The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-12-23
How Prophetic.

The following is an extract from a
speech made BY President BUCHANAN,
when in Congress, in ls4o, on the Inde>
pendent Treasury Bill:
The evils of a redundant paper cir
eulation are manifest to every eye. It
alternately raises and sinks the value of
every mans property. It makes beggar
of the man tomorrow who ind ulges in
dreams of wealth to- day. 1t converts the
business of s,cieiy into mere lottery,
while those who distribute the prizes are
whollp Irresponsible to the people. When
the collapse comes-as come it must-it
casts lahorers out of employment, crushes
manufacturers and merchants, and ruins
thousands of honest and industrious citi-
zens."
The manner in which the banks brought
on the present crisis and stringency in the
money market is thus noticed in late
letter of NATHAN APPLETON, of Boston, an
ex perienced banker aud merchant svo
Hunts Morchsnt's Magazine contains
tables of the weekly returns of the
banks of the city of New York for the
years 1856 and 1857, which furnish a
complete view of their operations. They
throw food of light On the present state
of things. The returns for January Sd,
1857, show Sio4 100000 of liabilities,
with s I 4, f7f:3 -, ,ooe q sIT=<cic.
"This varied very little from the re-
turns of the preceding six months, and
this state continued with little change, but
with slight tendency to increase expan-
sion, up to the 18th of August The
greatest expansion was on the I'd of May,
81, lsahs
with Sl2 900 900 of specie. The returns
of the 18th of August show SOL ,000, eco
of liabilities, and Sill $50, 900 of specie.
From this a rapid contraction commenced,
the liabilities being reduced, on the 5th
of September, to SIS, ,000, COO, with Si0,-
2270G0 of specie Here the contraction
ought to have ceased The object was to
stop the export of specie. That had been
done. Exohange on London had fallen
below the point at which specie could be
shipped without loss. Can any mortal
man give me reason or apology why
contraction should continue day after
this point had been reached The
banks were then stronger than they had
been for two years. But contraction did
continue until, on the Sd of October, the
liabilities had been reduced to 6,000,-
0G0, thus reducing the circulating medium
of New York city, from July, $32, ,000,~
600, or upward of so per cent. Tremen-
dous Was the like ever known in the
history of banking? have no hesitation
in saying it is the contraction of tho New
York banks since the first of September
without the slightest necessity, which has
brought about the present disastrous ori-
sis"
Is it not about time that a system,
which is the cause of such dreadful calam-
tiles, financial ruin and distress, was
abandoned, aud that we had afforded US
a stable and permanent currency, that is
not subject to these disastrous fuctua-
tions? Will the people never learn by |
experience, and will they always be DEL |
uged by the cry, originated and maintain
ed by those who are interested in it and
make fortunes out of its continuance, that I
such system is necessity to the coun-
try, and cannot be dispensed with? The
Consultation has provided US with a good |
currency that we can have il we only
avail ourselves of its provisions. Let
Congress impose tax that will amount
to prohibition upon all bank notes under
twenty or fifty dollars, and there will be
plenty of gold and silver in circulation
that viii give stability and permanence to
all business operations Money will not
be plenty at one time and scarce at an
other to suit the interest or caprice of
banks, but we will have steady supply
hat can be counted upon with almost
certainty We may not
ave seasons of spasmodioal and unnatural
but We shall avoid these
crushing and terrible revulsions. They
will be uniform and equitable Let us
Produced by scarcity of money, will
arely if ever, happen.-Cin. Eng.