The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1858-01-14

true this time IL 50. the railroads Of ohio form stOu.
Of all the railroads In the United States and
more than one fifteenth Of all In the world
'. EXPORT And CONSUMPTION.
The value Of vegetable products exported in 1851
The i value Of animal products stsoOcoo
products Of manufactures. .,..... 9O,oOoOOo |
% The total products a: above shown are
leaving for home consumption ..... .si9i ie7 800
These condensed. statements exhibit, clearly
the immense actual resources of the State, and
inspire Just confidence in her future progress.
1t will be seen that manufactures and mines
contribute in increasing proportions to the aggre>
gate Of annual productions. The coal fields of
Ohio are nearly equal to the entire coal fields of
Great Britain and fully equal to the those of all
southern Europe, This fact, in connection with
the immense beds of iron widely dinused
in the State, demonstrates the vast capacity of
Ohio for mineral production and for manufactures
Still Ohio is emphatically an agricultural State.
The products of her farms, during the last year,
very largely exceeded in value the entire cotton
crop of the United States An interest so inn
portant cannot be too earnestly recommend to
, legislative regard.
The State Board of Agriculture has performed
a service of great value in stimulating and pro-
noting agricultural Improvement and its annu-
al reports add largely to our stores of agricutu-
raj knowledge. But this Board cannot do all
| that should be done or must be done, five are to
retain our present agricultural position. respect
fnlly suggest to your consideration, the expedi-
ency of establishing an agricultural Institution
| for the instruction of the rising generation in
those branches of knowledge which pertain espe-
| cially to the theory and practice of farming. II
is thought by persons qualified to judge, that such
| an institution could be so organized and admin
istered that it would almost, if not altogether,
sustain itself. No one can doubt that any cost
of which it could be the occasion, would be re-
paid to the State thousand fold in benefits.
While on the side of industrial development,
there is so much to excite qualification and in
spire hope, there is another class of facts
essential to a correct estimate Of our condition,
which must not be overlooked
The Commissioner of Statistics has instituted
extensive inquiries, with a view to ascertain as
accurately as possible, the debts due from the
State from corporations, and from individuals. 1t
is obvious that, except as to 6ebts of record, it
was impossible to obtain precise results but it
is believed that the following statement is at
least an approximation to the truth:
Debts of the State, Foreign and Do
nestle. .s16, ,4O2, ,095
Corporate debts of Towns, Counties,
an Municipalities, are about. -. 100000
Debts of Railroad Companies. ...... 60,000000
" in Judgment. ............ 1o,00O000
" secured by recorded Mortga-
ges. :. 10000, 900
Z" to Banks and Bankers. ....... 25,000,00O
I" of Merchants due outside the
State. .................. 100000
Other individual debts .......... 40,O00,00C
Aggregate debts of all descriptions $221, ,402 ,095
Debt is not always an evil. Loans wisely in
vested by the borrower in agencies of production
such as lands, mines and implements, or ofmove
ment, such as canals, railroads or steamboats,, of
ten afford essential aid in the development of re
, sources and even create the means of their owr
liquidation few of these debts are of thai
character. And in many cases the same deb
J appears more than once in different forms. Fal
the greater part, for instance, of the individual
. debts are due to retail merchants, who, in turn
owe the same money to banks and wholesale
t dealers. But with every allowance for these con
sideratious, this mass of Indebtedness remains
|, subject ofby no means agreeable contemplation
!, For its reduction extinction we must rely OIL
: augmented production and increased economy
f That these may be safely relied upon no one cal
e doubt who understands the character of our peo
i pie, and reflects upon the fact that this nebted
ness, large as it is hardly amounts to one-ifth o
the aggregate property in the State, and exceeds
s only by third, the aggregate products of sin
: gle year. ...
y | have already adverted to the financial re
vusion, which has during the last six months, s.
seriously affected the varied interests of ourc ON
y munty. @ e..H .
3 Twice before during the present century ,hav
q similar revulsions occurred; and both were aC
companied by the same train of caamities an
!. disasters. The interval from one of these reve
! lutions to another, has twice been marked by
space of twenty years. The causes of each
, though very different in form, may be reduce
q to the same general expression, namely: tn
reckless contracting of debts beyond means G
y payment. The spirit of speculation; eager dc
n sire for great and sudden gains; the spirit of o.
" tentaton andluxury seek qualification throug
/ debt. AS there is no limit to these passions 9
y the heart SO there is no limit to debts contra,
v ted for their qualification except notorious il
+, solvency which makes credit impossible. A
IN ways most active when prices are rising circl
laton increasing, and credit expanding, thes
70 desires, unchecked, never fall under such eli
.. cumstances, to reach their crisis in enormous an
+ universal indebtedness to be speedily and ce
~ tanly followed by widespread collapse and dis
9 aster. l
"A For nearly ten years past the circumstance
of the country have tended to these results
. The influx of gold from California has rapid
r. augmented from year to year the volume of ii
circulating medium: which has been still farth,
expanded by vast, though not equal, increas
of credit currency. In lS48; before the impo
oo tation of gold from California had commence
OV the respective amounts of coin and bank not,
. in the country were as follows coin Sl26, ,75S
90 OPT bank notes 1928, ,5O6,O41. In 1857, the r
spective amounts were, coin, $276, l00, ,442; bar
notes, $2l4,778,222.
The aggregate currency in 1S48 was S255, ,259, Il
II 1851 " 490,S7S, Ct
sa The increase of currency was 235,6l9,54
so The increase of coin was lac, 367 A.
Al The increase of bank notes was S6,272, II
40 The rapid augmentation effected by the /
Its crease of coin alone, could not fail to produ
an marked effects in the rise of prices in the mul
"a "a plicaton of transactions, in the enlargement
X credit and in the increase of debts. The a
IN ditional stimulation of this tendency by the fu
IA. ther introduction of $50, ,232, III, of credit CT
nj rency sufficiently accounts for all the affects whit
I'm hrNn hnnn Witnessed