The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-16
THE SPECULATIVE PANIC
Views of Some of the Principal Newspapers
as to It's Cause and Effect.

Philadelphia Press: The country and sound
are untouched.
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette: 1t amounts
to a brokers panic-no more. Legitimate bust
ness stands solid.
Philadelphia Times: The recent bank failures,
with the associated failures among New York
brokers, do not, in any proper sense, reflect upon
the integrity of the banks generally or the bank
ing system.
Louisville Commercial: The great safety for
the country now lies in the fact that our bust
ness is done on a specie basis, and there are
neither inflated values nor inflated credits out
side of the purely speculative arena to furnish
the material for a genuine panic.
Cleveland Leader: The panic will be confined
to Wall street among its gamblers, with the ex-
ception of some few innocent parties who may be
depositors or shareholders. The result will be
wounded ducks, depreciation for a time of stocks,
and temporary t~ightness in the money market.
New York World; The great bulk of our
financial institutions are sound and solvent, and
no harm can come to such. 1t is only the gam
blers and spectators of the financial world who
are being forced into liquidation, and the clear
ing away of this diseased fungus will leave the
general body in a most healthful condition.
New York Tribune: AS in all such cases, the
pendulum which had swung too far in one di-
reetion now goes too far in the other, and many
securities which have been too high are too low.
An amount Of unemployed capital never before
seen in the history of the country has been lying
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what has happened. 1t is not likely to wait
much longer.
New York Jounal of m A few spec
ulators have come to grief, their dupes are en-
tangled with them, and not a few innocent per
sons have been called to suffer. This is the com
mon lot. When a tree rotten to the core falls
with a crash to the earth it is not likely ~toinjure
many within its spreading limbs who have con
tributed nothing to it's fate. But there is no oc-
caslon for a widespread panic.
st. Louis Republican: The capital of the
country, which should be at the command OF
meritorious enterprises, is largely absorbed by
adventures and gamblers, and legitimate bust
ness is thus endangered and often paralyzed.
The enormous clearinghouse transactions of
New York and other cities, especially of the
East, afford some idea of the extent of this sort
of transactions which take the name of business.
Chicago Times: The failure of a dozen of
more or less disguised gambling shops and their
hackers in New York is not itself a circumstance
that would or can materially affect any legltl-
mate interest. The country possesses to-day all
the elements of wealth and prosperity 1t had a
month or year ago. Farms and factories, their
products, and strong and cunning hands that
produce them. cannot be destroyed by any per
turbation In New York.
Louisville Courier-J ournal: The financial ruin
of some half dozen of the leading spirits of the
Exchange would be to the people at large a ben
eft of inestimable value. 1t will be certainly
unfortunate if some good people suffer with
Jne1l, OUT q catastrophe 10 the genius VI CoiIupb
stock speculation and corporate mlsmanage-
ment as represented in the New York Stock Elk
change would be a permanent advantage to all
the business interests of the country.
Chicago Inter Ocean: The great grain-produc-
ing and cattle-growing West is prosperous, the
farmers are having a good seeding-tlme. and ev-
erything in the agricultural line looks now
than it did twelve months ago. The East must
get down out of the clouds and be content to
tread solid ground. Kite-hying is a dangerous
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Ward, Fish, Emo, Seney, or any other man,
should steer clear of speculations, all of which
are outside of legitimate banking operations.
New York Sun: Yesterdays panic in Wall
street was emphatically a panic among stock
gamblers and nothing else. 1t did not proceed
from failures among merchants nor from with
drawal of credits in mercantile circles. ltbegan,
eliminated and ended III stock speculations and
went no further. To be sure, merchants will be
Inconvenience by its results, but not for long,
and as soon as the wreck is cleared away bust
ness will resume it's regular course. The only
serious mischief which is likely to follow this
brief panic is the distrust for all banks arising
from the failure of a few among them which are
plainly traceable to dishonesty, or, to use the
mildest language, gross ~imprudence on the part
of their officers.
New York Herald: While advising the public
to keep out of Wall street, we would also advise
it to look upon the situation calmly, and see II 1t
is not for its interest to utterly discourage what
ever of distrust that now prevails. The city
banks are proverbial for their strength and safe
ty, and the few exceptions that have come to
light ought not to throw discredit upon all. The
trouble lies now in the losing speculations OF
brokers and others than in the banks. and after
the street has been cleared of the wreckage
caused by the recent failures, there might be an
opportunity for a clearer financial atmosphere.
As it is, its efforts will be confined to Wall street,
and the general trade and industry will not be
affected to any great extent.
New York Times: There has been remoter
and more general cause in the practical initiation,
caused by a mistaken policy with reference to
the payment of demand notes of the government
and the coinage of silver. Had the legal-tender
notes been either called in and paid, or funded in
United States bonds, instead of being left out
standing and undiminished, there would have
been no such mania for railway and other specu-
lation as has taken place. In addition to this we
have had the currency inflated by the coinage of
silver. forced bylaw, without reference to demand
or value. The two forces together were enough
to unsettle cooler and more active minds than
those of the average Americans. We are paying
the penalty of these radical errors, and unless
they are relieved we shall have to pay it over and
| over again. Meantime, it is obvious that those
business men only are safe who observe in their
private affairs the principles of sound manage
ment and firm integrity which the government
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