The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-31

buyers, lendera and borrowers most dh o0nrre.
gate, matters run as smoothly ~ the most ad.
yentufous speoulator could desire. There h
neither monetary tightness nor dlnieulty, nor
the apprehension OF diniemty Tue banks lend
freely. and the daily transactions At tho Clear
ing House reach n hgure which ak years ago
would have been considered fabulous. Nearly
the entire amount which the national banks are
empowered to issue Is In circulation, and, added
10 the amount OF Government notes, has pro-
duced an imitation that would have been inn
possible in spece-payng days. An enormous
amount OF commercial paper-much of II at
long dates--is afoat And, altogether, things
betoken yet higher prices for stocks, and con
tinuance Of the flush times which render bold
There are, nevertheless, SIGNS and tokens in
the business world which the prudent manu-
iacturer and trader ought not to disregard.
Though speculation is rife, trade generally is
dull In the dry goods branch especially the
depression is severe. "It has not been so bad
since 1857" is the report we received from one
quarter yesterday; and the statement tallies
the interior trade West or South. The cause of
tn depression Is represented as very simple.
The retailers of the country are overstocked;
they are not buying because they have not sold
the stocks they purchased months ago; and the
stagnation they suffer reacts upon the Eastern
markets. The failure of a dry goods commits
sionhouse last week is one of the earliest results
while the fact that the paper of the firm sold at
six per cent. alter the suspension had occurred
seller and buyer being alike ignorant of tue
circumstance establishes, the good credit 1t
enjoyed at the last moment. Manufacturing
failures are reported from Massachusetts and
Connecticut; and agents OF woollen manufac-
turers make no secret OF their apprehension of
difficulty arising from over-production.
How sadly the South has fallen short of bust
ness expectations may be inferred from much of
the correspondence which we have of late pub.
lished from that section. The letter from our
careful correspondent in Georgia, reporting the
froH do nOrn1i iffn AaU 20
must be accepted, we fear, as equally applicable
to nearly the entire South. And what is the
picture? Every store Is Overstocked. Tne
shelves of the retailers are crowded with arti-
cles for which but limited demand could exist
at any time, but for which there. could be no
demand whatever in these days of Southern
poverty. The Traders have been supplied with
MORE antiques and silks, with costly jewelry
and articles OF Uertu, with the daiotest wines
and liquors, with cutlery and china of the
choicest patterns-with all that might tempt
gay and hospita6lc people in an era of none
tary sunshine. But, unluckily, the articles
remain upon the shelves, unsold. The would-be
buyers have no money. And though the store
keepers have obtained their stocks on credit,
they have no inclination to sell upon the same
terms.
The gift of prophecy is not required to tell the
certain consequence of the unwIse extension of
the credit system which this state of affairs
reveals. Many of the Southern traders, no
doubt, justified some degree OF accommodation
by the honorable character of their settlements
at the close of the war. But grave error has
been committed in allowing a system of almost
unlimited credit to grow up while the industry
and resources OF the South remained ia their cha.
otto condition. And not only credit has been
granted, but, in numberess instances, credit Tor
heightened periods, as the mercantile paper
now outstanding sufficiently proves. Compe
tition may have led to the adoption of the sys-
TEN, fromithe penalties OF which it is not easy
to divine an escape. .i . .-
Let us not be deceived then by the ease which
OBTAINS in the money market, or the confidence
which seemingly animates large and hinfuen-
tial class of the community. The bu;iness
barometer may not indicate panic; for that can
not come in its fercest forms 50 long as the
circulating medium continues inconvertible
But there Is ample ground for inculcating the
necessity of greater caution than has for some
time past characterized the mercantile world
The animation of the stock market does not
extend TO ordinary business; aud nothing can be
gained by concealiDg fact, for the probable
effects OF which we should steadily prepare