in the midst of this tremendous war. Of their public spirit you have evidence in their frequent movements to support the government, and to promote other important public objects. Of their philanthropy you have numerous instances at home and abroad, where extreme misery has been relieved by their liberal contributions, when suffering has arisen from famine, pestilence, or shipwreck. You will find further evidence of this in the numerous colleges and institutions of learning, and in the churches erected every where throughout the length and breadth of the land, through their liberal gifts. I deem it an honor to belong to such a body of men; and now, gentlemen, in retiring from office, I can only express my earnest wishes that this institution may ever prosper, and that individually, all of you may long enjoy the richest blessings of Providence.

Mr. PERIT then stated that it was in order to ballot for officers for the ensuing year.

The Chamber then went into an election for a president.

Mr. A. A. Low having received the unanimous vote of the members · present, was declared duly elected.

On, motion a committee of three was appointed to wait upon the newly elected president and inform him of his election, and conduct him to the

chair.

Mr. Low was then introduced, and the oath of office was administered in accordance with the prescribed form by the retiring president. After which Mr. Low addressed the Chamber as follows:

GENTLEMEN OF THE CHAMBER: I have just now listened to the parting words of the venerable man-if I may be permitted so to speak-who has for so many years filled the office of president of this Chamber, and for seven years has been called to that office by your unanimous voice; who now obeys a law stronger than your voice, and seeks retirement, which advancing years render most necessary. It has been justly observed while I have stood in this presence, by one of your oldest members, that no man has left this chair and sought an honorable retirement, followed more earnestly by the good wishes and profound respect, and even the gratitude of the members of this Chamber, than PELATIAH PERIT. In contemplating a successor to the gentleman, I will frankly say, that till very recently my thoughts have been turned to the late vicepresident, ROYAL PHELPS, whose resignation, accepted in my absence from this Chamber, I have felt was an action to regret; for his interest was always active; he was alive to the proceedings of this Chamber; he had served our city but recently with great industry and zeal in the State Legislature, and I felt so earnestly that the honor of this appointment would have devolved upon him, that I may be permitted, in passing, to express my regret that you have been called upon, in obedience to a law of comity, to bring another to the office.

In assuming the duties of this office, for the preference, for the choice, which you have freely, and I hope unanimously made on this occasion, for this mark of your confidence permit me to return you my thanks. To the oath of fidelity, which I have just taken, to serve the interests of the Chamber of Commerce according to the limited ability with which God has invested in me, I need add no other pledge. For the honor you have conferred upon me I will strive-if I cannot hope-to return accep

table service. The late president of the Chamber has indicated in what ways this Chamber may be useful to the community; how it can continue to maintain the important place it has occupied in the affections and interests of its members. If you would interpret my feelings as I enter upon this charge, I have simply to refer you, as he has already done, to the long list of eminent men who in times past have occupied this chair. You will bear in mind that this Chamber dates back its existence to a period prior to the revolution; and, it is a little singular, if you will consult the annals of the Chamber, to notice that it found its existence at that particular period when the people of this country so unanimously proclaimed against taxation without representation. It is curious to consider these incidents in the history of the Chamber, and think how recently we have resolved, in obedience to the same law of representation, to acknowledge upon every document, upon every note, upon every parchment, the "tribute to whom tribute is due." In obedience to the recognized law of the land we met that obligation, as all others, with cheerfulness and with promptitude, for we hold that the interests of commerce and the interests of government are closely identified. We uphold the government in order that the institutes of commerce may be sustained. The two live together, and, when the rebels wage war upon the government and the country, they wage war upon all the interests of commerce. The spirit of commerce dictates, as the voice of this chamber has heretofore dictated, free trade. Free trade I would say under certain limitations, for I do not agree with all the advocates of free trade. I believe in free trade, however, within the borders of our common country-from Maine to Georgia; from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and, when barriers are erected against that trade; when guns are mounted upon the banks of our rivers; when free course from their sources to their mouths is interrupted, the spirit of commerce dictates that these barriers shall be removed. Commerce and good government alike demand that the voice of the rebellion shall be hushed; for commerce, you must know and feel, is dependant upon the free exercise of governmental laws. Commerce the spirit of commerce-most naturally acts in an important juncture like this, and, when the voice of the people is divided in regard to exciting issues, it is not strange that the course of this Chamber should be watched with interest and with jealousy, to see that it has a single aim, and that aim is the upholding of all the great interests of the country. It would be impossible to separate the parts which have been taken by the merchants, the agriculturists, the manufacturers, and the scientific men of our land in building up this great' country; but, standing here in the midst of the monuments of its own creation, it must be accorded to the spirit of commerce that it has built up, as it has combined all these other instrumentalities; that it has built up this great commercial emporium, at once the heart of the country and the type of its future destiny. I would ask you to ponder what has been said by the recent incumbent of this chair, in regard to the method of sustaining, as it ought to be sustained, this Chamber, representing the great interests of commerce. Something indeed depends upon the presiding officer, but much, very much, depends upon individual members. I know full well that the course of the presiding officer of this Chamber has been criticised, because, in the appointment of committees, he has selected, again and again, the same individuals to consider and report upon questions

