The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-09-07
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TIE FALL TRADE.

the war, thRriestun dill IA largo and lucrative
business. Her hnrbor was filed with ship
ping. her warehouses were stored with cot
ion, her presses engaged night 6nd dny pre-
pairing Falcs Of uplanls for coast wisr aud in
ter"ceanic shipment. Lines OF packets nnd
steamers iont l,er coilan, her rice, md other
products Of less aggregate value to New York,
Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans,
Havana, MatnnzNs. New proYidence; to Liver
pool, Bremen, IiaYrc, Bordeaux, and many
other ports; and in return were frcighted with
bales OF costly merchandise for our jobbers md
importers. Our banks had n large capital ut
their disposal, which was literally aud iu,li.
ciously used for the accommodation of our
merchants and tho constant extension OF the
sphere of the commerce of Charleston.
| With the commencement OF the war, and tho
enforcement of the blockade, all tho wheels of
this extensive und perfectly constructed piece
of commercial mechanism necessarily stopped
| The mainspring was not derangcd; the enrth
was ready as ever ito yield her Increase"
| labor, conducted on the best orgauizad system
to be found anywhere in the world, was ours
| nnd in full operation; but the balance wheel
wns disordcrad--tho motive power was there,
hut could not be. .utiizetl
Gradually the. whole machinery. of trade fell
iuio dccny. At tho close Of the war; old and
tilne-wo -chnnuels had become oblitcrated,
md Tor while it seemed though the whole
elaborate organism had to be reconstructed.
The well-known laws of. trade seemed to have
lost their force. Demand anil supply no longer
| preserved their wonted equipoisc The mer-
| chants were nenrly as numerous ns the cousum-
| ers. There was dearth of goods all over the
| late Confederacy. The articles ordinarily con-
sidered necessaries had become luxuries; and
| in the first reaction upon the terrible priyntion
| enforced by the war, every available meaus
was nj once exchanged for provisions and cloth
ing of character somewhat better thnn we
| had been compelled to be content with during
tho two or three yenrs Immediately preceding
| Stores were opened everywhere. A fortunate
few took advantage of this fioo,l-tide, mud some
Of them at least, reapel rich harvests of gold,
silver and greenhacks.
This Fictitious activity of trade in the. South
deceived the merchants Of the North. Instead
| Of Viewing it as the dying Kicker Of tho eIpir-
ing light, last deceptive glnro, and then nll
darkness, they gnorantiy considered il fair
| index Of the financial condition of the South
crn States. They soon, however, found their
| mistake, but not without paying dearly for tho
experience. Tho country was indeed exhaust
| ed; there wns neither money nor surplus of
products convertible into currency. Not only
| this, but there was, moreover, universal want
of horses, cattle, and hogs of seeds, fertilizers,
and farming utensils; and, MS matter of course,
| Of ready money with which TO procure these
essentials, or to curry on agricultural opera
tions with hired labor
The march oil = hostile army had ,lcs roycd
he railroads. public travel being thus inter-
rupted, Our city joblIers aud their country cus-
! toners found il difficult 10 keep in communica-
ton. Large numbers thus wenCto New York
aId 10 other points, and established new rela-
lions, aud many Of our merchants found too
,late that tl,ey had not taken this new state of
things into due consideration, and a lurge stock
OF goods purchased ut the high prices then cur
rent, remained oil the shelves
I=-oln sdditiondo nli these drawbacks, the crops
during tho Inst two years fell far short OF the
yield anticipated The deranged system of
labor, together with our politicnl troubles, have
largely impaired our credit and deprecated
ulr securities; interest has ranged nj mnprcce-
dehted high rates, and money, even OH those
terms, has been almost impossible to obtain;
hndy to complete the long iliad of our CONNER
cial woes, all this while, taxes, Internal State
nnd <Aunicipal, have been increasing, from
year TO ycnr, MS by a geometricnl ratio, and
| have made less the little that had been left us
out of the wreck Of our former prosperity
-. Notwithstanding, however, oil these depress-
ing influences, we are happy to know TINT
Charleston has been steadily progressing in
tho grent work Of commercial reconstruction.
Her railroads, by the unparalleled energy of
officers and directors, were promptly placed in
running order; her wharves rebuilt at con-
siderable expense; her commercial relations
with distant ports have been res,Imed; old lines
have been re-estsblished, and new ones added.
4 Although our banking facilities sill fall far
short Of the flush times before the war, we
! hnro; at least made commencement. True,
their resources are limited, and inadequate to
| the Accommodation" of all who nre "hard up.
we think we havo reason to expect an enlarge
ment of their sphere at en- early period.
| Nearly all our old friends may again be
\ found on Hayne, Meeting King and East Bay
streets, and not a few new ones in addition.
TLe:s stocks, though very prudentiy not as
lnrge as 1860, are we'll selected, and afford the
fullest variety-nmple to oil tho demands of
| the trade.
Although tho depreciation Of cotton cannot
\ in itself be considered an advantage 10 this
part of the country, still its coincidcnt effect
of lowering the price Of goods, must conduce
indirectly to the advantage Of the trade as q
mnoh lnrger consumption may confidently be
expected. Indeed, not cotton goods alone, but
merchandise of every description Is much lower
now'thnn two years ago. The crop now har-
vesting is Superior TO any we have had since
1860; and our merchants, VIC think, have
every roason 10 anticipate fair average fall
trade.
:, From nm inspection Of the extensive maga-
zines in ITayne and Meeting streets, it would
appear lhat our importers and jobbers have
provided themselves fully for such q demand
Their stores are filed with the products of
every variety Of goods, domestic and foreign
Our merchants, somo Of whom have been
engaged in this trade over half century, have
accumulated large store of valuable oxperi-