Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : April 1857, Vol. XXXVI, No. IV

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40 *

HUNT’ S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
A P R IL ,

1 8 5 7 .

Ar t . I. — MONE Y . *
1.
T h e single commodity that is of universal request is money.
Go
where we may, we meet persons seeking commodities required for the
satisfaction of their wants, yet widely differing in their demands. One
needs fo o d ; a second, clothing; a third, books, newspapers, horses, or
ships. Many desire food, yet while one would have fish, another rejects
the fish and seeks for meat. Offer clothing to him who sought for ships,
and he would prove to have been supplied. Place before the seeker after
silks, the finest lot o f cattle, and he will not purchase. The woman of
fashion rejects the pantaloons; while the porter regards her slipper as
wholly worthless. O f all these people, nevertheless, there would not be
found even a single one unwilling to give labor, attention, skill, houses,
bonds, lands, horses, or whatever else might be within his reach, in ex­
change for money— provided, only, that the quantity offered were deemed
sufficient.
So has it been in every age, and so is it everywhere. Laplander and
Patagonian, almost the antipodes of each other, are alike in their thirst after
the precious metals. Midianite merchants paid for Joseph with so many
pieces of silver. The gold of Macedon bought the services of Demosthenes;
and it was thirty pieces of silver that paid for the treason of Judas. African
gold enabled Hannibal to cross the A lp s; as that of Spanish America has
enabled France to subjugate so large a portion o f Northern Africa. Sov­
ereigns in the East heap up gold as provision against future accidents;

* A Lecture delivered before the New York Historical and Geographical Society, by H. C.
C are y , Esq., and now first published in the Merchants' Magazine.




404

Money.

and finance ministers in the West, rejoice when their accounts enable
them to exhibit a full supply o f the precious metals. When it is other­
wise, the highest dignitaries are seen paying obsequious court to the
Rothschild and the Baring, controllers of the supply o f money. So, too,
when railroads are to be made, or steamers to be built. Farmers and
contractors, landowners and stockholders, then go, cap in hand, to the
Croesuses of Paris and London, anxious to obtain a hearing, and desiring
to propitiate the man of power by making whatsoever f&crifice may seem
to be required.

2. W ere a hundred ships to arrive in your port to-morrow, a single
one of which was freighted with gold, she alone would find a place in the
editorial columns of your journals— leaving wholly out of view the re­
maining ninety-nine, freighted with silks and teas, cloth and sugar. The
news, too, would find a similar place in almost all the journals o f the
Union, and for the reason, that all their readers, the bears excepted, so
much rejoice when money comes in, and so much regret when it goes
out. Of all the materials of which the earth is composed, there are noue
so universally acceptable as gold and silver— none in whose movements
so large a portion of every community feels an interest.
W hy is this the case ? Because of their having distinctive qualities
that bring them into direct connection with the distinctive qualities of
man— facilitating the growth o f association, and promoting the develop­
ment of individuality. They are the indispensable instruments o f society,
or commerce.
That they are so, would seem to be admitted by those journalists when
giving to their movements so much publicity ; and yet, on turning to an­
other column, you would probably find it there asserted, that all this anx­
iety in regard to money was evidence o f ignorance— the condition o f man
being improved by parting with gold that he can neither eat, drink, nor
wear, in exchange for sugar that he can eat, and cloth that he can wear.
Such may be the case, says one reader, but, for my part, I prefer to see
money come in, because when it does so, I can borrow at six per cent;
whereas, when it is going out, I have to pay ten, twelve, or twenty. This
is doubtless true, says another, hut I prefer to see money arrive— being
then able to sell my hats and shoes, and to pay the people who make
them. It may bo evidence of ignorance, says a third, but I always rejoice
when money flows inwards, for then I can always sell my labor; whereas,
when it flows outwards, I am unemployed, and my wife and children suf­
fer for want of food and clothing.
Men’s natural instincts look, thus, in
one direction, while mock science points in another. The first should be
right, because they are given o f God. The last may be wrong— being
one among the weak inventions o f man. W hich is right, we may now
inquire.
3. The power of man over matter is limited to effecting changes of
place and of form. For the one he needs wagons, horses, ships, -and rail­
roads ; for the other, spades, plows, mills, furnaces, and steam-engines.
Among men, changes o f ownership are to be effected, and for that purpose
they need some general medium of circulation.
The machinery of exchange in use is, therefore, of three kinds— that
required for producing changes of place, that applied to effecting changes




Money.

405

of form, and that used for effecting changes o f ownership; and were we
now to examine the course o f proceeding with regard to them, we should
find it to be the same in all— thus obtaining proof o f the universaility of
the natural laws to whose government man is subject. For the present,
however, we must limit ourselves to an examination o f the phenomena of
the machinery of circulation.
In the early periods o f society, man has little to exchange, and there
are few exchanged— those which are made being by direct barter— shins
being given for knives, clothing, meat, or fish. W ith the progress Gf pop­
ulation and wealth, however, all communities have endeavored to facilitate
the transfer of property, by the adoption o f some common standard with
which to compare the value of the commodities to be exchanged— cattle
having thus been used among the early Greeks— while slaves and cattle,
or “ living money,” as it was then denominated, were commonly in use
among the Anglo-Saxons — wampum among our aborigines — codfish
among the people of New England— and tobacco among those of Vir­
ginia. W ith further progress, we find them adopting successively iron,
copper, and bronze, preparatory to obtaining silver and gold, to be used
as the machinery for effecting exchanges from hand to hand.
For such a purpose, the recommendations of those metals are very great.
Being scantily diffused throughout the earth, and requiring, therefore,
much labor for their collection, they represent a large amount o f value—
while being themselves o f little bulk, and therefore capable o f being
readily and securely stored, or transported from place to place. Not be­
ing liable to rust or damage, they may be preserved uninjured for any
length of time, and their quantity is, therefore, much less liable to varia­
tion than is that of wheat or corn, the supply of which is so largely de­
pendent upon the contingencies of the weather. Capable of the' most
minute subdivision, they can be used for the performance of the smallest
as well as the largest exchanges; and we all know well how large an
amount of commerce is effected by means of coins o f one and of three
cents that would have to remain uneffected, were there none in use of less
value than those of five, six, and ten cents.
To facilitate their use, the various communities of the world are accus­
tomed to have them cut into small pieces and weighed, after which they
are so stamped as to enable every one to discern at once how much gold
or silver is offered in exchange for the commodity he has to sell; but the
value of the piece is in only a very slight degree due to this process of
coinage.* In the early periods o f society, all the metals passed in lumps,
requiring, o f course, to be weighed ; and such is now the case with much
of the gold that passes between America and Europe. Gold dust has also
to be weighed, and allowance has to be made for the impurities with
which the gold itself is connected; but, with this exception, it is of almost
precisely the same value with gold passed from the mint and stamped with
an eagle, a head of Victoria, or o f Nicholas.
4.
A proper supply o f those metals having been obtained, and this
having been divided, weighed, and marked, the farmer, the miller, the
* The heap of paper in the mill becomes slightly more valuable when it is counted off and tied
up in reams; and the heap of cloth is in like manner increased in value when it is measured and
tied up in pieces—for the reason, that both can be more readily exchanged. Precisely similar to
this is the increase of value resulting from the process of coinage.




•406

Money.

clothier, and all other members o f society, are now enabled to effect ex­
changes, even to the extent o f purchasing for a single cent their share o f
the labors of thousands, and tens of thousands, of men employed in making
railroads, engines, and cars, and transporting upon them annually hun­
dreds of millions o f letters ; or, for another cent, their share of the labor
of the hundreds, if not thousands, of men who have contributed to the
production of a penny newspaper. The mass o f small coin is thus a saving
fu n d for labor, because it facilitates association and combination— giving
utility to billions of millions of minutes that would be wasted, did not a
demand exist for them at the moment the power to labor had been pro­
duced. Labor being the first price given for everything we value, and
being the commodity that all can offer in exchange, the progress of com­
munities in wealth and influence is in the direct ratio of the presence or
absence of an instant demand for the forces, physical and mental, o f each
and every man in the community— resulting from the existence o f a power
on the part of each and every other man, to offer something valuable in
exchange for it. It is the only commodity that perishes at the instant of
production, and that, if not then put to use, is lost forever.
W e are all momently producing labor-power, and daily taking in the
fuel by whose consumption it is produced; and that fuel is wasted unless
its product be on the instant usefully employed. The most delicate fruits
or flowers may be kept for hours or days ; but the force resulting from
the consumption of food cannot be kept, even for a second. That the in­
stant power of profitable consumption may be coincident with the instant
production of this universal commodity, there must be incessant combina­
tion, followed by incessant division and subdivision, and that in turn fol­
lowed by as incessant recomposition.
This is seen in the case above
referred to, where miners, furnace-men, machine-makers, rag-gatherers,
carters, bleachers, paper-makers, railroad and canal men, type-makers,
compositors, pressmen, authors, editors, publishers, newsboys, and hosts of
others, combine their efforts for the production in market of a heap of
newspapers that has, at the instant of production, to be divided off into
portions suited to the wants o f hundreds of thousands of consumers. Each
of these latter pays a single cent— then perhaps subdividing it among
half a dozen others, so that the cost is perhaps no more than a cent per
w eek; and yet each obtains his share o f the labors o f all of the persons by
whom it had been produced.
Of all the penomena o f society, this process o f division, subdivison, com­
position, and recomposition is the most remarkable; and yet— being a
thing of such common occurrence— it scarcely attracts the slightest no­
tice. W ere the newspaper above referred to, partitioned off into squares,
each representing its portion of the labor o f one of the persons who had
contributed to the work, it would be found to be resolved into six, eight,
or perhaps even ten thousand pieces, of various sizes, small and great—
the former representing the men who had mined and smelted the ores of
which the types and presses had been composed, and the latter the men
and boys by whom the distribution had been made. Numerous as are
these little scraps of human effort, they are, nevertheless, all combined in
every sheet, and every member of the community may— for the trivial
sum of fifty cents per annum— enjoy the advantage o f the information
therein contained; and as fully as he could do, had it been collected for
himself alone.




Money.

407

Improvements in the modes o f transportation are advantageous to man,
but the service they render, when compared with their cost, is very small.
A ship worth forty or fifty thousand dollars cannot effect exchanges be­
tween men at opposite sides o f the Atlantic to an extent exceeding five
or six thousand tons per annum ; whereas, a furnace o f similar cost will
effect the transmutation o f thirty thousand tons’ weight o f coal, ore, lime­
stone, food, and clothing, into iron. Compared with either of these, how­
ever, the commerce effected by the help of fifty thousand dollars’ worth
of little white pieces representing labor to the extent of three or five cents
— labor which by their help is gathered up into a heap, and then divided
and subdivided day after day throughout the year— and it will be found
that the service rendered to society, in economizing force, by each dollars’
worth o f money, is greater than is rendered by hundreds, if not thousands,
employed in manufactures, or tens of thousands in ships or railroads ; and
yet there are able writers who tell us that money is so much “ dead capi­
tal,”— being “ an important portion o f the capital o f a country that pro­
duces nothing for the country.”
“ Money, as money,” says an eminent economist, “ satisfies no want, an­
swers no purpose. * * The difference between a country with money,
and a country altogether without it, would,” as he thinks, “ be only one of
convenience, like grinding by water instead of by hand.” A ship, as a
ship— a road, as a road— a cotton-mill, as a cotton-mill— in like manner,
however, “ satisfies no want, answers no purpose.” They can be neither
eaten, drunk, nor worn. All, however, are instruments for facilitating the
work o f association, and the growth of man in wealth and power is in the
direct ratio o f the facility o f combination with his fellow-men. To what
extent they do so, when compared with money, we may now inquire. To
that end, let us suppose that by some sudden convulsion of nature all the
ships of the world were at once annihilated, and remark the effect pro­
duced. The shipowners would lose heavily; the sailors and the porters
would have less employment; and the price o f wheat would temporarily
fall; while that of cloth would, for the moment, rise. A t the close of a
single year, by far the larger portion o f the operations o f society would
be found moving precisely as they had done before— commerce at home •
having taken the place o f that abroad. Cotton and tropical fruits would
be less easily obtained in Northern climes, and ice might be more scarce
in Southern ones; but, in regard to the chief exchanges of a society like
our own, there would be no suspension, even for a single instant. So far,
indeed, would it be to the contrary, that in many countries commerce
would be far more active than it had been before— the loss o f ships pro­
ducing a demand for the opening o f mines, for the construction of furnaces
and engines, and for the building o f mills, that would make a market for
labor, mental and physical, such as had never before been known.
Let us next suppose that the ships had been spared, and that all the
gold and silver, coined and not coined, mined and not mined, were anni­
hilated, and study the effect that would be produced. The reader o f
newspapers— finding himself unable to pay for them in beef or butter,
cloth or iron— would be compelled to dispense with his usual supply o f
intelligence, and the journal would be no longer printed. Omnibuses
would cease to run, for want of sixpences ; and places o f amusement would
be closed, for want o f shillings. Commerce among men would be at an
end, except so far as it might be found possible to effect direct exchanges




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Money.

— food being given for labor, or wool for cloth. Such exchanges could,
however, be few in number, and men, women, and children would perish
by millions, because o f inability to obtain food and clothing in exchange
for service. Cities whose population now counts by hundreds of thou­
sands would, before the close of a single year, exhibit hundreds of blocks
o f unoccupied buildings, and the grass would grow in their streets. A
substitute might, it is true, be found— men returning to the usages of
those primitive times when wheat or iron, tobacco or copper, constituted
the medium of exchange; but under such circumstances, society, as at
present constituted, could have no existence. A pound of iron would be
required to pay for a Tribune or a Herald, and hundreds of tons of any
o f the commodities above referred to, would be needed for the purchase
o f the weekly emission o f either. Tons of them would be needed to pay
for the food consumed in a single eating-house, or the amusement fur­
nished in a single theater; and how the wheat, the iron, the corn, or the
copper could be fairly divided among the people who had contributed to
the production of the journal, the food, or the amusement, would be a
problem entirely incapable o f solution.
The precious metals are to the social body what atmospheric air is to
the physical one. Both supply the machinery of circulation, and the re­
solution of the physical body into its elements when deprived o f the one
is not more certain than is that o f the social body when deprived of the
other. In both these bodies the amount o f force is dependent upon the
rapidity of circulation. That it may be rapid, there must be a full supply
o f the machinery by means o f which it is to be effected; and yet there
are distinguished writers who mourn over the cost of maintaining the cur­
rency, as if it were altogether lost, while expatiating on the advantages of
canals and railroads— not perceiving, apparently, that the money that can
be carried in a bag, and that scarcely loses in weight with a service of
half a dozen years, effects more exchanges than could be effected by a
fleet o f ships, many o f which would be rotting on the shores on which
they had been stranded, at the close of such a period of service, while the
remainder would already have lost half of their original value.*
Of all the labor-saving machinery in use, there is none that so much
economizes human power, and so much facilitates combination, as that
known by the name o f money. Wealth, or the power o f man to com­
mand the services o f nature, grows with every increase in the facility of
combination— this latter growing with the growth o f the ability to com­
mand the aid of the precious metals. Wealth, then, should increase most
rapidly where that ability is most complete.
5.
The power of a commodity to command money in exchange i3
called its p r i c e . Prices fluctuate with changes of time and place— wheat
being sometimes low, and at others high— and cotton commanding in one
country thrice the quantity of silver that would be given for it in another.
In one place, much money is required to be given for a little cloth;
whereas, in another, much cloth may be obtained for little money. What
* A three-cent piece, changing hands ten times in a day, effects exchanges in a year to the extent
o f $100; or, if we take both sides of the exchanges, to that of $200. Two thousand such pieces—
costing $60—engaged in circulating bread at home, are capable o f maintaining a greater amount of
commerce than can be maintained by a ship that has cost $30,000, engaged in effecting exchange*
between the producers of cloth in Manchester and tea in China.




Money.

409

are the causes o f all these differences, and what the circumstances which
tend to affect prices generally, we may now inquire.
A thousand tons of rags at the Rocky Mountains would not exchange
for a piece of silver o f the smallest conceivable size; whereas, a quire o f
paper would command a piece so large that it would weigh an ounce.
Passing thence eastward, and arriving in the plains o f Kansas, their rela­
tive values, measured in silver, would be found so much to have changed,
that the price of the rags would pay for many reams of the paper. Com­
ing to St. Louis, a further change would be experienced— rags having
again risen, and paper having again fallen. Such, too, would prove to be
the case at every stage of the progress eastward— the raw material steadily
gaining, and the finished commodity losing, in price, until, at length, in
the heart of Massachusetts, three pounds of rags would be found to com­
mand more silver than would be needed for the purchase o f a pound of
paper. The changes of relation thus observed are exhibited in the fol­
lowing diagram

The price of raw materials tends to rise as we approach those places in
which wealth most exists— those in which man is most enabled to asso­
ciate with his fellow-man, for obtaining power to direct the forces of
nature to his service. The prices o f finished commodities move in a di­
rection exactly opposite— tending always to decline as those o f raw mate­
rials advance. Both tend thus to approximate— the highest prices of the
one being always found in connection with the lowest of the other;
and in the strength o f the movement in that direction will be found the
most conclusive evidence of advancing civilization and growing com­
merce.
That all the facts are in entire accordance with this view, will be ob­
vious to those who remark that cotton is low in price at the plantation, and
high in Manchester or L ow ell; whereas, cloth is cheaper in Lowell than
it is in Alabama or Louisiana. Corn, in Illinois, is frequently so cheap
that a bushel is given in exchange for the silver required to pay for a
yard of the coarsest cotton cloth ; whereas, at Manchester, it is so dear
that it pays for a dozen yards.-. The English farmer profits doubly— ob­
taining much cloth for his corn, while increasing the quantity of corn by
help of the manure that is furnished by his competitor of the West. The
latter loses doubly— giving much corn for little cloth, and adding thereto
the manure yielded by the consumption of his corn, to the loss of which
is due the unceasing diminution of the powers of his land.
Looking backward in time, we obtain results precisely similar to those
obtained in passing from countries in which associated men are found,
and in which, consequently, wealth abounds, to those in which they are
widely scattered, and in which they are, therefore, weak and poor. A t
the close of the fifteenth century, eight ecclesiastics, attending the funeral




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Money.

o f Anne of Brittany, were royally entertained at a cost of 3.13 francs, of
money o f our tim e; while the silk used on that occasion is charged at 25
francs. The same quantity of silk could now be purchased for less than
a franc and a half— a sum that would be entirely insufficient to pay for a
single dinner. The owner of four quires o f paper could then obtain for it
more money than was required for the purchase of a hog, and less than
two reams were needed for that of a bull. In England, hogs, sheep, and
corn were cheap, and were exported, while cloth was dear, and was there­
fore imported. Coming down to a more recent period, the early portion
of the last century, we find that corn and wool were cheap, while cloth
and iron were dear; whereas, at the close of the century, the former were
becoming dearer from day to day, while the latter were as regularly be­
coming cheaper.
6.
Raw material tends, with the progress o f men in wealth and civiliza­
tion, to rise in price. What, however, is raw material ? In answer to
this question, we may say, that all the products of the earth are, in their
turn, finished commodity and raw material. Coal and ore are the finished
commodity of the miner, and yet they are only the raw material of which
pig-iron is made. The latter is the finished commodity o f the smelter,
and yet it is but the raw material o f the puddler, and of him who rolls
the bar. The bar, again, is the raw material of sheet-iron,— that, in turn,
becoming the raw material of the nail and the spike. These, in time,
become the raw material o f the house, in the diminished cost of which
are found concentrated all the changes that have been observed in the
various stages of passage from the rude ore— lying useless in the earth—
to the nail and the spike, the hammer and the saw, required for the com­
pletion o f a modern dwelling.
In the early and barbarous ages o f society, land and labor are very low
in price, and the richest deposits o f coal and ore are worthless. Houses
being then obtained with exceeding difficulty, men are forced to depend
for shelter against wind and rain upon holes and caves they find existing
in the earth. In time, they are enabled to combine their efforts; and
with every step in the course of progress, land and labor acquire power
to command money in exchange, while the house loses it. As the ser­
vices o f fuel are more readily commanded, pig-iron is more easily obtained.
Both, in turn, facilitate the making o f bars and sheets, nails and spikes,
and all of these facilitate the creation o f boats, ships, and houses; but
each and every o f these improvements tends to increase the prices of the
original raw materials— land and labor. A t no period in the history of
the world has the general price of these latter been so high as in the
present on e; at none would the same quantity o f money have purchased
so staunch a boat, so fleet a ship, or so comfortable a house.
The more finished a commodity, the greater is the tendency to a fall of
price— all the economies of the earlier processes being accumulated to­
gether in the later ones. Houses, thus, profit by all improvements in the
making of bricks, in the quarrying o f stone, in the conversion o f lumber,
and in the working of the metals. So, too, is it with articles o f clothing
— every improvement in the various processes of spinning, weaving, and
dyeing, and in the conversion of clothing into garments, being found
gathered together in the coat— the more numerous those improvements,
the lower being its price, and the higher that of the land and labor to
which the wool is due.




Money.

411

With every stage o f progress in that direction, there is an increasing
tendency towards an equality in the prices of the more and the less fin­
ished commodities— and towards an approximation in the character o f
the books, clothing, furniture, and dwellings o f the various portions o f
society; with constant increase in power to maintain commerce between
those countries which do, and those which do not, yield the metals which
constitute the raw material of money.
For proof of this, we may look to any o f the advancing communities of
the world. In the days when the French peasant would have been re­
quired to give an ox for a ream and a half of paper, wine was much
higher than it is at present— peaches were entirely unattainable— the finer
vegetables now in use were utterly unknown— a piece of refined sugar, or
a cup o f tea or coffee, were luxuries fit for kings alone— and an ell of
Dutch linen exchanged for the equivalent o f 60 francs — 111 25. Now—
the price of meat having wonderfully increased— the farm laborer is bet­
ter paid; and the consequences are seen in the fact, that with the price o f
an ox the farmer can purchase better wine than then was drunk by kings
— that he can obtain not only paper, but books and newspapers-— that he
can eat apricots and peaches— that sugar, tea, and coffee have become
necessaries of life— and that he can have a supply o f linen which would, in
earlier times, have almost sufficed for the entire household of a nobleman.
Such are the results of an increase in the facility of association and com­
bination among m en; and if we now desire to find the instrument to
which they are most indebted for the power to combine their efforts, we
must look for it in that to which we have given the name o f money. Such
being the case, it becomes important that we ascertain what are the cir­
cumstances under which the power to command the use of that instrument
increases, and what are those under which it declines.
7.
To acquire dominion over the various natural forces provided for his
use, is both the pleasure and the duty of man ; and the greater the amount
acquired, the ligher becomes his labor, and the greater is the tendency to
increase of power. W ith each addition thereto, he finds less resistance
to his further efforts; and hence it is, that each successive discovery
proves to be but the precursor of newer and greater ones. Franklin’s
lightning-rod was but the preparation for the telegraph-wires that connect
our cities; and they, in turn, are but the precursors of those destined
soon to enable us to read, at the breakfast-table, an account o f the occur­
rences of the previous day in Europe, Asia, and Australia, Each succes­
sive year thus augments the power of man, and with every new discovery
utility is given to forces that now are being wasted. The more they are
utilized— the more nature is made to labor in man’s service— the less is
the quantity of human effort required for the reproduction of the com­
modities needed for his comfort, convenience, or enjoyment— the less is
the value of all previous accumulations— and the greater is the tendency
towards giving to the labor of the present, power over the capital created
by the labors of the past.
Utility is the measure of man’s power over nature. The greater it is,
the larger is the demand for the commodity or thing utilized, and the
greater the attractive force exerted upon it, wherever found. Look where
we may, we see that every raw material yielded by the earth tends towards
those places at which it has the highest utility, and that there it is the




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Money.

value of the finished article is least.* Wheat tends towards the grist-mill,
and there it is that flour is cheapest. Cotton and wool tend towards the
mills at which they are to be spun and woven, and there it is that the
smallest quantity o f money will purchase a yard of cloth. On the other
hand, it is where cotton has the least utility— on the plantation— that
cloth has the highest value. Therefore it is, that we see communities so
universally prospering when the spindle and the loom are brought to the
neighborhood of the plow and the harrow, to utilize their products.
Precisely similar to this are the facts observed in regard to the precious
metals, everywhere on the earth’s surface seen to be tending towards
those places at which they have the highest utility— those at which men
most combine their efforts for utilizing the raw products of the earth—
those in which land most rapidly acquires a money value, or price— those,
therefore, in which the value of those metals, as compared with land, most
rapidly diminishes— and those in which the charge for the use o f money
is lowest. They tend to leave those places in which their utility is small,
and in which combination of action least exists— those, therefore, in which
the price of land is low, and the rate of interest high. In the first, there
is a daily tendency towards increase in the freedom o f m an; whereas, in
the last, the tendency is in the opposite direction— towards the subjuga­
tion of man to the control of those who live by the expenditure of taxes,
rent, and interest. Desiring evidence of this, we have but to look around
us at the present moment, and see how oppressively rent and interest ope­
rate upon the poorer portions of society— how numerous are the applica­
tions for the smallest office— and, above all, how great has been the increase
of pauperism in the past three years, in which our exports of specie have
been so large.
Looking to Mexico or Peru, to California or Siberia, we see but little
o f that combination of action required for giving utility to their metallic
products— little value in land— and interest higher than in any other or­
ganized communities in the world. Following those products, we see them
passing gradually through the West, towards the cities of the Atlantic, or
through Russia to St, Petersburg— every step of their progress being to­
wards those States or countries in which they have the greatest utility—
those in which combination o f action most exists, and in which, therefore,
man is daily acquiring power over the various forces of nature, and com­
pelling her more and more to aid him in his efforts for the attainment of
further power.
8.
For more than a century, Great Britain constituted the reservoir into
which was discharged the major part of the gold and silver produced
throughout the world. There it was, that the artisan and the farmer were
most nearly brought together— the power of association most existed—
the ultimate raw materials of commodities, land and labor, were most
utilized, and the consumption in the arts, o f gold and silver, was the greatest.f Now the state o f things is widely different. From year to year,
the land of the United Kingdom has become more consolidated— the little
proprietor having been superseded by the great middleman farmer, and
* Value is the measure of the obstacle interposed by nature to the gratification o f the wishes of
man.
t Thirty years since, the annual consumption of the precious metals in Great Britain was esti­
mated at £2,500,000, or $12,000,000.




Money.

413

the mere day-laborer; and the result is seen in the fact, that Great Brit­
ain has passed from being a place at which commodities are produced, to
be given in exchange for the produce of other lands— to being a mere
place of exchange for the people of those lands. W ith each successive
year, there is a decline in the proportion borne to the whole population
by the producing classes, and an increase in that borne by the non-pro­
ducing ones, with corresponding diminution in the power to retain the
products of the mines of Peru and Mexico.
The gold of California does not, as we know, to any material extent, re­
main among ourselves. Touching our Atlantic coast, only to be transferred
to steamers that bear it oft’ to Great Britain, it there meets the product of
the Australian mines— the two combined amounting to more than a hun­
dred millions of dollars a year. Both come there, however, merely in
transit— being destined, ultimately, to the payment of the people of Con­
tinental Europe, who have supplied raw products that have been converted
and exported, or finished ones that have been consumed. Much o f it goes
necessarily to France, whose exports have grown, in the short period of
twenty years, from 500,000,000 francs, to 1,400,000,000, and have steadily
maintained their commercial character. Manufactures are there the hand­
maids of agriculture; whereas, in the United Kingdom, they are, with
each successive year, becoming more and more the substitutes for it. To
a small quantity of cotton, silk, and other raw' products of distant lands,
France adds a large amount of the produce o f her farms— thus entitling
herself not only to receive, but to retain for her own uses and purposes,
nearly all the commodities that come to her from abroad. Her position
is that of the rich and enlightened farmer, who sells his products in their
highest form— thus qualifying himself for applying to the support o f his
family, the education of his children, and the improvement of his land,
the whole o f the commodities received in exchange. That of Britain is the
position of the trader, who passes through his hands a large amount of
property, o f which he is entitled to retain the amount o f his commission,
and nothing more. The one has an immense, and wonderfully growing
commerce, while the other performs a vast amount o f trade.
9.
The precious metals are steadily flowing to the north and east o f
Europe, and among the largest of their recipients we find Northern Ger­
many, now so rapidly advancing in wealth, power, and civilization. Den­
mark and Sweden, Austria and Belgium, following in the lead of France,
in the maintenance of the policy of Colbert, are moving in the same di­
rection ; and the consequences are seen in a growing habit o f association,
attended with daily augmentation in the amount of production, and in the
facility of accumulation, as exhibited in the building of mills, the opening
of mines, the construction o f roads, and the constantly augmenting power
to command the services o f the precious metals.
The causes o f these phenomena are readily explained. Raw materials
of every kind tend towards those places at which employments are most
diversified, because there it is that the products o f the farm command the
largest quantity of money. Gold and silver follow in the train o f raw
materials; and for the reason, that where the farmer and the artisan are
most enabled to combine, finished commodities are always cheapest. When
Germany exported corn and wool, they were cheap, and she was required
to export gold to aid in paying for the cloth and paper she imported; be­




414

Money.

cause they were very dear. Now she imports both wool and rags; her
farmers obtain high prices for their products, and are enriched; and the
gold comes to her, because cloth and paper are so cheap that she sends
them to the most distant quarters o f the world. So is it with France,
Belgium, Sweden, and Denmark— all of which are large importers of raw
materials, and of gold. In all those countries, raw materials rise in price;
and the greater the tendency to rise, the more rapidly must the current o f
the precious metals set in that direction. The country that desires to in­
crease its supplies of gold, and thus lower the price of money, is, therefore,
required to pursue that course of policy tending most to raise the prices
of raw material, and lower those of manufactures. This, however, is di­
rectly the opposite o f the policy advocated by the British school, which
seeks, in the cheapening of all the raw material o f manufactures, the means
o f advancing civilization.
10.
The reverse of what is above described is found in Ireland, Turkey,
and Portugal, so long the close allies af England— and so uniformly fol­
lowing in the course of policy now advocated by her economists. From
each and all of them, there has been an unceasing drain o f money—
the disappearance of the precious metals having been followed by decline in
the productiveness o f agriculture— in the prices of commodities, in the
value of land, and in the power of man.
France, in the decade prior to the Eden treaty in 1786, was advancing
in both manufactures and commerce with great rapidity, as is shown con­
clusively in M. de Tocqueville’s recent work.** Raw materials and the pre­
cious metals flowing in, and manufactured goods flowing out, the result
was seen in a daily increasing tendency towards the division of land, the
improvement of agriculture, and the increase of human freedom. From
the date of that treaty, however, all was changed. Manufactures flowed
in, and gold flowed out, with daily decline in the power o f association, in
the wages of labor, and in the value o f land. Universal distress producing
a demand for change of policy, its effect was seen in the calling together
of the States-General, whose appearance on the stage, for the first time in
a hundred and eighty years, was so soon to be followed by a revolution,
that sent to the guillotine the most of those by whom that treaty had
been made.
Looking to Spain, we see her poverty to have steadily increased from
the hour, when, by expelling her manufacturing population, she rendered
herself dependent upon the workshops of other countries. Mistress of
Mexico and Peru, she acted merely as the conduit through which their
* “ Simultaneous with these changes in the minds o f governed and governors, public prosperity
began to develop with unexampled strides. This is shown by all sorts of evidence. Population in­
creased rapidly; wealth more rapidly still. The American war did not check the movement—it
completed the embarrassment of the State, but did not impede private enterprise—individuals grew
more industrious, more inventive, richer than ever.
* An official of the time states, that in 1774, ‘ industrial progress had been so rapid that the amoun
o f taxable articles had largely increased.’ On comparing the various contracts made between the
State and the companies to which the taxes were farmed out, at different periods during the
reign of Louis X V I., one perceives that the yield was increasing with astonishing rapidity. The
lease of 1786 yielded fourteen millions more than that of 1780. Necker, in his report of 1781, esti­
mated that ‘ the produce of taxes on articles of consumption increased at the rate of two millions
a year.
“ Arthur Young states that in 1788 the commerce of Bordeaux was greater than that of Liverpool,
and adds, that ‘ of late years, maritime trade has made more progress in France than in England;
the whole trade of France has doubled in the last twenty years.’ ” —D e T ocqueville : The Old
Regime and the Revolution, p. 210.




Money.

415

wealth passed to the advancing countries of the world, as is now the case
with Great Britain and the United States.
Turning next to Mexico, we see her to have been declining steadily in
power from the day on which she obtained her independence ; and for the
reason, that from that date her manufactures began to disappear. From
year to year she becomes more and more dependent upon the trader, and
more and more compelled to export her commodities in their rudest state ;
as a necessary consequence o f which, her power to retain the produce of
her mines is constantly diminishing.
11.
The facts thus far presented, may now be embodied in the follow­
ing propositions:—
Raw materials tend towards those countries in which employments are
most diversified— in which the power of association most exists— and in
which land and labor tend most to rise in price.
The precious metals tend towards the same countries; and for the rea­
son, that there it is that finished commodities are least in price.
The greater the attractive force exerted upon those raw materials and
this gold, the more does agriculture tend to become a science— the larger
are the returns to agricultural labor— the more steady and regular becomes
the motion of society— the more rapid is the development of the powers
of the land, and o f the men by whom it is occupied— the larger is the
commerce— ind the greater the progress towards happiness, wealth, and
power.
Raw materials tend from those countries in which employments are least
diversified— those in which the power o f combination least exists— and
those, consequently, in which land and labor are least in price.
The precious metals, too, tend to leave those countries, because there it
is that finished commodities are dearest.
The greater the expulsive force that is thus exhibited, the slower is the
circulation of society, and the smaller is the amount of commerce—the
more rapid is the exhaustion o f the soil— the lower is the condition of
agriculture— the less is the return to the labors of the field— the lower
are the prices of the products o f the farm— the less is the regularity of the
motion of society— the greater is the power o f the trader— and the stronger
is the tendency towards pauperism and crime among the people, and to­
wards weakness in the government.
The portions of the world from which the precious metals flow, in which
agriculture declines, and men becomes less free, are those which follow in
the lead o f England— preferring the supremacy of trade to the extension
of commerce— Ireland, Turkey, Portugal, India, Carolina, and other ex­
clusively agricultural countries.
The portions towards which they flow are those which follow in the lead
of France— preferring the extension o f commerce to the enlargement of
the trader’s power. Germany and Denmark, Sweden and New England,
are in this position. In all of these agriculture becomes more and more
a science, as employments become diversified— the returns to agricultural
labor increasing as the prices of raw materials tend to rise.
In all the countries to which they flow, the prices o f raw materials and
those of finished commodities tend to approximate— the farmer giving a
steadily diminishing quantity o f wool and corn in return for a constant
quantity of cloth and iron.




416

Money.

In those from which they flow, those prices become from year to year
more widely separated— the farmer and the planter giving a steadily in­
creasing quantity of wool and corn for a diminishing quantity of iron, or
of cloth.
Such are the facts presented by the history of the outer world, o f both
the present and the past. How far they are in accordance with our own
experience, we may now inquire.
12.
The mining communities of the world having raw products to sell,
and needing to purchase finished commodities, the gold and silver they
produce flow naturally to those countries that have such commodities to
sell; and not towards those which have only raw materials to offer in ex­
change. India has cotton to sell; Ireland and Turkey have grain ; Brazil
has sugar and coffee; while Alabama has only cotton; for which reason
it is, that money is always scarce in those countries, and the rate o f interest
high. Looking homeward, we find that whenever our policy has tended
towards the production o f combination of action between the farmer and
the artisan, we have been importers o f the precious metals, and that then
land and labor have risen in price. The contrary effect has invariably been
produced, whenever our policy has tended to the diminution o f associa­
tion, and the production of a necessity for looking abroad for making all
our exchanges of food and wool for cloth and iron— limited, however, for
the period immediately following the change, by the existence of a credit
that has enabled us to run in debt to Europe, and thus for a time to arrest
the export of the precious metals. What was the precise course o f the
trade in those metals during the thirty years preceding the discovery of
the Californian gold deposits, is shown by the following figures:—
Excess exports.

1821-1825 .............................................................
112,600,000
1826-1829........................................................................................
1880-1834........................................................................................
1835-1838........................................................................................
1839-1842.............................................................
9,000,000
1843-1847........................................................................................
1848-1850.............................................................
14,000,000

Excess imports.

................
$4,000,000
20,000,000
34,000,000
................
39,000,000

In the closing years o f the free trade system o f 1817, the average ex­
cess of specie export was about $2,500,000 a year. To this adding a sim­
ilar amount, only, for the annual consumption, we obtain an absolute dimi­
nution of five-and-twenty millions, while the population had increased
about ten per cent. Under such circumstances, it is no matter of surprise
that those years are conspicuous among the most calamitous ones in our
history. A t Pittsburg, flour then sold at $1 25 per barrel; wheat, through­
out Ohio, would command but 20 cents a bushel; while a ton of bar iron
required little short of eighty barrels o f flour to pay for it. Such was the
state of affairs that produced the tariff o f 1824— a very imperfect meas­
ure of protection, but one that, imperfect as it was, changed the course of
the current, and caused a net import, in the four years that followed, of
$4,000,000 of the precious metals. In 1828, there was enacted the first
tariff tending directly to the promotion o f association throughout the
country ; and its effects exhibit themselves in an excess import of the pre­
cious metals— averaging $4,000,000 a year— notwithstanding the discharge,
in that period, of the whole o f the national debt that had been held in




Money.

417

Europe, amounting to many millions. Putting together the discharge of
debt and the import o f coin, the balance o f trade in that period must have
been in our favor to the extent of nearly $50,000,000; or an average of
about $10,000,000 a year. As a consequence, prosperity existed to an ex­
tent never before known— the power to purchase foreign commodities
growing with such rapidity as to render it necessary greatly to enlarge
the free list; and then it was that coffee, tea, and many other raw com­
modities, were emancipated from the payment o f any impost. Thus did
efficient protection lead to a freedom of commerce, abroad and at home,
such as had never before existed.
The first few years of the compromise tariff o f 1833 profited largely by
the prosperity caused by the act o f 1828, and the reductions under it were
then so small that its operation was but slightly felt. In those years, too,
there was contracted a considerable foreign debt— stopping the export of
specie, and producing an excess import averaging more than $8,000,000
a year. Prosperity seemed to exist, but it was of the same description that
has marked the last few years, during which the value of all property has
depended entirely upon the power to contract debts abroad— thus placing
the nation more completely under the control o f its distant creditors.
In the succeeding years, the compromise became more fully operative.*
Furnaces and factories were closed, with constantly increasing necessity
for looking abroad for the performance of all exchanges, and correspond­
ing necessity for remitting money to pay the balance due on the purchases
of previous years. Nevertheless, the annual specie export averaged little
more than $2,000,000; but if to this be added a consumption of only
$3,000,000 a year, we have a reduction of $20,000,000 ; the consequences
of which were seen in almost total suspension of commerce. The whole
country was in a state o f ruin. Laborers were everywhere out o f em­
ployment, and being still consumers, while producing nothing, the power
of accumulation ceased almost to exist. Debtors being everywhere at the
mercy of creditors, sales of real estate were chiefly accomplished by help
of sheriffs, whose employments were then more productive than they had
been from the date o f the constitution.
The change in the value o f labor, consequent upon the stoppage of the
circulation that followed this trivial export o f the 'precious metals, cannot
be placed at less than $500,000,000 a year. Wages were low, even where
employment could be obtained ; but a large portion of the labor-power of
the country was totally wasted, and the demand for mental power dimin­
ished even more rapidly than that for physical exertion. In the prices of
land, houses, machinery o f all kinds, and other similar property, the re­
duction counted by thousands of millions o f dollars ; and yet, the difference
between the two periods ending in 1833 and 1842, in regard to the mone­
tary movement, was only that between an excess import o f $5,000,000,
and an excess export o f $2,500,000, or a total of $7,500,000 a year. No
one who studies these facts, can fail to be struck with the wonderful power
over the fortunes and conditions of men exerted by the metals provided
by the Creator for furthering the work o f association among mankind.
With the small excess o f import in the first period, there was a steady
* One-tenth of the excess over 20 per cent was reduced in December, 1883; another tenth in 1835,
a third in 1837; and a fourth in 1839; the remaining excess of duties being then equally divided into
two parts, to be reduced in 1841 and 1842.
VOL. XXXVI.-----NO. IV .




27

418

Monty.

tendency towards equality of condition among the poor and the rich, the
debtor and the creditor; whereas, with the slight excess of export in the
second one, there was a daily increasing tendency towards inequality— the
poor laborer and the debtor, passing steadily more under the control of
the rich employer, and the wealthy creditor. Of all the machinery fur­
nished for the use o f man, there is none so equalizing in its tendency as
that known by the name o f m oney; and yet economists would have the
world believe that the agreeable feeling which everywhere attends a knowl­
edge that it is flowing in, is evidence o f ignorance— any reference to
the question o f the favorable or unfavorable balance of trade being
beneath the dignity of men who feel that they are following in the foot­
steps of Hume and Smith. It would, however, be as difficult to find a
single prosperous country that is not, from year to year, making itself a
better customer to the gold-producing countries, as it would be to find one
that is not becoming a better customer to those which produce silk, or
cotton. To an improving customer, there must be in its favor a steadily
increasing balance of trade, to be settled by payment in the commodity
for whose production the country is fitted, whether that be cloth, or to­
bacco, silver or gold.
The condition o f the nation at the date of the passage of the act of
1842, was humiliating in the extreme. The treasury— unable to obtain
at home the means required for administering the government, even on
the most economical scale— had failed in all its efforts to negotiate a loan
at six per cent, even in the same foreign markets in which it had but re­
cently paid off, at par, a debt bearing an interest of only three per cent.
Many of the States, and some even of the oldest o f them, had been forced
to suspend the payment of interest on their debts. The banks, to a great
extent, were in a state of suspension, and those which professed to redeem
their notes, found their business greatly restricted by the increasing demand
for coin to go abroad. The use of either gold or silver as currency had
almost altogether ceased. The Federal government, but recently so rich,
was driven to the use o f inconvertible paper money, in all its transactions
with the people. Of the merchants, a large portion had become bank­
rupt. Factories and furnaces being closed, hundreds of thousands of per­
sons were totally unemployed. Commerce had scarcely an existence—
those who could not sell their own labor, being unable to purchase of
others. Nevertheless, deep as was th'e abyss into which the nation had
been plunged, so magical was the effect o f the adoption of a system that
had turned the balance o f trade in its favor, that scarcely had the act of
August, 1842, become a law, when the government found that it could
have all its wants supplied at home. Mills, factories, and furnaces, long
closed, were again opened; labor came again into demand; and, before
the close of its third year, prosperity almost universally reigned. States
recommenced the payment of interest on their debts. Eailroads and canals
again paid dividends. Eeal estate had doubled in value, and mortgages
had been everywhere lightened; and yet the total net import of specie in
the first four of the years, was but $17,000,000, or $4,250,000 per annum !
In the last year occurred the Irish famine, creating a great demand for
fo o d ; the consequence of which was, an import of no less than $22,000,000
of gold— making a total import, in five years, of $39,000,000. Deducting
from this but $4,000,000 per annum for consumption, it leaves an annual
increase, for the purposes of circulation, o f less than $5,000,000; and yet




Money.

