The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-22
BUSINESS IN NEW YORK.

1,,,.- amanp the Poor and Laboring
tCIasses-Thousands oil Meeh"n'cs enem.
pioyed-The Future Prospeei-A Wlde fieid
Tor Phiianthropic Endeayor.
The advent of winter always brings with II an
;ncreass Of want suffering and restitution among
the laboring classes Of this great metropolis. Not
chat New York is al exceptional case in this
card for the general rule holds good Of all other
cities that when the chilling blasts and drifting
SHOWS Of tie cold season permeate their streets
and avenues the misery which during the warm
summer months manages to exc out bare exist
ence IS now reduced TO beggarv, and, draped in
scanty wardrobe, in a weak and waning voice,
with lustreless eye and pinched cheeks, stretches
forth its emaciated hand craving charity
'.for the love of God enough to buy
bread for starving children!' To the ever
lasting honor Of city be it said, this appeal,
80 far as the aggregate poor are conc .rned, does
not 60 unheeded; and if accurate statistics could
be kept of the amounts disbursed in charity every
winter on Manhattan Island, the result would as
tonish those egotistica, but less active Cities
whose theoretical philanthropy has given them a
reputation Of which more familiar knowledge of
their omission to put their theory into practice
would speedily deprive them. But If this be true
OF winter here in general-if misery and want in
varably accumulate the "season OF snows''
its intensity, and if charity be called upon
TO exercise its benignant sway in proportion the
winter Is more or less seyere-how much more
deplorable must be the condition of the poor
when to the rigors usually incident to this
are added inordinate prices for all the necessares
OF life. and scarcity almost amounting to the
total absence Of demand for labor. And such is
the precise state of things at this time. Not
only have provisions, clothing, rents fuel and all
other incidentals necessary to even o moderate
degree of comfortable living attained monetary
altitude almost beyond the reach of tho labor.
ing man who has work to do, but labor
Itself Is, TO very great extent,
unable to find o market. "Trade is
dull'' is the universal cry among all classes of
traffickers Business is poor-very poor" says
the manufacturer. ''Nothng to do" is echoed
and re-echoed by the masses Of mechanics and
laboring men, whose humble and o-often poverty
stricken homes are found among u.s. At least
sixty thousand working men and women are, even
thus early in the season, without employment and
without any immediate prospect of obtaining it.
How many of this number are without bread, ex-
cept far as it is doled out to them by the hand
Of charity, God only knows. But il the events Of
the past few weeks, and the gloomy prospects
looming in the future !" faithful induces Of the
existing social status of the poor and of what is in
store for them during the dreary winter on which
we have entered. our weather. and better-to-do
classes must expect to open their hearts and
purse, even more widely than at any time during
the past seven years.
Why business is so dull, why trade is 80 poor,
and. as seq,itur, why indulgence is proportions
bly, more extended now than in previous years. it
is not the purport Of this article to demonstrate.
II is designed here only to present truthful pic
ture of the state of trade leaving the qua cdusa to
the reader. Some will doubtless find its solution
in the unsettled state Of our political aairs in the
unsatisfactory manner in which Congress has dealt
with the question Of reconstruction; in the gen.
eral uncertainty which obtains among mercantile
classes as to what will be the result of the conflict
ing political opinions in the Southern States.
Others may throw the responsibility pre-
seat mismanaged financial system-on the previous
imitation. and now attempted reduction, of our
currency and trace the troubles and trials under
which business is laboring directly to the door of
the Treasury Department Still others find the |
query fully answered in the lack of trade with the
South; in the fact that the free labor Of that
section is not utilized SO as to effect the produc-
tion of cotton and other staples to a degree |
sufficient to warrant a general exchange
Northern States. Yet again others find these in
terrogatories answered in the decrease of CON-
MERGE; and with fine spun theories as to the |
''balance Of exchanges" the drain upon our |
specie" and such like matters, which enter |
largely into the essays of the political economist,
will endeavor to show the cause OF, while they !
point remedy for, the present depressed state of
trade and manufactures. With none of these
olrt,n Lar Ia
patent fact that the tradesman has small sale for
his wares that tho mechanic and laboring man |
find scant market for their exertions is all that
now concerns Suffice it to say that Rnancal |
crisis is not unexpected and it is this uncertainty
a. to what the future may bring forth that leads
the capitalists of the country to risk no money
ventures. They tighten their purse strings and
repress their speculative desires, apparently de-
termined that when the crash does come il
will find that their prescence has not left |
them liable to any very great degree OF injury |
from it. This feeling Of riskiness with regard to
the investment OF capital necessarily affects both
the tradesman and the laborer, and may be re- |
garded the main OF the present dulness Of
business. While the was in progress, although
prices for everything ranged high, the army and
navy demands gave employment TO trades and 2yo- |
cations of all kinds; and in addition to this specu
lative ventures were everywhere apparent. |
Money (paper money! was plenty. wages were |
high, and desire for display, which seemed to !
have taken possession of ali our people. kept the
improvsed currency moving from hand 10 hand,
so that although the country was passing through
terrific ordeal the full force OF which was hardly
realized at the time, there ltileabject poverty
TO be observed, and severe winters passed over |
us without bringing to view any great amount OF
squalid poverty Now, however, the demand for
that labor which was incident TO the carrying on
Of great war has ceased, and thousands who
lived comfortably during the conflict Of arms find
themselves wholly unemployed.
In order to ascertain how great may be the
distress among the working classes in this city,
there are several social barometers which may be
consulted. And first let US pay a visit here
through this swinging door, which opens with the
slightest pressure. Those who enter II do so
generally in haste and with downcast heads, as II
seeking TO avoid recognition. IL