The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-01-06
The Financial Rexuls,on in Europe.

The Financial Reyu Ision In Europe.
The article from the London Times, which VI
published yesterday, exceeds in severity ever
uhe severest comments which we have ever fel
sud 10 make on the character of the specula
49, -. moral tone Of the specuiations o
the aay. So uv,ensSS 30 IN, Universal condem
nation of the entire merc.> ntiie 49,
England, may well attract the oreathies -.
of merchants throughout the WILD. If the
Times is right (and it knows the truth, and hal
no motive for speaking untruthfully), the uer'
chants of England, as a body, are dishonest
corrupt, and in many cases insolvent Far
more numerous than the scandalous frauds
which are brought to public notice-and they
are numerous enough, heaven knows-are those
which care palliated OF hushed up by a COM
bination of merchants" Traders and aristo-
cracy, it seems, combine to cheat the public and
prevent exposures of the wicked aud the cor
rupt. So general is the depravity, so uniform
the departure from the old laws of integrity,
that "young men are brought up to the belief
that there is no such thing as honest trade, and
that he is greatest who most excels in the adul-
teration of goods, the manufacture of accommo-
dation bills and the management of fraudulent
suspensions" Such ia the deliberate verdict of
the leading journal of Europe on the state of
British commerce at the present time. As
suredly nothing more severe has ever been ut
tered regarding our SPECTATORS here, though,
perhaps it was none the less deserved.
II 10 m ho rot;cod tbo+ pr;t;oh tro1o hoe MT
always been in the wretched state described by
the Times Till within the past few years, Bri-
fish merchants, as a rule, were honest men,
kept their word, paid their debts, and cheated
no one. This halcyon era seems to have come
to an end with the outgrowth of the railway
mania in England. The first notable disclosure
of wide spread profigacy among the moneyed
class was the railway explosion of l847. 1t then
appeared that men of rank, character, station
and high repute were habitually addicted to
practices which, on smaller scale, and on q
different stage, would have sent their perpetra-
not adequately punished for their misdeeds.
Hudson was reduced to beggary on $4,000
year and q box in the country; and the other sin
ners got off as well. The consequence-the
sight of their i'll gotten gains, and slight pun
ishment-stimulated merchants throughout the
country to follow their example; and hence
flowed the general laxity of principle and al
most universal moral iooseness and prohigacy
among the mercantile classes of which the Times
now Indignantly complains. 1t was with them
as with us; the source and cause of all the mer-
camille swindles and financial rascality were the
corruption, communicated the faint to every
person who touched them.
There is one point in connection with this
case of the commerce of Europe, on which the
Times does not touch That is the interference
Of the government to preserve certain merchants
and bankers from the natural consequences of
their illegitimate trading and financial opera
tons. Just as the government of England per-
mitted or directed the bank to carry Peabody
through as the representative Of the American
houses, Oversnd, Quincy d Co. and others, 80
the government Of France, less openly, it is
true, but more directly, has paid out money to
manufacturers to enable them to keep their men
at work at loss, and the government of Prus-
STA has made loans to achieve the same end. In
Hamburg, alone, where, as here, the govern
ment cannot take matters into its own hands,
the entire mercantile and banking community
seems to have gone by the board; but every
where else the governments have stepped for
ward, and, to avert revolutions and save them
selves, have undertaken to postpone the crash
by bridging over the next few months for the
bankrupt and embarrassed houses. This policy
on the part Of the governments is open to quite
as severe objection as that of the merchants; it
is dishonest; il is shortsighted it is grossly I'M
fair to the mass of the public.
The news which each mail brings us from
Europe, showing steady accumulation Of
specie In London and an increase in the price
of consols is the best illustration of the
depressed and m0ancholy condition of trade.
Just as here the increase of specie in the banks
and the Improvement in speculative railway
stocks tell sad tale of checked commerce
and general stagnation in the great staple
trades of the country, SO the same symptoms
indicate similar phenomena in Europe, aud
teach us a great lesson of caution and pru-
dence. Our young houses, at all events, may
hope that for them the worst has passed. and
that they may derive benefit from the depressed
condition Of affairs when they start; but we
see nothing in the foreign horizon to warrant
a confident conviction that their prospects in
Europe are as satisfactory.
TIM orxRA.-Thc "Barbcr Of Scville Is announced for