The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-10-18

ed, to traverse Nicaragua and terminate at Pa
nama-and then, Tehuantepec and Santiago
being once connected, to extend the line 10 San
FraDcisco-tbree hundred miles from the latter
pont
Az telegraph lines, when well managed, are
among the best paying speculations, we may
reasonably expect that some or all of these en-
terprises will be carried to successful termina-
ton within a. year or two. Thus one great de-
sideratum will be obtained in our relations with
the States of the Pacific. The next will follow
in due time, in the shape of continuous line of
railroad from New York to San Francisco.
The Revival or Tradc-Whcn It will Come,
and from Where.
Why ia 1t that business does not revive' How
Is it that trade is 80 stagnant when money is
plenty, crops abundant, labor cheap, and dis
counts easy to be obtaincds
These are questions thai come home to every
mans bosom and are on every mans lips We
have gone through the revulsion, and are now in
the slaekwater time that precedes reaction. But
the reaction does not come. Credit is restored,
but facility Of obtaining credit does not lead
business men into making large purchases. Some
one-idea people lay it to the tariff but the tariff
hss nothing to do with increasing or diminishing
| the generaldemand for and consumption Of grain
and agricultural products. Others again insist
that our monetary system il wrong, and one
| party would mend it by establishing bullion
bank; while others insist that our present bank
ing system is too stringent, and we should resort
to more expansive medium of circulation
! These are old ideas resuscitated, and have
proved not to solve the difficulty. We have tried
high tariffs and low tariffs, sub-treasury and null
ti,udinous banks, in past times, and they have
not produced the anticipated results. What then,
| will cause business to revive?
The fact is, that trade cannot revive without
some great external impulse. Hopes must be
made active in every mind. Commerce of itself
is plant Of slow growth, if left entirely to
itself; but extraneous influences act upon it like
guano upon an exhausted soil The history Of
past revulsons and revivals in trade teaches
these truths. We need not go back beyond the
memory of the present generation of business
men to demonstrate them. The reyulsion Of
1887 left the country as PROSTATE, If not more
so, as that of 1857 Trade did not revive for
ten years. During the interval money accumu-
lated at the great centres until in London ii was
as low as one-half to two per cent per annum.
But while business continued stagnant this pie
thora of money produced a fever Of speculation
in railways, which eliminated in England, and
burst in lsi7. In this country the eight years
succeeding the crash of 1887 we're years of COM
mercial depression with occasional spasmodic
given by the annexation Of Texas. New scenes
for labor, new sources of supply and new mar
kcts for consumption, were opened. The effect
| was almost immediate; but it was principally
| felt in the North.
| Indeed, the annexation Of Texas was
opposed by large party in the South on
| the ground that il was measure for the exclu-
sive benefit Of the Northern States. 1t was argued
| that the superior lands Of Texas would draw of
| the slaves from the WORKOUT tobacco farms Of
Virginia, and the sandy regions of North AMI
South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama The
spindles Of the North and the makers Of Yankee
! -o.;o,s - Now ENGLAND ger" ~ receive the
only tangible benefits that would result from the
measure. On the heel Of Texas came the Mex-
can war and the acquisition Of California and
New Mexico. Again the South was in opposition
The admission Of California would destroy the
balance Of power in the Senate, and give to
Northern trade and industry ~ impulse that
would bring to il an immense preponderance
But we have seen that, while the anticipations of
direful results 10 the South have been falsiied
the effect upon the North has been far greater
than was anticipated. Trade in every depart
ment was stimulated The shipping interest
found aremunerative employment; every spindle
was driven day and night to supply the demand
| for it, products: railroads sprung up on every
| side TO carry men and goods cities were built
where towns had stood, and villages became
towns real estate everywhere advanced in
value, and in a far greater degree in the North
| than in the South.
| In England similar results flowed from similar
causes Annexation in India, and the dcvelope.
ment OF Australia consequent upon the gold dis
covcries there, gave an immense impulse to Bri-
| tish production and British labor Commerce
everywhere felt the influence Of the new elements
that had been brought to il from impulses ex-
,raneous 10 itself The opening Of new scenes for
lie development gave rise TO new hopes, and bu-
iness revived; healthy speculation, which is the
life Of trade, set in; prosperity ensued and spccu-
| lation became ieverish, then wild then mad, and
| finally eliminated in the crash Of 1857. But
though much that was fictitious passed away then
with the hopes upon which II was built, much
that was real remains with us, and we are far In
advance today Of where we were In 1915. Our
thousands Of miles Of railway. our great lines Of
ocean steamships, our magnificent clippers, our
brown stone and marble palaces. and the aug
mcntcd value of town lots and country farms,
owe their existence to the impulse that was given