If bank accommodations, Is the true
kew of the present hard times and there will he
no relief until, growing out ot the INTERRUPTION
of business those who have boarded the specie
shall be compelled to spend 1t, and 1t Will thus
find it's way back TO the banks
Ii is here a subject worthy ofthe gravest con
sideration in the present emergency. that among
the parties who ''haye boarded the specie ot tn"
land and are still boarding Titus taking
nway the basis. and per force urging diminn'
ZION of bank accommodations-dfe The Sub
Treasures Of The United States There Is an
abundance of specie in the country. If the esti-
mate of the Secretary of the Treasury, ana we
do not doubt it. be correct The total OF specie
in banks and Treasury dipTsitores amounts 10
$50, 900, 900 against S59,s35,775 in l55l. and
s5a 5oO,uOO in ls4s In the latter year there
we're only So 0I ,353 reported in the Treasury
repositories, whilst the Both sept. ls5l, the
Secretary tells us the amount then locked mp was
SOC 900 OOO-or NEARLY three times more
than the whole specie basis Of all the banks OF
the CITY of New York and about eight times
greater ,hnn that of alI the banks in Virginia
Now how Is it. with this abundance OF specie IN
New~Nork and in the country, the banks are
crippled in their accommodations by the want OF
an available supply We hear that the brokers
carry ii off -iwhere Ito New York, And why'-
On account, we are told, of the demand for expor-
tation 10 meet foreign bills. But is there not
another source of demand there aiding To drnln
the specie from every corner of the land! Is there
not another power, located at tina, financial ceure'
whose very existence ot the present time Is
essential, antngonistic 10 the operations of
every State bank in the Unionl The banks of Nir-
Cinia are now cramped in their operations by the
deficit Of n specie basis which they cannot hold
The specie is essential TO their operations. 1t is
also essential to the transactions OF the general
government and its officers in New York
State notes, the currency ofthe people, will not
answer, and the consequence is,tho weaker part
is disfurnished and has to succumb, The i'm
his tutlps and tho
broker is the agent who profits by his necessities,
and in whose hands placed the funds received
from the Virginia merchant To bo offered for inn
mediate redemption ut the Virginia Bank from
whence they were issued. Mr.. Guthrie locks
up the metalclprooeeds; and thus, with an actual
abundance Of specie, state banking institutions
are embarrassed. and credit consequence is
impaired by the want OF due supply
In conclusion. and in illustration of the fnct
that the policy upon which the sub Treasury
scheme is administered can and does vitality affect
the business of the country, we quote the follow
ing remark deliyered by Mr.. Dix, then Assistant
Treasurer, at New York, in the Autumn of 1853.
In his laudatons of the manner in which tho
various departments had been conducted under
the present administration, he attempted to show
arresting revulsion scarcely less severe than
that of Is37," and added -
"From May 10 September there was a prova-
lent bias TO action in almost every business,
legitimate and illcgtimate-in trade, banking,
stock -jobbing and land speculation, under the
Impulse given TO commercial enterprise. The
Treasury balance ran up To more than ten mil
lions. This rapid accumulation of coin. and the
enormous sum of ten millions thus withdrawn
from the reach OF operators, checked In n very
salutary manner tho general tendency to over
action"
If the treasury balance Of ten millions had the
effect here claimed for it, to what degree may
we think il possible that the balance last Sep
TENDER. Of S26000,0 600, locked up in the federal
yau1s, has served to check, not in ..salutary
manner" but with para ysng effect, the credit
and financial operations ofthe country, The Sub
Treasury, it will be here recoected, was n grand
experiment in the 'devorce of bank and State" 1T
may be irrelevant, but u curious enquiry we ven
ture TO ask, what may think of the character of
the divorce under which the agents of the federal
government could thus check the tendencies of
trade at will, as Mr.. Dix himself claims had been
done
. The total Of the average Specie
Iork ay banks for the week ending Dec e09s35oi
o72 e ''
UsURy IN NORTH CARoIINA.-A bill is before
the Legislature of North Carolina TO amend the