St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1857-11-05
ADDRESS OF HON. n. P. BANKS.

The monster Crystal Palace wa.
thronged to hear the annual addres,
: before the American Institute by tn,
Hon. n. p. Banks, of Massachusetts
: late Speaker Of the L. S. House o.
Representatives. 1t is estimated tina,
at least ten thousand people were
within the walls Of the great industr
al temple. The platform was erected
under the dome, and was occupied by
the managers of the Institute, tn,
President, VIM. Hall DR.. Charles
Mackay, the English poet Mr.. Train,
the London banker; President King,
OF Columbia College and members of
the press from Boston, Philadelphia
and New York. Mr. Banks, upon be-
ing introduced, was enthusiastically
greeted, and after the applause had
subsided, proceeded to deliver most
able aud eloquent address "a synopsis
Of which we give below treating of
the clements of the national wealth.
the choice of avocations, and their re-
ation to the moral and social con-
dltIon Of the times:
Mr. Banks, after the applause which
greeted his Introduction had sub
SIDED, said the year which is about to
close will constitute an epoch in our
industrial history. 1t has alternately
clatcd and depressed men of all pur-
SUITS. He referred to the unparalleled
prosperity which the opening of the
season promised, of the untOward
sprng aAl chilling summer which
per'lIed the carly promised harvest,
and Of the unsuai sp!cndor with which
the autumn opened. The luxuriant
vegetation, robed in its gorgeous
coiogs, gave us but u part of our au-
tnmnal pleasures. 1t heightened the
summers sun, rcpressed the biting
frost. and filled the garncrs of indus
try with such products as the Goddess
OF plenty shows upon her chosen fol-
lowers, when a calamity burst upon
US and dispclled the happy visions
that lowered about us. Commerce.
that rests its faith in men, was
without solace Or support, aud sober
industry, was paralyzcd The full har-
vest yet lies in the valley of the West,
and the exhausted granaries of the
East wait the moment when the re-
stored credit and lenicnt seasons NAV
effect the needed transfer.
The speaker treated the present f.
nancial calamity with great power.
He believed that such events demand
that consolation and courage from
secular and sacred ministrations should
be breathed upon the over-strained and
desolate heart. Such revulsions as
are now upon us sometimes enable
communities and states to discover
new sources of wealth at the expense
of crushed individuals and families.
He believed that good would come
out of this evil, as great advances in
civilization have often sprung from
trains of individual misfortune. We
cannot measure by standards of hu- |
man wisdom the ends of more than |
human destiny. Mr.. B. counscled |
faith in man and in the right. rather
than that the heart should be chilled |
by suggestions of despair, and in this
new view OF recent events he pro
cecded to the consideration OF his sub
ject, viz: TIE Elements Of National
Wealh, and tie CHoioe IF -Arocat!ons.
He considered the chief defect in the
American system of education to be
the purposelcss character of its disci- |
piIne. a pnrposeless man can have
no power but such as accident may
confer upon some inanima,c agent i
and an objectlcss training in the for
nation of the active agents of society,
is inefficient as the want of purpose
in men. Mr.. B. philosophical most
eloquently upon the dignity of labor,
contendlng that the true dignity of Id
Dor is III its results, and not in the
conventional forms III which it is en-
ployed.
The speaker then proceeded to draw
conclusions which our national pur-
suits have borne to each other by re-
ierrinS to the same interests in more |
maturcd Statrs--the science of stats-
ties IN our own country being Of too
recent growth to furnish a reliable
data. In Hol and in lS4l the product
OF agricultural industry was Isl mil.
lion dollars E; that Of manufacturing
industry l4l million dollars--and the |
estimated products of commerce Go
million dollars /; thus Of 800 million |
dollars, commercial industry gave but
Little more than one sixth part, while |
manufactures and mechanics afforded |
~ per cent. of the entire wealth of the |
State. In France in the same year
the product of agriculture was 500
million dollars manufactures 400
million dollars !; commerce and navi-
CATION 226 million dollars. OF an
industrial prodcuct of 1856 million
dollars that of commerce is but Is
per cent, while the mechanic arts fur
nish u third of the whole amount.
The industrial product OF England in
1910 was $50 million dollars, and of
all other pursuits $50 million dollars.
Allowing to commerce IA fifth of the
aggregate as in the case of Holland,
or France, or even a quarter part, it is
still far below that of manufactures
and mechanic arts. The census of
1850 failing to state separately the
product of commercial industry i'll
England and the United States, as was
the case in both countries in 1910, the
speaker deemed it safe to assume
the same proportions. There were
IN ls4O one million persons engaged
in manufacturing and commercial life,
OF which less than one third were in
commerce. The same proportions
found in New England for the same
year.