i£x ICthrtjs 
 
 SEYMOUR DURST 
 
 When you leave, please leave this hook 
 
 Because it has heen said 
 "Ever'thing comes t' him who waits 
 
 Except a loaned hook." 
 
 Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library 
 Gift of Seymour B. Dursi Old York Library 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/ceremoniesonleavOOnewy 
 
CEREMONIES 
 
 ON 
 
 LEAVING THE OLD 
 
 AND OPENING THE 
 
 NEW 
 
 PRODUCE EXCHANGE 
 
 May 5TH and 6th, 1884. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE ART INTERCHANGE PRESS 
 
SEAL OF THE EXCHANGE. 
 
OFFICERS OF THE EXCHANGE. 
 
 PRESIDENT : 
 
 J. H. HERRICK. 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENT ; 
 
 D. A. LINDLEY. 
 
 SECRETARY, TREASURER, 
 
 THOS. A. MCINTYRE. SAMUEL JACOBY 
 
 BOARD OF MANAGERS: 
 
 JOHN. A. TOBEY, 
 CHARLES M. VAIL, 
 JOHN W. PARKER, 
 CHARLES C. BURKE, 
 THOMAS A. MCINTYRE, 
 ALFRED ROMER, 
 
 EDWARD C. RICE, 
 RICHARD ARNOLD, 
 A. PAGENSTECHER, 
 BENJAMIN LOGAN, 
 JOHN SINCLAIR, 
 CHARLES A. POOL. 
 
 iii. 
 
BUILDING COMMITTEE 
 
 CHAIRMAN : 
 
 FRANKLIN EDSON. 
 
 SECRETARY : 
 
 A. E. ORR. 
 
 S. D. HARRISON, 
 H. O. ARMOUR, 
 A. M. HOYT, 
 
 E. R. LIVERMORE, 
 JOHN H. POOL, 
 L. J. N. STARK. 
 
 ARCHITECT : 
 
 GEO. B. POST. 
 
Introduction to Illustrations. 
 
 THESE few historical facts incidentally illustrative of 
 the growth of trade since the earliest days of New 
 Amsterdam, are prefixed to the publication of the opening 
 ceremonies, with the hope that these recordings may prove 
 of general interest, and by establishing a claim to an an- 
 cestry m trade of over two hundred and forty years, be a 
 matter of satisfaction to the members. 
 
 " Bowling Green*, now hardly noticeable save as one of 
 the few open spots which have been left for public uses in 
 the lower part of the city, was in the days of Dutch rule 
 one of the most conspicuous features of the town. It was 
 then part of the spacious green in front of the Fort, where 
 a market was daily and fairs occasionally held. In March, 
 1753, the corporation leased the ground to some of the 
 inhabitants of Broadway, ' to be enclosed as a Bowling 
 Green, with walks therein for the beauty and ornament of 
 the street,' and it has since been known by this name." 
 
 * John Austen Stevens' address, 1875, before the Historical Society. 
 
 v. 
 
vi. 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " At the southwest point of the island stood the Fort 
 in a square with four bastions, facing the Bowling Green. 
 The Fort itself was removed in 1790 to make way for the 
 Government House, erected for the use of the State Gov- 
 ernment. Below the Fort, on the water line, were fortifi- 
 cations of considerable extent. A stone battery was laid 
 here by Governor Crosby in 1735, and called after his son- 
 in-law, the t George Augustus Royal Battery.' Hence the 
 name of the Battery, which was before the war, and still 
 continues to be, in the summer season, a delightful 
 promenade." 
 
 Close to, if not on the exact spot of ground on which 
 the Produce Exchange stands, were erected in the earliest 
 days of the settlement of Manhattan Island " The com- 
 pany's store-houses," in which was the first regularly ap- 
 pointed Depot or Market-place in New Amsterdam. They 
 occupied a position fronting westward towards " Fort Am- 
 sterdam," with an open space of more than one hundred 
 feet between. This space was called Market Street or 
 Store Street, and ran nearly on a line with Whitehall 
 Street, and was used by the inhabitants in the course of 
 trade as a market field before any public market-place had 
 been appointed by the authorities. 
 
 Later, in 1658 a market-place, known as the Broadway 
 Shambles, was built on the plain in front of the fort, the 
 present site of Bowling Green, and used as such until 1707. 
 Although the market was removed in that year, the site 
 continued to be a fair ground for many years after, and 
 the Burghers were ordered " not to meet any one for the 
 purpose of buying cattle, except along the west side of 
 the Market-field against the Fort." 
 
 It appears that in 1720 it was again invested with 
 market privileges, for it was ordered that " the old market- 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 vii. 
 
 place in the Broadway be and is hereby held as a public 
 market-place until further notice." 
 
 Here was the Markt-Feldt of New Amsterdam, the 
 Market-field of New York, and Marketfield Street, over a 
 portion of which the Exchange is now built, was a con- 
 venient and accustomed approach from the canal to the 
 Market-place or Broadway Shambles. 
 
 This site, most felicitously selected, seems to have had 
 peculiar attractions for business interests since the earliest 
 colonial days, and the erection upon it of a permanent 
 dwelling-place of commerce is a fitting dedication of the 
 land to those purposes of trade for which it was originally 
 used two centuries and a half ago. 
 
 During the administration of Governor Stuyvesant on 
 1 2th of September, 1656, it was ordained that " Market 
 shall be held at the Strand, at or around the house of 
 Mr. Hans Kierstede, where, after him, every one shall be 
 permitted to enter that has anything to buy or sell."* 
 This location was between Moore and Whitehall Streets, 
 on the east side of Pearl Street. In the year 1675 the 
 General Court of Assize ordered that a " fitt house be built " 
 by the water side near where the Market-place on the 
 Strand had been formerly held. This " fitt house stood 
 about where the corner of Pearl and Moore Streets now 
 meet," the site of our old Exchange, and was known as 
 the " Custom House Bridge Market." 
 
 "On May 24th, 1684, Mr. John Tudor came before the 
 Council, bringing a message from Governor Dongon, de- 
 siring that the market may be removed from the place 
 where it is now kept, to the vacant ground before the 
 Fort." f As this request appears to have been promptly 
 granted, a curious coincidence presents itself : On May 5th, 
 
 * De Voe's Market Book. f De Voe's Market Book. 
 
viii. 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO IILUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1884, just two centuries after our Dutch and English an- 
 cestors had moved the Custom House Bridge Market to 
 the Market Field, at Bowling Green, two centuries after 
 to a month, almost to a day, we, literally following in the 
 footsteps of our fathers, marched from the old to the new 
 Exchange, unconscious agents in this repetition of history. 
 
 Fac Simile of the Seal of New Amsterdam in 1686. 
 
 The Beaver figured on the seal from 1654, the Flour Barrel 
 was added in 1686, showing the two important interests 
 of the Colony. 
 
 Stamping on its escutcheon, this early evidence of the 
 fruitfulness of the soil, the Colony seems most happily 
 to have foretold the importance of our Country's agri- 
 cultural growth. 
 
ILL USTRA TIONS. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE. Front elevation of the New Produce 
 Exchange Building erected in 1884. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page v. First view of New Amsterdam 
 drawn by a Dutch officer in 1648 or 49 and published in 
 165 1. View taken from the West. From original in 
 possession of New York Historical Society. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page 1. Second view of New Amster- 
 dam, made in 1656, shows an eastern view, and the 
 growth of the colony in eight years. From original in 
 possession of New York Historical Society. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page 8. The Produce Exchange erected 
 in 1860-61, and occupied until May 6th, 1884, by the 
 "New York Produce Exchange," organized in 1861, 
 and incorporated under our present charter in 1862. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page 9. Corner of Broad and South 
 Streets, including No. 16 South Street, where in 1852 
 was formally organized the " Corn Exchange." For 
 many years prior the grain and flour dealers had no 
 recognized Headquarters, but a habit had gradually 
 been formed of collecting on the corner of Broad and 
 South Streets for the transaction of business ; as their 
 numbers increased they organized as an association, 
 rented a room (No. 16 South Street), and were incor- 
 porated by act of Legislature May 2d, 1853, as the 
 " New York Corn Exchange." Adding to their lim- 
 ited accommodation as the increasing membership de- 
 manded by the rental and purchase of adjoining stores 
 on both South and Broad Streets (forming an L around 
 the corner building), they still rapidly outgrew their 
 
X. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ill contrived and badly ventilated quarters and in i860 
 built on the block bounded by Whitehall, Moore, Pearl 
 and Water Streets the " Produce Exchange." 
 
 ILLUSTRATION facing page 32. View of Main Hall or 
 Exchange Room. (New Produce Exchange.) 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page 15, of the second Exchange, at 
 one time called the Royal Exchange, built near the 
 foot of Broad Street, below the intersection of Dock 
 (now Pearl Street), " was a building raised upon arches 
 in the middle of the street and over the canal ; it was 
 sometimes called the New Exchange, to distinguish it 
 from the former one. A subscription was made by the 
 merchants in 1752 for its erection, but it was assumed 
 and finally completed by the corporation." The Cham- 
 ber of Commerce hired the building in 1769, and occu- 
 pied it until the breaking out of hostilities ; temporarily 
 occupied by the Legislature and courts of justice, it 
 was ordered to be taken down in 1799. The commerce 
 of the city for a few years after its erection gathered 
 about it, but it gradually lost its prestige, from the 
 nuisances which were allowed to accumulate about the 
 water edge near by. From old print in collection of 
 the late S. V. P. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS on page 19. Views of the New Produce 
 Exchange. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page 43 is the Exchange at the water- 
 front foot of Wall Street, known as the Meal Market 
 or Exchange. This was the first authorized Corn 
 Exchange or Market. The Corporation Manual con- 
 tains the following ordinance: "January, 1727. It is 
 
ILL US TRA TIONS. XI. 
 
 ordained that the market house at the lower end of 
 Wall Street is appointed for the sale of all sorts of 
 grain, corn and meal, and none of such articles are to 
 be sold in public market at any other place," and in 
 November, 174.1, " The Wall Street market house and 
 likewise the Broadway market house, declared to be 
 grain and meal markets." 
 
 Illustration on page 60. View of the site of the present 
 Exchange in the year 1790. From print in posses- 
 sion of Xew York Historical Society. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION on page 68, represents the first exchange built 
 in New York, located at the foot of Broad Street, at the 
 water side. It served as a market-house as well as a 
 business meeting place for merchants, and was erected 
 in 1690-91. 
 
 Committee on Publication.. 
 
xii. 
 
 BUILDING. 
 
 Commenced tearing down old Buildings on site, May 1st, 
 1 88 1. 
 
 Last Pile driven, December 23d, 1881. 15,034 Piles used. 
 Corner Stone laid June 6th, 1882. 
 312 feet front on Whitehall Street. 
 150 feet on Beaver Street. 
 148 feet on Stone Street. 
 
 Tower 68x44 to main roof and 44 feet square above. 
 120 feet from sidewalk to coping of main roof. 
 225 feet to coping of tower. 
 240 feet to top of lantern. 
 306 feet to top of flag-staff. 
 
 Dimensions of main floor 220x144 (31,680 square feet). 
 
 Materials, brick, terra cotta, stone and iron. 
 
 Height of ceiling, Main Hall, 45 feet. Sky-light 60 feet. 
 The stained glass sky-light has an area of one-fifth of an 
 acre. 
 
 The building contains seven and one-half acres of floor space 
 and 188 offices; the girth of outside walls is one-fifth 
 of a mile. 
 
Closing Ceremonies 
 In the Old Exchange Building. 
 
 T the appointed time, 1 1 o'clock A. M., May 
 I 6th, the members assembling in the old 
 building for the last time, the President, 
 J. H. Herrick, Esq., called the meeting to 
 j order, and with the following introductory 
 remarks presented Mr. Jas. McGee: 
 
 Gentlemen of the Exchange — We are about to say fare- 
 well, or good-bye, to these old halls. No matter what 
 future may be before us, there is always a tinge of sadness 
 in the words "good bye," and when we say "farewell," it is 
 a sound that makes us linger. To properly express our 
 feelings on leaving this old hall, the scene of so many 
 triumphs, at the urgent request of the President, Mr. James 
 Mc Gee has consented to make the valedictory address, 
 and I have the pleasure of introducing him to you (cheers). 
 
Valedictory Address. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN— We are 
 brought face to face with the final moments under 
 the old roof. Whatever it has been to us of shelter or of 
 instruction must now cease, except so far as we shall carry- 
 away with us the principles which we have learned and 
 which have been inculcated under this roof. I sympathize 
 with the thought suggested by our President that whenever 
 we are about to leave an old roof, though it may be for 
 better apartments, yet still there will be arising in our hearts 
 and minds the thought of old associations, and it will be 
 difficult for us just at this moment, however much we may 
 have felt in the past that we desired new quarters, it will 
 be difficult for us at this moment to decide whether we 
 desire to stay or go. I think you will understand my feel- 
 ings when I say that I have a thought this morning akin to 
 one who stands upon the deck of a steamer about to make 
 his first voyage across the Atlantic, with bright prospects 
 before him, with thoughts of new things, and yet with faces 
 before him that hold him fast and enchain him as though 
 it were difficult for him to take his departure; and you 
 have been accustomed to such scenes, as you yourself have 
 stood upon the deck of the steamer, and ready to take your 
 departure, and have seen the faces that were peering up into 
 your face, and have caught the glance of eyes that were 
 waving the good-byes, and have heard the words of farewell ; 
 you have found it difficult to know whether you should 
 continue your journey or not ; but the moment must 
 come, the bell must ring, the steamer must start ; and 
 here, to-day, I think I find a scene just like this. The 
 
 2 
 
VA L EDIC TOR Y A DDRE SS. 
 
 3 
 
 ship is ready to sail and we are to seek a new port and 
 find new quarters and new joys. 
 
