New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-01-10
AN EXCHANGE.

\ Ws,v Il ii that we have no E exchange IN NeM
Orleans? We do not mean, OF course sias seis u
exchange which is synonymous with tfallc7
have q good deal of that, and we nope los i'eer
more--but place where our merchants may oe
rrerate as those of olien Venice On sho na.sv'
Or those of modern Paris on the boniss. 49,
Orleans has been the fourth commercial oi'y -
The world and the confident expectation q every
true Louisanian is that she IS destinea, soins .s
asy. to be the first She has an lncomparapie
system Of river navigation communicating villa
oauntry fertile beyond Egyptian feoundlty she
has d splendid port, magnificent leYee' pus NO
q ~ cbanyes II il great, lamentable def
soiency. Cities not 70 be compared with New
orieans in size, in population, in Importance,
have crowded their merchants with splendid
edifces in which te assemble and discuss CONNER
cial Affairs hut we permit our merchants 70
wander along the t,otoirs Of Carondelet street Or
to stand seni-idly at street corners, 70 90 tneif
necessary talking, arguing and BARGAINING we
belieye too, that share OF this SOFT oil business
is done at the clubs, and another portion in the
counting houses and offices. One way or another,
We presume it is done; but after all the business
must be rot through with in a lame and hating
and UNREASONABLE style, totally unworthy of a
city which aspires to be the metropolis Of the
| Mississinpi Valley, and dreams of being the me.
tropoIis of America.
/ There have been, in times past, attempts to es
tabiish 4 high change in New Orleans; but
whether from failure to agree on a generally ac
4 ceptable hear, or from some unexplained idiosyn
/ crasy in the character of our mercantile popula
tioa, those attempts were not successful. The OLD
/ Merchants Exchange building, after passing
through various mutations, has finally settled down
/ comfortably into an auctioneer's stand, and the
new Commercial Exchange, after something Of q
similar experience, has become a place OF lodge
rooms, lectures and fairs. Why it is that the New
Orleans merchants have not been able to establish
i q permanent " high CHANGE we do not under
take to explain. The fact itself is sufficiently con
4 ispicuous. New York has her Merchants Exchange
Il her two Boards Of Brokers, her Corn Exchange,
and even her Petroleum Exchange. New Orleans
has none. The advantages Of such an institution
are obvious. It's great conveniences, the facility
which it affords for an Interchange of opinions and
information and even the kindly and social feeling
4 which itengendeFs, have been universally recog-
u nized. Almost every commercial city OF any note
i in the world has stipulated time and place for
i e high CHANGE In many Of them magnificent
edifices are provided for this purpose-Wonders Of
architectural art Illustrative of the taste and opu-
Hence of the communities which lave constructed
4 them.
We hope to see movement soon made in New
Orleans to remedy this serious deficiency. The
merchants themselves are tie persons to take the
matter in hand. We certainly sympathize with
them now that they are compelled to lmger on
streeteorners, Or narrow counting rooms, to trans
act i'll d very unsatisfactory manner, the business
which ought to be pleasantly conducted in stately
halls but if they neglect to remedy the defect
| they will have nobody but themselvesto blame for
| it. We repeat, that we hope to movement
soon made which will result in putting New Or
leans, in this respect, on an equality with other
metropolitan cities. III