Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1869-05-28
Friday, May 20, 1863.
The Great Commercial Con-
vcntion at Eemphis.

~ pSSmpAAos
stPcacc hath its victories no less
renowned than war;" and the quiet
agencies which overcome the OBJ
,staclcs of nature, quicken into life
all tho elements of industrial
progress, and develope tho ro-
sources Of material and intellectual
growth, conducc not only infinitely
moro to the greatuess but to the
true glory of States. The inven-
ton OF the mariners compass, the
application Of steam to navigation
and to locomotion, the invention OF
the printing press, Of the magnetic
telegraph, the cotton gin, and
Erauy others which have rovolu-
tiouiEed tho civilized world, deserve
n fame more enduring than that
which has found Il place in tho song
Of poet or 'the pictured page" OF
the historian. But whist great
minds in the solitary companion
ship of their own thoughts, have
been exposing the arcana of
nature, aal blazing out new
paths into the unseen aud un-
l;nown-whilst Newton unfolds tho
the laws which guide the planets
above, and Bacon maps out the
road Which conducts US into all
the rccesscs Of the world be-
low -" the grand army" of
ploddors, aud patient works, are
moved at will by some master spirit,
and marshalled and disciplined by
captains of tens aud tifties und hun
drcds, perform their appointed
work, and roll OH the car of hui
man progress. Each has has his
prescribed sphvrc-tl1e man of
thought and the man Of action
md the genius to conceive is only
made effective by onlisting in its
behalf the thousand agencies of in
tcrcst and passion, which quicken
iuto life aud dcvclopc into action
every nerve and sinew of the body
social. To. bring them into har-
,nonious operation, and to make
them subsidiary to the ends of hu-
man society, association is now the
great lever which combines every
elcmcnt Of thought and principle
of action. We have now political
conventions, agricultural convcn-
tons, commercial conventions
trade leagues, protective unions
md cooperative associations - all
bringing to the accomplishment of
the ends Of peace that discipline
and efficiency, which were once
found only in armies in the field,
md were directed to carry out the
purposes Of war.
These thoughts are naturally
sug gested by the accounts which
we have been reading during every
week of the past month, of con-
vcntions, agricultural, railroad and
commercial, which have been doing
SO much to arouse the attention,
stimulate the enterprise, and har-
monisc and direct the public scnti-
ment Of the people of the South to
the accomplishment OF the great
ends Of material advancement, and
industrial progress-aud by none
more SO than that Of the great COM
mercial convention at Memphis,
which during the past week collect
cd together moro than q thousand
delegates from every Southern and
Southwestern State; and also from
the States Of Ohio, Indiana and H.
1iaois. ~
The Convention as q matter of
course met merely to discuss, to
deliberate, and to suggest, but time
can alone disclose, how much, it
has done to stimulate the. develop
ment-of oe.rcim maase resources in
the field. of material improvement,
agriculture, manufactures, mining,
education and the arts.,ii ,y.~o, .M
The proaiihent Subjects aof dis:
cussion beforethe Convention were. we're
the Southern Pacific Railroad, Di.
rect Trade, Fofeign Immigration, 81 ,
and the advantages, Of the South
crn Seaports, ials cop pection, there
with; and also the subjects Of Free
Trade, sFinanee, ane Ban. Raankiagt and .dr
p-On, the subject pf itha seutkern Pa
eifc Raikoads the Gop y mittsaseRsstsdI
the, following resalutiqps which iWarsd
unanimously adepted.s ess3iisss 3s ssat.I
tAesqivsd;;zY zYhatip lopinianso fthisI
Oonventios theaiptersstsofttKc wh6lal
cnnttrr and. came Ilsrs thoso a. t1, "a