The Board voted to proceed to the election of officers. Messrs. GEO. O. CARPENTER and F. W. LINCOLN, Jr., were appointed tellers, and they reported that the ticket presented by the Nominating Committee had been elected.

On the announcement of the vote, the President addressed the Board as follows:

GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD OF TRADE: —

I return you my grateful acknowledgment for the confidence expressed in re-electing me to the Presidency of this Board. As the largest commercial and trade organization east of the city of New York, it exerts the widest and weightiest influence of any, not only upon the local interests of the merchants and producers of this city and vicinity, but as the representative in a large degree of the wishes and demands of the industrial and commercial classes of all New England. It is also just to say that, besides the importance of the local opinions which it thus represents and expresses, the Board has secured honorable repute and influence, from the ability and prudence of its discussions and decisions upon questions of public interest, and for its enterprise and energy in suggesting and organizing other trade associations of national scope and importance. While the primary object of any local Board of Trade is to reflect the interests of all classes of business in the community where it is located, and through concerted

action to aid and develop the material prosperity of that community, and to regulate and establish the business practice and customs which rest upon the unwritten law of common consent, it is equally its function to investigate questions of public policy which affect the industry and commerce of the country at large, and to render the results of such investigations available in intelligent form to those upon whom the responsibility and the power of legislation devolves. This, it seems to me, may be best accomplished, not so much by the discussion of theories as by furnishing the results of experience, and by endeavoring from this practical stand-point to remedy the mistakes, and guide the judgment of those who determine the public policy and the public law.

You have already had presented, in the able and circumstantial report of the Secretary of the Board, the various subjects which. have engaged its attention during the year past, and the conclusions which it has reached and declared. If these have not been so many or so important as in some former years, this fact may indicate the successful accomplishment of a portion of its work, and the disappearance of some topics,new and exciting to the business of the country, but which were incidental to a state of war. No greater questions, however, have ever presented themselves for consideration, than those which are pressing upon us at the present moment. The alleged general depression of business is not in itself a serious cause of alarm, because that may arise from a variety of causes, transitory in their nature, and which the simple lapse of time and the recuperative energy of the country would remedy in the natural flow of events. A more vital question is, whether the causes of the alleged depression are so far permanent as to require a reconstruction of the public economy upon which the industry and trade of the country rest, and whether that can be accomplished by means consistent with the general safety, and without creating distress or disaster to numerous classes interested in capital and labor. It would be a still more serious matter to this Board if the depression were local to this city and its dependencies, because such a state of affairs would indicate the existence of causes which are not common to the country at large, and whose removal would devolve mainly upon ourselves. No such exception exists; but, on the contrary, both the record of imports at our Custom House, and the returns of internal revenue

offices show the amount and value of the merchandise, both of foreign and domestic production, sold here during the year past, to be considerably larger than the average of previous years.

There is little doubt that similar results will be shown by the statistics of other centres of trade. The depression of business, therefore, is not in the number and value of transactions, but in the amount of profits compared to the existing expenses. No doubt something in this respect may be assigned to the general extravagance of our people, of all classes, in personal expenses, predicated upon a supposed accumulation of wealth, and the thoughtless expectation that the ratio of demand and supply, and consequently of prices and profits, would continue indefinitely. Something is also due to the means and facilities for over-production in some departments of industry which have had an excessive stimulus during the war.

But the more sagacious men of the country have long foreseen that, in changing from a state of war, with all its attendant disturbances of currency and trade, to a condition of peace, and especially from a full treasury, a specie currency, and freedom from both debt and taxation, to an empty treasury, a redundant currency, a debt of twenty-five hundred millions of dollars, and heavy taxation upon every form of industry, such a change must, sooner or later, inevitably be attended by a shrinking of estimated values and an apparent check to our prosperity.

