Although the scarcity of money has been such, that last
week from 7 to 15 per cent. interest was given for temporary loans on undoubted security, the 4th of this month, being the day on which the principal mercantile bills are to be paid, passed away without the crash which many apprehended. Engagements were promptly net, and confidence in some degree restored. how was this ? The amount of cash required was small, because the business done had been on a very limited scale. Men of capital will not risk it in
trade. Extensive commercial operations are unsafe. The cus- tomary banking-accommodation may at any time be denied or cur- tailed. Nobody can tell when or where the " screw" may be ap- plied. So the word in the City is, " Least done, best done,"—a gloomy saying for those whose comfort, if not subsistence, depends upon the active circulation of capital.
