The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1857-10-23
THE MONEY PANIC-HOW LONG 1T
WILL LAST.


Next TO the question-what has become OF
the specie-iohich nobody anstoers correctly
the quarry as to the probable continuance OF
the present panic, is an absorbing one.
II is currently asserted that there is no real
reason for the present state Of things. While
our people have not dabbled in fancy stocks,
il is true that fast living and speculation is not
altogether confined to the North. Over, living
and over trading have for years been the be-
setting sins of our whole people. The rage
for plantations in Texas, Louisiana or Arkan.
sas, has stimulated to the purchase of farms
and negro property at ruinously high prices.
Farms have been bought on time-debts have
remained unpaid, and merchants have been
forced to ruinous sacrifices to sustain their
credit. Failure after failure has occurred in
our crops, and though the present year is
more favorable, there never has been a time
when the necessity of getting it early to mar
ket was more urgent And very limited
continuance of the present stagnation in the
produce and cotton market, will sow disaster
and bankruptcy broadcast over the South
Our Banks have rs yet done nothing for re-
lief. Weeks of stagnation in trade have
passed gloomily by, and still the inquiry at
every corner is how long aoiH it last: Clearly
until produce moves forward This cannot
be done as long as our banks are unable to
discount-and they will probably be cautious
in this until the panic subsidies in New York.
Nearly million of gold is due Augusta on
the last cotton crop, and will be here during
the next 80 DAYS. Several millions are also
looked for in New York. But il is not so
much specie that is needed iD New York as
confdence-and that the reports indicate is
improving, though failure after failure is an
nounced, and this cry of Frightening conf
dence looks very much like whistIing 10 keep
the courage up. The plain truth Of the mat
ter is-the credit system has placed the whole
country in position where bankruptcy is but
step removed from afflnence. Tom, Dick
and Harry owe you, and if they pay, you are
solvent, and if they don't pay, to the dogs
you go, assets and all. And the effect Of this
credit is not confined to this country. Our
imports eat up al! the money-and the money
that is drawn from Englard by the fall in
Sterling Exchange is deceptive and danger
Gus remedy. The remedy for our present
troubles must be in radical change in our
system of doing business, and in our style Of
living. The foundation of the evil of the
South is with the planters who have been in
the habit of living one year ahead-buying
on The security of a growing crop-and after
selling the crop, appropriatiEg the money to
land and negroes, and giving notes for bills
past due. And though there are few fifth
uvanoodles in the South, every other man we
meet eats and drinks and wears extravaganza
". Young nien who make $500 or S400 per
year run in debt twice the amount, and some.
body must lose it, Arabela, Tallca, and
Amurnntha, must be sent TO some flash Col
lege, where their expenses eat up two thirds
of the cotton crop-and our wives and chill
dren are all dying for extravagant fnery. Our
stores are groaning under the weight of silks,
satins, and foreign laces which take all the
specie out of the country, or take importers
to redeemless protest. Our old farms are
worn out--our population is going west, and
our actual resources will not sustain this arti.
fetal, high pressure system. And while we
boas. of the soundness of the South, and
safety from the panic, the South as well rs
the North, is standing on the brink of prec.
pice-or rather under the roar of cataract,
whose swelling tide, though it may for time
sweep by in boundless grandeur, is destined
to break over its channel and submerge the
whole land with its fatal current.
How long the panic will last, remains un-
answered-but we shall never be free from its
recurrence until starving pride has general
fall, and prudence and economy assume con-
troll of the places now occupied by reckless
speculation and eytravagance, in all portions
of the country, and among all classes of so
ciety.-Augusta Dispatch.
A Picture OF ILLINOIS FARMSo.-The great