Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1857-10-08
THE LEGISLATURE

hut one Senator and seven members Of the
House being absent. The old officers hay-
ing taken their seats, and committees ap-
pointed to wait on the Governor, the fol-
lowing message was presented:
i EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
HARRISBURG, October 6. 1857
To the Senate and House Of Representatives. Of
the Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania, "a Gen.
eral assembly met:
GENTLEMEN BY virtue Of the power con-
ferred on me by the Constitution, | have
deemed it my imperative duty to convene the
General Assembly at this time. An "extra-
ordinary occasion" for SO doing, as contem-
plated by the Constitution, has arisen, and
accordingly you have been called together to
take into consideration, and adopt such mea-
sures Of relief, as the present exigency may
seem in your wisdom to demand. A sudden
and severe hpaneial revulsion has occurred,
inducing suspension of specie payments by
the banks OF this Commonwealth, and in some
of our sister States. This result, however
much to be regretted and deplered, was una
| voldable, having become, from the operation
OF causes, unnecessary now to be enumerated,
a stern necessity. Thus circumstanced, the
community are suffering from the want of a
currency, the destruction of confidence, and
the numerous evils consequent on financial
embarrassment. Every department Of indus
| try has felt and been disastrously affected by
the shock. Trade and commerce have been
| paralyzed. The merchant, the manufacturer
and the mechanic have seen their bright pros
poets suddenly blasted, and many have been
involved in ruin which no ordinary sagacity
| or foresight could avert MANY of our fur
1 liz arI f,a l. l.
closed. Extensive and valuable coal opera
tions have been suspended or abandoned, and
thousands Of workmen are out of employ
ment, oppressed with doubt and anxiety, and
alarmed with the gloomy apprehensions Of
! the future
! Ii is not my intention to discuss in this
communication, the causes of the present f.
nancial difficulties aud commercial embar-
rassment. The evil is upon u.s. Troubles
( surround US and to relieve the community
restore confidence, and bring back the pros
! perity lately enjoyed, and which it is hoped
is but temporarily interrupted, prompt and
harmonious actien, wise and generous legis-
! lation will be required.
| The present exigency requires and every
consideration Of present and future interest
! to the Commonwealth and people would seem
! to demand that the banks should be released
| from the penalties and forfeitures incurred by
. suspension of specie payments and that
such suspension should be authorized for such
reasonable period as will enable them safely
/ to resume the payment Of their liabilities in
! specie.
! To force the banks into too early liqui-
dation would compel them to require imme-
| diate payment from their debtors, and would
entail upon the community the miseries of
widespread bankruptcy and ruin; while on
the other hand, an unreasonable extension Of
| the unnatural state of suspension would great
| ly increase the evils of an irredeemable paper
currency. The resumption of specie pay
ments should not be postponed longer than
| is clearly necessary. and the best interests of
! the community may require.
The general embarrassment and depression
of trade and commerce, aud the consequent
depreciation of the value of real and personal
/ property, If permitted to continue, will seri-
| ously affect the revenues Of the Common
wealth. The credit Of the State, now So we'll
sustained and SO honorable TO character,
may be endangered, not by any inability to
/ pay, but from the difficulty, if not the impos-
| sibility, Of procuring q medium in which
payment can be made. The faith Of the State
/ must be preserved intact
| therefore recommend that the Banks
posed upon suspension by existing laws, shall
! be required to make satisfactory arrange
| ment with the State Treasurer, by which he
will be enabled to convert the current funds
| in the Treasury, and balances standing to his
credit in any Of the solvent banks of the Com
monwealth, into specie, as soon as the same
shall become necessary for the payment of the
interest on the funded debt.
And as a further relief to the community
and as a condition of the release Of the PEN
alties and forfetures Incurred, il is respect
! fully recommended that the solvent banks of
the Commonwealth, which paid specie for all
their liabilities Immediately prior To their late
general suspension, be required, under such
/ limitations and restrictions as may be deemed
! expedient, to receive the notes of each ether,
continuing solvent, at par in payment OF all
debts due or TO become due to them respec-
lively, during their suspension the bank or
banks resuming specie payments to be rellev-
ed from this condition.
For the relief of debtors, provision should
be made for an extension of the time In
which execution on judgments may issue; and
of the period now provided by law for the
stay of execution.
The issue of Relief or Bank Notes of less
denomination than five dollars should not now
be authorized, nor should the Banks during
suspension be permitted TO declare dividends
exceeding six per cent per annum.
The monied institutions Of the Common
monwealth are, it is believed, generally in
sound and solvent condition and if the mea-
sures suggested, be adopted, the banks will
be enabled to meet all their liabilities-sup-
ply currency adequate to the demands of
legitimate trade and the ordinary business of
Iife-regain public confdence-aid and revive
every branch of industry-and save their
creditors and the community from the bank
ruptcy and ruin, inevitably consequent on the
| intense pressure of the present financial crisis
The questions submitted for your determi-
nation are important and momentous. They
rise far above all partiEan or political consid-
erations or calculations A suffering commu-