Year: 1867

From every part of the country we
hear the cry of ''dull times" Not with
in the space of twenty-five years, as We
are informed, has trade been SO stag
nant as at the present in this great cen
tire of commerce and the same infor-
nation comes to us from all of the
chief cities. The business Of The codR-
tryi completely paraly-ed!! 'l


And whyi This question is being
discussed by the partisan journals ofall
shades of opinion, but their reasoning
is simply from a party standpoint, and
consequently does not satisfy the public
mind, or properly direct it toward 4
remedy. Neither they nor the poll
ticians meet the question with states
man-like fairness and explain to the
country the cause of this general para
lyzation. The granaries of the great
West are full, and at the money CEN
tres no financial panic prevails; still,
business is dull, duller even than in the
memorable panic years of lS49 and 1851.
Labor is rapidly decreasing in value,
and thousands on thousands are being
thrown out of employment.


A winter of want is at hand! Labor
in this city of million of souls, al
ready begins to see it, and some feel it.
We remember a time when there was
cry for bread from suffering thou
sands in our young land, with its mil
lions of acres of virgin soil, and riot
was the result in this city. The poor
could not buy, and the rich would not
give, and as q natural consequence
grim want burst into the great store
houses on Courtlandt street, and flour
by the hundreds of barrels was rolled
ont to satisfy a starving populace.


A thousand millions of taxation! Is
there any wonder that the business of
the country is paralyzedi-that trade,
commerce, labor, are suffering to an ex-
tent that has become really alarming !
In this great city alone, there is said to
be at the present time ten thousand
women without employment. What a
startling fact and with Winter be-
fore them. Add to this number the
clerks, mechanics, and laborers without
work from the prevailing stagnation,
and already verging toward want, and
we shall see dangerous state of things
before Us. .rs


Congress is in session, but the public
is coolly informed by the Speaker of the
House, that not much will be done prior
to the holiday recess. With the eyes
of the country turned to that body for
such action as will tend to relief and
the creation of n confidence not now
existing in commercial circles, this in
formation is decidedly refreshing; but,
nevertheless, it possesses the merit ct
candor. In the meantime, however, this
stagnation is working its legitimate re-
suits. Failures become more and more
numerous, and the ranks of those with
out employment will probably increase
until general panic is created, when
reputation will become the emphatic
cry of the people.


Reputation! it is no word of ours,
but it is surprising how it has grown
into use within one year. To lisp il at
one time was considered disloyal and
even dangerous to personal liberty, but
q change has come over the sentiment
of the masses, and while Congress is
busy in legislating for the next Presi,
dency, and astute politicians are pro-
claiming the soundness of the public
debt, this one word is growing into a
mighty power in the agricultural West,
and rapidly coming into favor
in the mechanical East. Its use
even in this city ut present,
where mem nEmest do congregate, is fire.
quent; and it is finding its way under
this laber stagnation among the hard
fistad honest sons of tOil who earn
their bread in Gods appointed way, tC
an extent that is really surprising A
thousand millions of taxation is doing
its work. A paralyzed trade, labor beg.
cared, and confidence destroyed may
drive the people into the support of a
measure which their sturdy honesty
does not approve, and, perhaps, settle
the question of the next Presidency
Stranger things than this have hap
pencd.