The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1860-01-12
DIRECT TRADE I'M cHARLEsroN

DIRECT TRADE IN CHARLESTON.
!. ii The remarks OF our cotenporaries, as wholo,
4 haya. bren very complimentary 10 the card
lately iss,iel BY the Charleston iobbiug mer.
5. vl,unts. A sound pn:rio,isn and discrmm ting
Judgment has lervadcd all the notices that have
met our eye. An earnest desire seems to he sin.
cerety entertained 10 sustnin tho merchants Of
: charleston in their eadeavurs to Iluce our
! Queen City in her proper station ss a leading
seaport of the world. But We detect, in some,
indications Of an idea that no direct i,nporta.
tons are made in Charleston, aid that better
terms can he obtained Of jobbers IN New York.
TO combat this error, and in sone degree to con-
Vey more accurate afouaatiun, we propose a
few words.
At the outset let us premise. that TO no great
extent do jobbcrs, IN any market, import the
goods th~y cell. And the retailer who buys his
stock in New York, thinking That hc is buying
of the importer, grossly dec-ives himself. I'm.
porting is a business Of itself, which completely
absorbs the capital ordinarily commanded by
snercautile frms The importer sells by tile
casc to the j"bbor, and The johber, by the piece
ur pieces. TO the retailer, who sells to the con.
sumner by TIE tat,ern or quantity d.sir-d.-
Such is the division Of modern trade. The sim
Ple question plainly put to the interor retailer
is Will you sustain the Charleston iubber or
will you sustain the New York jobber who are
equal conpe ,itors for your customi
The Charleston and New Yo,k jolber alike
purchase of the importer. who Is mainly an agent
IN New York of foreign domestic manufnc.
turers The manufactures. no matter what his
Innis may he, sends them 10 New York for n
market, through local agent in that city, and
he will send them 10 Charleston in the same
manner, il d sufficient market for goods lie
created here. For the very reason that there
m anufacturer's agents in Charleston, our
jobt,ers import more often than the New York
jobbcrs. who can obtain any desired article. by
sending n few streets or biucks2 Here are no
large stocks. exclusive to certain departments of
trndcs. sold only BY the bale, case, othe meas.
ure of bulk. We select at random the following
direct mportatons OF last Thursday, in evi.
deuce of The variety of such impor,atlons made
at this port:
Per ship Caroline arrived from Liverpool.
December 90. Salt. to James Wel>man; bark
Nethcrlnnd, arrived from Rotterdam. Hay. to
&. o. Witte: ship Othelio. from Liverpool,
Hardware, to WilInan's d Price; Coal. to John
Schnierlc Mdse. to A. d r. b. Mckenzie;
Enr,henwnre, Potatoes, Oat Meal. to J. Bones
Rum and Wine, to Klinck. Wickenbcrg & Co;
Ale, to Ravcnel &. Co; Cotton Thread, to J. Il
$. +. Ravenel; Nails. Hardware Chains, to
Courtney, T-nnent g. Co; Saddlery, to Love l.
Wieng-s; Pots. Camp Ovens, Covers, Chimney
Backs. to NJ. Ogilvie; Iron, IS. n. Hart &
Co, Hardware, to GrnveIy l. Pringe; Tr"n
Pots, Camp Ovens. Covers. Biscuit Ovens, Skill
let's, Spiders, Hardware IIoIlownre, Ovel Iron,
Sheet Iron and Bar Iron. To j. +. Adger d Co;
Hardware, 10 Hyde, Gregg & Day; Mdse. and
Hardware, to Hyatt, McBurney & Co; Bot
lied A!r. to Il. y: Chapman; Enr'henwnre, to
ware, Chains, Nails Pans, to IL. F. Slrohecker
MJse., to Crane, Boy ston & Co; Stationery
:and Books, to Gourdin. Mat,hiesscn d Co;
Bngging, 10 J. Fraser d Co; Mdse. 10 e. A.
Trenholm; Machinery, to S. G. Railroad Co
Enr,henware, to Brown d Palma; Ilerrings
and Whisky, to Gibbs d Co; Mdse. 10 John
sIon, Crews & BrawIey; Hardware, 10 w. II.
Morton.
large class of goods, in common use
throughout the South, nre OF Northern manu-
factu:e whose depots nre located in New York.
as for example: clothing, boots aud shoes, hats,
and the thousand. and .oue small convemipnces OF
every dny life. Large amounts Of capital are
there devoted 10 their manufacture. and so long
the interior reta Ter ut the South will sell
such goods, there will exist establishments in
Charleston for their supply. Charleston mer.
chants are like merchants everywhere, they will
keep what people will buy mud it is perfectly,
utterly idle to expect any different, condition.
The pertinent suggestion 10 nll is, ehaIl u lead
ing market be built up in Charleston9 Shall
our joboers double their business and manifold
their numbcrs9 When they do. importing hous.
es, agents Of fureign and domestic nnuiactures.
will be established here. and bonded warehouses
will rise on East Bay. Foreign manufacturers
'hnve no intrinsic interest in New York. They
will establish branch ol their houses in Charles.
ton whenever the market will warrant. Trade
is sensitive-it gravitates, aud alwuys will
Markets create merchants, but merchants do not
create markets.
The question. then, simply recurs upon-how
rhall our j'bbing housrs be sustained and
:streng,henelf Manifestiy only by interior msr-
chants seeking u market here. This cannot
he done in a day season: but the com.
mencemeut mny be made at my time. The ex-
tent Of country, naturally seeking supply mar.
!ket here, is large enough and rich enough to
create all the trade that Charleston can conduct.
Should this trade concentrate here-should our
.johbers find their stocks readily exhausted
the manufacturers will directly establish agen.
.ces here. and we shall p,sssess original mar.
iket limited only by the amount aud extent Of
i's custom Our harbor is ample, and all origi.
anal facilities provided literally by nature -
Charleston Mercury.