pressed? Would not the United States, or to devices of credit may, in the minds of From The Economist. machinery must be kept going; custom and port duties must be settled; and fifty other classes of disbursements must all be kept in subordination to the end of the enterprise by a command of hard, actual cash. And this is the narrowest view to take. When the operations become larger, extend over long periods, or stretch into distant countries, DEPOSITS AND DISCOUNTS, AND there must be a vast capital at the bottom. THEIR EFFECT LATTERLY UPON It may be the capital of men who, as trading THE PREVIOUS STATE OF BANKS. with their own money, and guided. by their STATED in the fewest words, it is possible own knowledge and judgment of each special that the rationale of the recent pressure case, fulfi all the conditions which attach to amounts to this, namely that in this coun- a substantial and prudent merchant; or it try, and in most of the great trading com- may be capital scraped together by the demunities with which it is connected, there vices of adventurers whose proper vocation had grown up gradually during the last five is not commerce but gambling; still, whether or six years a wide circle of firms who carried it be capital owned by principals or by on an enormous trade in exports and im- creditors of those principals, it is capital ports, not by means of capital of their own, which has been obtained from somebody and but by means of capital raised by the system- has been saved somewhere. The fabric of atic fabrication and discount of accommoda- credit which may grow out of the dealings tion bills of exchange; that, after several with this capital may be large or small; but narrow escapes from collapse since the let us assure ourselves, once for all, that no summer of 1855, the crash came at last in its most sweeping form by the simultaneous breaking up of several of the great centres upon which the coherence of the system depended; and that, in point of fact, when all mysteries of drawing and redrawing, discounting and rediscounting, are cleared away, it becomes perfectly plain that the masses of actual capital which were really wielded by these adventurers were obtained by them in the form of discounts and advances, and at high rates of interest, out of the reservoirs of deposits held by such concerns as the Western Bank of Scotland, and out of the reservoirs of capital at the command of the manufacturers, brokers, and dealers from whom the adventurers obtained credit, and to whom, of course, there remains only as much satisfaction as is conveyed by an infinitesimal dividend. It will be a great misfortune if any part of the public are led into the belief that it is possible to devise or conduct any system of mere paper credit, which for several years shall be equal to the task of fostering and conducting an enormous trade, and especially an enormous foreign trade. And yet it is, perhaps, to be feared that the strength and prevalence of the modes of speech in which the recent disasters are all constantly ascribed depth of infatuation in favor of accommodation bills, no density of mental darkness or moral perception as regards prodigality of fictitious promises, can of itself create the means even of sharpening the point of one of the pens employed to propagate the mischief. In return for commodities or labor, other commodities or labor the property of some one that is capital-must sooner or later be given, and we may profitably endeavor to find out from what quarter the capital actually wielded by the fictitious houses has been drawn, and how it happened that it was obtained so easily and left so long. In 1845, the total amount of the deposits and balances in the five Joint Stock Banks then existing in London was about 10 millions sterling. In 1853, the amount had become 22 millions, and early in 1857 it is probable that it was very nearly 42 millions. There is no means of arriving at the same class of results as concerns Joint Stock Banks in the country; but there is no great rashness in assuming that during the last seven or eight years the amount of funds lodged with these Banks and with private Banks, upon deposit and at various rates of interest, has been very much greater than at any former period-and that it has gone on 'increasing year by year. In some cases the has been gradually changed. They have still retained the functions of Banks, and by virtue of that function their leading peculiarity still is to undertake enormous liabili ties claimable on demand or short notice, and to cover their liabilities by assets capable of being realised under similar prompt conditions. But the growth of their deposits has gradually superadded to these ordinary functions of banking, the function of finding employment in a variety of forms for no small part of the ready money capital of the country. Banks do not allow interest on the balance | investor did his own business, and did not of current accounts-in others, interest is depend upon the banker. allowed on those balances, subject to certain But in their new character, as the centres conditions of amount and time-and the rate of these large deposits, the Joint Stock allowed is nearly always materially less than Banks have in a great measure relieved the the market rate of the day. But all the holders of ready money from all necesity of Joint Stock Banks in London allow interest exercising this vigilance and discretion. on sums of money lodged with them on During the last few years a man who hapdeposit, and it has been a sort of rule to fix pened to receive two or three thousand the deposit rate of interest at some given pounds, or any larger or smaller sum, say as per centage below the varying rate of dis- the repayment of a mortgage, has found it count of the time being. The higher, there- much more to his advantage to place the fore, the rate of discount, the greater the money as a deposit than