| Show commercial PANIC IN ENGLAND the telegraphic te legra p hie news in the dispatches published today to day tells telis of a serious and seemingly unexpected commercial panic in england which is reported to have culminated on the loth dinst xi from ram the steps taken to meet this crisis its magnitude and the alarming nature of the consequences likely to result from it are at once apparent this thid is so independent of the immense amounts which some of the fhi fal failures lures represent the suspension of the bank of england charter act Is isa a measure that in the eyes eyres of english commercial men alithe and the british government nothing but hut the most extreme and urgent necessity would justify the object of that suspension is obviously to prevent the heavy drain on the bank specie which is apparently expected the bauk bank of england notes are at par all the time and redeemable in coin when f ver ever presented A heavy run on the bank with its own notes would seriously lessen its amount of coin and place the mos most vital interests of the nation in in peril it is the government bank and th the tho e importance of the present panic may bo be ati understood by the haste with which provision is about to be made by that government to protect it the failures already announced though few in number are exceedingly heavy and may reasonably be looked upon uro ii as but the precursors of others the suspension lon ion of one nirm firm f irm for an amount that may be set down in round numbers at from sixty to eighty m millions 1 of dollars would by the very connection that binds commercial houses together cause many others to tumble with it then there are failures announced in different diff erent amounts from one million to twenty millions of dollars the most intense tense iia lif excitement prevailed in financial circles business was almost suspended and a perfect panic prevailed in the great commercial cities of england in liverpool there was an au increased panic in the cotton market on the morning of the lith in manchester it amounted to a complete panic while in glasgow the iron brokers resolved to suspend ld business till the a very significant proceeding this occurred only eighteen days ago it may be raging still every mail from europe may bring intelligence of its effects becoming becom ingmore more spread men naturally inquire what has caused it what does it mean what will be the Te results suits panics of this character tell of very tery extensive trad trading ingon on fictitious capital they tell of bills transferable to pay notes and other liabilities which there is not capital to meet of debts falling due which there are not assets to cover of heavy business men apparently in possession of vast capital yet moving from day to day on credit and floating paper it is a species of inflated trading which the wider it swells produces more serious consequences arien arlen a collapse ensues the firm of crerend oye Cye rend gurney co has been looked upon as one of the most substantial and reli reil relia rella able blein in britain it may have assets to cover its liabilities and it may not but if U has hag basi hasi those assets are aro not imme 1 vai val yai lable consequence that many thany firms that have been I 1 trading largely ely on fictitious capital mu must musi st sink when the least pressure is brought to bear on them the results immediately and directly affect the mercantile class and through the heavy blow struck at business they will also in a more serious degree affect the working classes the evil cannot be estimated so well by te number of firms that may succumb as by the amount of misery and su frering suffering entailed e d upon tho the working classes through even a temporary suspension of business the evils resulting from the cotton famine have not yet been fairly overcome and this coming BO so speedily after it seems like an accumulation of misery upon the laboring poor still it has not been so entirely unexpected figures do not always represent facts and the apparent prosperity of great commercial houses is not at all times a safe rate crite erite criterion rioh of their substantiality many clear thinking men looked for this and tried to prepare for it even while the nation was suffering from the cotton famine but it has come and it would be useless at present to speculate on its probable extent or the results that may eventually grow out it its effects will most likely be seriously felt on this side of the atlantic it is not to be supposed that the commercial men of our own nation have been altogether free from this trading on fictitious capital it is more than probable that they have acted on it to a very considerable extent though this may be called a money panic in england and money is reported plentiful in new york business in the latter place has been unsteady and uncertain for some time the suspension of a number of firms on the other side of the atlantic largely engaged in business with the united states would be speedily 1 1 I y felt in the east and might place commercial matters there in in a very precarious condition in a short time but of this a few weeks or it may be a a few days will speak with greater certainty meanwhile the dulle dulie dullest sf coni cony can realize that wo we live in times when important events tread closely on each other |