 On such an occasion as this you will remember that 
 some friends have come to you and have offered sug- 
 gestions for the voyage and suggestions for that which 
 you were to see in the new land, and so, as I peer out 
 into the faces that are standing on the dock waiting to 
 see the steamer leave, I recognize two old faces here and 
 they come and bid me to speak words of farewell, they 
 come to give me words of instruction, and I ask you to 
 listen a moment to these two old friends, as they speak to 
 you on this occasion. Shall I name the friends who look 
 into our faces to-day and speak to us? One is Memory, 
 and the other is Hope. Memory speaks to us, and what 
 words has Memory for us as putting her hand in ours she 
 speaks the farewell ? Her first word of caution is this : 
 Do nt forget the small beginnings, from which come the 
 present grand successes. There are those here to-day 
 who remember the open-air meeting, which began this 
 Exchange : there are those here who followed along in its 
 history until it came to these present quarters, and I 
 would impress this thought to-day upon your memory: 
 that we must not forget the small beginnings which have 
 brought us these grand results, for all true success is 
 based on prudent venture with natural increase. 
 
 Secondly — Memory speaks to us and says, Forget not 
 the principles on which success has been attained, and 
 lest we should forget them, she comes to us and brings 
 us a badge on which is marked the word " Equity," and 
 she bids us remember that it is " Equity" that has laid 
 the foundation ; that has reared the superstructure which 
 we shall soon inherit. Then let me say, gentlemen, that 
 I trust that in all our future history we shall never forget 
 
4 
 
 VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. 
 
 the badge and the motto, for when " Equity " shall have 
 been written off the walls, "Ichabod" will be written on, 
 " the glory of the house has departed." 
 
 Memory tells us not to forget the struggles which have 
 been incident to the successes which have been attained. 
 These struggles are the warrant of healthy growth ; just as 
 the giant tree obtains its structure by the beating of the 
 elements, so by the struggles which have been incident to 
 business have we obtained our present success. And mem- 
 ory bids us also not to forget our comrades. Some have 
 fallen, their faces are missed to-day. Others are still in the 
 struggle, and as to-day we go forth from the old home, let 
 us not forget the comrades of the past, but clinging close 
 to each other, bind in one common brotherhood the Mem- 
 bership of this Exchange, that it may be powerful for 
 grand things in the community. 
 
 But we must not listen too long to Memory ; she clings 
 to us, but Hope interferes and says, " Let me speak my 
 words before you go ;" and first Hope tells us to remember 
 that there is a grand work yet to do ; all has not yet been 
 accomplished because the new Exchange has been built. 
 Our fathers did not have the telegraph and the telephone 
 and the East River bridge. Science and political economy 
 are not yet exhausted ; there are grand resources in the 
 future ; taking science, taking political economy, taking 
 the forces at our command, we shall make the new 
 Exchange grander than the old, and shall make it to 
 bring forth things as yet invisible. And Hope says, "be- 
 lieve in the possibilities; be optimists, not pessimists; 
 let us not suppose because of failures and panics that 
 things are to come to an end ; the world is going on, 
 the Exchange is built for years, may be for centuries, 
 and when we have done our part others are to take 
 
VALEDICTOR Y ADDRESS. 
 
 5 
 
 it up and carry it on. Be it ours to inspire into the 
 minds of the young men who come up to take our 
 places a spirit of optimism that shall ever see the 
 bright side and ever be ready for the grand successes 
 of the near future. And finally, Hope says to us : have 
 the courage of rectitude. There can come no courage to 
 us, Mr. President and gentlemen, no courage which is not 
 based upon rectitude. Rectitude must be the foundation ; 
 by rectitude every course must be laid, and out of this 
 we may gather the courage that shall inspire us to do all 
 the work that is before us in the future. 
 
 But, Mr. President, returning to my figure, I think I 
 hear the bell ringing ; the boat is about to leave, the 
 friends are pressing up, and at the last moment I find 
 that these tzvo friends are to go with us ; they are not 
 saying farewell to us. 
 
 Memory and Hope shall go along with us on the 
 voyage ; and, sir, with Rectitude at the helm, with Memory 
 and Hope on watch, let us sail forth confident that we 
 shall enter a harbor of success and reap grand results 
 for God and humanity. 
 
 Tempered with a tone of sadness, the applause had 
 scarcely subsided, at the close of Mr. McGee's address, 
 when the Glee Club sang with grand effect the following 
 Parting Song : 
 
 "Good Bye, Dear Halls of Old." 
 
Good-Bye, Dear Halls of Old. 
 
 George Cooper, Composer. 
 AIR : Soldier's Farewell. — KlNKEL. 
 
 Tenor. 
 
 IS* 2* 
 
 Bass. 
 
 Andante. 
 
 Ye halls to Com - merce plight-ed ! Ye scenes to fame u- 
 
 
 
 
 J-J — , 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 ores - cen - do. 
 
 T 
 
 ni-ted ! Where oft we've met in glad-ness ! We leave you now with 
 
 J-J 1 , , . ^ , i s : J 
 
 mm 
 
 m , J J , 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ g r r ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 old ! Good - bye ! Good - bye | dear halls of old ! 
 
 J | ^ J ^ J j . ,j 
 
 ^1 
 
VALEDICTOR V ADDRESS, 
 
 7 
 
 What strains can hymn your story ? 
 The Nation's pride and glory ! 
 Your founders, thro' the Ages, 
 Shall live on Hist'ry's pages ! 
 Good-bye ! Good-bye ! dear halls of old ! 
 Good bye ! Good-bye ! dear halls of old ! 
 
 Your voice of pow'r unending, 
 With peace and concord blending, 
 Afar, on Lightning's pinions, 
 Is borne o'er earth's dominions! 
 Good-bye ! Good-bye ! dear halls of old ! 
 Good-bye ! Good-bye ! dear halls of old ! 
 
 Tho' Time shall rend each portal, 
 Your fame shall be immortal ; 
 And in our hearts we '11 cherish 
 Your mem'ries ne'er to perish ! 
 Good-bye ! Good-bye ! dear halls of old ! 
 Good-bye! Good-bye! dear halls of old! 
 
 The ceremonies concluded with the Glee Club leading 
 and the members joining in singing " Auld Lang-Syne," 
 accompanied by the band. 
 
 Under the directions of the Grand Marshal C. B. Lock- 
 wood, the members proceeded from the old Exchange 
 to the new, heavy rain preventing the observance ot the 
 line of march as laid down in the programme. 
 
Opening Ceremonies 
 
 In the New Exchange Building. 
 
 Music, March, Seventh Regiment, Cappa. 
 
 ASSEMBLING in the main Hall, under the 
 j inspiring strains of Cappa's Seventh 
 Regiment Band, the members and the in- 
 vited guests filled to its utmost capacity 
 the great Exchange room, and quietly 
 awaited the inauguration exercises. 
 On a raised platform, merging from a supporting bank 
 of plants and flowers, and under the drapery of our na- 
 tional flag, in the midst of distinguished guests and sur- 
 rounded by prominent citizens and members of the Ex- 
 change, the President, arising, invited the Rev. Arthur 
 Brooks to offer prayer. 
 
 9 
 
Prayer. 
 
 OH God, our Father in Heaven, we come to ask Thy 
 blessing on our completed work, without which all 
 our labors are in vain. From Thee alone has come the 
 power to raise this building, in which we meet to-day 
 with thanksgiving and joy. The resources and the growth 
 which it represents have all come from Thy hand. Thou 
 didst give to our fathers a goodly heritage, a land flow- 
 ing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. 
 From Thee has come the ripening sunshine, the copious 
 rains, the gentle dews, which year by year have blessed 
 our lives with plenty ; from Thy earth have been pro- 
 duced our abundant crops. To us Thou hast given peace 
 and harmony, so that the husbandman has not labored 
 in vain, and the channels of commerce have been deep- 
 ened and filled. Marvellous have been Thy dealings with 
 us, with our country and our city in the past. The little 
 one has become a thousand, and the small one a strong 
 nation. For these, Thy great blessings, we would render 
 unto Thee thanks, and praise, and the tribute of conse- 
 crated lives. 
 
 As Thou hast blessed our land, so, O Lord, bless us. 
 Open Thy heavens and send down upon our hearts the 
 sunshine of Thy presence. May the dews of Thy grace 
 enrich our lives and may the seed of Thy word fall abun- 
 dantly in our lives into open and fruitful ground. Within 
 these walls, which are the gifts of Thy bounty, may Thy 
 will be done. Make the manhood which assembles here 
 daily conscious of its high destiny and eager to fulfil it. 
 Fill with motives of advancing Thy glory and the honor 
 
 IO 
 
PR A YER. 
 
 of Thy name all who have part in disseminating Thy 
 bounty. May that which feeds men's bodies carry with 
 it a blessing to their souls. As ministers of Thine, with 
 pure hearts and clean hands may Thy servants perform 
 here the duties Thou hast laid upon them. Cleanse from 
 all taint of covetousness and dishonesty the commerce 
 which Thou hast blessed, and so consecrate to Thyself 
 as a temple of Thine this building which we have reared. 
 
 And since as children of Thine we are one in inter- 
 ests and growth, Ave pray for Thy blessing on all our 
 land and on all the world. Bless our rulers and teach 
 them to appreciate the gift of high responsibility which 
 Thou hast given them. Remove all selfishness of pur- 
 pose and lowness of motive, and fill their hearts with 
 purity, and honesty, and earnest devotion. May all our 
 people feel the weight of that trust which has been com- 
 mitted to their care in the possession of a free country. 
 May every cause of religion, education, temperance, and 
 nobleness of living receive Thy blessing and inspiration, 
 and be made most efficient for the promotion of the glory 
 of Thy great name among us. Save us, we pray Thee, 
 O God, from the great dangers of material prosperity. 
 Fix the affections of all classes of men among us upon 
 those things which are above, and which shall remain 
 forever. Banish all unbelief by a deeper conviction of 
 Thy eternal presence and love, and throughout the world 
 make all nations of men to know and to praise Thy name. 
 
 And now, O Eternal God, we commend to Thy care 
 this building for all the years of its existence. When 
 those who placed its stones together have gone to their 
 rest, may future generations under Thy guidance still make 
 it useful for Thy purposes, according to the needs of 
 their lives. May those who have laid up its stones, and 
 
T2 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 who here or elsewhere have shared in the work of this 
 city's growth, all have part in that heavenly city which 
 hath foundations, which shall never be shaken, whose 
 builder and maker is God. Watch over the work of this 
 structure through all its future, and give to it a share in 
 the accomplishment of Thy eternal purposes, through 
 Jesus Christ, our Lord. 
 
 Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy 
 name ; Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth 
 as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread ! 
 and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who 
 trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ! 
 but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and 
 the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. 
 
 At the conclusion of the prayer, and after selections, 
 " Day Slowly Declining" (Weber), by the band, Mr. Frank- 
 lin Edson, Chairman of the Building Committee, address- 
 ing the President, said r 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT: On behalf of the Building Com- 
 mittee it becomes my pleasing duty formally to 
 announce to you, and through you to the members of 
 the Produce Exchange, that the great work which you 
 placed in their hands nearly five years ago is so far com- 
 pleted that they have to-day great satisfaction in surren- 
 dering to you and to those whom you represent this com- 
 pleted structure, in order that you may, by appropriate 
 ceremonies, in the presence of the representatives of kin- 
 dred institutions, and in the presence of this multitude of 
 our fellow-citizens, dedicate it to the uses for which it is 
 intended. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 13 
 
 Although it is almost five years since the Building Com- 
 mittee received the carefully considered advice and gen- 
 eral instructions of the Exchange and entered upon the 
 performance of the duties assigned them, many and im- 
 portant changes have been made in the general plan as 
 originally proposed, involving much time and patient con- 
 sideration on the part of the committee and of the accom- 
 plished architect whom they called to their assistance. 
 Such changes have, however, in every instance been made 
 only in obedience to the broader views of the members 
 of the Exchange and their fuller appreciation of the value 
 to the commercial interests of this City, of more elaborate 
 and comprehensive facilities for the transaction of com- 
 mercial business. But there is no need that I should even 
 attempt, on this occasion, to tell the story of the recognized 
 growing need, and final necessity for commercial facility in 
 this growing city which led to the inception of this great 
 edifice ; that would be the history of the rise and develop- 
 ment of commerce in our city as well as the history of 
 the New York Produce Exchange. Nor need I tell the 
 story of the committee's labors in locating, planning and 
 supervising its construction. Their records contained in 
 many closely written volumes, elaborate in every detail, 
 tell that more eloquently than I can do. Therein are 
 recorded the names of the men who, with rare scientific 
 knowledge and experience and skill, have prepared the 
 architectural design and elaborated the plan of construc- 
 tion ; and the names of those who, with deft and cunning 
 hands, have prepared and placed in position the materials 
 of which this noble structure is built — names that should 
 be engraved upon this monument as a fitting testimonial 
 of their wisdom, skill and fidelity, there to remain as long 
 as these walls shall stand. 
 
14 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 With the ceremonies of to-day, Mr. President, the work 
 of the Building Committee is practically finished, and in 
 surrendering to you this completed building as the result 
 of their labors, in witnessing its dedication as a Temple 
 of Commerce worthy of this commercial metropolis, and 
 in its approval and acceptance by you as a fitting home 
 for the New York Produce Exchange, the committee have 
 their ample reward. 
 
 Receiving the Building from the Chairman of the Com- 
 mittee, President Herrick made the following response : 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN: It is with deep feelings of satis- 
 faction and pride that I now receive at your hands 
 this completed building on behalf cf the members of the 
 Exchange, which is indeed a commercial temple. 
 
 While we recognize the successful achievement of the 
 work committed to your care, we are utterly unable to 
 properly estimate the time and anxiety by which such 
 results have been obtained. With you it has, indeed, been 
 a labor of love, for without love, the strongest of human 
 motives, such results could not have been obtained. We 
 are proud that you were selected for this service ; we are 
 proud of your work, but we are prouder still that the 
 Building Committee are fellow-members of this Exchange, 
 for an institution which can bear such fruit is so firmly 
 rooted in vigorous soil that it will resist for ages the 
 vicissitudes of time. 
 
 We congratulate each other on this occasion ; we cordi- 
 ally share with you the satisfaction you must feel. Every 
 purpose you had in view for our convenience and comfort 
 
ADDRESS. 1 5 
 
 has been carried out ; but you have erected a monument to 
 the fidelity, ability and integrity of yourselves and associ- 
 ates which will last forever. 
 