to incur the annoyinducement on the part of the public to be- ance, risk, and expense of seeking another come depositors. In point of security, the permanent security, and hence it is that unlimited liability of all the shareholders of the resources of the Banks as obtained from the Banks, to say nothing of the trading re- deposits have taken so rapid an increase. sources of the concerns themselves, has been In other words, the character of the Banks regarded as placing the depositors beyond peril. In point of convenience, no investment could be more attractive for in the most emphatic sense, it was speedy, inexpensive, and simple. The whole process could be gone through in five minutes. It required neither lawyer, broker, notary, nor witness and the handsome piece of engraved paper called the deposit receipt, was as easy to understand and as agreeable to look at as an opera ticket. Moreover, there was another consideration which was not overlooked, namely-that not only was the interest on the deposit paid with admirable punctuality, but also that the payment was made in full, and without any abatement of income tax on the part of the Banks. The effect therefore has been, that deposits in Joint Stock Banks have, to a great extent, assumed a new char- The process has, then, resolved itself into acter and new dimensions. Formerly it was a circle of action and reaction. The influx a general impression on the part of the pub- of deposits has given facilities for the dislic that it was desirable only to leave in the count and establishment of bills and credits; custody of bankers such floating and casual-the necessities or the expectations of the sums of ready money as were indispensable borrowers under these bills and credits have for current wants of business or household led them to pay readily a high rate of inexpenditure. The account of the bankers terest;-that high rate of interest has inwas a larger sort of strong box, very safe creased the profits of the Banks and led and very convenient as the receptacle of all them to offer better terms to their depositors; add sums which could not be spared for-still larger and still more inordinate prosome ultimate purpose of investment; and portions of the ready-money capital of the so long as bankers did not allow interest on current accounts, and did not allow more than a moderate rate of interest on sums left with them on deposit, there were constantly in operation strong reasons of profit and loss against the employment for any but temporary occasions of the facilities afforded by Banks. The Banks were confined to their original function of taking charge of floating balances for short periods, and all persons possessing accumulations of money seeking investment, made their own inquiries in their own way as to the kind of investmentland, consols, ships, houses, bonds, or produce-which would best suit them. Every The most obvious and profitable kind of employment which has presented itself to the Banks has been the discount of bills of exchange and advances under various forms and names on mercantile credits. country have thus been drawn into the money market; the former and ordinary system of individual investment by individual holders of money capital has been interfered with and suspended;-and the end has been what we have just seen, namely-that the unnatu ral scope given to fictitious and adventurous houses, has led to a more appalling example than ever occurred before, of the extent to which credit misapplied may enable the most worthless part of a commercial community to waste in gigantic follies and disgraceful frauds, millions of capital gradually amassed by years of industry and self-denial on the part of others. From The New York Scottish American Journal. ventures of Brown, Jones, and Robinson," and a few occasional trifles being all of his that has been given to the world for the last six or seven years. We have heard of many things he has had in hand, but none of them have yet come to light. At one time he amused himself with the idea of a daily humorist; The Morning Roll was the title, and he actually, for a period of six months, drew a large illustration every morning of the leading topic. The idea went no further and we do not suppose the Morning Roll was intended for anything more than the artist's own exercise and amusement. The public would doubtless have been eager to support an undertaking to which Doyle was BIOGRAPHY OF PUNCH. PUNCH is the only publication of a humorous character that has been able to hold its place in England. It commenced as a joint undertaking. Horace Mayhew acting as editor and providing the whole of the literary matter, Landells, the wood engraver, furnishing the illustrations. At the end of about two years of this arrangement, it had not attained the paying point. It then fell into the hands of Messrs. Bradbury & Evans, who engaged the best humorous writers and artists in its support. Mark Lemon was appointed editor, and Douglas Jerrold, Thackeray, and A'Becket were regular contributors. "Mrs. Caudle's Curtain the principal daily contributor. Some time Lectures" were among the earliest contributions that brought it into general popularity, and in the days when Thackeray wrote the Snob papers, and Leech and Doyle divided between them the work of illustration, it attained that high position in point of influence and circulation which it has since maintained. It may not be generally known that RichIt is not now to be compared to what it was ard Doyle is the son of the artist who proat that time in point of wit and genius; duced the famous H. B. caricatures, which there is no Jerrold, or Thackeray, or Doyle attracted so much attention during the period among its contributors, but like many other of more than twenty years. He commenced English institutions it has held its place despite these caricatures when he was under eighthe evident falling off in talent. With