Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-10-09

month marked change came over th
spirit Of the depositors. Over fou
millions of deposits were withdrawn j
the seven day6M1 blowing, and owe
fourteen millions ein the next twent,
The 14th Of October was the date q
tke banks suspension. On the, da
following Withdrawals ceased an,
restorati0n egh. One of tn
cacses alleged by the bank
themselves Themselves for their su.
pension was the sudden with
drawal Of country balances, an,
for this the telegraph was Responsible
1t not only took the news to th
country banks of the collapse of credi
in the city, but brought back thei
orders demAa1ding their deposits il
specie. The Clearing House. too, wa
alleged to- aid in ipcreasing the genera
collapse: It's daily settlements in coi1
forced the smaller banks into contract
ing their loans, into sacrifices of prop
erty, and finally ilto bankruptcy.
Default at the clearing House became
the Banquo's ghost that appeared al
the bank b board of all the smaller insti.
tutions. The most universally accepted
cause for the panic of 1857 is the vio-
lent contraction of,bank loans immedi.
ately after the 9th of August. And
this was entirely the action Of the
banks, and they had only themselvea
to blame. It was, too, the expansion
Of banks previous to the panic that
laid the foundation for the memorable
commercial cEisiss of 1857 @
81 .
In the early months Of 1856 the
financial position and feeling in Lon.
don vas in morbid state; organized
bear cliques formed during the months
Of March and April, and we're bearing
all kinds Of stocks, but especially the
newly created financial companies and
several Of the stock banks, Of which the
Agra and Masterman was q central
object. Although Overend l. Gurney'a
company was selected for attack.
yet no c1eone of the most sanguine
bears dreamt of the really rotten
state of the great discountine
house. On the beginning of May,
1855, people OF Change andi in the CITY
congratulated themselves that the
morbid feeling in financial affairs was
past, and the stocks all round were
considered better and stronger. These
delueions almost invariably follow the
gnaatest disasters. On Thursday, the
8th of August, 1866, was walking ut,
Newgate street about four p. H.. when
I met one Of those noisy, busy men
who hear and know everything first.
I was on the opposite side of the street
when this man bawled out to me,
Did you hear Overend. Gurney's have
failed Z" Walking acrosst he street
to meet him {a dozen men
or more were already arrested
by his loud communication,) ]
cautiously said "hush," whom with o
louder tone he bawled ont again, 81
say Gurney's have failed +" By this
time perfect mob had gathered ro1nd
US. 11eft the crowd and wended nv
way to the we'll known corner house
in Lombard street. To my astonish.
ment saw no crowd. no excitement
The only sign of suspension was.th1
closed doors Of the house. It must
:be. understood that, although no
official business is done in bank afte,
three p. H., yet the doors arc always
kept open until six p. II. for clearinRa
and taking bills up. Going into the
opposite building Of Messrs. Barnetts,
Hoar & Co., I saw one of the tellers, who
significantly shook his head. ssYou
will find great excitement tomorrow. >
said he, "the tumble has come" Loi-
tering and lounging about, I still kept
by some mysterious attraction nea,
the great fallen corner house. Twilight
had Get in, and the crowd began tc
increase. Suddenly man passed tht
crowd and said in an audible whisper;
az ifspeaklng to himself. 1.-THE Agra 1
Mastern'an will 60 next" Immediately
the theme was taken up by thu
bystanders, and it was pretty vel
settled that the bank would fail, O.
course no reason was asked or Qiven
It must he stated that althouei
all London knew of the failure
by five or six p. n, yet no excitement
ensued. There was q sort Of Gloom
prevailing early on Friday, thatis earl,
for London. About ten A. n. q vas
crowd was swaying to and fro from th,
Poultry, or the Mansion House, through
Lombard street, Threadneedle street
and Margate street, and the memora
ble Black Friday had fairly set in. Blu
it is remarkable that, Will
the exception of the Allianc.
Bank, no run was noticeable, and ye
every ten minutes brought news O
suspensions of banks-the Euronear
Bank, the Bank Of London. three O
the newly created Indian banks. Tn,
discounting houses fell down like nine
pins. What at that time seemed
strange to me was to see IN unusua
number of Quakers in Lombard street
dressed as they were in their stiff
stolid dresses. Their appearance only
added more to the general apprelen
sion OF something awful going on. By
twelve o'clock news came that the banf
act was suspended. But calmly speaking
now, 1 feel quite certain that no res
relief was felt by this announcement
Events later proved it. However. tc
compare q New York panic with 8
London panic is about az good a
comparing an evening at the Mabille
With prayer meeting. The solemnity,
the gloom, and actual mental
distress of London panic j,
the extreme painful. No ont
thinks of eating, drinking or smoking
Stolen whispers pass about, and NJ
one would consider it propriety *
speak above his breath, while in New
York the iveliest times, the gayes
lunches, the most spicy Jokes. are tn,
order of the day. In fact great disap.
Pointment is felt by a New York Grove
If the panic for ten minutes slackens
The panic in London really only lastet
that is to say, the excitement-dur
ing Friday. On Saturday the usua
quiet appearance in the streets wa
restored, although more than G2O, 600.
GOO in firms and banks went bankrup
after the excitement, In London th
shock of Black Friday was enough +
search out the most tender spots Il
financial weakness, and it took fiy
long years to restore or rather rebuilt,
the structure anew 49, 49, :
| DL1dk FRIDAY.
! While the other great commerc;a
crisi which at different epochs hav
held the credit of the country in tn
balance have been brought about NOR
by the blundering of fnanciers tina
through the systematic eff0lts on th
part OF one man to effect such resulte
Black Friday was solely and entirel
the work of a clique, of which Ja
Gould was the head. During the cras
of failures on that dismal day the or
was that "some one had blundered.
but that great crime was being CON
mitted. The history of this crime !
the history of Black Friday, which wa
a massacre in the midst Of a finanoi,
peace. In August, 1859, ltheze W.