New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-02-14
Coy,,rKCy.L RELIEF CERTAIN.


COMMERCIAL RELIEF CERTAIN
The political and monetary prospect before us
may be dscOuraging to some, but II IS very iar
from heinz one of hopeless gloom. There Is no
warrant for an utter stagnation. Merchants and
manufacturers may suspend, but such events have
happened before. In all pancs there are different
degrees Of ssfering-some classes feeling them to
prostratiou, others being frightened up aud escap.
inc with ONLY partial loss, while Others find even
profit in them. A general ruin is seldom or never
experienced, nor are there any features IN the
present crisis which indicate such catastrophe.
This country cannot be wholly ruined. More
over. the causes Of the present inertia are
definitely ascertained, and are susceptible OF re-
moyal. The time is coming when they mny be
expected TO disappear. When they do, all busi-
ness will revive as suddenly as it was depressed,
and will bound upward with an elastic energy
peculiar to us alone. Business now pauses from
no lack Of money, for the country has never been
81 fuu of specie. il must have contained
500 600 coo more on the first Of February than
IL did six months previous. Imports are diminish
ing and exports increasing thus insur'ug
further accession. The banks have more than
they need Every dollar that comes from Cali
fornia remains with M. Ii gold be the basis OF
tbc great business structure, the foundation has
never been SO broad and sound.
A single fact will show how quickly we re-
cover from even the most crushing bankruptcy
That which impoverished thousands ia l-J1 was
the most disastrous ever expcrienccdi yet since
then tie country has built and put in operation
nearly seven thousand miles Of Inlrond. That
crisis covered the whole railroad interest with
STARVATION. Old lines ceased even TO pay eX-
pepseg while unfinished ones came 10 q dead
halt Yet tie revival was rapid enough to bring
back the former to paying point they had never
before attained, while the latter went success
fully on 10 completion, at cost OF over S2OO,.
600, 900. In that crisis the country was bare Of
specie; now it is full. Insolvency was then the
rule, end solveucy the exception. Each morn
ing's paper chronicled 3 LIST Of corporate and
commercial failures, sent by telegraph from every
section of the interior. Banks not only suspended,
but exploded outright. The panic was d.scourag-
ing enough, but the attendant ruin was infinitely
worse. Industry stood still; labor was idle in
the market-plaCe with no one TO hire II; the vast
coal and iron trades were most dIsastrously
crippled; exchanges were ruinOusy dsorganizedi
ships and the shipping interest we're utterly pros
trated; rents fell beyond oil precedenti The auc-
tons were gutted with the supeEfuous fnery Of
thousand families; everybody economical to the
utmost and more people were fed by charity
than in any year either before or since.
These facts must be fresh in everybodys recol-
lection. Look now, at the contrast between past
and present. No banks are becoming insolveDt,
while those Of this city and Of all New-EDgund
have not only not suspended, but are at this mo-
ment tower Of strength TO Themselves and the
community. They are plethOric with coin, with
the certainty of become more 40 for long time
to come. Europe stands ready to buy all the
food we have 10 spare, and u bountiful Proyi-
deDco has filed our granaries to bursting. Three
years 40 there was not dollars worth to ship.
The surplus now has lifted up the West TO com
paradYe Independence, and made it the sure
outlet for millions Of merchandise which other.
wise would be unsaleabe. The telegraph no
longer comes laden with the daily horrors Of
widespread Insolvency, while suspensions at
home or in the larger cities are 80 rare az 10 be
matters Of surprise. Specific, not general rca-
sons, exist for all OF any magnitude which have
80 far occurred-the ewindliDg acceptances of
Cabinet officer, or the political disocatiOn at the
South. Consumption may have les5ened, but in
no proportion 10 the dminution three years ago,
While coal is at this moment being mined more
largely than ever, many f0underies and factories
are at work, railroads are making extraordinary
earnings, the vast shipping interest has entirely
recovered from ruinous ideness into profitable ac-
tiyity, money is abundant at the minimum rate,
the auctions are not crowded with goods super
fluous or Indispensable nor are the public or the
newspapers stricken with the old panic necessity
for n grinding economy.
II is thus refreshing, and it ought to be en-.
couraging, 10 know that our present depression
bears no likeness to the former gloom The
future ought to be brighter than it appears to
the yisiou of some. The nation ID ia reality
srmbering giant, instinct with energies Nhhiiash !
need nothing but the awakening touch Of wise
Government 10 start them into life and action.
Notwithstanding the Reorganization growing out |
Of tho Southern rebelon-the real cause Of tho |
many evils We are nov ep1uring-the whole |