The Morning herald., 1876-07-01
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lAtA bensuet to the Natioual Board Of
Trade, N New York on Thursday evening,
several clever speechse were made in re-
spouse "a the toasts, but the most tmpor-
tsnt. q renecting the we'll considered views
81 the merchants on the consideration Of the
country and the business prospects, was
Chat delivered By Mr. A. A. Low, IN re-
aponse to the toast, "Americsn Commerce. :.
.After few preparatory remarks INFLOW
|sail:-It ID bat natural that, IN . year when
the thoughts Of Ill the people are turned
back upon the past Of Our nations history,
my own should revert for . few moments to
the time half century ago-when en-
tered upon my mercantile career % clerk
in the counting house of respected mer-
chant in the town Of Salem, Mass; and 1t
may be interesting to glance very briefly at
some of the changes that have occurred
during the years that have intervened. At
the period referred to the town Of Salem
was place of great commercial activity.
It was distinguished for the enterprise Of its
merchants, for the intelligence and skin Of
its supercargoes and captains and for its
extended commerce. to all parts of the
world. Its merchantmen visited the prin-
cipal ports In South America, Africa and
the East Indies, as well a. those of Europe;
ALWAYS loading son owners account" and
returning from Bombay, Calcutta, Canton,
the PHILIPPINE Islands, Java, Sumatra and
other ports and places with the teas, silks
and other various products Of the East, all
of which were to find temporary resting
places in the warehouses of the merchants.
Venice, in her wstery bed, is not more tran
quill to-day than is the city Of Salem, with
It's shallow harbor and its deserted wharves.
Ships from the far East no longer visit It's
waters: but the traditions Of It's past re-
nown are fondly cherished, and It draws 3
new life from the manufacturing indus
tries established with the fruits of it's COM
mercial enterprise.
am reminded that the sentiment to which
my attention has been invited directs Our
thoughts to the future as well as to the
past Whatever may become OF the "old
fashioned merchant" l apprehend there is
little reason to doubt that the rising gener-
alton will adapt itself in some way to the
new order Of things. and that every instru-
mortality for facilitating our intercourse
with other commercial countries OF the
world will be turned to profitable account
and made to promote the general good.
There is much, to be sure, in the present
aspect of affairs to discourage enterprise.
There is a want of faith in the future that
restrains all effort. The question is every
where asked, when are we to see an end Of
the existing state of depression and few
are wise or bold enough to answer. Men are
prone to forget that every great crisis in the
history of our commerce has been followed
by many years of prostration and by great
shrinkage ofvalues in every kind OF proper
ty. They are not disposed to see, in the
general distress Of the present time, the ma
tural result of a prolonged period of pros
perity. They are unwilling to trace the
evil to its true source-the over abundance
of irredeemable paper money. The con-
traction that Secretary Mccullough initia-
ted, if it had been pursued, would have pro-
duced an earlier crash but it would have
saved us from how much misery. Nor would
it be wholly fair to treat the present crisis
in commercial affairs as peculiar to our own
country; for there are certain general eau
ses affecting business in most If not all OF
the great commercial nations of the earth.
There is common complaint of over
production throughout the world. The use
of labor saving machinery in all depart
ments of industry is general. Nor is there
another country which has turned It's invent
i've genius to better account than our own,
while none has been more ready to absorb
the skilled labor of other and older cOmmu-
mites. Our power to produce is getting to
be more than commensurate with our power
to consume. and it is idle to attribute TO a
protective tariff, as some are disposed to do,
an unwillingness to buy what there is no
chance to sell. When forty millions of peo-
pie abandon habits of extravaganza and
enter upon course of rigid economy 1t is
time to cease speculation, and to let prizes
go down. Ere long they will find their lev
Ell. This is the lesson of the hour. How
are We to profit by the lessons Not, surely,
| by distrusting the law of reaction, which
has run through the centuries. Not by
doubling that the tide which is longest re-
ceeding will return to its highest flow
lifting in its upward course, much that has
been left aground. The man who would
command success in the future will need tc
cherish habits of industry and economy
nor will he fail to find incentives to an up
right life in the homage that is always paid
to truth, to justice and to virtue.
Within short period conventions have
been held at Cincinnati and St. Louis, and
in the way that is deemed polite, they hav'
declared their adhesion to certain genera
principles: the one body, disregarding th'
other, rejecting the Resumption Act"-th,
only remedial measure yet adopted by Con.
gress for the restoration of sound cur
rency. Let chambers of commsSee an(
boards of trade, let us who are here Assem-
bled, openly demand that the nations hon
or shall be restored and maintained ant