The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-06-14

The following notice appeared in the usual sum-
mary of news, upon the editorial page, of the
New York Hra19 of Saturday:
by the steamship BALTIMORE which arrived on the 9TH
al baltimore from Havana, We are in receipt Of later ad-
vices from MeXco''
Trivial this announcement is, il is still
worthy Of q moments consideration. There was
time when a vast proportion of the foreign news
winch was disseminated throughout the country,
appeared originally in Baltimore journals. Now,
1t Is comparatively seldom that the people of other
cities receive the latest information about affairs
abroad, through vessels arriving in our port, and
II IS not often that we can find in a New York
paper the acknowledgment that it is indebted, for
dispatches from Mexico or elsewhere to one of our
steamers. To have received advices from the Gulf
IN advance of the people of the great commercial
emporium in the North, is certainly IN itself an in
significant matter. But the paragraph which
chronicles the fact is at least suggestive one and
as we read 1t and recur TO the period when our
snlPs were continually seen every ocean, many
questions present themselves, touching the future
which we should more frequently consider. Shall
we look upon our Havana steamer simply as the
torerunner of the many that may one day
throng our harbor, and may we accept its success
as the harbnger of that returning era of prosper
ity which we trust awaits the shipping interest of
BALTIMORE We cannot persuade ourselves that
we ought to resign henceforth all idea of regain
ing the position we formerly held in the CONNER
cal world, and that we should be content to ac-
eept coasting trade Of any magnitude whatsoever
IT'S compensation for the foreign commerce we
heretofore enjoyed. Once we not merely kent pace
WIN our rivals, but so far outstripped Them
'H't they were compelled TO initiate in order to
'0"ipe'e win us. Our clippers have furnished
.nouelS 10 The shpwrigbts of every nation. WHY
Is II that we have failed to be among the foremost
III Fronting by the improvements of which the
merchants of other cities are about to avail them
selves? In other respects we have been ever in
advance of our neighbors. In building railroad
to the Ohio we gave evidence of an energy tina
;. has never been surpassed, and proved that no un
dertaking was stupendous that we feared Il
grappe with 1t. Gas and water were introduced
into our streets while richer municipalities wer
still debating the practcability of such schemes
and we have organized Fire Department such a.
New York and Philadelphia combined cannot
boast. Our city has expanded rapidly, me.
chanical and manufacturing establishments hav,
multiplied, and wealth and population have in
creased here at a rate which the most sanquip,
among us could scarcely have anticipated Blu
our foreign commerce has grown more and NOR,
languid, and merchants abroad no loncer recoo
nize Baltimore as a great seaport. We shall Ger
tainy have many difficulties TO contend agains
if we endeavor to regain in some measure
our former position. New York has nov
gained a supremacy over all other cite
which it would be vain to dispute. We can
not hope to rival its greatness, and it wou
only be by the most active and persistent effort
that we could attract to our port any considerabl
portion of the trade that vessels belonging to on
own mercantile houses are engaged in. So lony
as New York is the best market in which to dis
pose of their cargoes, or in which to Obtain
freights, the vast majority of our sea-going ship
will be found sailing to and from its harbor
But still there is no reason why we should ceas
to struggle, for notwithstanding the obstacles w
may have to encounter, we are satisfied that i
proper efforts were made, we could bring bacl
some portion of the foreign trade which legiti
mately belongs to us. With harbor as safe an(
as easy of access as that which we possess. AMI
with such connection between it and the teem
ing valleys of the West as we have in the Balti
more and Ohio Railroad, we ought to expor
directly from here an immense quantity of pro
duce that now seeks an outlet in New York
With hundreds of thousands of people de
pendant upon Baltimore, our direct importation
ought TO be incidentally larger. We canno
but trust that the we'll known energy OF on
merchants will before long manifest itself II
such way as to give US some assurance tina
Baltimore may again become the leading seapor
IL was In years gone by. We are aware that tn
shipping interest is depressed just now, but Their
is no probability that the demand for the means
intercourse and traffic between the nations of ih,
earth will cease. The vast continent upon whose
verge we stand, must, at no distant period, bt
densely populated Along the Atlantic coast
wnere the busiest marts must ever be 10.
eaeo' there are comparatively few important