419

the difference in the prices o f labor and land in 1847, as compared with
1842, would be lowly estimated, if placed at only $2,000,000,000.
With 1847, however, there came another change of policy— the nation
being again called upon to try the system under which it had been pros­
trated in 1840-42. The doctrines o f Hume and Smith, in reference to
the balance of trade, were again adopted as those by which a government
was to be directed in its movements. Protection being then repudiated,
the consequences were speedily seen in the fact, that within three years,
factories and furnaces were again closed, labor was seeking demand, and
gold was flowing out even more rapidly than it had come in under the
tariff of 1842. The excess export o f those three years amounted to
$14,000,000 ; and if to this be added $15,000,000 for consumption, it fol­
lows that the reduction was equal to the total increase under the previous
system. Circulation was everywhere being suspended, and a crisis was
close at hand, when, fortunately for the advocates of the existing system,
the gold deposits o f California were brought to light.
In the year 1850-’o l, the quantity received from that source was more
than $40,000,000, o f which nearly $20,000,000 were retained at home.
The consequence was speedily seen in a reduction o f the rate o f interest,
and a re-establishment of commerce. In the following year, $37,000,000
were exported, leaving, perhaps, $8,000,000 or $10,000,000, which, added
to that retained in 1851, made an addition to the currency of probably
$30,000,000— producing universal life and motion. In 1 8 o2 -’53, there
was still a slight increase, but in the two years following, the export was
$97,000,000 ; and if to this we add a domestic consumption that probably
was but little short of $20,000,000, we obtain a total amount withdrawn
exceeding the receipts from all the world. Looking now to the Union
east o f the Rocky Mountains, it may well be doubted if the effective ad­
dition to the stock of the precious metals remaining in the form o f coin
much exceeds a single dollar per head of the population.* It may amount
to $30,000,000, or $35,000,000 ; and small as is that sum, it would have
produced a great effect in promoting rapidity o f circulation, had it not
been that, simultaneously therewith, the indebtedness to foreign countries
had so much increased, as to require, for the payment o f interest alone, an
annual remittance equal to the whole export o f food to all the world— pro­
ducing doubt and general distrust— causing an extensive hoarding o f
money, and palsying the movement of commerce. As a consequence of
this it is, that the country now presents the most extraordinary spectacle
in the world— that o f a community owning one of the great sources of
supply for money, in which the price paid for its use is generally thrice,
* In the last Treasury Report, the addition to the stock of the precious metals in the last few
years is estimated at more than $100,000,000, and possibly, even $150,000,000. Small allowance is
there, however, made for a consumption in the arts, that must, in the last five years, have absorbed
at least fifty of those millions. None is made for the fact, that $20,000,000 are always kept in the
Treasury vaults, and while there arc as useless as would be a similar weight o f pebble-stones. Much
advantage is claimed to have resulted from increasing the difficulty of transferring the property in
money, b y compelling individuals to carry gold in their pockets, when, if the law permitted, they
would prefer to carry bank-notes. No allowance is made for a land system that compells millions o f
dollars in gold to be transported from one part of the country to another—at great cost and risk—
when drafts would be used, were it not that it is the object of the Federal government, as for as pos­
sible. to destroy the utility of the precious metals, by promoting their transportation, and thus pre­
venting their circulation. From the day when free trade was inaugurated as the policy o f the dom­
inant party of the country, there has been almost an unceasing war against credit; and tho result is
seen in the fact, that it requires $200,000,000 of gold and silver to carry on a smaller amount o f com ­
merce, than would, under a sound system, be transacted by help of less than $100,000,000, and with
a steadiness and regularity that now are quite unknown.




420

Money.

and, in many parts of the country, six or eight times as great as in those
countries of Europe which find their gold mines in their furnaces, their
rolling-mills, and their cotton and woolen factories.
Our policy has, with slight exceptions, looked steadily towards keeping
down the prices of the rude products o f the earth, and thus facilitating
their export; and the precious metals always follow in their train. The
result is seen in the general exhaustion o f the soil— in the fact that agri­
culture makes but little progress— in the diminished yield of the land, and
in the steady decline of the price o f tobacco, flour, cotton, and other rude
products of the earth. Taking the averages of the several decades since
1810, the export prices o f flour have been as follows:—
For that ending in 1820.........................................................
“
“
1830.........................................................
“
“
1840
“
“
1850
The 8 years ending 1853........................................................
For 1853...............................................................................

$10
6
6
5
4
4

87
20
78
27
67
24

-—this last being probably the lowest price at which it has been sold since
the arrival o f Hendrick Hudson in your harbor. The prices above given,
I pray you to recollect, are those furnished in the recent Treasury Reports.
.Precisely similar to this have been the facts transpiring in relation to cot­
ton and tobacco ; of the former o f which, the planter was giving, in 1852,
little short of five pounds for the same quantity o f gold and silver that
seven-and-thirty years before he obtained for one.
The power to command the services o f the precious metals grows with
the growth of the power of association and combination. The policy of
the Union is hostile to association, and hence it is that our products fall
in price, while all the metals remain so dear. That is the course towards
barbarism. You will probably be disposed to say, that prices are now very
high, and that if such prices are to insure prosperity, it is certainly within
our reach. Such would be the case, were it not for the causes to which
they are due— great deficiency in the quantity produced. Twenty years
since, we had similar prices, and for the same reason— all the energies of
the country having then been given, as is now the case, to the creation of
food and cotton-producing machinery, and not to the production o f either
food or cotton. Those high prices were, however, only the precursors of
the ruinously low ones o f 1841 and ’42.
The quantity o f food now produced is far less, per head, than it was four
years since; while the average crop o f cotton, for the last four years, has
been less than that o f 1 8 5 1 -5 2 .
Desiring to know the cause, you
need only to look to the facts, that the rural population of your own State
is gradually diminishing; and that the young Ohio has now become the
great emigrating State o f the Union. The men who are now being driven
from farms in the East, to found colonies in the West, are consumers, and
not producers; but the day approaches, when the effects of their labor
will become visible in such a reduction o f prices as has never before been
known. Any one who, in 1835, had predicted the universal ruin of farms,
that followed three years later, would have been listened to with an incre­
dulity equal to that which you, probably, hear one say that the occurrences
o f 1841 -4 2 are yet to be repeated. In the last ten years, we have added
to our numbers almost as many millions; and yet we have scarcely more
persons engaged in the four chief branches o f manufacturing than we




421
had in 1847—48. Nearly the whole increase has been driven to the cre­
ation of farms and plantations, that will yet overwhelm the market with
food and cotton. The whole policy of the country is adverse to the agri­
cultural interest, for it tends toward cheapening raw products, and thus
promoting the exports o f the precious metals.

i

13.
“ In every kingdom into which money begins to flow in greater abun­
dance than formerly, everything,” says Mr. Hume, in his well-known
Essay on Money, “ takes a new fa ce: labor and industry gain life; the
merchant becomes more enterprising, the manufacturer more diligent and
skillful; and even the farmer follows his plow with more alacrity and at­
tention.”
That this is so, is well known to all. W h y should it be so ? Because
the circulation o f society then increases, and all power— whether in the
physical or social world— results from motion. When money is flowing
in, every man is enabled to find a purchaser for his labor, and to become
a purchaser of that of others Therefore it is, that commerce so steadily
increases in those countries in which the Californian and Australian pro­
ducts now so rapidly accumulate— France, Germany, and Northern and
Eastern Europe generally. When, on the contrary, money flows out, the
circulation diminishes, and labor is every where wasted. That labor-power
is capital, the result of the consumption o f other capital in the form of
food; and all the difference between an advancing and a declining state
of society, is found in the faet, that in the one, there is a constant increase
in the rapidity with whieh the demand for museular or mental power fol­
lows its production, while in the other, there is a daily diminution therein.
The more instantly the demand follows the supply, the more is the force
economized, and the larger is the power of accumulation. The longer the
interval between production and consumption, the greater is the waste of
force, and the less is the power of accumulation.
Of all the machinery in use among men, there is none that exercises
upon their actions so great an influence as that which gathers up and di­
vides and subdivides, and then gathers up again, to be on the instant di­
vided and subdivided again, the minutes and quarter-hours of a commu­
nity. It is the machinery o f association, and the indispensable machinery
of progress; and therefore it is, that we see in all new or poor communi­
ties so constant an effort to obtain something to be used in place o f i t ; as
is shown in various countries in which an irredeemable paper constitutes
the only medium of exchange. Throughout the West, a currency of some
description is felt to be among the prime necessities of life. So well is
this want understood, that many Eastern banks supply notes expressly for
Western circulation, and the people there pass them from hand to hand,
because any money is better than none, and good they cannot get, for the
reason that metallic money always flows from, the place where the charge
for its use is high, to that at whieh it is low. The rate o f interest in the
West is now enormous, but every day witnesses the export of gold to the
East, where it is somewhat less; and yet even your high interest— rang­
ing, as it has done for years, between ten and thirty per cent per annum
— cannot prevent it from going to France and Germany, where it com­
mands but five or six per cent. Money thus obeys the same law as water
— seeking always the lowest level. The latter falls upon the hills, but from
the moment of its fall it never stops until it reaches the ocean ; nor does




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Money.

the gold of California, or the silver of Mexico, stop until it reaches that
point at which money most abounds, and at which, for that reason, the
price paid for its use is least.
O f all the commodities in use by man, the precious metals are those
that render the largest amount o f service in proportion to their cost— and
those whose movements furnish the most perfect test of the soundness or
unsoundness of its commercial system. They go from, those countries
whose people are engaged in exhausting the soil, to those in which they
renovate and improve it. They go from those at which the price of raw
products, and the land itself, is low—from those at which money is scarce
and interest is high. The country that desires to attract the precious
metals, and to lower the charge for the use of money, has, then, only to
adopt the measures required for raising the price of land and labor. In
all countries, the value of land grows with that development o f the human
faculties which results from diversity in the modes of employment, and
from the growth of the power of combination.
That power grows in
France, and in all the countries o f Northern Europe; and for the reason,
as has been shown, that all those countries have adopted the course of
policy recommended by Colbert, and carried out by France. It declines
in Great Britain, in Ireland, in Portugal, in Turkey, in the Eastern and
Western Indies, and in all countries that follow the teachings of the Brit­
ish school. It has grown among ourselves in every period of protection;
and then money has flowed in, and land and labor have risen in value. It
has diminished in every period in which trade lias obtained the mastery
over commerce. Land and labor have always declined in value as soon
as our people had eaten, drunk, and worn foreign merchandise to the ex­
tent of hundreds of millions of dollars, for which they had not paid; and
had thus destroyed their credit with other communities of the world.
14.
W e are told, however, by the same writer-—Mr. Hume— and in that
he is followed by the modern economists— that the only effect o f an in­
crease of the supply of gold and silver is that of “ heightening the price
of commodities, and obliging every one to pay more o f those little yellow
or white pieces for everything he purchases.” W ere such really the case,
it would be little short o f a miracle that we should see money always,
century after century, passing in the same direction— to the countries that
are rich from those that are poor; so poor, too, that they cannot afford to
keep as much of it as is absolutely necessary for their own exchanges.
The gold of Siberia leaves a land in which so little circulates that labor
and its products are at the lowest prices, to find its way to St. Petersburg,
where it will purchase less labor and less of either wheat or hemp thau it
would do at home ; and that of Carolina and Virginia goes steadily and
regularly, year after year, to the countries to which the people of those
States send their cotton and their wheat, because o f the higher prices at
which they sell. The silver of Mexico, and its cochineal, travel together
to the same market; and the gold o f Australia passes to Britain by the
ship which carries the wool yielded by its flocks.
Every addition to the stock of money, as we are assured by the inge­
nious men of modern days engaged in compiling treasury tables and
finance reports, renders a country a good place to sell in, bnt a bad one
in which to purchase. To what countries, however, is it that men have
most resorted when they desired to purchase 1 Have they not, until re­




Money.

423

cently, gone, almost exclusively, to Britain ? It has been so, assuredly;
and for the reason, that there it has been that finished commodities were
cheaply furnished. Where have they gone to sell ? Has it not been to
Britain ? It certainly has been s o ; and for the reason, that there it was
that gold, cotton, wheat, and all other of the rude products of the earth,
were dear. Where do they now most tend to go when they desire to
purchase cloths or silks? Is it not to France and Germany? So it cer­
tainly is ; and for the reason, that there it is that raw materials are high­
est, and finished ones are cheapest. Gold follows in the train o f raw ma­
terials generally— these last being found, invariably, traveling to those places
at which the rude products o f the earth command the highest price, while
cloth, iron, and manufactures of iron and other metals, may be purchased
at the lowest; and the greater the flow in that direction, the greater is
the tendency to further enhancing the prices of the former, and reducing
those of the latter. From this it would seem that increase in the supply
and circulation of money, so far from having the effect of causing men
to give two pieces for an article that could before have been had for one,
has, on the contrary, that of enabling them to obtain fo r one piece the
commodity that before had cost them two ; and that such is the fact, can
readily be shown.
It is within the knowledge of all, that manufactures have greatly fallen
in price— the quantity o f cotton cloth that can now be obtained for a
single dollar being as great as would formerly have cost five— and that
the reduction has taken place in the very countries into which the gold o f
the world has steadily flowed, and into which it is now flowing— whence
it would appear quite certain that finished commodities tend to fall as
money flows in, while land and labor— the ultimate raw materials o f all
— tend to rise in price.
The gold of California and Australia now goes
to Germany, France, Belgium, and Great Britain, where money abounds
and interest is low, because there manufactured commodities are cheap
and money is valuable, when measured by them. It does not go to Spain,
Italy, Portugal, or Turkey, because there manufactured goods are dear,
and land and labor are cheap. It does not stop in Mississippi, Arkansas,
or Texas, because there, too, manufactures are dear, and land and labor
are cheap ; but there it will stop at some future period, when it shall have
been ascertained that the plow and the harrow should always be the near
neighbors of the spindle and the loom.
The higher products o f a skillful agriculture— fruits, garden vegetables,
and flowers— tend steadily to decline in price in all those countries into
which money is flowing; and for the reason, that agricultural improve­
ment always accompanies manufactures, and manufactures always attract
the precious metals. Every one familiar with the operations of the West,
knows that while corn and pork are there always cheap, cabbages, peas,
beans, and all green crops, are invariably scarce and dear; and so con­
tinue, until, as around Cincinnati and Pittsburg, population and wealth
have given a stimulus to the work of cultivation. In England, the increase
of green crops of all kinds has been immense, attended with the decline
in price; and in France, a recent writer* informs us that, notwithstanding
the increase in the quantity of money, the price of wine is scarcely more
than a fourth o f what it was three centuries since. By another we are




* M. Moreau de Jonues.

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Money.

told, that “ every man in France, o f forty years o f age, must have re­
marked the sensible diminution of the price o f garden produce, fruits of
all kinds, flowers, & c.; and that most o f the oleaginous grains and plants
used in manufactures have fallen in like manner; while beets, carrots,
beans, <fec.. have become so common that they are now fed to animals in
the stable.” *
Food thus becomes more abundant in those countries into which gold
is steadily flowing, and it becomes less so in those from which the gold
flows, as is seen in Carolina, which has steadily exhausted her land— in
Turkey— in Portugal— and in India. In all those countries, land and la­
bor are low in price. Give them manufactures— thus enabling their peo­
ple to combine their eflorts— and they will obtain and retain gold ; and
then they will make roads, and the supplies of food will steadily increase
as cloth and iron become cheaper; and land and labor will then rise in
price.
15. O f what use, however, it may be asked, are further supplies o f gold
and silver when a country has obtained the full allowance required for the
most perfect circulation o f its products, and of the services of the persons
of whom the society is composed ? Is it not possible that the commodity
may become superabundant? It is n ot; and for the reason, that the uses
of those metals are so numerous and great. Silver is better than iron for
a great variety of purposes. The melting-pot of the goldsmith, or the
subjection to the hammer o f the gold-beater, is the ultimate destination
of the whole of the vast products of Siberia, California, and Australia;
and the greater the power to use them in the arts, the more rapid must
be the progress o f civilization. That power grows with increase in the
facility of combination, and the latter grows with the increased facility of
obtaining this essential machinery o f association. The miner of gold is
thus always making; a market for his commodity, and the more of it that
he supplies, the greater is the tendency towards decline in the price of
the cloth, the watches, the steam-engines, and the books that he seeks to
purchase. In proof that such is the case, it is needed only that— looking
back for half a century— we remark the vast increase in the demand for
plate, and the growing substitution o f gold for the silver that so recently
was used. Forty years since, gold watches were the exception. Now, a
silver watch is rarely seen. Thirty years since, a gold pencil-case was
quite a rarity. Now, such cases are made almost by millions. A quar­
ter of a century since, a gilt-edged book was an unusual article of luxury.
Now, gold is required almost by tons for gilding the edges o f books. So
is it everywhere— gold and silver coming daily into use, because o f the
increased facility with which they may be obtained ; while all the com­
modities required for the miner’s purposes have steadily declined in price.
That “ all discord ” is “ harmony not understood,” we are assured ; and
the more we study the laws of nature, the more conclusive become the
proofs that such is certainly the case.
16. The use of bank-notes tends, however, as we are assured, to pro­
mote the expulsion o f gold. W ere it to do so, it would be in opposition
to the great general law in virtue of which all commodities tend to, and




* De Fontenay: Du Revenu Fonder.

Money.

425

not from , the places at which they have the highest utility. A bank is a
machine for utilizing money, by enabling A, B, and C to obtain the use
of it at the time when D, E, and F, its owners, do not need its services.
The direct effect of the establishment o f such institutions in the cities of
Europe has always been to cause money to flow towards those cities; and
for the reason, that there its utility stood at the highest point. Even then,
however, there were difficulties attendant upon the change o f property in
the money deposited with the bank— the owner being required to go to
the banking-house, and write it off to other parties. To obviate this diffi­
culty, and thus increase the utility of money, its owners were at length
authorized to draw checks, by means o f which they were enabled to trans­
fer their property without stirring from their houses.
The difficulty still, however, existed, that— private individuals not being
generally known— such checks could, in general, effect but a single trans­
fer, and thus the recipient of money found himself obliged to go through
the operation of taking possession o f that which had been transferred to
him, after which he had, in his turn, to draw a check when he himself de­
sired to effect another change of property. To obviate this, circulating
notes were invented, and by their help the ownership of money is now
transferred with such rapidity that a single hundred dollars passes from
hand to hand fifty times a day— effecting exchanges, perhaps, to the ex­
tent of many thousand dollars, and without the parties being at any time
required to devote a single instant to the work of counting the coin. This
was a great invention, and by its aid, the utility of money was so much
increased that a single thousand pieces could be made to do more work
than without it could be done bv hundreds of thousands.
This, of course, as we are told, supersedes gold and silver, and causes
them to be exported. So we are certainly assured by those economists
who regard man as an animal that must be fed and will procreate ; and
that can be made to work only under the pressure of a strong necessity.
Were they, however, to look, for once, at the real m a n — the being made
in the image o f his Creator, and capable of almost infinite elevation— they
would, perhaps, arrive at a conclusion widely different. The desires of
that man are infinite, and the more they are gratified, the more rapidly do
they increase in number. The miserable Hottentot dispenses with a road
of any kind, but the enlightened and intelligent people o f other countries
are seen passing in succession from the ordinary village road to the turn­
pike, and thence to the railroad ; and the better the existing communica­
tions, the greater is the thirst fo r further improvement. The better the
schools and houses, the greater is the desire for superior teachers and fur­
ther additions to the comforts of the dwelling. The more perfect the cir­
culation of society, the larger is the reward of labor, and the greater is
the power to purchase gold and silver, to be used for the various purposes
for which they are so admirably fitted, and the greater is the tendency to
have them flow to the places at which that circulation is established.
Money promotes the circulation of society. The check and the bank-note
stimulate that circulation— giving thereby value to labor and land ; and
wherever these checks and notes are most in use, there should the inward
current o f the precious metals be most fully and firmly established.
That such is the case, is proved by the facts, that, for a century past,
the precious metals have tended most to Britain, where such notes were
most in use. Their use increases rapidly in France, with constant increase




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Money.

in the inward flow of gold. So, too, does it in Germany, towards which
the auriferous current now sets so steadily that notes which are the re­
presentatives o f money are rapidly taking the place o f those irredeemable
pieces o f paper by which the use of coin has so long been superseded.
Whence flows all this gold ? From the countries in which employments
are not diversified; from those in which there is little power of associa­
tion and combination; from those in which, therefore, credit has no ex­
istence ; from those, finally, which do not use that machinery which so
much increases the utility of the precious metals, and which we are ac­
customed to designate by the term bank-note. The precious metals go
from California—-from Mexico—from Peru—from Brazil —from Turkey—
and from Portugal— the lands in which property in money is transferred
only by means of actual delivery of the coin itself— to those in which it
is transferred by means of a check or note. It goes from the plains of
Kansas, where notes are not in use, to New York and New England, where
they are—from Siberia to St. Petersburg—from the banks of African
rivers to London and Liverpool— and from the “ diggings” o f Australia
to the towns and cities of Germany, where wool is dear and cloth is
cheap.
17.
All the facts exhibited throughout the world tend to prove that
every commodity seeks that place at which it has the highest utility; and
all those connected with the movement of the precious metals prove that
they constitute no exception to the rule. Bank-notes increase the utility
of those metals, and should, therefore, attract, and not repel, them. Nev­
ertheless, the two nations o f the world which claim best to understand
the principles of commerce, are now engaged in a crusade against those
notes; and in the vain hope o f thereby rendering their several countries
more attractive o f the produce of the mines o f Peru and Mexico, Austra­
lia and California. In this case, England follows in our lead— Sir Robert
Peel’s restrictions being later in date, by several years, than the declara­
tion of war against circulating notes fulminated by our government.
It is a pure absurdity; and its adoption here is due to the fact that our
system of policy tends to that expulsion of the precious metals which al­
ways must result from the long-continued export of the raw products of
the earth. The administration that adopted what is called free trade, was
the same that commenced the system of compelling the community to
use gold instead o f notes; and the result was found in the disappearance
from circulation of coin of any description whatsoever. From that time
to the present, the motto o f the generally dominant party of the Union
has been— “ W ar to the death against b a n k -n o te sa n d , with a view to
promote their expulsion, laws have been passed in various States forbid­
ding their use except when of too large size to enter freely into the trans­
actions of the community. As must, however, inevitably be the case, the
tendency to the loss of the precious metals has always been in the direct
ratio of the diminution in their utility thus produced. A t one time only,
in almost twenty years, has there been an excess import of those metals,
and that was under the tariff of 1842. Then, money became abundant
and cheap, because the policy of the country looked to the promotion of
association and the extension o f commerce. Now, it is scarce and dear,
because that policy limits the power of association, and established the
supremacy of trade.




Money.

427

18.
O f all the machinery in use among men, there is none whose yield
is so great in proportion to its cost as that employed in effecting exchanges
from hand to hand— none whose movements inward or outward are so
strong an evidence of increase or decrease of the productive power o f the
community— none, therefore, that affords the statesman so excellent a ba­
rometer by means of which to judge of the working o f his measures. It
is, nevertheless, of all others, the one whose movements are, by economists
generally, regarded as least worthy of consideration. By many o f them
we are even taught that the only effect o f an increase in the supply of a
commodity whose possession is so anxiously sought by all mankind, is,
that instead of having the labor of counting out one, two, or three hun­
dred pieces, we should be forced to count three, six, or nine hundred ; and
that, therefore, there is economy in being forced to perform the work of
exchange with the smallest quantity of the machinery by aid of which,
alone, it can he performed. All the teachings on this subject are in direct
opposition to those of the common sense of mankind ; and, as is usually
the case, that to which all men are prompted by a sense of their own in­
terests, is far more nearly right than that which is taught by philosophers
who look inward to their own minds for the laws which govern man and
matter— refusing to study the movements o f the people by whom they
are surrounded.
The uninstructed savage finds in the waterspout and the earthquake
the most conclusive proof o f the wonderful power of nature. The man
of science finds it in the magnificent, but unseen, machinery by means of
which the waters o f the ocean are daily raised, to descend again in re­
freshing dews and summer showers. He finds it, too, in that insensible
perspiration which carries oft' so nearly the whole amount o f food absorbed
by men and animals. Again ; he sees it in the workings of the little ani­
mals, invisible to the naked eye, to whom we are indebted for the creation
of islands, elaborated out of earth that has been carried from the moun­
tains to the sea, and there deposited. Studying these facts, he is led to
the conclusion, that it is in the minute and almost insensible operation of
the physical laws he is to find the highest proof o f the power of nature,
and the largest amount of force. So, too, is it in the social world. To
the uninstructed savage, the ship presents most forcibly the idea of com­
merce. The mere trader finds it in the transport o f cargoes o f cotton,
wheat, or lumber; and in the making o f bills of exchange for tens of
thousands o f dollars, or of pounds. The student of social science, on the
contrary, sees it in the exercise of a power of association and combination
resulting from development of the various human faculties, and enabling
each and every member of society to exchange his days, hours, and min­
utes for commodities and things to whose production have been applied
the days, hours, and minutes o f the various persons with whom he is as­
sociated. For that commerce, pence, sixpences, and shillings are required;
and in them he finds willing slaves, whose operations bear to those of the
ship, the same relation that is elsewhere borne by the little coral insect to
the elephant.
It is by means o f combination o f effort that man advances in civiliza­
tion. Association brings into activity all the various powers, mental and
physical, of the beings o f which society is composed, and individuality
grows with the growth of the power of combination. That power it is
which enables the many who are poor and weak, to triumph over the few




Mercantile Biography:

428

who are rich and strong; and therefore it is that men become more free
with every advance in wealth and population. To enable them to asso­
ciate, they need an instrument by help o f which the process of composi­
tion, decomposition, and recomposition o f the various forces may readily
be effected ; so that while all unite to produce the effect desired, each may
have his share of the benefits thence resulting. That instrument was
furnished in those metals which stand almost alone in the fact, that, as
Minerva sprang fully armed from the head of Jove, they, wherever found,
come forth ready— requiring no elaboration, no alteration, to fit them for
the great work for which they were intended, that o f enabling men to
combine their efforts for filling worthily the post at the head of creation
for which they were designed. Of all the instruments at the command
of man, there are none that tend in so large a degree to promote individ­
uality on the one hand, and association on the other, as do gold and sil­
ver— properly, therefore, denominated the P recio u s M e t a l s .

Art. II.— M E R C A N T I L E
GEORGE

BIOGRAPHY :

PEABODY.

A m o n g the many Americans who have nobly fought their way to com­
mercial and social eminence, few names stand more widely or honorably
conspicuous, than that which heads this article. Mr. Peabody is a re­
markable instance o f mercantile success. W e use the word in its highest
and broadest acceptation. The acquirement o f property, however rapid
and vast, is not of itself success. If the ends proposed be only selfish— if
the means employed are unjust or dishonorable— especially, if no kindly
feeling impel the possessor to meet from his abundance the urgent claims
of a common humanity— then, so far at least as the individual is con­
cerned, his prosperity is more of a curse than a blessing. True, there is
one comfort left us in the contemplation even of cases like this. The
heartless collector of pelf is not wholly useless. The longest tenure of
wealthy avarice ends at last, and the great law of equilibrium again as­
serts its sway.

“ Who sees pale Mammon pine amidst his store,
Sees but a backioard steward for the poor ;
This year a reservoir, to keep and spare ;
The next a fountain, spouting thro’ his heir.”
It is because Mr. Peabody is of another stamp— it is because his whole
course and example have been strikingly elevated in tone, and wholesome
in their influences, that we are glad to present, and to hold him up in the
pages of the Merchants' Magazine, for the just appreciation o f a vast mer­
cantile community. With a pride, not unbecoming, we hang his portrait
in our gallery o f great American merchants. In no spirit o f fulsome eulogy,
but with the conviction that simple truth is always the “ highest skill,”
we propose to tell the plain, instructive story.
G e o r g e P e a b o d y is a native o f Danvers, Mass., where he was born
February 18th, 1795. His father, though in humble circumstances, was




George Peabody.

429

well descended, for lie came from honored Pilgrim stock. Ilis ancestor,
six generations back, was Francis Pabody, who, at the age of twentyone, and in the year 1635, came to New England from St. Albans, in Hert­
fordshire. In 1657, he settled at Topsfield, a small town in the heart of
Essex, Massachusetts, where he built the first mill, and soon became the
first man in usefulness and importance. His wife, Mary, daughter o f Reg­
inald Foster, was the mother o f fourteen children. This patriarch died
in 1698, leaving to his six sons a large landed estate. From these men,
the Peabodys, now so numerous in our country, have mostly descended.
Not a few of the posterity o f Francis Pabody have been distinguished for
their mental and moral worth. L>uring the war of Independence, and the
wars which preceded it, the courage and patriotism of the Peabodys was
fully tested in many posts of honor and danger. In later days, the name
has shone, and still continues to shine, in the calmer walks of literary,
and professional, and commercial life.
It is the privilege o f George Peabody— a privilege which any man might
value— to stand in this time-honored line. It was, perhaps, a still greater
privilege, that this was his only inheritance; and that, from the first, he
was aware that in the battle o f life before him, he must depend on him­
self alone. Fortunately for himself and many others, he very early found
that he could thus depend, without risk o f disappointment. Incidents of
boyhood, strongly displaying the ambition, the energy, and the perseve­
rance, which have marked his whole career, might be given— but we must
hasten on.
A t the age of eleven, he was placed with Mr. Sylvester Proctor, who
kept a country grocery in the southern part of Danvers. The example
and teachings of this good man, were not thrown away on his young ap­
prentice. Years afterward, when Mr. Proctor had become an old man,
and his former apprentice had arrived at wealth and distinction, the latter
exhibited his still grateful remembrance by a public attention, which must
have been as agreeable to the aged recipient, as it was graceful and be­
coming in him who paid it.
At the age of fifteen, he left the Danvers grocery, to seek elsewhere
some wider and more promising field. But the time was unpropitious.
Embargoes and non-intercourse— wars abroad, and rumors o f wars at
home, had cast blight and gloom over all business operations and pros­
pects. After a year quietly spent with his grandfather, Dodge, in Thetford,
Vermont, he went in the spring of 1811 to Newburyport, and entered,
as clerk, a dry goods shop just opened there by his brother, David. The
prospect nowr seems fair, that in due time he will become a respectable re­
tailer of foreign and domestic stuffs in the one short business street o f a
small, but pleasant New England town. Had the procession o f events in
Newburyport taken the ordinary course, in all human probability, the rich
banker of Warnford Court would never have been heard of. Scarcely had
these young men started in their enterprise, when a conflagration— ever
since, and but too well known, as the great fire of Newburyport— swept
over the busiest portion o f the devoted town, involving in total ruin many
of the inhabitants. David Peabody was among the sufferers. About the
same time, their father was removed by death. W h o could have won­
dered— who could have censured, if, under circumstances so depressing, our
lad of seventeen years had given up in despair ? But no such thought
entered his head. Leaving others to brood and mourn over those smoul­
dering ashes, he was soon on his way to another and distant field.




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Mercantile Biography:

He had an uncle, John Peabody, who had been for years a prominent
man in Newburyport, where he had done an immense business, and had
lived in handsome style. In this time o f general overthrow, he too went
down. In the hope of retrieving his shattered fortunes, he determined to
establish himself in the District o f Columbia, and invited his nephew,
George, to join him. In May, 1812, Gen. Peabody began anew in George­
town.
Prudential considerations made it expedient that the business
should be conducted in his nephew’s name; and he showed his confidence,
as well as sagacity, by intrusting its management mainly to the nephew,
boy though he was.
The war, so long threatened, was now at hand. Two months later, a
British fleet, ascending the Potomac, menaced the capital, and its neigh­
boring ports. In this emergency, George Peabody, though not yet of the
age which imposes such service, had too much of the martial spirit of his
ancestors, to remain inactive. He joined a volunteer company of artillery,
formed at Georgetown under the command of Col. George Peter, and soon
found himself on active duty at Fort Warburton. The position of this
fortress was important, commanding, as it did, the river way to Washing­
ton. But the expected attack was not made— the enemy withdrew, and
the company went home. If young Peabody gained here no military hon­
ors, he at least showed that he had the soul of a patriot, and the nerve
of a soldier.
It is pleasing to notice that among his messmates at Fort Warbur­
ton, was one who afterwards rose to high distinction at the b a r; but who
is far more widely known through that brilliant and inspiring lyric, which
has associated the name o f Francis S. Key with all the glories of our
country’s banner.
For two years George Peabody remained with his uncle— assiduous and
faithful, though with little prospect of remuneration. Apprehending, at
length, that his peculiar position might make him liable for claims and
engagements which did not belong to him, he reluctantly retired from his
uncle’s service.
He was not long unemployed. His business energies and capacity had
attracted the notice o f Mr. Elisha Riggs, who proposed to him to engage
in the dry goods trade; Mr. R. to furnish the capital, and young Peabody
to transact the business. When Mr. R. made this proposal, so opportune
for one of the parties, and so advantageous in its results to both, he had
no suspicion that the evident talent, the manly form, and the mature look
of the person thus invited, belonged to a youth of nineteen. His discovery
of the fact was not followed by a withdrawal o f the offer. To all con­
cerned, the partnership o f Riggs and Peabody proved a successful and
satisfactory arrangement. In 1815, the house was removed to Baltimore.
In 1822, its extended operations justified the establishment of branches
in Philadelphia and in New York. In 1829, Mr. Peabody became the
senior partner, by the retirement o f Mr. Elisha Riggs, who took up his
residence in New York, and died there in 1853, leaving a name highly
respected.
It is only by the exertion o f great labor, of constant care, and judicious
skill, that a large mercantile establishment can be built up. Especially
did this labor, skill, and care, during the first fifteen years o f the house
in Baltimore, devolve on Mr. Peabody. To the supervision and manage­
ment of the house concerns, was added often the disagreeable and labori­




George Peabody.

431

ous duty o f the collector— pursued on horseback, for weeks together, through
the wildest regions o f Virginia and Maryland, and in the most inclement
seasons of the year. If his subsequent course has been one of compara­
tive ease and smoothness, let us not forget how well he earned each im­
munity, by that early discipline o f hardness, which he so cheerfully endured.
Mr. Peabody went to Europe for the first time in 1827— his object be­
ing the purchase of goods. Afterwards, he crossed the Atlantic repeat­
edly. On more than one occasion, he was charged with important finan­
cial negotiations for the State o f Maryland. Early in 1837, he took up
his abode in England. Retiring, in 1843, from the firm o f Peabody,
Riggs & Co., he established himself in London as a merchant and banker.
W e so designate him, in conformity with American ideas. In strict Eng­
lish parlance, he is not a banker. Like the Rothschilds and the Barings,
he loans money, changes drafts, buys stocks, holds deposits; but does not,
like the bankers, pay out money.
O f the house, the business, the commercial credit, which he has there
built up, the evidences are before the world. It is enough to say that,
while in magnitude it approximates to the first rank— in respectability,
and in the public confidence, it falls short o f none.
The causes, humanly speaking, o f this great success, are not far to seek.
They may be set down as follows:— A judgment quick and cautious, and
clear and sound— a decided purpose— a firm will— energetic and persevering
industry— punctuality and fidelity in every engagement—justice and honor
controlling every transaction— and courtesy-—that true courtesy which
springs from genuine kindness, presiding over all the intercourse o f life.
Such qualities, indeed, whenever and wherever exhibited, may be said al­
most to insure a favorable result; for they are the means which common
sense dictates, and which Providence is wont to bless.
Clearly, however, it is not to these mercantile virtues, nor to this ac­
knowledged success as a great merchant— possessed as these are in com­
mon with many others— that Mr. Peabody owes his present high standing
among men. Those better qualities which alone can ennoble enterprise
and dignify success, have marked his whole career. The hard earnings of
his boyhood were cheerfully devoted to the comfort o f his mother, his
brothers, and sisters. A t the age of twenty-four, he charged himself with
their entire support, “ and cheerfully practiced every self-denial, that he
might bring them forward to respectability and happiness.” It is always
safe to say that the son and brother who has shown himself true to the
claims of kindred, will be found wanting in none of the relations of
life.
Mr. Peabody had not been long in England when those untoward
events occurred which shook American credit abroad, and brought so
much reproach on the American name. “ The default o f some o f the
States, and the temporary inability o f others to meet their obligations,
and the failure of several of our moneyed institutions, threw doubt and
distrust on all American securities. That great sympathetic nerve of the
commercial world— credit— as far as the United States were concerned,
was for the time paralyzed. A t that moment, and it was a trying one,
our friend not only stood firm himselfj but he was the cause o f firmness
in others. His judgment commanded respect; his integrity won back
the reliance which men had been accustomed to place upon American
securities.”




432

Mercantile Biography:

It is because Mr. Peabody, at that trying time, rose far above the mere
financier— coming to the rescue with his true American heart, as well as
with his English purse and English credit— asserting against all the
clamor of distrust, and prejudice, and indiscriminate abuse, the honor
and fidelity of his countrymen— that he rose at once into the exalted
rank of a public benefactor, and drew to himself our admiring and grate­
ful regards.
Towards Maryland, his adopted State, his services in this respect were
of a special character. Under an act of the Maryland Assembly, he was
made, in 1835, one o f three commissioners to negotiate a loan for the
State. The loan was obtained. The State credit, after suffering for a
short time, was fully restored. For his own eminent services in the mat­
ter, Mr. P. declined all compensation.
In 1848, the General Assembly
of Maryland expressed in public resolutions the obligations of the State
to Mr. Peabody, “ for his generous devotion to tlie interests and honor of
Maryland.”
The following brief extract is from the full and friendly letter o f Gov.
Thomas to Mr. P., communicating the resolves:—
Instances of such devotion on the part of a citizen to the public welfare, are of
rare occurrence, and merit the highest distinctions which a Commonwealth can
bestow. To one whose actions are the result of impulses so noble and self-sacri­
ficing, next to the approval of his owu conscience, no homage can be more ac­
ceptable than the meed of a people's gratitude ; no recompense so grateful as the
assurance of a complete realization of those objects and ends whose attainment
has been regarded of higher value than were personal convenience or pecuniary
consideration.
Again, after alluding to the fact that the credit of Maryland was fully
restored, Gov. T. says :—To you, sir, who have had no inconsiderable agency in the accomplishment of
this gratuitous result, Hie thanks of the State are eminently duo. The action of
the General Assembly reflects faithfully the feelings of gratitude which your
generous devotion to the interests of the State has awakened in the bosom of
every good citizen of Maryland.
From the first, as Mr. Peabody lately remarked on a public occasion, it
was his aim to make the house “ an American house— a center for Amer­
ican news— and an agreeable place for his American friends visiting
London.” This he fully accomplished. But his kind feelings and benefi­
cent efforts did not stop here. Living in the very heart of a world-wide
commerce— beholding and understanding the multiplied and intimate con­
nections on which the vast interests of commercial credit and prosperity
depend— closely associated as he himself was in business relations with
the two great mercantile nalions— none knew better than he, none could
feel more deeply, the incalculable value of peace and cordiality between
England and America.
But those incentives to the cultivation of amicable feeling which na­
tional and private interest should suggest and enforce were less influential
with Mr. Peabody, or we greatly mistake the man, than others of a higher
and nobler nature. To both great countries he was related. Every in­
stinct made him dutiful to the land o f his birth, while gratitude bound
him to the land of his adoption. A lover of peace always, and for its
own sake, he felt that if ever its obligations are fraternal and indissoluble,




George Peabody.

433

they are so as between two nations of kindred blood, who are virtually
one in their language and literature, and who cherish, in the main, the
same great principles o f law and liberty, and the same pure, religious
faith.
Too well he knew that ignorance, and mutual misapprehension, and
transmitted prejudices, can, like “ mountains interposed,” “ make enemies
of nations.” On both sides he had hosts o f friends, and among them
many persons of the highest standing and influence. To bring them to­
gether— to make them better acquainted— would be at least a step towards
national harmony. Hence, those festivities, so generous, elegant, and
genial, which many of our countrymen have enjoyed, and of which they
have all heard— festivities, which, however elegant, and liberal, and costly,
would be unmentioned here but for the kind motive which prompted
them, the kind feeling which presided over them, and the kind remem­
brances which they have left behind them.
Amid that vast host of strangers which London, in the early summer
of 1851 beheld and welcomed, there was an unusual number of Ameri­
cans. The Great Exhibition of art and industry had just been thrown
open, and formed the primary and central attraction. In that temple of
all the nations, a large space had been asked for, and had been assigned
to the United States. It is not necessary to remind the reader of the
mortification felt by every American visitor at the sorry show which his
country made in the opening of that great scene. The writer of this page,
at least, will never forget his first visit there, when he made the entire
circuit of the vast and gorgeous display, under the courteous guidance of
an intelligent English gentleman; nor how, after passing through the
tastefully adorned and richly furnished aisles and arcades of England,
France, Austria, Germany, and many an humbler power, his heart sunk
within him, as they entered and traversed the bleak and bare spaces of
the United States department. Here, as he wandered despairingly among
daguerreotypes and India-rubber, his kind companion endeavored to blunt
the edge of disappointment by cordial praises o f the Greek Slave. He
could see nothing else there.
It was in this state of things— aggravated not a little by the sneers and
smiles of the English press, at the poor figure which Jonathan was making
among the European powers— that an appeal was made to Mr. Peabody.
His large heart responded; his princely purse opened instantly. The
means requisite for arranging and garnishing the American department
of the Crystal Palace were thus supplied; and a private individual did
that for his countrymen which their own Congress had shamefully refused
to do, and which in every other case had been done by the governments
of the nations there represented.
The 16th of June, 1852, was a bright and festive day in Danvers, Mas­
sachusetts. It was the birthday o f the town. The hundredth year o f its
corporate existence had come round, and all Danvers came out to cele­
brate the auspicious anniversary. Invitations had gone forth to all her
sons— even to the long-absent and far-distant. Among the responses,
there was a letter from London. Geo. Peabody could be present with
them only in heart— but he sent them a sentiment, the envelop o f which
was not to be opened until his name should be called in due course at the
dinner-table. Mr. Peabody evidently knows how greatly a pleasure may
be enhanced by an agreeable surprise. It must have been, however, a
V OL.

xxxv.— no. iv.




28

434

Mercantile Biography:

severe trial to Yankee curiosity, and probably gave a new impulse among
the inhabitants to their wonderful powers of guessing and of calculating.
W e believe that the envelop kept its secret, though we would not be sur­
prised, should the discovery hereafter be made, that this famous letter,
before the hour of unsealing came, had actually burned a considerable
hole in the capacious pocket of its worthy recipient!
To return. The music, the military, the procession, had passed by— a
long discourse had been spoken— the dinner had been eaten— and several
fine speeches had been made— when it came at length to Mr. Peabody’s
turn. The envelop was broken, and this was the sentiment: “ Education
— a debt due from the present to future generations.” The proposer went
on to say : “ In acknowledgment of the payment of that debt by the gen­
eration which preceded me in my native town of Danvers, and to aid in
its prompt, future discharge, I give to the inhabitants of that town the
sum of twenty thousand dollars for the promotion o f knowledge and
morality among them.” It is quite needless to add that this sentiment,
thus indorsed and made practical, was well received by the company.
This sum, since increased by Mr. Peabody to upwards of fifty thousand
dollars, has been applied in conformity with his expressed desire. The
Peabody Institute, with its library and lectures, is already doing much for
the benefit of the people among whom it is placed. Long may it stand
— the noble monument of a wise beneficence !*
When, in 1852, Mr. Henry Grinnell had generously offered his vessel
(the Advance) for a second voyage of philanthropy to the Arctic seas,
under Dr. Kane, and had applied to Congress for the means of outfit, &c.,
* Since the above was written, we have learned from the daily press that Mr. Peabody has paid
tan thousand dollars to establish a branch library in North Danvers. This prosperous place has re­
cently been separated by legislative action from the town which contains the Peabody Institute.
W o are also informed that he has just made another and very liberal addition to the annual income
of the Institute.
Hardly had we read these statements in the Northern papers, when similar intelligence reaches
us from the South. Mr. Peabody has lately visited the State of his adoption, and the city where he
began his prosperous career. While in Baltimore, where his welcome was most cordial, he fulfilled
an intention which he has long been cherishing. That city, also, is to have its Institute. Its char­
acter and design are thus stated. First, the establishment of an extensive library, free to all. Sec­
ondly, the periodical delivery of lectures by eminent literary and scientific men—the admission to
these lectures of meritorious graduates from the public schools—and the appropriation of twelve
hundred dollars a year as prizes for the graduates and pupils of these schools. Thirdly, an Academy
o f Music, to be a distinct department of the institute. Fourthly, a Gallery of Art, to contain pic­
tures and statuary; and finally, accommodations for the Maryland Historical Society. This associa­
tion is made the guardian of the property of the institute, and the perpetual manager of its affairs.
Twenty-five trustees, named by the founder, and who have already accepted the trust, are empow­
ered to establish and organize the various departments, and to possess a visitatorial power over all
She doings of the society in the premises.
T o accomplish this liberal and wise design, Mr. Peabody gives three hundred thousand dollars
now, and pledges himself for two hundred thousand dollars more. Fortunate m an! who can thus
write his name in letters brighter and more durable than gold. Fortunate, indeed, is he w'ho has at
once the ability and the will thus to become a benefactor of his race!
Mr. Peabody’s letter to the trustees concludes with the following noble and catholic sentiments:—
“ I must not omit to impress upon you a suggestion for the government o f the institute which I
deem to be of the highest moment, and which "I desire shall be ever present to the view of the
Board of Trustees. My earnest wish to promote, at all times, a^spirit o f harmony and good will in
society; my aversion to intolerance, bigotry, and party rancor; and my enduring respect and love
for the happy institutions of our prosperous republic, impel me to express the wish that the insti­
tute I have proposed to you shall always be strictly guarded against the possibility o f being made a
theater for the dissemination or discussion of sectarian theology or party politics; that it shall never
minister, in any manner whatever, to political dissension, to infidelity, to visionary theories of a
pretended philosophy which may be aimed at the subversion of the approved morals of society;
that it shall never lend its aid or'influence to the propagation of opinions tending to create or en­
courage sectional jealousies in our happy country, or which may lead to the alienation o f the people
of one State or section of the Union from those of another. But that it shall be so conducted,
throughout its whole career, as to teach political and religious charity, toleration, and beneficence,
and prove itself to be, in all contingencies and conditions, the true friend o f our inestimable Union,
of the salutary institutions of free government, and of liberty regulated by law. I enjoin these
precepts upon the Board of Trustees and their successors for ever, for their invariable observance
and enforcement in the administration o f the duties 1 have confided to them.”