a teen years of age, and continued producing circulation approaching 40,000, it is worth them till some of his children had grown up £12,000 a year, and the two Christmas pub--the secret of their authorship being so lications connected with it, yield about well kept that it was not known even in his £3,000 more. ago he was engaged on a series of large drawings, entitled the "State of Parties," i. e., dinner parties, evening parties, &c.; and more recently another work of his has been talked of, but we now hear nothing of its publication. own family, though the caricatures were the The publication of Punch has been the subject of conversation. His children seem means of bringing out a great deal of hu- to have been all born artists; three of them morous and satirical talent, which probably have followed the profession, and a fourth, would not otherwise have been heard of. To who is engaged in a different pursuit handles John Leech's connection with it we are in- the pencil with an easy grace and prolific debted for a perfect gallery of genial illus- fancy that most artists might envy. Richard trations of English, and above all, cockney began his public career at the mature age of character. With little imagination, and a 12. He had heard his father, on one occavery plain sense of humor, Leech's produc- sion, say how much he would like a fine horse, tions are always welcome, and we are not a wish, however, which he did not seriously tired of them to the present day, notwith-entertain. The boy on his part thought how standing a thousand repetitions and general nice it would be to gratify his parent's desameness of style. Richard Doyle has not sire, which he supposed to be quite a serious contributed to Punch since the time of the one, and he cast about to see if he could not Aggression controversy, when, as a Catholic, procure the means to buy a horse. He was he seceded from a publication which satirized already an adept in drawing humorous subMother Church. It is much to be regretted jects, and the idea occurred to him of offering that the productions of his pencil have thus a publisher some humorous illustrations for been lost to the public, since an indisposi- letter heads, that style of letter paper being tion to work has kept him from doing al- then in use, only the drawings were commonmost anything on his own account, the "Ad-ly sketches of places, etc. He went to a publisher in Covent Garden, and the offer and Tenniel, a third artist has for some time was at once accepted. For a set of illustra- been engaged, whose name has escaped us tions he was paid a hundred pounds, and for the present. The numerous birds, owls, with the money he purchased a fine horse, ostriches, &c., that figure as initial letters all unknown to his family. One morning and otherwise, are by him. His style rewhen they were at breakfast, a noble steed sembles that of Leech, but is rather coarser, passed before the window, and the groom and Leech's is by no means refined. Mark who led him announced that this was the Lemon is still the editor, and the places of horse for Mr. Doyle. The surprise of the Jerrold and Thackeray are occupied by Shirfather may be imagined-it was the greater ley Brooks and Tom Taylor, on whom the even than his delight; and as to what was mantle of their predecessors can scarcely be to be done with the horse we never heard said to have descended, though they write a how that perplexing difficulty was resolved.number of clever things. They are both Richard Doyle became a contributor to hard working members of the literary proPunch when he was sixteen or seventeen. fession, writing, in great profusion, stories, The frontispiece which is now on the title-plays, reviews, articles, newspaper articles, page, is from his pencil; the "Manners and and country correspondence, in addition to Customs of the English were by him, and, which Tom Taylor holds the laborious post indeed, he introduced that style of comic of Secretary to the Board of Health, to mediæval drawing, with its amusing disre- which a handsome salary is attached. Litegard of perspective; and by far the best of rary men are now-a-days dropping into these the large political drawings that have ever situations in England more frequently than appeared in Punch were also his. We miss used to be the case, and we believe the pub-. him now-a-days very much, and would fain lic service has not suffered by the change. see him at his old post again. But we believe he is a lazy dog, and prefers to paint an occasional picture, and enjoy his leisure, the profits of his early labors having placed him above the necessity of regular labor. Doyle's department in Punch is now taken by John Tenniel, an artist of good fancy, and a graceful pencil, but not of striking genius, like his predecessor. Besides Leech There have been many imitations of Punch, and many rivals to it, but they have all been short-lived and poor in every respect, so that one forgets their very names. There being scarcely enough of comic talent in the country to support Punch, it is scarcely to be wondered that every opposition is a failure. Without talent of a very effective style, it is mere throwing away of money to attempt anything of this kind. The Shipwreck: a Poem. By William Fal- Or late years our Christmas gift-books have improved in this particular, that instead of a collection of the worthless scribblings of living authors, known and unknown, we are presented with new editions of works of established fame. The annuals of twenty years ago lay upon the drawing-room table while in their first bloom as ornaments. When they had performed that duty they were thrust away into obscure corners of the book-shelf, or found a worse fate; for they were not library books, but only lumber. The modern plan provides for the possessor of a gift-book not merely a superb adornment for his drawing-room through the winter and spring, but an acquisition