Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-01-07
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
and Representntires:

aHo
al affairs. A
Aheyear Just closed has been strong
J maf1ed by prosperous and adverse
circumstances.
Abundant harvests have fulfilled the
farmers hofes almost unbroken health
has blessed cur homes, and animated our
activities; Industry, in every vocation,
has successfully pursued it's legitimate
objects Education, with steadily en-
larginge Nims, and powers constantly
augmentin& has prepared the youth for
the duties and responsibilities cf citi-
zenship +; and Religion, unembarrassed
by the interference of the State with the
domain of conscience, has fulfilled its
holy mission of instruction in the du-
ties of the life which now is, and of
preparation for the awards of that which
IS to come In short, no year since the
organization of the State government
has been nore conspicuously distin-
guished By substantial increase in all
the clemens of real wealth, permanent
power and true greatness.
And yetthis year, SO distinguished
by these circumstances of property, has
been mark q, hardly less eonspicuously,
AE vi uISOIuCECu .Cu1ISuCJ,
pfostrate E4edit aaditapaired fortunes,
The. financial embarrassments which
have affected the citizens of Ohio, in
common with those of the whole coun-
try, have been augmented in this State
by special and peculiar causes. The
criminal misconduct of a former State
Treasurer, resulting in a dedication of
over half a million of dollars, conceal
ed from the people by the false state
ments and reprehensible co%ntrivances
of HIMSELF and his successor in office,
deprived the Treasury, at a critical mo-
ment, of the proper. means of paying
the interest on the public debt, and Of
meeting the ordinary demands of the
public service; while the failure of a
great moneyed corporation, intimately
connected with the business interests of
the community, suddenly disclosed the
alarming fact, that a vast proportion of
all the Immediately available resources
very many of the banks of the State
had been distracted by the fraud of its
cashier in New York, nd:converted in
to means for p%ostponing, if not avert
ing its fall.
1t is a most gratifying fact, and it
we'll illustrates the energetic good faith
which SO honorably distinguishes the
people of Ohio, that, notwithstanding
these Embarrassing circumstances, every
obligation of the State has been pune
tuafly fulfilled, and her banking insti-
t%utions, with very few temporary excep-
tons, have performed their entire duty
OF specie payments, without evasion and
without delay.
The disorders and embarrassments Of
the present time they manfully encoun-
tered must soon pass away. They may
check for "a moment, but cannot arrest
the advancement of the State. Our fer
tile soil, u productive mines, and our
varied industry, will soon redress pre-
sent fhconvenienles, and revive, in full
measure, bur financial prosperity.
* x = x =
The Commissioner of Statistics has
instituted extensive inquiries, with a
view to ascertain, as accurately as POS
sible, the debts due from the State, from
corporations, and from individuals. 1t
- o3T:2us that, except as to debts c!
record, it was impossible to obtain pre-
else results; but it is believed that the
following; statement is at least an ap-
Proclamation to the truth:
Debts Of the State, Foreign .s...
and Domestic, s1G,502,O 95
Corporate debts of Towns, -
Counties, and Municipal
tiles, are about $4,000, 900
Debts Off. Road Companies, $4,000, 600
in Judgment, 100000 900
secured by Recorded
Mortgages, 10000, 900
to Banks and Bankers 25,O00,O 600
q" of Merchants due out
side the State, $4,000, 900
Other individual debts of all ,
descriptions, 100000
Aggregate debts Of all dcs- -
criptioAs, 221, HOP, 095
Debt is not always an evil. Loans
wisely invested by the borrower in agen-
cies of proddction, such as lands, mines
and implements, or of movement, such
as canals, railroads or steamboats,, often
afford essential aid in the development
of resources, and even create the means
of their own liquidation. A few OF
luCSC OSUto l VI lldG udl dCtCI- Nuu
in many cases the same deb appears
more than once in different forms. Far
the greater part, for instance, of the in
dividual debts, are due to retail mer-
chants, who, in turn, owe the same mo-
ney to banks and wholesale dealers
But with every allowance for these CON
siderations, this mass of indebtedness
remains a subject of by no means agree
able contemplation. For its reduction
or extinction we must rely on augment
ed production aud increased economy.
That these may be safely relied upon
no one can doubt who understands the
character of our people, and reflects up
ON the fact that this Indebtedness, large
as its, hardly amounts to one fifth of
the aggregate property in the State, and
exceeds, only by a Thrill, the aggregate
products Of a single year,
BANK CHARTERS AND CONTRACTS.
How far the provisions of the char
ters of the Banks organized under the
act of 1915, will admit of additional
guards against suspension, is matter of
lo,,hA M. l1 g 1ha ,,,~,Hk,