 I am unable in a fitting manner to express the grati- 
 fication we all feel at these results ; I can only add, sir, I 
 thank you ! I thank you ! 
 
 The Glee Club then sang the following ode: 
 The volume of tone and the precision of enunciation 
 carrying the harmony and sentiment of " Hail this temple 
 Grand " to the utmost limits of the Great Hall. 
 
Ode: Hail! This Temple Grand. 
 
 George Cooper, Composer. 
 
 AIR : " Loyal Song. ' — Kucken. 
 Allegro coji inoto. 
 
 Tenor. 
 
 "Bass. 
 
 Sound its fame with voi - ces ring-ing ! Throw its por-tals wide with 
 
 i A ^ J)H,Jj i ii n J i 
 
 r 
 
 and trum - pets' blare, Ev - ery heart its trib - ute bring ing 
 
 Land and O - cean feel its vast and might-y sway, Com-merce speaks ; and 
 
 ^ aiempo. 
 
 Hail ! This Tem - pie grand ! 
 
 Na - tions all o - bey ! 
 
 16 
 
sttwgendo. 
 
 Pride of Frec-dom's land ! Wealth to all the world still wing - ing, 
 
 J- M>. ■ 
 
 Wealth to all the world still wing-in;: 
 
 Wealth to all the world still wing-ing, Hail ! This Tem-ple grand 
 
 Wealth to all the world still wing-ing. Tem-ple grand 
 
 
 A 
 
 
 Pride of Free-dom's 
 
 land. 
 
 Hail ! This Tem-ple grand ! 
 
 
 
 
 Free dom's land. 
 
 Hail ! This Tem-ple grand. Wealth to all the world still wing - ing. All 
 
 Hail ! This Tem-ple grand, wealth to all the world still wing ing- 
 
 J . > ,j >. .O, > , J J J ^ t?- 
 
 17 
 
1 8 
 
 ODE. 
 
 See ! Where speed along its ships to every port ; 
 
 Every mart with trade o'erflowing ; 
 Science here within hath all its triumphs wrought, 
 
 Art its lavish gifts bestowing. 
 Honored be the founders of this heritage, 
 Beacon light of our progressive age. 
 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Pride of Freedom's land, 
 
 Plenty's smiles around it glowing, 
 
 Plenty's smiles around it glowing ; 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Pride of Freedom's land, 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Hail ! This Temple grand, 
 Plenty's smiles around it glowing. All 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Plenty's smiles around it 
 glowing. 
 
 Down the years to come, in visions bright as gold, 
 
 Mem'ry shall this day restore us ; 
 Long may commerce reign ; prosperity untold, 
 
 'Neath the dome that towers o'er us; 
 Hand and heart united; speed our mission fair; 
 Progress be our watchword everywhere ! 
 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Pride of Freedom's land, 
 
 Join the proud triumphal chorus, 
 
 Join the proud triumphal chorus ; 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Pride of Freedom's land, 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Hail ! This Temple grand, 
 Join the proud triumphant chorus. All 
 Hail ! This Temple grand ! Join the proud triumphal 
 chorus. 
 
 As the last notes gradually died away the President 
 advancing to the front of the platform delivered his ad- 
 dress. 
 
Originally appeared in The Century for July, 1884. 
 
President's Address. 
 
 NEARLY two centuries and a half ago there stood 
 yonder, by the Bowling Green, a rude, primitive 
 structure, with sides open to the weather, and roof cov- 
 ered, partly with straw thatch and partly with old Dutch 
 tiles. Such a shelter the thrifty Hollander, even of that 
 day, would have felt scarcely afforded adequate protec- 
 tion for his cattle ; and yet, that shed it was which housed 
 the embryonic market trade of New Amsterdam. In that 
 poor husk was stirring the germ of mercantile vitality 
 which has grown to such mighty proportions, as to infuse 
 with vigorous life this vast edifice around and above us. 
 
 The Marck-velt-Stegie, on the spot where we now 
 stand, was the cradle of the giant who to-day makes his 
 power felt all over the civilized world ; the noisy barter 
 of yon primitive Produce Exchange was his infant prat- 
 tle ; the quaint little market shallops crowding the safe 
 harbor of Broad Street his toys. But the child is truly 
 father to the man, and the life so feebly stirring then is 
 a continuous existence with that which throbs to-day 
 through the arteries of our national and international 
 trade. 
 
 The imagination loves to wander back to the legend- 
 ary period before history begins, and to draw in fancy 
 glowing pictures of the heroic and romantic deeds of a 
 remote ancestry. The Dutch settlers hereabouts, it is true, 
 were neither heroic nor romantic, and yet we, through a 
 long line of successful merchants, may well look back 
 
 20 
 
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 21 
 
 with honest pride to the sturdy stock from which we are 
 descended. The mingling of the Dutch with the English 
 stock has produced, so to speak, the Anglo-Saxon of the 
 new world, inheriting the virtues of their forefathers, plus 
 American enterprise, sagacity and dash. 
 
 But to return to the humble origin of commercial life 
 in our island. As increasing population extended the lim- 
 its of the city, the old market was swept away, and the 
 merchants met on a bridge over a small stream at Ex- 
 change Place — the Rialto of the new world. In 1754 a 
 Royal Exchange, so called, was built near Water and 
 Broad streets, and in our own day the Merchants' Ex- 
 change, on Wall street, completes the chain of succession. 
 
 Our own personal history begins about the year 1850, 
 when the Corn Exchange was chartered, with a capital of 
 $50,000. This was succeeded and absorbed by the New 
 York Produce Exchange, in i860. The records of the 
 earlier institutions have not been preserved, but they form 
 the solid foundations upon which have been reared the 
 commonwealth of merchants we represent, still holding 
 the same, general objects in view, but with wider scope, 
 and with more power to promote common welfare. 
 
 It is the part of wisdom to investigate the philosophy 
 of our progress rather than to view with the contented 
 egotism of success our recent strides in numbers, wealth 
 and power. Though the elements of progress are often 
 complex and obscure, we may hope to unravel the tan- 
 gled skein and throw some helpful light upon the subject 
 if we look at it in three aspects common to all human 
 life — namely, the moral, intellectual and physical. The 
 development of mercantile, as all other life, inverts this 
 order. The earliest phase is physical. A patient, system- 
 atic and untiring industry is the merchant's first virtue. 
 
22 
 
 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 To apply this force at the point of maximum efficiency 
 requires intellectual effort. Habits of industry, the intel- 
 ligent application of principles, the observation of facts in 
 themselves and their relations to each other, the power of 
 quick perception which no sign, however subtle, escapes; 
 every quality that goes to make an assured success in 
 mercantile life, is at the same time both the cause and 
 the effect of physical and mental growth. On the phys- 
 ical side, the resources are widened ; on the mental, the 
 ability to catch flying opportunity on the wing, and to 
 utilize it, is sharpened. 
 
 As two harmonious notes, struck in unison on a per- 
 fectly tuned instrument, will not only sound themselves, 
 but will set in vibration a third, and thus complete the 
 accord ; so a legitimate development of the physical and 
 the mental life will awaken into being the moral sense. The 
 more perfect the instrument is, the grander and more su- 
 pernal will sound this overtone. That which makes the 
 honest man what he is, the noblest work of God, will 
 make the corporation noble as well. The physical, in its 
 highest development, is merely a brute ; the spiritual and 
 intellectual, a devil ; it is the moral and religious alone 
 which can add the crown of manhood. Industry is power ; 
 knowledge is power; but far above and beyond both, lift- 
 ing both into a higher and Wider sphere of action, is the 
 power of character. 
 
 In this the possession of moral elements, we believe, 
 lies the secret of the rapid progress of this great society 
 of merchants. Seeking from the first to develop a man, 
 a whole man, with high moral purpose, with the sagacity 
 that comes from experience, with the industry that no 
 obstacle can daunt, we have laid the foundation on which 
 success must surely be built. The same elements that 
 
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 ^3 
 
 enter into individual life go to make up corporate life. 
 The forces that, working singly, can effect so much are 
 enormously multiplied when used in combination. Three 
 thousand men, with one purpose, built into a living tem- 
 ple, whose corner-stone is integrity and equity, are here 
 gathered to-day to inaugurate and dedicate this our visi- 
 ble temple of commerce. Is it a temple of mammon ? 
 No ! for we demand primary allegiance to Honor, Jus- 
 tice and Truth, and within the breast of every member 
 shall burn, as upon a shrine, the sacrificial fire. 
 
 Understanding, clearly, the philosophy of our progress, 
 we are prepared for a closer examination in detail. The 
 last and most important step was the selection of an ap- 
 propriate site and the erection of a new and permanent 
 home. When increasing wealth and membership at length 
 forced upon the most conservative the conviction that a 
 change was necessary, the problem of location and style 
 of a suitable building was most perplexing. Casting about 
 in uncertainty and doubt, the occasion produced leaders, 
 as in the world's history from crises heroes are born. Eight 
 good men and true were found among us, who, laying aside 
 their private affairs for the public welfare, without fee or 
 reward, were willing to assume the responsibilities and 
 care of this great work. With singular unselfishness we laid 
 upon them this heavy burden, but with no less singular 
 selfishness, we reserve the right to criticise and cavil dur- 
 ing the years the service has occupied. We shall never 
 know how much of time and care and anxiety this work 
 has cost these faithful men. We begin to realize, and 
 posterity will acknowledge so long as New York shall stand, 
 the successful results of their labors. Fellow members, 
 you cannot too highly honor and esteem the Building 
 Committee. While we record their names in our archives, 
 
24 
 
 PRESIDENT' S ADDRESS. 
 
 and engrave them on marble, let us cherish them in our 
 hearts. We now enjoy the fruit of their labors, to be 
 transmitted later on to our successors. Their onerous 
 task has been finished with honor to themselves and 
 credit to their constituents. They cease from their toil, 
 but their works shall represent them forever. 
 
 To another Committee we owe more than a passing 
 acknowledgment— the Committee on Rooms and Fixtures, 
 to whom was entrusted the furnishing and adornment of 
 our new building We congratulate them and ourselves 
 upon the perfection of their work in detail, and its har- 
 mony as a whole. 
 
 Apart from the extension of the nation's commerce, 
 w r e have not been altogether idle, for we have been busy 
 making history these past thirty-three years of our organic 
 life. Many here present remember the early days from 
 *47 to '50, when the sky was our azure roof and the street 
 pavement our tesselated floor. These years have not been 
 uneventful years in the history of the nation's life, its 
 finance and its commerce. When the heart of the nation 
 was throbbing in the confusion and distress of civil war, 
 there came from the front an urgent call : " Come over 
 and help us." The busy hum of trade ceased, everything 
 was forgotten but the nation's peril. General Hancock, 
 wounded in battle, asked aid for the national cause at the 
 largest meeting ever held within our walls. You responded 
 promptly in men and money, and by your aid the Sickles 
 Brigade, 4,000 strong, was sent to recruit the national army. 
 Nor were your efforts confined to that organization ; for 
 many days at the recruiting stations, your committees by 
 your bounties, made provision for the families of the depart- 
 ing soldiers. There are those before me now who shared 
 the toil of the march, the privation of the bivouac and the 
 
PRE SID EN T'S A DDRESS. 
 
 25 
 
 glory of battle, and if our roll of '61 was now called, " Dead 
 on the field of battle" would be the response to more 
 than one hero's name. 
 
 In the summer of 1862 came the call again ; our hos- 
 pitals were crowded with sick and wounded soldiers from 
 the Potomac swamps. The regular hospital attendants 
 were overtasked, and temporary assistance became a ne- 
 cessity. From your membership a volunteer corps for 
 night service was quickly formed. One hospital was sup- 
 plied for several months with earnest, tender, helpful men. 
 Those who did this heroic duty during those weary sum- 
 mer nights will never forget the awful scenes of suffering 
 and death through which they passed, the memories of 
 which are still tender and sad. Who can estimate the 
 preparation for this noble service these men received by 
 the lessons and training of daily business life ? Who is 
 able to measure the character developed by their hospital 
 experience? They returned to the daily task better men 
 and better merchants, adding fresh lustre by their patriot- 
 ism and example to the commonwealth of merchants to 
 which they belonged. 
 
 When a sister city, the metropolis of the West, in pass- 
 ing through an ordeal of fire, was almost swept from the 
 face of the earth, the generous tide flowing from all over 
 the civilized world to succor the destitute and suffering 
 was swelled by your heartfelt sympathy and material aid. 
 
 Thrice in our history have financial storms swept from 
 ocean to ocean, paralyzing industry and shaking to its base 
 the whole fabric of finance and commerce. Passing through 
 these periods of national suffering and disaster with severe 
 losses and individual ruin, the character, energy and re- 
 cuperative power of New York merchants has, with return- 
 ing sunshine and confidence, speedily restored the former 
 
26 
 
 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 prosperity with a growth more vigorous and extensive 
 than before the tempest. 
 
 When, by the shutting down of English cotton mills, 
 thousands of operatives were thrown out of employment, 
 their scanty savings speedily exhausted, and strong men 
 and women and children were perishing for food, their cry 
 was heard and through the efforts of the Lancashire Relief 
 Committee more than one ship load of bread and meat 
 was sent across the ocean to aid these lowly but loyal 
 sufferers. 
 
 It is not in any spirit of boasting that we select for 
 record these instances of benevolence among many which 
 remain unnoticed ; it is to call attention to a popular error, 
 and to aid in its correction. The close pursuit of money 
 is supposed to blunt the sensibility to human suffering 
 and to develop an intense selfishness ; and yet we search 
 our records in vain for one appeal of the sorrowful and 
 suffering unheard, one cry for help unanswered. 
 
 We rightly view these results with satisfaction, although 
 they are mere episodes in our history. The primary 
 object of our organization has been kept steadily in view 
 from the first, which is, to develop, extend and foster the 
 commerce of our city and of our nation. It is scarcely 
 possible to overestimate the practical results which have 
 been attained in this direction. Customs of uncertain 
 authority have been formulated into well digested laws, 
 the obstacles between buyers and sellers have been swept 
 away, and the wheels of trade now move easily — with 
 regularity, economy and dispatch. 
 
