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A   WEEKLY JOURNAL  OF   THE FARM,  HOME,  AND   GARDEN.
loL. vin.
INDIANAPOLIS, SATTJKDAY, OCT. 18, 1873.
No.' 7.
:nmana farmer,
(Formerly North-Western Farmer.)
fcUfi y A OB1CULTVRAL PAPSB nr INDIAHA.
Devotes a Department to the Interests of the
-  order of the Patrons of Husbandry.
*an of Iridiwiia .State Board of Agriculture.
Endorsed by Indiana Horticultural Society, Indiana
Short-Horn Breeders* Convention, and many
County and District Societies.
J. O. KINGSBURY A BBO., •_**_*««*««. -
)PFICE,Ko.4, Journal Bulldlag,
'•   - ■ UTDIAJTAPOLIS, IND. ,
ScBscnrPnON TBBsrs.-t2.00; to clubs of four or
|more, S1.7S each.      ■        •-
Advertising Tsbics : Ordinary pages 15 cents per
Jllne, nonpareil measure, first insertion; extra charge
■for special location; special notices, 30 cents.
«    *.    For the Indiana Farmer.-
'   The Financial Panic.
At high noon on the 18th ultimo, the telegraph flashed to the seaboard cities the as-
Itounding intelligence, that—possibly the
■wealthiest banking house in the conntry—
I Jay Cooke k Co., the parent house at Phila-
Idelphia, had suspended business." Apparently none outside of the principal house
■anticipated or suspected such an event. In
Itruth, the fact was as startling to the con tilt ry as the deep detonation" following the
I lightning's frightening glare in the heavens,
Ito the locality where both are visible and
j audible.: The sweet solace that'the, suspen-
I sion would be only temporary/aecbmpiiiied
1 its announcement But speedily followed
Ithe statement of the suspension of other
I banking and. brokers' establishments, and.
I the numbers of the suspensions increased
I so rapidly that, figuratively speaking, the
I closing ol shutters over the country was
I like the rattle of irregular musketry along
I an extended army line,* and then the vast
legions of the worshippers at the,shrine.of
mammon, quick as the igniting of a powder
magazine, became excited, alarmed, frenzied. Th_en came the offices of the daily
Ipress, and their.columns teemed from day
I f.0n?a^ w-'t""* .con8ol»tory messages like these:
'The public mind .is ^uietibg"—(for the
I human mind is so constituted that it can
not endure such strain-but for a limited
time, and it must come back under the gentle sway of reason or become a wreck.)—
"A better feeling is prevailing"—'The
Government comes to the relief of Wall
street"-—" Confidence is being restored"—
" The lurid clouds of distrust and distressing apprehension are lifting up and brighter
skies are appearing"-—and more of tbe
same species. With these, we can not but
think delusive announcements of approaching bank and broker soundness, the public
mind bas become sensible and quiet. .And :
yet, not.as an alarmjst, we inquire is the
end near, or is it only delayed for a time?
Watchman 1 what are the omens? Are we
in the offing even,, where pilots are unnecessary, and the fiscal craft with foresail
and jib has only to glide into moorings in
the harbor of financial solvency and safety?
Let us be honest with ourselves'and look
the question, fairly in the face.
This country has had a vast amount of
hard financial experience. In intervals or periods over it spreads our entire National annals. At this timeacursoryretrospect of a por
tionof this historymustbe profitable. Without
claiming to be strictly accurate "In the matter of dates, we propose to review this history,.. .
Immediately succeeding the war of-1812,
was a period of .financial tronble and distress. Large numbers of people who had
supposed they were in circumstances that
would render life enjoyable to its latest
span, were reduced to absolute penury.
Recovering from this, the country went on
prosperously until say, 1825, when another
money pertnrbation befel_the country. But
with the energy, enterprise, and business
industry of our people, rendering them as
elastic as a rubber ball, business soon revived and the couutry flourished again. In
1837 the bottom fairly fell out, financially,
. and the cry of hard times, so often the
, chronic complaint of business indolence and
inefficiency, becabie the graphic statement
of a distressing reduction of values and
money stringency. In 1845, we think, the
suspension of the united States- Bank, at
Philadelphia, caused, considerable disturbance, in financia} matters./. In 184G, the
mere nominal tariff brought not so mnch a
money crisis, as distress among the arti-
zans. Labor begged in vain for employ*,
ment. In the summer of 1857, there were
distant mutterings of a_ coming monetary
crisis, but tlie entire business portion of the.
country wai heedless of -the warning. - Cen
tral Minios, that summer, received $1.50
per bushel for wheat, (an unusual price),
and from 50 to 56 cents for corn, and the
result was, the farmers of the Great West
bought of everything liberally, bought on *
credit, and aB if grain would never bring
less. * Bat with the late autumnal harvests
came the " melancholy days," in very truth.
Wheat sold at from 30 cents to 40 cents per
bushel, and money was a mockery and* a
fraud. Insolvency was wide spread over
the country. Thousands of men who had
toiled steadily from day to day through the
summer heat in the thought that they, were
adding something to their store,'found at
the close of the year, to their bitter disappointment, that they were worse tban penniless. The holidays of '57-8, were, 'in
the West, the dreariest of the • vear. The
war came in the spring of 1861, and the
last half of tbe year, though unmarked by
any money storm, was a hard time, business
was at a standstill, and money scarce. This
brings us down to "1873 for tbe next moni-
tary crisis.       "        ■""'■
Now, all these monetary and commercial
panics, and distressing periods,' it may be
said—with some trilling anachronism-—have
occurred in intervals of about ten years,,
have marked decades' of time. - Another
fact is to be stated in connection with these
financial disturbances—they resulted from
an overplus of paper money fictions, of paper tbat did not represent the standards of
value, gold and silver. Snch abundance of
monetary figments encourages speculation,
or illegitimate business transactions, risks,
ventnres, and'■ lastly, recklessness. The
whole country at these times 'seemingly
evinces a moral anaesthesia shocking to
moral sensibilities. ''.-'.'- •
; But what is the prospect-to-day of financial matters? In I860 the amount of the
"circulating medium" of the country was
$207,102,477, (two hundred and seven* millions, one hundred and two thousand, four
hundred and seventy-seven dollars).' •- In
1861, when the war began; it was about the •
same. We had then about 30,000,000 (thirty
million) of people.. To-day we bave a, population of 40,000,000 (forty million) of people..   We bave in circulation as follows: ■
National currency....""..""-$349,885,978 30
Legal Tenders ....:*....  358,966,488 00
Fl*aptional-. currency...........  '46,226,391453
7• -    ToUl  ;.wl..-$755,081,85Y 83,
* The immense sum of seven hundred fifty-.