The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-01-18
Failures in Is6s.

A810n ]
The first and chief failure was the
Southern Confederacy. 1t went down
Slth crash early in the year.
The mercantile failures during the
year, as We learn from r G. Dun Zoos
Mercantile Agency, in the Northern
States, amounted to $50 involving sI7.
$4,000 liabilities, twice the sum Of
either of the preceding years. This is
accounted for in the fact that an .pu- ,
snAlly large proportion Of the f~silures
occurred in the larger cities, where the
liabilities OF firms are apt 10 be great
The figures for 1864 Hre IS, 759, ZOO 1868, |
Si,SSssOO0. The New York Dry Goods
Reporter thinks the smsIlness Of these
hgures remarkable, when il is consider
ed That they represent inflated values,
and consequently a much less amount
oil actual capital than when all values
were measured in specie. Reduced to
gold valuation they would not exceed
one-third Of the sum Of the total fail
ures of ls60, and would be only one
eighth the amount of those of 1861.
This remarkable falling off is due
to the fact that credit has been almost
abolished during the war for where
there is no credit there can be no fail
ures. II would be false reasoning TO
conclude, from the smAliness of the
number of failures, that the trade of
the country has been prosperous, or, as
Dun & Co. express it. that the fact sfn>
dicates q degree Of solidity and capaci-
ty in the mercantile community most
gratifying for the present and promis-
ing for the future" The diminution of
failures reflects the contraction Of cred
its, and nothing more. If the writer Of
this annual circular considers that a
period of cash trading is likely to be a
time OF commercial prosperity, then his
conclusion may have an intelligent ba-
sis but 20 us the contraction of credits
means the Limitation Of production and
the idleness Of capital, 3 condition of
affairs by no means either gratifying
for the present or promising for the fu-
ture While, therefore, il is satisfac-
tory TO find that few have suffered from
failures, it is yet unsatisfactory to re-
feet that Tins immunity has arisen from
causes which imply a contraction of
business and a decline from the aver
age prosperity Of the country.
To speak Of prosperity, during the
last three years, is sheer folly. What
prosperity can there have been while
Two and a half millions of the popula-
lion hss been withdrawn from industry
into the distinctive pursuit Of war
What prosperity can there have been
while We have been scattering three
thousand millions OF our wealth in desc
lating Wsrfare2 We may appear 10 have
now a larger wealth than in 1860 but
LET u estimates be reduced one-third
TO reduce them 20 gold valuation, and
our resources will shrink into much
humber dimensions than we are wont
TO boast Ii can do no good to attempt
10 conceal from ourselves the fact that
We have immensely damaged ourselves
by the war. The process may have
demonstrated Our great strength; but
a has left US much weaker and that we
must discover so o Is the return 10
the specie basis undeceiyes US Of the
~giittertng delusion imposed by the pre-
vAiling imitation. We have lost ire
coyerably %One-ffty Of the wealth OF the
country and the more fully we &C
knowledge the fact the more likely
shall we DO 70 apply ourselves diligent-
BY 10 repairing the loss. Commerce
has 70 carry this huge national burden
upon its back, and cannot therefore in
future be 90 prosperous as in the past
Let this fact be practically acknowl-
edged by the people at large for it is
no more healthy for . community than
for an individual to forget its debts.
England, France aud the United
States.
The New York Express OF the 18th
says Passengers by the Scotia who
have resided for a long time in Pariss
tell US that there Is n Secret Treaty be-
tween France and Great Britain 10 unite
against the United States in case of war
o. account of Mexico aud Macmillan.
We doubt it,-but il il is true, it was
made during the war, and will De, & i
has not been, abandoned by EnglRndi
IT, a. the British Minister has Just said,
no nation r~ejOices more cordially
than Great Britain ~ the close Of our
eiFH var, that Government is not go
ing 10 help NaKimiliEn 10 remain in
Mexico, or Louis Napoleon in trying 20
keep him there England has done
enough with her AlabamAs and SbenaR-
doahs against the United States, with
o1t adding 10 present causes of COM
plant Diplomacy is not now what it
was in the reigns Of Queen Elizabeth
Philip II, aud Henry Ill Ministers
aud Governments cannot as then, in,
.daige In secret alliances against third
parties-Ana while the United States
would not like them, OF foreign WAITS
growing out Of them, il does not fear
such combinations