The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-01-13

"csSio Vi AuSe So4t PAS f~ASU " nSSoic ~ Dv"8-
lass & Co, one of the mercantile ageHcies of this
city. sssll,s5 sa
Although the general result exhibited in the
aggregates of these statistics is satisfactory, it
will be seen that the storm which passed over
the commercial world in the latter part of 1857
extended its effects into the succeeding year.
Many houses that passed through the panic after
wards fell under the spent pressure of the tenn
pest, OF from the difficulty Of recuperatoo dur
ing the slackwater time in trade which followed
it, Ii is for this reason that the number Of fail
ures recorded last year amounts approximately
to 2 per cent on the number of mercantile firms
which Messrs. Douglass bad on their books in
1857 while the failures in the preceding year of
panic amounted to only ~ per cent Oh the same
aggre gate But there is one great difference be-
tween the failures of 1857 and those of 1858. In
the former the total amount Of liabilities
amounted in round numbers to two hun
bred and ninety-two millions of dollars while
in the latter they have reached only ninety
six millions. We regret that the enterprisng au-
thors of this circular have not given us this
year the same detailed statement of the number
of commercial firms on record, the statistics of
those whose bankruptcy was fraudulent, and the
percentage paid ON the liabilities from the assets.
Such data are very desirable for many reasons,
not the least among which is the light they may
throw upon the diverse systems of commercial
legislation in the several States
In the concentrations of the circular there is,
however, much matter OF interest. We observe
that the city traders generally have exhibited
marked Improvement in stability over that of
the country traders, particularly in the Western
and Northwestern States. This discrepancy we
attribute to the closer dependence Of the country
trader upon the prosperity of the agricultural
interest, and the falling off which these great
grain and meat producing districts experienced
last year both in crops and market prices. The
South exhibits great stability in her commercial
community, and excellent prospects for the COM
ing year. In New England, too, the course of
trade is healthy, and the cotton and woollen
manufacturing establishments have already expe-
rienced revival Of trade about equal to their
capacity to supply. One of the signs of the in
creasing commercial preponderance of our city
exists in the fact that these mercantile agencies
art eAttuuluS tueiI OpeidtlOus lulO Culduu,
thus increasing the facility Of the Canadian
trader for obtaining credit here, and at the same
time charging the market for our New York
merchants. On the whole, it is thought that en-
enlargement is the prevailing feature of the coun-
try, and that we shall have safe If not an
extensive trade during the ensuing year.
In the present material condition Of the coun-
@,,xyi hnro sc 1orbf m
this hope. Prices, generally, of our staples Of
trade are much nearer to the cost of production
than they have been for a series Of years past
| q condition of things which contrasts most
favorably with that of several months before the
panic Of 1867. At that time spectators were
carrying heavy stocks of cotton, sugar, grain,
| -four, and in fact Of nearly every article of
general use, at prices fully one hundred per cent
| above the cost of production The consequence
| was that both distribution and consumption were
diminished; and when the inevitable fall of
prices came, panic came with it, Now no such
great and general decline can occur, and
consequently the future presents much
safer prospect to the trader. But a
large diminution Of consumption has fol-
lowed the panic. When everybody believed
themselves to be possessors of fortunes
in their stocks Of staples held at speculative
prices, extravaganza was rife in all things, and
stimulated industry and consumption greatly.
But the losses of the panic took away these for
tunes, and the aggregate diminutiOn Of wealth
and enforcement of economy is not to be found
in the % per cent of merchants who have failed,
but among the o.! per cent that did not fail.
That we shall recover from the effects Of the
panic there can be no doubt. 1t is only ques-
ton of time. II took US twelve years to re-
cover from the crash of 1887, and then began the
food tide of prosperity which eliminated In
1867. Whether we shall waddle along now
through twelve years of uncertain trade depends
upon other causes than the slow operations Of
good annual crops and the gradual increase of
accumulated wealth. Some great impelling
cause outside q the existing elements of trade
must occur to produce it. The famine in
Europe and closely following opening Of Cali
fornia started the last prosperous era. But the
California and Australian stimulus is now lost.
Men do not rush in shoals there nor send goods
by the hundred cargocs. That trade obeys the
normal law There are, however, many ele-
ments in agitation that may again stir up the
fountains Of commerce. The admission Of
Cuba to our Union, the opening of Mexico
to our adventurous and cnterprising youth, the
movement into the field Of production and con-
| sumption Of one or two hundred thousand coolies
by England, Or Africans by France and the open
| ing Of trade with three hundred millions of
Chinese, may each Or all contribute to swell the
| coming tide Of prosperous commerce. These are
causes far more rapid in action than the slow
process of general rccuperation II was the la
Dor of only three hundred thousand men. stimu-
lated by golden hopes in California and Austria
liza, that produced the last era of prosperity An
| equal withdrawal from the present supplies of