The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-12-08

The Financial News from Europe.
The golden coloring given to the financial
news from Europe by the London TINES does
not, 1t is to be feared, do wholly justice to the
subject 1t is not easy to believe that the Bank
of France was gaining specie without artificial
purchases in England or elsewhere" nor can the
story that "there was an improved feeling in
mercantile circles" be reconciled with the
alarming increase of failures; nor even can we
feel much confidence in the rumored decline of
application for discount at the bank when we
find that it has actually expanded thirty-seven
millions of dollars in a fortnight.
The fact is, the English fnanciers are in so
new and unusual a position that we must not
expect them to reason quite soundly upon it as
yet The spectacle of the London commercial
and financial world being thrown from its
bslance by events transpiring in the United
States is utterly unprecedented. In 1926
they had crisis in England caused
by the violent efforts of the bank and
all financial institutions to resume. In 1887
they hardly felt our troubles; the bank just
crushed out the leading Anglo-Americans,
way without injury, or even risk. In lS47 they
had temporary crisis or panic in London, which
sprung from native causes. This is the first in
stance in which disasters taking place in the
United States have reacted so effectively on
commerce and finance in Europe as to cause
real panic there, and the English do not seem to
understand it, One instance Of their bewilder-
-, L.
Der of the house of Overend, Quincy d Co.,
who, after going to the bank and obtaining, as
a matter Of life and death, accommodation to
the amount of e7Oo,OO0 instantly drove to Lord
Palmerston's and insisted on the suspension of
the bank charter, as otherwise he and all the
merchants of London must break. The London
Times is as thoroughly befogged as the rest.
1t remains to be seen how the bank and its
new debtors will fare during the winter. The
bank has certainly undertaken to sustain
prices; that is the English of the operations
which it is now making. The houses which
are at present embarrassed in England are
houses which are loaded with produce, merchan-
disc and securities at inflated prices; when the
bank undertakes to save them, it assumes the
loss on the property they hold. From present
appearances this promises to be large.
On the Continent, new Neckers and Laws seem
full of patent schemes by which failing is rem
dered impossible, the laws of trade reversed.
and insolvent merchants raised to afiuence-all
by magical touch of a pen. Nothing to do,
in France and Germany, but to organise new
corporation with fine title, big capital and
grand prospectus, to relieve commerce from
its embarrassments and make money cheap as
dirt. As for the Bank of France, we are told
that institution never was so comfortable in its
life. Money is flowing in on all sides; the
French, whose solidity of character and unva-
riable GOODNESS are known, are fastening to
come to the support of their great moneyed in
situations, and foreswearng their old practice of
boarding.
Those who choose always to see the future in
rose color tints may take comfort from this pic
ture; for our part we see no commercial coun-
try besides our own whose present condition
and future prospects are not at the present mo-
ment proper subject for grave apprehension.