New-York daily tribune., 1858-04-06

L
deceptive misleading maxim, we are thoroughly
| convinced. Ii all the broken-down, cleaned-ou'
| gamblers in creation should light on windfali o
| 5000 each this morning what proportion o
them, think you, would be employed otherwise
than in gambling at l2 O'Clock tonight Probably
not one third and that smal proportion would be
mainly composed Of those who had begun to play as
ea.ly 81 or Q. and had lost their new pile BY 8
little pas. II. Does the bankrupt speculator refrain
from speculation after being whitewashed and SET
| On his pins again Does the lame duck cease
TO calculate and watch the fluctuations Of the Stock
Board, Does the ruined topper shun the grogshop
In short, where are the burnt children who truly
persistently avoid the fire.
| We are impelled to this train of thought by the
! Commercial aspects Of our City and time. We
have just passed through-presuming that We are
through great Commercial Revulsion, whereof
the devastating effects are felt in almost every mer-
camille establishment, as also by several hundreds
| Of Thousands of fresides. There are very few in
| this country who bad any property year ago who
are not psorer now than they were then. while an
| immense number have been suddenly precipltated
! fIom opuleuce to want. We estimate tee last
| years sbri' ksge Of American capital embarked IN
Tiade 81 fully thirty per cent; while in this CITY
and several OF the Western States and Territories
il has probably exceeded that proportion. And
Dot merchants bankers, ship-owners, manufac-
turers ard land spectators only, but mechanics,
artisans farmers and pioneers as we'll have felt and
still feel the effects of this general collapse.
Hundreds of thousands who supposed themselves
in comfortable if not affluent circumstances have
been awakened to the stern reality Of embarrass-
meDt and at least temporary insovency-have dis
covered that instead of being worth some ten to
fifty thousand dollars, all they have could not be
sold at present for enough to pay their debts.
Farms are generally lower in price-Often ruinous-
ly so Labor does not command anything Ike the
wsges of last year: debts are collected slowly and
with difficulty; Trade, though much improved, is
still laDgud while the manufactures of the coun-
try could not be sold for one third of their cash
cost. Ard, though good share OF those who
we're compelled TO stand idle through the Winter
have found or are finding employment yet we can
hsIdly soy thst any are making money but the
Sberhs and few lawyers. Nor can farmers or
manufacturers generally expect to make much if
anything until the former have at least quicker
markets and the latter better prices.
Shall all this sad experience go for nothing? Or
shall it cOnduce to those reforms which clearly
iLdcated as the remedies OF our all-pervading mis-
fortunes Shall we continue TO look to Europe for
great proportion of our Metals, Wares and Fabrics
and thereby subject our farmers to low prices for
their products, except in years when We are
pIuDgiug into an abyss of Foreign Debt Shall We
persist in proppiDg up an inflated aud hazardous
sys.em Of Mercantile Credit, in defiance OF the
clearest evidence that excessive Importation from
abroad ipterlockiDg with inflated Credit at home
is the msin cause OF our commercial disasters and
cmbarrsssmcnts In short is there to be any
reform in the practices and usages which 80
lately plunged us into national bankruptcy
We aIe sbundsnty poorer and sadder for the les.
sons OF 1857 Are We or are We not wiser also!
Are no. our yOuDg men as eager to involve them
selves IN debt as they were last year Are they
not stiII crowding or wistfully looking toward the
cites in quest Of chances to become suddenly rich
BY Trade or Speculation, rather than seeking op-
portunty to earn comfortable livelihood by Pro-
ductive Labor Are our Manufacturers and Mer-
chants helping TO reinhate the balloon of Mercantile
Credit n spite of its disastrous collapse and of their
own convictions that il should never again be ex-
banded? Who can truthfully answer these ques-
tions in the negative!
We hear that the Manufacturers of Rhode Island
have resolved to sell their fabrics on not than
six or eight months credit hereafter But why
give six or eight months Why should the half
bankrupt manufacturers sell their goods for any
bcdy's promises! Do they not need prompt pay
ment? Certainly. They cell forpromises, only because
they suppose they must sell thus not at all. Then
we say. Better had their mills stood idle for another
six months, turning out their hands to help double
the Food product of New England this year, and
thus aited till their Fabrics could be sold for pay
down. There is no safe basis Of business but that
Let Fabrics, like Food, remain the property of
their producer until some Que else is ready to buy
and pay for them. Under that system We should
have few and slight reyulsions; rarely great flush
Of activity and prosperity, succeeded by months Of
stagnation and insolvency Infinite is the blessed
meas Of that sound, though trite maxim "Pay as
you 60"
How vicious our Mercantile Credit System is,
aud how loose the practices under it continue to be-
are pretty fairly illustrated BY letter just received
by jobbng house in this City, which, suppressng
bsmes ard dates, We proceed to give:
The jobbing house in question sold last Autumn
some 81 900 worth of D,y Goods TO an Alabama
firm in good staLdng, taking note at six months.
Tn Jua .ma the note fell due and was protested.