 With the co-operation of the railway companies, the 
 modern commercial highways — the traffic in most of the 
 great agricultural and mineral staples has been so regulated 
 as to ensure their transport from the producers of the 
 
PRE SI DEN T'S A DDRE SS. 
 
 27 
 
 interior to the seaboard, or foreign consumers, at a mini- 
 mum cost and maximum speed — the two inexorable factors 
 of a thrifty and growing commerce. 
 
 By a system of jurisprudence which we call arbitration, 
 honest differences or vexatious disputes are promptly set- 
 tled in equity and honor by a jury of our peers. 
 
 We gather and disseminate freely all attainable informa- 
 tion ; peace and good will uniformly prevail. With capital 
 unhampered and protected, every man enjoys unmolested 
 the fruit of his own labor. Day by day, and year by 
 year, we have been learning to take a higher view of life 
 and its duties ; the lesson has been borne in upon both 
 mind and heart, that equity and honor are the only 
 imperishable foundations on which to build both here 
 and hereafter. 
 
 We cannot allow this festive season of pride and joy 
 and congratulation to pass without recognizing in fitting 
 manner the memory of those comrades and kinsmen, who, 
 passing over the dark river, have left such sweet memories 
 of their labors and their virtues, whose places we find so 
 hard to fill. So many grave-stones are scattered through 
 these thirty-three years of our organic life that we cannot 
 pause to read each inscription. Their character, their coun- 
 sel and their service have done so much to enable us to 
 reach our present grandeur, that w T hile we cherish their 
 memories, let us strive to emulate their virtues, and as the 
 years roll on the names emblazoned on the rolls of our 
 honorable dead shall never be forgotten. 
 
 To every class of our society, with its component 
 elements of youth, manhood and age, representing its 
 enterprise, vigor and wisdom — its seed time, harvest, and 
 calm repose — the event of to-day holds its own peculiar 
 significance. 
 
28 
 
 PRESIDENT' S ADDRESS. 
 
 To our old men who have borne the burden of the 
 battle, this grand hall is an ideal realized, a dream 
 embodied, a hope accomplished. 
 
 To our men of ripe years and matured vigor, it affords 
 a field for the conduct and management of this great 
 commonwealth, for the wise direction of its course, for 
 the preservation of its traditions, and its character, and 
 for the advancement of its power and influence. 
 
 To our young men what a noble heritage it is ! The 
 Exchange offers to them her rich rewards ; golden fruits 
 for industry, noble character for self restraint, honorable 
 position for integrity, and the honor and influence which 
 these gifts command. 
 
 And to all — age, manhood and youth — -she intrusts her 
 past, her present and her future. 
 
 Selections, Produce Exchange March, Cappa. 
 
 In presenting the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, the 
 President said : 
 
 The eloquence and genius of the orator of the day are 
 so well known to all of us, and the selection is so felicitous, 
 that any formal introduction seems to be entirely unneces- 
 sary. I have the honor to introduce to you the Hon. 
 Chauncey M. Depew. 
 
Oration. 
 
 TV/TR. PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE 
 IVl EXCHANGE : Preliminary to the more formal 
 address, I think it incumbent upon me to extend to you 
 two congratulations. The one is that on the occasion of 
 the opening of this Exchange, with all that it signifies, in 
 this commercial metropolis of the new world, the chairman 
 of the committee under whose genius it was constructed 
 is also the Mayor of the city. The second congratulation 
 is suggested by the address of your president, that this 
 is probably the last time under your rules of arbitration 
 that you will ever, in a business way, have occasion to call 
 upon the profession to which I belong. 
 
 The opening of this Exchange marks an important era 
 in our national development. The wildest anticipation of 
 the preceding generation would not have hazarded the 
 prediction, that in thirty years the merchants of this city 
 engaged only in the handling of domestic food products 
 would have required and possessed the resources to build 
 a palace of commerce, costing three millions of dollars ! 
 The modest rented room which met all your wants in i860, 
 expanding into this superb structure in 1884, illustrates 
 the agricultural and commercial progress of this country 
 in the last quarter of a century. The startling splendor of 
 the facts reduces to ordinary experience the wildest imag- 
 inings of the Arabian Nights. This Exchange is an 
 example of how the things most dreaded by our fathers are 
 welcomed and utilized for the most beneficient purposes 
 in our-day. The one nightmare, disturbing the dreams of 
 the past, was the dread of centralization. From some 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
 OR A TION. 
 
 relic of those times still lingering among us, we hear an 
 occasional echo of the old universal cry. But out of the 
 civil war the republic came with more power in the gen- 
 eral government than the Federalist ever demanded, and 
 upon the grave of States rights has grown up an intense 
 and abosorbing sentiment of nationality. This tendency 
 is seen in the older countries, in the unity of Germany 
 and Italy, and of people of a common race everywhere. The 
 same principles prevail in trade, but instead of the evils 
 anticipated it has made possible the wonderful results 
 which we here in part celebrate ; it has covered the land 
 with a network of railways which carry the settler to the 
 virgin fields, and distribute the world over the products 
 of her industry. It has built the steamship and telegraph. 
 It proves the mortality of man, that he always controls 
 the mighty forces which he conjures ; he is never their 
 victim, but always their master, and his Frankensteins are 
 the useful servants of his will. Within the memory of 
 most of you it was possible for a single man to grasp all 
 the agencies necessary for business success and fight his 
 way alone with limited resources. But now, that steam 
 applied to transportation by land and sea comparatively 
 eliminates time and distance between the places of supply 
 and demand, now that the conditions of all the markets 
 must be known in every market during all the hours of 
 'Change, now that the merchant must know the prospects 
 of the coming crops, the supply on hand at home and 
 abroad, the price of money in America and Europe, the 
 fluctuating freight rates in times of railroad and steam- 
 boat disturbance — except for exchanges like this all busi- 
 ness would be concentrated in the hands of a few men 
 with enormous capital. But it is here combinations like 
 this come in to avert the dangers and receive the benefits 
 
OR A T10N. 
 
 31 
 
 of these tremendous conditions of modern trade. Your 
 association reaches out and gathers the information ; it 
 places in the hands of its members alike all the factors 
 of the business problem, and then it is not so much the 
 magnitude of the capital as the skill in solution which 
 determines success ; then every one, with an equal chance 
 according to his means and ability, wins a living, a com- 
 petency or a fortune. 
 
 This commerce becomes in our civilization the strong- 
 est force for the conservation of law, order and property. 
 There is nothing new under the sun, and our freshly im- 
 ported socialists and communists in their wild ravings 
 present the passionate appeals of the oppressed and in- 
 jured of other days, without knowing their history or 
 possessing their justification. Most of the great landed 
 estates in Europe were acquired by the ancestors of the 
 present owners by conquest, marked with all the horrors 
 of arson, slaughter and slavery. The natural revulsion of 
 the Saxon farmer, tilling his own farm, for the Norman 
 master, with the iron collar of his servitude about his neck, 
 was to the destruction of everything that represented the 
 dominant class. But with the absolute equality of all 
 men before the law, with the prohibition of primogeni- 
 ture and entail and the tying up of vast estates for long 
 terms of years, with all the avenues of thrift and honor 
 open and unobstructed, the reasons for the revolt have 
 passed away. 
 
 Two hundred years ago one-fourth of the population of 
 Scotland was begging from door to door because there 
 were no diversities of labor and therefore no employment. 
 The great industrial trouble to-day in Ireland is the policy 
 which has kept her purely agricultural and deprived her 
 of manufactures and trade. Commerce enforces the law, 
 
32 
 
 OR A TIOX. 
 
 and the lesson that the accumulations which make pos- 
 sible great enterprises prosper manufactures ; the open- 
 ing and working of mines, the cheap and rapid handling 
 of all the products of the earth, the forge and the loom, 
 are necessary if great populations are to be maintained, 
 made happy and enriched by employment and opportun- 
 ity. The rich man who has no sympathy with the poor 
 insults his own beginnings or the father or grandfather 
 whose hard work made him independent. The poor man 
 who would level all property rights stands right across the 
 way of the rise and future of his children. The fortunes 
 and misfortunes of business where the State grants equal 
 conditions to all proves that, while no man will willingly 
 give his work and brains that others may live at his ex- 
 pense, if what he honestly wins is his own, then the uni- 
 versal incentive to fortune for a competency, for the home, 
 for the provision for the family and the helpless and the 
 beloved, produces a marvellous development of material 
 resources, and the frequent and remarkable examples of 
 individual prosperity which are the pride and glory of our 
 time. 
 
 Commerce demands for its operations first of all secu- 
 rity. No pirates by sea or robbers by land may prey 
 upon it, and neutral States and warring territories must 
 respect it, and insurance protect it from loss by the ele- 
 ments. And so we have that confidence which begets 
 credit, the handmaid of enterprise, courage and brains. 
 With credit, men of capacity outstrip the slow and cautious 
 movements of capital, and in the utilization and encourage- 
 ment of invention and discovery, agriculture, manufacture 
 and the trades of every kind receive new development 
 and impetus. 
 
OR A TION. 
 
 53 
 
 The other requisites are freedom of labor and adequate 
 and reasonable transportation. These principles have made 
 in all ages commercial centres the nurseries and asylums 
 of liberty and civilization. The Phoenician traders — the 
 forefathers of modern merchants — built the splendid cities 
 of Tyre and Sidon and of Carthage, which were the homes 
 of the arts and the barriers to despotism. The supremacy 
 of Greek letters and literature and liberty were due to 
 the commercial instincts of that race, while the warlike 
 Roman, conquering and destroying one after another all 
 the ancient marts of trade, reduced the peoples every- 
 where to barbarism and to poverty, and the barbarian in 
 his despair sprang at the throat of his oppressor and 
 strangled him. 
 
 No picture of human misery equals that presented in 
 the middle ages, when the robber barons plundered and 
 outraged all without their castle wall. The world, sunk in 
 misery, was sinking into savagery, but the merchants in 
 the Hanseatic League and the cities of Holland preserved 
 freedom, saved learning, rescued civilization and kept re- 
 ligion alive. When the cities of the League, after five 
 hundred years of successful struggle against all the rolling 
 waves of ignorance, of despotism and bigotry, surrendered 
 their autonomy to Bismarck's idea and the German Em- 
 pire, it was the last and the most fitting concession to the 
 triumph of law and the security of commercial rights in 
 modern government, and a declaration that commerce was 
 free all over the civilized world. It was a commercial 
 company which conquered India, and added 300,000,000 
 subjects to the British Crown ; it is a commercial enter- 
 prise, and that alone, which supports Stanley on the 
 Congo, which will rescue Gordon at Khartoum, which 
 keeps adventurous explorers all over Africa, and will bring 
 
34 
 
 OR A TION. 
 
 the dark continent and its people within the lines of civ- 
 ilization and of Christianity. 
 
 Having secured all the elements necessary to its suc- 
 cessful prosecution trade is no longer monopolized by great 
 companies like the East India, the South Sea and the 
 Hudson Bay. The individual, emancipated and free, as- 
 serts himself in business as he does in the State ; compe- 
 tition stimulates and limits his enterprises. By far the 
 greatest and most important branch of modern commerce 
 is feeding the toiling millions for whom our complex civi- 
 lization has afforded other occupations than tilling the 
 soil. The limitless acres of our broad prairies and of our 
 valleys, brought by rail within easy reach of the seaboard, 
 and by steam in close connection with all the markets of 
 Europe, furnish to us the opportunity of supplying food 
 for the world and draining its wealth into our industries 
 and our treasuries. Have we the statesmanship, have we 
 the patriotism, have we the business ability to profit by 
 the situation? A few figures will illustrate by what rapid 
 steps we have reached this power for enormous production. 
 In 1850 there were 1,500,000 farms in the United States, 
 in 1880 there were 4,000,000. In 1850 we raised 592,000,- 
 OOO bushels of corn, in 1880 we raised 1,800,000,000. In 
 1850 we raised 100,000,000 bushels of wheat, in 1880 we 
 raised 460,000,000. In 1873 the balance of trade turned 
 in our favor by the export of these products, and con- 
 tinued and increased in volume year after year, until at 
 its height in 1 881, the cereals of our country had re- 
 paired all the losses of our greatest national panic. Ameri- 
 can competition drove the British farmer into bankruptcy 
 and the Continental one to despair. Two thousand men 
 own the soil of Great Britain, and the Continental farmer 
 pays from $5 to $10 per acre a year rent. Onerous taxes 
 
OR A TION. 
 
 35 
 
 to support standing armies and vast military establishments 
 bear with crushing severity upon German, French and 
 Russian agriculturists. One tenth of the best labor of the 
 land is idle in the army. The average assessment to sup- 
 port these great organizations is $4 per head of the popu- 
 lation, while in our great West the annual rent of an 
 English farm buys a homestead in fee, taxes are nominal 
 and transportation the cheapest in the world. Unless 
 England breaks up her vast landed estates into smaller 
 holdings, unless the nations of the Continent disband their 
 armies, the markets of Europe must be ours, and can only 
 be lost by our own folly. The exhaustlessly fertile lands 
 along the Nile and in the older granaries of the ancient 
 world possess all their pristine productiveness; bad govern- 
 ment alone has for ages cursed them with desolation. But 
 with England, powerful everywhere in the East, and look- 
 ing for cheap food for her operatives, that by cheaper 
 labor she may undersell with her manufactures all her 
 competitors, these Oriental fields, with a little encourage- 
 ment, might blossom and bear as of old. We, and we 
 alone, can control this mighty spirit, and already it shows 
 dangerous signs of life. In the time of Pliny Egypt ruined 
 the Italian farmers, and in the time of Pompey Italy was 
 given over to vast grazing farms, and her agriculturists 
 driven to cities or to the legions, because Egyptian wheat 
 could be bought in Rome for seven cents a bushel which 
 cost the Italian farmer a dollar a bushel to raise. Two 
 years ago the speculators of Chicago, acting upon a theory 
 which might have been well enough if food products could 
 have been purchased by Europe only from America by 
 gigantic corners and other artificial processes, drove the 
 price of wheat up to fabulous figures. The effect was 
 magical and aroused to efforts to share in this wonderful 
 
36 
 
 OR A TJON. 
 
 wealth of unusual harvests peoples who had slumbered for 
 centuries. Russian railways penetrated the rich mould 
 along the Black Sea, and elevators were built at Odessa. 
 English capitalists furnished supplies and implements to 
 the patient Hindoos, and the British Government ran rail- 
 ways through the fields of India, the Greek islands awoke 
 to a new life, and the banks of the Nile once more re- 
 sponded to intelligent culture, and now we are exporting 
 gold instead of wheat, and accumulating debts instead of 
 dollars. In the wheat pit at Chicago in a single year was 
 buried more of the future prosperity of this republic than 
 the sum of all the traffic which flows through that great 
 city in a decade. 
 
