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The Wall Street Panic. The wrecks of the Wall street panic yesterday were two banks and eight firms of bankers and brokers. Atone time the excitement in the street was intense, and the wildest kind of rumors were circulated respecting the number of the disasters. The failures of the firms of bankers and brokers appear to have been caused by the refusal of their customers to make their margins good, and they were forced to suspend or sell the stocks at a ruinous sacrifice. Investors in stocks on margins suddenly became timid and preferred to lose what they had advanced rather than attempt to protect their holdings in the face of a falling market. The failure of the Brooklyn bank was the result of its close connection with the Metropolitan National Bank. There does not ap. pear to be a feeling of distrust throughout the country, and there does not appear to be any good reason to apprehend a general financial panic. The Secretary of the Treasury expresses the opinion that the present trouble will be confined to the speculators. No doubt a great many firms which have been doing a large business in stocks and grain are a good deal weaker than the public suppose. The heavy fall in the prices of stocks and grain during the last few months crippled them, and the further fall in prices during the last few days began to make their weakness apparent. Men at the head of moneyed institutions, like Mr. Seney, of the Metropolitan Bank, and Mr. Fish, of the Marine Bank, have taken risks which strict business principles do not justify. When an emergency arises they are not able to bear the strain. The law against the over-certification of checks does not appear to have been heeded. The dangerous practice has gone on in defiance of law. There can be no certainty about the soundness of banks, notwithstanding all the safeguards thrown about them, as long as their Presidents are stock gamblers, and the practice of over-certifying checks is continued. Of course the panic has caused a great scarcity of money. People are alarmed and will not make loans or investments. As much as 3 per cent. a day was offered for money in Wall street yesterday. The Secretary of the Treasury proposes to relieve the stringency by paying the called bonds at once, and Congress may do something to assist in restoring confidence. The Comptroller of the Treasury speaks confidently of the future. The banks all over the country, he says, have unusually large reserves and are in a very healthy condition. The situation is entirely different from what it was in 1873. There is no occasion for alarm. The country is prosperous and there is no widespread business depression.