which have been under consideration here. Well, it is natural, it is no more than natural, that the president, who seeks committees to attend to the affairs of this Chamber, shall select them from the men who frequent this Chamber. There is no law but that which binds a man to any other duty, which can bring him here after he has once entered upon membership. You require your president to take an oath of fidelity; no such oath is required from you, and yet it depends upon you more than upon him-upon the committees selected to supervise and consider subjects brought before you-whether this Chamber shall represent, as it ought to represent, the high character of this great commercial community; and while it only nominally stands here to give organized expression to the thoughts and feelings and spirit of this community, it remains an imperfect and unfaithful organization. It depends upon you, gentlemen, as well as upon me, what stand this Chamber shall take in the future in regatd to the growth of this city, the high honor of this city, and the growth and character of the whole State; for you will remember that the title of this Chamber is" The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York." Therefore it devolves upon you to maintain alike the commercial character of the city, the commercial character of the State, and, as Americans, the commercial character of the country. Hence, when the affairs of the city are under consideration, you will have one regard for them; when the affairs of the State are under consideration, you will have one regard for them; and when the affairs of the country are under consideration, your interests, your affections, and your pride will be enlisted for the honor and welfare of our country.

Now, with such a purpose, this Chamber cannot withhold, occasionally, its expression of encouragement, its support, recommendations, and suggestions to those who fill offices of trust and power-who preside over the destinies of the state and the destinies of our country.

The connection between commerce and law is too intimate to require mention before you. Commerce depends upon the enactment of just laws-liberal laws-such as will promote and not retard its growth; and it will fall upon you to advocate at all times the enactment of such laws as will tend to extend and enlarge the relations of commerce. How, then, can this Chamber be indifferent to the maintenance of the government of our country? I know that in the South the charge is brought -and we admit it to be brought as a reproach against the North-that we are a nation of traders, and therefore inferior to the men of the South. But there is no relation of commerce, in its higher or its lower manifestations, in which it may not contribute to the welfare and profit of man: it may be small, or it may be large, but, everywhere, it seeks out the wants of a community and it supplies them. It brings the toiling millions of Europe to cultivate our agricultural fields; it brings science and literature and art and learning from other lands to our own, and it reciprocates these gifts from abroad. Such is the office of commerce. There is one kind of traffic, however, from which the North has turned with loathing and disgust, and that is the traffic that is peculiar to the South. I hold that it is with a very bad grace that the men of the South turn upon the men of the North and claim superiority, while they make that odious traffic the corner-stone of their government. For myself, I may be permitted to say that I glory in the grand and boundless developments of commerce and its continually enlarging opportunities; in its high aims

and expanding tendencies, as it acts upon men and upon communities. Yet, while this reproach is attempted to be cast upon us by those of the South, the men of the North will not give back hate for hate; but we will give them our love, and pray that the time may soon come when order will be restored, and when this whole people will recognize the laws and government of the land, and when, in obedience to the laws of commerce, we may carry again to the hungry communities of the South the bread and the wheat and those things which we raise, that they may not want for anything which would be conducive to their comfort or to their improvement, and that we may take from them those things which are necessary for us-always giving a quid pro quo. These are feelings in which I am sure you agree with me, and I think it not improper to express them here. I hope and pray that the day will come when we may enjoy together all the institutions of commerce-when we may give to them those things which they need, and take from them those things which we need. But that day, unhappily does not seem to be near. We can only pray for its coming.