George Peabody.

435

Mr. Peabody wrote to his friend Wetmore, in New York, expressing his
interest in the enterprise, and authorizing Mr. W ., in case the application
to government should fail, and Mr. (Irinnell should approve, to pay on his
account ten thousand dollars towards the voyage. No notice was taken
of the offer at the moment. Time ran on— Congress refused or neglected
to make an appropriation— and a year afterward Mr. Grinnell inquired,
through Mr. Wetmore, whether the offer were still standing. In making
the proposal originally, Mr. Peabody desired and expected that the Amer­
ican vessel would act in conjunction with an Expedition then fitting out
in England for the same purpose, lie felt that a co-operation so friendly,
in a cause so generous, would add a new cord to the bonds of national
amity. The British expedition having long before sailed, this motive had
now lost much of its weight. Still, acting on Mr. Grinnell’s expressed
opinion that there was yet ground to expect a favorable result, he author­
ized the payment. That money defrayed the expenses of a voyage whose
results are now before the world— a voyage which, if it failed o f its prom­
inent and professed design, has enlarged the boundaries of human
knowledge, while it has added higher honors to the name o f its skillful
and brave commander, and given one more bright page to the annals of
heroic adventure and Christian benevolence. It must be confessed that
Mr. Peabody’s liberal and efficient aid in this transaction has not been
properly acknowledged on either side o f the Atlantic. There has been a
strange inadvertence somewhere. But the facts are now known, and will
hereafter be duly appreciated. Thanks to the gallant and grateful Kane,
the name of P e a b o d y is indissolubly connected with the honors o f the
expedition. Like that of the distinguished and generous projector, it has
been written on the map o f the globe, and will stand there through all
time. Stretching far toward the pole— within the vast and curving out­
line o f the H umboldt G l a c ie r — and directly opposite to the frozen wastes
of G r in n ell L an d lies P e a b o d y B a y .
After almost twenty years of absence, Mr. Peabody has revisited his
native land. The mere announcement of his intention awakened a gene­
ral and lively interest in every part of the United States. His friends in
all the great cities were prepared to receive him with public demonstra­
tions of welcome, and of grateful regard. On his arrival in New York, a
deputation from many gentlemen in that city, and a similar deputation
from Boston waited on him with invitations to the above effect. He had,
evidently but to give his consent, and his journey through the country
would be converted into a series of ovations. With one exception, he
felt himself compelled to decline all such proposals. The people o f’ his
native town had a claim upon him, which he had no disposition to resist.
On the ninth of October last, the ordinarily quiet town of Danvers
presented an unusual spectacle. Its principal thoroughfares— gay, for
miles, as triumphal arches, flags, inscriptions, and flowers could make
them— were thronged with men, women, and children. The entire pop­
ulation of the town had come out to welcome home a long-absent son.
Many thousands, also, from other places were there to behold and to par­
take the joy. Those who regard the Yankees as a cold, calculating, un­
demonstrative race, would have felt some wonder had they witnessed that
scene. It was impossible to mistake it, or to regard it as anything but
the spontaneous, whole-hearted tribute, which an intelligent and grateful
community gladly pays to a true man and generous benefactor. Mr. Pea­
body was manifestly taken by surprise, and his sensibilities— as well they




436

Mercantile Biography.

might be— were deeply moved. To an eloquent and appropriate address
of welcome, he replied appropriately. Those seventeen hundred children and
youths, who, that morning wore his picture on their bosoms, will never
forget the day, or the kind, judicious words o f their distinguished friend.
When the out-door services were over, a thousand persons, many of
whom were ladies, sat down to dine beneath the canopy o f a huge canvas
tent. Mr. Edward Everett, Governor Gardner, President Walker of the
University, and other distinguished men, spoke on the occasion. Though
Mr. Everett’s remarks have been so widely read, we need offer no apology
for making a short quotation from the most accomplished orator o f our
day:—
But it is not wholly nor chiefly for these kindly offices and comprehensive
courtesies—nor for the success with which he has pursued the paths of business
life—not for the moral courage with which, at an alarming crisis, and the peril of
his own fortunes, he sustained the credit of the State he represented—it is not
these services that have called forth these demonstrations of respect. Your quiet
village, my friends, has not gone forth in eager throngs to meet the successful
financier; those youthful voices have not been attuned to sing the praises of the
prosperous banker. No, it is the fellow-citizen who, from the arcades of the
London exchange, laid up treasure in the hearts of his countrymen; the true pa­
triot who, amidst the splendors of the Old World’s capital, said in his heart—If
I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning; if I do not
remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;—it is the dutiful
and grateful child and benefactor of old Danvers whom you welcome back to his
home.
Yes, sir, and the property you have invested in yonder simple edifice, and in
providing the means of innocent occupation for hours of leisure—of instructing
the minds and forming the intellectual character, not merely of the generation
now rising, but of that which shall take their places, when the heads of these
dear children, who now grace the table, shall be as gray as mine, and of others
still more distant, who shall plant kind flowers on our graves—it is the property
you have laid up in this investment, which will embalm your name in the blessings
of posterity, when granite and marble shall crumble to dust. Moth and rust
shall not corrupt i t ; they might as easily corrupt the pure white portals of the
heavenly city, where “ every several gate is of one pearl.” Thieves shall not
break through and steal i t ; they might as easily break through the vaulted sky
and steal the brightest star in the firmanent.
The great sententious poet has eulogized the “ Man of Boss ”—the man of
practical, unostentatious benevolence—above all the heroes and statesmen of the
Augustan Age of England. Who, he asks—
“ Who hung with woods the mountain’s sultry brow!
From the dry rock, who bade the waters flow ?
Not to the skies in useless columns tost,
Or in proud falls magnificently lost,
But clear and artless, pouring through the plain,
Health to the sick, and solace to the swain.”
But your Man of Boss, my friends, has taught a nobler stream to flow, through
his native village—that bubbling, sparkling, mind-refreshing, soul-cheering stream,
which renews while it satisfies the general thirst for knowledge—that noble, un­
quenchable thirst “ which from the soul doth spring ”— which gains new eager­
ness from the draught which allays it, forever returning though forever slaked, to
the cool, deep fountain of eternal truth.*
* To preserve the memory of this joyous festival, the grateful people o f Danvers have just pub­
lished a minute account o f the whole transaction. It is a handsome volume o f nearly two hundred
pages, with pictured representations of the varied pageant. It contains, also, a historical sketch o f
the Peabody Institute.




D irect Trade between our Lake P orts and Europe.

437

“ I have lost,” said an ancient Roman, when suddenly plunged from af­
fluence to poverty, “ I have lost everything, except what I have given
away.” How timely and how truly wise are they who, while yet it is
within their power, thus place beyond the reach of accident some portion
of their wealth!
It is not— we must repeat it— to magnify the individual by praises,
which he neither needs nor seeks, that we present these few details of a
useful life— these traits of a worthy character. His rewards, we rejoice
to believe, are o f another and better kind. It is because such examples
are due to the world, that we feel bound to bring them up, and to set
them forth in luminous distinctness. To the great body of our commer­
cial countrymen they should often be exhibited as incentives and as models.
Amongst the eager votaries of gain— in the vast and still widening fields
of mercantile enterprise— amid the splendid fortunes which are made, or
which are lost— and the fast-growing tendencies to luxury and display—
how greatly are such lessons needed 1 And how much happier might our
world be made, if all its millionaires were as faithful, as judicious, and as
liberal in their stewardship, as he whose story we have tried to tell 1
W e should be unjust to our theme, if we failed to express our firm con­
viction that the subject of this sketch is governed in his conduct by the
high impulses of Christian love and duty. In words o f modesty and of
reverence— with a spirit earnest and sincere— he never hesitates to express
his obligations to that Divine Benignity, whom he devoutly acknowledges
as the only source of “ high endeavor ” or of “ glad success.”
In person, Mr. Peabody is tall and commanding. His manners, like
his countenance, are genial and inviting. As a business man, he is dis­
tinguished by untiring industry— by absolute punctuality— by promptness,
energy, exactness, and thoroughness— and still more, by that far-seeing
sagacity which, in the merchant, must be ranked as genius.
Mr. Peabody has a brother living in Ohio, a sister in Massachusetts, and
another sister in New Hampshire. These are all married, and have chil­
dren. For himself, he has chosen, thus far, a single life. His unimpaired
energies of body and mind, and his general good health, justify the hope,
in which thousands share, that many active, useful, happy years are yet
before him.

Art. III.— DIRECT TRADE BETW EEN OCR LAKE PORTS AND EUROPE.
TH E P R A C T IC A B IL IT Y O F D IR E C T

T R A D E — A D A P T A T IO N

C O ST F O R G O O D V E S S E L S — W I L L D I R E C T T R A D E
ADVAN TAGES— A

OF

LAKE

P A Y ?— F A C T S

V E SSE LS TO T H E

ABOUT

THE

DEAN

TRADE — EXTRA
R IC H M O N D — D I S ­

M IS T A K E C O R R E C T E D .

C. Y. R ich m o n d , Esq., has addressed a letter to the editors of the
Democratic Press, in regard to direct trade from Chicago and other lake
ports, to England and other parts o f the world. Since the Dean Rich­
mond made the passage so successfully from Liverpool last year, the sub­
ject has been matter of considerable discussion. In this letter, Mr.
Richmond gives the public the benefit of his experience in case of the
Dean Richmond, and also his conclusions, drawn from what he observed
during the voyage. W e give the substance o f Mr. Richmond’s letter in
his own words, as follows :—




438

D irect Trade between our Lake P orts and Europe.

P r a c t ic a b il it y . There is no more difficulty in trading direct between
the lake ports and England than between the Black Sea or Constantinople
and England— while the distance and time required for a voyage are less
between the former than between the latter ports. Vessels may load at
Chicago for Liverpool or any part o f the world, and from thence back,
direct, with the same facility as elsewhere, so far as practicability is con­
cerned.
A d a p t a t io n o f L ak e V essels to the T r a d e . A large majority of the
lake shipping would not be well adapted to the trade; they are generally over­
sparred, iron-work and rigging too light, and hulls too weak, even for the
lakes— much more so for the Atlantic, where there are no harbors, islands,
or points to dodge to in case o f heavy weather— where, no matter how
many different directions gales of wind may come from within twentyfour hours, and get up heavy seas from different quarters, you have to
stay and battle it out. Still, there are some of our lake vessels I think
perfectly safe and well adapted for a sea voyage, and could go to any part
of the world with ease. From what I learned of different shipmasters at
Liverpool and New York, they consider the Atlantic from New York,
Boston, or the Straits o f Belle Isle to England, as boisterous navigation,
and perhaps more so, than will be found in any other ocean or sea. Light
draught I do not consider objectionable, so far as safety is concerned, as
the Dean Richmond fully demonstrated on our passage over. W e en­
countered a very severe gale o f wind, which lasted five days, without car­
rying away a rope-yarn, while other vessels, ships, &c., were more or less
damaged, dismasted, decks swept, abandoned, &c. Although our vessel
was a fore-and-after, and she worked well, I should prefer the rig to be
three masts, square forward, or a brig. Vessels do not need to be cop­
pered for the trade to England and back ; but to sell well over there, or
to go South, they want to be trunneled or copper-bolted, as you cannot
copper over iron fastenings unless you sheath them, which would cost
more than to trunnel and copper-fasten up the light water mark. They
object to center-boards, because they know nothing about them. Having
never used them, they imagine it materially weakens the vessel because
some of the floor-timbers are cut off, which we know to the contrary, if
the box is properly put in and fastened.
E xt ra C ost f o r a G ood V esse l . It will cost about $800 extra to fit
out a good lake vessel for an ocean voyage, but this expense has to be
paid but once. A vessel should have a double set of the most reliable
sails, a chronometer, shifting-boards, water-casks, extra boat, &c.
W ill D irect T r a d e P a y ? A good staunch vessel, carrying fourteen
thousand bushels of wheat through the canals, could do a fair business to
England at forty cents per bushel, and ten dollars per ton return cargo
h ere; as four months would be ample time to complete a trip round, and
perhaps some sooner, with dispatch in loading and unloading. But a much
larger profit would be realized by buying the cargo for vessel’s account
both ways, as there is generally a wide margin for our products and their
manufactures between the two countries. Vessels could leave here late in
October, to go out and be employed during the winter from and to foreign
ports, and return here on the opening of navigation, if they choose, there­
by earning something, instead of doing nothing one-third of the year,
F acts ab o u t the D e a n R ich m o n d . It has been reported that the
Dean Richmond was sold because the trade was impracticable, or she




D irect Trade between our Lake P orts and Europe.

43 9

could not get back. This was not the case. Our intention, from the start,
was to sell her at Liverpool, if a fair price could be obtained. She could
have returned to Chicago before navigation closed, with ease, had we chose.
I was offered cargoes, at good prices, from Liverpool, to the following
places, viz.:— to China, Australia, coast o f Africa, Brazil, Tampico, United
States, Constantinople, Glasgow, and to a host of other points. Inspect­
ors of three good Liverpool insurance companies examined her, and re­
ported to the companies, who wrote me letters, that they would insure her,
and her cargo, as A Ho. 1, to any port I chose to send her.
She measured, American measurement, 379 tons; by the new English
measurement, 266 tons. I could get by the ton for her as much as for
any clipper ship, either for the vessel or for freighting.
The expense of the Dean Richmond from Lake Ontario into the ocean,
towing, piloting, etc., over the crew, was $245 ; dock and light dues, and
incidental expenses, unloading at Liverpool, $210.
D isa d v a n t a g e s . The canals and locks, at their present size, will not
pass vessels large enough to trade to the best advantage, through from the
lakes to England. But when enlarged, so vessels o f 1,000 tons, and up­
ward, can pass, it cannot help being a desirable and profitable route during
the season o f navigation.
Seamen shipped at Chicago, or at any American port, cannot be dis­
charged in a foreign port, without paying them three month’s extra pay—
two months of which goes to the seamen, and one month to the Ameri­
can consul.
The exactions upon vessels at Liverpool are outrageous. The consignees
charged us 2 i per cent on the freight list, for collecting it themselves,
and then deducted three month’s interest on the same. The charges on
the wheat were a fraction over ten cents per bushel, made by the con­
signees as their charges.
I am thus particular, that shippers may act understanding!)'. I do not
know that these exactions and charges are universal, but they are what
was exacted from us. W hy they should charge more for doing business
there than here, I do not know, as rents, clothes, and almost everything is
cheaper than here.
A M istak e C orrected . I noticed a communication to your paper
some time since, signed “ C o n r a d , B rett & A ustin ,” ship-brokers of Liver­
pool, advising lake men what kind o f vessels to build for the trade, and
their market, etc. I would as soon take the advice of the King of the
Cannibal Islands, in regard to what kind of a vessel is necessary for the
trade and business. I could sell to the same parties one o f the old fash­
ioned standing-keel, full, tubby vessels, the build o f twenty years ago on
the lakes, quicker than one of our finest modern built vessels, at the same
price— as their ideas are about that much behind the age. They talk
about “ fixed-keels,” — we can “ fix” keels for them, and safe, too, that will
make a light or heavy draught of water, as you like, work better, and sail
faster, than anything they can furnish, besides better sea vessels. For my
part, I did not go to Liverpool to find out how to build a profitable ves­
sel. W e have on our lakes vessels, that for carrying, fast-sailing, light
draught of water, sea-going qualities, beauty, etc., that cannot be excelled,
if equaled, in the world. These are the kind we must send them, and
learn them what they want.
Capt. D. C. Pierce, who commanded the Dean Richmond from Chicago
to Liverpool, will fully indorse the foregoing statements.
c. y . r .




Speculation in Farming Lands.

440

Art. IV.— SPECULATION IN FARMING LANDS.
T h ere is purchased o f government with money, in round numbers, ten
million acres annually. By land warrants, States, railroad, and canal
companies a larger number is taken from the common fund. According
to the census of 1850, the total number of acres, in all the States, under
improvement was one hundred and thirteen millions. Within the limits
of the United States government there are embraced nineteen hundred
and seventy million acres. There are, then, sixteen acres o f unimproved
to every acre of improved land. In quality, the unimproved will average
as good as the improved. How long will it take our increasing popula­
tion to absorb this immense surplus, supposing, what is not probable, that
annexation has ceased ? Our population may be divided into rural and
civic— the latter embracing the people of cities, towns, and villages, and
supported by the business of these communities. The increase of the
rural population must be relied on to furnish purchasers o f wild lands.
It will, therefore, be interesting to know what is the rate of its increase,
and the probable demand for new lands which that increase will call for.
The number of our free people doubles once in twenty-four years. If the
rural population increases as fast as the civic, there might, therefore, be
called for, during the coming twenty-four years, one hundred and twenty
millions of the eighteen hundred and fifty millions of wild lands waiting
improvement. But the rural population does not increase as fast as the
civic. Far otherwise; in all the old free States, taken together, numbers
equal to the whole increase go into the cities, towns, and villages, so that
there is no new calls for farming lands in this region. In the slave-hold­
ing States, new lands are brought into cultivation to more advantage and
to a greater extent; but in these, there can be no doubt that there are
already, in the ownership of those States, and in the hands of the plant­
ers, more ground than can be advantageously brought under cultivation
for a hundred years to come. In 1850, the improved acres in these States
amounted to fifty-five millions, and the acres unimproved were five hun­
dred and forty millions, being ten acres of unimproved to one of improved
land. If one-third o f this be allowed as unworthy of cultivation, there
will remain six times as much uncultivated land capable of improvement,
in the slave States, as has, up to this time, been brought into use. These
States will continue to be mainly agricultural, and may be expected to
need, for improvement, a duplicate number o f acres every thirty years.
A t this rate, it is obvious, more than one hundred years would be required
to use up their surplus.
The free States, in 1849, had fifty-eight million acres o f improved, and
two hundred and thirty-three millions of unimproved land in their bor­
ders. In these States the increase o f population will be chiefly manifested
in the cities and towns. Less than half will go into agricultural employ­
ments. It may be safely assumed that it will require fifty years to double
the farming population of these States. A t this rate of increase it will
take more than one hundred and twenty years to use up the unimproved
lands within their borders. This calculation leaves out California and the
territories, which together contain twelve hundred million acres. To ab­
sorb this enormous aggregate, by bringing it into profitable use, will re­
quire several centuries. This mass of untilled land, it is absurd to sup­




The New Y ork Chamber o f Commerce.

44 1

pose, can be made the subject o f profitable speculation, by present purchase
to hold for a rise in value. No foreign government on earth is rich
enough to be able to pay interest on the sum it would cost, at one dollar
per acre, and hold it until it is needed for use. It would bankrupt Great
Britain; for, although her debt is twice as great, the interest of it goes
from one citizen to another, and does not, to any amount, leave the coun­
try. When the above facts are considered, it seems difficult to imagine a
more unpromising speculation than that now going on in wild lands. The
purchaser, at one dollar per acre, who holds it and pays taxes fifty years,
(we know land in Ohio that has been held on speculation sixty years,)
must sell it, at the end of that period, as high as seventy-five dollars per
acre to get a fair interest on his outlay. There is no good reason to ex­
pect mere farming lands, in a wild state, to sell much higher in 1907 than
at present. Indeed, good lands, well situated, may be purchased cheaper
now than equally good land could have been bought fifty years ago. It
is so probable as to be almost certain, that our government will, before
many years, donate to actual settlers all the land they may need for culti­
vation. One branch of Congress has passed such a bill, and the principle
has been sanctioned by both houses. But the graduation law of 1854
puts down the price so low, that it amounts, at the cheapest rate, almost
to a donation. Under that act, settlers can buy any lands that have been
in market thirty years for twelve-and-a-half cents per acre; twenty-five
years at twenty-five cents; twenty years at fifty cents; fifteen years at
seventy-five cents; and ten years at one dollar per acre. Pre-emption is
allowed up to thirty days before a reduction in price takes place. Every
purchaser must enter for settlement, and is restricted to 320 acres. A t
the passage o f this act, there stood for entry 25,114,553 acres at twelveand-a-half cents; 6,485,827 acres at twenty-five cents; 11,540,920 acres
at fifty cents; 15,634,148 acres at seventy-five cents; and 18,768,759
acres at one dollar per acre; amounting in all to 77,561,007. This is
about two-thirds as much as has been brought into cultivation in the Uni­
ted States since the first permanent settlement o f the country in 1614.
What additional millions of acres have, since August, 1854, come under
the operation of this graduation system, we have not the means to state.

Art. V.— THE NEW YORE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
W e have received the following circular in regard to the New York
Chamber of Commerce. It comes to us from an anonymous source, but
contains suggestions and a plan for giving life and utility to one of the
most important commercial institutions in the Union. As a member of
the Chamber of Commerce, we earnestly hope that the views of the writer
will, in the main, be adopted. In Boston, an efficient and vigorous Board
of Trade has been in successful operation for the last three or four years,
with suitable rooms, a library, and a secretary, who devotes his whole time
and attention to the business o f the Board. Their annual report presents
a full exhibit of the commercial and industrial operations of the city dur­
ing the year, with reliable statistics of every branch o f trade, collected
under their direction. The same will apply to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Milwaukie, and several other cities:—




44 2

The New Y ork Chamber o f Commerce.

The advantages to the community arising from the establishment of this body
are very obvious. To our commercial friends especially, the benefits are large,
and every year these results are becoming greater. There is one point, however,
which the Chamber have overlooked— one which claims their especial attention—■
viz., an annual report upon the commerce of the city and of the State. The
Chamber of Commerce is not merely a city institution ; it was chartered as a
Slate Chamber of Commerce, and as such it becomes, to a certain extent, an ex­
ponent of the commerce of the Empire State, and should furnish to our citizens,
far and wide, an able and comprehensive resume of the commercial operations of
the year.
The Chamber of Commerce is known to comprise a large number of our most
influential and well-informed merchants. It includes public-spirited men, educated
and intelligent, engaged in the various branches of trade and manufactures. But
to the members of that body, and to our merchants at large, the commerce of
New York is a sealed book. We at present have no annual exhibit of its de­
tails or of its aggregates, beyond those disjointed tabular statements contained in
the Treasury Reports to Congress, or in the weekly Price Current of the city.
These subjects are, however, of such vast importance, not merely to our city and
State, but to the country at large, that they deserve to be condensed into a vol­
ume or pamphlet annually, and thus brought clearly to the view of all business
men. There is no better nor more appropriate medium for the dissemination of
such information, than the New York Chamber of Commerce. Such a report,
we conceive, should embrace :—■
1. A view of the foreign commerce of the city and State; imports and exports,
both in their aggregates and in detail.
2. A view of the lake trade generally, embracing all articles transmitted by
canals and railroads.
3. Railroad operations of the year, tonnage, revenue, expenditure, &c., with
suggestions as to any modification of rates of freight, or facilities for the dispatch
of freight.
4. A view of the finances of the State, to include' its past, present, and
prospective indebtedness, revenue, expenditures, banking system, insurance
laws, &c.
5. Statistical exhibits of the great staples of agriculture, their production,
the quantities received at New York, Boston, and other Atlantic ports.
In short, a general synopsis of those subjects that may have been discussed by
the Chamber during the year previous, and others that should receive its consid­
eration. Among these we may enumerate the postage reform subject, improve­
ment of the harbor, shipping, lighthouses, ocean navigation, marine and fire insur­
ance, usury laws, railroad management, canal revenues, coal trade, and many other
topics of moment to the manufacturing and commercial interests of the city and
State.
It is known that questions arise daily, among our merchants, which can be
settled more readily by reference to statistics, to precedents, and to authori­
ties. The convenience of our merchants and manufacturers would be well con­
sulted by—1. The formation of a commercial library of reference, to include standard works
on the history and statistics of commerce and manufactures, not only of our own
country—each State—but by all foreign countries.
2. The reception and preservation, for reference, of leading foreign commercial
journals, as well as those of our own leading cities ; the prices current of London,
Liverpool, Hamburg, Havre, Bremen, Mediterranean, South American, and Asiatic
ports, and ports of the world.
3. A marine record, showing the arrivals and departures of all vessels to and
from American ports.
4. A statistical digest of the commerce of the United States, of each State, of




The New Y ork Chamber o f Commerce.

443

every foreign country, with especial reference to the growth, production, imports,
exports, &c., of leading articles of each country.
5. Collection of maps, charts, atlases, and globes.
6. Financial and commercial reports of the General government for a series of
years past.
7. Financial and commercial reports of the several States of the Union, the
leading cities, and foreign countries.
8. Railroad reports from every State in the Union ; statistics of railroad and
canal transportation ; lake trade.
9. Exhibits of the important staples of the Union, and comparative prices for
a series of years.
And, finally, the collection of all statistical works and statistical information in
reference to the United States and to all countries, for convenient reference by
every member of the Chamber of Commerce. The want of all this information,
in an accessible shape, at the present moment, will demonstrate how useful aud
important it will be in after years.
These objects could be secured, after the selection of a suitable room for the
accommodation of the members of the Board, collectively and individually. Such
a measure was urged seventeen years ago by the late Mr. James G. King and
other prominent members of the Board, when it was suggested “ to consider what
steps should be taken to increase the usefulness of the incorporation. It is to be
lamented that up to this hour these judicious resolutions remain a dead letter.
Shall it always be thus? Shall not the time come when the Chamber of Com­
merce of New York shall have its own hall, its library, its archives, its gallery of
pictures, its statuary, its museum—and, above all, its courts of arbitration and
appeal ?”
The importance of a well-selected commercial library cannot be too strongly
urged. It is true that our city numbers three extensive and well-selected public
libraries of general utility ; but it must be confessed that they do not meet the
wants of our commercial men. In the first place, these collections are too re­
mote from the business portions of the city to be useful in the business hours of
the day ; and in the next place, these collections are of too miscellaneous a char­
acter to make them places of resort by merchants. These require a room prop­
erly and liberally furnished, and supplied with merely commercial works—such as
will illustrate the commerce, trade, manufactures, products, resources, debts, rev­
enues, of our own and of all other nations; in fact, such means and appliances as
will, in the first place, answer the inquiries of our merchants; secondly, that will
enable the secretary to compile, from year to year, from month to month, and
even from day to day, such statistics and information as should, in a condensed
form, be placed before the community and the country at large; and, finally, a
room or suite of rooms, to which may be introduced the merchants of other cities,
who may visit New York from time to time.
In this respect we are behind our cotemporaries in London, Liverpool, Boston,
Philadelphia, &c. We have no central point to meet; for the importance of the
New York Chamber of Commerce should not be overlooked, as the medium of
communication between the commercial community and the Legislature, and as
the exponent of the wants and condition of commerce.
It is known that the Legislature of the State pays due deference to the sug­
gestions of the Chamber of Commerce. In fact, nearly every measure recom­
mended by the latter body, for some years past, has been favorably received by
the former. Unless the merchants of New York through their accredited medium,
the Chamber of Commerce, bring before the public and the Legislature reliable,
comprehensive, condensed views of the commerce and trade of the State, where
shall they be obtained? Under these circumstances, we take occasion to second
the suggestion of some of our leading merchants, that New York city shall place
the Chamber of Commerce upon a more extended and liberal footing, and thus
work more extended results to our city and State.
'i he Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York has the means of col­




The Law M erchant:

444

lecting information of the first importance to our commercial community, and of
placing such information in a concentrated form before the people. The Cham­
ber should, in fact, assume to be—as it really is—the exponent of the commerce
of the city, of the State—indeed, of the whole Union, including foreign and
domestic.
The considerations now submitted claim serious attention, simply with refer­
ence to the importance and condition of New York as a commercial city at the
present moment. But our views should not be confined to the present; we should
aim to meet the wants of the future New York—of New York as it shall be in
ten, twenty, fifty years hence. As the Chamber of Commerce of the State of
New York, and not merely of the city, this body may confer a great public ben­
efit, enlarge its sphere of usefulness, and increase largely its number of members,
by acting upon the suggestions made by their former president, the late James G.
King, viz.:—
1. To elect a large number of new members.
2. To procure offices of a suitable size, and in a central position, for the accom­
modation of the library of the Chamber, and for the daily meeting of such mem­
bers as may choose to resort there; it being recommended that every one appear
there once a day.
3. To appoint a clerk, with a moderate salary, whose duty it shall be to give
his constant attendance, between 9 a . m . and 9 p . m . ; who shall record daily the
time of high water, the course of the wind, all foreign arrivals, together with such
items of information as may seem of general importance ; to have files of newspa­
pers from different parts of the Union—one at least of each State, and that one
the Stale paper— together with such public documents and important laws as
may be transmitted to the office; to perform the office of librarian, or assistant
librarian, and such other duties as may be required by the Chamber.

Art,

VI.— T H E

LAW

M E R CH A NT.

K U M BKR V III.

IN T E R E S T .
U n der w hat circum stances is the cred itor entitled to cla im in terest?

In answering this question, we must revert first to the distinction ex­
plained in the previous article. The first point to be considered, in test­
ing the creditor’s claim to be paid interest is, does he claim it by virtue of
an agreement to pay it, or simply as his damages for a wrongful detention
of the principal ?
If the debtor has promised to pay interest, then the claim must be judged
by the terms of the promise. It is to be remarked, however, that interest,
although agreed for, is never payable until the principal which earns it is
payable, unless the agreement is expressly otherwise. This is important
to be remembered in making such contracts. The case of French vs. Ken­
nedy, (7 Barb., 452,) was a suit to determine the construction o f a bond,
in which the defendant had promised to pay “ $1,256 50, with interest after
the 1st day of April next, in fourteen equal annual payments, on the 1st
day o f April, in each and every year after the 1st day of April next.”
When the day for the first payment came, the creditor claimed the first
instalment, and a year’s interest on the whole of the principal. The de­
fendant declined to pay more than the first instalment, and the year’s in­




Interest.

445

terest upon that instalment. The court held the defendant was right;
and that the interest on each instalment, or fraction o f the principal, was
not due until the instalment came due.
In many cases, however, there is no promise in writing, or in words—
that is, technically, no express promise. It is often the case, that a bar­
gain is made, o f which some of the terms only are expressed, in the con­
versation of the contracting parties, and the other terms are implied.
For instance, the housekeeper in buying a barrel o f flour, selects the
brand, inquires the price, and directs it to be sent home, in ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred, without expressing any promise whatever to pay
for it. The reader will be surprised to find, if he analyzes the business
transactions with which he is familiar, especially those which rest in con­
versation, and not in writing, how many of them involve implied promises.
It must not be supposed that because the debtor made no express prom­
ise to pay interest, he is, therefore, under no prorqise.
In the State of New York, a Mr. Smith employed Mr. Meeck to trans­
port a quantity of flour from Rochester to the city o f New York. It did
not appear that there was any time expressly fixed at which Mr. Meeck’s
account was to be paid, but when finally he brought a suit to collect this
account, (Meeck vs. Smith, 7 Wend., 315,) he claimed interest from its
date. To this the defendant objected, on the grdund that he made no
promise to pay interest. Mr. Meeck offered to show by witnesses that it
was the uniform custom of all engaged in the forwarding business, to
charge interest upon their accounts, and that Mr. Smith knew this, when
he employed h im ; and he contended that Mr. Smith’s employing him,
with a knowledge of this custom, implied a promise, on his part, to com­
ply with the requirements o f that custom. The court refused to hear the
evidence. Mr. Meeck appealed, and the Supreme Court decided that the
evidence ought to have been received, and, if it had satisfied the jury, it
would have implied a promise which Mr. Smith would be bound to fulfill.
The same would be the case, if the custom or usage set up was not that
of the community in general, but that of the creditor only, if it were a
custom clearly known by the other party, at the time o f entering into the
transaction.
If the creditor relies on his own custom o f charging interest, to raise a
promise, it is important that he should be able to show that the debtor
was cognizant of that custom, at the outset, or subsequently acquiesced in
it. In another case, (Trotter vs. Grant, 2 Wend., 413,) which arose in the
the same court, upon a similar account, the plaintiff’s evidence showed
that it was his custom to charge interest, but he could not prove that the
defendant knew i t ; and, upon those facts, it was held that he could not
recover it.
Where there is no agreement, express or implied, the claim to interest
is grounded on a right to damages for the detention of the principal; and
all cases of this sort, though innumerable, and o f endless variety, are to
be decided according to three simple rules, which are, in fact, the tests of
all questions of damages, o f whatever nature. In order to substantiate
the claim, it must appear that—
1st. There has been a wrong or injury done, viz., the detention o f the
principal.
2d. The injury was the result of the debtor’s wrongful act, or neglect.
3d. It was not the result of any act or negligence on the creditor’s part.




44 6

The Law M erchant:

The application of these rules will be best exhibited by a number of
illustrations from cases which have arisen.
Before entering upon these, however, let us remark that there is a dis­
tinction between debts that are due, and debts that are payable. All debts
that are payable are due ; not all debts that are due are payable. In order
to constitute a basis for a claim of interest, a debt must be not only due,
but also payable. Sometimes a debt becomes payable by the same cir­
cumstance which renders it due. A promissory note, payable on a given
day, becomes both due and payable at the same moment. Sometimes a
debt becomes payable by a circumstance different from that which rendered
it due
A note, whereby one promises to pay a sum of money “ on de­
mand,” is due from the time it is made ; it is payable only from the time
the creditor demands payment. This is commonly the case with accounts
and with ordinary debts. In all such cases, the debtor is not considered
to be in default, until his creditor has made a demand. Then, if he fails
to satisfy the debt, he is said to be in default.
The case of Pinhorn vs. Tuckington, (3 Camp., 465,) was tried in the
Court of King’s Bench, Eng., before Lord Ellinborough. It seems that the
parties had had some difficulties about their accounts, and had submitted
the controversy to arbitrators, who had awarded the payment by Tucking­
ton of a considerable balance, and had directed the payment to be made
on the 21st of June, between the hours of 11 and 12, at Lloyd’s Coffee­
house. The plaintiff sent there at the appointed time, but no one ap­
peared to pay the award, and he afterwards brought a suit for it. The
court allowed interest from the day on which the money ought to have
been paid, as there had been a demand.
In this case, the result would have been different, if the creditor had
neglected to be at the coffee-house, and the debtor had been there ready
with his money. That would have transferred the negligence to the cred­
itor’s side, and the debtor would not have been adjudged to pay interest,
nor even the costs o f the suit, by reason of his creditor’s negligence.
So when a merchant has drawn a bank check, or made a note payable
at a bank; if he has the money there ready to pay it at the proper time,
he will not be liable for interest, however long the payee may delay pre­
senting it. On the other hand, if he have no funds to meet it there, he
will be liable to pay interest, even though the paper was not presented.
John Reynolds, o f Ohio, wished to send some money to his partner in
Baltimore. He accordingly procured three bank-notes o f the Farmers’
Bank of Virginia, amounting to two hundred and ten dollars. These three
notes he cut in halves, and sent a half of each by mail to his partner. By
a subsequent mail he sent the remaining halves. This is not an uncom­
mon expedient, but it is not very secure. The first letter was duly re­
ceived ; the second never came to hand. The lost halves were extensively
advertised, but never heard from.
Reynolds & Co. made affidavits of the circumstance of the loss, and went
to the bank and presented the remaining halves, and demanded payment,
offering to give security to save the bank harmless from ever being called
upon to pay the same notes, on presentation of the lost halves. The bank
did not consider the evidence of the loss as sufficient, and refused to pay
the notes. Reynolds & Co. then brought a suit to compel payment of the
notes, with interest. O f course, in order to establish their claim, they
averred that they had demanded payment, and offered indemnity. The




Interest.

44 7

bank, by its proper officers, answered that the plaintiffs had never proved
their ownership of the notes, except bv their own affidavits, which were
not evidence in their own behalf; that the bank, in common with other
banks in that place, had adopted, and made public a regulation, that they
would not pay half-notes, except under the decision of some competent
tribunal. The bank demanded that the plaintiff's ought to give ample se­
curity against any other claim respecting the notes; and they contended
that they had been in no default, and that, therefore, they ought not to be
compelled to pay either interest or costs.
Upon the trial, the plaintiffs produced satisfactory evidence, other than
their own, respecting the loss, and the Chancellor decreed that the bank
must pay the notes, with interest from the time when the halves were pre­
sented, and the costs of the suit; the payment to be conditioned upon the
giving of good security by the plaintiffs.
From this the bank appealed. They insisted that they had not been in
default, in not paying before, and that so they were not liable for interest
or costs.
The Court of Appeals took the same view. The judge said— (Farmers’
Bank vs. Reynolds, 4 Rand., 180)— “ The appellants were in no fault what­
ever, in not paying the notes, in this case. Banks are under no obliga­
tion to seek out their creditors; they are bound to pay only on a demand
for payment, made at their offices o f discount and deposit. And in the
case of the presentation o f a moiety of a note, the demand for payment
at the bank must be accompanied with such evidence of the ownership of
the note, as ought to satisfy the bank. The demand, in the case before us,
was unaccompanied by any such evidence; that demand, therefore, im­
posed no obligation to pay the principal, and, of course, could give no
claim to interest. Sufficient evidence of ownership has been exhibited
since the institution of this suit, but no demand of payment has been made
at the bank since the evidence was taken. The appellants, therefore, are
not yet in default, and consequently ought not to pay interest.”
The decree of the Chancellor was, therefore, affirmed as to the princi­
pal, but reversed as to the interest and costs.
A gentleman who had bought a reversionary interest in certain English
bank stock at auction, and paid the deposit required by the auctioneers
on the sale, was finally obliged to lose his bargain, because the seller could
not show a clear title to the stock. Various difficulties produced a delay
of four years, and all that time his deposit of over 11,000 was lying in
the hands of the auctioneers. They could not invest it, for it was not
their money, and to use it would make them personally liable. And nei­
ther the seller nor the purchaser was entitled to receive it, pending the
questions on the title. Finally, the sale was abandoned. The purchaser
sued the auctioneers for the deposit and four years’ interest. He recovered
from them the principal, but no interest. Of course, according to the
rules above stated, the auctioneers were not liable for interest for a delay
which had not been their fault. He then sued the seller, who had em­
ployed the auctioneer, to recover from him the four years’ interest. The
court held that he was entitled to recover it. (Farquhar vs. Farley, 7
Taunt., 592.)
It thus appears that in general no debtor is liable for interest until he
is in default. It becomes, therefore, a matter of prudence for a business
man to mark the circumstances which put him in default to others, or
others in default to him.




448

The Law M erchant:

In the ease of written promises to pay it is not difficult to tell, from an
inspection of the paper, what circumstance will render the debt payable,
and thus put the debtor in default. In respect to accounts generally, a
demand by the creditor or his agent is necessary; and if it is an account
bearing credit, it must be a demand after the expiration of the credit.
This demand need not be a formal demand in words— presentation for
payment is sufficient. Where mutual accounts subsist, and the one party
makes out and sends to the other a statement of the account, he who re­
ceives it is bound to make objection to it, if he has any, within a reason­
able time. If he makes no objections, he is justly considered as having
admitted its correctness, and will not be afterwards allowed to question
it. Where the balance due is thus ascertained, by the concurrence or ac­
quiescence of the parties, the account is said to be liquidated. Such a
liquidation amounts to a demand, and if no objections are made to an ac­
count thus stated, it bears interest from the time of its statement.
When an agent collects money, it is his duty to pay it over to his prin­
cipal immediately. If he neglects to do this, or conceals the fact that he
has received it, he is in default from the first.
If a trustee or fiduciary agent uses moneys intrusted to him for pur­
poses foreign to the trust; if lie applies them to his own debts, or invests
them in his own business, or even mixes them with his own funds, and
lets them lie idle and unproductive, or if treating them separately he man­
ages them negligently, and loses interest, or if irreproachable in all other
respects, he neglects to account, or wrongfully withholds settlement, he is
chargeable with interest.
In all cases where the act of the creditor is an essential preliminary to
fixing the liability of the debtor, it will very likely be of no avail that the
creditor performs the act unless he preserves evidence of having performed
it. To make a demand for the purpose of setting interest to run can only
prove useful in that way by the preservation of proof of such demand.
Cases very frequently occur where a person has taken every precaution
to fix and preserve his right, yet from having no evidence of some of the
precautions he has lost their benefit. This happened in the case of, Bar­
nard vs. Bartholomew, (22 Pickering, 291.) The defendant, Bartholomew,
was sued on an account of charges for services. It was an old account,
and the plaintiff claimed interest. He was unable, however, to produce
any evidence of any demands, except such as was contained in a letter of
the defendant to the plaintiff, written nearly five years after the last item
in the account, and a year before suit was brought. In this letter he said
— “ I shall call according to your request and settle with you.” The court
held that this was evidence of a demand at that date, and interest was al­
lowable, therefore, from that time.
Undoubtedly, in this case, the creditor had demanded his account more
than once before the five years had elapsed, but he could not prove it. A
very simple way of preserving the evidence of all such transactions is to
act by a messenger, and to cause him to make a memoranda of what he
does, which will serve to refresh his memory if the circumstances should
ever be called in question.
Although it is true that the debtor is not in default unless the creditor
has done all that devolves upon him to do, yet it does not follow that the
debtor is in default whenever the creditor lias done all. Any circumstance
which completely exculpates the debtor from any responsibility respecting




Journal o f M ercantile Law.

449

the delay, will completely exonerate him from payment o f interest for
that delay. Thus the intervention of war between the United States and
a foreign country, since it would suspend all commercial relations with
that country, would relieve our merchants from any liability for interest
upon debts due to the merchants of that country, the payment o f which
might be postponed by the war.
It not unfrequently happens that the delay is the direct consequence of
the creditor’s act. In some cases of complicated controversies, the cred­
itor has procured the injunction o f a court forbidding the holder of mon­
eys in dispute to pay them to any one, or make any disposition o f them,
until the controversy respecting them should be determined by the court.
It has been held in such cases that the person thus enjoined was not liable
for interest. It has sometimes happened that when a debtor has been ready
to settle, his creditor has been in concealment and not to be found. In
such a case, if the debtor takes the precaution to preserve evidence of his
readiness to pay, and his inability to discover his creditor’s residence, he may
successfully resist any claim to interest that may afterward be set up.
It is necessary to take the same precaution respecting the preservation
of evidence in cases where the debtor makes a tender of his debt, which
the creditor refuses to receive. By such a refusal the creditor forfeits not
his debt, but only interest from that time and all right to recover the costs
of an action for the debt. The debtor’s tender becomes a defense, but a
defense which is only available in case he has evidence o f it.

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.
C H A R T E R P A R T Y — N A V IG A T IO N OF W E S T E R N R IV E R S .

United States District Court, for the District of Missouri. In admiralty,
September adjourned term, 1856. Hill & Cown, and others, libelants, vs. Golden
Gate. Opinion of Judge Wells.
The steamer Golden Gate was owned in Indiana, and enrolled at Louisville,
Kentucky.
The owners chartered her to certain persons who resided at St. Louis, Missouri.
By the terms of the charter party the charterers were to have the boat for
four months, with a privilege to renew the charter party, upon a specified notice,
for four months more. The charterers were to pay the owners ®800 per month
for the hire of the boat, and were to have the entire and exclusive control and
management of her for the time specified—were to receive her earnings, and keep
her clear of all liens and claims. The charterers appointed the master, rau the
boat, and during the charter party contracted debts in Missouri for materials and
supplies, a part of which were furnished by the libelants, and are the same for
which the libels in this case are filed. Other libelants furnished materials and
supplies before the boat was chartered.
The principal question for the Court now to examine and decide is, have the
libelants in this case a lien upon the boat by the general maritime law of the
United Slates for the materials and supplies thus furnished?
If materials and supplies be furnished to a vessel in a port of the State to
which she belongs, the material men have no lien by the general maritime law—
the presumption being that the supplies are furnished on the credit of the owners,
and not on that of the boat. On the contrary, if the materials and supplies be
furnished to a foreign vessel, that is, a vessel belonging to a foreign country, or

VOL. xxxvi.— NO. iv.




