The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-12-20
THE SOUTHERN COMMERCIAL MOVEMENT.
THE GREAT CONVENTION IN BALTIMORE.
o0~>NSNNr~~~c~>~O~~~>er~
Appeal to The Merchants Of the South, South
west. and WeAt.
Manifesto Against the North,
&c., &C.. 70.


Manifesto Against the North,
49,. &C.. 10.
The Great Commercial Convention met In Balti.
moro at half past eleven o'clock on Saturday morn.
ing. There were . large number of Congressmsn
present. among whom were noticed Messrs Brecken.
ridge, Stanton, Preston, and Underwood, Of Ken.
lucky; Senator Jones, and r. P. Stanton, of Ten
nessee; Senators Dawson, Clemens, Downs, Pratt,
SC.
The Convention was called to order by John G.
Bruno, Chairman Of the Board Of Trade. JF.
Pickeren was appointed temporary Secretary. An
Mayer. It il annexed
ADDRESS
FELLow-cITIzENs OF THE SOUTH, SOUTHWEST, AND
WEST.
We have invited you to meet Us, In the city Of
Baltimore in order to consider questions Of interest
to tho sections Of country whence you come ~ we'll
Is to ourselves. 1t ID our duty, ~ we'll ~ our
pleasure, to seize the earliest moment to thank You
for the aacrity and good will with which you have
so cordially responded TO our call.
Gentlemen, we have summoned you here TO dsv
to lay, with proper services, and to cement with
hearty feeling, the corner Stone of great National
Exchange Many circumstances have lately COM
biDod to direct public notice towards the city of
Baltimore rs the most suitable mart for the produo-
lions IN which your parts OF the Union are 80 deeply
concerned When the census of 1850 was first
published, and it was seen that the population of
Baltimore had augmented in larger proportion
within the preceding ten years than that Of any
other Atlantic city, men asked themselves the
question why this had occurred, and found no solu-
ton III the facts that there jealous stir
OF epterprziDg activity among cur PEG ple fostered
by the hopeful prospect of future progress, that
Internal imprOvemeD u, were tending to develope a
nj mi IN afo
bus To other sections, aud that Baltimore in truth
was the original and natural terminus Of our great
internal trade, indicated by Nature herself in the
geography Of our country.
AND is not this true Il will be allowed by every
one who recalls the history of colonial and revOu
tepary times, and remembers that Baltimore Town,
III those days, was the spot whence the adventurer
aud She soloier set FORTH vending their way west
ward, by Fort Cumberland, until they penetrated
that wilderness which has been subdued and
civilized by the courageous enterprise of your hardy
ancestors IL Was from Baltimore Town, then
already place of significance, ut the head Of the
finest inland Navigation in the world, that the po
neer and trader sailed forth with their trains of
pack horses, TO bear their luxuries and necessareB
into the Wilderness, IN order to exchange them for
the peitiies which were, at that time, almost the
only Calculating medium" Of the region Mary.
land, lying Ike = wedge between Pennsy lvania and
Virgins AND having in its centre another wedge,
in It's magnificent bay and river, whose afuents
penetrated It's northwesternm0st corner, afforded
the fountains and reaching the navgabls waters Of
the Ohio and thus State became tho chief line
of American travel, and our city tho chief depot
between the shores Of the Atlantic and the valies
hey ono the Allegheny range. Baltimore, there
fore, il fairly to pe regarded as the natural and
earliest historical friend and CONNIE rcial ally Of the
West. 1t 30 in the days when Washington and
Braddock pursued the line Of travel l have ind-
Gated and IN periods when the common interests
and oommon sense Of men pointed out q trail for
trade, independently of all extrsneous influences
But, gentlemen, it is not to be denied that al
though Baltimore very soon after the adoption OF
the cons sitution Of the United States was acknow
ldged to be the great -four and tobacco mart Of the
country, as well as, perhaps, the best market for
provlsioDs-sbe still, 10 time, found that her com
merce diminished, while that Of other sections,
which apparently we're rot entitled TO such advan-
tsges, became proportionably enlarged This may
be attributed to three causes-the opening Of the
navigation of the Mississippi, which gave It's mouth
sssw On that river and iss srbatsres as the motive
power for trade and cravel and the construction OF
the Erie canal, backed by the mastery system Of
internal improvements Of New York, which has
tapped the lakes and western waters developed its
own immense interior resources, and poured the
wealth Of the northwest into the lap Of It's thriving
metropolis. Th1s, the old trade. which, In earlier
days, concentrated at Pittsburg or Wheeling, and
pursued its slow journey the mountains in the
sCcnestoga wsgons"-whch were the SUCCESSORS Of
''pack horse carravans"-was gradually absorbed
ard taken away by the ingenuity Of an opulent
rival
Bat you are aware, gentlemen, that Baltimore
was ne laggard in seisng the means Of asserting
her natural sepremscy in the internal commerce Of
North America. We perceived the cause, and We
eDdsavored to apply the remedy. We saw that art,
skill, and capital had strivsn to overcome nature
and distance, and We resolved to make tho same
elements Of success restore nature to her original
rights
Accordingly, about quarter of q century ago,
many Of our opulens and enterprisiDg citizens de-
tam cd k, M he pi I'M
nent, which on the first day Of January, 1858, is
to signalize the peniDg Of q new year by wedding
the Ohio and the Chesapeake, and securing an I'M.
interrupted intercourse, which shall place the West.
err citizen and his valuable produce on tho Allan
coast within fifteen hours.
This great work has been long delayed. There
were u airy reasons 1t was the pioneer railway of
the Union, ~ Baltimore had been the pioneer port
had risen from mere speculation to science during
the period Of its building; and, besides, we had to
encounter manifold impediments and financial dit
cuJtiee, all Of which it would be idle to recount
Nevertheless, so confident were We Of the worth Of
our enterprise, that We have not suffered ourselves
to be dsupted by any obstacles. We have mined
our way through mountains, and we have taxed
ourselves heavily, both as Bsltimorsans and Mary
spders, until, with the true labor of resolved faith,
have succeeded in completing the enormous task.
II is under such crcu instances, ello r. citizens Of
the South and West that We ask you to come hither
and tell us that our judgment was right-that our
tina we have not lAbored In vain for the friendship
of those sections to which nature had originally
allied ue and to which art has once more happily
restored us after SO many years Of unnatural es-
arrangement.
But, gentlemen, while, in Baltimore, We have
been striving to make this work, by the expendi
ture of private and public means, other cities have
not hestated to attempt outgeperaling in our ef
fors to regain your favor. Boston, New York,
Pniladephia, have all striven to grasp the whole,
or, at least, to gain . considerable part, of the
wealth that your industry produces. Yet In this in
stance, all their artall their iDgenuitycould not
effect two results, without which their attempts
must be unavailing They could not destroy the
geographical facts that Baltimore was net emily the
natural channel Of trade, but that 1t was, also, the
central point Of the seAboard Union, In instsntane-
Gus intercourse With the national capital, and that
its railway the shortest, direcest and most eco
nomical communication between the Ohio and the
sea
In order to illustrate our position, let me ask you
to lsok, when you have time, at any skeleton map
Of the United States, on which the great lines Of
railway laid down. You will instantly observe,