The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-10-24

COUNCIL BLUFFS
-N@~o-
SATURDAY, 80: OCTOBER "a, 1857.
rinaseisl Enbasrsssnents Il the Cssntry-The
Cause.
At the present time, speculation Is rifc in
regard to the cause Of the arrangement Of
the monetary affairs Of this country. The
newspapers teen with hon,ilies upon the
subject--some contending that our present
arc the result Of overtrading,
and that the true national remedy for our
present commercial ills, ia Protective
Tariff. Others contend, that there IS no
cause for crisis in the aspect OF our for
cign and domestic trade, and especially as
seyeratc, that our foreign trade has seldom
been in = moro healthy condition. Again,
there are others Of the opinion, that the |
remedy for our present distress, is only to
be found in an exclusively specie currency.
Some insist, in looking at the gloomy pic
turc, upon seeing only its most dreary and
dismal aspect. II a ray of light appears
upon the commercial horizon, they at once
shut their eyes to it, and continue their dis
NAL croakings. A great many good and
wise people, and good business men too, are
predicting just such arrangement in the
monetary affairs of the country, in 1857, rs
VIC experienced in 1881. With all due def
ference to the wisdom, intelligence and ex-
perience Of such men, We must dissent from
such gloomy conclusions. That there is
but slight analogy in fact. between the per-
lis of 1887 and the misfortunes Of 1857,
fair statement of the circumstances that led
to, or were attendant upon, the two eras,
will convince even the most skeptical.
1t is acknowledged by every business man,
that to be successful the business OF the coun-
try requires stability and confidence. To Sc
cure the former, it requires that the lcgisla-
tive policy Of the country, should be fixed
and stable, as far as it relates to commerce,
the mechanic arts aud agriculture. 1t is
well known that an important change in the
policy of the government took place in
1861. Under the operations Of the Unit
ed States Bank, money was what might be
termed cheop-made so, by general dlstrl'
button, and the facilities afforded for max
ing ready loans. This state of things con-
tributcd largely to the individual indebted
ness of the country, and was the Immediate
cause Of the greater portion OF the insane
speculation Of that period in unproductive
and unoccuried lands-property that bore
only nominal value, and always rated at
fabulous prices. This is one Of the difficult
ties Of 1887, for which wc can find no ana!o-
" at tho present time. The legislative
policy Of the country is settled and fixed
There has been no change recently OF
character at all like that preceding the crash
of 1887. We are free to admit, that there
has been some speculation in lands, but it
has not been of that reckless character so
prevalent in 1886. Some surplus Eastern
capital has been invested in lands at the
West. 1t was to all intents and purposes,
surplus capital, and was invested in lands
at low figure, and the purchasers can AZ
ford to keep it there.
1t is not tho first time since 1887, that
large sums of money have been locked up in
unproductive investments, yet things have
moved along smoothly. Again, in 1886 and
'37, more than twe,aiy millions Of the prop
orty of the people was entirely blotted out
of existence by fire. The property had cost
that amount, and would have brought its
value again. Nothing Of this kind has &C.
CURED in 1857.
Again, the winter of 1886, was one OF
the most severe ever known in this country.
BY the rigors of winter, and late and
fatal spring, the people of the United States
were compelled to import from Europe, the
very necessaries of life. We raised COM
paratively nothing, and the millions of our
people who had heretofore subsisted prin-
cipally upon the superintendent produc-
tons of our own soil, wore necessitated to
depend upon foreign countries for bread
stuffs. These were the circumstances that
led to the disastrous bankruptcy Of 1887.
How does the case stand in 1857. We have
millions Of acres Of land, rs productive as
any that the sun ever shown upon, teem-
ing with the necessaries and luxuries of life.
Instead of importing our breadstuifs, we
are constantly exporting to foreign coun-
tries. The demand for cotton, grain, beef,
pork, -four and other articles that we usual
ly export, was never before more steady,
and never before had we such a super-abund-
ance OF these products, as ut the present
time. Now, every one must see that this is
strongly in contrast with the alternative Of
importation or starvation that stared US in
the face in 1887.
The Toledo Blade, in rcmarking upon the
causes that have led to the present derange-
ment in the business affairs Of tho country,
very truthfully says, that "thc country is,
Just now, in an unusually sound and pros
porous condition. There arc, to be sure,
large commercial enterprises, and very ex-
tended commercial plans, contemplating a
continuance of large credits, aud requiring
immense monetary resources. But the
country was never SO rich before, and never
had so solid basis for these magnificent
schemes. The land is full OF real wealth,
from the Rio Grandc to the Aroostook, and
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We have
the most abundant means with which to
operate, and it is not the absence of these
that has caused the sudden undermining OF
credit, and the vast confusion which has
taken place in our monetary system.
'What then, the reader may ask, is the
cause? We answer that the proximatc cause
Of our troubles is panic, and panic only,
aided to be sure, by variety of favoring
circumstances. Our people are apt to for
get tho terrible disasters which result from
sh;a c0nso not n,l,, n, nrr Gpaocas Int IL,