And now, gentlemen, I thank you that you have listened to me with such attention in these remarks, which I did not expect to be called upon to make to-day. If I could have followed my own inclinations, I would have absented myself from this room; but, as the constitution of this Chamber required that I should take my oath of office in the presence of the gentlemen who has recently left this chair, and is called away from the city and cannot find it convenient to return, I have ventured, without preparation, to make these few remarks. For them, as for my future acts, I claim, with much confidence, your indulgence, because I have never found it wanting during my connection with this Chamber.

The election was then proceeded with for the remaining officers. The following are the results:

Mr. William E. Dodge was elected First Vice-President; Mr. Jonathan Sturges was elected Second Vice-President; Mr. Edward C. Bogert was re-elected Treasurer; Mr. John Austin Stevens, Jr., was re-elected Secretary; Mr. Robert B. Minturn was re-elected Chairman of the Arbitration Committee; Mr. George W. Lane was elected a member of the Arbitration Committee for one year, from February 2d, to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of Mr. Jonathan Sturges.

The following were elected the Executive Committee, of which the President, First and Second Vice-Presidents, and Secretary are ex-officio members: Charles H. Marshall, Chairman, Simeon B. Chittenden, Denning Duer, James Gallatin, Sheppard Gandy, Walter S. Griffith, Nathaniel L. McCready, James D. P. Ogden, Henry A. Smythe, Benjamin R. Winthrop.

Messrs. Abraham M. Cozzens, Merritt Trimble, and John D. McKenzie were elected Trustees of the Institution for the Savings of Merchants' . Clerks for the term of three years.

Messrs. Charles A. Davis, Chairman, William Barton, Henry K. Bogert, Charles H. Marshall, John K. Myers were elected a Committee on Mercantile Library for the term of one year.

Mr. Charles H. Marshall after a few appropriate remarks presented the following preamble and resolutions, which were adopted unanimously:

Whereas, This Chamber has learned with sincere regret that its venerable president, PELATIAH PERIT, Esq., has declined a re-election to the position which he has filled during the past ten years, and to which he has been called at so many successive annual elections by the unanimous voice of this body. Therefore, be it—

Resolved, That our thanks are due and are hereby cordially tendered to Mr. PERIT for his unwavering interest in the affairs of this Chamber, to whose usefulness and efficiency he has so largely contributed, and especially for his continuance for so long a time, and at the sacrifice of so much personal convenience, in the presidency, and for the invariable dignity, courtesy, and impartiality with which he has discharged its duties.

Resolved, That in thus terminating our official connection with one whose career as a New York merchant extends through the last half century, and is identified with all the vicisitudes of disaster and success which have marked that eventful period of our country's history, it is a pleasing duty to record our testimony to the integrity, constancy, and fidelity to duty, public and private, by which that career has been signalized, and which have been known and read of all men. In thus commemorating these high traits of character, and in commending them to the imitation of all engaged in the pursuits of commerce, we do honor not only to their possessor, but also to those free institutions under which they were developed, and in whose preservation, from foreign enemies and from domestic treason and rebellion, his warmest and most patriotic sympathies have ever been enlisted.

Resolved, That our best wishes for his health and continued prosperity will follow our late president into his retirement, accompanied with the hope that he may be permitted to prosecute to a satisfactory end the task which he has undertaken, and for which his varied experience and sound judgment so eminently qualify him-of writing the history of the Commerce of the United States.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, suitably engrossed, under the seal of the Chamber, and duly attested, be transmitted by the Secretary to Mr. PERIT.

The Chamber then adjourned.