The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-10-22

sen acres in Des Moines county, 10 be given
your next County Fair. sss.s5
A Mill can be seen st Ross 4 Mhipple's
any time, price $50 and SIS. .
G. ". SrArroaD.
From the Cincinnsu Gasstse.l
sry.
New York assumes to be the monetary cente
Of the United States, aud 40 . consequences.
oe the teacher and law giver ON that sublect.-
Notwithstanding this assumption, there il h.rdl
considerable town in the country, where S
much Ignorance on that subject seems 10 pre-
vail 10 1887, when sudden and extraordina
y crisis came on the commercial world, Ne,
York saw nothing Of the signs OF the times. bu
was in the midst OF financial self complaceu eucy
which seemed 70 assume the permanent stabilit,
OF universal credit. The Banks looked up an.
said the Ohio Life and 7Iust was the gunpos "
Ger which blew them up. But sll the inancia
anairs OF that Company. Of any Importance
were conducted in New York, and Nr. Ludlow
was the well qualified individual who was Sc.
iected by New York sagacity for that trust
Again, OF all the failures Of the times, that o
lawrence, Stone Co. was the most gigantic
and disastrous; but Lawrence, Stone i Co
transacted their business in New York and il
| / 80 - suS A"uMSs w uGu moRAZt09 II QtOWu
4 up, there must be one moment in which the
spark was actually applied, and the Trust Com
pany may have been that spark. But the mag
aAne was there in the shape Of extended cred
It's, vast speculations, enormous foreign trade,
gambling 10 stocks, oriental luxury, aud Z fear-
iu!, laAity OF sound morals. There should be
something IN signs like these 10 warn prudent
men, and especially to those who take and give
credit extensively, that the financial system
might not be quite SO stable and secure as they
suppose. We allude to these facts simply to
show that the habit Of looking TO New York for
correct information on financial and commercial
subjects, may not always be entierly safe. So
long as the great body Of fertile soil, the mass
OF farmers, miners and labOrers, and the great
streams Ut internal commerce, lie in the Valley
OF the Ohio and the Mississippi, it will be much
wiser to look to these original sources of wealth
and production than to look to those who are
merely brokers' in other mems produo1A or FISH
ers on the ocean. We have recently seen eey.
eral statements made in New York, and circu.
lated through the country, which are very far
from corresponding with the facts. We see it
stated IN the interesting colums Of the New
York Independent, that the commercial world
| IS hoating on q sea of pro spsrity-money ia
cheap. trade is active, and the West abounds in
products which must be poured into New York,
because the farmers can get no other market at
cheap rates.
In anothe. paper, we see that the West has
raised most enormous crops-Wisconsin, for
examp!e-l5,00O,00O bushels OF wheat /; and
thus all debts will be paid, and all food cAeap.
In another statement, We see that it is only
necessary to continue the enlargement Of the
New York canals, (Which have been enarging,
like ladies' hoops. for the last ten years. to pour
the trade of the West, aud of Canada, at once
into New York, and thus remove The ony ob-
struet'on to the measureless tide Of surpluses
which are to put in from Chicago, Fon Du Lac,
Penbina and Puget's Sound.
We would not wantonly disturb any of these
dreams. But it will do harm to compare them
tor moment, with the realities before our eyes.
Commerce is apparently prosperous-money is
toleTably pleLty-the country is by no means
ID, or likely to be, q state of famine. We are
rich aud productive country, and were SO in
1887 MS much 80 to-day; yet there was severe
commercial crisis, arising partly from just such
exaggerated statements as We now see. Let US
look at some facts Of different aspect, and that
they may be se,n clearly, we will put them in
order.
l. As to the actual condition of money sup>
plies. From the lst of April to the lst Of Oct0-
tober, the banks of New York, New Orleans and
the Sub-Treasury lost ten millions Of dollars in
gold The basis OF supply in the great reser-
voirs was in April about fifty millions, and they
have consequently lost cne.ftth the basis Of cur
rency in six months, notwithstanding We have
in all that time dug $50, 900, 600 from the earth
In reply to this We are pointed to the discounts,
the currency and the calmness of commerce-
1t is said that the Banks have no difficulty, and
though they have less gold, they have enough.
But, how have they kept enough. The Econo-
mist says justly, that the ability Of the Banks in
New York to do this, depends entirely upon their
ability to draD from the interior. This they
have done till they have made money scarce
through the producing regions. Take for ex>
ample, the fact, that the banks of Kentucky
have been recently compelled to reduce their
current notes five millions, when they usually
have no such demand. Why is this? Obyi-
ouslY, because the New York and other Banks
at the east have drained their specie basis The
same thing probably has gone on throughout
the west. But how long is this to last. The
tables must soon be turned. Ii the west has
any surplus at all, the balance must soon be in
her favor. How long, then, can the Banks of
New York keep up their supply of coin? In the
week past New York Banks were depleted ST.
100000 more than the supply from the interior.
2. The statement that the West has enormous
eurpIuses is entirely erroneous. The wheat
crop is comparatively small. The oats were
short. The corn crop alone will be good. But
the central western States have ten million
Of people, and they need to be supplied as well
as others. 1t is well known that parts of Nichi-
gan, Iowa and Minnesota were almost in starva-
ton last winter, and it is notorious that the sup
plies at Chicago have greatly fallen off. They
will be greater this year, but there il large
vacuum to 6ll.
The supplies last year at Cincinnati we're
greater, but Cincinnati has actually sold large
amount of hour to the wheat country.
). The state of foreign trade is exceedingly
dangerous. We have imported an excess Of
goods 10 The amount Of not merely the Fifty
millions Of gold We dug out Of the earth, but to
point far hey ond il. ln addition to this, there
is a very large sum to be paid in interest on
bonds; and then (which few take into the ac>
COUNT, the foreign emigration is reduced almost
to nothing and the large amount OF coin thus
brought in is wanting.
Thus we see the realities OF our financial and
commercial condition, do not exactly correspond
with statements OF New York dreamers. There
is great commercial prosperity in the country;
but there are also signs OF danger and reasons
for watchtul prudence. Amidst these signs,
there are Two quite auspicious, which are also
contrary to the New York view of the case:
l. The people Of the interior are by NO means
50 HocH ia ueos as MauJ peopie euRPOeoi ceF-
tainly not in THIS region. On the extreme from
tie- IN the new States, there is relatively large
debt, Tor the people have hsd no time to accu-
mulste caRifsl, and compelled to use their
means in ~ kc vements. The number of people
however, in this condition are comparatively
small. Taken as whole, the entire indebted
ness of the northwest, in all forms does not ex-
coed Is per cent Of their property, not over
three years income. Of this, not more than
one third is In any shape . commercial debt
This fact ID by far the most important in the
present. condition Of monetary affairs. II the
people generally were rs much in debt % many
persons think, We should be in q most disastrous
crisis in three months They are Hot--that is
s:'e most suspicious sign in the present condition
oi financial affairs.