Year: 1875

There needs no oratory to set fortl


the decadence of mercantile and com


mercial interests among us. The idle
shipping Mt the wharves, the closed
factories in the suburbs, the empty
warehouses and the declining rents, til q


useless capital finding no outlet in pro-


litahle enterprise, the tenantless houses


in this city and the surrounding neigh


horhood, and the utter impossibility of


obtaining Il cash purchaser for unim.


proved real estate at any price-thesc


tell their sad story in language more


forcible than the utterance of human


speech. 1t is worse than folly to dis


guise the truth. The sanguinc are for


ever pleading for hopeful words, and


have repeated the prediction ut every


new moon for the last three years that


the tide has turned and that trade was


roviving We would gladly echo the
cheerful strain if it were not mislead-


ing, and likely to do far more harm


than good. There are times when the


word OF encouragement is all that is
needed to give start to enterprise ,and
stir the pulses of trade to fresh activity.


But it needs more than that at present
TO recover the market from its lethar-
gy, and renew among us the hum of
busy industries.


Owing to our monetary system we
are at disadvantage with all the rest
of the world, and New York feels it
far more than any other Northern city.
Ten years have elapsed since the war


was ended, and our metropolis has
gone back, during the interval, in near
" every form of commercial activity.
The evidences cannot be concealed
from others, even if we would blind |
our own eyes to the truth; and ne is no
true friend of our city who flatters the |
vanity of our people with false color |
ings regarding its condition. From |
the very nature of its far-reaching con-
nections and intimate sympathy with |
outside industries and activities now |
more or less PROSTATE or paralyzed-i
New York has felt more keenly than |
any other financial centre the general |
depression. And if some remedy is |
not soon applied, this suffering will
become chronic and the, prostration
will be permanent.


Who is there that is making money?
Where are the steady accommodations
w MIN oiuiiiuiIly Will Ou uHllTluS III
dustry? In what reservoir are gar
nered the profitable returns CT far
reaching commerce? Who knows of
anything that promises to-day q fair
return for the capital waiting idly the
of profitable use? What |
trader, whether he is dealing in |
wholesale with distant customers, or at |
retail with our own citizens, can take |
an account of stock ut its cash value,
mark off all debts that give him any |
and point to the balance of |
steady gains? Some show q larger
surplus on paper, but who can rurn all |
his estate into real money, pay off his
honest dues, and count in hand as
much as he was really worth ten years
ago.


There is way out of this qIagmire
but the people must be thoroughly
aroused before they will take it, and
so many are already entangled that
they are afraid to struggle lest they |
sink the deeper and fail, hopelessly,
Of final eytrication. The paper money
lystem is the leaden weight that fetters
industry and STILES enterprise. Ii our
citizens We're wide awake enough to
see this as it really is when stripped of |
all disguises, they would find u method
of ueliVcrancc