The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-04-03

egn trade ia not in hopeful, healthy
condition. In the present position of
cur national finances 1t has become dan
gerous to overlook any important iDtiu-
ence bearing upon trade, industry and tax
alton. Over-trading with foreign nations
has heretofore never failed to be dsas-
trous. A large revenue is now being
received from this source; when the
reaction, certain to come sets in, u very
deficient revenue from this source will
occur at the same time with heavy de-
ticiency in the internal revenue, for
paralysis Of domestic industry cannot
fail to attend this flood of foreign com
modities. The Treasury should not be
exposed to risks like those which occur
in The speculations of jobbers in stocks;
| it should never be forced into corner.
| There is imminent danger now for the
public Treasury, and for productive in
dustry, in over-importation. 1t Is one
of the evils that intensites itself. Those
engaged in production at home pause
when they apprehenda food of imported
goods; to continue is sure loss, perhaps
ruin. The foreign manufacturer is sell
ing only his surplus, taking care not to
crush his own market; the domestic
producer is affected not merely in his
surplus, but his whole stock must fall in
price, and he must lose heavily if not
fatally. 1t must be noted that a manu-
facturer makes goods yearly to twice or
more the cost of his establishment A
| fall of prices of % per cent. is the loss OF
half of his investment; q fall of 80 per
cent, which not unfrequently occurs in
such cases, is ruin. Of course In such
cases domestic taxes wholly fail from
sources affected thus even in moderate
degree. And it is not the actual fact of
a heavy importation which operates
| thus; the mischief is often very great
when mere apprehension is the cause.
The expenditure for raw material, wages,
and other incidentals, is so great that
business stops when great reduction OF
prices IL threatened. If British journals
announce that very large business will
be done with the United States, men
pause in presence of the danger, and if
! inquiry confirms their fears, production
| falls off, laborers lose wages, and paraly-
sis follows.
But this is far from the worst aspect.
Our domestic production of commodities
with which the foreign come in compe-
tition, approximates the value Of s., 900,
900, 900. There is scarcely ever less than
half this amount on hand III warehouse,
shop, store and In transit.
| A fall in prices of this stock of COM
modities of % per cent. is q loss to the
holders of $500, 600, 900; an if the re-
duction reaches 80 per cent, the loss may
he nearer 100000 600. The history of
commerce shows that the sudden impor-
tation of from $50, 100000 to 500, 900, 900
worth of foreign goods, may cause such
commercial revulsion as this. A com
| mercial panic, whether it relates imme-
diately to an apprehended contraction,
or threatened over-importaticn, is an
event fraught with unspeakabie evils,
too dreadful in country like ours, and
in circumstances like those in which we
are now placed, to be encountered, if
human sagacity or precautiOn can avoid
them.
There is at this time serious and we'll
founded appreheDsions that the present
heavy importations will be continued, if
not enlarged. Fear begins to predomi-
nate, and pause in business is begin
ming to be felt. The evil of panic is
MT less than the evil of over-importation
and many believe that panic is sm-
pending.
For the benefit of those who % not
| iuiLy IediIEc Wnut pdulC iSj ~ nay NC
well to say that panic m tkes mon fear
that those who owe them Thousand upon
thousands cannot pay that they cannot
themselves. pay the thousands they owe;
it makes men rush to sacrifice their
property in falling market. men in a
panic see nothing but ruin, disaster and
insolvency, and they do much more to
intensity the alarm and the evil, than
to allay and prevent. A panic, such as
| happened in this country in 1897 1847
and 1857, would inflict u loss II wv in this
country far more than 5000, 000, 900, that
| is, of 80 per cent. on the value of COM
modities on hand, and the laborers of
the country would lose a much larger
amount. The danger to the Treasury
and to public credit cannot be estimated,
but judging from what has occurred on
| similar occasions, in forncr commercial
and industrial commissions, it may be re-
garded as certain that the deficiency of
the internal taxes would be more than
half, for they are levied just where the
calamities of the revulsion would fall
thickest and heaviest upon the trade and
industry of the country.
This peril of overtrading in foreign
| commodities is not only to be weighed
in reference to its paralyzing effects
| upoH uOucStic plouuCCiVu, uub 10 It's
bearing upon public finances and the
issues of our banks. We are now run
ming up debt for goods forced upon our
markets by foreign merchants and man
ufacturers, large portion of which will
be only demanded when we commence
specie payments, The exporters of
| goods to our markets have heretofore
given US specimens of their ability to
extend their credit several years, and
| finally to exact payment at the moment
| when it required the greatest sacrifice
to make it.
In the presence of these and many
like considerations, the conclusion Is
forced upon us, that special legislation
| is necessary to save our internal trade
and home industry from widespread
damage, which, when it comes, must
also seriously impair our Internal Reve-
nue.. We may safely import all the
foreign commodities that our own mer-
chants, in the exercise of proper dis
erection, would order. They are judges
of what the markets will bear, but we
cannot safely admit that all foreigners
in different parts of the world may send
to our ports. Their over production,
over-trading and their irregular COM