The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-01-13
Ninlnger City.

PoPei, W Wuicu II OeCOuleS = weekly lnStea0 OF . SEMI
monthly journal, We consider a few words in reference
to the present position of Nininger City, not inappro.
pirate.
We would attract attention to one main point, viz
that the universal prostration of business and credit
which has been felt during the last few months over our
whole country, from the general government down to
the humblest citizen, has failed to interfere with the
growth and prosperity Of our town. During the whole
Of 1857, we have gone on uninterruptedly in our career-
OF increase and advancement. Csr,ainly twothirds,
possibly four-6fths, Of all our buildings have been erect
ed since the opening of last year.
If such has been the results during a period when the
cry of distress was heard not only from onr own land
but from the whole civilized world, wha, will we be able
10 60 when confidence is once more established in
financial circles, and business and enterprise once more
resume their accustomed activity. Certainly our sue
cess must prove ten-foid.~
The late crisis has been the poas nsinoruns of empty
and unsubs.antial operations. They are wiped out Of ex-
istence. Those arc considered reliable that have held
their own. What must De said Of our locality that dur
ing the whole period of the crisis went on steadily and
persistently, TO such 4 degree, that it became a subject
OF remark not only to individuals visiting us, but to the
press Of an adjoining town, which was forced TO admit
that We seemed unaffected by the fearful condition of
the times.
Next year will, we have every reason to hope, open
with a very large emigration. Why do We think SO ?
First, because the crisis has shaken down those substan-
tsntial features IN which alone the East was thought TO
have exceeded US. The feeling of confidence and re.
lance in eastern securities previously existing, has been
weakened forever. Stocks have become q myth. The
best names have gone by the board. Real estate has
turned out unsaleable. Three per ct. per month is seen
walking the streets of New York and Philadelphia, and
even the widest and most condemned features of western
speculation are brought home TO the doors Of the con.
servative eastern population. What next? The West
las contrasted during all the crisis most favorably with
the East. 1t has been full of material wealth while the
Atlantic coast was starving. Its business men and Its
banks have alike held their own, while the most sacred
ommercial names Of the East, and its oldest and
s.sunchest institutions have gone down, many of them
forever.
The body of the %emigrants to the West are men Of
intelligence and observation. Men who think and rea-
son for themselves. They will note all these circum-
stances closely. They will say to themselves this be-
rated West has stood the crisis better than we have.
They will ask themselves: why these efforts to tran
sport TO our cities the overlooking productions OF the
great West? TLey will reason thus, where food is in
abundance, life is certain, and success highly probable.
They will 60 farther. and conclude that where the
earths' productions are in abundance, labor must have
been required to develop them, and that as the West is
proyerbial for its scant population, the Importance of the
laborer must have increased with the demand for his
services. They will probably also weary Of the uncer-
tainties and vicissitudes of a life dependent upon the
fluctuations Of commerce or manufactures. They will
perceive that while their ships rot in their harbors, or
.heir machinery lies idle in their mills, that they them
selves are thrown upon the face of the world helpless
and hopeless. They will say to themselves that the
grca. West, and its broad acres alone, offer a certain
subsistence, and a means Of wealth to the industrious.
Agriculture, they will perceive, can be affected only by
violent wars or the more violent manifestations of Provi'
ience, while at the worst, at the very worst, the FRO
prieto. can pluck enough from his provisions to afford
the means Of life. Not so in commerce or in manutac'
lures. The downfall of one man will involve hundreds,
nav Thousands, in irretrievable ruin and want. The
~cog-wheels are not more a part of the machine than are
.ke operatives that work upon It.
Again, the reflective man will say TO himself: What
IS I'll this boasted superiority of the East! In what
does it consist In stability? Three per cent. per
month sits in high places in Wall street, and the best
property in the community is offered unb:dden for. In
the means of success? The people are universally IL
want. High and low are alike distressed. We have
6ne horses aud glittering e~4uipages, and great parties
but the pageant is of p~asseboard and paint the apple
j. rotten at the core there is no reality in it. The
Jews and the Shylocks own the Fifth Avenue. Ever
our great banks and railroads are a mass Of splendid ap
-. H.. Zoo tho Eoct avoc1 tho Wosf = l
what does it fall below it? In a crowded, fostering
degraded, impoverished, malcontent population. In
community where failure has disheartened enterprise
and poverty has deadened ambition where the higt
places are all filled, and the low ones alone are open
According to MIR. Pease, fifteen hundred virtuous wo
men in New York city have, since the crisis commenced
been driven to the walks of vice, as the only avenue IL
which to find the means of life.
The man of enterprise and intelligence will gathe
together his household goods, with the opening o
soring, and betake himself to the great West. Their
"a mn doubt that we will have a larger emigration, ant
Of hetter materials than has been known for many year
nast. and there is likewise little doubt that we Of Min
nesota, will receive a large proportion OF this em'gra
E;on. Our mild winter will prove of great advantage t
the Territory. Hundreds and thousands Of letters will
be going eastward this winter from our citizens to thei
friends. descriptive Of the mild open weather VIC hav
been enjoying, and these letters will be more readl..
believed. and will have a more direct influence than al
the newspaper articles than can be published. More
over. there is no doubt that the climate of Kansas Is
very unhealthy one. Those who regard health as tn
principal requisite to happiness, will not em'grate to
country where bilious disorders are universal. Luis ais
s;pbly probable that the present political difficulties vii
culminate in civil war, and will make thai lerri'o'
anything but a desirable place Of residence.
if Minnesota receives, as we think We have shown
highly probable, a large emigration, our city will, with
out doubt, have a large portion Of it: We are as w1del
known, if not more widely KNOWN through lne r M:"
;nger ely had many disadvantages TO contend against
Its levee was in a very imperfect condition. Its mai
avenue was no. yet opened. Its port was covered wit
trees, and out Of the hundred buildings contained IN tn
town, not more than two or three were visible: IN
for drunkenness, were in the hebit Of telling their pal
sengers that the buildings they saw constituted tn
whole city. Hundreds who had left the East With a