29

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Journal o f M ercantile Laic.

to another State, then a lien is given on the vessel by the general maritime law—
the presumption being that the material men looked to the vessel as well as to
the owners for security. There may be a lien on a vessel for materials and sup­
plies furnished in a port of the State to which she belongs, but in such case it is
given by the local law of the State. (1 Conklin’s Ad., 56, and pages following.)
In regard to these principles there is no controversy.
The question whether the Golden Gate is subject to a lien by the general mari­
time law for supplies furnished in St. Louis, after the charter party was entered
into, will depend for an answer on her being then in a foreign or domestic port.
Does her being a foreign or domestic vessel depend on the residence of her owners,
or on the port of her enrollment ?
As a general rule—which general rule, however, is subject to some modifications
and exceptions—it depends on the residence of her owners—or those who are, for
the time, to be deemed and treated as her owners.
If it depends on the residence of her owners, then the next question will be,
who are to be deemed and treated as her owners in this case ? Are they the gen­
eral owners residing in the State of Indiana, or the charterers residing in St.
Louis, Mo.
That the Supreme and Circuit Courts of the United States look to the residence
of the owners and not to the place of enrollment of a vessel to determine her
character, will be apparent by examining the decided cases. The residence of
the owners is proved and stated, and nothing is said about the enrollment. See
the statement of the case and opinion in “ The General Smith”— 4 Whea. R.,
438. The brig Nestor, 1 Sumner’s Rep., 75, where Judge Story says : “ Prima
facie, the supplies of material men to a foreign ship, that is, to a ship belonging
or represented to belong to owners residing in another State or country, are to
be deemed to be furnished on the credit of the ship and the ow'ners until the con­
trary is proved.” Statement of the case and opinion in “ The balk Chusan,”
2 Story’s Rep’s., 456.
If the character of the vessel, (foreign or domestic,) depended on the enrollment
and not on the residence of the owners, the statements and proof of the residence
of owners, and the language of Judge Story in the case of the brig Nestor, were
idle and unimportant, and as nothing was said or proved about the enrollment,
there could be nothing by which to determine the character of the vessel.
It is important to observe that the character of the vessel is only referred to
for the purpose of ascertaining to whom and to what the credit is given ; and in
no other respect, so far as regards this case, is it important. If the owners reside
in a foreign country or in another State, the material man is presumed to give
credit to the boat and also to the owners—because he is presumed not to rely
alone on the owners who live so remote and who are beyond the jurisdiction of
the courts of his State. If the owners reside in the same State with the material
man, the latter can easily resort to them for payment and readily enforce it in the
courts; therefore, he may well be supposed to give credit to the ow'ners alone.
It is apparent, therefore, that the place of enrollment has nothing to do with
the credit that is given ; and has, therefore, nothing to do with the question
of lien.
If the material men were ignorant of the place of residence of the owners,
they might presume, and I think the presumption would be reasonable, that the
owners resided at or near the port where the vessel was enrolled, but in this case
there is no room for presumption, as it is admitted that the libelants knew when
the supplies were furnished, that the general owners resided in Indiana, and the
charterers in St. Louis, and that the boat was enrolled at Louisville.
I am aware of the case of Free vs. The Indiana, (Crabbe, 479,) and that it
decides that a vessel is to be deemed to belong to the port where she is enrolled.
It is founded solely on the third section of the act of 31st December, 1792, en­
titled “ An act concerning the registering and recording of ships or vessels,” (1
Lit. & B. laws U. S., 288.) That section provides “ 'That every ship or vessel
hereafter to be registered, (except as hereinafter provided,) shall be registered by
the Collector of the District in which shall be comprehended the port to which




Journal o f M ercantile Law.

45 1

such ship or vessel shall belong at the time of her registration, which port shall
be deemed to be that at or nearest to which the owner, if there be but one, or if
more than one, the husband or acting and managing owner of such ship or vessel
usually resides.”
The substance of the section is, that the vessel is to be registered at the port to
which she belongs ; and for the purpose of registry, the port to which she belongs
shall be deemed to be that at which the owner resides, or the port nearest to which
he resides. The section is only directing at what port the vessel is to be register­
ed, and has no other effect. It frequently happens, as it happens in this case, that
the owners reside in one State, and the port nearest to them is in another State
.—and this is especially the case on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, which divide
States.
The above act relates to registering vessels— those engaged in foreign trade.
But a subsequent act, (Feb. 18,1793—1 Lit. and B., 305, g 2,) providing for
the enrollment of vessels, (those engaged in the coasting trade,) expressly pro­
vides that the place of abode of the owners shall be stated in the enrollment.
According to the late and well-considered case of Dudley and others vs. The
Steamboat Superior, (American Law Register for August, 1855,) which reviews
the above case in Crabbe, the place of enrollment is only prima facie evidence of
the port to which the vessel belongs. See also Sharp vs. United Ins. Co., 14
Johns. R., 201; and Leonard vs. Huntington, 15 John. R., 302.
It will be observed that when the port or place to which a vessel belongs is
spoken of, it always means the port or place where the owners reside to whom the
vessel belongs.
I have before remarked in this opinion, that the rule that a foreign vessel
was subject to a lien for supplies, and that a domestic vessel was not thus
subject, under the general maritime law, was not without exceptions and modifi­
cations ; but it will be seen that those exceptions and modifications all show that
the lien depends on the residence, or supposed residence of the owners, and not on
the place of enrollment.
Thus, if the owners of a domestic vessel held out their vessel as a foreign ves­
sel—that is, as belonging to persons residing in a foreign country— they are pre­
cluded by their own act from denying her foreign character, when libeled by
material men ; and there will be a lien for the supplies furnished enforced in the
admiralty. The St. Jago de Cuba, 9 Whea. R., 416,17.
Again. If an exclusive credit be given to the master, there is no lien, although
she be a foreign vessel. The brig Nestor. 1 Sumner’s Rep., 75.
Again. If the contract be made with the owners personally and not with the
master, there is no lien—the presumption being that the credit was given to the
owners personally, and not on the credit of the vessel. The St. Jago de Cuba,
supra.
The act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1851, (9 Lit. & B., 635,) entitled,
“ An act to limit the liability of shipowners and for other purposes,” section 5
provides, “ That the charterer or charterers of any ship or vessel, in case he or
they shall man, victual, and navigate such vessel at his or their own expense, or
by his or their own procurement, shall be deemed the owner or owners of such
vessel, within the meaning of this act; and such ship or vessel, when so chartered,
shall be liable in the same manner as if navigated by the owner or owners
thereof.”
The above section applies, I presume, only to certain losses and injuries speci­
fied in the act, and morover is declared not to apply to inland or river navigation;
the last, as I suppose, was because the general maritime law of the United States
was not at that time (March, 1851,) thought to apply to the inland navigation,
the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States declaring it to extend to
inland navigation, not having, at that time, been made. But it applies in many
cases, and to all navigation except the inland navigation; and shows that the
place of enrollment can have nothing to do with it. And so far as the act pro­
vides, it shows the opinion of Congress that the charterers are to be, and ought
to be, considered the owners.




Journal o f M ercantile Law.

45 2

Having- established, as I think, the proposition that the lien in favor of mate­
rial men under the general maritime law depends on the residence of the owners,
and not on the place of enrollment, it becomes necessary to inquire who, in this
case, are to be deemed the owners.
The law, I think, is perfectly well settled, that where there is a charter party,
and by its terms the charterers, as in this case, are to have exclusive possession,
control, and management of the vessel during the term specified—are to appoint
the masier, run the vessel, and receive the entire profits, they, and not the general
owners, are to he deemed the owners, and are alone responsible for damages and
contracts. Gracie is. Palmer, 8 Wheaton’s R., 632-3; MacCardier is. The
Chesapeake Ins. Co., 8 Cranch’s R., 39 ; Abbott on Shipping, note 1 to page 57
of the English edition, and cases there cited ; Ibid, 288-9, same paging and note;
The schooner Volunteer and cargo, 1 Sumner’s Reports, 566-7; Kleine rs.
Catara, 2 Gallisorn’s Reps., 75.
Indeed, upon principle as well as authority, there cannot be a doubt. It might
as well be contended that if you hire your horse to another to perform a journey,
you, and not he, would be responsible for his shoeing and food.
It was said in the argument of this cause, that the charter party was not re­
corded. This can make no difference, as the only effect of recording would be
to give notice of its existence—there being no act of Congress declaring it to be
void for want of recording, and the material men expressly admitting that they
knew of the charter party when they furnished the supplies. Abbott on Shipping,
page 33, of English Ed., and note (1) to that page, and cases there cited. There
is an act of Congress, (9 Lit. and B., 440,) entitled “ An act to provide for Re­
cording the conveyances of vessels, and for other purposes.” But it does not
extend to charter parties; and the instruments which the act requires to be re­
corded, are not declared invalid as to those having actual notice thereof.
I come, therefore, to the conclusion, that for supplies furnished the Golden
Gate at St. Louis, after she was chartered, the material men and the charterers
both residing there at the time, there is no lien upon the vessel by the general
maritime laws of the United States.
B O T TO M E Y— H Y P O T H E C A T IO N OP

S H IP , E T C ., ET C .

United States District Court. Before Judge B e t t s , setting in admiralty.
[The following decision and opinion contains a variety of legal points, some of
which we have not seen adjudicated in any Court of the United States. They are,
therefore, of more than ordinary interest to the shipping interest.]
John Gardner et al. vs. The Bark White Squall.
B e t t s . J.—The bark White Squall, commanded by E. J. Harding, master,
sailed from New York for San Francisco on the 17th of February, 1855, and
on the 25th of March thereafter put into Rio Janeiro in distress for repairs.
The master consigned the ship to Graham, Bros. & Go. Endeavors were then
made to obtain money by bottomry sufficient to make the repairs and outfit neces­
sary to enable the ship to prosecute her voyage to San Francisco. The survey­
ors of the ship estimated the amount necessary at £2,500 sterling; but no loan
could be obtained at a less premium than 75 per cent. The master wrote to the
owners for directions from them and the underwriters. None had been received
on the 1st of July. In the meantime, the vessel having been made nearly ready
for sea, a call, by'notice through the papers, was again made for an offer of a
loan on bottomry to continue the voyagejto San Francisco, to be addressed to
the Consul’s office. No offer being given, the master then advertised for such
loan to bring the vessel with her cargo back to New York, but obtained none for
that voyage either.
The master had sold part of the ship’s cargo and applied the proceeds towards
the repairs, and entered into a contract of charter for the vessel, when Mr. Lang
came to Rio as agent of the owners, and brought £2,200 sterling, which was also
expended upon the debts contracted for the repairs. Soon after Lang’s arrival,




Journal o f M ercantile Law.

45 3

Harding left the ship as master, and Burke, her first mate, was on the 1st of
October appointed by Lang, master in his place. He executed the bottomry
bond on the 5th of December, 1855. The vessel had been ready for sea for about
five months. Burke executed the bond under the direction of Lang, without any
knowledge of the necessities of the vessel, but because he was told that Lang
must have more money.
Upon the facts in proof the master had no authority in law to give the bot­
tomry hypothecation in question. The debts all accrued from separate credits
given the master of the vessel, or her consignees, by mechanics, material men and
others, and were entirely incurred at a very considerable period before the treaty
for this hypothecation was on foot with the bottomry lender. These facts were
notorious. It was, therefore, well understood that the loan was made to extin­
guish antecedent debts not contracted under any assurance or expectation of a
bottomry security, and was not made to the creditors themselves, but to others
who bought in the debts in effect at an abatement of 33$ per cent from the
amount. The master could not bind the ship, her cargo, and freight, to the satis­
faction of such debts. (8 Peters, The Virgin ; 1 Wheat, 96, the Angra ; Abbott,
200, [note 1,] 1 Peters, 386.)
But although the bond was signed by the master, yet he acted in the matter
under the direction of the agent of the owners, and not on his own judgment and
discretion. This agent was sent to Rio by the owners with funds for the use of
the vessel, and, as must be implied, with general powers to act for the owners in
respect to the ship. He displaced the original master and substituted another.
He called in the bills of the ship, had them all adjusted, and authorized a com­
position with the creditors. He then arranged with the consignee of the ship for
her hypothecation, for the purpose of raising money to satisfy the debts still out­
standing. After the borrowing hypothecation was made, he had all the papers,
including the protest of the master and crew, the particular bills and vouchers
for all the expenses of the ship at Rio, with the bottomry bond, transmitted to
the owners. They laid these documents before the Adjuster of General Average
at New York, and obtained from him a computation and allowance of their share
of the general average, and claimed and received that share from the underwriters.
These facts in my judgment import that Lang possessed all the power of the
owner to hypothecate the vessel, or at the least, if such powers were not original­
ly conferred upon him, that the owners ratified and assured to their exercise
after being fully advised of his acts and the facts upon which he acted. (Story’s
Agency, § 239.) The authority of an owner to bottoming a ship at home or
abroad without regard to her necessities, seems no longer a question with the
authorities. (Abbott, 192, note 1; 3 Kent, 361, 6th ed.) Flanders on Mari­
time Law, §253. The principal cannot be allowed to screen himself from the
unfavorable consequences following the doings of his agent, after taking to him­
self the benefits secured by them. (Strong’s Agency, § 250, 253, 258 )
The libelants are accordingly entitled to a decree in their favor for the due en­
forcement of the bond.
IN S U R A N C E — A B A N D O N M E N T .

Superior Court— Special Term—New York, February, 1857. Before Judge
Duer. Alexander McConochie, and another, vs. The Sun Mutual Insurance
Company. Demurrer to complaint.
The action was upon an open policy of insurance upon goods, and was brought
to recover a constructive total loss upon the goods mentioned in the complaint,
upon the ground that they had been damaged by the perils of the sea to more
than half their value. The complaint averred that an abandonment had been
made, and set forth a letter of abandonment, addressed to the President of the
Company, (the defendants,) in these word :—
“ Dear Sir :—Understanding that the bark M. L. Grant, on her voyage from
Matanzas to New York, has been compelled to seek the port of Savannah in
distress, where she arrived, we hear, with several feet of water in her hold, the
cargo was landed and found very seriously damaged ; we therefore hereby aban-




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Journal o f M ercantile Law.

don to yon two hundred and eighty hogsheads of sugar, valued at $85 per hogs­
head,” &c., &c.
The complaint admitted that the loss—considered as partial—had been
satisfied.
The ground of demurrer was. that the abandonment, set forth in the complaint,
was not sufficient to warrant the plaintiffs in claiming as for a constructive total
loss.
Held, That an abandoment, to be valid, must in all cases set forth the grounds
upon which it is made, and that these must be such that, admitting them to be
true, the right of the assured to recover a total loss is a necessary consequence;
that, tested by this rule, the abandonment set forth in the complaint was defective
and void ; that the allegation that the goods insured were “ very seriously dam­
aged,” did not necessarily import that the damage exceeded half their value. It
might be true, yet the plaintiffs would not be entitled to recover the total loss
which they claimed.
Demurrer allowed, with usual liberty to plaintiffs to amend complaint upon
payment of costs.
------ T R A N S F E R OF B A N K

STOCK.

Supreme Court—Special Term— New York, 1856. Before Judge Davies.
Anthony L. Iloguet vs. The Rensselaer County Bank.
A certificate for twenty shares, at $50 each, in the Rensselaer County Bank,
was issued on the 12th of July, 1853, to Wm. Lansing, who delivered it, with a
blank power of attorney for the transfer thereof, to the plaintiff, as security for
a loan. Two months previously to this transfer the defendants discounted a note
for Lansing, which was protested for non payment in April, 1854. The original
certificate states that it is translerrable upon the conditions and subject to the
restrictions in the articles of association which contain this provision:—
“ The shares of the capital stock of the association shall be deemed pledged,
and held as security by the officers thereof, for the payment of all debts and
liabilities of the owners thereof to the association, and no transfer of any of
said shares can be made until such debts and liabilities are discharged.”
The defendants claim to hold this stock as being pledged to secure this debt to
them, and the plaintiff claims that he is the owner thereof, and that the defend­
ants are bound to transfer the same to him, and having refused to do so, are liable
for the damages he has sustained by such refusal.
The court decides in favor of the defendants, and dismisses the complaint with
costs, on the ground that the defendants have a right to insist upon the fulfillment
of those conditions and restrictions, and that the plaintiff cannot have a transfer
of the stock until he pays up to the defendants the indebtedness of his assignor
to them, and for which they have a lien on this stock.
The court rely upon the decision of the Court of Appeals, in the Mechanics'
Bank is. The New York and New Haven Railroad Company, as establishing
that a certificate of stock is not a negotiable instrument, and upon the rule that
where either party has tlie legal title the prior equity must prevail.
ST O R A G E

OF G O OD S IN

BONDED

W AREHOUSES.

Circuit Court of the United States, (Boston, November, 1856.) Before Judge
Curtis. Foster, et al. vs. Peaslee, Collector.
This is an action brought by the plaintiffs against the defendant, as Collector
of the port of Boston, to recover back money paid for storage of merchandise in
the bonded warehouses. The plaintiffs contended that the sums exacted of them
by the Collector were beyond the usual rates of storage at this port, and protested
against the payment, and brought this action to recover the excess. On the part
of the Collector, it was argued that the storage of goods by the plaintiffs was
voluntary; that they had the right to store the same in their own warehouses or
in a private bonded warehouse, and that therefore they were bound to pay the
rates fixed by the storekeepers of the United States, and that after they had once
paid, all the further payments were voluntary, as they were aware of the rates
claimed, and therefore could not recover back the same. On the part of the




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Commercial Chronicle and Review.

plaintiffs it was argued that the act of March 3,1841, had fixed the rates of stor­
age in public stores at the usual rates of storage at the port, that the warehousing
acts beiug silent in regard thereto, must be deemed to have been made in accord­
ance with that act, and that the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury,
issued in accordance with the provisions of the warehousing acts, had adopted
the provisions of the act in the precise words of that act; and even if the act of
1841 had not been passed, the instructions of the Secretary of the Treasury had
the binding force and effect of law ; that the importer had a right to store his
goods in the public stores, and that the Collector could not, by exacting illegal
rates of storage, deprive him of that right, or render the privilege less valuable;
and that no presumption arose against the plaintiffs from the fact that they had
made frequent payments, all under protest, and it was not to be presumed that
any public officer would act contrary to law. Judge Curtis gave his opinion that
the plaintiffs had a right to recover for the excess of storage charged by the Col­
lector, and ordered the action to be referred to an auditor, to compute and deter­
mine amount due the plaintiffs.
C O N TRA CTS— H IR IN G O F S L A V E S — R IG H T O F

P U N ISH M E N T D E L E G A T E D TO H IR E R —

P U N ISH M E N T MUST NOT B E C R U E L N O R B A R B A R O U S .

In the absence of an express stipulation, the owner delegates to the hirer the
same right to punish his slave which he himself has; but if the punishment in­
flicted by the hirer, when considered with a just regard to all the attendant cir­
cumstances, is either cruel or barbarous, he becomes a trespasser, ab inilio, and is
liable to damages at the suit of the owner. Nelson vs. Bondurant, Supreme
Court of Alabama.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
P R E D IC T IO N S O F A C O M M E R C IA L R E V U L S IO N — T H E P R 0 8 P E C T S O F T IIK F U T U R E — ST O R M A N D S U N S H IN B
— T IIE N E W

A D M IN I S T R A T IO N — A M E N D M E N T

OF TH E

T A R IF F — M O N E Y

M ARKET

AND

F O R E IG N

EX­

C H A N G E — T H E S P R IN G T R A D E — R E C E IP T S A N D C O I N A G E O F G O L D — T H E B A N K M O V E M E N T — IM PO R T S
A N D E X P O R T S A T N E W Y O R K , A N D R E C E IP T S F O R C A S H D U T IE S — E X P O R T S O F L E A D I N G A R T IC L E S 0 »
P R O D U C E , E T C ., E T C .

T he croakers have been busy during the last few weeks predicting wide-spread
financial disaster, and if their statements were generally believed, they would, no
doubt, realize the fulfillment of their predictions. Nothing so surely tends to
precipitate a financial crisis, and a commercial revulsion, as a weakening of the
public confidence in the stability of prosperity. There can be no question in re­
gard to the expansion, everywhere visible throughout the North and West. The
speculators in Western lands have bought up large tracts, then constructed raik
roads to or through them, to bring them into market, and the whole of this upon
a system of reckless expenditure and baseless credit, peculiar to rash speculations
the world over. Many very industrious men have left profitable employments to
embark in these enterprises, and arc in a fair way to lose the little accumulations
of their former industry. In addition to this, a number of importers have brought
out large stocks of merchandise beyond the ordinary wants of the people, and
many of these can neither dispose of their imports at a profit, or hold them over
to another season.
Grant all this, and add thereto all the other expansions, extravagance of living,
high rents, and expensive habits of the people, which make the high coloring of
the picture, and we still can see no reason for apprehending a deluge of trouble.
The speculators in lands may be compelled to sell at five dollars per acre instead




456

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

of five hundred dollars a lo t; the industrious immigrant, just arriving, will not
find this a hardship, and if the land be not a desert (which few Western lands
are) he will turn the investment to good account. The new railroad may sink
the cost of the stock, and victimize the bondholders, but by the time the grade is
well settled the new owner of the land will have raised a crop of wheat or corn
on the prospective site of the bank, and will need the track to carry his produce
to market. Other speculators will also convert their patent humbugs into han­
dles for the implements of industry, and the world turn on its axis afl the same.
Millionaires, whose extravagance is so much deprecated, may corrupt the morals
of a few ambitious, weak-headed men, who. in a desperate effort to ape their
fashions, may turn robbers or defaulters; but the race of such spendthrifts is
soon run, and it will not be long before the moral is all the more pointed for the
new practical illustration. High rents will secure first-class and convenient ware­
houses and places of business, which were much needed, and the rent will soon
be graduated by the profit of the trade.
In short, we see no reason why the man of sense may not take a more hopeful
view of the future than is just now in general fashion. We do not think the
millenium has dawned, or that the sunshine will be perpetual; it is well for pru­
dent men to retrench and be cautious amid general recklessness and folly; but
we do believe that there will be sunshine as well as storm, and we would not join
the croakers, and advise all men to dispose of their fair-weather garments, and
invest all their property in umbrellas and life-preservers, under the apprehension
of a second deluge.
We think the time has gone by when the recklessness of a few had power to
thwart the industry and prudence of the many. The pursuits of the people are
now so diversified that the rash adventurer is left to fall by himself, without in­
volving all around him in his ruin.
Since writing our last a new administration has taken the reins of power, and
the President has pronounced his inaugural. The policy there announced was
very conservative, ar.d has given general satisfaction.
The amendment of the tariff, which was before Congress at the date of our
last issue, has been adopted. Its details are not conclusively settled, owing to
the haste with which it was prepared and finally adopted ; but its main features
are easily understood.
The money markets have been very close in all parts of the country. At the
South, holders of cotton, clinging to the advanced rates, have drawn the banks
very close, and created more or less pressure there, for the first time in many
months. The West has been much crowded, and the “ street rates ” have been
very high. In the Northern Atlantic cities, the banks have found very urgent
customers to the full extent of their means, and at the note brokers’ capital has
been readily taken at 9 a 12 per cent.
Foreign exchange has been comparatively low for bankers’ signatures, but com­
mercial bills have been scarce, and there has been much less than the usual differ­
ence between these two classes, especially in exchange on London. The range
has been 107| a 108, which is unusually low, considering the heavy importations.
The stock market has fluctuated more rapidly than usual, and with less appar­
ent reason, but the “ bears ” have the advantage in the struggle, and the specula­
tors show but little courage.




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

45V

The trade for distribution has not equaled the expectations of merchants gene­
rally. Domestic cotton goods, however, continue to advance, and prices are now
higher than they have been before for very many years. Sugar is also high, al­
though prices have fallen off a little from the extreme point. Flour has declined,
but provisions generally are still very high, and persons with fixed income find it
very difficult to “ make both ends meet.”
The news from California represents the yield of gold there as on the increase,
but the amount coming forward to the Atlantic States is only a part of the
production. We annex a statement of the business at the New York Assay
Office for the month of February :—
DEPOSITS AT THE ASSAV OFFICE, N E W YO RK , FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY.

I

Silver.

Total.

Foreign coins.....................................
Foreign b u llion ................................
Domestic bullion ..............................

$5,000 00
10,000 00
1,345,000 00

Gold.

$69,000 00
32,500 00
11,900 00

$64,000 00
42,500 00
1,356,900 00

Total deposits.......................

$1,360,000 00

$103,400 00

$1,463,400 00

Deposits payable in bars...........................................................................
Deposits payable in coin...........................................................................
Gold bars stam ped....................................................................................
Transmitted to Philadelphia for coinage................................................
STATEM EN T O F T H E D E P O S IT S A N D
AT

P H I L A D E L P H I A , D U R IN G

C O IN A G E A T
THE

260,000
1,203,400
1,916,268
950,990

T H E M IN T OF T H E U N IT E D

M ON TH O F F E B R U A R Y ,

00
00
79
37

ST A T E S

1857 :—

GOLD DEPOSITS.

California g o ld ....................................................................... $903,856 00
Gold from other sources........................................................
7,110 00
Total gold deposits...............................................................................

$910,966 00

S ILV E R DEPOSITS.

Silver, including purchases............. ' ...........................................................

185,830 00

Total gold and silver deposits.............................................................. $1,096,795 00

The coinage executed was :—
GOLD.

No. o f pieces.

Quarter eagles............
Dollars.........................

Value.

$31,825 00
200,691 00

Total.........................

$232,516 00
SILVER.

D im es.........................
Half dimes...................

$114,000 00
56,000 00

Total........................

$170,000 00
RECAPITULATION.

Gold coinage...............
Silver coinage............. ....................................

2,260,000

282,516 00
170,000 00

Total....................... ....................................

2,473,421

$402,516 00




458

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

D E N O M IN A T IO N

OP

COINS

P H IL A D E L P H IA , AT
FEBRUARY,

1857

ON

THE

HAND

CLO SE

AT

OF

THE

M IN T

BU SIN ESS

OF

U N IT E D

D A Y , ON

S T A T E S , AT

th e

28th

of

:—

GOLD.

.

THE

FOR THE

Double eagles...........
Eagles.........................
Half eagles...............
Quarter-eagles.........
Three dollar pieces..
Dollars.......................
Bars............................

SILV ER.
$ 1 8 5 ,0 8 0

00

7 5 ,2 7 0

00

6 7 ,9 7 0

00

7 0 ,7 1 2

50

1 4 ,4 4 2

00

3 5 8 ,5 2 2

00

7 ,9 7 4

34

Dollars.....................
Half-dollars.............
Quarter-dollars.. . .
D im es.....................
H alfdim es..............
Three-cent pieces . .
Cents.......................

$ 7 7 9 ,9 7 0

84

G o ld ..................................

Total amount of balance on hand.

$ 1 0 ,2 9 1

00

3 5 7 ,0 0 5

00

2 1 ,4 0 6

50

1 1 9 ,3 5 1

30

1 6 ,7 8 7

20

2 4 ,8 3 9

88

202

16

$ 5 4 9 ,8 8 3

04

7 7 9 ,9 7 0

84

$ 1 ,3 2 9 ,8 5 3

88

The following is a statement of the deposits and coinage at the Branch Mint of
the United States at New Orleans, during February, 1857 :—
GOLD.

California g o l d .....................................................................
Gold from other sources....................................................

$33,478 76
7,015 76
-----------------$40,494 51

SILV ER.

Silver parted from California gold....................................
Silver from other sources....................................................

$184 67
91,514 76
-----------------

91,699 43

Total gold and silver deposits.............................................................

$132,193 94

No coinage either in January or February.

The report of the operations of the United States Branch Mint in San Fran­
cisco for the month ending January 31, 1857, is as follows :—Deposits of gold,
96,086.83 ounces ; silver, 332.80 ounces; number of depositors, 1,457. The
coinage in double-eagles was 65,000, amounting to $1,300,000 ; half-eagles, 10,000,
amounting to $50,000 ; total coinage, $1,350,000.
The banks have been pressed throughout the country, and some have expanded
beyond what is ordinarily considered a safe limit. The contraction at New York
continued one week after the date in our last, but the total loans have since been
larger than at any time previously. We annex a comparative summary :—
W E E K L Y AVERAG ES N E W Y O R K C IT Y BAN KS.

Date.

Capital.

Jau. 3, 1857
Jan. 1 0 . . .
Jan. 1 7 . . .
Jan. 2 4 . . .
Jan. 8 1 . . .
Feb.
7 ...
Feb. 1 4 ...
Feb. 2 1 . . .
Feb. 2 8 . . .
March 7 . . .
March 1 4 ...

55,235,068
55,235,068
55,235,068
65,235,068
69,266,434
69,266,434
59,266,434
69,266,434
59,266,434
59,266,434
59,266,434

Loans and
Discounts.

109,149,153
110,160,234
110,860,401
111,094,415
111,785,333
112,876,713
112,722,799
111,773,572
111,137,717
111,899,649
113,250,980

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits.

11,172,244
11,090,108
11,955,154
11,633,924
12,191,825
11,143,894
10,497,382
10,432,158
10,645,254
11,707,346
11,077,732

8,602,113
8,328,395
8,047,065
7,879,027
8,024,948
8,426,817
8,151,799
8,106,074
8,159,275
8,466,697
8,452,541

95,846,216
90,709,710
93,035,766
88,644,575
92,466,236
96,029,439
91,917,188
92,448,944
92,173,280
95,868,222
94,231,267

We also annex a comparative summary of the Boston bank averages since the
date of our last:—




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

45 9

W E E K L Y AVEEAGES AT BOSTON.

February 23.

March 2.

March 9.

March 13.

Capital............................................ $31,960,000 $31,960,000 $31,960,000 $31,960,000
Loans and discounts....................... 63,278.600 52,766,624 52,796,404 62,593,000
3,110.500
2,904,133
2,879,180 3,142,000
Specie...............................................
Due from other banks.....................
6,640,500
6,712,893
7,166,724 6,781,400
5,541,600
5,180,232
5,206,621 4,883,000
Due to other banks.........................
D eposits..........................................
16,093,000
15,027,091 14,889,428 15.287,900
Circulation......................................
6,870,600
6,604,629
7,160,064 6,626,000

The following is a comparative statement of the New Orleans banks :—
S p ecie........................................................
Circulation................................................
D eposits....................................................
Short loans................................................
Exchange..................................................
Due distant banks....................................

February 21.

February 28.

March T.

$8,474,249
10,787,479
14,537,659
21,063,266
7,129,264
983,844

$9,208,521
10,704,239
14,957,233
21,147,396
6,678,465
895,165

$9,522,092
10,913,829
14,668,137
21,090,465
6,321,918
980,721

The imports of foreign goods at the port of New York since the opening of
the current year have been larger than for any similar period in the history of
our commerce. The total imports for February are over twcnty-five-and-a-half
millions, being 89,488,209 larger than for the same month of last year. §13,443,010
larger than for February, 1855, and 814,428,912 larger than for February, 1854,
or more than double the total for the corresponding month of either 1854 or 1855.
We annex a comparative summary for the last four years :—
F O R EIG N

IM rO R T S

AT

NEW YO RK

1854.

IN FEBRUARY.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Entered for consumption. . . .
Entered for warehousing. . . .
Free goods...............................
Specie and bullion.................

$9,426,206
923,480
466,506
279,388

$8,315,268
2,237,394
1,461,465
67,355

$12,521,622
1,486,269
1,956,155
72,247

$18,508,939
3,543,996
2,447,839
1,023,718

Total entered at the p o r t ....
Withdrawn from warehouse.

$11,095,580
1,954,010

$12,081,482
2,563,274

$16,036,283
2,047,067

$25,524,492
2,501,696

It will be seen that the entries for warehousing are much larger than usual, the
importers desiring to take advantage of the reduction in the tariff, which, it was
supposed, would be applied to goods remaining in bond when the new rates take
effect. The total imports at New York since January 1st are SI 2,916,877 greater
than for the corresponding two months of last year, $19,503,915 greater than for
the same period of 1855, and $13,827,825 greater than for the same time in 1854 :
F O R EIG N IM PO RTS AT N E W Y O RK FOR TW O MONTHS, FROM JANUARY 1ST.

1854.
Entered for consumption___
Entered for warehousing.. . .
Free goods...............................
Specie and bullion _________

$25,077,621
3,196,456
1,861,569
668,753

Total entered at the port___
Withdrawn from warehouse.

$30,703,399
4,843,526

1855.

1856.

1857.

$16,685,627 $25,078,260 $33,808,973
5,492,048
3,111,513
5,513,262
2,692,095
3,297,963
8,298,762
157,639
126,611
1,910,227
$25,027,309
4,621,205

$31,614,347
4,392,675

$44,531,224
5,176,451

As February completes two-thirds of the current fiscal year, we have compiled
a summary showing the comparative totals of the imports since July 1st. From
this it will be seen that the receipts for the last eight months are $28,258,808 in
excess of the corresponding period of 1855-6, $38,200,558 in excess of the same
period of 1854-5, and 22,821,436 in excess of the same period of 1853-4. We
have been compelled to omit the last named year in our table for want of space :




460

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

F O R E IG N

IM P O R T S A T

NEW YO R K FOR
IN G

E IG H T

M ON TH S OF T H E

FEBRUARY

1854.

1855.

Six months......................
January...........................
February.........................

$96,261,129
19,607,819
11,095,580

Total for 8 months.. .

$126,964,528

F IS C A L Y E A R

END­

28th.

1856.

$86,558,097
12,945,827
12,081,482
$111,685,406

1857.

$89,912,809 $105,254,740
15,578,064
19,006,782
16,036,283
25,524,492
$121,527,156

$149,785,964

An examination of the tables giving the receipts of foreign dry goods, shows
that half of the enormous imports during the month of February consisted of
this description of merchandise. The total entries of dry goods at New York
for the four weeks ending February 28th were §5,092,007 greater than for Feb­
ruary of last year, §6,608,849 greater than for February, 1855, and §4,451,622
greater than for February, 1854. This increase extends to every description of
goods, but is greatest in silks, which have been received not only in larger quan­
tities, but also at higher invoiced values. We annex our usual comparative
statement:—
IM PORTS OF FOR EIGN

DRY

GOODS AT

THE

POR T

OF

N E W YO R K FOR

THE MONTH OF

FEBRUARY.
ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.

1856.

1857.

1854.

1855.

Manufactures o f w o o l...................
Manufactures of cotton..................
Manufactures o f s i l k .....................
Manufactures o f flax......................
Miscellaneous dry good s...............

$1,491,198
1,390,078
3,278,285
010,903
656,785

$1,258,962
1,037,896
1,648,411
409,252
450,164

$1,420,779 $2,362,668
3,457,673
1,699,871
3,402,221
2,491,361
1,146,547
850,363
947,116
582,033

Total.............................................

$7,427,249

$4,804,685

$7,044,407 $11,316,214

W IT H D R A W N FROM W AREHOUSE.

Manufactures o f w o o l.....................
Manufactures o f c o tto n .................
Manufactures o f silk.......................
Manufactures o f flax.......................
Miscellaneous dry good s...............

1854.

1855.

1856.

$281,252
461,957
331,118
190,523
54,781

$306,481
507,388
458,830
206,206
133,888

$180,306
428,496
270,421
238,105
59,195

1857.
$214,038
698,144
269,274
185,897
70,826

T ota l.......................................... . $1,319,631 $1,612,793 $1,176,523 $1,338,179
A dd entered for consum ption.. . . .
7,427,249 4,804,685 7,044,407 11,316,214
Total thrown on the market. . $8,746,880 $6,417,478 $8,220,930 $12,654,393
ENTERED F O R W AREHOUSING.

1854.

1855.

Manufactures o f w o o l ...................
Manufactures o f c o t to n ...................
Manufactures o f s ilk ........................
Manufactures o f flax........................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ...............

$122,822
160,182
265,427
50,254
29,655

$201,365
207,111
434,912
160,334
89,365

T o t a l..........................................
Add entered for consumption. . . .

$627,740 $1,098,077
7,427,249 4,804,685

Total entered at the p o rt.... . .




1856.
$62,002
113,424
133,136
47,221
14,414

1857.
$239,577
390,076
294,126
199,060
67,668

$370,197 $1,190,397
7,044,407 11,316,214

$8,054,989 $5,897,762 $7,414,604 $12,606,611

461

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

We also annex our usual comparative summary showing the comparative re­
ceipts of foreign dry goods at New York since January 1st. The total for the
last two months is $4,791,112 greater than for the same period of 1856, $11,364,932
greater than for the same period of 1855, and $4,605,628 greater than for the
same period of 1854. We do not think that the total for March will show any
material gain upon the comparative receipts of last year, and as the amendment
to the tariff, making an important reduction in duties, has been finally adopted
in Congress, the imports will probably dwindle until July 1st, when the proposed
reduction is to take effect:—
IMPORTS OF FOREIGN D RY GOODS AT THE PORT OF N EW YORK FOR EIGHT W EE KS, FROM
JANU ARY 1ST.
EN TERED F O R CONSUMPTION.

Manufactures o f w ool....................
Manufactures of cotton .................
Manufactures of silk.......................
Manufactures o f flax.......................
Miscellaneous dry good s...............

1834.

1855.

83,162,449
4,016.894
6,261,266
1,583,747
1,288,657

!$2,248,884
2,020,977
2,661,032
993,743
922,939

T o ta l............................................ 816,303,013

1856.

1857.

$3,598,111 $4,289,768
4^24,822
5,578,847
5,536,969
7,171,817
1,663,927
1,861,046
1,301,471
1,796,912

!$8,847,576 $16,325,300 $20,698,390

W IT H D R A W N FROM WAREHOUSE.

1854.
Manufactures o f w ool......................
Manufactures o f cotton...................
Manufactures of silk........................
Manufactures o f f l a x ......................
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s ................

$562,658
905,013
837,601
312,136
89,457

1855.
$494,804
772,918
728,267
302,124
215,407

1856.
$366,594
835,101
553,293
366,897
109,909

1857.
$396,452
1,133,738
592,136
335.980
153,680

Total w ithdraw n........................ ,. $2,706,865 $2,513,520 $2,231,794 $2,611,986
8,847,575 16,325,300 20,698,390
Add entered for consumption . . . . . 16,303,013
Total thrown upon the market. ..

19,009,878 11,361,095 18,557,094 23,310,376

ENTERED FOR W AR EH O U SIN G.

Manufactures o f w o o l ....................
Manufactures o f cotton.................
Manufactures o f silk....................... ..
Manufactures of flax......................
Miscellaneous dry good s...............

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

$361,832
731,652
648,120
204,467
38,375

$508,681
755,046
783,764
388,205
244,894

$344,086
681,562
428,032
238,379
84,016

$380,962
774,138
567,913
341,993
129,691

T ota l........................................ ..
A dd entered for consumption___ ..

$1,984,446 $2,680,580 $1,776,075 $2,194,697
16,303,013 8,847,575 16,325,300 20,698,390

Total entered at the port . . . ..

18,287,459 11,528,155 18,101,375 22,893,087

The exports for February from New York to foreign ports have also been
very large. The total, exclusive of specie, is $332,577 larger than for February
of last year, $1,313,695 larger than for February, 1855, and only $19,311 less
than for February, 1854 :—




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

462

E X P O R T S F RO M N E W Y O R K TO FO R E IG N P O R TS FOR T H E MONTH OF FEBRUARY.

1851.

1855.

Domestic produce...........................
Foreign merchandise (free)..........
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)..
Specie..........................................

|5,400,924
166,434
400,739
579,724

T ota lexp u rts..............................
Total, exclusive o f specie.........

$6,537,821
6,958,097

1856.

1857.

$3,164,264 $6,408,990 $6,899,202
812,226
68,275
175,706
698,601
143,944
363.878
2,123,708
1,204,343
1,831,726
$6,688,799
4,565,091

$6,810,552
5,606,209

$7,770,512
5,938,786

The total exports from New York, exclusive of specie, since January 1st, are
$294,483 less than for the corresponding two months of last year, $362,348 more
than for the same period of 1855, and $979,936 less than for the same period of
1854:—
E X P O R T S FROM N E W Y O R K TO FOREIGN PORTS F O R TWO M ONTH S, FROM JANUARY 1ST.

1851.

1855.

Domestic produce............................$10,705,127
Foreign merchandise (free)........
227,958
Foreign merchandise (dutiable).
869,807
S p e c ie ............................................
2,425,406

1856.

1857.

$8,151,051 $10,666,676 $9,943,044
1,270,317
94,580
327,626
1,039,240
356,183
552,286
2,280,106
1,309,177 3,139,672

Total exp orts............................ $14,228,298 $12,740,714 $12,426,616 $13,962,628
Total, exclusive o f specie . . . .
11,802,892 10,460,608 11,117,439 10,822,956

The exports from New York to foreign ports, exclusive of specie, for the last
eight months, are $3,386,289 greater than for the corresponding eight months of
1855-6, $15,066,102 greater than for the corresponding period of 1854-5, and
$4,640,670 greater than for the same time in 1853—1, as will appear from the
annexed comparison:—
E X P O R T S , E X C L U S IV E OF

S P E C IE , FRO M

NEW

M O N TH S, E N D IN G

Y O R K TO F O R E IG N

FEBRUARY

1S54.

P O R T S , F O R E IG H T

28tH.

1855.

Six months..............................
January....................................
February..................................

$37,975,895
5,844,795
5,958,097

$28,892,747
5,895,617
4,665,091

Total 8 months...................

$49,778,787

$39,353,355

1856.

1857.

$39,915,729 $43,596,501
5,511,230
4,884,170
5,606,209
5,938,786
$51,033,168

$54,419,457

We also annex a comparative summary of the receipts for cash duties since
the opening of the current fiscal year :—
C A SH D U T IE S R E C E IV E D

A T T H E P O R T O F N E W Y O R K F O R E IG H T M ON TH S E N D IN G
FEBRUARY

1854.

28th.

1855.

1856.

Six months................ $21,920,896 33 $18,358,927 32 $20,087,362 28
January.....................
4,379,285 32
2,560,038 32
3,683,654 85
February....................
2,867,294 50
2,665,164 94
3,576,919 14

1857.
$22,978,12443
4,537,37843
5,117,24985

Total 8 m onths.... $29,167,476 15 $23,684,130 58 $27,347,936 27 $32,632,752 71




C om m ercial C h ron icle and R ev iew .
EXPORTS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES O F DOMESTIC PRODUCE FRO M NEW
P O R TS FROM

p o t s .. . .bbls
p ea rls...........
Breadstuffs—
Wheat Hour . .bbls
R y e flour...............
Corn m e a l.............
W h e a t...........bush
A sh es—

R y e ..................................

JANUARY

1846.

1847.

1 ,8 4 6

2 ,3 5 2

490

525

3 5 0 ,2 8 9

2 8 7 ,1 6 9

6 ,3 8 3

1 ,2 2 8

1 3 ,5 5 8

9 ,3 2 2

4 0 3 ,0 3 4

5 9 6 ,6 8 0

3 8 8 ,4 6 8

3 7 ,9 1 8

Corn......................... 7 0 7 , 8 9 4
Candles— mold..box’s
1 0 ,6 3 3
sperm.........
954
C o a l . . . . ............. tons
906
Cotton................ bales
4 2 ,3 7 0
H o p s .. .......................
1 ,2 7 0
N a v a l sto res—
Turpentine . ..bbls. |
Spirits of turp........
Rosin....................... j
T a r ......................... J

463

YORK

TO FOREIGN

1ST TO MARCH 1 7 t H : ----

Oils— w h a le .. . •galls
sperm .
la rd . . . .
linseed .

1846.

1847.

8 ,8 9 2

6 ,1 3 4

3 6 ,5 7 8

6 9 ,1 6 4

1 9 ,3 7 3

8 ,9 7 6

2 ,0 9 2

2 ,8 1 6

Provisions —

8 0 9 ,5 7 2

P o r k .............

5 4 ,7 5 2

1 1 ,8 3 2

1 1 ,9 8 4

B e e f . ...................