 It is in this field of activity where the New York Pro- 
 duce Exchange can fulfill the most patriotic and powerful 
 mission. It handles seventy-five per cent of the exports 
 of this country ; its legitimate transactions reach the enor- 
 mous money value of $10,000,000 per day. It is organized 
 to deal in the food products of the country, not to gamble 
 in them. In noble and memorable words its constitution 
 recites that " the purpose of this Exchange shall be to 
 inculcate just and equitable principles of trade." Under 
 this banner the interchanging of the surplus of harvests 
 and manufactures of temperate and tropical climes and 
 divers industries will bless and enrich our land. You are 
 a great commercial congress, and can represent the opinions 
 and interests of the lonely homesteader following the fur- 
 row across the prairies of Dakota, of the giant farmer 
 plowing with steam power the fields of Minnesota, of the 
 toiling millions dependent upon active capital and pros- 
 perous trade in all the great cities and manufacturing 
 towns. To one and all of them the honest handling of 
 the harvests and the control of the markets of Europe is 
 
OR A TION. 
 
 37 
 
 a question of life and death. Greed which penal laws can- 
 not reach or patriotism curb can be defeated by education 
 and intelligence. Let some of the millions now squan- 
 dered by the Government in vain attempts to turn turtle 
 ponds into inland seas and trout steams into navigable 
 rivers to perpetuate some local and worthless statesman, 
 be wisely spent in organizing a bureau of information so 
 vast and yet so accurate that misrepresentation as to the 
 daily prospects of the crops at home and abroad, as to 
 the supply on hand in domestic and foreign markets, as 
 to the prices in the world's marts and the conditions of 
 transportation, will be impossible, and make all these fac- 
 tors at all times accessible to every citizen. Then audacity 
 cannot play upon credulity and fiction upon ignorance, 
 and a ring of speculators regulate at will the ebb and flow 
 of our national life. Let the morning and evening trains, 
 as they rush across the farms and along the highways, 
 carry the signals of the Weather Bureau, that the advan- 
 tages of the prophecy may be utilized by every husband- 
 man. 
 
 Concentrate upon the national capital your wisdom and 
 experience to divert the evils of a debased currency, to 
 be followed by ruined credits. A Chinese wall of silver 
 dollars of fluctuating and depreciating value artificially 
 built about our business must result in untold calamities 
 and an alarming drain of gold. 
 
 The necessities of their position has intensified the 
 natural hostility of our foreign competitors. Every wit 
 invented and perfected in centuries of fiercest rivalry 
 among commercial peoples is used to defame our food 
 products. Our reputation for sharpness and smartness is 
 enormously enhanced for the purpose of supporting whole- 
 sale charges that disease and adulteration are with us 
 
38 
 
 OR A TION. 
 
 common and applauded forms of fraud. The German 
 Chancellor and the British Parliament have given their 
 great authority to assist in these assaults upon our credit 
 and good name. 
 
 This question has become one of the greatest national 
 and international importance. The truth is now so rapidly 
 and universally diffused that neither the falsehoods of 
 traders nor the orders of autocrats can long sustain mis- 
 representation if there is no basis for them. The New 
 York Produce Exchange has heretofore done great service 
 in this good work. But with the new strength aud prestige 
 which is on this day so conspicuously presented, acting 
 both as a representative and custodian of our national honor 
 and prosperity, formulating rules, conducting investigations 
 and enforcing justice with the utmost vigor and impar- 
 tiality, and understandingly and fearlessly vindicating those 
 who are unjustly attacked, and exposing those who are 
 guilty, it must eradicate every justification for slander and 
 establish beyond a possibility of dispute the purity of the 
 products we export, the integrity of the men who raise 
 and manufacture, and of the American merchants who deal 
 in them. 
 
 The statue of Thos. H. Benton at St. Louis, with out- 
 stretched arms pointing to the West, holds a scroll bear- 
 ing the legend : " Behold the East!" Never since the three 
 wise men followed the star to the manger at Bethlehem 
 has there been such resurrection power in that eastward 
 current as now. It flows with ever-increasing volume 
 through the golden gates of the Pacific, gathering in 
 strength and beneficence as it rolls across the continent • 
 this magnificent home of commerce marks its growth, and 
 this city — the metropolis of the New World — is its crea- 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 39 
 
 tion. The forces which have made can unmake, and the 
 outcome is almost wholly in your own hands. 
 
 Patriotic, cosmopolitan, broad, healthy and vigorous as 
 the merchants of New York have ever been they will 
 continue to be in a nobler and larger sense under this 
 dome, and the architects of the past will be the success- 
 ful builders of the future. 
 
 Selections, National Airs, Band. 
 
 The pleasing duty now devolved on the President of 
 presenting the Hon. Algernon S. Sullivan, whose eloquent 
 and poetic address at the laying of the corner stone, was 
 still fresh in the memory of many of those present. 
 
 The PRESIDENT. We have here a gentleman who, 
 two years ago, in a very unexpected manner was called 
 upon and wove for us a garland of June roses with which 
 to decorate the corner-stone. We have asked him to-day 
 to weave for us the laurel wreath of success. I have the 
 honor to introduce the Hon. A. S. Sullivan. 
 
 INE in architecture and colossal in proportions — 
 
 -L sprung from massive corner-stones — ribbed with iron 
 and walled with bricks burned in the hottest kilns — open- 
 ing windows to every sky, and, like a beetling cliff com- 
 manding the eye of the homebound mariner. Oh ! Tower- 
 crowned Trade-Hall ! Thou standest imperial and com- 
 plete. Look from thy parapets down the bay where three 
 arms of the ocean meet, and listen to the swash of their 
 flood-tides. They come in with the swelling pomp of all 
 
 Address. 
 
40 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 their waters and toss their waves as if with glee for the 
 great argosies which thou wilt entrust to them to-mor- 
 row. 
 
 Look again, but this time, westward, across a fruitful 
 continent. The leaves fresh in Spring-life and all the 
 blades bow their heads toward the East in anticipation of 
 their Harvest-Home next Autumn here beneath this gor- 
 geous sky-light. 
 
 For good or for ill, thou art ; a temple or a Stygian 
 cave. Art thou a temple where thoughts shall grow 
 grand ? What altar hast thou set up and with what light 
 wilt thou kindle its fires? Worship thou wilt have ; shall 
 it exalt the nature or leave it " subdued to what it works 
 in, like the dyer's hand?" What shall be thy matin songs 
 and thy vespers, what? 
 
 Loves thou wilt have, hopes thou wilt have, fears, plans, 
 successes, failures ; successes and failures not to end within 
 thine own confines, but which will send their throbs of joy 
 or sorrow as wide as humanity. 
 
 Guests thou must have, guests born of the day or guests 
 born of night. It is the law universal, and this very May- 
 day thou must choose of what thou wilt be the taber- 
 nacle. No man liveth for himself, and no institution exists 
 for itself alone. 
 
 May I', closing these dedicatory ceremonies, be thy 
 herald, and summon some of the guests whom thou wouldst 
 bid to thy birth-feast, and constrain to stay with thy sons 
 to the end? 
 
 Approach, then, first ye who come through the double- 
 leaved doors of memory. Welcome ! Shades of dear com- 
 panions; with whom these merchants had sweet fellow- 
 ship in the brave days of the Old Exchange. Your work- 
 well done, but strong no longer to bear the burden and 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 41 
 
 heat of the day, you passed over the silent river. Some 
 in youth, some in middle life, some struggling until life's 
 Winter frosted your locks and life's cares furrowed your 
 cheeks, but with truth and honor as the staff of your right 
 hand and of your left, one evening you said " Good night," 
 and never came again to say " Good morning." 
 
 Hail ! old comrades, in these moistened eyes, perceive 
 thy welcome and that each tear is bright with a love-lit 
 smile. Revisit this scene from year to year as ye do this 
 day, that thy names may be a bond upon thy successors 
 for all that makes a perfect manhood. We have not for- 
 gotten thy widows nor thy orphaned children. 
 
 And next, I summon a goodly company. Spirit of 
 truth, that bond without which society itself cannot exist, 
 come thou with all thy train of open and ingenuous life, 
 with courage and enterprise and faith in mankind and love 
 of manly methods, and contempt for meanness, and desire 
 for a well-rounded, well-balanced, beautiful life, come, with 
 reverence for law, not as a hated command but as being 
 true liberty, law as having its home in the bosom of God 
 and whose voice is the harmony of the world. 
 
 And thou, spirit of charity, come ; with a mind that 
 is always a cheerful thanksgiving and not a nest of grudges 
 against fortune, with thy forbearance with infirmities, with 
 kind construction and lenient judgment, with helpfulness 
 in the day of difficulty, a hand to raise the fallen and to 
 strengthen the weak, with every gentleness of life and every 
 grace of manner, with feeling to judge oneself with severity 
 and all others with allowance. 
 
 And come, too, spirit of moderation and sobriety, pru- 
 dence of living and love of simplicity, hatred of idle show 
 and of all deceit ; come love of knowledge and liberality 
 to all the arts and sciences ; come genius of hospitality, 
 
42 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 international welcome and fraternity with the nations ; 
 come the sentiment that opportunity begets obligation ; 
 come contempt for Mammon ; come spirit that subdues 
 the soul to an ever-present sense of responsibility to the 
 sovereignty of conscience and that relates man to Him 
 that sitteth upon the throne of eternity. And oh ! in thy 
 loveliest form, come gentle spirit, teaching that the count- 
 ing room and the Exchange, after all, are secondary in 
 value to the hearthstone and the rooftree, the sweet, sweet 
 home that enshrines child and wife and the mother quite 
 fair enough to love and almost divine enough to worship. 
 
 To you, ye bright host thus summoned, in the high 
 hour of this your visitation, I consecrate this building. 
 The rustling of your wings and the trailing of your gar- 
 ments lift our souls to the sphere of your upper dwelling- 
 places. 
 
 Allusion has been made to the circumstances under which 
 the corner stone of this temple was laid. Have you ever 
 thought that there were some who were present at the 
 laying of that corner stone full of pride and hope, who 
 are not here to-day to witness the placing of the final 
 crown, which was prefigured by that graceful and beauti- 
 ful gift from your wives, and sisters, and sweet-hearts, 
 with which the corner stone was laid? They are gone, 
 and yet the thing and the lesson to be remembered, im- 
 pressed as it has been by nearly every speaker to-day, is 
 that there is to be another life, an Exchange within the 
 Temple itself, and that never is to die. Let us remem- 
 ber that the old are the young, and the absent are the 
 present, and that it is in every respect an Exchange 
 founded on that true corner stone that abideth for ever. 
 
 Band, Rhapsodies, LlSZT. 
 
Addresses from Sister Exchanges. 
 
 EATED on the platform, with delegates 
 from interior and seaboard centers of 
 commerce, were representatives of the 
 primary points of trade in the far West. 
 
 The following addresses, conveying ex- 
 pressions of friendship and good wishes 
 for the future business career of the New York Produce 
 Exchange, coming as words of kindly greeting from kin- 
 dred commercial associations, possess a value and interest 
 peculiarly their own. 
 
 The President : You share so much with me the 
 interest we take in everything we receive from our sister 
 Exchange at Chicago, that I am sure you will be grati- 
 fied to hear words of greeting from the representative 
 of that Exchange. I have the honor to introduce Mr. 
 Blake. 
 
 43 
 
Mr. Blake, Chicago Board of Trade. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen of the New 
 York Produce Exchange, what shall one say, 
 — what can one say who comes after the king, aye, after 
 two kings. I feel, sir and gentlemen standing before you 
 as the representative of Chicago, after the short but mer- 
 ciless flagellation she has received, — guilty, — and ready to 
 take my sentence. Mr. President, at the same time I 
 thank you for this invitation. I thank you for the priv- 
 ilege of standing on this platform in this presence to 
 represent Chicago. 
 
 This is not a time, this is not the place, this is not 
 the presence to speak of her. In the not far distant fu- 
 ture we expect to throw our own doors wide open and 
 invite you, sir, and others here to come, and unite with 
 us in dedicating our temple, — not as beautiful as this, — 
 not as large as this, but we will make it large enough to 
 give you a hearty welcome, "gamblers" though we are. 
 
 Gentlemen, your president said to you that this was 
 your permanent home, and as I thought of it — pardon the 
 allusion — I thought of those words that came to the lips 
 of the Ancient Jews when they stood in their Temple on 
 Mount Zion, " Beautiful for situation," and when you, 
 gentlemen, meet in this room to transact your business, 
 lift once in a while your hearts and eyes and say "Beau- 
 tiful for situation." 
 
 Mr. President, I want to say one word here, — I do n't 
 know but I may be duplicating something that has been 
 said before, because I was so far behind that I could not 
 hear, but if I can I will excuse the gentleman for steal- 
 ing my thunder, — agriculture has never been properly 
 recognized by this government. 
 
 44 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 45 
 
 I hope to live to see the day when our government 
 will have an agricultural secretary, who will be a part and 
 one of the cabinet instead of a commissioner of agricul- 
 ture. The interests of agriculture have never been properly 
 recognized and respected in this country. Go back as far 
 as you please in history, it has always been a prime fac- 
 tor. When the land of promise was pictured nothing 
 was said about its rivers and its harbors for commerce, 
 but as a land flowing with milk and honey — a land of cattle 
 and fields. Our government, sir, is a republic, but there 
 is a monarch in it too, and sitting on her green throne 
 is Agriculture, with her trident of corn, cotton and cattle. 
 Old Neptune sat as king of the sea. We have a queen 
 of Agriculture, which is the secret of the greatness of 
 any nation. That is what led England to long for Egypt 
 and New Zealand and Australia and India. 
 