Nor shall we reach the whole truth of the matter until we realize the fact that while some individuals have grown rich out of the war, yet the country, as a whole, has lost in wealth a sum almost incredible, and varying from five thousand millions of dollars to twice that sum, according as the estimate may include only the direct, or also the indirect and consequential costs of the war. A nation that can endure so rapid a drain upon its capital, and yet retain within itself all the substantial elements of abundant pros perity, is without a parallel in history. Truly has it been said, that the country has exhibited, in its financial resources, during the war, an elasticity and completeness which are equalled only by the splendor and success of its military power. To pursue this subject further would necessarily lead to the discussion of special theories respecting causes and remedies, which it is my purpose to avoid, as being inappropriate to this time and place.

Setting aside all merely partisan prejudices, I think most candid

men must be encouraged by the manifest eagerness of the National Government to comprehend the true condition of affairs, and to apply every relief which is attainable by either wise legislation or prudent and efficient administration. Looking to the productive power of the country as the only means of restoring prosperity to all classes, it is seeking in a variety of ways, by a liberal disposal of the public lands for settlement, by the encouragement of immigration, by aiding the construction of new avenues of communication, by zealous efforts to revive our commerce upon the seas, by a reduction of the expenses of the Government, by a more judicious and equitable distribution of taxes and a corresponding levying of customs duties, by a gradual reduction of the national debt, by its plans and purpose to reduce the rate of interest thereon, and by the restoration of the currency to its normal value and condition, by all these, and by other means, we are reasonably assured that the National Government is prepared to accept the co-operation of the trade organizations and people of the country in securing the early renewal of its material prosperity. If, as some of the less hopeful apprehend, we have not reached the climax of our difficulties, we have at least come within sight of it, and comprehend better than heretofore the lines of danger and of safety in the way.

It is a great point gained that the people of the country are prepared, in the language of the day, to "accept the situation," and that, instead of wrangling over dead issues, attempting to shift upon each other responsibilities that must be borne in common, or seeking either by open or covert means a partial or total repudiation of our national obligations, which could result only in national dishonor and a further demoralization of the industry of the country, all classes are now turning to the future with an earnest and hopeful purpose of bearing what we must and ought to bear, and of outstripping even the precedents of our own prosperity by using the new means and opportunities which await us.

Looking to our own immediate condition and welfare, it is apparent that a new era of prosperity is opening to this city. The apprehension that it would suffer permanently from the rivalry of other cities on either hand is rapidly disappearing, and new sources of business and wealth are opening in place of any that have closed. The general tendency to concentration of industry as well as of wealth near to commercial centres has found no exception

It

here, while the annexation of important cities and towns to the territory of Boston, and the disposition of others to consolidate into one municipality with us, is helping to give the city something of the numerical importance to which it is relatively entitled. It will also naturally continue to attract hither many kinds of industry which will seek to occupy these new and cheaper lands that nevertheless enjoy all the advantages of our municipal provisions and discipline. It is morally certain that before the present session of Congress closes some measures will be devised by which American commerce shall take its appropriate place upon the ocean. is a national disgrace as well as calamity that, with an unsurpassed abundance of both the material and skill for ship-building and navigation, the carrying trade of the world, in which we once so largely participated, should now be allowed monopoly by foreign ships; and especially that the products of our broad domain, and the fruits of our multiform industry, as well as our passengers, mails and imports should be transported across the ocean almost solely under foreign flags. It is certainly gratifying to know that when this revival shall come we shall be prepared with a safe and commodious harbor, free from obstructions to vessels of the largest draft of water, and abundantly supplied with wharves and piers for their accommodation.

The rapid progress of the new lines of rail communication between this city and the West, giving us within the present year, doubtless, by the Boston, Hartford, and Erie Railroad, another working line to the Hudson River, with important connections beyond, and, by the completion of the Hoosac Tunnel, a third line in the immediate future, in addition to the existing northern routes by rail and the St. Lawrence and the lakes; will furnish the long-needed and ample facilities for transportation to and from the great interior and Western States, and remove the obstacle which has hitherto so far impeded the flow of their products to this city for distribution and export. The extensive improvements in progress at East and South Boston, and especially those of the latter place, — by which a large portion of its territory, hitherto comparatively unused, will be converted into a great depot, equipped with every convenience for the accommodation and shipment of this inpouring freight,—will afford every advantage for securing to this port an early and extensive participation in this reviving commerce. Already the waves of this