The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-07-27

From the extraordinary increase Of specie in the
vaults of our Banks and from the large amount
of money seeking investment, we may reasonably
anticipate a gradual resumption of active business
operations during the coming Autumn and Spring,
and at least partial return of that old speculative
sprit. which, when it is not carried to excess, is
necessary to Il healthy commerce as oxygen is TO
the blood No one supposes that, in country
like ours surplus capital will be suffered TO con-
tnuc unproductive for any great length of time,
though it is very possible that we shall not for
some years yet to come push our enterprises quite
as recklessly rs we have done heretofore. The
truth is we are always either struggling up hill
energetically, or going down hill with a rush. If
we manage to escape an overturn, we congratulate
ourselves upon our skillful driving. If we find
ourselves SPRAYING in the road, in the midst of
the debris of our commercial ventures, cooly
gather mp the fragments that remain and trudge
on perhaps little more sober-thoughtGd than
usual, but consoling ourselves with the reflection
that the accident was not of our making; was quite
unavoidable. and might have been a good deal
worse. II is happy faculty, that Of looking on
the bright side of a trouble 1t implies hopeful
spirit and while hope remains the stimulus to re-
newed eXertion is not wanting. 1t implies youth
and sanguine temperament, for age confidence
is a plant of slow growth and of imperfect de-
yelopment 1t implies moreover, u conscious
power of recuperaton, and herein lies the whole
secret of our speedy recovery from CONNER
cial rcverscs that would have paralysed the ener-
gies of people more sluggish in their movements
and of dispositions less ardent and aspiring
Whether in the long run, the tortoise does not
sometimes outstrip the hare we will not pause lust
now TO enquire. What we desire however more
particularly to note, is the fact now making itself
apparent that the monetary crisis of 1857 is slowly
passing over, and that the damage it has done
has been much less than was anticipated from the
panic it sGccasioned, and from the uneXpectedness
with which it came upon the trading community, at
period when speculation was rife and when every
branch of business was inflated to an extraordina-
~ degree That it should have crippled many
mercantile houses, and wholly wrecked Others
whose ventures had been pushed ont too lavishly
and unfortunately, was naturally 10 he expected;
but that the reaction should set in so soon after the
occurrence of the disaster indicates that though our
financial difficulties were ascrbcd TO rashness of
speculation and extravaganza Of living, they were
also owing in part to our lax system of credit
Yet 1--WE have bulded better than we knew for
it is evident, from the amount of specie now lying
in the vaults of the Banks at all the larger COM
mercal centres that the country merchants have
met their Indebtedness either wholly or in part,
and that the time afforded them for making their
collections has been well improved. Still there
can be no doubt that the custom of giving long
credits is, nevertheless, injurious one, and leads
as naturally TO Over-tradng as dram drinking
does to drunkenness. II certainly works inillr-
ously TO the prudent merchant, whose means are
limited, and whose facilities at Bank are circum-
scribed; and il operates only in favor of wealthy
firms, whose line Of discount is comparatively I'M
limited, and who from the extent of their business
transactions, can afford to engage in risks that
men of inferior capital would not dare to assume
But by whomsoever long credits given, the
danger is in proportion to the extent of the con-
cession. 1t is temptation 10 traders residing at
remote points inland, TO purchase larger supplies
of goods than they absolutely require; while it
leads them, in their turn, TO offer inducements to
consumers to buy more than they really need.
At the commencement of Il new Commercial Era
for such is the reaction after a crsis-when mer-
chants summing up the value of their worldly
possessions preparatory to launching their barks
anew, it would be well, if among such resolutions
as they may think proper to adopt for their future
guidance in business, they should incorporate one
looking to the gradual restriction of inordinate
credits, with view not only to selfprotecon
during periods of monetary stringency, but also
as really beneficial in the end TO all the par
ties concerned.