The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-04-24

The following ID from q recent issue OF lhe
| Cincinnati ETpre~ -
Passing along the street yesterday odr
\ attention was suddenly drawn 20 q scene not
Ia little novel and interesting In Ia eharheier,
/ IN an alley, with paste pot in hand, and a
roll ~ bills on his Hrm, whom should Ne see
but Wesley Smead late president Of the Cit
izenS Bank, posting his own bills Of proper
| Is for sale, for the purpose Of paying of the
/ remaining debts Of the bank, Needless Of
/ tl~ wandering gaze OF the Astonished passer-
/ hy. be laid on the paste and spread out the
/ bills with all the readNss and facility Of q
{ practical poster, tHtiug care 10 place them in
] the most conspicuous positions, and above
/ the reach Of boys and ragpickers Forty
/ three years ago DR. Smend was an apprentice
| IN the Gazette establishment, and being the
youngest the duty devolyed upon him Of
posting up the show bills, Sc 40 this late
period Of his life, when oyertaken hy adyer-
| bity, he Is nobly struggling 70 rare sight In
| deed, among bankers) 10 discharge all his
I obligations TO his creditors"
We see It reported that various manufac-
turing establishments which had been closed
during the past winter, are again commencing
operations and giving employment TO their
usual number Of lahorcrs, and that nearly or
quite all the suspended banks have resumed
specie payments but nothing which We have
read as evidence Of general revival Of BUSH
ness and the return Of prosperity TO tho in
duGtrnl pursuits Of the country, Is quite 30
pertinent and satisfactory to MS as the state
mcnt in the above quotation. The late COM
mcrciol rcyuhon, which for the time,arrested
the trade and parnyzed the industry Of near
~ half the civilized world, came upon the
business community so unexpectedly, aud with
such sweeping desolation, that mulutudes,
panicstruek, have hardly yet recovered from
the shock no as 10 think or talk about any
thing but the various possible aud probable
causes Of their calamity. II is no doubt tho
part Of wisdom for every business man 10
study Nttentiycly the causes, aud to learn, If
possible, how their recurrence or effects may
be AVOIDED in time to come but this, il he
be one of that unfortunate class, that made
shipwrcek Of capital and credit in the recent
financial tornado, is but a small part of his
duty, A lost capital is to be replaced, indi
yiduHl confidence and credit rc-cstablishcd,
and pccuniary obligations discharged, not
~ N'hiNk hhN'AfANb' W N"ANA ~ thN0 ~ Ia
,or Of unfortunate debtors, but 10y an earn
est effort to meet the demands of the higher
Law thltTequircs, no render 10 an their dues -
All this, however, involves labor, patient, per
scycring, and, it may be- in many cases, 80
far as the full attainment Of the last is con
eerncl, hopeless labor but labor all the
more honorable for this very reason, While it
aims to satisfy not the love Of money, but the
claims Of equity. If all those who have re-
Gently failed in business would make an eco.
nomieal use Of what has been left them If
they would devote themselves earnestly to
the work Of retrieving their losses, paying
thcirdehis, and vino icatiug their regulations
from all suspicion OF iufdrlity to their pccunia.
~ obligations, II would soon rc-cslabiish con-
iidcncc and credit in business circles, and Sc,
the wheels OF industry in motion. Some Of
them, like the individual referred to above,
will doubtless do so but their number will
be small, compared with the multitude that
will choose n more direct and easy method
of settlement with their creditors. This,
more than any other circumstance, will delay
the revival Of busincssi for there can be no
speedy reimbursement OF commercial relations
in communities whore n large portion of those
engaged in trade attach 40 moral character to
their pecuniary obligations And hence the
tendency Of all bankrupt laws is to aggravate
the evil which they seek to remove. While |
they furnish temporary relief to a class Of in
diyiduols and qualify them to engage in bust
ness, and in so doing seem to promote the
public good, they, in reality, corrupt the pub.
lie conscience, encourage infdciity to credit
ors, stimulate extravaganza and speculation,
and in the end reproduce worse state of
commercial embarrassment than that from
which they were invoked to gi*r relief
But We are wandering too.far from our sub
ject, and return to notice briefly what is
said in our quotation. We know nothing of
Wesley Smead beyond what is recorded of
him above, and yet from these few but sug-
gcstive facts, one might undertake TO
write his Biography with little risk of mis-
representing the character of the man in any
Of hiss relations. He failed in business, it
seems, but that, we are confident, happened
not through his indolent habits, extravugant
living, or by specializing ia stocks. MS too
many in his position are accustomed to do; |
Tor who ever knew one beggarcd by these
means, at his age addressing himself in such
way, to the task of retrieving his losses and
making to his unfortunate creditors full res
'itution? We think it no small compensa-
ton for such failure, that it has brought !
into exhibition SO sensible, honest and hon
orable specimen Of human nature, which
might otherwise have remained forever hid
den from the public view. The President of |
a bank becoming for the sake of paying his
debts, bill poster, doing his work in the |
street where recently he was wont to be rec
ognized as a wealthy citizen, and in the face, |
too, of the astonishcd gaze and contempt of |
Young America, is we nDnrrhrnd Il, C;rcip-