Australian Tales - Setis

“But seriously; in the present unsettled state of affairs, would you not
be anxious to draw it out?”
“If I had no stronger reason for doing so than you have, I should
certainly not touch it. It is possible that those persons in the omnibus
knew that you have money in that bank, and they were trying to alarm
you, either from love of mischief or from more selfish motives. My
advice to you is to let your money remain where it is, and avoid
expressing anxiety about it, or making suspicious inquiries respecting the
condition of the said bank, or you will soon gather an excited crowd
around you, like the joker on London Bridge. I have good cause for
believing that your bank is perfectly safe; in fact I believe that all the
banks in Sydney are quite safe, unless, indeed, everybody should make a
sudden rush at them, as you were inclined to do just now; which would
indicate a total want of confidence; and without confidence all the
relations of the civilized world would be paralyzed, commercial
enterprise would be at an end, and general distress would ensue. I have
no direct interest in any bank, or mercantile firm in the land,” I added,
“so you may believe that the opinion I have expressed is free from
personal bias, whatever else may be said of it.”
* * * * *
It is a pitiable fact, that unprincipled persons are very busy just now,
trying to make bad times worse, to serve their own selfish or vindictive
purposes: and it behoves right thinking men to use their influence to
frustrate the base designs of such persons, and thereby prevent much
suffering. Shrugs and winks are commonly used, because they are safer
than libellous words, and quite as effective in such times as these. It is a
small consideration to those incendiaries that the downfall of each
mercantile house entails loss upon many persons besides the direct
creditors, and it would be as vain to appeal to their sense of right, as to
try to touch their feelings by pathetic descriptions of the domestic
wretchedness which they are creating.
I have been drawn to this subject by my interest in the public weal; and
I would warn all my readers against being influenced by shrugs; and also
to beware lest they catch the hateful infection, which is as contagious as
cholera morbus.