Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-11-06
THE GRAIN TRADE.
Interesting Report to the New
Orleans Chamber Of
Commerce.
From lhe \. o. orescent q ruesaay. ]

/ From the n. o. Crescent OF Tuesday,
There was q large meeting of thu
! Chamber of Commerce in theh hall las
4 evening. Its principal object Was TO beal
/ the report of Col. Wn. NJ. BurweH, who
/ sometime since was delegated by th'
/ cham0er to proceed TO various Northern
anG Western cities, there to discover the
| probabilities of the turning of the grsil
trade to this city and TO point out to the
/ several boards of trade of the various
cities the excellencies of the gulf route
! and the facilities we are willing TO give
10 the trade if, or rather when, we get it
In the discharge OF this mission Col
BurWeu has spoken before the trade
boards OF st. Louis and Chicago, and
converssd with the leading men Of both
those commercial centers has examined
their method Of doing business, and its
adaptability to cur city, has given to the
people of those cities Information IS to the
trade facilities of New Orleans, her cli-
mate, her atmosphere, in its effects upon
both grain and human health; the
amount Of enterprise her people eX-
hibit-in short everything that would
interest men who for the first time have
heard of a strange country, wherein
they may shortly make venture. He
has collected, too, vast smOuLt OF in
formation, both statistical and otherwise,
and now comes bsGk to the city which
sent him, to report the result of his
mission. The regular business of the
chamber being concluded, Col. Burwell
was called upon for his report, which was
substantially So follows:
He recOunted briefly the message with
which be had been charged to the great
Western cities, st. Louis and Chicago,
to which he had been sent, which was
the expression to them of the desire of
New Orleans 10 be linked yet closer with
them 10 those bonds, which only are en-
duTiDg-the bonds OF trade-the demon
stratiOn to them Of The profit which will
accrue to themselves by the use Of the
gulf route, for both expectation and i'm
DOrtation, and the proving to them that
We are in earnest in our desire for their
trade by the exhibition to them Of the
reduced rates of charges recently adopted
by the merchants Of New Orleans. He
said he had been cordially received
wherever he delivered his message, had
found the people anxious to hear him,
willing to give all information, and glad
to lesrn everything he could tell them
about what we expect and wish. He
had, wherever he had gone, but espe-
ciaily in ChicagO-which city, and her
wonderful rise and progress, Col. Bur-
well highly eulOgized-tried to demon
strate to the people two great points,
which proved, as he proved them, con-
clusiveIy that the grain trade must come
here. But still, he said, although to him
these arguments seemed 30 conclusive,
be put them very mOdestly to the great
capitalists and men of business with
whom he had come in contact, merely
stating facts, leaving themselves to make
the deductions. Those two points are
briefly these:
Fr8t-By way Of New Orleans and
the Gulf, and by no other route can Chi
cago get her grain to market from No
yembeT to April. During that time the
canals and lakes are closed by the ice,
and the railroads, taking advantage of
the blockade IS soon ss the frost COM
mences, put their ffeights up. This ia
done in such proportion that the Seight
on g bsrrel of -four which, in summer,
is transported for sixty-five cents, in
winter comes 20 81 80. Besides this in-
creased cost of freight, the railroads are
not adequate at any price to carry all, or
a tithe, of the grain of Chicago. Mr..
BuEwelI showed that the expectation OF
corn in the winter months did not aver
age over q third Cf a million of bushels
per month, while in the summer months
10 rose to four millions Of bushels. Now
the wheat crop comes 10 10 August, aud
therefore portion Of it may be shipped
East before the 18th Of Novembe when
the freeze comes, But corn is not har-
vested till 0ctObsr, and therefore but
small portion OF it can be sent East be-
F,-a tho froara haianaa that
Insignificant part which can be sent by
f7il, remaining idle ali winter in the bins
uf Chicsgo. Storage must be paid on
lis grain, interest must be lost on the
money which it represents, insurance
must be psid and above ali the owners
must cit still and twiTl their thumbs,
while prices may go up and go
down and their grain not within
reach OF market, and not likely
to get to one for three or four months.
Chicago cannot afford this loss of time
and money, this idiepess Of labor and OF
capital. SIZE wants some immediate
outlet to the ten million bushels of grain,
which in November are placed in her
bius, there to remain till April, utterly
useless and dead weight. And this out
let we offer. If, when the lakes and
rivers Of the far North freeze, the mer-
chants Of the Northern metropolis, in
stead OF boarding their grain till spring,
making meanwhile small bits of ship
ments by rail, should at once change the
course OF their grain, send it by the
shortest rail route to the great Missis-
sippi, or some of its tributaries, thence
BY barge TO New Orleans, and thence by
steam or sail in bulk to the markets of
the East and Europe, they would en-
plOy their capital, they would yet con-
troll the market, they would transform
their four months business lethargy into
four months Of activity as great, if not
greater than that Of the balance OF the
year. Col. Burwell also told how he de-
mOnstrsted to those men their sdvan-
tages in obtaining their tropical and
European groceries direct through New
Orleans, over the present route, which is
via New York. He showed in the one
item Of g. hogsheaG Of sugar, which pays
S23 freight from Havana to Chicago, via
New York, which can be transported.
and is transported for 81 via New Or
leans. Oa this point Col. Burwell dwelt
at length, and clearly demonstrated it.
The second item which Col. Burwell
had discussed with the men of Chicago
was the Tefutation of the idea that grain
could not be transported through the
Gulf Stream without serious and perms-
neDt injury. This was very prevalent
belief two years ago amongst men OF all
classes, but later investigations and in |
ouiIies had demonstrated It's fallacy, and |
now the speaker had ,the opinion of the
best and most practical Western men, |
such as Mr.. Douglass, President OF the |
Illinois Central Railroad, and Mr.. Highly, !
OF Milwaukee, now of our city, |
proprietor of the 100000 elevator in |
J sfftrson City, that this route ia fully as
safe as any other. So that objection may
be considered disposed off,
Col. Burweli next showed that al
though ST. Louis and Chicago may con- |
tend for Northern and Eastern trade, vet |
their Southern expectations must both |
come through New Orleans.
Colonel BurWell then took up the OBJ |
stacles in the way Of the grain trade. |
Tkey are in the first place natural, the |
bar at the mouth of the river-the bars !
above and the rapids. To remove these |
is the work OF the central government. |
The next are trade barriers. OF these
the speaker enumerated, first The enor- |
NOUS wharfage dues now demanded all |
along the river from here to st. Louis, |
which actually amount in the aggregate |
to over 1890 for one round trip. Second /: |
The high rates Of insurance. thing to 1
be remedied in time. Third: The cum
0rOus manner of conducting business in ]
our Custom House. Fourth: High +!
A bale of cotton can now be |
= har %, u "a