Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from One Hundred Years of American Commerce, Vol. 1 of 2: Consisting of Hundred Original Articles on Commercial Topics Describing the Practical Development of the Various Branches of Trade in the United States Within the Past Century and Showing the Present Magnitude of Our Financial and Commercial Institutions
The evolution of an idea is always interesting. In submitting to the public this history of American commerce, an explanation of the causes in which it had its inception may most properly premise a review of the finished work. The present year marked for the oldest commercial paper in America, the Shipping and Commercial List and New York Price Cur rent, the completion of one hundred years of useful existence. In seeking some method of celebrating the centennial in a manner worthy at the same time of the paper and of the busi ness interests of the country, the present idea was evolved. It was decided that in no better way could service be rendered to the American commercial community than by gathering together in compact form the interesting facts of its remarkable development. At first the intention was to present this history in a centennial edition of the paper, and upon this plan the work was begun. Then, as in the end, the plan contemplated the publication of one hundred chapters, written by one hundred men representing the great lines into which our trade and industries had been developed and specialized in recent years. The suggestion of such a work met with most generous welcome in the business world. Its need was recognized at once, and its novelty and value elicited eminent aid. The very success of the idea compelled the changing of the original plan. In the form of a newspaper publication the work would have lacked permanence and breadth of scope. It seemed almost unfair to interest representa tive men throughout the country, who would bring enthusiasm, ability, and experience to the work of describing the industries of the country, and then to place upon them limitations of space within which they could do justice neither to themselves nor to their subjects. More over, it was not solely as a newspaper centennial that the event was of importance; it had a deeper and more extended historical significance. Like the Shipping and Commercial List itself, the centennial to be celebrated was but the natural outcome of a great event in the history of our establishment as a nation.
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