 Sir, I thank you for this privilege, and I tender you 
 on the part of Chicago, our deepest, warmest, heartiest 
 congratulations. We are but a little one — we are a young 
 sister ; but we reach out for you with our arms of iron 
 and sinews of steel — our words coming to you over ths 
 wire, and when we gamble you help us. If we lose 
 money you help pay the debt. When we make money 
 you put part of it in your pockets. We are bound to- 
 gether in the closest ties, and I assure you, gentlemen, 
 that there is no place on the face of the earth where 
 there are more honorable men, or men of their word — 
 no spot where more such men can be found than on this 
 floor and on the floor of the Chicago Exchange. Trans- 
 actions amounting to millions of dollars take place on 
 the beckoning of the finger. 
 
 If you buy a few hundred dollars' worth of real estate 
 you want a lawyer to search the records and examine the 
 
46 
 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 title and Mr. Depew to see if it is all right, but when 
 a million bushels of wheat are sold it is, " I will take 
 it," and that is the end of it. So I repudiate the idea, 
 we are not gamblers, — no, never. These very Exchanges, 
 by the circulation of intelligence, by gathering statistics, 
 and standing between the consumer and producer, do 
 what neither the law, nor the clergy, nor anyone else 
 can. 
 
 The PRESIDENT: We have a gentleman here who 
 comes from where the climate is colder than ours, but I 
 believe the heart is as warm, or warmer. 
 
 I have the honor to introduce the Hon. Thos. White, 
 M. P., representing the Montreal Board of Trade. 
 
 Hon. Thos. White, Montreal Board of Trade. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen of the New 
 York Produce Exchange. I bring you by the 
 consent of my colleagues, from the Montreal Board of 
 Trade, their hearty greeting and congratulations upon 
 the event of this day. We in Canada, gentlemen, are 
 endeavoring to follow, at a distance it is true, — but to 
 follow, nevertheless, in that spirit of progress and enter- 
 prise which is so marked a characteristic of this Great Re- 
 public. We are now entering upon, — we have written the 
 preface and are commencing the first chapters of that story 
 of wonderful and marvelous Western development which 
 has made New York what it is, and which has given you, in 
 the commerce it has brought you, this complete exemplifica- 
 tion of your progress, the magnificent building in which you 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 47 
 
 are to-day. We are, gentlemen, in Canada doing what I 
 volunteer to say no people in the world as a Government 
 have done before us. We have undertaken responsibilities 
 — a small community of four millions of people — we have 
 undertaken responsibilities unprecedented in the history of 
 nations if the conditions are taken into account. We have 
 already the best system of inland navigation on the face 
 of the globe, and I hope soon that the people of Canada, 
 emulating in this as in other respects your spirit of en- 
 terprise, will give to commerce the gift of free canals 
 from the upper lakes down to the St. Lawrence. 
 
 We have a great interest, and we have hoped to follow 
 —at something of a distance, it is too true — but to follow, 
 nevertheless, the example you have set us in this respect, 
 and although a young community as we are, and although 
 there are those among us who fear that we are going too 
 rapidly— that we are accumulating a debt more than we 
 can bear, yet I venture to think that with the example 
 which the U. S. have shown us, with the example which 
 you merchants of New York have shown us, that we may 
 look forward in the early future to having a fair share, 
 at any rate, of that great Western commerce which is 
 doing so much for the Atlantic ports of this country,, 
 
 We live under two different forms of government. We 
 recognize allegiance to two different powers. You, with a 
 source of power, the people ; we, with a nominal source 
 of power, the Crown — but with an actual power in the 
 people as much as you have, are trying to work out in 
 our own way that great problem of human life which is 
 set to us on this continent, and I can assure you that on 
 occasions such as this you make for us an incentive to 
 progress which we cannot overlook or underestimate. 
 
 Again, gentlemen, I bring you the congratulations of 
 
4 3 
 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 the Montreal Board of Trade, and if you have all the 
 prosperity, individually and collectively, in this new build- 
 ing which they wish for you, then indeed will you, in- 
 dividually and collectively, be eminently prosperous. 
 
 The PRESIDENT : Not far from where we stand there 
 is a barometer by which we are very apt to regulate every- 
 thing about us. I am sure that we all take an interest 
 in this barometrical fluctuation, and it is with great pleas- 
 ure that I invite the President of the New York Stock 
 Exchange to give us his greeting. 
 
 Mr. A. T. Hatch, New York Stock Exchange. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen, I should count 
 it no small honor at any time and anywhere to 
 represent the New York Stock Exchange before any other 
 body of business men. I deem myself particularly fortu- 
 nate that it has fallen to my lot to represent it to the men 
 of the New York Produce Exchange on an occasion so 
 significant and one likely to be so memorable as this. I 
 am aware, Mr. President, as- you doubtless are, that there 
 are many unsophisticated and innocent, and well-meaning 
 good people who derive their knowledge purely from the 
 romancing brains of newspaper reporters, who some- 
 times look upon the New York Produce Exchange and 
 the New York Stock Exchange, as only about a little 
 more magnificent and a little more legalized gambling- 
 houses than some up-town ; but these people do n't know, 
 sir, as you and I know, that within a radius of a mile 
 around this building and around that other building in 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 49 
 
 Broad Street, there is more personal honor in the keeping 
 of contracts and engagements involving losses and profits 
 of thousands, without regard to legal liability or compul- 
 sion — that there is more generous dealing with each other 
 in times of misfortune, and more genuine heartfelt bene- 
 ficence, than can be found in any other equal territory on 
 the face of the earth. 
 
 Gentlemen, we stand together at the gateway of the 
 greatest domain, undivided, continuous and connected, 
 with which any people have ever been endowed — that 
 gateway through which its boundless and ever increasing 
 resources flow to meet the waiting ships of all nations. 
 Without the New York Produce Exchange, without the 
 means of transportation, there could be no more connec- 
 tion, and no more sympathy between a bushel of wheat 
 raised on the plains of Dakota and a hungry stomach in 
 Europe, than there could between the two most distant 
 planets in the universe. It is yours to organize and set 
 up and regulate that powerful machinery of commerce 
 which makes it possible for people to trade with each 
 other. It is ours to bring together capital, skill and 
 energy, which stretches out over this continent those 
 means of transportation which make it possible for you 
 to put into a starving European's mouth the grain raised 
 on our most distant plains. Now, whether we will or not, 
 whatever may be our personal ambition or striving for 
 money in the contest of the market, whatever may be the 
 height or the lowness of our personal aims — we are bound 
 to be used as instruments in the hands of that Providence 
 who has created all these things and has made them pos- 
 sible, and we shall be the willing or unwilling instruments, 
 as we shall choose, and it shall be for each one of us in- 
 dividually to say whether, as these great and benign plans 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 which Providence has set in motion for the good of man- 
 kind — whether we shall ride in the chariot or be ground 
 under the wheel, because we are going to be used in these 
 plans in the hands of God for their accomplishment 
 whether we will or not, so it will be well for us if, recog- 
 nizing this, we shall lift our minds and hearts above the 
 petty affairs of personal aggrandisement, above the petty- 
 strife for a little more or a little less money, above the 
 mere struggle for precedence or victory by " bull " or 
 "bear," and if we show that our hearts, as we must whether 
 we will or not by our acts, yield a willing and hearty co- 
 operation to the plans of Him who has filled our halls 
 with riches and made our soil pregnant with the power 
 to produce, we shall do it for the progress of civilization 
 in the world, and for the elevation and benefit of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Gentlemen, I tender to you the hearty congratulations 
 of the New York Stock Exchange on that which you here 
 commenced and consummated. I am glad that it has 
 been my privilege to extend to you this hand of welcome, 
 this hand of recognition from them, and I am glad to 
 believe in that kind attention which you have given me. 
 I have a right to recognize your own hearty and sincere 
 and fraternal greeting towards the members of that insti- 
 tution which I am proud to represent. 
 
 The President: I have often thought if I were not 
 a New Yorker I should like to have been a Philadel- 
 phian. It is strange that the City of Brotherly Love 
 should send us as a representative a military man. I have 
 the honor to introduce Major Hancock, of the Commer- 
 cial Exchange, Philadelphia. 
 
Major E. A. Hancock, Commercial Exchange, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen— This is a mem- 
 orable day to the business community of the city 
 of New York. You have erected, and this day dedicated 
 to commerce, one of the grandest buildings on this con- 
 tinent. New York, on account of geographical and other 
 causes, is the centre of commerce in this country. She 
 has been this for many years past, and I doubt not she 
 will continue to be for many years to come, if not for 
 all time, and while you are justly proud of your city and 
 the success of your commerce, we as Philadelphians de- 
 sire to rejoice with you to-day in this evidence of your 
 prosperity, for whatever affects the city of New York, 
 directly affects the whole country. But, while you are in 
 the midst of your rejoicings, I desire to beg of you that 
 you remember that about ninety miles away you have a 
 sister city, which, while she does not lead in commerce, is 
 second to none in her manufacturing wealth. 
 
 One industry depends upon another, to an extent, and 
 together they must stand or fall. 
 
 Philadelphia and the State in which she is located are 
 united by many interests; together they form a strong 
 combination of wealth, and the result of this combination 
 — the result rising from this combination — is extending 
 to all parts of this and foreign countries. 
 
 The trip-hammer and the anvil are kept in active op- 
 eration by the coal from her mines, while the bright fires 
 from our furnaces are the beacon of the laboring classes, 
 thus enabling every man, rich or poor, to secure a home 
 and enjoy it, such as few communities provide for their 
 laborers. Now, gentlemen, I have been told that long 
 
 5i 
 
52 
 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 speeches are not in order, therefore, I will try your pa- 
 tience but one moment more ; you neither want to 
 hear long speeches, nor do I want to deliver one, but 
 I want to say to you that we should unite with each 
 other and let the music of the trip-hammer and the 
 anvil be sounded and be kept in active operation. 
 
 I thank you on behalf of the city of Philadelphia and 
 the delegation which I represent for the kindness you 
 have extended me and will retire. 
 
 The President: Our eyes are turned to the North- 
 west, as we are interested in the growth of the coun- 
 try in that direction, and I have the honor to introduce 
 Mr. Colby, of the Milwaukee Board of Trade. 
 
 Mr. Colby, Milwaukee Board of Trade. 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen— After those 
 beautiful and brilliant addresses it is folly for me 
 to undertake to make any speech, but inasmuch as this 
 delegation has come 1,100 miles to be present here to- 
 day, I must at least express to you the pleasure and 
 gratification which we feel in being present with you, in 
 participating with you in the opening of your beautiful 
 building. It is a pleasure also to make acknowledgment 
 for the graceful courtesies and hearty reception we have 
 received. Your committee made no mistake when they 
 assumed that the opening of this beautiful edifice is a 
 matter of great interest to every commercial centre in the 
 land, for we must all admit that New York city is the 
 great trade centre of our nation. If you would know the 
 state of any industry in the United States you can find 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 53 
 
 its exact state of health by feeling the pulse here. The 
 life throbbings of our commercial activity are here, and 
 when prosperity comes to New York city every enter- 
 prise is stimulated from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
 Ocean ; but when disaster befalls you, a blow is struck 
 at the very life and heart of the nation. Every business 
 man in our land feels delight to-day and always, when he 
 hears of any movement in this city which tends to add 
 to your commercial facilities or enables you to handle 
 more cheaply and better the enormously increasing traffic 
 which is being poured in upon you. The strain upon 
 you has hardly commenced ; the volume of traffic is roll- 
 ing up in tremendous proportions. Few appreciate the 
 fact that the wheels of progress are rolling rapidly along 
 in the West. 
 
 You open wide your portals to everyone, — they come 
 here from all parts of the globe and pass through your 
 city before you know it, but they are taking up miles of 
 unoccupied land in the West and tilling the soil. They 
 can pour in still more, they can continue to do this for a 
 hundred years to come and still there is room. They say 
 all the good land is gone ; many of the lands which only 
 a few years ago were considered worthless, are now bloom- 
 ing. Take the plains of Montana and the broad prairies 
 of Utah and only a few years ago they brought forth only 
 sage brush, but to-day they are blooming with wealth and 
 pouring their wealth into the Treasury of the nation. We 
 do not see the rapid strides of commerce, and how she is 
 reaching out her sceptre ; well it is for you that you build 
 for her here a palace, and to-day open it with such im- 
 posing ceremonies. 
 
 Mr. President, the producers of the West bring to you 
 over a hundred avenues of steel, their products, and leave 
 
54 
 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 them in your hands to distribute. We reach no further, 
 but your lines reach over into all the earth, and there is 
 no country and no people where your arms do not reach. 
 
 I say to you, gentlemen, that every business man in 
 our broad land is glad to-day over the opening of your 
 beautiful rooms, and I know that I speak the sentiment, 
 not only of this delegation that I represent but of every 
 citizen of Milwaukee and the whole State of Wisconsin, 
 when I say, " may peace be within your walls and pros- 
 perity within your palaces." 
 
 The President : There is a beautiful city on Lake 
 Erie whose marvelous enterprise is stretching out into the 
 West to draw the product of the Southwest in our direc- 
 tion — a city with whom we want to cultivate the closest re- 
 lations. I have the honor to introduce Mr. Walker, of the 
 Toledo Board of Trade. 
 
 Mr. Walker, Toledo Board of Trade. 
 
 Mr. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen of the New 
 York Produce Exchange — I have the honor to 
 present the congratulations of the Toledo Produce Ex- 
 change to the New York Produce Exchange on its acces- 
 sion to this beautiful building. It has been said that the 
 Star of Empire has gone West. I don't believe the Star 
 of Empire in the Grain Trade has gone West entirely — 
 it looks as if it remained here. The West congratulates 
 you sincerely — it is with you all the time, and we feel that 
 we have a proprietary interest here which we hope to 
 continue. You should be to us and the West what the 
 sun is to the world. 
 
