204 on stagnation in busine/s. Oct. Qe 
an unlimited ifsuing of paper currency.*. It’ may 
augment the imaginary stock of a nation, to any a= 
mount, while the real stovk remains just the same, ° 
or is perhaps daily decreasing by a losing trade. 
As allover-trading has got the name of speculation ; 
that is a person speculating upon an imaginary profit, 
that is to arise to him atsome distant period, from the 
goods he is buying; and what has given so great encou- 
ragement to speculation is, the long credits given on 
goods bought up for the export trade, twelve months 
commonly. It is true if the merchant pays ready mo- 
ney, he gets a discount of 73 per cent. This is one way 
of raising the interest of money from 5 per cent. the 
legal, to 73 per cent. for somuch every merchant pays 
who takes the credit. But how prejudical high i in-~ 
terest is to the export trade of a country may be 
seen by the following example. 
Suppose an Englifhman and a Dutchman, have 
each a 10001. lying at interest in their respective 
countries ; they meet and agree to employ this money 
in a joint venture, to 2 foreign market, and call in their 
“money that they may buy to the best advantage. Af- 
ter eighteen months, they have their returns: the net 
proceeds amount to just 2150 1. The Dutchman finds 
* Does not the ingenious writer here use the phrase pap-r currency 
in too loose and indefinite a sense. The writer here seems to confound 
what is commonly called wind bills with real bills granted for goods 
received, in the usual course of businefs, which ought surely to be dis- 
tinguifhed from this. Tt does not seem that any well founded censure 
can be applied to the discounting of real bills ; and it was owing to the 
want of this accommodation that the best manufacturers have suffered 
so severely. No good reason seems yet to be afsigned, why the practice 
of discounting these hillsthould have met with obstruction. Edits 
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