ANNUAL EEPORT—COMMERCE. 
57 
of the whole state. That she is not the universally recog¬ 
nized heart of our whole arterial and venous system of trade— 
is a reproach to that spirit of local selfishness, jealousy, and 
ill-founded pride, by which so many of the relations of asso¬ 
ciation with her have been characterized in the past. 
To our mind, the question of adopting such a policy as shall 
tend to make Milwaukee a great and powerful commercial cen¬ 
tre is by no means a narrow and local one, looking to the ag¬ 
grandizement of Milwaukee, and of her alone, at the expense 
of all other localities, as many seem to suppose. On the con¬ 
trary, it is a question of whether Wisconsin, with her vast and 
various resources—her fertile lands, forests, mines, water 
powers, and almost unequaled natural advantages for a vast 
commercial industry—shall be a province, a mere satrapy, 
paying tribute to other powers, or a great and independent 
state. It is a question, therefore, in the affirmative decision of 
which, not only every locality, but every individual citizen 
has an interest—a question in the discussion of which all par¬ 
tial views, local prejudices, and that blind selfishness which, 
always ultimately defeats itself, must give place, and at an 
early day, to a broad and enlightened statesmanship. 
In reportiug details of the commercial condition and pro¬ 
gress of Milwaukee, I shall draw freely from the valuable re¬ 
port of the secretary of the chamber of commerce ; many of 
the facts presented in which are of sufficient importance to 
warrant their incorporation. 
COMMERCE OF MILWAUKEE. 
“ The records of the commerce of Milwaukee, for the year 
1869, as far as accessible to the public, show a large increase 
in the general volume of business, compared with preceding 
years, and while this is to be accounted for by the rapid de¬ 
velopment of the country west of us, the continual extension 
of our railroad communications, and the bounteous yield of 
our staple productions, there is no disguising the fact that the 
past year has been a season of unusual depression in commercial 
circles, and that here, as elsewhere throughout the country, the 