of permanent worth for his library. In this manner Messrs. Black have brought out an edition of Falconer's Shipwreck, with no less than thirty engravings, from designs by Birket Foster, executed by Edmund Evans, Dalziel Brothers, and W. T. Green. The variety of subjects from the same pencil is extraordinary. Here is a bit of woodland which would stamp the artist as essentially a landscape-painter, until we open at another page and find a storm at sea, from which it might be supposed that the study of his life had been given to marine painting. Indeed, the majority of the illustrations here consist (from the necessities of the poem itself) of views of the ocean in calm or storm, drawn with singular truth and spirit. The typography is perfect, and the binding of delicate green and gold, is a specimen of the perfection to which this bibliographical luxury has been brought by modern binders. In show and in substance, within and without, this book of the season will be a handsome present to give, and an acceptable one to receive.-Critic. CULTIVATION IN THE EAST. A FRENCH gentleman, who delights to frequent the spots on which celebrated poets have dwelt or from whence they derived their inspiration, has published in the Moniteur an account of his visit to the "Gardens of Solomon." First, he visited the "sealed fountains"-large subterranean reservoirs, wherein the waters springing from the mountains collected, and from whence the water is conducted to Jerusalem by pipes. "At a short distance from the reservoirs are the celebrated gardens. They extend along a valley which runs from El-Bourrach to Bethlehem. It is the most charming spot in all Palestine. Solomon was a good judge in more senses than one. There are murmuring streams winding through verdant lawns; there are the choicest fruits and flowers; the hyacinth and the anemone; the fig-tree and the vine. Towering high above the garden, and contrasting grandly with its soft aspect, are the dark precipitous rocks of the neighboring mountain, around whose summits vultures and eagles incessantly scream and describe spiral circles in the air. The rare plants and flowers which the great enchanter of the East collected within these gardens were protected from the north wind by the mountain. Every gust of the south wind was loaded with perfumes. With the first breeze of spring the fig-tree put forth its fruits, and the vines began to blossom. It was, in the words of Scripture," a garden of delights." The vegetations of the north and the south were intermingled. One part of the garden was called the Walnut Tree walk (or as the English Scripture translation has it, the Garden of Nuts). Another is the Beds of Spices." The writer's guide was a well-educated Italian, who informed him that the gardens of Solomon are now let to an Englishman. mark of the manufacturers, Samuel and Co., No. 128 Strand. Mr. Goldsmith was draining that biblical valley, the dew of which was the Shulamite. It was in the month of Sepso often brushed away by the naked feet of tember. An American mowing machine was cutting a second crop of artificial grass on the very spot where the daughters of Jerusalem gathered those lilies of the field which were more beautiful than Solomon in all his glory. A patent reaping machine was rapidly garnering the crop of that glebe in which the sisters of Ruth and the daughters of Naomi were wont to glean. I asked to see Solomon's pavilion, but alas, the cypress timbers and the cedar wainscotting had been taken down, and in their place there is a brick-built cottage with a roof of red and green tiles. The entrance hall is whitewashed; there is a little parlor with a Birmingham carpet, and a drawing-room papered with a red-bordered yellow paper purchased in Paris, Rue des Moineaux. The chimney is Prussian, and the curtains are of Swiss muslin. Instead of the servants of the spouse, I found two nurserymaids, one from Paris, and the other from Florence. The slave who prepares the tents of cedar is now called "John." He has red whiskers, blacks his master's shoes, scrubs the floor every day, and varnishes it on Sundays; and if some romantic person should inquire -as I had the naivete to do-about the dark Shulamite, he will be shown five sweet little English children, redolent of cold cream and Windsor soap, as fair as floss silk, with their hair in cork-screw curls, and wearing prunella boots, blue capes, and green parasols. The cinnamon trees have been cut down for firewood, and the aromatic canes grubbed up; but the five little misses do crochet work under the shade of a bon chreGoldsmith has obtained the custom of the tien pear tree. Since the Eastern war, Mr. Pacha of Jerusalem for vegetables. Last year he had seven crops of potatoes, thanks to his wonderful drainage." "The present tenant," he said, "is Mr. Goldsmith of the house of Goldsmith and Son. He What might not British capital and British is underdraining the gardens of Solomon on enterprise accomplish in the cultivation of the Yorkshire system. You will be astonished to see how successful he has been. Here is the land when aided by the climate of Palestine house." I perceived a bright brass knob shin- or Syria? In Syria especially we hear of ing in the centre of a small square of porcelain fertility which is most astonishing, and welllet into a white wall. Over this knob was the informed natives say that Europeans would following superscription in the English lan- find in these districts safe and most profitaguage-Ring the bell." This bell seemed ble fields for their industry. This is probato my imagination rather an anomaly in the gardens of Solomon-but that is a trifle. We did ring the bell, and we went in. The first thing that struck my eyes were red draining pipes lying about, and bearing the bly true, though we confess to some apprehension for the security of rural capital embarked by a foreign farmer in a land governed by the Turk.-Economist. |