Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-12-08
The Present Financial Crisis.

The Present Financial Crisis.
1t is impossible for any one who feels an
interest in the prosperity of our community,
to remain unmovcd by the prcscnt ceiling of
uneoslncsS which prevails in the commercial
classes of this city; and although have my
self no personal interest in the matter, it
seems to me well to bring before the public
impressions gathered from conversations with
business men, and thus to invite their atten-
tion to the question, whether Il commercial
crisis can be avoided.
The cotton trade being the main spring of
our commerce, and our whole prosperity de-
pending upon it, it will be unnecessary in
this communication to so beyond it,
The present system of conducting that trade
appears to be as follows A., factor in Sa
vannah, sells cotton to b., an English buyer,
who draws upon his house in England and
pays for that cotton with his sterling cx
change; his house in England we shall call
{. c., who, We will suppose to be Manchcs
ter manufacturer, has previously sold to an
equal amount goods manufactured from South
ern cotton to ID. in New York, and is the cred.
itor of ID, A. sends his sterling bin to
New York ID. purchases it, with it to nav
his debt to the Manchester manufactured
the money with which he buys it being de-
rived to great extent, from the previous
sale of similar imported goods to Southern
merchant In other words, England is the
debtor of the South and creditor Of the North,
and our local transactions have been effected
by the Southern creditor getting the North.
crn' debtor to cash his drafts on England
The present embarrassment in the cotton
market seems to have arisen from distrust
at the North Of our Southern merchants.
founded upon two grounds The first is Il
doubt of the solvcncy of Southern houses
! during the present troubles as drawers upon
| England the second, doubt whether cur
! Southern purchasers of manufactured Goods
will buy from Northern merchants and meet
/ their obligations. This distrust existing, and
supposed to continue, ID. declares to purchase
sterling, and our seller A., not being able to
cash his sterling bill at home or at the North,
must either collect his draft through the mail
steamer to England, or decline to sell for any.
thing but bullion. If he takes the sterling
in payment, he is delayed before he can get
, his moncy-if he insists upon bullion, he
must decline to sell at ALL for the gold is not
I in the hands of the buyers Does this involve
/ inevitable stoppagc of cotton sales, or mere.
/ ly delay or ortcmporary cessation Of trade p
think that, with proper discretion ON the
/ part OF our community, only the latter
The moment that it is understood in Eng
land that sterling exchange will not bring
cotton, and that gold alone will, gold must
come or the mills must stop, and their million
of operatives be driven by starvation into re.
bolon The gold then will be sent until a
/ system be cStabliscd by which sterling can
be negotiated with us at home l. the mean.
/ time, it is certainly clear that our business
men, among themselves, and our banks. as the
/ governing spirits in money matters, must OK.
tend ample mutual credit and banking facli-
ties, thc latter being the more practicable, as
the Legislature is passing bill for Suspcn-
Sion,) until our trade shall revive by the an.
ticipatcd Inauguration of specie payment for
cotton. Whatev"r may be the course of po-
Iltlca events, we must anticipate for some
weeks, l&iay and depression in our market.
Duie 'nIcy are far from that ruin which will
certainly follow sudden attempt to exact
debts from each other in this period of bus
ness Stagnation.--, ,Nurdi,nuh NtwS