Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-11-03

he moral degradation which IL coming ur-
On our ceuutfy On account 81 . general sus-
pension In keeping sacred obligations VIII
yoa Qot, Hcn Of Boston, cooperate with
tlsee n averting o. diminishing the evils
The remarkets Of Mr. Sargent were heard
With deep attention. and were several times
interrupted by applause
Mr.. Andrew I. Hall, President Of the Ire
mont Bank, thought the hanks Of this city
had done their best 10 avert the crisis lie
reviewed the action Of the meeting Of Bos-
ton Bank Officers. in which they recon-
mend 70 the New York banks an increase
Of their loans: but this suggestion reached
New York to late The Boston banks
have increased their loans by one million
Of dollars during the past week, and will
probably increase them another million du-
ring the week to come IL will not DO 10
make money too plenty here while it is
scarce in New York. II is hoped that the
cooperation Of New York may be obtained
in making suitable exntesion of loan-, up
to the point at the beginning Of the crisis
lie expressed his qualification at the re-
marks Of Mr.. Sargent.
His Honor, Mayor Rice, being callcdupon
said that he came IA listener rather than
10 give advice As far az his observation
had gone, the community Of Boston Is as
well situated ms any ether, and credit should
be given TO the banking institutions for the
aid which they have extended. He thot
il had been the aim Of Boston merchants to
stand by one another in this crisis, and al
though some of the strongest houses had
been obliged 10 suceumb, from circustances
beyond their control, he thought that when
the storm had passed. the condition Of our.
merchants would be found to be as bright
as those Of any other city, and that the ere
dit Of the city would be unimpaired.
Mr.. Edward 5. Tobey alluded To some Of
the causes OF our present difficulty. Among
the remote causes, is the tariff, but he
would speak first Of another. viz the un-
due on too free use of the c'edit system. II
il well known that We have been ia tn.
habit Of giving extensive credits; 1t Is rot
to be disguised that the cotton manuio-tur-
ers of the country, especially, have been III
the habit of buying for cash aud 5htihS on
long credit, thus creating loan 20 be car
ricd here by the capitalists iora long pert
cd, calling tor constant dram on the cap
ital OF the State and the country. One re-
nedy, is "a cuitailnent OF credit this point
lies more in the power OF the banks than
the merchants A combination oil mereh-
ants for this end il liable TO be broken up.
but the banks may effect the desired object,
by cooperation. He regarded the banking
Institutions Of the community Is within It's
control He thought that banks should
follow the genera principle OF curtuiiing
their loans, not .: tlie present Juncture, by
any means, bvt III the future; he would
have the legislature compel the banks TO
follow the example OF some OF the conserv
alive banks 1t State street, OF limiting their
loans, sayto 30 per cent. OF their capital
Banks aannot prevent n panic, but they
may modify its effects. Banks should have
a lnre. proportion of specie. Ibis need not
restrict banking facilities; the banking
cavftal might safely be increased, il under
proper restrictions. lie would have suiii-
cicnt banking facilities to prevent Deepen
dance upon outside capitalists who are
always the first to take fright and curtail
their loans lie would get their capital I'M
der banking restrictions, at the service of
the community. Many banks of State st.
have large deposites. of country banks or
rich depositors, on which they make dis
counts; they must curtail, and other bank-
must follow their example. He found one
cause for the contraction of the n. Y. banks
in the fact that the drafts of southern mer
chants on Northern merchants. which have
accumulated largely in n. u, have lately
been drawn upon, and the banks there
were obliged to curtail from necessity. not
from caprice He referred to the cause OF
banking in State street, 1.-THE Massachusett-)
where the specie Is three times the circula-
ton. and the deposits are very large, which
was vet compelled TO suspend, because it
was nj the mercy Of its depositors N York
is situated like this: its deposits are large
and likely 10 be withdrawn, and its loans
upon railroad securities are very large. lie
would not allow banks to discount SO large
ly upon their deposits. lie thought the
state ofour credit was sound, but should be
modified lie hoped the discussion of this
evening would lead gentlemen to think OF
the remedies as well as the caus of the pre-
sent evil
Mr. Upton agreed that the troubles grew
out Of the system Of extended credit lie
gave n curious and interesting problem to
show how fatal is the result, If in such cx-
tended eases Of credit anything occurs to
interrupt the flow Of money or specie lie
was not disposed TO think that the present
difficulties were owing to the banes or their
undue expansion. He showed by the cases
of California and Havana, where great com
merciai panics have existed, that initiation
is not confined to those places where there
is paper curre.cy The only way TO pre-
vent an undue expansion, is to shorten cred |
its
Mr.. Tobey thought the credit stem as
relates tn foreign countries, should also be |
put under restrictions. The remedy for
this is in the hands of some half dozen gen
tlcmen in Boston, and an equal number in |
New York, who should guard against an
undue expansion Of tLis species of credit.
Hon. W. Il. Spooner thought We should |
improve the present crisis to learn lesson
for the future. The gentleman from Iowa,
has told us that there Is an abundance of
produce at the West There are many
merchants in Boston who are embarrassed
on account of the suspension Of the West he
cause their creditors in tha: section are un-
able to remit their dues, He showed tina,
there Is already movement TO bring ON the
estern produce, tnat NestetR funds are
in demand by Boston merchants to Ne used
for that purpose. lie thought that all ,he
produce needed would toe brought on But
the Western debt is large; produce is very
low. and England wants but little. And
instead of selling new goods to the people
Of the West and South, we shall have to re-
view their notes for old goods. lie prophe-
c'ed, in this connection, that cotton will 30
down Al Lyerpool, 6 cts. pound within 10
DAYS. lie ursed the mercantile community
to profit. by the Lesson Of the present. II is
too prevalent an opinion that when an ar
ticle has risen to three times its natual val
Tie, it will go higher; that when it falls to
one-half, it will go still lower But it is a
fact than when prices raise, they must 90
down, and when they fall they must raise
again. Acting ON the former erroneous
principle. however. nearly everyone has
-unwisely increased his business We had
better face the difficulty at once The debts
Of the community were made at very high
prices and amount to very great sum-
But prices are going down; the produce
and the goods will not pay the debts, we
must all lose large sums One great lesson
for US is. not TO believe that an increase in
prices denotes an increase in prosperity
He illustrated the effets Of rise in prices.