 You should light and warm us in the West, and dis- 
 
ADDRESSES. 
 
 55 
 
 tribute that light and heat and money with us that we 
 sometimes need. 
 
 We hope that in the future, as in the past, your light 
 will shine amongst us and that your good works will con- 
 tinue, so that we can continue to operate with you. 
 New York is the gateway for the West, and we hope she 
 will continue so, and that the merchants will in the 
 future, as in the past, hold that same power with the 
 West as they have. We hope they will continue in the 
 honorable career, and we believe they can. 
 
 I thank you on the part of the Toledo Produce Ex- 
 change for the honor conferred, and I hope that in the 
 future, as in the past, we may all get along nicely to- 
 gether. 
 
 THE President: From the other extremity of the 
 Keystone State we have the pleasure of welcoming a 
 representative in Mr. Travo, the President of the Pitts- 
 burg Board of Trade. 
 
 Mr. Travo, Pittsburg Board of Trade. 
 
 R. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen— I do not know 
 
 IVX who gave my humble name to the President, but 
 I certainly feel complimented that after all the fields of 
 human thought and human activities have been gleaned, 
 and all its flowers and fragrance gathered to adorn pre- 
 pared speeches, I should be called upon to add a single 
 word upon this occasion. 
 
 I have the honor to represent a city whose tonnage 
 exceeds the tonnage of any other city in this great 
 Union — a city whose vast manufacturing interests send 
 
56 
 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 up volumes of smoke, that become a pillar of cloud by 
 day and whose furnaces are pillars of fire by night, to 
 lead our people on to prosperity and success along the 
 very lines of human industry and enterprise in which you 
 are engaged, and I am with you in soul and heart in all 
 that has made this magnificent city the metropolis of this 
 great nation. I join with those who have preceded me 
 in congratulating you on this occasion. The old condi- 
 tions have passed away ; they piled stone upon stone 
 then, but modern civilization builds temples dedicated to 
 industry, palaces dedicated to commerce, and to-day New 
 York adds a magnificent temple dedicated and consecrated 
 to commerce and to trade. Thus we go on, marching 
 forward to enjoy the beneficence of the glorious inherit- 
 ance that has been bequeathed to us. And let me add 
 but a single word — there are in all human interests dis- 
 integrating forces and antagonizing forces which tend to 
 divide and scatter, but the commerce which we repre- 
 sent, the trade that you represent, has a tendency to 
 bind all parts of this great nation in a perpetual union, 
 and thus the commerce of our nation, the trade of our 
 people guarantees the future union and prosperity of our 
 country, and I can only add my humble rejoicings with 
 yours to-day that this evidence of our material progress 
 guarantees us a grand and glorious future in years to 
 come. 
 
 The Secretary then read the following congratulatory 
 telegrams and communications: 
 
CO MM UNI CA TIONS. 
 
 57 
 
 Buffalo, May 6, 1884. 
 To President Produce Exchange, N. Y. — Congratu- 
 lations and best wishes of the members of the Merchants' 
 Exchange on inauguration of new edifice. May prosperity 
 attend your future and wise counsels aid your efforts to 
 promote the commercial welfare of your city and the 
 Empire State. 
 
 E. L. HEDSTROM, Pres. 
 William Thurston, Sec'y. 
 
 San Francisco, May 6, 1884. 
 To New York Produce Exchange, N. Y. — The San 
 Francisco Produce Exchange sends heartfelt greeting and 
 congratulations upon the unveiling of the grandest monu- 
 ment to the commercial greatness of our glorious coun- 
 try. The noble example of the East encourages the 
 younger sister in the Far West, and she, too, will ere 
 long mark her progress in everlasting stone and iron. ' 
 
 Ciias. Clayton, Pres. 
 
 F. H. Walker, Sec'y. 
 
 St. Louis, Mo., May 6, 1884. 
 To Produce Exchange — The Merchants' Exchange 
 of St. Louis sends greeting to the New York Produce 
 Exchange and congratulates her on the completion of 
 her magnificent hall. May your occupancy thereof bring 
 renewed prosperity, and may time only serve to strengthen 
 the ties which unite the metropolis of the nation with 
 the centres of commerce throughout the whole country. 
 
 D. R. Francis, Pres. 
 
 Geo. H. Morgan, Sec'y. 
 
58 
 
 COMMUNICA T10NS. 
 
 Brooklyn, May 5, 1884. 
 My Dear Mr. Mayor — I greatly regret that I cannot 
 attend the housewarming of the Produce Exchange either 
 to-day or to-morrow. My time is so full at the moment 
 that I have to deny myself the pleasure, but I send to 
 you and to the Exchange my congratulations and good 
 wishes. Very truly, yours, 
 
 Seth Low. 
 
 Hon. Franklin Edson. 
 
 House of Representatives, U. S. 
 Washington, May 5, 1884. 
 President N. Y. Produce Exchange — Dear Sir: I 
 have omitted writing an excuse for non-attendance at 
 your opening fete, because I had hoped to be present. 
 But the business is such here that I cannot witness the 
 inauguration of your edifice, nor enjoy the pride with 
 which all citizens of New York will view your splendid 
 evidence of prosperity. With regards, etc., 
 
 S. S. COX. 
 
 Senate Chamber. 
 Washington, May 5, 1884. 
 N. Y. Produce Exchange — Gents: I regret that my 
 engagements here will deny me the pleasure of being 
 present at the opening exercises in your new building to- 
 morrow. Thanking you for the courtesy of the invitation, 
 
 I am, very truly, yours, 
 
 E. G. Lapham. 
 
COMMUNICA TIOXS. 
 
 59 
 
 Dallas, Texas, May 6, 1884. 
 To President Produce Exchange, N. Y. — The Mer- 
 chants' Exchange of Dallas sends congratulations on the 
 completion of your Exchange and best wishes. May your 
 produce interest through its medium be materially ad- 
 vanced. C. A. King, Sec'y. 
 
 Liverpool, May 6, 1884. 
 To President Produce Exchange, N. Y. — Regret- 
 ting bodily absence felicitate the mayor, yourself and 
 members. PATTERSON. 
 
 The President : Late yesterday afternoon, was re- 
 ceived a letter from a gentleman than whom no one 
 absent to-day from our celebration is more to be regretted, 
 a gentleman who regrets probably more than any other 
 absentee that he is not here to-day, one who has labored 
 in season and out of season on behalf and in interest of 
 this Exchange. I shall ask you to hear read a short let- 
 ter and shall then offer a resolution which I have here. 
 
 The Secretary read the following letter from Mr. A. E. 
 Or. 
 
 On the cars, en route to Winnipeg, 
 Manitoba, April 30th, 1884. 
 J. H. Herrick Esq., President 
 New York Produce Exchange. 
 
 MY Dear Mr. Herrick: I regret so very much 
 that my engagements in this North-western region 
 will prevent my return to New York in time for the 
 opening ceremonies of our Exchange on Tuesday next. 
 
 I shall be with you, however, in spirit and in sympathy, 
 and if you think our members would wish to hear a few 
 
6o 
 
 COM M UNI C A TIONS. 
 
 words from me on that auspicious occasion, you can have 
 read to them what follows, with assurances of my hearty 
 congratulations and sincere regard. 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 A. E. ORR. 
 
 The President : It has been moved and seconded that 
 the accompanying address be printed at length in the 
 minutes. 
 
 This motion was unanimously adopted. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 61 
 
 A. E. Orr's Address. 
 
 FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK PRO- 
 DUCE EXCHANGE, there are three words in our 
 vocabulary which tell the story of the noble enterprise 
 which finds its culmination in the proceedings of to-day. 
 They are courage, perseverance and faith. 
 They are words that eminently belong to us, because 
 when properly examined and understood, they define the 
 foundations of the commerce of our day (of which you 
 are the representatives), and should therefore be found 
 engraved upon the escutcheon of every American merchant. 
 Your Building Committee adopted them as their motto 
 when they accepted from you the trust of erecting an 
 Exchange building, worthy of this city and country, and 
 they proved the talisman of that Committee's action, 
 when they urged and encouraged you to forego early 
 accepted plans and estimates, and at many times the 
 originally intended cost, to lay deeper and broader foun- 
 dations than those at first determined, which would not 
 only meet all present wants, but also make provision for 
 all prospective needs. 
 
 Looking at your enterprise from the standpoint of to- 
 day, it may not be seen by the uninitiated, that much 
 courage was required to undertake its consummation, and 
 yet when it is remembered the oppositions that it called 
 forth, the volume of cost that would be incurred, the 
 many prophecies of failure that were made, and the mod- 
 erate condition of your bank account when the final de- 
 cision was arrived at, it did need indomitable courage and 
 perseverance on the part of those who acted as your ad- 
 visors, and abiding faith on your part, in their intelligent 
 
62 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 ability to judge, to warrant your acceptance of the re- 
 sponsibilities which the new departure entailed. There is 
 no egotism in saying, that right manfully did the building 
 committee stand by the Exchange at the critical moment 
 and in turn right manfully did you stand by your build- 
 ing committee, and hold up their hands in trustfulness 
 and confidence, and the outcome of it all is, the mutual 
 congratulations of to-day over results, of which each one 
 of us has every reason to be very proud. 
 
 Gentlemen, it is the doctrine of self-appreciation that 
 we have urged upon your attention and which you have 
 accepted, and in that acceptance you have secured and 
 will retain the appreciation and respect of your fellow 
 citizens and the whole American people. You have man- 
 fully and promptly taken advantage of your great oppor- 
 tunity — you have recognized the commercial supremacy of 
 the City and State of New York. You have proclaimed 
 yourselves the guardians of her commerce, and you have 
 builded this beautiful monument as an evidence for all 
 time, that from that responsible and enviable position you 
 and your successors must never recede. 
 
 In constructing your Exchange, the Committee has 
 aimed to accomplish three cardinal results. 
 
 ist. A building that would fully provide for all present 
 and prospective mercantile needs. 
 
 2d. A revenue predicated upon outlays that would be 
 dedicated to the continual advancement of the commer- 
 cial interests of the city and State. 
 
 3d. Architectural effect, with also its refining and edu- 
 cational influences. 
 
 Perhaps the most difficult of determination of these 
 three requirements, was the first. To the thoughtful and 
 observant mind, the one great failure in all things Ameri- 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 65 
 
 can, has been, and is to-day, the failure to fully appreciate 
 the possibilities that the future has in store for this mag- 
 nificent country of ours. Great Britain failed to under- 
 stand it when, through an arbitrary and short-sighted policy, 
 she permitted the fairest and noblest of her colonies to 
 slip away from her grasp. The great men of the revolu- 
 tion — the founders of a mighty nation — failed to under- 
 stand it when they framed the Constitution, and therefore 
 was rendered necessary the agonies of 1861-1865, to clear 
 and purify the political and social atmosphere, and thereby 
 give our Union a renewed lease of prosperity and hopes. 
 The men who planned our largest cities and public build- 
 ings failed to understand it, and only seemed to have 
 taken thought for the somewhat primitive and restricted 
 wants of their own day — and even now, with the experi- 
 ences of past errors to guide us; in legislation, in muni- 
 cipal government, in educational and legal, punitive and 
 many other systems too numerous to mention here, the 
 same lack of forethought is painfully evident. The trouble 
 is that we do not look beyond ourselves enough. 
 
 What the condition of the country will be when it 
 celebrates its second centennial birthday is beyond the 
 range of all human knowledge to forecast, and yet to some 
 extent — yes, I may say to a very great extent, it rests with 
 us now, to give it direction, and if we are as true and 
 sincere and appreciative of the future as we ought to be, 
 the result cannot be other than grand and glorious. 
 
 Your province was not only to build for the commerce 
 of to-day but also to make provision for the probable 
 commerce of that future. What will it be? Perhaps 
 a few words of retrospect may help to suggest the 
 answer. 
 
 Fifty years ago the population of the United States 
 
6 4 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 numbered about twelve million souls. Now it is estimated 
 at fifty-two millions. 
 
 At that time the exports aggregated about seventy 
 millions of dollars ; now they are nearly nine hundred mil- 
 lions. At that time there were thirty miles of railroad 
 and not a single mile of telegraph or telephone wire, now 
 the country is " sinewed " by one hundred and twenty thou- 
 sand miles of railroads and u nerved " with numberless 
 miles of telegraphs (at a cost exceeding the enormous sum 
 of six thousand millions of dollars), and possessed of an 
 energy for continuous development that renders it impos- 
 sible to say when these tremendous enterprises (conducive 
 of the public good) will culminate. Your Committee 
 have thought of, and tried to forestall this wonderful state 
 of progression, and yet it is possible that our successors of 
 1984 will criticise our action as narrow and contracted, 
 and falling as far short of their needs, as we have found 
 that our predecessors came short of making provision for 
 the necessities of our day and generation. Of this, how- 
 ever, we are certain, and in it there is laudable pride and 
 satisfaction : from the light that we now have, in our own, 
 and in their interest, we have aimed to do our very best. 
 
 The question of revenue has passed from the conjec- 
 tural, into the positive condition and has proved a great 
 success. It exceeds the pledge of your building committee. 
 It can be increased if the land situated along the easterly 
 side of the Exchange Court, and wisely purchased by you 
 as a second thought, is utilized for office purposes. To 
 the Exchange records you are respectfully referred for 
 further particulars upon this head. 
 
 From an architectural standpoint, when it is remem- 
 bered the purposes for which it is adapted, our building 
 stands unrivalled in this or any country of the Old World. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 '55 
 
 Its style is modern Renaissance, its lines are symmetrical 
 and beautiful, the general effect is grand and noble, and 
 the impression conveyed is stability and permanence. The 
 main hall, as you see, is stately and well balanced in its 
 proportions. Its light and ventilation are perfect, and 
 although it can accommodate five thousand persons at 
 one time on its thirty thousand feet of floor surface with- 
 out overcrowding, provision has been made for its en- 
 largement, equal to one-fourth additional area, when the 
 requirements of the Exchange demand more room. It is 
 entered from two grand stairways and a service of nine 
 elevators, located at convenient points, which insures rapid 
 and easy access even in the very busiest hours of the day, 
 and its addenda of library, reading and committee rooms 
 are attractive and ample. 
 
