The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-02-24
Oar New York COrreSpomdence.
New YORK. Feb. IL. 1858

49, ANt 49,
To the Elior Of The Em;yrant aid Joarsul:
DEAR SiR-Who can say how long the burnt child
will dread the freY Certainly no denixen Of this great
metropolis. Despite all the experience Of the past few
months, speculation again runs mad in Wall street.
Once again the knaves and fools are at work-the knayes
leading and the fools following-the chase is up, and
heaven knows when or where it will end. Who would
expect within four months after the greatest panic the
world has ever known, to find such paragraphs n this
in our leading papers:
Feb. 1l.-Husiness at the Stock Exchange to-day
was on a scale Of importance seldom equalled, even in
the most exciting times Of former years. For most Of
the prominent stocks on the share list the rush was
overwhelming, and every call At the Board WAS accom-
panied by so much confusion, that the transaction Of
business was a matter Of more than ordinary difficulty.
The influence Of on unprecedented money accumulation
-of the idleness of capital-begins to be expefjecced
10 full force ; and the crasiness of speculation, which
we have endeavored to foreshadow since the suspension
of specie pa, ments, is developing itself With quite ~
much rapidity as We had expected. The fever extends
to nearly everything on the list, whether the stock dealt
in c ,rries the merit Of intrinsic value on its face Or not
that feature, in point Of fact, becoming one Of COM
parativc in>igni6cance in the bread ard unbroken wave
of speculation, which carries everyth 'ng before it,
Capital cannot lie idle. Its activity is as much q mat
ter of necessity to the lender as the borrower.
Let not the West despair. If human nature can in
so short a time run into such insane excuses in the
Investment of money in those securities which fell lowest
and left least behind them-what may we not expect
for the great fertile lands Of the West, which, as Is
generally admitted, bore the depression better than any
other species Of security, and which we all think will in
the spring be buoyed up by an unprecedented tide Of
cmicration.. -
While all kinds of fancy stocks are thus sctive in
Wall street, where are your Minnesota Land Grant Rail.
road Companies? They have something substantial behind
them, AM should be here now to take advantage of the
general uproar instead of wasting precious moments
begging aud whining at the doors Of the State Legisla-
ture. l fear they have not the right kind of mon
connected with them or they would have done something
by this time, instead Of, as report says, being unable to
pay the expense of their surveys, and the salaries of
their officers. e2o gttl re tasa gsfi ..d<'
Kansas affairs still attract great attention in this
quarter. The hopes Of the Free State party are again
up. We fear any Congressional triumph will be but Of
a temporary character. We condsider the admission Il
Kansas under the ~Lecompton Constitution q certainty.
We see that the Tribune thinks that while the admis-
sion of Minnesota, Washington, Oregon and Dakota
will give the North a preponderance in Congress, that that
TOO will be but tenporary-and asks very pertinently,
where are any additional free States to come from ? To
the South, it truly remarks, the means Of en~largenent
are unbounded they have Cuba and Central America
now on the carpet, while the purchase of a new slice
Of Mexico is already contemplated, and the territory Of
the present State Of Texas is sufficient to make half l.
dozen ordinary sized States. We are, like yourself, not
very ultra in politics, but we confess we look forward to
the time when Southern interests shall largely pre-
~ponderate in Congress with no little apprehension. Why
amid all these proposed purchases Of Mexican Territory
is no proposition made to invest some Of the govern
ment's spare funds in a Canadian purchase. There are
large tracts of ~unpeoplel lands to the North Of us, that
we doubt not could be readily obtained, and which for
the purposes Of settlement by a hardy and enterpr:sing
population, are far superior to the inscct-infected shores
Of the Gulf, Or the sterile interior tracts Of New Mexico,
which, as scientific research has shown. are akin in
climate and soil to those desolate regions of Asia, upon
which the prophecies of the Bible have fallen.
The perpetuity of our Government depends upon a
balance Of power between the adverse interests locked
up in it
Local affairs are rather dull just now. No murders
of startling interest to whet the public appetite for the
horrible. Some developments tits true are being made
as to huge frauds and entertainments in one department
of our city government; but these things are so much
matters Of course that they create no surprise IAN
;nquisition resulting in no discoveries Of the kind would
be more n matter of wonder. Adieu for the present.
Yours truly, MANHATTAN.
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