3 1 ,0 3 0

6 ,0 8 6

Cutmeats.lbs .......... 9 ,0 9 8 , 2 7 5 1 0 , 8 2 6 , 1 1 2
B u tter..........
1 1 3 ,9 8 2
1 1 8 ,0 4 6
1 ,5 2 6
Cheese.........
570 020
2 9 7 ,6 1 2
4 9 ,3 4 6
L a r d ............. .............6 , 7 3 0 . 1 1 8 5 ,2 2 2 , 8 9 6
589
8,851
8,284
R ice .................
658,425 775.284
16,783 T a llo w .............
18,724
4,652
3,686 Tobacco, crude .pkge
46,142 Do.,manufact’ed...lbs 914,514 694,816
91,393 174,470
788 W halebone....
1 ,4 2 0

It will be seen from the above that the exports of flour and rye have fallen off,
while the shipments of wheat and corn have increased. There were very large
shipments of rye during the corresponding period of last year to the ports of the
continent. Most of the merchants living near the seaboard are looking for an
active demand for our breadstuffs as soon as the canals are opened, and the
granaries of the West send forward their supplies. To what extent this will be
realized, it is impossible to predict, but if the growing crops of Europe should
be at all injured, or less promising than usual, there will doubtless be a fresh im­
petus given to the export trade. Even if the new crops should promise well, there
will be a long period before the harvest can be realized, and the bulk of the supply,
during this time of waiting, must come from the United States. It will be seen
that the shipments of beef and pork have largely declined, the termination of the
war having limited the export demand.
NEW YORK COTTON M ARKET FOR THE MONTH ENDING MARCH 20.
PREP A B ED

FOR TU B

M E R C H A N T S ’ M A G A Z I N E B Y C H A R L E S W . F F .K D E E IC K B O N , B R O K E R , N E W

YORK.

Since the date of my last report (February 20th) our market has ruled in
favor of holders to the extent of £ a | c . per pound on all grades. The total
transactions are estimated at 50,000 bales, fully one-half to two-thirds being par­
cels in transitu, principally from the gulf ports to Europe. The foreign advices
of the past month were not of as favorable a description as looked for, but the
rapid falling off in receipts at the Southcru ports, have counteracted the effect of
dull accounts from abroad, and the report that a resort to short time was likely
to be adopted, has been met on this side by increased firmness on the part of
factors and planters, and an almost general conviction that the crop cannot ex­
ceed three million bales. With such views, and the increasing and almost uni­
versal uses of cotton, it is not to be wondered at that the prices are supported,
and holders indifferent about selling that which cannot be replaced unless at an
advance. The inquiry for the continent and the north of Europe improved du­
ring the month, and good cottons have sold freely. Our own manufacturers buy




464

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

sparingly, and do not hold their usual stock. The new tariff likewise adds to
their depression, and is severely commented upon by those in the trade. Economy
in large mills may offset the effect of the reduced tariff, but with the majority of
small mills, those personally conducted by their owners, its effects will be more
sensibly felt.
The sales for the week ending February 27th were 14,000 bales, a large por­
tion being in transitu, on which, and cottons from store, holders obtained $ c. ad­
vance. With small offerings on the part of sellers, the market closed firm at the
following :—
PRICES ADOPTED FEBRUARY

27TH

FOR THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES I— ■

Ordinary..............................................
M iddling.............................................
Middling fa ir ......................................
F a ir.................................................. .

Upland.

Florida.

12
13f
14$
14$

12
13$
14$
14$

Mobile. N. O. & Texas.

12
13$
14$
15

12$
14
14$
15$

For the week ensuing the transactions reached 17,000 bales, at a further im­
provement of an $ a $ c. per pound, in consequence of light receipts and advancing
prices at the South. For a strict classification the following rates were demanded :
P RICES ADOPTED MARCH 6 t H FOR THE FO LLO W IN G Q U A L IT IE S :----

Ordinary............................................
Middling.............................................
Middling fair....................................
F a ir....................................................

Upland.

Florida.

12$
13$
14$
14$

12$
13$
14$
14$

M obile.

N.O.&.Texap,

12$
14
14$
15$

12$
14$
15
15$

Our market for the week ending March 13th ruled quiet, and a slight decline
was submitted to without increasing the sales beyond 9,000 bales, mostly in
transitu. The annexed quotations show the asking rates at the close of the
week:—
P R IC E S ADOPTED

MARCH

18TH

FOR T H E F O L L O W IN G QUALITIES :----

Upland.

Florida.

M obile.

12
13$
14$
14$

12
13$
14$
14$

12
14
14$
14$

O rd in a ry...........................................
M iddling............................................
Middling fair......................................
F a ir ....................................................

N .O .& Texas.

12$
14$
14$
15

For the week ending at date the sales were estimated at 10.000 bales, without
change in prices. The demand was principally for parcels in transitu, and for
fine cottons to the north of Europe. The adverse foreign accounts being offset
by the state of the Southern markets, the market closed quiet:—
P R IC E S AD O PTED

MARCH

20'rH

Ordinary............................................
Middling.............................................
Middling f a i r ....................................
Fair.....................................................

FOR

THE F O L L O W IN G Q U A L IT IE S :—

Upland.

Florida.

12
13$
14$
14$

12
13$
14$
14$

Receipts to date................................bales
Export to Great Britain...........................
Export to France......................................
Stock on hand............................................




2,457,000
839,000
288,000
672,000

Mobile. N .O . & Texas.

12
14
14$
14$

12$
14$
14$
15

Decrease
Decrease
Decrease
Increase

162,000
199,000
46,000
16,000

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

46 5

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
BANKS AND BANKING IN THE STATE OF N EW YORK,

The Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Banking Department for
1856, bearing date December 31st, was transmitted to the Legislature of the
State of New York, January 7th, 1857. From this report, which covers more
than 200 pages, we condense and compile the subjoined statement:—
During the last fiscal year twenty-five banking associations, with an aggregate
capital of $7,550,000, have deposited the requisite securities, and commenced the
business of banking, viz.:—
Artisans’ Bank, New York........ $600,000
Auburn Exchange Bank............ 150,000
Bank of Chenango, Norwich.. . 120,000
Bank of Norwich....................... 125,000
Bank of Cazenovia..................... 120,000
Bank of Kent, Ludingtonville.. 100,000
Bank of Tioga, Owego............... 100,000
Canastota B ank.......................... 110,000
Commercial Bank of S. Springs 125,000
Clinton Bank of Buffalo............ 250,000
Croton River Bank, South East. 100,000
Farmers’ Bank of Washington
County, Fort E dw a rd........... 200,000
Flour City Bank, Rochester . . .
200,000

Fredonia Bank............................... $100,000
Importers & Traders’ Bank, N.Y. 1,000,000
Leonardsville B ank................... 100,000
Manuf. Bank o f Rochester . . . . 200,000
Manuf. <Ss Traders’ Bank, Buffalo 200,000
Marine Bank at O sw ego........... 125,000
Mohawk River Bank, Fonda. . . 100,000
National Bank of Albany__ __ 600,000
Niagara Co. Bank, Lockport., . 200,000
Ontario Bank, Utica___ . . . . . . 600,000
Oswego River Bank, Fulton... . 125,000
Park Bank, New Y ork............... 2,000,000
Total capital........................... 7,550,000

Three individual bankers have also deposited securities and commenced the busi­
ness of banking, under the name and title of the Bank of Old Saratoga, Schuylerville ; Farmers’ Bank of Attica, Attica ; Ontario County Bank, Phelps.
Of securities held in trust by the Superintendent of the Banking Department,
September 30, 1856 :—For banking associations and individual bankers,
$30,026,910 ; for incorporated banks, $111,000 ; for insolvent banks, $21,161;
for trust companies, $200,000 ; showing a total of $30,359,071.
The total number of banks, banking associations, individual bankers, and clos­
ing and insolvent banks, is 350, viz.:—Incorporated banks, 42 ; banking asso­
ciations, 228 ; individual bankers, 40 ; closing and insolvent banks, 40; showing
a total of 350 banks and banking associations.
There are forty-two incorporated banks in the State (with the exception of the
Manhattan Company and the Dry Dock Bank, whose charters are unlimited,)
whose charters expire at different periods from 1857 to 1866. The aggregate
capital of incorporated banks is $14,396,660, which have an authorized circula­
tion of $11,850,500, and which had, in September, 1856, in actual circulation
and on hand, $11,468,116.
The following table shows the insolvent banks whose securities have been dis­
posed of for the redemption of their circulation, rates of redemption, and when
time for redemption will expire
Name of Banks.

What notes.

Bate.

Time for
redemption
will expire.

Eighth Avenue Bank............................... A ll............................... 94 cents.May 21,
Farmers' Bank, Onondaga.......................A ll................................85 cents.Nov. 12,
James B ank.............................................. All................................91 cents. June 17,
Merchants & Mechanics’ Bank, Oswego A ll...............................77 cents.Sept. 28,
New Rochelle, Bank of............................ Stock notes.................Par.......... June 17,
New Rochelle, Bank of.............................Stock <ii estate notes.81 cents. June 17,
VOL. X X X V I.-----NO. IV .




29

1861
1859
1858
1860
1858
1858

466

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

The following table gives a statement of the names of the incorporated banks
whose charters have expired, time of expiration, and the amount of their circula­
tion at the expiration of charter, and on the 30th September, 1856 :—
Outstanding circulation.

B asks.

Albany................1855
America........... 1853
A u bu rn ..............1850
Chenango...........1856
Genesee...............1852
Geneva................1853
Ithaca................. 1850
Lansingburg.___1855
Monroe................1850
Newburg............. 1851
New York..........1853
Troy.....................1853
Utica
Branch.1850
Broome County. 1855
But<fc Drovers’.. 1853
Catskill................1853
Central, C.Yall’y.1855
City, N. Y o r k .. .1852

Outstanding circulation^

o
t>
i>
gC
£•8
®
•®
r g
B asks.
®
9
: B
• o'
• °L
•s
M
l C
•o
o
. oo
$200,000 $133,330 Farmers’, T roy. . 1853 $225,000 $75,000
691,235 102,235 Greenwich..........1855 203,980
185,288
200,000
66,000 Hudson River.. .1855 176,000 116,666
160,000 160,000 Jefferson Connty.l 864 200,000
71,666
50,003 Livingston Co . .1855 146,700
150,000
94,891
320,000
25,000 Mechanics’, N. Y .l 855 789,480 513,891
199,978
20,771 Mech.it Farm. ..1853 300,000
99,888
160,000 106,666 Merchants’ Exch.1849 369,520
25,618
249,863
9,865 Mer. <t Mec.,Troy. 1854 250,000 103,332
160,000
45,302 Mohawk, Schen.. 1853 163,031
54,337
92,280 N .Y . State, A lb. 1851 247,683
491,229
68,014
300,000 120,000 Onondaga C o . . . 1854 174,886
71,753
62,281
474,130 152,515 Ontario................1856
18.242
150,000 100,000 Ontario Branch..1856 246,159 246,159
300,000
76,000 Otsego County.. 1854 150,000
50,000
174,190
57,933 Phenix, N. Y . . . .1854 458,471 152,825
166,000 110,666 Tradesmen’s . . . .1855 300,000 200,000
354,801
61,785 Union, N .Y ........1853 772,737
128,137

It appears from the report that the paper currency of the State of New York,
issued according to law, including incorporated banks, banking associations, in­
dividual bankers, those also which are voluntarily closing their business, and
those that are insolvent and are redeemed at the office of the Superintendent,
amounted, on the 30th September, 1856, to 843,580,283.
The amount of actual circulation on that day, deducting the amount in the
vaults of the banks themselves, would probably reach the sum of $31,000,000.
If from that we deduct the amount held by the banks of each other’s notes, say
$3,000,000, ($1,000,000 of foreign bank-notes, and $2,000,000 of the notes
of the banks of New York State,) the actual circulation would be probably
$29,000,000.
The present aggregate capital of the banks amounts to $97,806,301; the rela­
tive position of capital and currency produced by the operations of the general bank
law during the past ten years, is worthy of note, not only by the capitalist, but
by every business man in the community.
The aggregate banking capital of the State of New York on November 1st,
1847, was, in round numbers, $43,000,000 ; on October 1st, 1856, $97,806,310 ;
showing an increase capital during ten years of $54,806,310.
The total circulation on November 1st, 1847, deducting the amount of bank­
notes in the hands of the banks, was nearly $20,000,000 ; on October 1st, 1856,
say, $31,000,000 ; showing an increase of currency in ten years of $11,000,000.
The peculiar significance of these figures is, that while capital for banking pur­
poses aggregates itself with rapid and gigantic strides, currency lags far behind
it under the operations of our general bank law.
These facts arc presented without an opinion of the present Superintendent as




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

46?

to cause or effect, and the question whether currency is not fast becoming, under
our present banking system, a mere convenience to commerce, instead of an in­
dispensable necessity to her success; and that it is in a measure losing its mate­
riality as to the profits of banking, is left for the solution of the parties whose
interest it may be to solve the problem.
This great discrepancy in the former and present relative aggregate proportion
of capital and currency, presents a curious result to the bankers in the State of
New York ; and it may be found, upon a careful examination, that currency, un­
der our present banking system, costs more than it can legitimately earn; and
that its use, particularly at the great commercial points in this State, has sunk
to a condition where its chief value rests upon its convenience alone.
CONDITION OF THE BALTIMORE BANKS.

We condense, from the annual statement published in the Baltimore Patriot, the
condition of the banks of that city for the first Tuesday in January, 1857, and a
comparative statement for seven years last past:—
Banks.

Capital.

Merchants’ ............... . $1,500,000
Union.........................
1,258,125
Baltimore...................
1 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
Fanners’ & Planters’.
800,000
Farmers’ Merch’nts’
517,400
Com. & Farmers’ . . . .
512,500
Western.....................
600,000
Franklin.....................
600,000
Marine.........................
382,000
Mechanics’..................
600,000
500,000
Citizens’ .....................
Chesapeake................
364,473
Commerce..................
550,000
Howard......................
125,230
Fells Point Savings...
267,814
January 5, 1857.........
January
January
January
January
January
Jauuary
January

7,
1,
2,
3,
5,
6,
7,

1856.........
1855.........
1854.........
1853.........
1852.........
1851.........
1850.........

Discounts.

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits.

$2,506,002
2,105,313
1,930,742
1,499,302
952,788
991,708
939,313
1,011,784
681,929
1,477,141
1,332,159
547,196
1,930,865
221,342
576,460

$492,677
266,722
231,488
252,670
103,335
249,011
358,268
115,046
95,799
173,473
285,056
106,248
161,942
42,517
64,816

$341,025
313,825
235,161
302,662
220,389
227,019
25S.530
226,180
62,840
288,610
451,478
136,210
299,950
38,705
93,048

$779,582
743,510
797,102
660,918
373,039
510,453
485,997
827,447
257,697
846,958
701,558
376,820
569,063
123,635
212,081

$9,777,602

$18,704,951

$2,998,876 $3,395,643 $7,765,866

9,065,934
8,576,583
7,592,380
7,291,415
7,141,461
6,101,056
6,976,814

16,397,869
14,279,363
14,969,213
14,291,221
11,428,509
11,783,716
10,924,113

2,832,762
2,484,946
2,848,708
2,991,910
1,967,564
2,330,174
2,113,758

3,388,430
2,638,708
2,956,532
3,328.058
2,180,667
2,281,918
2,973,588

6,485,352
5,858,628
6,962,939
6,021,707
3,912,977
4,528,966
3,648,817

TA XE S AND TAXABLE PR O PE RTY OF MINNESOTA.

In 1850 Minnesota Territory was divided into nine counties. It then had a pop­
ulation of 6,077. There has been a great emigration during the last six years,
and the present governor of the Territory claims for the State some 170,000. The
taxable property of the Territory in 1851 amounted to SI,182,060, and the taxes
on the same to $1,183 ; in 1852 the property was valued at $1,598,165, and the
taxes on the same $1,598.
We have now before us the report of the Territorial Auditor, made to the
Legislature of the Territory, bearing date St. Paul, January 9th, 1857. From
this report we learn that the amount of Territorial tax assessed for the year end-




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

468

mg December 31st, 1856, is 323,341. The amount of drafts drawn on the treas­
ury during said year was 87,394. The salaries of the officers of the Territory for
1856 amounted to 84,516. The taxable property of the counties for the year
1856 amounts, in the aggregate, to $23,341,701 95 ; showing an increase over the
preceding year of $14,316,544 95.
The following table, which we take from the Auditor’s report, shows the amount
of taxable property, and taxes levied on the same, in twenty-four counties of the
Territory in 1856
Counties.
R am sey..
Hennepin..
W in ona...
W ’ehingt’n
Dakota . . .
Houston...
Fillmore .
Olmsted .
Chisago. .
S co tt........
Goodhue..
Rice.........
M ow er.. .

Amount of taxable property.
Tax.
$6,030,365 00 $6,030 36 5
3,459,312 00
3,459 31 0
1,946 26 0
1,946,262 00
1,938,648 00
1,938 64 8
1,907,632 00
1,907 63 2
1,067,220 00
1,057 22 0
963,000 00
963 00 0
867,588 00
867 58 8
728,956 50
728 95 6
697,613 00
697 61 3
630,227 00
630 22 7
613,864 95
613 36 4
457,533 00
457 53 3

Counties.

N icollett. . .
Morrison. . .
Wabashaw .
Dodge..........
Carver.........
Le Seuer.. .
Blue Earth.
W right........
Benton........
Stearns........
S ib ley.........

Amount of tax­
able property.
$439,391 00
402,006 00
172,166 26
168,772 25
161,164 00
160,204 00
141,377 00
127,714 00
110,665 00
91,800 00
68,731 00

Tax.
$439 39
402 00
172 16
168 77
161 15
160 20
141 37
127 71
110 66
91 80
68 73

1
6
6
2
4
4
7
4
5
0
1

T ota l... $23,341,701 95 $23,341 70 0

VALUATION AND TAXATION OF CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1856.

In the following table, compiled from official sources, we have the valuation of
real and personal property,
l the rate of taxation on every $100 of valnation:—
L o w e ll. .
Gardiner ,
Bangor. .
Brattleborough.
Fall River........
Bridgeport . . . .
Lynn.................
New Haven . . .
N orw ich ...........
N ashua.............
New Bedford . .
S a lem ...............
Portland...........
W orcester........
Brooklyn...........
Poughkeepsie .,
Rochester........
Taunton...........
Springfield . . . .
New York . . . .
Charlestown . .
R oxbu ry...........
Cambridge___
Manchester . . .
Newburyport. .
D edh am ...........
N ew port...........




Beal.
$27,648,000
13,975,662

Personal.
$7,359,000
7,380,386

4,470,817
143,681,700
925,913
4,863,965
5,010,3565,963,101
11,877,051
4,806,782

2,308,919
105,480,800
405,638
5,024,105
2,692,804
8,081,297
9,052,139
2,566,397

9,311,500
6,916,750
11,671,035
12,596,800
86,736,446
2,118,775
11,213,739
4,671,917
5,463,190
370,723,549

17,716,600
7,445,100
9,472,136
6,319,200
10,063,994
2,007,620
1,857,337
2,664,683
2,820,910
157,222,163

Total.
$35,007,000
21,356,048
1,694,009
6,779,736
249,162,500
1,331.638
9,888 070
7,713,160
9,044,398
20,929,190
7,363,179
4,019,004
27,027,000
14,361,850
21,143,171
18,916,000
95,800,440
4,126,395
13,071,076
7,336,600
8,284,100
527,945,712
14,098,500
16,572,400
18,048,650
10,483,725
7,216,200
4,260,397
10,416,600

Bate.
$2 36
0 80
0 87
1 25
0 80
1 02
0 68
0 60
0 78
0 51
0 78
0 70
0 76
0 80
0 86
0 77
1 43
1 06
1 08
0 69
0 75
1 38
0 84
0 98
0 77
0 76
0 85
0 90
0 50

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

469

THE DEBT OF CALIFORNIA.

It appears, from the annual message of the governor of California, that at no
former period of the history of that State, has the time existed when the subject
of State indebtedness attracted such universal attention as at the present moment,
and a great degree of solicitude has been manifested in the public mind regarding
the policy which the present Legislature will pursue in relation to this important
matter. From the statement furnished, it appears that the present indebtedness
of the State is as follows :—
Amount of legal indebtedness on the 1 st o f July, 1857, principal and
interest of which has to be provided for..............................................
Bonds issued in 1851, 1852, 1855, and 1866............................................
Valid outstanding w arrants....................... .............................................
Warrants to be drawn.................................................................................
Deficiency to July, 1857.............................................................................

$3,564,640
3,223,600
229,079
24,374
3,000

T o t a l.................................................................................................
Deduct cash in treasury.............................................................................

$3,777,054 24
212,404 37

T ota l...................................................................................................

$3,564,649 97

97
00

64
60
00

“ With these facts before us,” says the governor, “ and the known necessity of
indicating the course to be pursued in relation to our indebtedness, the question
now arises, what shall be adopted with reference to it? Answering as your ex­
ecutive, and echoing the sentiments which I believe are entertained by those whom
we alike represent, (the people of the State,) I would say, ‘ pay the debt’ by those
means the constitution of the State prescribes. Pass an act, at the present session
of the Legislature, legalizing the outstanding bonded indebtedness, permitting
Controller’s warrants, issued after the 1st day of January, which may not be re­
deemed prior to the 1st of July next, to be funded under the act of 1856, alike
with the warrants issued prior to January, 1857, and a law embodying those fea­
tures presented to the people for their ratification or rejection at the next general
election.”
NEW BANKING LAW, AND BANKS OF ILLINOIS.

The Bank Bill of Mr. Denham, after some amendments, has passed both
branches of the Legislature of that State. We give below an abstract of its
provisions, as follows
1. That all bonds shall be received at 10 per cent less than their New York
value, as the basis of banking in this State.
2. That when notes are presented to a bank for redemption, the redemption
shall be instant, and in gold.
3. That notes, when payment is refused, may be protested in aggregate ; that
is, each note is not necessarily to be protested, as is now the ruling.
4. That banks shall do business at the place where they are established ; that
they may receive 10 per cent interest, and that no bank shall hereafter be estab­
lished in any place not having at least 500 inhabitants.
5 That no bank hereafter organized shall go into operation without an actual
cash capital of $50,000, paid up.
The proposed establishment of a State Banking Department was struck out.
B anks of I llinois , their N umber and S ecurities . According to the re­
port of the Hon. T. H. Campbell, Esq., late Auditor of Illinois, the whole num­
ber of the institutions organized under the General Banking Law is 61; of these .




470

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

11 have been closed by protest, or have voluntarily withdrawn their circulation,
leaving 50 now in operation.
The following table gives the kind of stock deposited as securities, and their
amount:—
Missouri.................................... $4,590,000 O hio.........................................
Virginia....................................
867,600 Kentucky................................
Louisiana.................................
647,000 Wisconsin................................
Tennessee................................
424,000 Illinois Liquidation.
12,000
North Carolina........................
86,000
“ New internal improv.
South Carolina ......................
100,000
“ New internal interest.
California.................................
69,000
“ and Michigan Canal. .
G eorgia....................................
85,600
“ & Mich. Canal In. Cer.
T o t a l ...............................................................................................................................

$16,000
16,000
...........
120,703
312,640
235,000
65,844

$7,645,590

The original deposits were, in amount, $11,791,752 ; of which, $4,146,162 have
been withdrawn. On the basis of these stocks, six millions four hundred and
eighty thousand eight hundred and seventy-three dollars, in bank-notes, are now
outstanding, most of which are supposed to be in circulation. The cash value of
these stocks deposited is estimated by the Auditor at $6,663,389—leaving a
margin of $182,516 for depreciation.
OF COMPUTING STERLING A M ) FRENCH EXCHANGE.
San

F k a n c is c o ,

February 4, 1857.

Freeman H unt, Editor o f the Merchants' Magazine:—
S i r :—In your Magazine for December, 1856, (vol. xxxv., page 734,) is a com­
munication signed “ Algebra,” on a new method of computing sterling exchange.
For more than thirty years I have seen the same method used ; the reason, how­
ever, for multipling by 40 and dividing by 9, is that our premium of exchange is
calculated on the old par of 4s. 6d. sterling to the dollar. There being 40 six­
pences in the pound and 9 sixpences in the dollar, why do not the dealers in ex­
change adopt the same system that prevails almost everywhere else, of selling so
many pence to the dollar ? In California we have adopted it in sterling exchange;
and, strange to say, in French exchange, have adopted the false standard of 5
francs to be par for the American dollar, and buy or sell at a premium or dis­
count ; while in New Tork so many francs are given for a dollar. I only wish to
give the right reason for the reduction of pounds to the American currency.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
ACCOUNTANT.
FOREIGN COINS, AND COINAGE OF CENTS AT THE UNITED STATES MINT.

The following are the several sections of the law relating to foreign coins and
the coinage of cents at the mint of the United States, passed at the last session
of Congress, and approved February 21, 1857
S ection 1. That the pieces commonly known as the quarter, eighth, and six­
teenth of the Spanish pillar dollar, and of the Mexican dollar, shall be receivable
at the treasury of the United States, and its several offices, and at the several
post-offices and land-offices, at the rate of valuation following ; that is to say, the
fourth of a dollar, or pieces of two reals, at twenty cents; the eighth of a dollar,
or pieces of one real, at ten cents; and the sixteenth of a dollar, or half-real, at
five cents.




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

471

S ec. 2. That the said coins, when so received, shall not again be paid out or
put in circulation, but shall be recoined at the mint. And it shall be the duty of
the director of the mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary and proper to secure their trans­
mission to the mint for recoinage, and the return or distribution of the proceeds
thereof, when deemed expedient, and to prescribe such forms of accounts as may
be appropriate and applicable to the circumstances; provided, that the expenses
incident to such transmission or distribution, and of recoinage, shall be charged
against the account of silver profit and loss, and the net profits, if any, shall be
paid, from time to time, into the treasury of the United States.
S ec. 3. That all former acts authorizing the currency of foreign gold or silver
coins, and declaring the same a legal tender in payment for debts, are hereby re­
pealed ; but it shall be the duty of the director of the mint to cause assays to be
made, from time to time, of such foreign coins as may be known to our commerce,
to determine their average weight, fineness, and value, and to embrace, in his an­
nual report, a statement of the results thereof.
S ec. 4. That from and after the passage of this act, the standard weight of
the cent coined at the mint shall be seventy-two grains, or three-twentieths of one
ounce troy, with no greater deviation than four grains in each piece; and said
cent shall be composed of eighty-eight per centum of copper and twelve per
centum of nickel, of such shape and device as may be fixed by the director of the
mint, with the approbation of the Secretary of the Treasury; and the coinage of
the half-cent shall cease.
S ec. 5. That the treasurer of the mint, under the instruction of the Secretary
of the Treasury, shall, from time to time, purchase from the bullion fund of the
mint the materials necessary for the coinage of such cent piece, and transfer the
same to the proper operative officers of the mint to be manufactured and returned
in coin. And the laws in force relating to the mint and the coinage of the pre­
cious metals, and in regard to the sale and distribution of the copper coins, shall,
so far as applicable, be extended to the coinage herein provided for; provided,
that the net profits of said coinage, ascertained in like manner as is prescribed in
the second section of this act, shall be transferred to the treasury of the United
States.
S e c . 6. That it shall be lawful to pay out the said cent at the mint in exchange
for any of the gold and silver coins of the United States, and also in exchange
for the former copper coins issued; and it shall be lawful to transmit parcels of
the said cents, from time to time, to the assistant treasurers, depositories, and
other officers of the United States, under general regulations proposed by the di­
rector of the mint, and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, for exchange
as aforesaid. And it shall also be lawful for the space of two years from the
passage of this act, and no longer, to pay out at the mint the cents aforesaid for
the fractional parts of the dollar hereinbefore named at their nominal value of
twenty-five, twelve-and-a half, and six-and-a-quarter cents respectively.
S ec. 7. That hereafter the director of the mint shall make his annual report to
the Secretary of the Treasury up to the 30th of June in each year, so that the
same may appear in his annual report to Congress on the finances.

The new cent piece, soon to be issued, is composed of copper and nickel, and
is about the size of a quarter-eagle, as thick as the present cent, and but little
darker than German silver. The obverse is a well-executed figure of an eagle in
full flight, with the date underneath, and the words United States of America
above. The reverse is a fine-executed wreath, representing all the principal
staples of the country— cotton, corn, tobacco, wheat, grapes, &c., with the words
one cent in the center. It is stated by the officers of the mint that at the pres­
ent price of copper, and for several years past there has been little or no profit
on the issue of copper cents, and in consequence of the low value of this coin, it




i

472

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

might be issued at one-half its present weight with a seigniorage profit, and with­
out tempting the counterfeiter, because the profits on their issue would be too
small to undergo the risk of detection.

STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

In the Merchants’ Magazine for February, 1857, (vol. xxxvi, pp. 355-359,)
we commenced the publication, in a condensed form, o f;tabular statements of the
commerce and navigation of the United States, for the year ending June 30th>
1856, derived from returns made to the Treasury Department, and made up under
the direction of the Register of that Department. We gave first, the usual statement
of the value of the exports of the growth, produce, and manufacture of the United
States, during the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1856. It would add much to the
value of that table, if the quantities were added. We also published in the same
number a second table, exhibiting the value of exports to, and imports from, each
foreign country, distinguishing, in the value of exports, those of domestic and
foreign produce. And third, a statistical view of the tonnage, American and
foreign, of vessels arriving from, and departing to, each foreign country.
We now compile, from the report of the Register of the Treasury, the state­
ment below, of the registered, enrolled, and licensed tonnage of the United States,
together with the kinds of tonnage employed in the foreign and coasting trade,
and the different fisheries, (cod, mackerel, and whale,) and the aggregate tonnageof the United States on the 30th June, 1856 :—ENROLLED AN D.LICEN SED TONNAGE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Enrolled vessels in the coasting trade............................. tons
95ths.
Licensed vessels under twenty tons in the coasting trade.. ................

2,211,935 45
35,728 29
2,247,663 74

FISHING VESSELS.

Enrolled vessels
“
“
Licensed vessels

in the cod fishery...........................................................
“
mackerel fishery..................................................
“
whale fishery........................................................
under twenty tons employed in the cod fishery.. . .

95,816
29,886
247
6,685

08
54
73
59

132,586 04
Registered tonnage employed in the whale fishery................................
“
“
other than the whale fishery...........

189,213 29
2,302,189 34
2.491.402 63

DESCRIPTION OF TONNAGE.

Permanent registered tonnage..................................................................
Temporary registered tonnage.................................................................

1,930,822 89
660,579 69

Permanent enrolled tonnage....................................................................
Temporary enrolled tonnage........ ........................ ..... ..........................

2,331,133 57
6,752 28

2.491.402 63

2,337,886

i




86

473

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
Licensed tonnage under twenty tons employed iu the coasting trade.
“
“
“
cod fishery.. •
Of the enrolled and licensed tonnage there were employed in the—
Coasting trade.......................................................................................
Cod fishery...................................................
Mackerel fishery...................................................................................
Whale fishery................................................................................

85,728 29
6,636 59
42,363

88

2,211,935
95,816
29,886
247

45
08
54
73

2,337,885 85
Of the registered tonnage, amounting as above stated, to 2,491,402 6 8 ,
there were in steam navigation.........................................................
Of the enrolled tonnage, amounting as above stated, to 2,337,885 85,
there were in steam navigation..........................................................

89,715 38
583,362 16
673,077 54

*
From this table, it appears that the aggregate tonnage of the United States on
the 30th of June, 1856, was 4,871,G52. The total enrolled and licensed vessels in
the coasting trade amounted to 2,247,663 tons; and the various fishing vessels to
132,568 tons.
ST ATEM EN T E X H IB IT IN G

A

CONDEN SED

D IS T R IC T S OF T H E U N IT E D

Districts.
Passamaquoddy, Maine.........
Machias....................................
Frenchman’s Bay...................
Penobscot ................................
Belfast......................................
Bangor.....................................
Waldoborough....................... .
Wiscasset.................................
Bath......................................... .
Portland..................... ............
S a co .........................................
Kennebunk .............................
Y o rk ........................................
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Burlington, Vermont.............
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Ipsw ich....................................
Gloucester.............................
Salem ....................................
B everly....................................
Marblehead.............................
Boston.......................................
Plym outh................................
Fall River................................
New Bedford ..........................
Barnstable.............................
Edgartown..............................
Nantucket................................
Providence, Rhode Island, . .
Bristol.......................................
Newport...................................
Middletown, Connecticut.. . .
New London...........................
Stonington.............................
New Haven..............................
Fairfield..................................




V IE W

OF T H E

TONNAGE

S T A T E S ON T H E S O T !!

Registered
tonnage.
19,444 75
7,684 09
4,093 92
12,862 38
33,991 71
17.350 74
85,456 74
10,779 08
162,577 82
109,573 30
3,790 48
16,642 77
28,389 82
25,596 33
3,503 09
19,644 39
1,306
472,802
1,774
1,703
144,028
3,997
5,573
14,713
10,212
15,282
6,460

33
03
89
40
62
63
36
76
47
58
62

20,520 01
6,525 12
7,274 54

OF TIIF. S E V E R A L

OF J U N E , 1 8 5 6 .

Enrolled licensed Total tonnage
tonnage.
of each district
2 9 ,9 '4 41
10,535 61
25,225 91
17,541 82
28,398 04
24,304 07
32,503 44
44,865 82
76,812 40
42,820 64
38,048 90
20,698 16
70,416 36
155,873 15
24,600 54
13,821 46
30,742 52
193,320 39
26,580 76
136,154 11
8,188 35
6,978 83
19,430 20
2,787 38
1,487 24
1,487 24
34,590 04
6,200 17
7,448 65
7,448 65
30,953 92
5,357 59
418 58
418 58
29,454 02
25,950 88
29,970 62
10,326 23
5,798 72
5,798 72
6,915 92
5,609 59
48,315 71
521,117 74
9,522 41
7,747 47
17,254 67
15,551 27
8,972 09
153,000 71
59,166 07
63,163 70
1,365 76
6,939 17
2,143 33
16,857 14
9,173 40
19,385 87
1,668 77
16,951 40
5,185 65
11,646 32
14,221 01
14,221 01
19,851 55
40,371 56
11,577 44
18,102 56
15,940 38
23,214 92
11,693 92
11,693 92

474

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
,--------------- —TONS

Districts.

Champlain, New Y o r k ....................
Sackett’s H arbor..............................
O sw ego..............................................
Niagara..............................................
G enesee.............................................
Oswegatchie.....................................
Buffalo Creek ..................................
Sag Harbor........................................
Green p o r t............................... .. . . .
New Y ork..........................................
Cold Spring.......................................
Cape Vincent....................................
Perth Amboy, New J e rs e y .... . . . .
Bridgetown........................................
Burlington.........................................
Cam den.............................................
Newark..............................................
Little Egg Harbor............................
Great Egg Harbor...........................
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.............
Presque I s le .....................................
Pittsburg............................................
Wilmington, D elaw are...................
New Castle ......................................
Baltimore, Maryland........................
Oxford................................................
V ien n a ..............................................
Snow H ill.........................................
St. Mary’s ........ ..................................
Town C reek......................................
Annapolis.........................................
Georgetown, District of Columbia..
Alexandria, Virginia........................
Norfolk...............................................
Petersburg........................................
Richm ond..........................................
Y ork tow n .........................................
Tappahannock......................... . . . .
Accomac C. H ...................................
East River..........................................
Y eocom ico........................................
Cherrystone......................................
W heeling..........................................
Wilmington, North Carolina............
W ashington......................................
New bern............................................
E denton............................................
Cam den.............................................
Beaufort............................................
Plym outh..........................................
Ocracoke....................... .................
Charleston, South Carolina..............
Georgetow n......................................
Beaufort............................................
Savannah, Georgia...........................
Brunswick .........................................
St. Mary’s...........................................
Ptnsacola, Florida...........................
St. Mark’s ..........................................




Kegistered
tonnage.

AND 95TH S, .-----------------

\

Enrolled licensed Total tonnage
tonnage.
of each district
1 1 ,2 4 9 8 3

1 1 ,2 4 9 8 3

1 ,5 7 1 5 9

1 ,5 7 1 5 9
3 8 8 8 8 71

3 8 8 8 8 71
5 6 6 91

91

4 ,0 1 2 3 6

4 ,0 1 2 3 6

9 ,5 7 2 1 2

9 ,5 7 2 12

8 9 ,9 2 9 2 0

8 9 ,9 2 9 2 0

4 ,8 9 0 4 6

2 ,3 2 9 1 8

3 ,5 3 2 4 2

6 ,7 0 0 3 9

7 ,2 1 9 6 4
1 0 ,2 3 8 81

7 6 5 ,0 7 0 5 2

5 6 2 ,9 6 5 8 6

1 ,3 2 8 , 0 3 6 4 3

1 ,0 3 3 0 0

360 50

1 ,3 9 3 5 0

6 ,1 3 0 8 8

6 ,1 3 0 8 8

3 1 ,9 4 9 3 4

3 1 ,9 4 9 3 4

1 6 ,6 5 2 1 6

1 6 , 6 5 2 16

1 2 ,4 9 1 3 4

1 2 ,4 9 1 3 4

»

5 8 ,7 5 1 8 9

2 ,1 6 0 3 3
1 1 0 ,1 6 7 31
1 ,6 9 0 0 7

9 ,8 0 1 8 4

9 ,8 0 1 3 4

8 ,4 9 9 8 2

8 499 82

8 ,3 2 1 6 0

8^3 21 6 0

1 4 ,2 1 2 0 3

1 4 ,2 1 2 0 3

1 3 8 ,4 7 6 2 4

1 9 7 ,2 2 8 18

1 0 ,3 8 6 8 4

1 0 ,3 8 6 8 4

4 3 ,4 0 5 4 6

4 3 ,4 0 5 46

1 1 ,5 0 5

1 3 ,6 6 5 5 5

22

6 ,6 1 4 1 7

6 ,6 1 4 17

7 3 ,1 7 6 8 8

1 8 3 ,3 4 4 2 4

1 3 ,6 3 9 8 7

1 3 .6 3 9 87

2 5 ,9 8 3 0 7

2 7 ,6 7 3 1 4

5 ,4 8 9 6 0

5 ,4 8 9 6 0

3 ,3 6 0 2 5

3 ,3 6 0 2 5

2 ,0 6 6 0 6

2 ,0 6 6 0 6

1 ,3 3 2 7 8

1 ,3 3 2 7 8

7 6 7 87
1 ,6 8 4 4 8

2 0 .2 0 8 3 9

2 0 ,9 6 6 31

5 ,6 3 7 3 0

7 ,2 2 1 7 8

1 4 ,5 2 0 3 6

1 3 ,2 3 7 2 0

2 7 ,7 5 7 6 6

2 ,9 3 8 4 4

2 ,9 3 8 4 4

1 ,6 1 0 0 3

5 ,2 2 1 5 5

6 ,8 3 1 5 8

2 08 35

6 ,2 5 1 4 4

6 ,2 5 1 4 4

3 ,1 2 7 6 7

3 ,3 3 6 0 7

7 ,2 3 6 4 2

7 ,2 3 6 4 2

1 ,9 5 0 3 2

1 ,9 5 0 3 2

3 ,1 5 7 4 6

3 ,1 5 7 4 6

1 ,4 2 1 8 4

1 ,4 2 1 S 4

9 ,3 5 5 0 3

9 ,3 5 5 0 3

1 2 ,5 9 7 0 0

8 ,9 1 3 7 0

2 1 ,4 2 0 7 0

1 ,4 3 5 3 0

3 ,9 3 7 1 3

5 ,3 7 2 4 3

929 56

2 ,2 5 9 2 9

3 ,1 8 8 8 5

8 4 27

1 ,1 3 9 6 2

1 ,2 2 3 8 9

9 66 60

5 ,0 0 3 8 4

5 ,9 7 0 4 9

2 29 77

1 ,7 6 2 1 7

1 ,9 9 1 9 4

1 ,1 5 6 5 5

2 ,9 2 6 4 9

4 ,0 8 3 0 9

7 2 6 87

7 2 6 87

3 6 ,6 2 1 6 1

2 2 ,5 0 6 9 2

5 9 ,1 2 8 5 8

145 3 4

2 ,6 4 0 1 8

2 ,7 8 5 5 2

2 1 ,7 2 6 4 0

110 53

1 1 0 53

9 ,8 6 0 4 2

3 1 ,5 8 6 8 2

7 5 4 10

7 5 4 10

102 72

102 72

108 90

1 ,8 8 7 5 9

1 ,9 9 6 5 4

747 63

6 22 19

1 ,3 6 9 8 2

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

4T5

A N D 95THS
Enrolled licensed Total tonnage
of each district.
tonnage.
1,498 35
400 86
1,756 69
1,313 23
3,668 12
410 69
38,443 70
23,840 57
2,843 08
2,843 08
163,308 52
63,967 78
1,890 49
1,890 49
4,508 44
4,508 44
4,433 84
4,433 84
31,924 46
31,924 46
44,671 00
44,571 00
57,407 30
57,407 30
155 10
155 10
3,856 63
3,856 63
12,448 85
12,488 85
60,916 16
60,916 16
30,016 63
30,016 63
3,136 91
3,136 91
216 26
216 26
18,491 49
18,491 49
58,688 67
58,688 67
3,936 72
3,936 72
6,996 23
4,899 28
965 48
598 34
1,058 08
224 45
80,759 57
27,191 00
42 48
42 48
2,888 33
2,888 33
86 73
86 73
453 30
453 30
890 65
890 65

— TONS

Districts.
St.John’s ...........................................
Apalachicola.....................................
Key West . ........................................
Mobile, Alabam a..............................
Pearl River, Mississippi...................
New Orleans, Louisiana...................
T ech e.................................................
Nashville, Tennessee.......................
Memphis............................
....
Louisville, Kentucky........................
St. Louis, Missouri...........................
Chicago, Illinois................................
Alton..................................................
Galena...............................................
Sandusky, O h io .....................
Cuyahoga ..........................................
Cincinnati..........................................
Miami (Toledo).................................
New Albany, Indiana.......................
Milwaukie, Wisconsin.....................
Detroit, Michigan.............................
Michilimackinac...............................
Galveston, T e x a s.............................
Saluria...............................................
Point Isa b e l......................................
San Francisco, California.................
San Pedro..........................................
Sacramento.......................................
S t . Andrew’s Bay, Florida...............
Knoxville, Tennessee.......................
Paducah, K entucky.........................

Registered.
tonnage.
1,097 44
443 46
3,257 38
14,603 13
99,340 69

...

.

2,096
367
833
53,568

90
14
58
57

The above table shows the following aggregate, viz.:—Registered tonnage,
2,491,402 63; enrolled licensed tonnage, 2,380,249 78 ; and a tonnage for the
several districts in the United States, of 4,871,652 46 tons and 95ths. No re­
turns are given for the following districts, viz.:— Sunbury and Hardwick, in
Georgia; St. Augustine, Florida; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Astoria and Puget’s
Sound, Oregon.
GENERAL

STATEM EN T

OP T H E

D O M ESTIC E X P O R T S O F T IIE U N IT E D

S T A T E S.

The following table shows the exports to each foreign country, and to the do­
minions of each power; also the value exported in American and foreign vessels :—-T O T A L V A L L E

W H IT H E R E X P O R T E D .

Russia on the B a l t i c and N. Seas..
Russian Possessions in N. A m . . .
Prussia............................................
Sweden and Norway....................
Swedish West Indies.....................
Denmark........................................
Danish West Indies......................
Hamburg........................................
Bremen...........................................
Other German ports.....................
Holland..........................................
Dutch West Indies.......................
Dutch Guiana................................
Dutch East Indies.........................




In American
vessels.

In foreign
vessels.

$ 5 3 6 ,8 5 8
4 3 ,3 0 5

$ 1 9 ,9 9 0
7 0 ,3 6 7

1 ,1 3 7 , 5 6 8

7 3 4 ,0 7 7
3 5 ,9 6 6

To the do­
minion of
each power.

To each
country.
$ 5 3 6 ,8 5 8 i
t
6 3 ,2 9 5 1
7 0 ,3 6 7

$ 6 0 0 ,1 5 3
7 0 ,3 6 7

j1

1 ,8 7 1 , 6 4 5 i
6 0 ,7 0 2

6 0 ,7 0 2
1 5 9 ,9 9 4

OF EXPORTS.

