Fortunately for the State and City, the Chamber includes among its most honored members the venerable SAMUEL B. RUGGLES, whose judgment and opinions upon all that concerns this great work, so vital to the prosperity of New-York, are an unquestioned authority in support of which the whole influence and power of the Institution are always thrown. To DE WITT CLINTON, whose sagacity and energy first completed the canal, belongs the title of Father of the canal; to Mr. RUGGLES, with no less peculiar fitness, that of its Friend- -as such his name will go down to perfect fame. Despairing of a reformation of the abuses in the management of the canal, the Chamber, moved by Mr. RUGGLES, addressed a memorial to the Legislature of the State praying for an amendment to the Constitution of the State, which should commit the sole direction and management of the navigation and repairs of the State canals to a single Superintendent of Public Works, to be appointed by the Governor, with the approval and consent of the Senate, and to be at all times removable by the Governor. This memorial expressed the opinion of the Chamber that, under the direction of a competent. and honest Superintendent, the canals could be completed to their full width and depth, with a moderate appropriation of money. Of the correctness of this view the Chamber had already assured itself, by inviting the written opinion of a distinguished Civil Engineer on the depth of water and obstructions at present existing in the Erie Canal. The arguments brought forward by Mr. RUGGLES were so convincing as to secure a harmony between the two great political parties as to the Canal policy of the State, and the necessary legislation, for the submission of the proposed amendment of the Constitution of the State to a vote of the people, was secured by a nearly unanimous vote of both houses. In view of the untiring efforts now made to divert the trade which, originally opened by the enterprise of this State, has hitherto found its main avenue through her territory, to new channels through neighboring States as well as the Dominion of Canada, there is reason for profound congratulation at the success which has attended this effort of the Chamber, and of the deepest gratitude to Mr. RUGGLES for his timely and energetic action. How necessary such action had become to save the interests of the City of New-York from further loss, may be seen in the falling off in the transportation to tidewater of Western product. In 1872, the year of greatest business, the number of tons of property which reached tide-water through the canals of this State, was 3,647,944. In 1875 its amount had fallen to 2,608,777, a falling off of nearly forty per cent. With the

proposed enlargement of the Erie Canal and an improvement in its method of transportation, the lost traffic will be regained, and with. equal facilities the merchant of New-York will not fail to secure, in the future as in the past, the largest share of Western traffic.

While earnestly engaged in the important question, of the canals, the Chamber has not been unmindful of the kindred subject, railroad transportation. In December last it sent to the Third Annual Convention of the American Board of Transportation and Commerce, which met at Chicago a delegation of intelligent gentlemen, thoroughly conversant with this intricate question, with which are blended grave considerations of National importance involving interpretations even of the Constitution of the United States and its rights of eminent domain over State territory. After long and exhaustive debate the Convention expressed its sentiment that the combination and consolidation of the great rail-road arteries has become strong enough to dictate values to producers, prices to customers and profits to manufacturers and traders, as well as acquired a political power, which is dangerous to the liberties of the people, and declared its opinion that if it can be checked and controlled in no other way, resort must be had to the foreign system of public ownership of a portion of the public highway, which would afford a remedy by true competition. This is not the first time that this possible solution of a most difficult question has been openly suggested. A strong effort was made in the Convention of the National Board of Trade, which met at Baltimore in the winter of 1874, to recommend the General Government to construct a great national rail-road thoroughfare from the heart of the West to the Atlantic Ocean; but the questions of public policy, concentration of power and State Sovereignty which arose in the discussion, at once divided opinions which were otherwise harmonious, and consideration of the subject was postponed as unwise and inopportune. Sooner or later, however, the question must be met, faced and disposed of. New-York City cannot stand idle by while unreasonable and unjust discrimination in rates of freight are daily turning large portions of her trade into the hands of her rivals. On the other hand the West, through the authoritative lips of one of her official representatives in the Convention, declared the insufficiency of the present outlet for Western products and the universal discontent with the present transportation system.

While thus giving close attention to the material causes directly affecting the amount of traffic to be retained or secured for the merchants and traders of the city, the Chamber has watched, with equal anxiety, the national legislation. Recognising the stern ne

cessity which, with the exigencies of war and the disordered state of the currency, forced the suspension of specie payment by the nation and the banks, the Chamber has been untiring since the peace in its efforts to impress upon the Government the importance of the earliest possible return to that standard of values which the experience of mankind has shown to be alone suitable for a commercial nation: for one of the family of nations which seeks to interchange its own for the products of other nations, with the least possible cost in the transport or loss in the exchange. At a special meeting, called by a large number of the most important bankers and merchants of this city, for the consideration of the financial measures pending in Congress, in the early part of the current year, the views of the Chamber were re-affirmed in the most solemn manner. The necessity of resumption, and the mode by which it may be reached, with least derangement to the whole community, were set forward in a concise and clear manner, and embodied in a series of resolutions, introduced by Mr. A. A. Low, which were forwarded to Washington. Noticeable among these resolutions was the declaration," that every attempt to 'hoard' gold in the Treasury, or in the banks, by draining the market of its scanty supply, will serve to enhance the price." This is in accord with the best recognised European theories; the true reserve of coin is in the pockets of the people; and the circulating medium is sound and stable in the direct ratio of the amount of coin to the amount of paper issues. Paper money, whether issued by the Treasury or the banks, is only a substitute for the value of coin it represents, and with which it should be certainly exchangeable ; the certainty of the exchange depending naturally upon their relations to each other. Thus, in England, where the total issue of paper money, including that of the Bank of England, does not exceed two hundred millions of dollars, the coin in the Kingdom is estimated to exceed five hundred millions. In France, where the banking system is limited, the ratio of coin to paper is much greater. There is no reason why, in time, with a gradual retirement of paper, and the retaining of the product of our own mines, the ratio between the precious metals and their paper substitutes should not be so rectified, as to warrant resumption by both the Government and the banks.

