THE CRISIS OF i860 31I

Missouri and Louisiana stocks, which were largely held by them,
and as many as sixteen proceeded to withdraw their notes, a
small number suspending altogether. In Missouri also, notwith-
standing the loss of credit by the state and the depreciated local
currency already noticed, the banks were able to meet the strain of
the revulsion with a good face. They held a relatively strong coin
reserve, and although their suspended debt was of serious amount,
they were able to reduce their circulation and thus to bring their
business into a condition in which they could await the issue of
the war.
The specie movement occasioned by the crisis in this country
was larger in amount, but less serious in its consequences than that
of 1857. It has already been remarked that so early as the middle
of October exchange had fallen below the point at which specie
could be profitably exported. Although there was a rally in the
last part of the month, exchange was still heavy and shipments
finally came entirely to a stand. The gold exported from New
York, the chief point of specie shipments and imports, was only
^740,cxxD for the months of November and December, i860, and
^23,000 in January, 1861, against ^7,190,000 in the same three
months of the previous year. The decisive turn was pven to the
exchanges by the news carried to Europe by the Atlantic^ which
sailed on the 17th of November, when five days of panic had
completely paralyzed the market for exchange in New York.
