January 22, 1861, The New York Herald
The political revolution now going forward at the South is resulting in a commercial revolution different in its effects from any that has ever preceded it. By the action of the secession States the usual channels of trade have been choked up in the Southern seaboard, and the result is that the commerce is directed to the city of New York from the interior by the railroads, which are now doing a thriving business.
The harvest never was so abundant, and the prosperity of the country never rose to so high a pitch, during the last year. The demand for its breadstuffs in Europe is unusually great. Money is pouring into New York from abroad. Ten millions of dollars have arrived within a very short time, and capital is daily accumulating here in an unprecedented manner. It cannot long remain inactive when there are products in the interior for sale. Those who want to sell will find purchaser in New York, and trade will become unusually brisk.
Thus, though there may be very little personal communication between the citizens of the seceding States and the North, there will be a flourishing commercial intercourse, and its great centre will be the city of New York. The revolutionary condition of the South is driving the trade to this market, while it is impoverishing the southern ports in the same proportion. From this cause, and from the extraordinary abundance of the crops in the West, and the extraordinary demand for them in England, a great commercial revival is taking place here, and an amount of business will soon be done which will astonish those who imagined that, by their insane proceedings, they were inflicting a deadly blow upon the commerce of New York….