The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-08-18
is 1T A PANIC?

Nv hoN"' WI 81 Va hpDu' w
5 week in this couHtry has for the last tw
: weeks been raised 20 40, and some OF ther
1 are OF such an exceptional character as I
3 suggest serious tears of an impending oil
fashioned grand commercial panic and re
vulsion, The beginning OF il was tn
= suspension Of the st. Adams, VI, Trus
Company, three weeks ago brought abou
by reckless speculation IN railroad scCuu
{. ties. This was followed by the Boston
/, crash IN the shoe and leather trade
through the failure Of the Shaws, CopclanC
, " Co., NC, &c. Then came the "em bar
rassment' of the First National Bank o
\ Indianapolis, dragging down with it III,
Indiana Banking Company of the same
! city and the National Bank of Lawrence
burg. These had become crippled through
the breaking of the lard corner in Chicago
and indulgtng in other risky speculatlons
III wheat and other produce. These notable
failures were naturally followed by uneasi-
ness on the New York stock board, with 4
RAPID decline, amounting almost to panic,
in all non-dlyidend paying stocks, such as
the Northern Pacific, Erie, &c. Then on
Monday came the suspension of Cecil,
Ward d Co., leading Wall street stock
brokers, followed on Tuesday by the still
more serious suspension Of BallOu 81 Co.,
and on Wednesday of E. G. Stedman e. Co.
That these failures, with their attendant
excitements, should tend rapidly to bring
about that widespread feeling of distrust
and want of confidence which has been at
the bottom of all our great business pancs
and commercial revulsions is an almost
unavoidable conclusion Notwithstanding
that the general business of the coun-
try Is in so strong and healthy a condi-
ton that such an outcome seems quite i'm
possible. Money was never so cheap and
plenty as 1t Is now, the country has the
promise of unusually good crops, our tor
eign trade is in a healthy condition with
exchanges IN our favor, and most of the
great manufacturing industries are IN a
sound condition.
Heretofore all our great commercial re-
vulsions found their main cause in over
trading, over-production and wild specu-
Iatlon. In 1886 the crash came from over.
speculation in lands, followed by great
losses to the public through the crash of
the Wildcat banks. In 1857 the chief
cause of the panic was over-issue OF and
in state securities, fol. |
Owed by the downfall of the STUN p-tail"
banks and great public losses through the
depreciation of thier currency; and IN 1872
he crash came through the wild rage for
abroad building suddenly checked by the
collapse of Jay Cooke anu his Northern
Pacific Elephant.
Are there similar causes at work to
)ring about great panic and revulsion
low? Time will soon develop. Meantime
he ups and downs in the New York stock
markets are hardly signs, much less causes
VI sum hl OulCpIllc. 1 Dt operations Oh
he New York stock board, OF late years,
lave become almost the exclusive affair of
closely knit band of spectators and
,amblers and have no relation to the gen.
raj condition OF the country. The same
5 true of the operations on the leading
cards OF trade, The making and breaking
t corners in stocks, as in wheat, corn,
ard or pork, has become mere gambling
cvlce and of such frequent occurrence as
, cause little more than passing remark
he great business public, the men of mo- ,
ey who are seeking safe lnvestslcnts, have ,
)ng ago abandoned these gambling hells.
I Is not 10 the stock or produce exchanges ;
nat we must look for indicia of the
ext great commercial crash. These cata-
lysms never come twice IN the same way
r originate twice IN the same causes: but ,
owever they are born, the arrangement ,
lust be more widespread and deep-seated ,
ian the ramltlcatons of mere stock and
rain gambling influences.