The resolutions originally proposed to the Chamber included a further recommendation, which is still under advisement by the Chamber that of an amendment to the National Banking Law, requiring the banks, in just proportion to their respective "liabilities,”

The

to hold a certain amount of "legal tender" notes in reserve. purpose of this is to provide a control somewhat similar to that which the Bank of England enjoys in its power to raise the rate of interest, and thus check the drain of coin from her vaults. This salutary power is not generally understood. The Bank of England does not make money dear by denying it, as is the unfortunate necessity of our banks under the operation of the Usury Law. She raises the rate, and at once ascertains the value of coin in London in comparison with its value in other financial centres. The reserve

in the hands of the people continues nevertheless to flow out until the equilibrium is established with the money markets of the continent. The Chamber has so often expressed its opinion in favor of a total repeal of the usury laws of this State, permitting money, the most free of products, to find its natural price and level, irrespective of legislative restrictions, that it need not be repeated here. Without a National Bank, which may control discounts, a scheme of finance utterly abandoned in the United States, it is doubtful whether any other remedy can be found for the financial disease, than a repeal of all usury laws in all the States. The amendment to the Banking Law proposed includes the grant of authority to the banks to charge a sufficient rate of interest to protect their reserve. This will, of course, give rise again to a constitutional discussion as to the right of the Government to assume control of the rate of interest without regard to State restrictions. This subject is still under advisement by the Chamber, no action having as yet been taken. In addition to this interesting discussion, Mr. RUGGLES, at the request of the Executive Committee, prepared and submitted a carefully drawn paper upon the financial policy of the United States, as apparent in its legislation since 1862. The report embraces a digest of all the acts of Congress since that of February 25, 1862, which authorized the issue of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars United States notes not bearing interest, and legal tender for all debts public or private, except duties on imports and interest on United States bonds. To this he added a statistical table, giving an approximate estimate of the progressive reduction of the National Debt in the ten years succeeding its maximum in 1866 to the present time. This valuable report will be of great service to the Chamber in the future discussions of the many important questions which will, from time to time, arise during the amelioration of our financial condition. The proposition pending in the Senate of the United States to establish a gold unit between this country and all the English speaking nations of the globe, has been also under

advisement, and is now confided to a committee, of which Mr. RugGLES is chairman, for examination and report. The peculiar fitness of Mr. RUGGLES for this post is evident; the delegate of the United States to the European Monetary Convention, the results of whose labors were published in France in a valuable and voluminous form, Mr. RUGGLES adds to his own wide experience and intimate knowledge of the subject an acquaintance with the views of the masters of European finance. The committee were at the same time charged to watch over all legislation affecting the coinage of the United States. The recent abandonment of silver in the Continental States, and the decline in the value of this metal consequent upon the liberation of large sums from the coinage of Germany, cotemporary with the large product of the American mines, make this one of the most important and interesting questions of the day.

It will not be forgotten, that an unexpected movement was made the past winter to repeal the United States Bankrupt Law. A motion to this end was introduced into the House of Representatives, and to universal surprise, passed that body without discussion, by a large majority. The Chamber, alarmed at this sudden and dangerous legislation, at once memorialized Congress in protest against the repeal. While admitting that there were many and grave objections to the existing law, both in its provisions and the practice under it, they condemned a total repeal as highly detrimental to the best interests of business men of all classes, whether debtors or creditors, throughout the entire country; they deprecated, in strong terms, a return to the old system, which involved a recurrence to the thirty-seven different and conflicting systems of insolvency existing under State laws, with a revival of the sharp practice of attachments, assignments and preferences of creditors. Indeed, it is a matter of wonder, that any such retrograde legislation could have so far progressed; so evident is the necessity of a uniform law for the protection not only of our own citizens, but of the foreign merchant who trusts his goods and capital at a distance from his own control, only because sure that his rights will not be prejudiced by his absence. The views of the Chamber on this subject are in entire harmony with those of the National Board of Trade, as declared in their memorial adopted at Baltimore in 1874. Modification and not repeal was then their request, as it is the wish of the Chamber of Commerce now. Fortunately the metropolitan press at once took up the subject; numerous petitions were circulated throughout this and the neighboring cities, and the Senate, under the general pressure of opinion, has postponed concurrence with the House of