Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-10-04

enlarged and as this necessarily suppo'''
market so extended as 10 admit OF that eniarse-
ment whatever contributes 10 !he great e4eh-
SION of the common market is proporuohaoiy
adyan,apeous 10 the producer o: consumer VIM
rreouep,s il. But every agricu'urist Is oo'h
producer and consumer, and mas consequent!
donble interest in extending the capital OF MS
,pa,kr, town. by extending both It's inland and
its foreign trade. -,
This double Interest spreads in every drec-
tion from that market, as FAR as The estate or the
residence OF every dealer in II. And II Is TO
Ibis interest that have appealed in behalf oil
,ba, canal, which is both designed and calcu'at'
ed very greatly 10 extend the market OF The DIS
,rict of Columbia. The appeal is NOT, ior II
cannot be. restricted 10 any class OF dealers 10
that market. 1t extends 10 al! who reach 1t win
produce, whether by land or by water, as well
those who approach il from the tide as 10 those
who will hereafter descend the canal.
To sell at the highest, and to buy at The low
est prices, is the object Of all, and IL can be al
tanned only by entering market IN winch the
largest capitals exist, and can be proli'ably en-
poyed.
Such capitals will not come, or, if they do,
they will not remain, for they could not long
exist. where their appropriate reward neither
invites nor detains them
That reward depends every where upon the
permanent or increasing extent and value, the
number and variety OF the staple commodities
in the purchase, transportation, and sale, Of
which mercantile capital finds its occupa-
ton. II a city have but single staple, and
that uncertain in is extent, from the many aC
ciden,s which affect its production, and perish
able in its nature, as arc bread stutfs OF every
descr iption, such city Can sustain but small ca
pitfalls, and those even al much expense 10 all
who deal in It's market. The loss OF the COM
mercial profit of one year, from disastrous acct :
dents, bad SEASONS, or destructive insects, must
be supplied in the next, at The expense, not oil
the 70, egn or distant consumer; hut nf the do
m-stic producers for the appetite Of the former
canuoi be- staid, and his ability TO satisfy i, if
his wants survive, will not have been increased
BY his past Suffering. The loss Of all proht
from total inaction, has, moreover, impaired the
capital itself, which sus,ains the intercourse OF
these classes of persons, and il must be replaced
by augmented profits, al the cost OF the latfS
One oher event may indeed happsn. A re-
pri;iun of such losses for several seasons in sue
cession, and the inability 10 repair them, while
the capital Of other cities sustains, in some de-
gree, the price Of this commodity, may bank
rupt the local capital hitherto engaged ip its
the profit upon his branch Of trade, except the
commission Of some resident or transient FAC
tor
Where, en- the other hand, many and various
staples are TO be found in the same market, the
temporary deficiency or failure of one is sup-
Piled by the contemporary abundance of some
other. Here mercantile capital derives stabili-
" from the multitude and variety Of The subjects
of speculation which afford it employment, and
its growth is accelerated by each manual acou-
mutation becoming, in the succeeding year, a
source of additional gain.
This progress will continue, even should the
proportion OF the annual gain 10 the sum which
produces i. seDsih!y decline. II, instead of orc
hundred per cent which was formerly the usu-
al advance in Virginia upon foreign goods, the
profit Of the merchant should fall 20 fifty, FIVE
and twenty, or even FIVE per cent, which proba-
bly, exceeds, at the present moment, the custom
ary mercantile profit OF many cities in Europe,
will continue 10 grow wherever a surplus reve-
nus, however small, remains 10 the proprietor
at 'he end ofever, year.
This surplus may be greatest in amount
where the profits of trade are least, because it
depends on the magnitude Of the capital of the
merchant and the moderate II Of lis eXpendi-
ture. In England, where the market rate Of
interest scarcely reaches three per cent, it is
greaer than in the same population in Ameri
ca where this interest varies from four to ten
Whether the merchant perseverc in his for.
mer employment, invest he fortune he has ac-
quired IN puhlic or privae securities, or lend
to those, who younger than himself, desire TO
tread in his footsteps, will depend on The rate
Of interest he car obtain for ITS use. the profit
that invites, or the incIina ion which prompts
him to embark In some other pursuit The
growing iniirmity Of age, at last, conspires
with the Incidence of wealth. and love of ease,
to withdraw him from active business; WHEN,
flowing he path of natural affec ion, he set
lies down. in the vicin ty of the ely bv whose
commerce he has been enriched, and bestows
on the country large par Of the profit he has
derived from ! borious and successful life
From the retirement of the merchant, will,
III another essay, return 10 the history of his
occupation, so far as it is connected with my
subject. FRANKLIN.
hardware and Cutlery.
VN