The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1855-11-02
COMMERCIAL TROUBLE IN ENGLAND

New York Herald,) public attention is d
rected to the commercial intelligence fror
Great Britain which is most alarming. Th
drain of specie had continued till the Ban
of England, finding its stocks of bullion ar
proach the low figure at which it stood i
January last, decided to raise the rate of in
terest to 5 l.2 per cent The atnouncetier
naturally created much alarm. According
to the sanguine money writer of the Londo
Times, the bears were chiefly to be foun
among the Greek merchants who are friend
of Russia, and the British politicians VIII,
lean to the side of Austria. But there seem
no very good ground for narrowing the cir
Gle within such Small limits. 1t is notoriou
that n large portion of The mercantile commu
nifty has looked forward for some time to tn,
prospect of the fall of Sebastopol, in the
hope that it would relieve the market. Now
Sehastopol has fallen, and instead of helping
the merchants, the event has steadily depress
ed all public securities, and close on its heels
the Bank has raised The rate of interest to /;
figure which practically puts a stop to one
half the commercial operations in England
1t is not necessary to be Russophite, one
would fancy, to regard such a state OF
things rs with uneasiness and alarm.
TO American readers, this news will not
appear surprising. 1t has long been expected
No one in this country believed that Eng
land and France could maintain the enormous
expenditures of the past year without feeling
them severely; especially as in the former
country, at least, the government has very
properly declined to pursue the old plan OF
mortgaging the future to raise money. When
the difficulty would arise, no one saw very
clearly. 1t seems to have been precipitated
at the present moment by two causes. The
first of these is the partial failure of the crop.
In Paris We learn that corn has already reach.
ed the maximum price-that is TO say the
highest figure at which foolish imperial
law allows it to be sold; and great
dissatisfaction is expressed because the
Emperor refuses to apply the same ab-
surd system to butchers meat, and forbids
it sale over fixed price. In England, the
apprehensions of scarcity of grain are so
great that immense sums of money have been
sent into Austria to buy up all the surplus
of the Austrian provinces: there being sort
of impression among the British corn factors
that partly from the large quantities of bread
stufls required for home consumption, and
partly from the maneuvres of the seaboard
spectators to sustain the price, very little
reliance can he placed upon the supply
from America These circumstances GER
tainly had much to do with hastening the
crisis.
But second cause was equally influential
1t is well known that many years ago, on Il
certain occasion when British credit was
shaky, the Russian court and royal family
invested some ten millions of pounds in Bri-
tish securities. 1t was n familiar operation
to the Russians. LOUIS Philippe was once
aided in the same way; and in lS47, the Aus
traL government was saved from ruin by
similar subsidy from the same quarter. Since
the war broke out, it is understood that the
Russians have been gradually selling out
their British funds, and requiring their money
to be sent them back ing gold. La,terly these
sales of stock have beer very large, and the
shipments eorrespondingy so. Hence we
find the funds falling from 92 to 81 in
the course of mOnth-that same month
which witnesses the greatest triumph the
Allies have won since the beginning of the
war-and the gold in the Bank of England
falling in four months from eighteen to about
thirteen millions.
On the 4th of October it was officially
that the rate of interest would
hereafter be five and half per cent.
In the article from the London Times,
which we give elsewhere, it is said that the
Bank of France, to prevent disturbance and
alarm, and to avoid raising the rate of inter
est, has been buying up four millions of gold
ut premium and selling it at par. Such an
operation is well worthy of the financial
minds which conceive and carry out law
fixing n maximum price of wheat. But after
,ll, it only accounts for four milions-Inuch
Of which must find its way back; and gold
does not seem so very plentiful at Paris Ell
lher There can be very little doubt that
most of the gold in the Bank of England has
gone to RUSSIA.
Looking to the future, the Times money
writer prepares the public for "that mitgated
'orm of national bankrutcy which consists in
suspension Of specie payments" 1t must
.omc to this apparently. Such result is
Inevitable when nation banking on the
iame principle as England-Eamely, de-
,osit of bullion equal to one third the amount
If its circulating paper-gocs to war with
mother nation which has the power to draw
way the gold. In time of peace, British
,ank notes, and British credit are better than
,old; but SO long as the war lasts the Rus
ians will be apt to prefer the latter. Poll
icians already talk Of repeal of Sir Robert
'eal's act, which would be followed i'm
nediately by suspension of specie pay
nents.
tSy- Twelve officials, conductors and brake.
nen, of the Central Railroad, Rochester,