New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-09
TINE. AND PROSPECTS IN THE VEST.
ocrrnrend.noe Of The N. shbane.

have been travelling IN Michigan, lHl1"ls "r'
Wisconsin for some days past, making inquinesahd
taking notes with regard 10 Commercial ana
Financial aspects and prospects. have endea'ored
70 CLEAN information from all available sources;
and. while it ia undoubtedly true that 'raSehpg III
auirers generally see and hear what they were pre-
dsposed to find. believe | can sum up "ia'
have heard AZ impartially as the next man. pro-
seed. then. TO record my Impressions.
7 Pavm,nt.-Of the New-York and "'ne'
Eastern jobbers have met looking aiter ;herdeo's
and debtors throughout THE region, nave io'n9
no one who estimated the average ProP'f'"" VI
the mercantile debts past due from Tue west /" 'he
East which may be- collected thi- Winter above
tven.y.6ye per cent. while the usual estimate "a
decidsdly below this. One merchant, VINO mas Deeil
eleven weeks in active circulation. considered
tu.ire per cent. liberal estimate. All agree that
10 attempt Ia force collections by legal process u
sheer folly. The people will not bid on TIER heigh-
bors property exposed TO sal" On execution; ahh'
II they were willing 10 bid they nave no n'o'''y
Uherewith 10 pay. Country merchants, II crowded,
assign 10 some friend or friends, and then offer 10
nav 80 cents or 30 Oh the dOlar-when th"y can
Nearly all these merchants show assets ID the shape
of book accounts and goods on BOND, NANNY 'he
former: bat neither can be- converted INTO money
very rapidly Generally, the creditors agrre 10
take the fty per cent or whatever may De- on'reu'
and let the debtor 90 on win MY CUISINES. III oiuoi
Ia collect the aforesaid fifty per cent-Whch some
will succeed in doing while others wllnot good
MANY will wind up and more oughtto. Ultimately,
about fftv per cent Of the mercantile debt now due
NAV be- collected | Judge that the aggregate de-
aand for Dry Goods throughout the North Wrsl III
1853 viii not be- more than half that Of lc36 or POI
restricted az were the Fail purchases Of the latter
a. 4 L. .,ar.l .l l..Tz ant Ia
on credit any amount Of Silk, DE LANES Cloths,
Dc, &C., do not doubt that they can find persons
willing TO take them.
III. The Far,aers are poor. They have generally
good crops and their farms are better stocked than
hithero but they paid high prices for the labor re-
giired to make and secure those crops, and nust
now sell for less than half the prices they confident
" expected last summer. Wheat, throughout tins
region will not average fifty cents per bushel at the
farmers doors, which, after deductlng the cost OF
harvesting at twenty shilngs per day, and oi
threshng and cleaning, leaves but moderate
balance TO fhe grOwer-cOnsiderably less than 50
per acre for land, fencing, seed, blowing, sowing,
&c. Very few farmers can buy their daughters
sk dresses and fashionable hornets out OF that
and il il easier paying for those bought last year
in the fond anticipation of selling Wheat this Winter
at ten or twelve shillings per bushel. Wheat Is
worth to-day in this city but fit!'six cents per
bushel or little less than a cent per pound; Corn
but thirty cents per busbel of sixty pounds or half
n cent per pound. was told in WatcrtOwn, Wis
eOnsiD, last week, that Corn in the ear was offered
there at eleven cents the bushel GOT cars), good
measure. Meats sell better-lIOgs at three to four
dollars per hundred live weight, or four to five
dollars dressed, throughout the Mouth West. Beef
Cattle are worth from three to four dollars per hun
dred live weight On so fertile SOIL as mat "i Tue
Prsries farmers can live at such prices: but paying
old store.debts, contracted in flush times, ls slow
work. The general expectation that prices must
improve at all events on the opening OF Spring,
fends 10 keep Wheat in the stack and Corn III the
cob and paraIyzes efforts to rid the country OF the
incubus Of debt. | hear of few townships IN
which the merchants and farmers resolved, as early
"a October, to get out of debt if possible; SO the
latter threshed ont their Wheat at once, hurried u
10 the merchants, and squared up their accounts,
while the merchants pushed forward the produce as
RAPIDLY AZ possible Ia the seaboard and pad on ne"
pressing liabilities, so that they are now All hlder
easy sail together OfcOursc, they realized at leatt
twent, five per cent more for their Wheat than II
will now command Had five thousand townships
pursued this course, instead of perhaps forty or
5fy. our Canals, Railroads, Merchants. Laborers,
and nearly everybody else. would have been sehslo!
benefited.
III. HwnigratioR.-I find in many quarters the
Illusion still cherished that next Spring * to be sig
ualized by general rush of immigrants 10 the
West from the East. My own belief, on the CON
trary ia that the migration of the next seasOn'"lll
he remarkably light. For, !. The prospect OF sud
denly acquiring independence and even wealth at
the West, by locating yillage-plot or founding an
embryo city, is decidedly obscurcd. There are
cities enough already laid out to suffice for popu-
ation az dense AZ that of China, and il is not at all
probable that the arts of the surveyor and the tho
prapher will BE- in keen request next season. En-
terprise and ready capital will not rush into the
West so eagerly hencctOrth as they have recently
done Nor can a TesOlute thrifty New-lork or
New England farmer buy quarter section OF prairie
near one of the new railroads, pay any price short
of Sl5 per acre for it, break il up fence 1t, SOW II
10 wheat harvest the crop, tbrcsh 1t ont and sell IT
for enough 10 pay for land, breaking up, fencing,
and making the crop. This has been done repeat
edly within the last five years; apprehend that
several years must pass before 1t can BE- done again.
On the other hand. there never was better time
Tor men Of moderate means and expectations to
migrate from the old States To the West than the
next season will present. Those who come out
with few huadreds of dollars Of they be thousands,
No much the bettcr) will find improved lands within
reach of civilization far cheaper than they have
been, with teams, stock, grain, aud nearly every
thing else to match 4 thousand dollars will 90
quite az far toward settling family comfortably
next April as two thousand did last Spring. say
smphatically 10 all who aspire 10 live by work
rather than speculation, YOU can get comfortably
into the West NEXT April, with few hundred dol
lars in cash on reaching this point, yOu can hardly
fal 10 do well. Single men or women who can
reach this point with even ten dollars each, need
have no iear though would advise none of theseto
stop one hour longer in city than may be required
10 determine on which route 10 leave il. In spite
of the hard times and general prostraton, there is
still worn for all the able and willing in this boun-
eous region. OF course, Labor must be- n0mlnaly
over next season than it has been; bur years
wages viii buy more food and clothing, land and
outfits, than II ever did. To all who are willing,
and know how to work, and who find employment
with difficulty not at all, in the East. say again,
sef Nnnr facrs MestMnrl 20 snnn NJ ~. .....-hl.