 Next to the Exchange hall, the large colony of offices 
 constructed overhead, without detracting from, or in any 
 way interfering with the commercial character of the 
 building, deserves special mention. It consists of four 
 stories of rooms, devoted to mercantile purposes, sur- 
 rounding the entire edifice, and so fashioned as to add 
 very great architectural effect to the outside of the build- 
 ing. This orifice feature is a new departure in Mercantile 
 Exchange building, and from it is derived, in large measure, 
 our revenue. It, and the other internal arrangements, are 
 from the original designs of the building committee, put 
 into professional uniformity by our esteemed friend, Geo. 
 B. Post, the architect of the Exchange, to whom belongs 
 solely the skillful treatment and architectural merits dis- 
 played throughout the whole building. The New York 
 Produce Exchange is fireproof throughout. Its major 
 component parts are stone, brick and iron, and it stands 
 upon fifteen thousand and thirty-seven New England pine 
 
66 ADDRESS. 
 
 and spruce trees (a perfect forest in itself), driven into the 
 primitive soil of Manhattan Island till they found a solid 
 bearing, and cut off below tide water level, to insure 
 continuous vitality and never failing strength — straight, 
 upright, strong — indicative of the men and commercial 
 morals they are ever intended to uphold. 
 
 Such is the building that is turned over to you to-day. 
 With our work ended, your responsibilities begin. This 
 is not a place in which merchandise is simply to be bought 
 and sold. There are higher obligations and duties to 
 emanate from these walls. You are to inculcate just 
 and equitable principles ; a high standard of mercantile 
 morals ; a self-assertion that will command the respect 
 of your fellow-citizens ; and a direction in commercial 
 affairs that will be felt in State and national legislation. 
 It is time that the American merchant should assert him- 
 self, and claim that the men who continually hold their 
 fingers upon the commercial pulse of the nation, are best 
 able to detect injurious influences, and to suggest the 
 necessary legislative remedies. 
 
 In conclusion, we thank you for the latitude you have 
 given us, and the confidence and trust you have reposed 
 in us from the inception to the completion of this great 
 enterprise. In return it has been our aim to study the 
 purposes of your trust, and to construct a building that 
 would make each one of us feel more manly as we entered 
 its portals, and realize to the full the proud consciousness 
 that at the critical moment in our Exchange history, our 
 courage, perseverence, and faith had been tested, and not 
 found wanting. If we have your assurance that hi this 
 we have been successful, and that it meets with your ap- 
 probation, we shall indeed believe that our mission has not 
 been in vain. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 67 
 
 And now, gentlemen, it only remains for us to suggest 
 that our finished building should receive its dedication. 
 The foundation of our commerce is agriculture, and the 
 agriculturist sows in faith and hope, and reaps in thank- 
 fulness. Let the dedication then be 
 
 " To the God of seed-time and harvest," 
 
 and let us add to it the words of the Royal Psalmist : 
 
 "Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, and God, 
 " even our own God, shall give us his blessing." 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 A. E. ORR, 
 Sec'y of the Building Committee 
 
 N. Y. P. Ex'g. 
 
 Written on the train 
 en route for Winnipeg, 
 Manitoba. 
 
 April 30th, 1884. 
 
 MUSIC, . Jubilee Overture, . . Band. 
 
 The Glee Club and audience singing, accompanied by the 
 
 Band : 
 
 My country, 't is of thee, 
 Sweet land of liberty, 
 
 Of thee I sing : 
 Land where my fathers died, 
 Land of the pilgrim's pride, 
 From every mountain side 
 
 Let freedom ring. 
 
68 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 Our fathers' God ! to thee 
 Author of liberty, 
 
 To thee we sing ; 
 Long may our land be bright 
 With freedom's holy light ; 
 Protect us by thy might, 
 Great God, our King ! 
 Benediction, . . . Rev. Arthur Brooks. 
 
 The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and 
 Holy Ghost, be with you and remain with you always. 
 — Amen. 
 
 Copyright, 18S2. By Harper & Bros. 
 
 Originally appeared in Harpkr's Monthly, March, 1882. 
 
Ladies' Reception and Promenade 
 Concert. 
 
 EVENING OF MAY 5TH, 1884. 
 
 HE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE having 
 determined to extend the first welcome 
 in the new Exchange Building to the 
 families and friends of the members, selected 
 the evening of May 5th for a Promenade 
 
 Concert and Ladies' Reception, auspi- 
 ciously commencing its business career with a May-day 
 gathering graced with the presence of ladies and preced- 
 ing the more formal opening ceremonies. Assembling 
 in the main hall, the guests on arriving soon filled it 
 to repletion and overflowing into the corridors, formed 
 little coteries and family parties in the offices on the 
 upper floors, where the members throwing open the doors 
 of their counting rooms and private offices added a 
 unique feature to the general entertainment. 
 
 69 
 
PROGRAMME, 
 
 PROGRAMME. 
 
 MILITARY BAND, 
 
 CHARLES A. CAPPA, LEADER 
 
 1. SELECTIONS, " Faust," Band and Orchestra, GOUNOD 
 
 2. Hungarian Raphsodie No. 2, Liszt 
 
 3. Selections, " Ernani," Verdi 
 
 4. " Produce Exchange March," Cappa 
 
 Dedicated to President J. H. Herrick. 
 
 5. Overture, " Tannhauser," Wagner 
 
 6. SELECTIONS, " Lucia Di Lammermoor," DONIZETTI 
 
 7. Medley, " Produce Exchange Caller," Cappa 
 
 8. Selections, "Rigoletto," Verdi 
 
 9. Fantasie, " England, Ireland and Scotland," Baetens 
 
 orchestra, 
 
 ERNEST NEVER, LEADER 
 
 1. Overture, " Zampa," Herold 
 
 2. Selections, " Beggar Student," Millocker 
 
 3. Dance des Houris, " La Gioconda," Ponchielli 
 
 4. Selections, "Iolanthe," Sullivan 
 
 5. Polonaise, Militaire, in A, Chopin 
 
 6. Selections, "Prince Methusalem," Strauss 
 
 7. Introduction 3d Act " Lohengrin," Wagner 
 
 8. Morceau DE Gavotte, " L'Ingenue," Arditi 
 
 9. Coronation March, ''La Prophete," Meyerbeer 
 
 Orchestra and Band. 
 
COMMITTEES 
 
 APPOINTED FOR 
 
 OPENING 
 
 THE 
 
 NEW PRODUCE EXCHANGE BUILDING. 
 
 EXECUTIVE : 
 
 D. A. LINDLEY, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 J. H. HERRICK, 
 
 E. C. RICE, 
 
 L. HAZELTINE, 
 
 THOS. A. MCINTYRE, 
 
 RICHARD ARNOLD, 
 
 H. C. WARD, 
 
 SAMUEL JACOBY, 
 
 A. PAGENSTECHER 
 
 WM. A. COLE, 
 
 JOHN A. TOBEY, 
 
 JOHN SINCLAIR, 
 
 S. A. SAWYER, 
 
 CHARLES M. VAIL, 
 
 BENJ LOGAN, 
 
 R. S. HOLT, 
 
 J. W. PARKER, 
 
 C. A. POOL, 
 
 JOHN WAKEMAN, 
 
 C. C. BURKE, 
 
 C. R. HICKOX, 
 
 H. H. ROGERS, 
 
 ALFRED ROMER, 
 
 E. S. WHITMAN, 
 
 C. F. ELWELL, 
 
 
 A. C. BECHS1EIN. 
 
 
 
 RECEPTION * 
 
 
 
 E. S. WHITMAN, 
 
 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 
 DAVID DOWS, 
 
 JUAN BARCELO, 
 
 E. F. RANDOLPH, 
 
 J. H. BOYNTON, 
 
 F. A. FERRIS, 
 
 AMIDEE VATABLE, 
 
 EDWARD HINCKEN, 
 
 OTTO ARENS, 
 
 J. R. BUSK, 
 
 L. F. HOLMAN, 
 
 ASA STEVENS, 
 
 C. O. C. MULLER, 
 
 WM. WARE, 
 
 J. C. CHAMBERLAIN, 
 
 H. M. EGE, 
 
 DAVID BINGHAM, 
 
 HORATIO REED, 
 
 JAS. FLANAGAN, 
 
 I. H. REED, 
 
 P. S. HALSTEAD, 
 
 T. B. TWEDDLE, 
 
 A. S. JEWELL, 
 
 J. M. REQUA, 
 
 FRANKLIN EDSON, 
 
 ANDERSON FOWLER, 
 
 SILAS DAVIS, 
 
 A. E. ORR, 
 
 B. W. FLOYD, 
 
 J. CALLENDER, 
 
 H. O. ARMOUR, 
 
 F. H. PARKER, 
 
 JOHN S. WARD, 
 
 J. H. POOL, 
 
 JOHN F. COOK, 
 
 fred'k MEISSNER, 
 
 A. M. HOYT, 
 
 MUNROE CRANE, 
 
 JAMES MCGEE, 
 
 E. R. LIVERMORE, 
 
 H. W. O. EDYE, 
 
 ISAAC T. FROST, 
 
 L. J. N. STARK, 
 
 ALEX. MUNN, 
 
 W. L. BOYD, 
 
 H. B. HERBERT, 
 
 EDWARD ANNAN, 
 
 J. M. BENHAM, 
 
 H. C. COOKE, 
 
 JOHN ANDERSON, 
 
 A. H. BROWN, 
 
 W. F. MARTIN, 
 
 A. M. UNDERHILL, 
 
 F. H. ALLEN, 
 
 RICHARD LACEY, 
 
 F. WOODRUFF, 
 
 SAM'L COLGATE, 
 
 M. TOWNSEND, 
 
 J. A. BEYER, JOHN A. SULLIVAN. 
 
 71 
 
72 
 
 COMMITTEES. 
 
 E. G. BURGESS, 
 H. L. WARD WELL, 
 sam'l STENSON, 
 W. K. EVERDELL, 
 C. S. KENNEDY, 
 W. S. CHURCH, 
 R. O. SHERWOOD, 
 JOSEPH LOVE, 
 T. P. WHITE, 
 
 FLOOR : 
 E. C. RICE, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 T. L. 
 
 J. M. FULLER, 
 DAVID DOWS, JR. 
 HENRY MCGEE, 
 W. L. SCRYMSER, 
 G. C. MARTIN, 
 T. E. MCCARTY, 
 BENJ. PARR, 
 E. L. HERRICK, 
 HUGO MUELLER, 
 WOODRUFF, 
 
 C. P. 
 
 J. H. LOCKE, 
 H. T. MCCOUN, JR. 
 D. E. TUTHILL, 
 H. E. COLE, 
 J. E. WALLACE, 
 JESSE HOYT, 
 G. H. LINCOLN, 
 W. S. HAYNES, 
 J. B. MCCUE, 
 SUMNER. 
 
 WAYS AND MEANS: 
 
 T. A. MCINTYRE, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 SAMUEL JACOBY, JOHN SINCLAIR, A. E. ORR. 
 
 R. P. CLAPP, 
 
 C. W. STRACHAN, 
 
 C. H. JOHNSON, 
 
 PROCESSION : 
 
 ALFRED ROMER, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 W. S. COBB, 
 
 C. B. LATHROP, 
 
 R. GURNEY, 
 
 GEO. G. HERMAN. 
 
 D. McD. DIXON, 
 
 FRANK II. TOBEY, 
 
 F. W. ARMSTRONG, JR. 
 
 PAUL BABCOCK, JR., 
 J. A. CHAMBERLAIN, 
 
 ENTERTAINMENT : 
 
 C. C. BURKE, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 H. C. WARD, 
 
 J. M. HAZELTINE, 
 
 HENRY ALLEN. 
 
 C. R. HICKOX, 
 J. E. HULSHIZER, 
 
 PRINTING ! 
 
 RICHARD ARNOLD, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 H. E. COLE, 
 
 H. T. MCCOUN, JR. , 
 
 D. E. TUTHILL. 
 
 C. E. WILMOT, 
 
COMMITTEES. 
 
 BENJ. LOGAN, 
 T. I. HUSTED, 
 
 R. S. HOLT, 
 
 C. H. SMITH, 
 C. F. EMERSON, 
 
 ORATIONS I 
 
 C. M. VAIL, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 GEO. S. HART, 
 R. J. CORTIS, 
 
 INVITATIONS : 
 
 A. PAGENSTECHER, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 B. H. LANE, 
 W. H. WALLACE, 
 
 JOHN THALLON, 
 C. F. MATTLAGE. 
 
 H. T. KNEELAND, 
 J. P. TOWNSEND. 
 
 DECORATIONS : 
 
 C. A. POOL, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 C. F. BUXTON, 
 F. QUINBY, 
 
 F. W. PHILLIPS, 
 J. D. WYNKOOP. 
 
 R. C. VEIT, 
 
 W. E. TREADWELL, 
 
 J. W. PARKER, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 F. P. NICHOLS. 
 
 music : 
 J. A. TOBEY, 
 
 CHAIRMAN. 
 
 JOHN A. COOPER, 
 
 ALEX. MEAKIM. 
 
 A. D. CORSON, 
 
 A. B. HART, 
 R. L. ENGS, 
 J. PENFIELD, 
 E. L. FINCH, 
 E. M. MUNN, 
 W. H. BRUMLEY, 
 G. PERRIN, 
 J. V. BARNES, 
 
 MARSHALS : 
 
 C. B. LOCKWOOD, 
 
 GRAND MARSHAL. 
 
 J. M. WHITTEMORE, 
 
 W. \V. THOMAS, 
 
 C. D. SABIN, 
 
 \V. T. WELLS, 
 
 W. G. STAHLNECKER, 
 
 A. D. SNOW, 
 
 W. D. PRESTON, 
 
 S. W. KNOWLES, 
 
 J. S. THAYER. 
 
 GEO. F. PARTRICK, 
 
 E. B. PEARSALL, 
 SAM'L ROWLAND, 
 W. H. UCKELE, 
 
 F. G. BROWN, 
 C. A. DYER, 
 A. N. CLARK, 
 
 G. D. PUFFER, 
 
3