The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-14
New York's Future.


The protractcd railroad war, combined
with the natural tendency Of men to spccu.
late on the unknown future has of late
created n great deal of talk concerning
the continuous struggle between New
York, Baltimore, Boston, PHI ladelphia.
and New Orleans MS commercial port.
Witnin the last few days the death OF VAN
DERBrIT, his funny will. and the performs
ance of the MAy-BENNErr noisy burl, suuc,
have somewhat appcased this sort Of talk
but the lul Is only mOmcEtary. for tho
subject l. too important To be disposed OF
before actually has begun to return its
verdict.
In this discussion, as i'm most others, both
parties are IN the wrong. The truth lies
almost invariably half way between the
extremes. Those who say that New York
h to lose most of its trade, and conso-
Queutly of its influence, are uttering alb
Burdities. Those who say that the Emu
pire City's trade will constantly increase
and monopollze every branch Of commerce,
to the detrmcnt Of other Atlantic ports,
are talking nonsense. DIVISION of labor is
~ essential an element in the life OF Il con-
Gncpt, rs II is in the life of nation. IL is
merely another name for a certain set of
phenomena, which u naturalist would call
differentiation.
With tho growth of the country, with
the development of its shipping aud bank
Ing facilities, every one of the great At
lantic cities of this continent will have
Its functions defined and specialized in tho
course of time, just rs much as the
respective functions of Liverpool, Lon
don. IIuyra nnrIoaux apI Mnrs.iII.a
are now specialized. New York has
already lost certain branches of trade.
The tea trade has migrated to san
francisco; the coffee trade Is moving TO
Baltimore; the cotton trade may, by aud
by, take q str onger footing in New Orleans;
Boston may be found in the course Of time
to he effectively dcyoting her cultivated
intellect TO the export OF pork and lard.
But what VIII all that prove? Trade does
not solely consist in loading aud unloading
vessels Liverpool sends us moro vessels
than London yet the latter city is OF
incomparably greater Importance to us
than the former. IIavre, Bordeaux, and
Marseilles send us thousands OF vessels.
while Paris does not send us any Mt all;
YET when we speak OF France we mean,
almost always, Paris When a merchant
goes TO France, be II even for business pur-
poses only. his first obj ,ctive point Is in
variably Paris though ne may ultimately
call for wines at Bordeaux, for silks mt
Lyons, or fer oil or fruits at Marseiles.
The hardware merchant might have
easily restricted his visit TO Sheffield only,
Tor London is just rs much out OF his way
o. Paris is ont Of that of the man going to
Bordeaux. Yet our hardware merchant
will spend more time in London than in
Sheffield and Is not unlikely to have his
drafts settled through London.
The reason for this is that London and
Paris are, so 10 say, the clearing houses Of
England and France and that is precisely
the part which New York has to play for
this country. Baltimore has a short.rroutc
TO Chicago and ST. Louis; the stock OF her
trunk liue has not been wa'ered ike that
of the Erie or the New York Central, and
che can accordingly afford to ship certain
ffeights ut cheaper rates than New York.
6he VIII gan by it; but New York II
not lose, for the great commercial houses
OF this city Will take advantage of the
new facilities should they prove To be
Important, and make their shipments
through Baltimore, just ~ Paris and
London houses do through IIavrc, Bor-
deaux, AMI Liverpool. THO heart Of tbs
Transactions, the great banking and crellt
operations, Will still centre in the Empire
City.
Then, again, The life Of nation does not
consist in trade only. Even trade Itself
does not consist of mere trading. Ii has its
scientific and artistic elements. too.
Very frequently the merchant wants the
~ ti-, r
science-of the laboratory, the museum,
md the studio; and for all these New
York Will always remain tn, lead M city
of fhe Union. The richer the man of busi-
ness grows. the more he learns to appre-
oiate the delights of culture aud refinement.
The enjoyment of works OF art soon be-
comes a necessity to him, and social inter-
course with artists and men OF letters his
recleaiiou. The city where he can nul
most of all this viii be his city OF prcdIlec-
tlon. The great bankers and merchants Of
Liverpool, Bordeaux, aud Mlrsellles spend
half tHer lives IN the capital. They find
There cuioymonts winch they cannot OBJ
tam at home; and 80 will be with MS The
richer our business men of Baltimore,
PHI ldclphla, Boston and Now Orlean, be-
come, the more will they contribute TO tho
wealth Of New York aud that not only in
the WAY of business transactions with our
great banking institutions, but i'm that np-
pnrrniiy secondary, yet most important,
way OF expenditures for luXurles and the
artistic resources Of hfc. The command
Ing position Of ,he metropolis is an ac-
comp,i-hci and irrcvocable fact. New
York Will Away remain the greate-t city
OF the Union, from her position, her
healthy climate, her already Accumulated
wealth, her intellectual and Artistic re-
sources, and her thoroughly cosmopolitan
character.