ysters each. It is
the same every where.--The barbers give you tickets, good for so many
shaves; and were there beggars in the streets, I presume they would give
you tickets in change, good for so much philanthropy. Dealers, in
general, give out their own bank-notes, or as they are called here,
_shin plasters_, which are good for one dollar, and from that down to
two and a-half cents, all of which are redeemable, and redeemable only
upon a general return to cash payments.

Hence arises another variety of exchange in Wall Street.

"Tom, do you want any oysters for lunch to-day?"

"Yes!"

"Then here's a ticket, and give me two _shaves_ in return."

The most prominent causes of this convulsion have already been laid
before the English public; but there is one--that of speculating in
land--which has not been sufficiently dwelt upon, nor has the importance
been given to it which it deserves; as, perhaps, next to the losses
occasioned by the great fire, it led, more than any other species of
over-speculation and over-trading, to the distress which has ensued.
Not but that the event must have taken place in the natural course of
things. Cash payments produce sure but small returns; but no commerce
can be carried on by this means on any extended scale. Credit, as long
as it is good, is so much extra capital, in itself nominal and
non-existent, but producing real returns. If any one will look back
upon the commercial history of these last fifty years, he will perceive
that the system of credit is always attended with a periodical _blow
up_; in England, perhaps, once in twenty years; in America, once in from
seven to ten. This arises from their being no safety valve--no check
which can be put to it by mutual consent of all parties. One house
extends its credit, and for a time, its profits; another follows the
example. The facility of credit induces those who obtain it to embark
in other speculations, foreign to their business; for credit thus
becomes extra capital which they do not know how to employ. Such has
been the case in the present instance: but this is no reason for the
credit system not being continued. These occasional explosions act as
warnings, and, for the time, people are more cautious: they stop for a
while to repair damages, and recover from their consternation; and when
they go a-head again, it is not quite so fast. The loss is severely
felt, because people are not prepared to meet it; but if all