, 1860-05-03

upon all merchandise, IT. indeed, iu many cases
they did not amount to IN actual embargo. !
A line of boats has been put on thu Upper
Mississippi by the Illinois Central and the Ga.
lena road, to accommodate this trade as well |
as to form q through line from this city to St. |
Paul. This is the first line Of boats on the
Uppcr Mississippi tl4at has been entirely under
the control Of Chicago It is to be hoped that
the enterprise will be well sustained, and prove
u great advantage to tho trade of the city.
The above facts suggest tho obvious reflec. |
ton, that tho West Is only just beginning 10
feel the good effects Of her railways and toap-
preciate their real importance to her future
prosperity. New articles Of commeroe and
new sources Of profit are developing year by
year. In the new era Of development on which
we arc just entering, our railways will exert
controlling influence. An nenergetic and united
effort must be made to extend them to the
Missouri river, and then we shall he ready to-
profit by the next great national movement
which is soon to bc made to build the Pacific
Railway, The sooner and the more thorough
" this subject is capyassed BY all our citizens
the better.
AMERICAN ExTRAvAGANCE.
Most Of our financial troubles are occa~
stoned BY domestic extravaganza. As peo-
pie we live altogether loo fast. We place too
high m estimate on external show. We faro
loo sumptuously. We expsnd too much money
upon our houses; too much on ornament, on
fine dress and equipage, on pleasure-soeking.
Such things are somewhat excusable in old and
wealthy communities, possessed OF a plethora
| Of money and out Of debt. But in new
| country like ours, where fortunes are Jet to
he made, where competition in every 'avoca~
lion is active and unceasing, where the coun~
try is only partially developed, where roads
are yet to he made, bridges constructed, pub"
lie buildings to be erected, colleges and SEMI
naries to be built up aud endowcd-economy
| in. private expenditures simplicity in life
aud manners, ought to be the rule. OtheF~
wise revulsion is sure, and periods Of tlsheart~
/ CHILLY uEQlEoa40A 4AEt AA<*NAN- -A1 N%$ ~-~@0--
lion Of hov, for the American people 80
| in tho opposite direction, take the consump-
tiou of tho singls article Of silk manufactures
In 1856, just before the financial collapse oe-
CURED, we imported silk goods to the alue
Of more than thirty millions Of dollars In
! 1859, the impo1tations were tweuty-nlne mil
lions; and recent estimates place the proba'
| bic yalue Of silk goods imported the presen'
fiscal year ut forty millions Of dollars 4
1arge portion Of the industrial population q
Franco aud Switzerland is kept in employment
bv the American demand for silk goods
| Then, il we take The importations Of wines
aud brandies, Of jewclry and other 11nneces
sary trinkets and gew gawe, and add to then
our ilnportationB Of more solid valt,e-sucl
as SIXTY millions for cotton aud woolen good:
| that ought to be manufactured at home, ant
twenty-five millions for iron which our ON!
} furnaces could well supply, the sum assumes
proportions Of frigltful magnitude, rortendinl
another reyulsion not very far in the futur'.
In many individual cases, all over the coun
| try, laudable efforts hayo been madc o1 late Il
live within available means, to economiso Il
. ! every poins, to give up the attcmptto ape til
style Of weather or less honest ncishbors
| But the annual importations oc articles q
luxury prove conclusive1y that, as conparet
with the whole population, tho number at
tempting the practice Of economy is lament
0 ably small-that needless extravaganza is tn
1 r1.le, tho reverse the exception. Unless thi
is changed, there cau he III uncertainty as
I the result If the nation will not live With
> its means, another financial atorm sooner
q later will sweep over it. The law which go'
erus this matter is inexorahle, aud if violate
:, tlcre is no escaping tho penalty. Few wi
= heed the warning; but tho few who do, wi
I, find their profit in it.