1 9 5 ,9 6 0 |
t
8 1 7 ,2 9 0 j

1 ,9 3 2 , 3 4 7
1 ,0 1 3 , 2 5 0

7 6 5 ,2 9 6

5 1 ,9 9 4

9 6 4 ,2 9 1

2 ,3 0 4 , 1 8 2

3 ,2 6 8 , 4 7 3

3 ,2 6 8 ,4 7 3

4 ,0 7 4 ,8 5 9

5 ,8 1 4 , 7 9 8

9 ,8 8 9 , 6 5 7
8 0 ,8 5 5

9 ,8 8 9 , 6 5 7

3 0 ,8 5 5
2 ,1 4 4 ,3 7 4

1 ,3 5 6 ,7 3 6

3 0 ,8 5 5

3 ,5 0 1 ,1 1 0 " )

2 9 8 ,0 2 4

2 5 ,6 3 0

3 2 3 ,6 5 4

|

3 0 2 ,1 3 5

1 1 ,5 2 6

3 1 3 ,6 6 1

j

1 2 0 ,4 4 4

1 2 0 ,4 4 4

J

4 ,2 5 8 , 8 6 9

476

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
<----------------------- TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS.----------- ----------

In American
W hither ex po rted .

vessels.

In foreign
vessels.

To each
country.

To the dominions of
each power.

Belgium.......................................... $4,861,739
$483,647 $5,345,386
$5,345,386
England......................................... 103,802,011 48,759,964 152,561,9751
Scotland.........................................
3,889,376
2,042,485 1,837,891
Ireland............................................
4,300,021
733,444
8,566,567
Gibraltar.........................................
861,735
10,788
372,523
Malta...............................................
39,926
281,045
241,119
Canada............................................
5,044,645 10,150,143 15,194,788
Other British N. Am. possessions.
7,519,909
2,428,764 5,091,145
195,791,886
British West Indies.....................
3,423,971
1,009,037 4,433,008
British Honduras..........................
142,772
350,000
207,228
British Guiana...............................
871,766
152,920
718,846
British possessions in Africa........
396,780
396,780
British Australia...........................
165,922 4,909,925
4,744,003
New Zealand.................................
27,772
27,772
British East Indies.......................
4,600
691,998
687,398
France on the Atlantic................. 87,144,843
1,587,190 38,732,0337
France on the Mediterranean___
3,096,432
2,984,941
111,491
French N. American possessions.
116.805
146,286 }- 42,594,963
29,481
French West Indies......................
472,119
395,766
76,353
French Guiana...............................
148,093
148,093
Spain on the Atlantic..................
436,498
1,417,9491
981,451
Spain on the Mediterranean........
405,855
5,542,525 5,948,380
Canary Islands..............................
30,941
24,241
6,700
- 15,900,572
Phillipine Islands.........................
204,668
204,668
Cuba................................................
7,199,035
6,985,500
213,535
Porto Rico......................................
1,099,599
1,037,789
61,810
Portugal..........................................
344,098
241,927
102,171
Madeira...........................................
27,655
22,304
5,351
439,127
Cape de Verde Islands................
51,415
41,583
9,832
Azores............................................
15,959
14,812
1,147
Sardinia..........................................
2,143,977
2,143,977
1,971,370
172,607
Tuscany..........................................
425,596
24,466
425,595
401,129
Papal States.................................
31,842
31,842
31,842
Two Sicilies .................................
303,576
303,576
120,704
182,872
Austria...........................................
639,092
480,480
158,612
j.
2,238,783
Aust. possessions in Italy............
1,599,691
313,704
1,285,987
Turkey in Europe.........................
1,069,321
895,859
173,462
l
1,404,678
Turkey in Asia....... ...................
335,447
335,447
1,731,011
Other ports in Africa...................
1,731,011
1,650,418
80,593
1,862,823
Hay ti..............................................
1,862,823
1,701,628
161,195
74,986
San Domingo.................................
74,986
63,516
11,470
2,464,942
Mexico............................................
2,464,942
1,785,106
679,836
347,265
Central Republic...........................
347,265
307,832
39,433
1,444,843
New Granada................................
1,444,843
1,412,622
32,221
1,643,621
Venezuela......................................
1,643,621
1,602,143
41,478
4,858,125
Brazil ............................................
4,735,412
4,858,125
122,713
517,849
517,849
Uruguay, orCisplatine Republic.
493,085
24,764
1,013,112
1,013,112
B. Ayres, or Argentine Republic.
987,529
25,583
2,591,354
Chili......................................
2,591,354
2,499,595
91,759
1,159,232
Peru................................................
1,169,232
858,113
301,119
27,374
Equador..........................................
27,374
27,374
793,058
793,068
Sandwich Islands...........................
634,669
158,389
4,000
Japan..............................................
4,000
4,000
2,048,244
China...............................................
2,048,244
1,913,951
134,293
820,045
320,045
Whale fisheries.............................
23,038
297,007
Total...................................

90,295,187 310,586,330

310,586,330

England and her dominions is our largest customer; of the entire exports of
the United States in 1856, amounting to $310,586,330, our exports to England




477

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

alone are valued at $152,561,915—nearly one-half of the total exports for the
year, and, including her possessions, at $195,191,886—nearly two-thirds of the ox.
port trade of the United States. France comes next—the amount of exports to
that empire was $42,594,933.
PRICES OF PRODUCE AND MERCHANDISE AT CINCINNATI,

In the Merchants’ Magazine for November, 1856, (vol. xxxv., pages 608-609,)
we published the average prices of butter, cheese, and coffee, on the last day of
each week of the year, commencing with September 5th, 1855, and ending August
27,1856 ; and in the December number, (vol. xxxv., pages 748-749,) the average
prices of flour, corn, wheat, and rye, for the same time. In the number for Jan­
uary, 1857, (vol. xxxvi., pages 90-91,) wc gave the average prices of star candies,
lard, oil, and barley; in the number for February will be found the average
prices of oats, hay, hemp, and molasses; and in the number for March, (vol.
xxxi., pages 363-364,) the average prices of linseed-oil, flaxseed, beef cattle, and
sugar. We now conclude the series by giving the average prices of clover-seed
and whisky:—
The following table shows the price of clover-seed at the close of each week
during the year, except in those weeks when nothing was done in i t :—
September 5 . . . .
1 2 ___
19___
26___
October
3 ..
10....
1 7 ....
2 4 ....
31___
November 7 ___
14___
2 1 ___
2 8 ...
December 5 . . .
12...
19. ..
2 6 ...
January
2 ...

. . 87 0 0 January
. . 7 00
. . 7 00
. . 7 00
. . 7 0 0 February
. . 7 00
. . 7 00
. . 7 00
50 March
. . 8 00
. . 8 00
. . 8 50
. . 8 50 April
.. 9 00
. . 9 00
. . 9 00
. . 8 50
. . 8 75 May

9 ..
1 6 ..
2 3 ..
3 0 ..
6 ..
1 3 ..
2 0 ..
2 7 ..
5 ..
1 2 ..
1 9 ..
2 6 ..
2 ..
9. .
1 6 ..
2 3 ..
3 0 ..
7 ..

...1 9
... 9

00
00
00

May

75 June
75
75
75
75 July
50
25
7 75
50
50 August
50
50

...
...
...
...
...

8
8
8
8
8

...

14.................
.
28.................
4 .................
1 1 .................
18.................
25.................
2 .................
9 .................
16.................
23 .................
30........... | 6
6 ...........
6
13.................
2 0 .................
27 .................

2 1 ______

............. . .

The following table shows the price o f whisky at the close of each week dur­
ing the year :—
September 6 ......... .
34f January
9 .... .
251 May
14___
12.........
19.........
26.........
October
3 .........
10.........
17.........
24.........
31.........
November 7 ___
14.........
21. . .
28___
December 5 . . . .
12___
1 9 ....
26........
January
2 ....

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

331
16___
23___
331
3 0 ___
33 J
31J February 6 . . . .
13___
321
2 0 ___
331
2
7 ___
331
331 March
5 ___
12 ___
321
19___
33
26___
34
April
2 ___

9 ___

30

.




16___
2 3 ___
80 ___

301

May

7 . . . .

241
June
.
.

241
231

•

221 July

■

181
19
19f
191 August

.
.
.
.
.
.

20
20
19f
191
191

21___
28___
4 ___
i i ___
18___
25___
2 ___
9 ___
16___
23___
3 0 _____

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

211
211
22
221
231
251
271
31
32
27

6___
1 3 ....
20___
2 7 ....

26

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

4*78

DISPARITY BETW EEN THE EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF THE SOUTH.

The New Orleans Commercial Bulletin, in order to stir up the people to place
the South in the position she should occupy in her commercial relations to the
balance of the Union, gives some facts and figures going to show the disparity
of Southern exports and imports as follows :—
The received maxim in political economy is, that a country is prospering when
she exports more than she imports, but this is upon the supposition that her peo­
ple are making more money than they expend. Such is not the case with the
South. The South is a producing and consuming, but not a manufacturing
country. She consumes to the amount of her exports; but the exchangeable
values she receives in return are either manufactured at the North or in Europe;
and received through the medium of Northern commission houses and agents,
and by Northern ships. The articles of necessity and use purchased in Europe
by our cotton, sugar, tobacco, and rice, are brought back to us, not to New Or­
leans, Mobile, Savannah, and Charleston, the ports from whence these products
are shipped, but to Northern ports—to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
The operation is a common one, but to the Southern consumer rather an expens­
ive one, for he is the one that eventually foots the bill. The Northern jobber or
distributor buys from the importer, paying him, of course, his profits and the in­
terest for a credit of four or six months; the jobber, in turn, sells to the South­
ern merchant, receives his superadded profit and interest for eight or twelve
months. The producer, who is also the consumer, pays the shop for this compli­
cated and expensive operation.
Let us look to the operation of the production and export of the single article
of cotton. The value of the cotton grown in the Southern States, in 1855-56,
of the 3,527,345 bales, at $45 per bale, amounted to $158,763,025. Of this, we
send over to Europe 2,946,291 bales, amounting to the sum of $133,583,095. The
balance or difference between the crop and the amount exported, is manufactured
mainly at the North.
The exports of Southern products during the past year may be set down as
follows:—
Cotton.............................................................................................................
Tobacco, (estimated to be the same as last year,)..................................
Rice and naval stores, lumber and staves...............................................

$133,583,095
14,000,000
6,000,000

Total..................................................................................................

$153,583,095

Of this sum, the North, it is estimated, have received a clear profit of not less
than 30 per cent. Some fix the amount as high as 33 per cent; but take the
former sum, and it will give for one year alone a profit to the North of $45,000,000,
of which sum $11,000,000 was paid in freight alone.
Of the cotton sent coastwise to the North, we take from Massachusetts alone,
in return, in the shape of fabrics for wear, near $36,000,000. We besides get
from the North, or through the North, our shoes, our hats, and every other arti­
cle of clothing. Then again, we look to them for our plantation tools, plows,
shovels, spades, hoes, saw and grist mills, cotton-gins, and sugar-grinding and
sugar-making machinery.
The total exports of the North for the past year were, in round numbers,
$120,000,000, including the reshipment of Southern products, against the
$153,580,000 exports of Southern products, making a difference in favor of the
South of $33,580,000 of exports.
Now’, to equalize truly our relative position, there should be a corresponding
difference in our imports in favor of the South. But how stands the case ? We
have the official returns before us. For the last four months—June, July, Au­
gust, and September—the revenue received from customs at the six principal
ports in the Union— New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore,
and Charleston—amounted to $21,682,000, the three Northern cities receiving of
this $20,310,000, and the three Southern cities, $1,372,000. The excess for




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

47 9

1856 over the same period in 1855 is $4,625,000. There was collected the pres­
ent year over four-fifths of the entire revenue at the port of New York, and last
year something over three-fourths.
The receipts at the custom-house in New York for the above four months were
$16,348,000 ; at Boston, $2,529,000; and at Philadelphia, $1,439,000 ; while at
New Orleans they were $709,000. And yet New Orleans exports more than
New York, and more than the other cities combined. Such arc the inequalities
in the currents of trade.
COMMERCIAL PROGRESS OF CANADA.

The table below, compiled from official documents, furnishes a condensed view
of the revenue and trade of Canada in 1855 and 1856. In the Merchants'
Magazine for March, (vol. xxxvi., page 361,) we published a table showing the
comparative commerce of the several ports in the province:—
CUSTOMS R E V E N U E
P A V IN G

—

Coffee....................... ........lbs.
Cigars.......................
Molasses...................
Spirits, (brandv, ein. rum, Ac.)
W in e.......................
Sugars.......................
Dried fruits.............
Teas.........................
Tobacco ...................
Miscellaneous...........

OF C A N A D A
S P E C IF IC

FOR

1855-56.

DUTY.

11

MONTHS OF 1855.--,
Q u a n tity .
D u ty .

1,776,481
50,586
1,542,272
1,067,596
322,839
326,538
2,086,036
6,250,229
2,854,781

$17,684
20.296
67,445
228,846
94,608
478,184
34,840
186,236
94,190
19.594

,—11

MONTHS OF
Q u a n tity .

1,786,186
51,264
1,509,649
1,205,624
447,429
298,613
32,257,078
6,398,120
2,935,081

1856.-^
D u ty .

$18,654
22,929
65,000
380,812
148,378
440.518
41,868
228,844
104,414
33,675

GOODS PAYIN G ----

30 per cent .............
and 15 per cent

5,472
137
2,070,012

per cent...............

60,156

48 501
2,767,342
6,835
66,751

$3,362,600

$4,863,021

12 ^
2£

Increase o f duties in 1856 over 1855........

$ 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

This increase has occurred under the new tariff, which abolished the 30 per
cent duty, and increased the specific duty on articles of luxury.
The total value o f goods, o f all kinds, imported into the province for
the 11 months of 1855, ending the 15th of December, amounted to..
Ditto ditto during the same period of 1856................... ...........................

$24,471,645
30,613,882

Increase in favor of 1856.........................................................................

$6,141,737

The value of free goods admitted in 1855 amounted to.........................
“
“
“
1856 ................................................

9,813,717
11,359,757

Increase in favor o f 1856 .........................................................................

$1,546,040

GENERAL

R E V E N U E ----- CUSTOMS A N D

Customs..............................................
Public W orks......................................

Receipts in 1855.

Receipts in 1856.

Increase.

$3,362,600
399,130

$4,363,021
424,422

$1,000,421
25,192

Increase from these two sources in 1856




P U B L IC W O R K S .

$1,025,013

Journal o f Insurance.

480

JOURNAL
FIRE

OF

INSURANCE.

INSURANCE.

A minority of a committee of the Common Council of the city of Boston, to
whom was referred an order relative to insurance by the city, of losses by fire,
submitted a report on the 4th of December, 1856, which contains, in a small
compass, so much interesting information on the subject, that we are induced to
give place to it in this department of the Merchants’ Magazine. The subject is
likely to attract considerable attention from the fact that it has already been
broached in France by Louis Napoleon, who proposes that the government shall
insure all the property of the empire upon nearly the same basis as that laid
down in the report of the Boston Committee. It will be seen by this report that
the committee recommend that the city of Boston pay all losses to her citizens
originating from fire, and that the property holders be assessed in the general tax
raised for the support of the city:—Contracts of insurance, strictly so called, are of modern invention, and their
importance in relation to commerce is scarcely inferior to that of bills of exchange.
Every merchant is liable to losses and reverses by the changes of the market;
the risks of this description, however, may be calculated upon with some degree
of certainty ; but those of fire and the perils of the sea cannot be so well esti­
mated; and when they come, in many cases they would bring ruin upon the mer­
chant were it not for the system of insurance, the object of which is to apportion
the losses from these disasters among all those whose property is exposed to the
same hazards. If, for instance, all persons engaged in trading were to enter into
an agreement to contribute for the losses of each other, occasioned by the com­
mon casualties, iii proportion to the amount they respectively have at risk, each
individual would then only run the risk of the proportion of losses occasioned
upon the general aggregate of property at risk. To many, such a general com­
bination would be considered complicated and practically inconvenient; conse­
quently, the proper mode, (which has long been in practice in this country and
Europe,) of one person, the underwriter, agreeing to take upon himself those risks
for a hundred merchants, more or less, for a certain premium on each risk, such
person calculating that the premiums on the profitable adventures will compensate
him for losses which may occur on those which may be unfortunate.
The result accordingly is, that all persons having their property insured in this
manner, in effect mutually contribute for each other’s losses, by the bargain of
each with the common receiver of the contributions of all.
With respect to insurance against fire, mathematical nicety on this subject is
of little importance, for the amount of experience afforded by the general preva­
lence of the practice, and the competition which exists among the numerous rival
companies, have probably had the effect of adjusting the premium to the average
risk with all the accuracy that is practically attainable.
The premium charged by the London insurance office, on property of the value
of £100, is Is. Cd. per annum, which corresponds to an average annual loss of
nearly one in thirteen hundred ; but it is to be observed that the sum which is
charged as premium is proved to be sufficient not only to cover the losses, but
also to defray the expenses of the establishment, and to afford an adequate inter­
est on the amount of capital laid out or risked by the insurance company.
Insurance in London would be much more general, did not government impose
a tax on the transaction of three shillings per annum on each £100 insured, which
is double the amount of premium charged by the insurer. Hence, the govern­
ment derives from this source the large revenue of between ten and eleven hun­




Journal o f Insurance.

481

dred thousand pounds per annum. The characteristic property of insurance, of
whatever nature, is the tendency to reduce to a certain average value the profits
or advantages arising from all speculations of the same kind, however great the
number may be. The gain which the insurer makes on his successful speculations
indemnifies him for the loss he sustains by those which are unsuccessful, and to
the insured the result is the same as if they had paid their premiums into a com­
mon fund, and agreed to make good to each other their individual losses.
The insurers are only the intermediate agents of this supposed association. A
mercantile company, employing a very great number of ships, or taking part in
a very great number of enterprises, would derive no benefit from insurance. The
loss on those which are unsuccessful is compensated by the premiums saved on
the whole; in fact the company acts as insurer to itself. On this principle the
government neither insures vessels belonging to the navy, or any other property,
neither does our city insure any of its property for the same reason.
The fact seems to be overlooked that stock, as well as mutual fire insurance
companies, are simply associations or partnerships of individuals, to protect each
other from losses by fire, which it might be inconvenient for them to bear indi­
vidually. To accomplish this purpose they become incorporated. The charters,
policy, and by-laws constitute their articles of copartnership.
The amount of property belonging to citizens of this Commonwealth, insured
in stock companies, is not far from two hundred millions of dollars.
There are thirty-four offices in the State, of which nineteen are located in Bos­
ton. The aggregate amount of capital may be reckoned at seven millions of
dollars.
The amount of property insured in mutual marine and mutual fire and marine
insurance companies, is about one hundred and thirty millions of dollars. This
amount is divided among thirteen companies.
The number of mutual fire insurance companies incorporated and doing busi­
ness in this Commonwealth is sixty-four. The amount insured by said companies
is about one hundred and ninety millions of dollars.
The amount insured in mutual companies exceeds that in either the other modes
of insurance.
If properly and prudently managed, a mutual company affords the safest and
cheapest protection to the insured; for every additional risk increases the security
of all, as thereby a premium note is added to the assets of the company; when
in a joint-stock company the specific capital remains the same, let the total amount
at risk be ever so great. Among the earliest charters granted was the Massa­
chusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Boston. This company was incor­
porated with a perpetual charter, March 2d, 1798, and provides that no policy
of insurance shall be made by said corporation, until the sum subscribed by the
associates to be insured, shall amount to “ two millions of dollars.” The charter
further required that of the cash premiums received after paying losses and ex­
penses, the sum of ten thousand dollars should be appropriated to a reserved fund.
This company has continued with constaut success to the present time, and may
now be considered the strongest institution of the kind in the Commonwealth.
The amount insured by existing policies, in this single institution, is not far from
fifteen millions of dollars, more than a fifteenth part of all the insurable property
within the city.
The gross amount insured by all the offices within the Commonwealth is not
far from six hundred and fifty-tour millions of dollars.
Reference is thus made to the insurance companies within the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, and in particular to those within the city of Boston, in order
to show to the citizens that they are never insured against large losses, but only
minor ones, that come within the range of their capital at risk, or rather the
amount of premiums contributed by the insured, showing conclusively that it is
the insured who protect each other from loss, and not the corporations.
Annexed is the following table, showing the number of fires per year, the gross
amount of losses and insurances, commencing September 1, 1837, and ending
September 1,1856 :—
VOL. x x x v i.— NO. IV.




31

Journal o f Insurance.

48 2
Years.
1837.
1838..
1839..
1840..
1841.
1842..
1843..
1844..
1845..
1846..

..
,,

..

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
,

..

IFires.
105
96
113
99
109
159
185
180
223
141

Losses.
$82,052
140,004
77,973
102,972
90,008
128,666
184,093
231,191
226,338
172,993

Insurances.
$20,138
61,791
58,632
36,920
44,583
90,086
95,352
172,840
155,206
87,159

Years.
1847 . . .
1 8 4 8 ....
1 8 4 9 ....
I 8 6 0 ....
1 8 6 1 ....
1 8 6 2 ....
1 8 5 3 ....
1854.. . .
1 8 5 5 ....

Fires.
150
208
147
218
134
172
152
140
167

Losses.
$222,273
300,525
128,660
386,107
492,849
515,167
150,772
637,604
409,355
—

$4,529,592

T otal

Insurances.
$162,085
216,992
76,197
192,937
216,315
295,056
106,880
360,047
287,832
—

$2,736,997

Thus showing the gross amount of losses, in nineteen years, to be forty-five
hundred and twenty-nine thousand five hundred and ninety-two dollars; insurance,
twenty-seven hundred and thirty-six thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven dol­
lars. Average losses per year, for the nineteen years inclusive, $226,479 60.
Average insurance for the same period, $144,052 47, which is a fraction over 60
per cent on gross losses.
Now, taking the valuation of real and personal property of the city for the
current year, which is $248,721,100, and the average losses for nineteen years,
$226,479 60, the tax on the citizens to pay this loss would be 91-100 of 1 per
cent; or, to place it more clearly, if the assessors had added to the tax of the
present year, as an insurance tax, 1-10 of 1 per cent, or one dollar on a thousand,
it would have yielded the sum of $248,721 10, which would have been $22,241 50
more than the average losses for nineteen years.
I f other means exist of dividing fire risks, insurance becomes unnecessary. In
the opinion of a minority of this committee other means do exist in the form of
taxation, the citizens paying all losses originating from fires, the result of which
would be a saving of more than the interest on the water debt, besides support­
ing our entire school system. In one or more of the German States the govern­
ment fixes the rates of insurance as it does other modes of taxation, and it forms
a part of the general tax raised for the support of such States.
The system is found to work well, the insurance tax only amounting to onetenth of 1 per cent. If mutual insurance is the best system, and is found to
work well for one hundred individuals, it will work just as well for one hundred
thousand, and so on for cities as large as Boston, New York, Paris, or London;
a minority of your committee would therefore recommend the passage of the fol­
lowing order
Ordered, That such measures be taken as will cause the city of Boston to pay
all losses to our citizens originating from fire, and that the same be assessed in
the general tax raised for the support of the city.
N ATH AN IEL O. NASH.
E D W AE D If. rOKTEK.
A PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION NOT SLANDER.

The defendant in this case, which was decided in one of the Courts in Massa­
chusetts, was Secretary of the Fulton Fire Insurance Company. The plaintiff
had an insurance in that company. He had presented preliminary proofs, and
claimed from the company full payment on the policy. An interview took place
at the office of the company, between the plaintiff, the defendant, and one Bowers,
the Secretary of the Hartford Insurance Company, against which the plaintiff
held a claim on a policy issued on the same property which had been insured by
the Fulton Company. A t this interview the defendant said to the plaintiff that
facts had come to their knowledge, which, if true, would go to show that he knew
more about the origin of the fire than he admitted in the affidavit. The plaintiff
rested his case on proof of the alleged slander, without offering further evidence
in proof of malice. Held, that what was said by the defendant was a privileged
communication, and not slanderous.




Commercial Regulations.

48 3

DECISION ON A POLICY OF FIRE INSURANCE.

A policy of insurance issued by a mutual fire insurance company was expressly
made subject to their by-laws, one of which provided that “ unless the applicant
for insurance shall make a true representation of the property on which he re­
quests insurance, and of his title and interest therein, and also of all incumbrances
and the amount and nature thereof, the policy shall be void.” An applicant for
insurance represented, in answer to questions, that the property was owned by
him, and not incumbered, when in fact he was only a mortgagee. The court in
Massachusetts held that the policy was void.

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
REVISED RATES OF COMMISSION OF THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

The rates of commission having been recently (1857) revised by the Chamber
of Commerce, we publish below the amended list
K A T E S OP COMM ISSIONS R E C O M M EN D ED
CH ARGED

BY

THE

CHAM BER

OP

COMM ERCE

TO

BE

W H E R E NO E X P R E S S A G R E E M E N T TO T H E C O N T R A R Y E X IS T S .
BANKING.

On purchase of stocks, bonds, and all kinds o f securities, including the drawing of
bills for payment of same.............................................................................per cent
On sale of stocks, bonds, and all kinds o f securities, including remittances in bills
and guaranty................................................................................................................
On purchase or sale of specie and b ullion ...................................................................
Remittances in bills of exchange...................................................................................
Remittances in bills of exchange, with guaranty........................................................
Drawing or indorsing bills o f exchange.......................................................................
Collecting dividends on stocks, bonds, or other securities..........................................
Collecting interest on bonds and mortgages..............................................................
Receiving and paying moneys on which no other commission is received.............
Procuring acceptance of bills o f exchange payable in foreign countries.................
On issuing letters of credit to travelers, exclusive of foreign bankers’ charge.........

1
1

-|
£
1
1
|
1

J
1

Where bills of exchange are remitted for collection, and returned under protest
for non-acceptance or non-payment, the same commissions are to be charged
as though they were duly accepted and paid.
GENERAL BUSINESS.

On sales of sugar, coffee, tea, and general merchandise, usually sold in large quan­
tities and on credit under 6 months..........................................................................
On sales of manufactured goods and other articles, usually sold on long credits,
for 6 months and guaranty.........................................................................................
Ditto, ditto, for ca s h ........................................................................................................
On purchase and shipment of merchandise, with funds in hand, on cost and
charges..........................................................................................................................
Collecting delayed and litigated accounts..................................................................
Effecting marine insurance, on amount insured..........................................................

6
7^
5
2J
6

t

No amount to be charged for effecting insurance on property consigned.
Landing and re-shipping goods from vessels in distress, on value of in voice.........
“
“
“
“
on specie and bullion . . .
Receiving and forwarding merchandise entered at custom-house, on invoice value
1 per cent, and on expenses incurred.......................................................................
On consignments o f merchandise withdrawn or re-shipped, full commissions are
to be charged to the extent of advances or responsibilities incurred, and onehalf commission on the residue of the value.




2$

-J
2 i

484

Commercial Regulations.

On giving bonds that passengers will not become a burden on the city, on the
amount of the bonds.................................... ..............................................................

2*

The risk of loss by robbery, fire, (unless insurance be ordered,) theft, popular tu­
mult, and all other unavoidable occurrences, is in all cases to be borne by the
owners of the goods, provided due diligence has been exercised in the care of
them.
SHIPPING.

On purchase or sale of vessels.......................................................................................
Disbursements and outfit o f vessels...............................................................................
Procuring freight and passengers for Europe, East Indies, and domestic ports.. . .
“
“
for West Indies, South America, and other
pla ces...................................................... ..
“
“
for foreign vessels, in all cases...........................
Collecting freight..............................................................................................................
Collecting insurance losses of all kinds........................................................................
Chartering vessels on amount of freight, actual or estimated, to be considered as
due when the charter parties are signed..................................................................

2J
24

2J
5
5
2|
2\

2$

But no charter to be considered binding till a memorandum, or one of the copies
of the charter, has been signed.
On giving bonds for vessels under attachment in litigated cases, on amount of
liability........................................................................................................................... 2J
The foregoing commissions to be exclusive of brokerage, and every charge ac­
tually incurred.
INSPECTION OF PROVISIONS IN OHIO.

The Legislature of Ohio has passed a bill “ supplementary to an act entitled
an act for the inspection of certain articles therein enumerated.” The original
act was passed March, 1851. The present act, this year, (1857.) The following
are the provisions of the supplementary act:—

"N.

S ection 1. That any person acting as inspector of flour, meal, meat, lard, or
butter, or other articles sold by weight, in hogshead, cask, box, barrel, or parts
thereof, the contents of which is by law subject to inspection, are hereby required
to inspect and certify the weight therein, in connection with the quality, and
brand the same, which shall be conclusive evidence between vendor and vendee,
at the time of inspection; and whenever short weight shall be ascertained, or
under tare marked, the inspector so finding shall be entitled for every hogshead,
cask, or box, containing over one barrel, 20 cents, and for every barrel, and under,
10 cents; the charge for repacking and cooperage to be no more than the average
price paid for such work at the time the inspection is had, which shall be paid by
the party demanding the inspection, or as parties may agree; but in case of forfeiture, then the parties for whose benefit it shall be condemned, shall pay all such
charges; but in case no condemnation takes place, then the inspector shall be en­
titled to the same for the inspection of weight, he is for quality, and no more.
S ection 2. Any manufacturer of flour, meal, or packer of meat, butter, lard, or
any other article sold by weight, and packed, who shall undermark the tare upon
any hogshead, cask, box, or barrel, or part thereof, or put therein a less quantity
than marked or branded thereon, as specified by law, shall, for such offense, forfeit
the hogshead, cask, box, or barrel, or parts thereof, and half the contents therein
contained ; one-fourth of the contents to go to the party injured, who shall prose­
cute for the same, together with such other damage he may sustain, and the other
fourth to the use of the poor of the township where the conviction is had, the balance
to be accounted for to the miller or packer, who shall be notified by the inspector;
but such forfeiture shall not take place, or conviction be had, when the light weight
shall have been occasioned after leaving the manufacturer or packer, provided such
packing has been done according to law.




Nautical Intelligence.

485

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
PROBLEMS IN ASTRONOMY CONNECTED W ITH NAVIGATION.
bbott, a Missionary of the American Board, has invented a new in­
strument for solving problems in astronomy, which is spoken of by competent
authorities as likely to be of great value to navigators. Mr. Abbott is under­
stood to be a well-trained mathematician; and while on his homeward passage
from Bombay to London, and engaged in teaching navigation to the officers of
the ship, he saw a way of simplifying computation by mechanical means. This
horometer is the embodiment of the idea. Abbott’s Horometer is described as
follows:—

A mos A

A plane metallic hemisphere of 10-inch radius, with a graduated arc and an
orthographic projection of lines of latitude divided by dots into minutes of time,
and numbered from six o’clock towards the arc for the a . m., and from the arc for
the p. m., is the foundation. Moving from the center of this projection is an in­
dex arm, like a quadrant, with a Vernier, reading to half minutes, and upon this
arm, sliding in a groove, and at right angles to it is a bar, graduated for a scale
of altitudes and comprehending the appropriate corrections. This scale-bar, of
course, moves with the index arm, and is always perpendicular to it, and across it
a plane glass, with fine lines upon its surface, is made to slide so that it may be
set to any given altitude. By this simple combination of parts, the time from an
altitude of the sun, moon, planet, or star, is readily worked. Latitude, by various
means, is determined ; a lunar distance is cleared ; azimuth, without a compass, is
found ; and, in short, all spherical problems are solved by inspection. The plan
of the instrument is obvious to a person familiar with spherical trigonometry, cor­
rect, and the execution of it so nice, that its accuracy is easily demonstrated by
examples.
LIGHTS AT THE LOFOTEN ISLANDS— NORW AY, W EST COAST.

The Royal Norwegian Marine Department at Christiana has given notice, that
on and after the first day of January, 1857, the following lights will be established
at the Lofoten Islands, on the northwest coast of Norway.
G lopen .—The light is a fixed white light of the sixth order. It is placed at
a height of 140 English feet above the mean level of the sea, and should be visible
from the deck of a ship, in clear weather, at a distance of 12 miles from S. W.,
round southerly and easterly to N. W . It will be lighted from the 1st January
until the 14th April.
The lighthouse stands on the south side of the entrance of Sorvaagen, and serves
to point out the fairway into that harbor. It is in latitude 68° 3' N., longitude
13° 4 i' E. from Greenwich. Vessels approaching Sorvaagen, between the light
and Kraaken Islet, (which lies to the N. N. E.,) must keep close to Glopen, as
there are three blind rocks on the S. E. side of Kraaken. If approaching to the
north of Kraaken, they should keep close to that islet. When the light has been
brought to bear to the eastward of S. by E., there is anchorage in from 8 to 10
fathoms.
S vino , neak B alstad. This light is a fixed red light of the sixth order. It
is placed at a height of 200 English feet above the mean level of the sea, and
should be visible from the deck of a ship, in clear weather, at a distance of from
8 to 10 miles, from N. W . round southerly to N. E. It will be lighted from the
1st J anuary until the 14th April, and will serve chiefly as a guide for the passage
between Ilenningsvaer and Sorvaagen. The lighthouse stands in latitude 68°
3' N., longitude 13° 34j' East from Greenwich.
H enningsvaek. This light is a white light of the fourth order, varied by a




486

Nautical Intelligence.

flash every third minute, seen all round the compass. It is placed at a height of
120 English feet above the mean level of the sea, and should be visible from the
deck of a ship, in clear weather, at a distance of from 12 to 14 miles. It will be
exhibited from the 15th August, through the winter, until the 1st May. This
light is placed on the Quitvaerden, near Henningsvaer, and serves chiefly to point
out the fairway across the WesLfiord; also for making for the anchorage in Saltvaering Sound. To reach the latter, the light must be brought to bear N. E. by
N., and that course kept until about three cables’ length from the lighthouse;
then altered a little more easterly, in order to pass south of the light, and when
two or three cables’ length to the eastward of it, the vessel may be brought up
in from 5 to 6 fathoms’ water. The anchorage is narrow, and cannot be recom­
mended for large vessels. All courses and bearings are by compass. Yar. 16°
W. in 1857.
By command of their lordships,
JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydographer.
H y d b o g b a p a ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , )
L ondon,

1st January, 1857.

f

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts:— Norway, General, No.
2,303 ; Pleina to the Lofoten Isles, sheet 9, No. 2,311 ; Lofoten Islands to Ando,
sheet 10, No. 2,312. Also Norway Pilot, part 2, pp. 136-138 ; and the Norway
Lighthouse List, Nos. 270, a. b. c.
LIGHT ON STEPHANO BURUN, MEDITERRANEAN—SEA OF MARMORA.

The Director of Lights for the Turkish government has given notice, that on
and after the 4th of January, 1857, a light would be established on Stephano
Burun, on the north side of the Sea of Marmora, near the entrance of the channel
of Constantinople.
The light is a fixed white light, varied every 2 minutes by flashes, which are
preceded and followed by short eclipses. The light is placed at a height of 78
feet above the level of the sea, and should be visible from the deck of a ship, in
clear weather, at a distance of 12 miles. The light is seen through an arc of the
horizon of 195° from E. by N. £ N. round southerly to W. £ N., except for the
half point from W. by S. to W . by S. £ S., where it is interrupted by the tower
of a kiosk which will shortly be removed. The light tower is 65 feet high from
the ground, and stands on the point of San Stephano at 723 yards E. by N. £ N.
of the above-mentioned Sultan’s kiosk, in latitude 40° 57' 14" N., longitude
28° 50' 34" W. from Greenwich. All bearings are magnetic. Yar. 8° 35' W.
By command of their lordships,
JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer.
H y d b o g r a p iiic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y ,
L ondon,

January 20,1857.

}

j

This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts :—Mediterranean General
No. 2,158 ; Marmora Sea, No. 224; Black Sea, No. 2,214. Also, Bosphorus
Directions, p. 76 ; and Mediterranean Lighthouse List, No. 182 a.
ST. CROIX LIGHTHOUSE, MAINE.

In conformity with the notice of July 17, 1856, the lighthouse erected on Big
Island, in the St. Croix River, was illuminated for the first time on the evening
of Monday, February 2,1857, and the light will be kept burning during every
night thereafter from sunset to sunrise. The tower is above the south end of the
keeper’s dwelling, and the whole structure is of wood, and painted white. The
illuminating apparatus is a 5th order lens, showing a fixed white light of the nat­
ural color, at an elevation of 71 feet above high water, which should be visible,
in good weather, at a distance of 14 nautical or 16 statute miles. The approxi­
mate latitude from the most reliable charts is 45° 06' 30" N., and the longitude
67° 08' 30" W. of Greenwich. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
W. B. FEANKLIN, Engineer First Lighthouse District.
P oetland,

Me., January 10,1857.




Nautical Intelligence.

48 7

PIEDRAS CAY LIGHTHOUSE— CUBA, WEST INDIES.

The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have received a notification from
Commodore Kellett, C. B., Senior Naval Officer in the West Indies, that the
Piedras Cay Lighthouse, on the north side of the Island of Cuba, at the western
entrance of the Old Bahama, or Nicholas Channel, was blown down in the hurri­
cane of the 25th August last; the same is hereby published, for the information
of the mariner.
M osquito C oast, K ing C ays . Information has also been received that a coral
patch, having only 2 feet water on it, has been discoverved by H. M. S. Pioneer,
about 3 miles south of King Cays, on the coast of Mosquito, at 10 miles off shore.
The following magnetic bearings were taken from the center of the shoal:—Sand
Cay N. ¥ . } ¥ . ; North Cay, North ; Eastern, or Little King Cay N. E. by N.
The lead gives no warning of the shoal, as there is a depth of 9 fathoms at less
than a ship’s length off. Latitude 12° 41' 45" N., longitude 83° 22' W. of Green­
wich, nearly.
G keytown H arbor , N icaragua . A recent survey of Greytown Harbor by
Messrs. Scott and Thomas, Masters, Royal Navy, has shown that the sandy spit
named by the Spaniards Punta Arenas, lias advanced a cable’s length to the southwestward during the last three years, thereby reducing the width of entrance to
little more than two cable’s length. A black beacon buoy has been placed off
the northwestern angle of the breakers, and a red buoy at a cable’s length to the
westward of the dry sandy point. The leading mark into the harbor at present
is the flagstaff on the beach in front of the town, in line with a conspicuous tree
to the southeastward of the town, bearing S. 63° 30' E., magnetic.
By command of their Lordships,
JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographcr.
H y d r o g r a p h ic O f f ic e , A d m ir a l t y , )
L o n d o n , 1st January, 1857.
)

These notices affect the following Admiralty Charts:—West Indies, General
Sheets 3 and 4, Nos. 392 b and c; West Indies, Sheets 1 and 12, Nos. 1,217,
1,218 ; and Piedras Cay Plan, No. 410 ; also West India Directory, Vol. 1., p.
181 ; and West India Lighthouse List, No. 25.
LIGHTHOUSE NEAR EAST END OF EDGEMOGGIN REACH, MAINE.

In conformity with the notice of September 12, 1856, the lighthouse erected
on Ply’s or Green Island, near the east end of Edgemoggin Reach, will be illu­
minated for the first time on the evening of Monday, February 2, 1857, and the
light will be kept burning during every night thereafter from sunset to sunrise.
The lighthouse is a cylindrical brick tower, painted white, having attached a
keeper’s dwelling, of wood, painted brown. The illuminating apparatus is a 5th
order lens, showing a fixed while light of the natural color, at an elevation of 26
feet above high water, which should be visible, in good weather, at a distance of
9 nautical or 104 statute miles. The approximate latitude from the most reliable
charts is 44° 14' N., and the longitude 68° 31' 30" W . of Greenwich.
By order of the Lighthouse Board,
W . B. FRAN KLIN , Engineer First Lighthouse District.
P ortland, M e., January 10, 1837.

WRECK STATISTICS AT KEY WEST.

A letter from the agent of the Boston underwriters at Key West, furnishes a
list of the vessels wrecked upon Florida Reef, or arriving at Key West in dis­
tress, during the year 1856, amounting to 71. The value of vessels and cargoes
amounted to $4,484,600, and the expenses to $262,664 19. The salvage
amounted to $163,117 05, and the amount of sales at auction was $172,111 52.
The agent remarks :—
Notwithstanding all that has been done, and is still doing, by the General gov-




488

Postal Department.

eminent to light, and buoy, and mark this coast, still we have an uncommon
number of wrecks, and almost every week some unaccountable one occurs. Not
a few, I fear, were, if not intentional, very careless; and not until an example
is made of some of them, will the wrecks be less frequent, or the expenses re­
duced.
The salvages paid the last year are frightful, and must admonish the under­
writers of the necessity of seeing that sober, good men, are put in command of
ships and property. My opinion is, a good vessel upon this station would do
good service, and be a profitable investment for all the insurance companies. I
fondly hope the coming summer some arrangement will be made to have a steamer
or sailing-vessel for the purpose of protecting the interests of all concerned in in­
suring property.

POSTAL DEPARTMENT.
STATISTICS OF THE CHICAGO POST-OFFICE FOR TWENTY YEARS,

The Democratic Press of Chicago furnishes some interesting statistics of the
business of the Post-office in that flourishing city, which we here subjoin. A no­
ticeable feature in the table is, that the surplus of the Chicago Post-office is only
second to New York, the great Commercial Emporium of the country :—
CO M M ISSIO NS, E X P E N S E S , C O M P E N SA T IO N , A N D
N O IS )

P O S T -O F F IC E , FROM

Postmasters.
J. S. 0. Hogan, 1886..........
Sidney Abell, 1837........
it
1838........
U
1839........
“
1840........
it
1841.........
W m .
Stewart, 1842........
it
1843........
“
1844.........
ti
1845........
H. L. Stewart, 1846........
“
1847.........
««
1848.........
((
1849.........
R. L. Wilson, 1850.........
G. W. Dole,
1861.........
(C
1852.........
“
1863.........
Isaac Cook,
1854.........
It
1865.........
ii

1836

Commissions.
2,835
4,456
4,778
5,081
4,571

76
09
09
87
32

7,963 84
7,228 61
7,897 93

13,704 00

50,364 38

1856.........

April 1 to June 30, 1853...............
July 1 to September 3 0 ...............
October 1 to December 3 1 ...........
January 1 to March 31, 1864 . . . .
April 1 to June 30.........................




1,

THE

C H IC A G O

Expenses. Compensation.
$300 00
$1,848 29
1,041 08
1,804 68
1,846 70
2,649 39
2,820 04
1,958 05
2,000 00
2,943 11
2,604 93
1,966 39
3,368 38
1,924 80
4,274 84
1,989 01
1,969 40
6,259 11
5,329 60
2,000 00
5,234 89
1,994 12
6,175 14
1,722 79
7,674 61
2,000 00
10,535 93
1,952 72
11,863 47
2,000 00
8,766 12
2,000 00
9,900 50
2,000 00
2,000 00
13,179 29
21,646 00
2,000 00
32,204 38
2,000 00
41,130 56

CO M M ISSIO NS, E X P E N S E S , C O M P E N SA T IO N ,
O F F IC E , F RO M A P R I L

SU R PL U S, A T

(I L L I ­

TO 1 8 5 6 , IN C L U S IV E .

AND
1853,

SU R PL U S,
TO JU N E

2,000 00
AT

THE

Surplus.

$138 76

643 24
6 74
766
2,937
1,993
2,394
6,711

74
88
85
46
21

16,159 64
22,673 85

C H IC A G O

P O ST -

30, 1856.

Commissions.
$5,695 70
6,192 52
7,029 86
8,373 03
8,761 31

Expenses. C’mp’nsat'n. Surplus.
$1,441 95
$3,753 85
$500
1,412 44
500
4,280 08
1,239 28
5,290 58
600
1,541 60
6,331 43
600
2,517 89
6,713 43
500

30,351 73

21,645 52

2,500

6,711 21

48 9

Postal Department.

Expenses. C’mpens’t’n. Surplus.
3,800 93
500
6,097 78
4,463 62
600
6,663 63
2,392 24
600
11,333 18
5,503 11
600
8,109 89

July 1 to September 3 0 , 1 8 5 4 ....
October 1 to December 3 1 ...........
January 1 to March 81,1865.........
April 1 to June 30 . . . . . . . . . . . .

Commissions.
10,398 71
11,627 25
14,225 42
14,1 13 00
50,364 38

32,204 48

July 1 to September 30,1855__ _
October 1 to December 3 1 ...........
January 1 to March 8 1 ,1 6 5 0 ......
April 1 to June 30.........................

14,554
15,867
17,482
17,899

9,331
10,014
10,646
11,137

65,804 41
SU R PL U S OP COMM ISSIONS A T T H E F O L L O W IN G
R E C E IP T S F O R T H E Y E A R E N D IN G

Post-Office.

New York...........
Chicago...............
Boston.................
Philadelphia . . . .
Washington........
Buffalo.................
D etroit................
St. Louis...............
Cincinnati
Baltimore...........

State.

2,000

50
43
82
81

500
500
500
500

41,130 56

2,000

73
69
86
13

O FF IC E S ;
30

tH

16,159 54
4,723
5,353
6,336
6,261

23
26
04
32

22,673 85

A L SO AM OUNT OF B O X

JU N E,

1856.

