New-York daily tribune., 1857-10-21
hETTERs ON THE CRISIS.


n Tk Editor u Tze " y. T,ibsaG
Sra; Ths last dissrsos has fSLeS. Let The osazsn
saa 6Ssncsrs o. our great ees side theit dma..hsd
lssds. They have failed, miseraoy and dissra'eiIiy
failed, TO MAINTAIN the general mercarale solvency
We bsve ell gone mo BANKRUPTCY together In time
Of profouns pc see and universal plenty. lent this
paesomenon for the world to gspe at
Are the i-rsoent wisescres going about with prl-
bu1d looks, eDqqiring after tue cause The oa"se
brsooth. As il the 10. ~ De stirred up IN
every mans poni6ge. Whs. is il but debt! Debt,
dvbs ard Dothirg else. Every body ses every body,
and almost everybody owes more than me- she or 81
psy. Ism. this it And isn't this the whole story
s1e b, ginIipg middle and end Hssnteveiy corpora
toa AID every individual in the country been extend
nj sbo eIpaLairg and building paper castles 10 me
as credit, and in contempt OF al Tue dictsIss OF
prudelee II has been credit here Tec 'ner' Ct edt
everyshsre credit in all forms and al disguises. OBJ
legations have been piled on obigatiohs new debts
contracted 10 psy old ones, until something ike al ap-
prosoh 10 liquidation having been at last demanded,
away goes the whole fabric IN one general cash. And
away goes the DatoBal chacter for solvency and pc
sunjery stability along with It. +.
Some people viii promptly reply, "We are glad OF
the sgrace, 1t will teach other nations not ~ ttuA
ps." This may be very smart and very profound but
d 10 jast slch events a. the we ceore that go to
make onr historical chssscter And shall we Dol 0e
soicitous Of thst
But how came we 40 Overwhelmingly in debt asks
Anow1 Then, we viii tell you 1t is just simply be-
cause we such mighty fast people. 1t is sinPy
THE and nothing else You need not look an inch be-
yoLd your own 10 see both the immediate cause
and tue remote cauee Of the present disaster II is
debt on the surface and the character OF people
underlying that. We are not content to make haste
slowly. People go ahead beyond their means, 10 spite
of all the terTors Of this word or the world TO come.
They determined to be suddenly rich, or be ruined
The universal trading poPulaton-and tast class en-
braces ell but the coiored Rentlemes who don't own
49, -. tba naxtFf of
gar, "A Dukedom, or Westminster Aobsy."
The theory that II is excessive mportstOns and for
sgn debt that breaks up after the present fashion,
only partly true at most Or banks haye not iaIed
foreign shipment. That is certain Oar difficulties
are purely domestic We have failed because we
cADnot pay snother-not because We cant pay
outsiders. This is fundamental peculiarty in the
present which makes 1t unlike the suspenon Of
1887. Then compelled TO fell because Of the
demand for coin to pay debts abroad. Then Ex.
flowed the specie from the bank vaults till thoy
closed. Now, exchange is 10 per cent below par and
The specie current Is inward. Whatever we owe
which has broken the banks and caused the e1
isting catastrophe. We are making an entirely new
chapter in our financial history. We have had none
Ike before. Though the prediction of Proteconists
nsy have been verified by the ultimate result of
suspension Of specie payments, they have not FORE
seen or predicted the steps that have led to that
sult We have plainly been precipitated into that
Dog Dy the un0ue extension OF QOmtSuc CfeutS, anu
not becsuse we have been called upon to hqudste
abroad.
1t does not relieve the subject to say that if had
imported less, and 90 retained broader specie basis,
that We should have been peeerved from oar present
Disasters. The policy OF restriction would have done
ue good in many ways but under present bsnkiog
system 1t would not have saved Us from the odium and
disgrace Of this present bankruptcy. We might have
gone longer with our huge and extrsvagant fabric
OF credit but in the end the fall would have been
less certain or signsl. II had retained larger
specie basis we should have had larger inverted
pyramid Of debt to topple over. large reserve Of
coin, and large national prosperity for we have both
now in q measurable degree would not have pre-
vented from running heedlessy, extrayagantly and
overwhelmingly into debt and thus into the same
dilemma we are now in
The fact everlsstngy remains that are stirring,
eAterpsislg go-ahead running into debt people, and
that 90 the whole length of tether be it long
shot. This fact underles all, and when we change
II we sha1 not go ahead 30 fast nor break 80 often
but not till then. But, nevertheless it is also fact
that even in these wholesale breahdowDs there Is
way Of preserving and maintaining before the world
whatever Of mercantile stability and sOvency is not
earned down by the storm The great evil now is that
the only iouchst Of sovency afforded by the existog
baking system is itseli swept away by the HOOD.
Tbis certainly be reformed and it must be- if we
would pre- serve the mercaLte character OF the country
from falling iro contempt all the civilized world.
The New York banking system, highly extoued as 1t
has been, is q failure. new one must be devised.
There should be at least one standard OF soyency kept
flying and fixed measure of values held perpetuauy
stable within the circe Of mercantile operations. Now
the wreck is complete The much-abused Sab.
Treasury is the only remaining memenso OF pecuniary
stability the country holds. This is comfort, but
Il is not enough J.s.P.
1.-THE above embodes some errors Of fact-espe-
ciay 10 the assumption that was not the pressure of
cur Foreign Debt that broke down-but the general
moral, Get out and keep out Of debt" is 80 sound
and imp,rtant that we gladly make for it'd