New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-11-14

PANIC.
An individual deeply in debt urgently danned
yet without the wherewitha to pay, is in a
rather uncomfortable predicament, unless he does
not care for his pecunary reputation, and is able
to set his creditors at defiance In this excep-
tional case, he is not in trouble, but his credit
ors are. They may, if they choose, as he might
if he had tried to pay, call the resulting perpex-
ity panic" The term is rather loose, but it
answers.
In 1857, we had general "panic." Europe
had been at war, with short crops, and had
bought our Food freely at high prices; she was
now at peace, with prospect of ample haryests,
and of course would take but little grain of us,
and that at low prices. We had been importing
freely and living fast for years, and had just re-
duced our Tariff 80 as TO open still wider the
floodgates of importation. Our new Summer
Grain rpened and was harvested, but there was no
Asmand for il save limited one at low rates.
Ne price had to fa-there was absolutely no
alternative-and farmers who had confidently ex-
pected to pey their heavy stOre-bills with Wheat
of S14 TO $l} per bushe were obliged to take
81 and ultimately 81. 1t was impossible to pay
for their sons city made cafskin boots and their
daughters enormously expanded silk dresses at
these rates. especially as the harvest itself was
rather light one. They held back their crops,
denounced us for telling them that the price
would not advance because it could not, let their
merchants fail on their payments here for want
of payment from their debtors, and finally
sold their grain for from twenty to forty per cent.
less than they could have readily obtained by
selling early, as we advised them. Meantime,
many of our City merchants broke, for want of
what Country merchants owed and could not
pay them-they being prevented by the delin-
ouency of their debtors. Many if not most Banks
had to profess to stop Specie Payment in conse-
quence though we presume but few OF them
actually refused TO redeem their notes. This was
what is called panic" but might more
precisely have been termed general inability to
pay our debts We had bought on credit of for
eiQn nations some Two Hundred Millions worth
of SILK and Sugar, Tea and Brandy, Cloths and
Wines and had consumed most of them, and
when called on to pay we had not the means
Hence everybody dunning and nobody paying
We have now another Panic" or rather,
the premOntOry symptoms Of one The Stock
Market has the blind staggers; the Banks are
reefng topsals, and various lame ducks go halt
ing about the streets. One of the moving
causes of this structure would seem to be resO.
luton of the Chivalry to punish Josh Henry and
his compatriots for their failure to beat Lincoln
L 10
debts. 1t is an odd sort Of reprisal for our
80" '-"ss reminding us of the muddy
headed savage who, having lvov rottIr WIN HIS
enemies, goes home and gives his god a whaling.
However, as Josh likes it, we do not complain.
| The South is about finishing its harvest, the
value of which it owes Gas usually to the jobbers
of this and other seaboard cities. 1t has eaten
and drank up the proceeds, but has the crop it.
self still on hand. In view of its prospective bolt
| from the Union, it holds on to the crop, pro-
posing to sell it for cash or other ready pay, and
let its heavy debt to our jObbers stand over to
some convenient season. Meantime, it draws all
| its balances in specie from our banks, and is
ready for direct trade" with Europe-that is,
| for sending its products to somebody, anybody
! else than those to whom it owes them. We call
| that smart.
| OF course, our City must feel this-not her
banks only, but her merchants and manufac-
turers. The failure to pay not only depriYes
| them of money that they confidently expected
and sOrely need; it necessarily destroys their con-
! tdence III their customers and prevents their
| selling those customers more goods on credit.
! We shall all feel this during the Winter close
, upon us; shall We not also comprehend and
mr., ct by il! Shall it not teach us to restrict
opr cr, dts to men Of known sOlvency and In
tegritv. who do not want to pay ten TO fifteen
nor cent NOR, i'll consideration of having eight
70 fifteen months credit Why dould those who
sell their products for cash down buy everything
thew need on such long, loose credit ? Can the
system be of real benefit to anybody! Aud
though burned children never do avoid the fire,
however they may transiently dread it, may we
not hope that the lessons we are now taking
will do something toward permanent reform of
our pestilent no-systern of Mercantile Credits
We do not know how much further the pres
ent Panic may gO--prObably quite stretch
When property that every body knows to be worth
dollar is hurled on the market and sold for
seyentv-iye cents, we know nOreasOn why it should
stop at that point rather than run down to sixty
or fifty. Panics are seif-aggrayating-the naked
fact that security or other valuable is sold far
below lis known worth tends to sink il still