Surplus of com'sions. Box receipts.
$26,572 00
$83,512 43
22,673 85
6,717 82
9,674 33
20,673 20
5,863 15
6,352 14
1,979 75
2,135 52
3,438 46
2,803 73
1,200 00
1,720 64
6,000 00
1,700 14
3,364 25
251 80
83 49
3,531 67

REDUCTION OF OCEAN POSTAGE,

The Union states, on the authority of the Post-office Department at Washing­
ton, that the single rate of letter postage between the United States and Borneo,
Labuan, Sumatra, the Moluccas, and the Philippine Islands, when specially ad­
dressed to be forwarded via India, will in future be 33 cents 'when sent via South­
ampton, and 53 cents the quarter-ounce, or 63 ceuts the half-ounce, when sent by
closed mail via Marseilles—prepayment required. The postage on newspapers
for Borneo, Labuan, Sumatra, the Moluccas, and the Philippine Islands, ad­
dressed to be forwarded via India, will in future be 6 instead of 4 cents each—
prepayment required.
POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

According to Allen’s Indian Mail, by the new postal convention between Eng­
land and France, the provisions of which came into operation on the 1st of Jan­
uary, 1857, a reduction has been effected in the amount of the transit rate paid
to France for the conveyance of that portion of the India mail which is forwarded
via Marseilles. In consequence of this arrangement, a reduced charge will in fu­
ture be levied upon all letters exchanged between the United Kingdom and India
via Marseilles, making the total rate for a letter as under :—
If not exceeding one-quarter ou n ce .....................................................................
I f exceeding one-quarter ounce and not exceeding one-half ounce.................
If exceeding one-half ounce and not exceeding three-quarters ounce............
If exceeding three-quarters ounce and not exceeding one ounce.....................
If exceeding one ounce and not exceeding one-and-a-quarter ounces...............
If exceeding one and-a-quarter ounces and not exceeding one-and-a-half ounces

Os. 9d.

1 0
1

9

2

0

3

3

3 6
The charges upon letters conveyed directly between France and India via Egypt
are also reduced under the convention, and it has been agreed that upon all such




Postal Department.

400

letters the entire British sea postage shall be collected in France on behalf of the
English Post-office. Under this arrangement the Bed Sea rate of Is. the half­
ounce, to which such letters have hitherto been subjected in India, will no longer
be chargeable, and no charge for sea conveyance will hereafter be levied by the
Indian Post-office either on the dispatch of letters and printed papers to France,
or on the delivery of letters and printed papers from France.
RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT IN 1856.
A

S T A T E M E N T OF T H E AM OUNT OF L E T T E R P O S T A G E , N E W S P A P E R P O S T A G E , R E G IS­
TERED
DENTAL

L E T T E R S , STAM PS

SOLD,

CO M P EN SAT IO N

E X P E N S E S OF P O ST -O F F IC E S, A N D

O TH E R S F O R T H E
FOR T n E Y E A R

T R A N S P O R T A T IO N

E N D IN G

JUN E 3 0 t H ,

ALLOW ED

P O ST M ASTE RS, INCI­

AM OU NT C R E D IT E D CO N TRA CTOR S AN D

OF T H E M A IL S , B Y STATES A N D T E R R IT O R IE S,

185G,

D E R IV E D

F RO M T H E R E P O R T OP THE

P O S T M A S T E R -G E N E R A L .
R E C E IP T S

Letter
postage.

Maine...............
N. Hampshire.
V erm ont.........
Massachusetts.
Rhode Island..
Connecticut...
New York . . .
New Jersey . .
Pennsylvania .
Delaware . . . .
Maryland . . . .
D. Columbia..
Virginia.........
N. Carolina.. . .
S. Carolina . . .
G eorgia..........
Florida.............
Alabama..........
Mississippi.. . .
Texas...............
Kentucky . . . .
Michgan.........
W isc onpin . . . .
Louisiana........
Tennessee........
Missouri...........
Illinois.............
Ohio..................
Indiana...........
Arkansas.........
Iowa.................
California.........
Oregon Territ.
Minnesota........
New M exico...
Utah................
Nebraska........
Washington....
Kansas.............

$37,866 74
22,771 41
20,676 64
142,673 77
9,182 88
33,537 92
490,600 70
34.794 03
169,027 39
4,169 71
47,418 90
9,876 74
36,250 00
8,116 63
16,146 53
15,889 15
2,793 61
14,036 24
9,277 89
11,812 56
18,791 62
43,282 10
46,512 01
30,487 91
10,262 07
35,656 69
83,768 64
108,715 49
38,865 96
3,920 19
28,529 42
87,277 95
4,825 22
7,038 43
346 10
1,064 67
367 99
998 16
651 86

FROM

ALL

Newspaper
postage.

$15,165 18
10,902 97
11,944 04
32,873 03
4,500 68
26,917 13
100,155 98
11,454 65
63,268 53
2,215 32
21,404 10
3,168 42
27,676 95
11,436 93
7,944 01
16,446 21
2,277 40
13,276 58
11,377 29
9,745 15
15,793 44
16,161 25
17,650 45
12,722 16
13,571 95
13,814 88
33,503 51
46,583 60
24,316 60
5,895 94
12,157 77
12,010 07
1,357 85
2,241 65
145 59
330 50
269 50
284 12
466 17

SO U RCES.

Registered
letters.

$779 60
376 85
379 40
1,504 35
161 46
423 30
3,042 90
271 70
3,474 55
89 60
860 90
331 20
1,278 60
602 50
1,030 75
1,409 30
185 35
1,077 70
598 55
330 35
683 80
1,361 80
772 40
711 90
1,157 90
553 00
2,006 25
3,078 95
1,304 30
172 10
933 20
290 15
20 45
198 65
6 55
30
4 45
4 40
13 70

Stamps
sold.

Total
receipts.

$98,895 75
65,948 76
63,639 26
380,907 91
48,699 45
130,046 17
842,300 70
61,217 25
355,449 50
13,173 11
117,420 09
30,354 18
152,884 62
51,730 50
66,681 76
106,325 29
14,801 66
80,835 67
53,190 01
46,116 57
86,039 67
95,387 66
84,841 39
119,657 11
76,492 81
91,740 16
214,341 65
293,328 70
106,923 29
18,344 16
75,794 32
165,440 38
5,229 70
13,858 90
649 08
679 69
870 57
1,325 75
3,775 71

$152,710 27
99,999 49
96,639 34
557,659 06
62,543 96
190,924 52
1,436,100 28
107,737 63
691,219 97
19,647 64
187,103 99
43,730 54
218,090 07
71,886 56
91,803 05
140,069 95
20,058 01
109,225 39
74,448 74
68,004 63
121,308 43
156,182 71
149,676 25
163,579 08
101,484 73
141,764 73
333,620 05
451,706 74
171,410 15
27,832 39
117,414 71
265,018 65
11,433 22
23,337 03
1,147 32
2,075 16
1,512 51
2,612 43
4,907 44

Grand total. $1,688,281 22 $632,826 25 $31,472 65 $4,236,041 60 $6,587,621 72




Postal Department.

491

EXPENDITURES FOE A LL PURPOSES.

Total comCompensation al­ Incidental exp. pensation & inTransportation. lowed postm’st’rs. of post-offices, cidental exp’nses. Tot. expenses.

Maine.........
N. Hampsh.
Vermont . .
Massach’ts..
R. Island...
Connecticut.
New York.
.N. Jersey..
Pennsylva’a
Delaware..
Maryland..
D. Columbia
Virginia.. .
N. Carolina..
S. Carolina.
Georgia . . .
Florida.. . .
Alabam a...
Mississippi.
Texas.........
Kentucky...

Michigan...
Wisconsin..
Louisiana...
Tennessee..
Missouri....
Illinois.. . .
Ohio...........
Indiana.. . .
Arkansas. .
I o w a .........
California...
Oregon___
Minnesota..
N. Mexico..
Utah..........
INebraska...
Washingt’n.
Kansas.......

$85,486
47,530
65,195
152,214
14,014
87,826
462,027
79,764
269,204
10,319
198,124

74
77
70
92
75
07
00
18
86
00
17

301,445 23
167,426 42
233,477 80
254,684 29
95,448 48
270,818 22
209,746 25
216,633 67
163,310 25
148,904 20
97,507 95
312,725 26
145,953 74
221,503 08
378,188 74
440,404 95
207,175 81
216,836 67
89,469 83
143,242 64
31,136 82
31,830 17
32,812 65
14,748 00
6,966 50
9,767 90

$69,307 27
48,141 55
61,545 77
147,602 72
15,574 34
71,168 88
310,088 74
47,239 46
172,608 38
7,758 10
81,029 48
3,810 66
85,746 67
35,773 63
24,816 35
51,710 75
10,360 76
39,012 46
34,296 13
32,260 66
45,388 63
67,224 82
64,650 05
21,596 47
38,985 16
42,819 43
126,892 00
167,473 61
83,550 40
15,439 34
51,729 54
55,085 37
5,718 42
10,667 20
574 02
1,058 37
924 54
1,249 94
2,619 45

T o ta l... $5,913,873 72 $2,093,306 32

$15,951 15
4,270 98
1,189 73
86,270 99
9,954 69
16,186 57
265,200 75
5,331 90
81,982 66
1,400 00
34,317 32
34,350 45
26,800 67
2,867 93
12,142 60
20,010 59
56 33
15,036 89
4,665 63
2,639 19
15,723 64
16,808 08
8,210 54
37,089 60
' 13,163 92
23,049 97
48,256 50
61,116 18
13,240 14
1,900 62
12,114 14
70,385 85
40 70
142 92
63 00
16 15
12 19
29 30
62 18

$85,258
52,412
52,685
233,773
25,529
87,355
575,289
52,671
254,591
9,158
65,346
38,161
112,547
38,641
36,958
71,721
10,417
54,049
38,961
34,899
61,112
83,932
72,860
58,686
52,149
65,869
175,148
230,589
96,796
17,339
63,843
125,471
5,759
10,S10
637
1,074
936
1,279
2,681

42
53
50
71
03
45
49
36
04
10
70
11
34
56
95
34
09
35
76
85
27
90
59
07
08
90
50
79
54
96
68
22
12
12
02
52
73
24
63

$170,745
99,943
117,831
385,988
89,543
175,181
1,037,316
132,335
528,795
19,477
263,470
38,161
413,992
206,067
270,436
326,405
105,865
324,867
248,708
251,533
224,422
232,837
170,368
371,411
198,102
287,372
553,337
670,994
303,972
234,176
153,313
268,713
36,895
42,640
83,449
15,822
7,903
1,279
12,449

16
30
20
63
78
52
49
54
90
10
87
11
57
98
75
63
57
57
01
52
52
10
54
33
82
98
28
74
35
63
51
86
34
29
67
52
23
24
53

$963,952 54 $3,057,258 56 $8,971,132 28

Add to the above the receipts for Prussian postage, $58,138 72, and British
postage, $9,085 78, and deduct miscellaneous entries, $738 76, and we have a total
letter postage received during the year of $1,754,766 96.
DEFECTIVE STAMPING OF LETTERS.

In the Queen’s Bench, December 17, 1856, Lord Campbell said he thought it
right to state publicly that he had received a very satisfactory answer from his
Grace the Duke of Argyll, the Postmaster-General, with respect to the important
subject on which he had addressed him, namely, the imperfect and slovenly man­
ner in which letters were stamped in the English post-oflices, from which great in­
convenience arose to individuals, and the due administration of justice met with
serious obstruction. His grace admitted that the present system was defective,
and pointed out the difficulty in amending it, in consequence of the great number
of letters which had to be stamped in a very short time. His grace, however,
promised to me his best exertions to remedy the evil, and he (Lord Campbell) had




492

Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

no doubt, from the noble duke’s energy and intelligence, that so complete a reme­
dy would be applied tITat there would be no reason in future to make any com­
plaints on the subject.
The evil complained of by Lord Campbell in regard to defective stamping of
letters is not confined to Great Britain. We seldom receive a letter that is not
defective; either the name of the place, or the date, or both, are illegible. We
commend the subject to the attention of our efficient Assistant Postmaster, Mr.
Horatio King, of Washington. W e are aware of the difficulties in our large
offices, but we have no doubt some improvement could be made, that would lessen,
if not entirely eradicate, the evil.

STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c.
CONSUMPTION OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS IN NEW YORK,

The table we give below shows how important a branch of business in a single
city is that of the agricultural industry in the United States, connected with the
production of domestic animals, one of the most important in the support of man.
The annexed list exhibits the number of beeves, cows, sheep and lambs, calves
and hogs, consumed in the city of New York and its environs, for each month
in the year ending April 30,1856, with the aggregate amounts for the entire
year:—
Beeves.

May, 1855....................
June........................
July.........................
August....................
September..............
October..............
November................
December................
January, 1856 ........... .................
February ................
March......................
April.......................
Total....................

15,313

Cows.
1,450
820
724
1,517
1,532
1,065
813
613
698
929
1,132
821

Sheep.
21,821
42,012
49,971
81,855
67,555
81,882
62,624
45,657
40,578
22.746
17,402
9,342

Veals.
10,462
5,540
3,564
4,083
3,195
2,709
2,240
1,644
1,906
1,540
2,151
2,820

Hogs.
23,347
12,826
16,889
8,349
20,679
17,036
36,715
44,088
49,165
26,745
13,187
12,025

12,014

543,445

41,844

281,051

GRAPE CULTURE IN GEORGIA,

The Louisville Commercial Review publishes the following extract from a letter,
written by a reliable gentleman of Georgia. It confirms the accounts heretofore
given in the Merchants’ Magazine of the productiveness of the Catawba grape
in that section of the country—so near to its native locality :—
“ I have visited vineyards in our State three and four years old, planted by Mr.
Axt. The vines are trained on slats and stakes six-and-a-half feet high. I found
on some of the vines three years old over one hundred bunches, and the vineyard
would average forty bunches of well-matured grapes to the vine. Those of four
years old are trained in the same way, with from three to five canes each ; and I
counted on some of the vinos three hundred bunches of good grapes, well ripened.
I pressed some of them, and found that sixty-four bunches, average size, made a
gallon.




Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

493

“ It appears to me that the vines have borne too much for their own good, and
you will oblige me if you will let me know whether this will be, in your opinion,
a temporary or a permanent injury to the vines.
“ The vineyards that Mr. Axt plants he insures to make 1,000 gallons to the
acre the third year.
“ Our land here is free from lime; the soil is shallow— of a gray and red color,
with a rod, porous clay sub-soil. Will it be necessary to add lime to the soil in
our vineyards? I wish very much to procure a vine-dresser from Cincinnati.
Please send me one.”
The Catawba grape-vine was first found, growing wild, in Buncombe County,
North Carolina. It has since been discovered in Arkansas, in the same parallel
of latitude, 35° 36'. From recent accounts, it is more productive in vineyard
culture in Georgia than any other part of the United States; but whether it will
be subject to the “ rot ” (our great enemy here) after the fifth year, or whether
the vines can bear a succession of such enormous crops, as reported, without per­
manent injury to them, has yet to be tested.
Mr. Axt promises 2,000 to 2,500 gallons to the acre for the fourth and suc­
cessive years, and he only plants 1,600 vines to the acre. Our average planting
in the Ohio Talley is 2,400, and our average yield on the best vineyards will not
exceed 300 gallons per acre, for a series of years. It would be well for some of
our vine growers to visit that favored region and judgfe for themselves of the
prospects of producing such immense crops from so few vines, and whether the
mode of culture there is superior to that pursued in the Ohio Talley.—R. Bu­
chanan, in Cincinnati Gazette.
THE WISE VINTAGE OF 1856.

The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin translates from the German Wein Zeitung,
(or Wine Gazette,) the following extracts from the best reports we have seen on
the subject:—
The vintage of 1856 is, without doubt, highly satisfactory— at least so far as
quality is concerned. Only on the Lower Moselle, at the very extreme end of the
wine realm, are there complaints of a short crop. They also declare, in one part
of Rhenish Bavaria, that the wine of 1856 does not equal that of 1855. On the
Rhine and in Franconia the utmost content prevails, and the wine of 1856 is
fully ranked with that of its predecessor. In Wurtemburg, Baden, and Alsatia,
the wine of 1856 is preferred to that of 1855.
Tbe extreme southern point of the wine countries— below the 33d degree of
latitude; that is to say, the Canary Islands, Portugal, a great part of Spain,
Sicily, Greece, and Asia Minor—are still subject to the grape disease. In the
south of France, middle Italy, and northern Spain, the vintage has been limited,
but of very good quality.
In Hungary, which produces more wine than any country in the world, next to
France, the utmost wishes have been realized. But north of 36 degrees latitude
we find an especially favored realm—embracing middle France, Alsatia, Switzer­
land, and the Lake of Constance—especially blessed, both as regards quality
and quantity, with the exception of some damage caused by hail storms.
In France, the most important province of the kingdom of Bacchus, it is sup­
posed that there will be oue-third of what was once an average crop. Spain,
Portugal, and Italy have fallen far behind this. Austria and Hungary together
have, on the whole, reached a full average. The Bohemian vintage falls far be­
hind hand in quantity. Styria yields much wane of good quality, and prices are
there quoted very low. In the Tokay Mountain district the wine has been lim­
ited in quantity, but of extraordinary excellence. The new wine in Hungary sells
from 31 to 9 florins.




494

Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.
PRICES OF BREAD AND MEAT IN CITIES,

The following table of the prices of wheat-bread, beef, veal, and mutton, in
twenty cities of the world, at the latest date, near November the 15th, 1856, is
derived from the report of a society in the city of New York for the improve­
ment of the condition of the poor. The quantity of each pound avoirdupois, and
the price in cents and hundredths of a cent. American weight and money :—
R om e....................
London.................
Paris....................
Glasgow...............
Liverpool ...........
D ublin.................
Antwerp...............
Brussels...............
Amsterdam........
Dantzic.................
O p o rto .................
Santander.............
N ice......................
M ilan...................
Constantinople. . .
Smyrna.................
New Y o r k ...........
Boston.................
Philadelphia . . . .
Cincinnati.............

Wheat-bread.
5.53
5.70
4.44
5.46
4.63
5.08
5.44
4.63
7.49
6.63
5.44
4.94
4.68
5.02
8.76
5.08
5.75
5.25
5.25
4.00

Beef.
7.23
11.74
11.33
13.62
12.90
12.68
12.90
12.76
14.38
10.04
8.68
6.89
11.06
10.30
8.17
6.55
13.25
14.00
11.50
10.00

Yeal.
7.67
16.68
14.04
13.62
16.90
15.57
13.62
12.76
17.24
13.62
12.98
8.00
11.92
10.30
8.17
10.00
14.50
14.00
12.60
9.50

Mutton.

9.31
15.57
13.62
12.62
12.90
12.68
15.40
12.76
14.33
9.10
9.70
8.00
11.92
7.15
8.17
10.00
15.00
15.00
13.50
10.00

THE CHINESE SUGAR CANE IN ILLINOIS.

It seems quite probable from accounts of experiments made in various parts of
the country, that the production of sugar and molasses from the cane is likely to
become an article of considerable importance to the planting interests of the
United States. Mr. J. M. K roii, of McCleary’s Bluff, Wabash County, Illinois,
communicates a statement, over his own signature, of his experience in raising
the sugar-cane, and its commercial value:—
On the 25th of May I planted about half an acre of ground, one year old. A
portion of the soil was low and wet in the spring—in fact, I covered the seed with
mud ; the other part was high and sandy; the consequence was, when the dry
season set in, the wet part baked very hard, and the high burnt up for want of
rain. I plowed it when about ten inches high, and that is all the working it got,
with the exception of a slight hoeing previous to plowing ; my object was to as­
certain the amount of saccharine matter contained in the stalks, and supposed
enough would grow to make the experiment. Many of the stalks grew from six­
teen to twenty feet high, (in the low ground it only grew twelve feet.)
Having made a mill in which to grind it, I commenced on the 24th of Septem­
ber. The cane then had received two or three frosts, which slightly injured the
taste of the water. I am convinced that the amount of stalks I used can be
grown on less than a quarter of an acre. The amount of water obtained from
the piece was 270 gallons, from which I made 45 gallons, which, in flavor and
beautiful bright red color, is far superior to any molasses obtained from the South.
I did not try to grain any of it, as it will not grain after being frosted ; but I am
convinced there will be no difficulty in graining it if tried previous to frost. If
it is planted by the middle of May, it will ripen by the end of August, and re­
main in good condition until frost, and if cut up and put it shed (in apprehension
of frost) it will keep well for a month or more.
I will give a statement of what may be made per acre, judging from the amount




Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

49 5

of water obtained from each stalk. One of my neighbors, Mr. A. Degan, ob­
tained from seven choice stalks one gallon of water; and in another trial made
by Mr. McCleary, Sr., and myself, we pressed from ten stalks one gallon and a
quart. The number of stalks in a hill should be from four to six. In my calcu­
lations I only estimate one quart of water to the hill, allowing sixteen hills per
square rod, which will make 2,560 hills to the acre; and this, at one quart per
hill, will make 640 gallons of water, which will make 110 gallons of molasses.
Valued at 75 cents per gallon, it would amount to $82 50 per acre, and I do not
hesitate in saying that the amounts may be doubled.
I would urge upon the farmers of the Western country to try it. You will
not only save but make money by the operation. I am well convinced that in
1860 the Southern planter will have no sale for his sugar in the State of Illinois.
From present indications there will be one hundred acres raised in Wabash
Country this year, which will save the county $10,000. The time to commence
working the cane is when the seeds have changed from green to a dark red hue,
although it will remain good until fairly matured.
Should any person wish to make the experiment, I have some seed to spare—
one quart will plant an acre.
_________________________

J. M. KKOH.

PRODUCTION OF SUGAR ON THE RIO GRANDE.

The experiment of sugar-making on the Bio Grande may now be stated as
fairly tested. We learn from a Southern exchange that Mr. John Young, an en­
terprising merchant of New Orleans, has a farm on the river, from which we are
told, he has already this year made twenty hogsheads of sugar, besides a quantity
of molasses, rum, <fcc., and it is said he will make as much more from the cane on
hand. Mr. Young has done this with the native laborers, which we believe far
cheaper than slave labor. A native field hand seldom receives more than six
dollars per month, which, with a ration of an “ ahnude,” or peck of corn per
week, comprises the whole expense of the employer, and we think will be found
much cheaper than slave labor, when the cost of purchase, food, clothing, and
doctors’ bills are estimated.
Here, then, is the country, of all others, for the agriculturist, whether rich or
poor. A soil that produces of the fruits of the Northern or tropical clime, land
of the finest quality at from twenty-five to fifty cents per acre, and a ready mar­
ket, at high prices, for all that is produced. With all these advantages, the
question should rather be, who will stay away, than who will come ?
PREMIUM RECIPES FOR CURING HAMS.

As the curing of hams is of no little importance to the provision trade in parts
of the United States, we publish the award at the annual fair of the Maryland
State Agricultural Society, to hams cured in the order indicated, as follows :__
1st. To 150 pounds of ham, take 1J pounds of saltpeter, 4 quarts of fine salt,
with molasses enough to make it a paste; rub well on the flesh side; let it lay
four weeks; make a pickle strong enough to bear an egg; let the hams lay in it
four weeks, then hang and smoke. Two days before removing from the smoke­
house, paint with black pepper and strong cider vinegar, after which bag them.
2d. Ham weighing 10J pounds, cured by Mrs. Samuel Can-:—Half-bushel of
salt, 2 pounds of saltpeter. 2 pounds of black pepper, 2 pounds of Cayenne pep­
per, 8 pounds of brown sugar. This mixture, rubbed on 50 hams, averaging 10
pounds, smoked gradually with hickory chips.
3d. To 100 pounds ham, to average 10 or 12 pounds, half-peck ground alum
salt, 1 pound sugar, H ounces saltpeter, 1 quart hickory ashes, 2 ounces salaratus,




Statistics o f Population, etc.

49 6

2 ounces red pepper ; mix them well together, rub the hams well, and stand them
on their hocks, and let them remain for five weeks, then hang them up, and smoke
them about one week. For 1,000 pouuds of hog meat, half-bushel of fine salt,
half a gallon of best molasses, 3 pounds of brown sugar. 2| pounds of saltpeter,
pounded very fine. Mix all the ingredients well together in a large tub, and rub
the meat then with it until you absorb the whole quantity. The meat must be
taken out of the cask once a week, and rubbed with the pickle it makes. The
two last times you take it out, add at each time a plate full of alum salt. It
ought to remain in pickle five or six weeks, or according to the size of the meat.
4th. For 100 pounds of ham, 8 pounds of salt, 2 ounces of saltpeter, 2 pounds
of sugar, 4 gallons of water; the ham remaining in pickle eight weeks.

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, & c.
IMMIGRATION INTO NEW YORK IN 1856,

The Journal of Commerce publishes a complete statement of the immigration
at the port of New York in 185G. It includes all the arrivals up to 31st De­
cember, so there can be no additions to materially affect the result. It will be
seen that the total influx of population from foreign countries is about 5,000 in
advance of the previous year, which is quite as large as had been anticipated,
but there is still a large falling off in comparison with several previous years.
The infusion of the German element continues to exceed that of any other nation­
ality. These facts are of great interest, inasmuch as the arrival of aliens at New
York are about three-fourths of the total for the whole country. In 1853, they
were 77 per cent of those returned at Washington, and in 1854, 75 per cent. The
books of the New York Commissioners of Immigration are so kept, that on the
1st of January, the immigration of the previous year can be immediately pub­
lished. The annual report of the Commissioners is in course of preparation, but
will not be presented to the Legislature before the latter part of January. The
following table shows the immigration at this port for the last four years, with
monthly comparisons:—
January.....................................
February .................................
March........................................
A pril..........................................
M ay............................................
J u n e ..........................................
J u ly ..........................................
August......................................
Septem ber...............................
October......................................
November.................................
December..................................

1853.

1854.

1855.

1856.

4,901
11,958
9,685
23,283
80.212
45,578
22,898
33,632
30,288
23,201
31,485
17,824

16,514
4,446
3,758
31,148
54,078
25,807
35,247
39 416
25,759
38,378
20,276
25,399

7,485
6,123
2,969
10,195
24,177
19.527
15,716
9,180
11,706
13,342
7,543
9,360

2,344
2,224
4,584
8,295
19,006
20,024
15,846
17,263
14,078
16,986
16,475
4,287

284,945

319,223

136,233

141,672

The great Irish emigration, which derived its impulse from the memorable fam­
ine in that country, reached its height in 1851— the number who landed in New
York amounting to 103,256. The German emigration, produced by cis-Atlantic
agitation and revolutionary movements, was greatest in 1854; the arrivals of this
class amounting in that year to 170,986. These statistics, compared with those




491

Statistics o f Population, etc,

of the past year, show that the probability of this country ever becoming either
Germanized, or Irelandized, is extremely remote. It must be a very contracted
national party which could found a platform on such probability. The propor­
tion of Irish and Germans arrived in New York for the three years past, ap­
pears from the following, in comparison with the total of all nations for the same
period:—

1856.

1854.
Germans...............
Irish.......................

176,986
82,302

62,892
43,043

65,846
43,996

Total immigration

319,213

136,283

141,672

The proportion of Irish and Germans arrived since the commencement of the
year, appears in the following table
January.
February
March . .
April. . . .
May
June
July

Irish. Germans. Total.

Irish. Germans.

684
220
1,040
3,237
6,616
6,015
5,068

648
444
1,205
2,220
6,303
6,045
5,005

2,224
4,584
8,296
19,006
20,024
15,846

A u gu st...
September.
O ctober...
November.
December.

5,090
4,286
5,591
5,201
1,338

7,789
6,247
7,515
7,344
2,242

17,263
14,078
16.986
16,745
4,287

43,996 55,846 141,672

According to the prognostications of the Liverpool Times, an increased emi­
gration may be expected next spring. That paper recently remarked, that “ last
year there was an unusually small amount of emigration, owing to the war, the
drafts for the army and navy, increased employment at home, and the check given
to emigration to the United States by the stringent American regulation, and the
political objections to Catholics and the Irish, and to naturalization, which had
before been freely granted. The employment of many large steamers, now dis­
engaged from the transport service, and.reduced fares, coupled with the prosper­
ous state of Canada and Australia, will lead to an increased emigration next
spring.”
The experience with emigrants at Castle Garden, resulting from the establish­
ment of an emigrant landing at that point, continues to be of the most satisfac­
tory character. For instance, the wrecked passengers of the ship New York,
found there, immediately on reaching the city, ample accommodations, where
every want was supplied. But the chief advantage arises from the prevention
of an enormous amount of extortion and fraud. The mortality on board of emi­
grant ships has almost wholly ceased.
CENSUS OF THE STATE OF IOWA IN 1856,

In the Merchants’ Magazine for February, 1857, (vol. xxxvi., pages 247-248,)
we gave a statement of the “ Population and Progress of Iowa,” according to
the last Annual Message of the Governor of the State. W e then gave a synopsis
of the census taken in June, 1856, which, as we then stated, was “ somewhat de­
fective, two counties and several townships in other counties, not having been
returned at all, whilst in almost all the counties there are very great omissions.”
Since then, we have received more full returns, by which it appears that the total
population at the time of the census was 509,414, instead of 503,625 as before
stated. From these returns we have compiled the following table of the number
of inhabitants in each county :—
VOL. X X X V I.---- N O . IV .




32

498

Counties.
Adair...................................
A da m s................
Allamakee..........................
Appanoose........................
Audubon............................
Benton................................
Black H a w k .....................
B oon e........................ . . . . .
B rem er...............................
B u tler.................................
Buchanan............................
Calhoun..............................
Carroll................................
Cass.....................................
C ed a r.................................
Cerro G ordo......................
Chickasaw..........................
C la rk e................................
C layton..............................
Clinton...............................
Crawford............................
D allas................................
D avis..................................
D ecatur..............................
Delaware................ „ . . . .
Des Moines ........................
Dubuque............................
F ayette..............................
F lo y d .................................
Franklin........ ......................
Fremont.............................
Greene................................
G rundy..............................
Guthrie...............................
Harrison............................
H ardin...............................
Henry..................................
H ow ard..............................
Iow a....................................
Jackson..............................
J a sp er................................
Jefferson............................
Johnson..............................
J on es..................................
Keokuk................................
Kossuth..............................
L e e .....................................
Linn....................................
L ou isa ................................
L u ca s.................................
Madison.............................
Mahaska..............................
Marion................................
Marshall............................
M ills...................................
Mitchell.............................
Monroe . . . . . ...................
Monona..............................
Montgomery.....................
Muscatine..........................




Statistics o f Population, etc.
No. of
dwellinghouses.
112
I ll
1,453
1,586
49
1,056
918
680
550
362
853
21
42
156
1,641
126
467
679
2,696
2,352
42
583
2,023
1,082
1,465
3,051
4,375
1,456
412
133
597
201
61
355
827
661
2,211
94
184
2,416
1,217
2,272
2,386
1,721
1,827
80
4,320
2,618
1,571
778
925
2,191
2,511
168
525
349
1,205
79
146
2,119

No. of
families.
117
184
1,513
1,619
60
1,133
1,036
670
607
372'
962
24
48
148
1,626
146
470
114
2,884
2,458
47
683
2,047
1,101
1,519
3,368
4,637
1,493
437
149
617
200
64
385
836
693
2,183
94
850
2,525
1,394
2,329
2,447
1,761
1,889
88
4,627
4,612
1,617
810
967
2,297
2,582
821
637
367
1,210
18
155
2,124

No. of
No. of
males.
females.
364
299
685
435
4,110
8,599
4,750
4,346
150
133
3,352
2,895
8,042
2,496
1,881
1,637
1,760
1,428
1,189
962
2,198
2,827
77
42
139
112
448
367
5,075
4,406
255
377
1,466
1,186
2,124
1,854
8,227
6,960
1,474
5,967
131
104
1,842
2,149
6,984
6,644
3,332
2,937
4,336
3,763
11,069
9,129
14,323
11,548
4,601
3,856
1,343
1,101
436
344
1,790
1,578
560
529
208
227
988
1,161
846
1,064
2,214
1,819
8,212
7,188
252
192
2,662
2,211
7,462
6,616
4,461
3,429
6,195
6,510
7,884
6,573
5,288
4,547
6,566
5,080
160
237
14,715
12,558
6,791
7,911
5,206
4,362
2,330
2,078
2,928
2,580
6,892
6,158
7,425
6,735
2,049
2,411
1,696
1,406
1,119
782
3,573
8,281
280
179
402
470
6,707
5,862

Total
Colored males &
persons. females.
..
663
,,
1,019
3
1,109
10
9,015
..
283
..
6,247
9
6,538
1
3,518
,.
3,228
,,
2,141
..
6,125
,.
119
251
815
9,481
632
,.
2,651
2
3,918
15,181
6
#. 13,441
,,
335
..
3,991
4
11,528
4
6,229
..
8,099
16
20,198
25,871
36
8,357
44
.,
2,444
.,
180
10
3,368
..
1,089
,,
435
## 2,149
1,900
. . 4,033
8
15,395
..
444
. , 4,813
, , 14,077
1
7,490
13,305
18
14,457
9,835
5
. . 10,646
#.
397
2
27,273
14,702
6
9,568
81
. . 4,408
5,508
13,050
3
14,160
2
. . 4,460
3,102
13
..
1,901
6,860
1
..
459
872
12,569

..

Statistics o f Population , etc.

Counties.
Page.........................
Polk..........................
Pottawattamie . . . .
Poweshiek...............
R inggold.................
Scott ........................
S h elby.....................
Sac............................ ........
S to ry ....................... .........
Tam a.......................
T a ylor..................... .........
Union..................... .........
Van Buren............. .........
Wapello-..................
W arren...................
Washington . . . . . . . .
W ayne................... ___
Webster.................. ........
Winneshiek...........
W oodbury.............
..
W right.................... .........

No. of
dwelling- No. of
houses. ftunilics.
355
1,539
665
676
279
1,475
90
42
41
502
520
672
347
852
145
146
2,761
2,838
2,415
731
621
....
86

2,004
753
631
1,474
....
91

No. of
males.
1,016
5,144
1,924
2,416
804
11,903
244
144
1,560
1,775
1,132
438
8,225
6,844
....
6,029
2,221
1,757
4,128
....
229

499
No. of
females.
949
4,273
1,574
2,044
668
9,618
212
107
1,308
1,745
947
368
7,696
6,402
....
6,084
1,962
1,331
3,378
....
198

Total
Colored males &
persons. females.
1,964
9,417
3,498
4,460
1,472
12
21,521
456
251
2,868
3,620
1
2,079
806
15,921
13,246
6
..
....
6
11,118
4,183
1
3,088
..
7,506
..
....
427
••

89,224 274,012 235,402
Total................
Other items relative to the population are —

271

Number of married persons . . . . 170,979 1 Insane.............
Widowed persons .
Deaf and du m b.. .
371 1 Owners of land
103 | Paupers . . . .
B lin d.....................

509,414

120
261
67,111

432

The following is a synopsis of the progress of population by classes:—
— W H I T E S . --------

Tear.
1840 .................. ____
1850 ..................
1852 ..................____
1854 ..........................
1856 ..................

Males.
24,256
100,887
118,769
170,302

Females.
18,668
90.994
109,004
154,900
235,402

,Males.

------- F R E E

Total.
42,924
191,881
227,773
326,202
609,143

93
165

.. .
.. .

C O L O R E D .------- x

Females. Total.
172
79
168
333

258

...

...

222

480
274

. . .

In 1852 the number of voters was 43,019 ; in 1854, 59,284; and in 1856,
101,607—consisting of 86,815 native voters, and 14,492 naturalized voters.
Number of aliens in 1852, 7,211; in 1854,10,378 ; and in 1856,15,104. Num­
ber of militia in 1854, 50,284; and in 1856, 92,376. In 1840 there were 16
slaves reported, but in no other year.
PROGRESS OF POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES,

A t a low estimate, the present territory of the United States is able to sustain
300.000. 000 of inhabitants, and it would not be extravagant to rate its ability as
high as 500,000,000.
With the density of Bussia, we should have 80,000,000. With the density of
New England, we should have 123,01)0,000. With the density of the Middle
States, we should have 170,000,000. With the density of Prance, we should have
500.000. 000. With the density of Britain, we should have 660,000,000. With
the density of Belgium, we should have 1,150,000,000.
With a rate of increase decidedly inferior to that of the ten years ending in
1850, we should number, in 1900,110,000,000 ; and with the lowest rate of increase
that is at all probable, we shall count not less than 75,000,000.




500

Statistics o f Population, etc.

I f we take the last mentioned number as the basis of new calculations, and
allow an average increase of only 10 per cent in each ten years—in place of 34 per
cent, the present rate—then, in one hundred years from 1900, the population of
this country will have reached nearly 200,000,000. This cannot be considered an
extravagant calculation. Is it not likely to be surpassed? Facts, adduced in pre­
ceding pages demonstrate the probability of a high rate of increase, notwithstand­
ing a very considerable density of population. And it is to be remembered that,
in addition to the vast amount of fertile soil that remains to be improved, the
endless resources of our mines and forests, and our unexampled facilities for com­
merce, the institutions of the country, political, social, and religious— favor the
creation of wealth and the increase of our numbers. Land is easily obtained or
exchanged; population, capital, and products flow readily from one part of the
country to another; freedom begets energy; law gives security; education adds
her light; and religion has free course in her glorious work. The gates of emi­
gration stand wide open ; and multitudes will continue to enter them, so long as
they can obtain freer and happier lands here than they can find in Europe.
It is altogether probable that, if the country succeeds in maintaining the puri­
ty of its political institutions, in one hundred years its population will number
more than 250,000,000; and the child is born who shall read the reports of the
census which shall sum up that aggregate, while grandchildren of those now en­
tering upon the duties of citizens, shall then be in the maturity of their powers,
and occupying the most responsible stations in the gift of a nation nearly ten
times as numerous as our own is now.
POPULATION OF NICARAGUA, AND OF CENTRAL AMERICA.

Nicaragua is about 250 miles in length by about 150 in breadth in the widest
part, and this includes both lakes, but not any portion of the Mosquito Territory.
The level of Lake Nicaragua above the Pacific Ocean is 128 feet, and that of
Lake Managua above the Pacific is 156 feet. The population is estimated at
268,000, and thus divided:—
Negroes.
19,000

Whites.

30,000

Indians.
84,000

Mixed.
136,000

The principal places are thus populated:—
Manaya...........................
M anagua..........................

Granada..........................
Oninendego.....................
V ia le g o...........................

80,000
16,000
13,000
12,000
1,500
1,400

New Puebla.. . .
Taleca.................
Chichigalpa . . . .
Posaltiga...........
A coysp a.............

3,300
1,200
3,000
1,100
1,100

In this connection, and as possessing interest, we subjoin the population of
Central America, which is divided into five States, as follows:—
Miles.

Guatemala................
San Salvador ........
Honduras.................

43,370
9,700
39,500

Population.

865,000 Nicaragua................
396,000 Costa Rica................
357,000

Miles.

50,000
13,000

Population.

260,000
126,000

It will thus be seen that the total square miles of the five States is over
155,000, and the total population is over 2,000,000. The climate and scenery
are said to be equal to those of any portion of the world.




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

501

M ILITIA OF THE UNITED STATES.

By the latest returns received at the War Department, which have been com­
municated to Congress, it appears that the number of men comprising the
militia of the several States, amounts to 2,716,094. These returns are by no
means correct, and we believe the number might be safely estimated at 3,500,000.
There are no returns from the State of Iowa, and the Territories of Oregon,
Washington, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico :—
Year.

No. men.

North Carolina.........
South Carolina.........
Georgia.....................

1856
1854
1856
1843
1856
1856
1856
1852
1855
1827
1838
1854
1845
1856
1850

73,552
33,538
155,031
23,885
15,894
51,565
337,235
81,984
164,678
9,229
56,864
126,531
79,448
36,072
78,699

Alabama...................
Louisiana...................

1851
1856

76,662
90,732

States.

Maine.........................
New Hampshire.. . .
Massachusetts...........
Vermont....................
Rhode Island............
Connecticut...............
New Y ork.................
New Jersey..............
Pennsylvania.............
Delaware...................
Maryland...................

States.

Mississippi.................
Tennessee..................
Kentucky...................
Ohio...........................
Michigan...................
Indiana......................
Illinois.......................
Wisconsin..................
Missouri.....................
Arkansas...................
Texas.........................
Minnesota Territory.
Utah Territory........
District of Columbia.
T o t a l...................

Year.

No. men.

1838
1840
1852
1845
1854
1832
1855
1855
1854
1854
1847
1856
1851
1853
1852

36,084
71,252
88,858
176,455
92,063
53,913
257,420
51,321
118,036
36,064
19,766
209,125
2,003
2,821
8,201
2,716,094

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
THE PROGRESS OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

The most ample resources are unavailable, and practically non-existent, unless
they can be reached. Nature has done much for us here, and Art is supplying
her wants.
1. The natural facilities afforded by coasts, of lake and ocean, and our num­
berless rivers, are remarkable. The great central valley is bound in one, by the
Mississippi and its tributaries, which constitute an “ inland sea,” into which wide
prairie regions are thrust as headlands. The eastern slope of the Alleghanies is
furrowed with navigable rivers, communicating with the Atlantic, and uniting
the interior with the seaboard. Along the northern boundary is that great chain
of lakes—the Mediterranean of North America—navigable for the largest ships,
and thronging with vessels burdened with the products of prairies, forests, and
mines.
2. The artificial facilities are already considerable. Several lines of communi­
cation cross the northern tier of States, from the lakes to the Mississippi, and to
the sea. The Alleghanies are turned at both ends, and pierced in the middle.
“ With the exception of a few miles in Virginia, there are connected lines of rail­
way from Waterville, Maine, to Montgomery, Alabama; and roads are projected,
or in course of construction, that will probably, ere long, continue the connection
from Calais to New Orleans. Lines of completed railroad now connect, more or
less directly, the four great cities of the Atlantic seaboard—Boston, New York,




50 2

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Philadelphia, and Baltimore—as well as the national capital—with the cities and
towns of the upper portion of the Mississippi and of the lakes. Charleston and
Savannah are nearly connected with the Mississippi at Memphis, while they have
extended another of those iron arms to Nashville, eagerly stretching to seize the
trade of the Ohio; and roads are projected and partly completed that will unite
the Gulf of Mexico with the lakes.” The period is probably not very distant,
when the Atlantic, and Pacific will be joined by these iron bands. The govern­
ment engineers have already published the first volume of their report. An over­
land mail to California has been established by a recent act of Congress.
“ More than 21,000 miles of railroad are now in operation, and some 11,000
are in process of construction.” W e probably have built a greater length of
railroad than all other nations together, and at a cost of nearly §500,000,000.
All Germany has but 5,340 miles, and France only 2,480.
Canals join the lakes with the Ohio and the Atlantic, and bring the great coal
regions into cheap communication with the seaboard. The length of those in use
is 4,798 miles.
The first line of telegraph in this country was erected between Washington and
Baltimore in 1844. A t the beginning of 1854, the number of miles in use was
41,392, erected at a cost of §6,571,800, or §160 a mile. They already connect
all the important centers of trade, and every year witnesses an extension of the
lines.
TRADE, TOLLS, AND TONNAGE OF THE NEW YORK CANALS.

The canals, it is well known, are owned by the State. The Auditor of the
Canal Department is required by statute to submit annually to the Legislature a
report of the tolls, trade, and tonnage of the canals. The Hon. N. S. Benton,
the present Auditor, has, in addition to the usual detailed tabular statements,
presented this year (February 10,1857,) to the Legislature a summary for the
year 1856, carefully compiled from official documents in his possession, in order
to exhibit, as far as was found practicable, a comprehensive view of the trade and
tonnage of the lines of communication between the great lakes and the Hudson
River and New York city. We give below the substance of the Auditor’s re­
port as referred to above:—
The whole amount of tolls received i s ......................................................

$2,748,212

"Which am ou nt is co m p osed as follow s :—

Toll on boats and passengers................................................................. ................
“ products of the forest.................................................
$399,655
27,947
“ products of animals....................................................
“ vegetable food..............................................................
1,262,599
3,261
“ other agricultural products.......................................
“ manufactures..............................................................
129,4 62
“ merchandise..................................................................
585,891
"
other articles..........................................................
154,400

193,997

2,554,215
$2,748,212
T h e w h ole am ou nt o f tonnage transported on the canals durin g the last
season o f n avigation, ascending and d escending, w a s .............................
A n d is co m p osed as fo llo w s :—




4,116,082

Railroad, Canal, and Steamlat Statistics.
Products of the forest..........
Products o f animals...........
Vegetable fo o d ...................
Other agricultural products
Manufactures.......................
Merchandise.........................
Other articles.......................

