The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-10-26
tbs Approaching Pevoiu,son-signs OF
Danger I'm the south.

Inc riBHs VI tuc dPPto~sh'bS iVfoiulVu are
accommodating in the Souts, and those who
watch with care the shadows that coming events
cast before them do not fail to appreciate the
danger on the verge Of which we are treadiDg.
In the condition Of the country and the po-
litical causes which are at work 10 produce
banefu results upon its material interests, there
il great similarity between the present time
and the United States Bank contest that pre-
coded the great financial revulsion OF 1887.
As like causes produce like effects, we are
forced to entertain the conviction that the fnan-
cial, commercial and industrial interests Of the
whole country are approaching collapse iden-
teal with that Of 1887, but greater in its ruin
aud desolation, inasmuch as these interests
are far greater relatively to the popula-
ton than they were then. During the
period Of time that has elapsed since
that disastrous epoch, our population has
increased in arithmetical progression, while the
operations Of our industry and trade may be
said in general terms, to have increased in geo.
metrcal progression. Every one who remem.
bers the great conflict Of the times Of Jackson
and Van Buren,, cannot fail to perceive the
parallel that exists between then and now.
In his first message to Congress, ir 1929,
General Jackson introduced the passage which
initiated the contest between the political ele-
ments and the great financial interests repre-
sented by the United States Bank. From that
period the war went on continuously bank
sometimes expanding the currency and at Others
IL ~; pti fin 10
the movement eliminated in the universal
ruin of merchants, bankers and politicians.
All were swept away by the crash Of 1857.
In 1910 new political party came sweeping
into power, bringing the Bankruptcy act to
relieve the crushed energies Of the coun-
try, and new charter for the bank, which
vainly hoped for resuscitatioB. This great
contest was one in which the political and
material elements of the country combined
jus. as they are combining now, for the strug
gle II was among the State banks of New
York and New England that General Jackson
found his strongest allies against Nick Biddle
and his monster institution. The greatest field
Of operations OF the United States Bank was in
the South, and particularly in the cotton-grow
ing States The Northern banks felt its power,
and were avaricious Of its profits; and, blind
to the ruin that triumph would entail, they con-
spired to crush it. The fall OF the United States
Bank carried down the whole fabric Of credit
in the South, causing q revulsion and panic
which speedily spread over the whole North.
Similar causes are now in operation to pre-
duce similar result A great party, based
upon the idea that slavery is an evil and a
crime, has been organized in the North with the
declared purpose of making war upon the so
cial institution. The railroad men, the bank
ers, the merchants and all the industrial classes
in New England and the growing Northwest
have blindly allied themselves with the North
ern politicians and demagnssg.ees in this question
Nor are those Of New York and the Central States
entirely free from the same error. The institution
Of slavery lies at the foundation Of society and
all its material interests In the Southern States
For self preservation the bankers and merchants
there are compelled to ally themselves with the
the Southern politicians, and already their fears
be felt. The contest hAing hatwsen q CONTROL
Ling political sentiment in the North and the
material interests Of the South, the banks are
compelled to strengthen themselves In every
way. They foresee the necessity Of holding on
to their specie to meet probable contingencies,
and they have begun to contract their loans,
throwing out frat on the list paper payable in
the North. In this movement the banks of yir-
ginia, North Carolina and Georgia have already
acted, without concert, but to the came end in
effect. 1t is impossible for the other Southern
banks not to follow them, and as the political
excitement increases the process of contraction
must increase with 1t.
This excitement will not be allayed by
the election Of Lincoln. The triumph Of the
black republican party will give 1t an
immense and a sudden impulse, and the
lightning will fash from every quar-
ter Of the Southern skies. Thus Seward
Lincoln and their blind and reckless followers
are hurrying the South to a financial panic and
revulsion exactly similar to that OF 1887, but
which will be far more blasting in its effects.
Northern credit and Northern trade will find II
impossible to stand against the coming storm,
ha2u Will ~ uONH UcloIc Aue cOutu Will
be forced to make immense sacrifices for self
preservation and to seek new outlets for the
products Of its Industry, and new means Of
sending them forward. The North, unwilling
Of the dangers that would attend a servile war,
and Of the fears which must dwell In every
home surrounded by Southern slaves knows
nothing Of the impulses which govern the South.
ern mind, and is blindly conserving to the tri-
umph Of political theories, which, by warning
with the material elements Of Southern society,
will produce a state Of fear and ruin there that
will inevitably react upon every interest here.
Let our financial and industrial interests be
warned In time before the scenes Of desolatioa
that marked the elimination Of 9 similar con-
tee, in 1887 are repeated In ruin and dismay
now.