502
1,478,674

33,826
1,153,894:
4,953
284,901
370,758
789,076
2,637,408
4,116,082

The value o f such tonnage is as follow s:—
Products of the forest...................................................................................
Products of animals...............................................................
$7,456,433
Vegetable f o o d .....................................................................
42,596,226
Other agricultural products................................................
977,794

$10,211,38*

61,030,453
10.30S,419
135,691,816
11,084,991

Manufactures
Merchandise .
Other articles

$218,327,062
The total amount of freight or number o f tons carried one mile during
the last season of navigation w a s ...........................................................

592,009,603

The total movement of the several classes composing such total
tonnage, is as follow s:—
Products of the forest.............................................................................
Products o f animals...............................................................
6,755,675
Vegetable food.............................................
250,425,916
Other agricultural products................................................
936,750

149,734,616

258,118,341
28,409,668
85,428,458
70,318,626

Manufactures
Merchandise .
Other articles

692,009,603
The whole amount o f tonnage received at tide water, by way of the
Erie Canal, from Western States and Canada, during the last season
of navigation, was............................................................................... tons
The whole amount of tonnage arriving at tide-water, the produce of
this State, during the same period, was................................................
The whole number of barrels of flour arriving at tide-water, through
the canals, during the last season of navigation, was .......................
The whole number o f bushels of wheat arriving during the same pe­
riod was 11,776,332, which, turned into flour, calculating 5 bushels
to the barrel, would m a k e.......................................................................

1,212,550
374,580
1,130,509
2,356,266
3,485,776

Total in barrels

The whole number of bushels of corn arriving at tide-water during the same
period was 9,587,143. The total number of new boats registered during the
last year is 364, with a total tonnage of 38,990—making an average tonnage of
107.4.
Comparing the season of 1855 with that of 1856, it shows a decrease in rev­
enue of $56,871, and an increase in tonnage of 93,465, divided among the differ­
ent articles as follows :—
Products of the forest....................................................decrease
Products of animals.....................................................................
Other agricultural products........................................................
Merchandise..................................................................................




$59,260
14,865
525
8,644
---------

$75,294

504

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Vegetable food...................................................... increase
Manufactures......................................................................
Other articles....................................................................

160,719
8,028
5,012
-----------

168,759

Increase............................................................................................................

$93,465

The increase in lockages at Alexander’s Lock is 350. In flour and wheat,
comprised in the returns of vegetable food, there has been an increase on tonnage
the past year of 112,537 tons, and an increase in tolls of $ 1 6 0 ,0 9 4 . In corn and
oats there has been an increase during the same period of 28,669 tons, and an
increase in tolls of $7,691. Under the head of “ products of the forest,” there
was an increase of tonnage upon shingles, boards, and scantling, as compared
with 1855, of 32,163 tons, and a decreased tonnage upon timber, staves, and
wood, of 97,705 tons, and an increase in pot and pearl ashes of 9,615 tons.
Under the head of “ other articles,” there was an increase in the tonnage of min­
eral coal, for the same period, of 77,568 tons, and an increase in sundries of
15,323 tons.
Lines of freight transit, it is well known, take all the carriage which passes
through the State, between New York and the Hudson River and the West, in­
cluding a considerable portion of Upper Canada. It may with justice be said
they are all of them competing lines of transport for what is termed “ through
freight,” and two of them are virtually competing lines for both through and way
freight.
The ascertained results presented by these tables are interesting, and worthy of
much reflection. They not only show the steady and progressive increased car­
riage and movement by railway, and the steady and progressive decreased car­
riage and movement by canal, but they also show the description of freight
wherein the carriage by railroad exceeds that of the canal.

1851.

1854.

1855.

1856.

Tons carried by railway. . . .
“
canal ........

991,039
4,247,853

1,293,858
4,165,862

1,512,121
4,022,617

1,719,327
4,116,082

Total....................................

5,238,892

5,459,715

5,534,738

5,835,409

This statement shows an increase of more than 700,000 tons in four years, by
rail, and a loss of 131,771 tons to the canal in the same time.

1851
T o ta l m ov em en t b y r a i l ____
“
c a n a l .. ..

156,327,872
700,389,933

1854.
2 11 ,976,114
6 68 ,859,044

1855.
250,27 9 ,8 3 4
619,170,651

1856.
329,191,724
592,009,603

866,717,805 880.635,158 869,450,485 921,201,327
Total
The total movement by railway in 1853 was not quite one-fifth of that by the
canals. In 1854 it was nearly one-third ; nearly one-half in 1855 ; and it was
quite three-fifths in 1856. A t this rate of progression on the part of the rail­
roads, and of loss by the canals, the total movement of freight on those two rail­
roads will be equal to that of the canals in about three years from this time, if
not sooner.
The aggregate of the total movement has increased on the railroads, from 1853
to 1856, 164,483,622, and the loss to the canal has been 108,380,330.
The annexed table shows why it is that with an increased tonnage in 1856
of 93,465 over 1855, the total movement should be 27,171,048 less. This in­
crease in the number of tons carried was on short distances; otherwise, an in­
crease in the receipts of tolls would have been the result.
But this statement also exhibits the amount of freight earnings on these rail­
roads, and tolls received on the canals, including the tolls on boats and passengers,
during the above period, together with these total movements. These compara­
tive statements show the rapid and successful progress of the former, and the im­
mobility of the latter:—




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

505

,-------- 1853.- - - - - - - - - *

,-------- 1851--------\

$54,701,350 $1,833,830
101,626,522 2.537,214
700,389,933 3,204,718

$81,168,080 $2,479,820
130,808/134 2,369,590
668,659,044 2,773,666

$856,717,805 $7,580,762

$880,635,158 $8,622,976

Tons carried one mile.

Freight and tolls.

N e w Y o r k Central R a i l r o a d ...
N e w Y o r k and E rie R a ilr o a d ..
C an als.................................................

Tons carried one mile.
N ew Y o r k C entral R a ilroa d ___
N e w Y o r k and E rie R a i l r o a d ..
C anals.................................................

,-------- 1855.-— ---- ,
Freight and tolls.

$99,605,836 $3,189,603
150,673,998 3,653,002
619,170,651 2,805,077
869,450,485

9,647,692

Freight and tolls.

,- - - - - - - - - I85fi.- - - - - - - - - >
Freight and tolls.

$145,733,678 $4,328,041
183,458,046 4.545,782
592,009,603 2,748,212
921,201,327 11,622,035

This statement also shows the total tonnage of freight on these roads for 1855
and 1856, separately from other tabular calculations, from which it appears the
increase on through freight in one year was 182,358 tons, and on way, 14,847
tons.
The comparative tabular statement herewith submitted is a condensed view of
the total tonnage and receipts of toll on all the canals, on the different descrip­
tions of property carried, for the period of six years :—
Year.

1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856

.............................................
.............................................
..............................................
.............................................
.............................................
.............................................

Tons carried.

Tolls received.

3,682,733
3,863,441
4,247,853
4,165,862
4,022,617
4,116,082

$3,073,992
2,866,385
2,955,697
2,547,438
2,610,420
2,554,215

Av. per ton.

85.86
74.19
69.51
61.15
64.89
62.05

The receipts of toll above given are upon the property carried exclusive of the
tolls on boats and passengers, and the averages must be affected by the rates of
toll charged and received, and the distance that property or freight is transported
on the canals. The average of 1851 on the tonnage of 1856 would give $3,542,178
of tolls. The Auditor is satisfied that the rates of toll, as arranged in 1851, may
be imposed on most of the property transported on the canals, without any injury
to trade, if the Legislature will interpose its constitutional authority to protect
the trade of the canals ; and he ventures the prediction now, that the cheapening
of transport by the canal will not enable the State to realize a revenue commen­
surate to the constitutional demands upon the canal tolls, without the specific
legislation referred to in the Auditor’s Report to the Commissioners of the Canal
Fund.
If we act upon the theory that the carriage of freight by railways may not be
cheapened to keep pace with the reductions of cost on the canals, so as to enable
the railroads to maintain the successful competition they now do, it may well be
feared that the future will give us no relief. The opinion is entertained, and has
been expressed by some who are friendly to the canals and who are eminently
qualified to discuss and judge questions of this sort, that unless steam can be
used as a propelling power on the canals, we cannot hope to have our anticipa­
tions of the enlargement and completion of the public works either fully realized,
or so far realized, as that the revenues of the canals will at any time meet the
present charges upon them.
The tolls on pot and pearl ashes, salted beef, butter, cheese, lard, tallow and
lard oil, flour, domestic spirits, lime, cattle, hogs, and sheep, have greatly fallen
off, and on some of these articles the tolls are merely nomimal.
In 1851 the tolls received on the products of animals were $105,688 ; and in
1856, $27,947. On flour, in 1851, $646,402, when the canal carried 416,175 tons;
aud in 1856, $146,633, on a carriage of 130,921 tons. In 1851 the tolls on
365,404 tons of property, classed as merchandise, were $877,438; and in 1856,
the tolls on 370,758 tons were only $585,891. This decrease in tolls of $291,547




60 6

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

is believed to be owing to the reduction in the rates in 1852 to meet, as was al­
leged, railroad competition.
The increased shipment by canal during the late season of navigation (over
the preceding year) of 5,036,700 bushels of wheat, and 976,071 bushels of corn,
yielded an increase in revenue, compared with 1855, of $249,564, and without
this addition, the tolls for the season would have been only $2,304,742.
RAILROADS IN THE M U TE D STATES.

W e compile and condense from Dinsmore’s American Railroad Guide, one of
the best publications of its class, the following summary of miles of railroads in
each State on the 1st of January, 1856 and 1857, with the increase over 1856.
Also a summary, by sections, and a table of the annual increase in miles of rail­
roads from 1828 to 1857, &c.:—
SUMMARY !Y STATES.
Mileage, Mileage,
1856.
1857.
Inc.
M a i n e ........................
N e w H am pshire . .
V e r m o n t .................
M assachusetts.........
R h od e Isla n d ..........
C o n n e c tic u t ............
N e w Y o r k ...............
N e w J e r s e y ............
P en n sy lv a n ia . . . . . .
D e l a w a r e .................
M a r y la n d .................
D is. o f C olu m bia. *
V ir g i n i a ....................
N orth Carolina . . . .
S outh C arolina . . .
G e o r g i a ....................

422.2 442.2
645.5 645.5
515.6 615.6
1,207.1 11,285.6
78.4
85.4
596.2 600.9
2,668.2 i1,700.9
448.3 472.3
2,037.8 S!,407.1
84.0 120.0
371.8 377.8
1,252.1 1,479.7
483.0 612.0
677.4 706.4
1.002.0 :1,062.0

Mileage, Mileage,
1856.
1857.
Inc.

20.0 Florida................................
36.0 36.0
A labam a............... 317.6 484.6 167.0
Mississippi............
254.8 410.0 155.2
78.5 Louisiana.............. 221.6 263.5 42.0
6.0
67.0
51.0
7.0 T exas.....................
4.7 Tennessee............... 365.8 608.6 142.8
32.7 Kentucky............... 197.9 306.7 108.8
24.0 O hio....................... 2,641.1 2,869.7 228.6
369.3 Indiana................... 1,438.2 1,806.8 368.6
36.0 Michigan................. 470.5 600.5 130.0
6.0 Illinois................... 2,135.3 2,524.6 389.3
Wisconsin.............. 276.4 629.9 353.5
88.0 253.0 165.0
227.6 Io w a .......................
45.4
129.0 Missouri . . . . . . . . . . 144.3 189.7
29.0 California...............
22.5
22.5
..
60.0
Mileage,
Mileage,
nuary 1, 1856. January 1, 1857.

Grand total

21,069.4

Sections.
Six New England States . .
Five Middle States .
Five Southern States
Six Southwestern States . .
Seven Northwestern States
C alifornia....................

24,476.4

SUMMARY BY SECTIONS.
Mileage, 1856.

Increase
last year.

3.407.0

Mileage, 1857.
3,575.2
6,078.1
3,896.1
2,030.3
8,874.2
2 2 .5

Increase.

24,476.4

3,407.0

Total, 30 S ta te s ..

1 1 0 .2

46 8.0
48 1.6
666.8
1,680.4

PROGRESS OF RAILROADS.
Years.
1828........................
1829........................
1830.........................
1831.........................
1832........................
1833.........................
1834.........................
1835.........................
1836.........................
1837.........................




Miles.
3
28
41
54
131
576
762
918
1,102
1 (412

Years.
1838.........
1839.........
1840.........
1841.........
1842.........
1843.........
1844.........
1845.........
1846.........
1847.........

Miles.
...........
...........
...........
...........
...........
...........
...........
...........
...........

1,920
2*167
3 (31 9

8,877
4,174
4*311
4*511
4*870
5 (3 3 6

Years.
1848.
1849.
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1865
1856
1857

* Included in Maryland and Virginia.

Miles*
5,682
6,350
7,355
9,090
11,631
18,379
16,038
18,764
21,069
24,476

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

507

RAILROADS IJV THE WORLD IN 1856.
EUROPE.

A U E R IC A .

England and Wales...........miles
Scotland.......................................
Ireland..........................................
Spain.............................................
France..........................................
Belgium .......................................
Holland.........................................
Denmark......................................
Norway and Sw eden.................
Russia and Poland......................
Prussia..........................................
Smaller German States.............
Austria and Hungary.................
Switzerland..................................
I ta ly .............................................

6,426
1,138
1,012
263
3,712
1,119
422
188
67
637
2,309
4,234
1,697
167
812

Canada......................

___
.............
................
..........
...........
...........
.............
.............
...........
C h ili...........................

24
23
24,500
397
10
49
52
22
86

T ota l............................... ..........

26,581

Africa— E g y p t.................... ___
Asia— British India............. ___
.......
24,203 E u rope................................. ___

132
311
39
24,203

Grand total........................................................................................................

51,266

T o ta l........................................

ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD.

The main line of this road extends the whole length of the State, from Cairo,
at the southern extremity of the State, to Dunleith, at the northwestern, directly
opposite Dubuque, Iowa, on the Missisippi River. The main line is 454 miles in
length. The Chicago Branch extends from Centralia, (which is 112 miles from
Cairo,) in a northeasterly direction to Chicago, a distance of 267 miles. We
give below an authoritative table of the gross recepts of Illinois Central Railroad,
for the last year (1856) contrasted with that of 1855, showing the extraodinary
increase of 60 per cent in one year ; furnishing pretty conclusive evidence of the
progress of the State, whose population has doubled in ten years, according to
the returns of the State Census of 1855.*

18K.
January.........
February___
M arch ...........
A p r il.............
M a y.................
June.................

$57,088
57,088
92,622
113,404
121,434
123,421

1856.
10
10
55
11
16
26

$135,141 60
122,253 49
141,909 47
188,198 43
200,996 70
200,446 90

1859.

1856.

J u l y ............. $130,630 82 $206,089 70
A u gust.........
153,877 51 253,669 01
S ep tem ber..
160,918 98 293,460 89
October.........
209,707 21 406,301 40
N ovem ber...
176,378 93 246,939 10
D ecem ber...
133,270 98 158,315 19

Total............................................................................. ,.$1,532,118 00 2,453,691 63

The earnings per mile operated in 1855 were $2,553 53, and for 1856, $3,913 38
per mile operated, which are fully equal to those upon the first division of the
Galena and Chicaga Union Railroad when first opened. The first division upon
that road, 42^ miles, was three years under construction, and was finished in
1850; the first twelve months’ earnings were $127,685 78, or $4,004 37 per mile.
The second year, ending 30th April, 1852, same division, with the additional
impetus derived from the extension, twenty or thirty miles further, earned
$177,928 91, or for 43-J miles, $4,186 66 per mile.
♦The population at four periods was as follows:—in 1840,476,183; in 1845,650,000; in 1850,
851,470; and in 1855,1,295,417.




Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

50 8

JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.
THE NATIONAL IN STITU TE AT WASHINGTON.

In the Merchants' Magazine for November, 1856, (vol. xxxv.,) we published
an article relating to the “ History and Character of the National Institute : an
Association for the Promotion of Science, founded at Washington in 1840.” The
objects of this institution are laudable; and we trust the appeal made to the
public will meet with a liberal response from the wealthy and influential friends
of science throughout the United States. In compliance with the request of
Lieut. M aury , of the United States Observatory, the Editor and Proprietor of
the Merchants' Magazine will cheerfully receive and forward to W . W . Corcoran
any contributions that may be offered
W a s h in g t o n ,

F bekman H unt,

February 25, 1857.

Esq., Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc :—

S ir :—The National Institute for the promotion of Science, finding the an­
nual subscriptions of its members resident in Washington upon which they have
heretofore relied for support, altogether inadequate for this purpose, and con­
templating some changes in the arrangement of their cabinet, by which the an­
nual expenditure will be considerably increased, have determined to solicit aid
from their fellow-citizens throughout the country.
In the resolutions and letters herewith transmitted, the reasons for this course
are briefly stated, and the Institute will rely much upon the exertions of its mem­
bers in placing its claims for support before the public. I am therefore instructed
to forward to you the inclosed papers, and to ask your co-operation in bringing
them to the notice of the patrons of science in your neighborhood, and in receiv­
ing and forwarding such contributions as may be offered.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
M. F. MAUKY.
W a s h in g t o n ,

February 25, 1857.

T o F reeman H unt, Editor of the Merchants' Magazine:—

The undersigned, a committee of the National Institute, appointed by resolu­
tions of that body, a copy of which is hereto annexed, beg leave, in performance
of the duty with which they have been intrusted, to request your attention to the
following brief history of this institution, and to solicit your aid and patronage
in its behalf.
The National Institute may be regarded as the continuation of a private asso­
ciation, which, under the designation of “ The Columbian Institute for the Pro­
motion of Art and Science,” had been founded at Washington in the year 1818.
In this initial condition, it had for more than twenty years taken part in the
scientific labors and discussions of the time; had collected a very considerable
cabinet, and taken preliminary measures for the establishment o f a select and
scientific library. Its members at this time consisted principally o f officers of
the army and navy, foreign ministers, consuls, and professional gentlemen em­
ployed in the different departments of the government. In the year 1840 it
amended its original constitution, and in 1842 was incorporated by an act of
Congress under its present name, and made the curator o f all the collections in
arts and science then belonging to the government in Washington, which had up




Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

609

to that time been kept in different places under the charge of the State, War, and
Navy departments.
On the incorporation of the Institute, those several collections were placed in
its keeping by the heads of the different departments, to whose charge they had
heretofore been committed, and it came immediately to be acknowledged by the
scientific men of the country as a national academy, to whose support the aid of
the government had been very openly implied, if not distinctly pledged. This
position attracted to it forthwith the sympathy and support of all other scientific
and national academies, who immediately became its correspondents, presented to
its library their publications, acts, and annals, and offered exchanges from their
collections in every branch of science. As an evidence of the prevalence and ex­
tent of this feeling in Europe at that time, by one who was familiar with it then,
and recollects it now, we submit the following extract from a letter of Mr. Alex­
ander Vattemare to Dr. Daniel Breed, the corresponding secretary of the Insti­
tute, dated at Paris, December 5, 1856 :—“ The moment the existence of the National Institute was proclaimed in Eu­
rope, it produced the greatest sensation, and all the most illustrious men in science
and politics addressed their congratulations to its patriotic founders. All con­
sidered it as a great intellectual link that would unite the scientific bodies of the
two hemispheres, and the best evidence of their feelings towards the National
Institute is to be found in the liberal donations which accompanied their con­
gratulations. Even the Institute of France considered it as her younger sister,
which, created by so vigorous a nation, would soon acquire an immense influence
over all the world.”
You will readily perceive that the prominence and notoriety with which the
National Institute was at so early a stage invested, and the new function thus de­
volved upon it as the center of correspondence and exchange between the Old
World and the New, would necessarily occasion a great increase of expenditure
for the arrangement and publication of its correspondence and papers, at the
same time that commodious apartments would be indispensable, both for its pub­
lic meetings and for the preservation and exhibition of its cabinet and library.
The ordinary expenses of its administration up to the time of which we are speak­
ing, and indeed up to the present time, have been defrayed from the annual sub­
scriptions of the members residing in Washington, and occasional donations from
wealthy and munificent citizens ; while its collections have been allowed, by the
kindness of the Secretary of the Interior, to occupy such portions of the hall and
corridors of the Patent-Office as can be spared from the more legitimate uses of
the building.
As soon as it became apparent that a much greater fund would be required
for the expenses of the Institute than could be derived from the contribu­
tions of its members, applications were made to Congress for an annual appro­
priation for this purpose, which, we regret to say, though presented in the most
respectful manner, and supported by Senators and Representatives of the highest
influence and most acknowledged patriotism, have hitherto been unsuccessful.
The main cause for this neglect on the part of the Legislature being some doubt
as to the constitutionality of any appropriation for such purpose.
The consequence of this want of endowment has been most unfortunate to the
Institute; and though it has thus far sustained itself by help of the subscriptions
and donations heretofore mentioned, and is still in continued receipt of valuable




510

Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

papers, books, and specimens, from the scientific establishments of both conti­
nents—yet it cannot be denied that its usefulness has been greatly diminished,
and that it has failed to answer the expectations of its friends, owing to the want
of funds adequate to its proper management and support.
It will, we conceive, be unnecessary for us to recapitulate the great advantages
which must result to science from the establishment of a national academy at the
seat of government. The necessity for it and its advantages are obvious. The
importance of it has been so often publicly presented, that it is deemed unneces­
sary to do more than to allude to it as a thing admitted. It remains now only
that we state distintly the object of the present application. It is to ask from
yourself, and other munificent and liberal individuals, such subscriptions in money
as shall enable us to erect at Washington a building with accommodations suffi­
cient to meet the present wants of the Institute, or until the value of the services
which it shall thus be enabled to render to science shall be more fully apparent.
After which, we have no fear but that the government and the country will come
effectually to its aid. Such, at least, is the opinion and hope of the members resi­
dent in Washington, and others who have been intimate for many years with its
management and affairs.
And upon such grounds, we most respectfully but earnestly solicit your assist­
ance and co-operation—being fully convinced that if the Institute is to be sus­
tained at present, it must, at least for a year or two, be done by the help of in­
dividual effort, individual liberality. And if it be allowed to fall, it will be a
subject of deep and abiding regret, not only in our own country, but throughout
the world.
Yery respectfully, your obedient servants,
M. F. MAURY,
W . W . CORCORAN,
______ _ _ _ _ _ ______

L - D-

gale.

OUR MINERAL RESOURCES.

The store of metal and fuel hidden in caverns of the earth is so much capital
in vault, the garnered industry of the primeval age. These gloomy reservoirs are
so many fountains of life and gladness. For every factory gives birth to a vil­
lage, and of every good mine scores of manufactories are born. England would
not have found her boast in “ wooden walls,” had it not been for the wealth of
her rocky treasures. Half of her population has been dug out of the bowels of
the earth.
But nature has been as lavish to us in mineral wealth, as in that of prairies and
forests. The gold deposits of California are among the richest in the world ; and
for the three years ending with 1856, averaged nearly $55,000,000 per annum.
Rich mines of silver, also, and of mercury, are already opened. The copper re­
gion of Lake Superior is probably unequaled in the abundance and purity of its
metal; and the Northwestern States furnish exhaustless supplies of lead. But
it is in iron and eoal, of all minerals the most important, and the most efficient
instruments in furthering the processes of civilization, in developing natural re­
sources, enlarging and diversifying industry, promoting intercourse, physical com­
fort, the progress of the arts, the discipline of the individual intellect, and the
aggrandizement of national power, and, in a word, helping on the victory of man
over nature— it is in these, the most valuable deposits which the earth holds




Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

511

locked in its treasuries, that our country is richest. God has given us in store
enough to supply the world. The annual product of our mines is already counted
in millions of tons, and will be reckoned in tens of millions.
C oal . The statistics of the coal trade, published from year to year in the
pages of the Merchants’ Magazine, are the best illustration of this subject. The
coal area of the United States is estimated at 133,132 square miles. The pro­
duct of Pennsylvania alone, in 1855, reached nearly 7,000,000 tons. The pro­
duct of the gold mines of California, at the close of 1856, was about $340,000,000.
The Philadelphia North American thus speaks of the development of the coal
wealth of Pennsylvania:—
The bituminous coal production of Pennsylvania for the past year is estimated
at 2,000,000 tons, and that the anthracite trade amounted to 7.258,891 tons—
making an aggregate of 9,258,891 tons. The total value of our coal for 1856,
reckoned at $4 25 a ton, at the place of delivery or consumption, would be but
a fraction short of $40,000,000—a sum more than sufficient to meet the ordinary
annual expenses of our national government.
This result has been attained after years of persistent enterprise. The coal
trade has progressed step by step ; and its history in the past is interesting and
valuable for the help it affords us in forming an estimate of what that trade must
become in the future, developing side by side with the progress of the country
and the civilization of the age. In the year 1825, the amount of bituminous
coal employed in the manfacturing establishments of Pittsburg and vicinity was
1,000,000 bushels, which, at 80 pounds to a bushel, would amount to 35,714 tons.
In 1833, it was returned at 255,910 tons. In 1838, it had increased to 357,140
tons. In 1842, the production, largely exceeding the consumption, amounted to
420,000 tons; which was increased, in 1846, to 678,572 tons. The bituminous
coal produced during the past year amounted to no less than 2,000,000 tons, the
principal part of which was consumed in the iron works of Western Pennsylva­
nia ; while, with the remainder, a profitable trade was carried on with the regions
adjacent, with the West, and with Philadelphia.
When we touch on the subject of anthracite coal we have definite facts and
statistics. And we can present the history of this trade in no more striking and
impressive manner, than by arraying the successive years and their corresponding
productions side by side, beginning at the very commencement of the trade, thirtysix years ago:—
1820 ...........
1 8 2 1 ...........
1822 ...........
1823 ...........
1824 ...........
1825 ...........
1826 ...........
1827 ...........
1828 ...........
1829 ...........
1830 ...........
1831
..
1832 ...........

Tons.
365
1,073

9,544
34,893

77,697
172,083
174,764
176,820
363,871

Tons.
1833 .........
1834 .........
1835 .........
1836 .........
1837 .........
1838 .........
1839 ____
1840 .........
1 8 4 1 ......... . .
1842 ......... . . .
1843 ......... . .
1844 ......... . . .
1845 ......... . .

376,336
560,758

809,327
865,414
953,999
1,1931>01
1,263,539
1,631,669
2,023,052

1846...............
1847...............
1848...............
1849...............
1850...............
1851...............
1852...............
1853...............
1854...............
1855...............
1856...............

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Tons.
2,343,990
2,982,808
3,080,238
3,242,866
3,332,614
4,418,515
4,999,471
6,195,151
5,847,308
6,626,288
7,258,891

Aggregate .. . 62,793,039

This is one of the most eloquent and instructive pages of history ever written
—not red and radiant with martial glory, but bright with the record of honest
labor and gigantic enterprise, and their rewards—a narrative of what has been
done in our own Commonwealth in a single department of industry, for the com­
fort, happiness, and well-being of multitudes of mankind. Adding 10,000,000
tons as the product of the bituminous coal beds during this period, we have the
general aggregate of 72,793,039 tons of coal sent to the markets from different




51 2

Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.

regions of Pennsylvania; which, at the price above specified, would have a value
of $309,000,000. This is one of the striking facts. Another is, that such great
results have been reached in so short a time.
But the most speaking of all the facts treasured up in these figures, because it
it contains such vast and veritable prophesies of the future, is the rapidly aug­
menting ratio at which these yearly amounts increase. This is noticeable to a
mere glance of the eye. The year 1838, which stands midway between the first
and last of the series, shows a production of only one-tenth of the amount which
is set down against the year that is just closed, 739,293 to 7,258,891. Wo must
now come to 1846, before finding an amount (2,343,990) that reaches even so
much as one-third of the last annual yield. Nay, the last three years sufficed to
produce as much coal as was produced by the first twenty-six years of the series.
Dividing the amount into thirds, the first third was mined in 26 years; the
next third in 7 years ; and the last third in 3 years. If there is any just ground
for the prediction that in twenty years the iron production of the United States
will equal the present iron production of Great Britain, rising from 1,000,000 to
3,500,000 tons, these figures demonstrate that not so many years can elapse be­
fore our 10,000,000 of coal (all kinds included) will swell to the 40,000,000, which
is the present annual yield of that country. If the same ratio continued, the re­
sult would be attained in a much shorter time.
MINING RESULTS IN GREAT BRITAIN.

We gather from statements compiled by R obert H unt, Keeper of the Mining
Records of United Kingdom, that in 1855 the number of tons of copper ore sold
in Cornwall, and the produce of Cornish and Devon mines, was 195,193 tons,
yielding 12,578 tons 11 cwts. 23 lbs. copper, realizing £1,263,739 6s., being a
considerable increase over the previous year. In Wales, the ores sold, being the
produce of Irish, Welsh, and foreign mines, 43,903 tons, yielding 5,926 tons of
copper, and £654,468 11s. in money. Copper ores sold by private contract
realized £949,000, making a grand total of £2,867,207 17s. received for copper
ores sold in England in 1855.
The average standard of the Cornish sales was £143 2s.; produce, 6 f ; and the
average price per ton paid to the miner, £6 8s. 6d. per ton. From January 1 to
September 30,1856, the copper ores sold in Cornwall were 157,843 tons, yielding
10,246 tons of copper and £925,245 11s. 6d. in money. The last quarter, ending
September 30, was 4,637 tons of ore less than the previous quarter.
The quantity of lead ores raised in the United Kingdon in 1855 was 92,330
tons, yielding 73,201 tons of lead, 561,906 ounces of silver, and realizing in
money for lead ores, £1,311,971, and silver, at 5s. the ounce, £140,746—showing
a very considerable increase over the previous year. Of the above, Cornwall
yielded 8,962 tons of ore, equal to 5,882 tons of lead, and 211,348 ounces of sil­
ver ; Devonshire, 4,035 tons of ore, equal to 2,292 tons of lead, and 89,908
ounces of silver ; Durham and Northumberland, 22,107 tons of ore, equal to
16,309 tons of lead, and 75,435 ounces of silver; Flintshire yielded 6,273 tons of
lead ore, equal to 4,926 tons of lead, and 25,823 ounces of silver; Cardigan­
shire, 7,043 tons of ore, 5,014 tons of lead, and 28,079 ounces of silver.
The tin ores raised in Cornwall and Devon during the same period were 8,947
tons— (of this, Devon produced 320 tons)—realizing £608,336. The produce in
metal was about 6,000 tons, which, at £120 per ton, would yield £720,000.
The iron ore raised in the United Kingdom was 9,553,741 tons—pig-iron,
3,218,154 tons, at £4 4s. per ton, realizing £13,516,566.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

513

If we take the value of copper ore sold in 1855 at £2,867,207 17s., lead and
silver at £1,452,447, tin ores at £608,396, it gives us a total of £4,928,030 17s.
as the value of one year’s mineral produce. In addition to this, there is the
iron mentioned above, £13,516,266 ; coals raised from 273 collieries, 15,431,400
tons.
THE FOLLOWING ARE TIIE DIVIDENDS FROM PROFITS PAID ON BRITISH MINES
FROM 1845 TO 1856, INCLUSIVE

Year ending—
1845................
1846................
1847...............
1848................
1849................
1850................

Mines.
18
28
30

22
38
42

Pounds sterlin g.
158,838
155,381
129,024
184,741
213,570

0
0
0
0
0
0

o

0
0
0
0
0

Year ending—
1851...............
1852................
1853................
18 54................
1855................
1856................

Mines.
45
50
60
52
64
55

Pounds sterling.
216,486 O 0
261,267 0 0
330,755 0 0
317,976 0 0
340,814 3 4
383,418 8 8

From this it appears that British mines have paid profits in twelve years
amounting to £2,908,620 12s.
In the British list, 55 mines have paid £383,418 8s. 8d. in 1856 ; in 1855, 44
mines paid £340,714 3s. 4d. The year 1856, therefore, shows an increase of
£42,704 5s. 4d.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
AMERICAN TRADE TO SURINAM, AND COMMERCE OF GLOUCESTER.

The first vessel ever sent from Gloucester to Surinam, Dutch Guiana, was in
1791, sixty-five years ago, and was fitted out and owned by Col. William Pearce,
an eminent merchant of that town. Col. Pearce had transacted a largo business
with the West Indies and Europe for years previous, and the partial failure of
some of these branches of commerce led him to embark in the Surinam trade.
The first voyages to that place were very long, and attended with much danger
in consequence of the malignant diseases constantly prevailing there. It was
not unusual for vessels on these voyages to lose nearly all their crews. The town
of Gloucester has ever since 1791 retained nearly the entire American trade to
Dutch Guiana, with a partial interest also in the Cayenne trade, in company with
the adjacent port of Salem, which noted place for many years has enjoyed an
almost exclusive trade to several ports and sections of the world, such as Para,
Maranham, Bio Grande, East and West coasts of Africa, Bed Sea, Sumatra,
New Zealand, Fejee Islands, &c. Gloucester thirty years ago had vessels trading'to
Porto Bico, St. Domingo, Valparaiso, Malaga, Smyrna, and Sumatra, and bring­
ing cargoes from those places direct to that port. The two large mercantile
houses of Wm. Pearce & Sons and W . Sargent, transacted an extensive foreign
commerce for many years.
But the commerce of Gloucester, like that of Salem, Ncwburyport, Ports­
mouth, and various other minor seaports, was swallowed up by the great cities of
Boston and New York, and it never can be regained. Gloucester in her reverses
still held possession of its Surinam trade, and now employs in that business
fourteen ships, barks, and brigs. A t times the trade is so unprofitable that less
than one-half of this number of vessels can be employed. But, prosperous or
VOL. X X X V I.---- NO. IV .
33




514

Mercantile Misecellanies.

adverse, the trade is pursued by the Gloucester people with more or less energy.
The decline of the extended commerce of Gloucester was more than made good,
in late years, by the great increase of its fisheries, coasting trade and British
Colonial business, so that its tonnage had increased in forty years more than
three-fold, having in 1810,11,000 tons ; 1855, 34,000 tons ; in 1810, 3,000 tons
employed in the fisheries; in 1856, 21,000 tons in 300 fishing schooners. The
amount of business of various kinds, foreign and domestic, transacted at the
Gloucester Custom-house, is only surpassed by that of three ports in the New
England States, viz. : Boston, Portland, and Salem.
According to a statement in the Boston Traveller, within one week in 1856,
more than one hundred vessels have arrived at Gloucester from the Bay of St. Law­
rence, with fares from ten to three hundred barrels. Many of these vessels came home
with from fifty to one hundred barrels after an absence of three to four months.
The season at one time promising to terminate so favorably, will wind up in many
cases in a most disastrous manner, and the crews have but little money coming
to them to carry them through a hard winter. Many vessels will have to fit out
immediately for Georges, and pursue that hazardous business as long as the
weather will permit. The larger part of the fleet have now arrived, and such is
the small catch of mackerel that the prices must greatly advance, as the supply
cannot meet the usual consumption. The prices of mackerel from some cause
have been much depressed, and have made even large trips much less than last
year in value.
COMMERCE AMD PRODUCTIONS OF AFRICA.

A recent work by Andrew H. Foote, of the Navy, Lieut.-Commanding the
brig Perry, upon the coast of Africa, presents some important facts respecting
that continent, the condition of -which is probably less known than that of any
other quarter of the globe. This vessel sailed for the coast of Africa on the 28th
of November, 1849, for the west coast of Africa to join the American Squadron
there stationed, under a specific treaty, for the suppression of the slave trade.
By this volume it appears that the African territory exhibits a vast domain, in­
habited almost entirely by barbarians, and the author remarks in reference to
their villages, and modes of life, “ that if the whole negro nations were swept
away, there would not remain a monument on the face of their continent to tell
that such a race of men had occupied it.” A portion of the work alludes to the
productions of Africa adapted to trade. Copper, and some alloys of it, are used
for ornaments, and is smelted from ores by the natives, who throughout the south,
manufacture their own iron. Gold is collected by elemental waste from disin­
tegrated rocks, the present export from Africa now amounting to about two mil­
lions of dollars. Cotton may be produced to a great extent. The Africans
weave coarse narrow cloths and dye them ; w’ork in wood and metals, and manu­
facture gold chains of considerable value. African dye-stuffs, are staple articles
of export, and indigo is extensively used by the natives. Gums of various kinds
constitute a branch of trade which is just commencing, and palm oil is yielded
to a considerable extent. The territory is capable of producing most of the
tropical products. A portion yields the fruits, and flowers, and grain of Europe,
and the finest fruits of the torrid zone abound in the valleys, as well as flocks
and herds. On the river Webbe, near Braza, as much fine wheat may be purchased




Mercantile Miscellanies.

51 5

for a single dollar as will supply one during the year. In Enarea and Kaffa,
the whole country is covered with coffee, and it is in fact the original country of
the coffee. Two hundred pounds may be purchased in the berry, for about a dol­
lar ; and the greater portion of the coffee received from Mocha, is in point of
fact African coffee. Another article, which we had supposed was a principal
staple of export from Africa, ivory, is not alluded to by the author. A part of
the work is occupied by remarks respecting the slave trade upon the coast of
Africa. This traffic appears to have been checked if not entirely concluded by
the measures which have been taken to prevent it, and the author alleges that the
extension of naval enterprise along the coast, will probably tend to the prevention
of cruelty, and the future amelioration of that benighted continent.

ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRUGS IN ENGLAND.

The manner and extent to which various kinds of food are adulterated, can
scarcely be imagined by those who have not paid attention to the subject. Many
of the articles that we constantly eat or drink, such as coffee, tea, chocolate, pep­
per, and mustard, are manufactured, to a certain extent, of deleterious, if not
poisonous materials. Some time since, a special committee was appointed by the
British House of Commons, to inquire into the adulteration of food, drink, and
drugs, and their Report, which occupies a volume of three hundred pages, has
just been published. Some of the facts are truly startling. It is stated that
“ almost everything that enters the human stomach, for the maintainance of life,
or the restoration of health, is wilfully or deliberately adulterated, and these vile
mixtures sap existence like slow poisons.” Of death in a glass, we are told:
“ The adulteration of drinks deserves also special notice, because your committee
cannot but conclude that the intoxication so deplorably prevalent is in many cases
less due to the natural properties of the drinks themselves, than to the admixture
of narcotics or other noxious substances intended to supply the properties lost by
dilution.”
The list of adulterated articles is formidable indeed, and includes arrow root,
with potato and other starches; bread, with potatoes, plaster of Paris, alum, and
sulphate of copper; bottled fruits and vegetables, with certain salts of copper;
coffee, with chicory, roasted wheat, beans, and mangel worzel; chicory, with
roasted wheat, carrots, sawdust, and Venetian red ; cocoa, with arrow root, po­
tato flour, chicory, and some ferruginous red earths; cayenne, with ground rice,
mustard husk, &c., colored with red lead, Venetian red, and turmeric; gin, with
grains of paradise, sulphuric acid and cayenne; lard, with potato flour, mutton
suet, alum, carbonate of soda, and caustic lime ; mustard with wheat flour and
turmeric; marmalade with apples or turnips; porter and stout (though sent out
in a pure state from the brewers) with water, sugar, treacle, salt, alum, cocculus
indicus, grains of paradise, nux vomica, and sulphuric acid; pickles and pre­
serves with salts of copper ; snuff with various chromates, red lead, lime, and
powdered glass ; tobacco with water, sugar, rhubard, and treacle; vinegar with
water, sugar, and sulphuric acid ; jalap with powdered wood ; opium with poppy
capsules, wheat flour, powdered wood, and sand; scammony with wheat flour,
chalk, resin, and sand ; confectionary with plaster of Paris and other similar in­
gredients, colored with various pigments of a highly poisonous nature ; and acid




Mercantile Miscellanies.

51 6

drops, purporting to be compounded of Jargonelle pear, Ribstone pippin, lemon,
&c., with essential oils containing prussic acid, or other dangerous ingredients.
The adulteration of drugs is also extensively practiced. The more costly the
article, the greater is the temptation. But what is the remedy ? As a means of
prevention, the Committee recommend that muncipal or other local authorities
should be empowered to appoint an officer or officers, who, on complaint made,
or in cases of reasonable suspicion, shall procure portions of any article supposed
to be adulterated, with a view to their examination or analysis by some duly
qualified person appointed for the purpose. If the report of such person confirms
the suspicion, a summons shall be issued, and the case investigated before justices,
who shall have power to inflict summary punishment, and publish the names of
the offenders. They recommend, also, that one or more scientific analyzers should
be appointed under the authority of the Board of Health, to whom the local au­
thorities may refer suspected articles.
The subject is one that concerns every civilized country. Perhaps no where is
this system of fraud and murder carried on to a greater extent than in the United
States. The villanies that are practiced in this form, are truly frightful. Many
persons, indeed, labor for years under some mysterious disease, produced by the
process of adulteration or poisoning, through the agency, either of food or drugs.
Only a short time since, a distinguished chemist of this city found it necessary
to prosecute a house in New York, for counterfeiting his labels to a very valuable
medicine. Similar frauds are of constant occurrence.

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN COMMERCE,

Commerce is a power and an index of power, as well as a necessity; it is a
channel whereby nations communicate ideas and customs, principles and charac­
ter. Each distinct and limited portion of mankind becomes more human, through
the mutual influences of a world-wide intercourse. No nation has yet garnered
into its character all the nobilities and energies of the “ k i n d b u t each needs
all that it can obtain from the others.
In commerce our nation has but one superior ; and in all probability will ere
long have none. No nation builds half as many vessels as this. Its foreign trade
has trebled, since 1815, and doubled since 1842. The vessels which annually flock
to our shores from foreign ports, measure their tonnage in millions ; and the net
value of commodities exchanged in the internal trade, is estimated in billions.
The commerce of the United States “ has elements of increase unknown in any
former period, or in any other nation. A new country, a virgin soil, the precious
metals in unprecedented abundance, coal, iron, copper, zinc, gypsum, lime, and
most of the useful metals in profusion, her coast indented with bays, her northern
border washed by nearly 2,000 miles of inland seas navigable by vessels of any
tonnage, her great interior traversed by the Mississippi, receiving tributaries from
1,000 miles to the east and to the west; with nearly 5,000 miles of canal, and
soon to have 30,000 miles of railroad ; with a large annual immigration ; with
schools and a teeming press to spread intelligence and quicken enterprise; with
unbounded liberty of action to stimulate exertion ; with new regions opened daily
to market by iron roads—what is there to set a limit to the extension of com­
merce, as far beyond present, as the present has gone beyond past conception ?”




Mercantile Miscellanies.

517

A BRIEF MERCANTILE BIOGRAPHY i
ANDREW S. NORWOOD.

The Commercial Advertiser, of November 15, 1856, announced the death of
Andrew 8. Norwood, an old and highly respected citizen and merchant of New
York, who died at his residence in Fourteenth-street on the 14th of November,
1856. Mr. Norwood, we believe, was at the time of his death the oldest native
of New York, engaged in business, being in the 87th year of his age. He was
born in 1770, and up to the time of his last illness he retained a vivid recollection
of the events attending the close of the revolutionary war. His father served
in the army of the patriots, and was an inmate of the sugar-house here as a pris­
oner, until released by an exchange, and we have heard Mr. Norwood relate that
he had been frequently dispatched with relief for the remaining prisoners, by his
father, after his liberation.
Mr. Norwood commenced business as a merchant 1791, not having attained the
age of twenty-one, as one of the firm of Norwood & Austen, and afterwards car­
ried it on on his sole account, until about 1830, when he closed his active mer­
cantile career. He was one of the originators and owners of the second line of
packet ships between New York and Havre, consisting of the Erie, France, and
other vessels, of which Messrs. Crassous & Boyd were the agents in New York,
and Boisgerard & Co., in Havre. For many years past he has lived in compara­
tive retirement, retaining his faculties in an eminent degree up to nearly the time
of his death.
Mr. Norwood was a favorable specimen of the New York merchant of the old
school; a man of untiring energy in his younger days, and of great enterprise,
yet careful and judicious in his manner of doing business, amassing his property
as the fruits of his industry and judgment, rather than by the modes of modern
speculation, and preserving his reputation to the close of his long career as a man
and merchant of the most uncompromising integrity.

THE COTTON PRESSES AT NEW ORLEANS.

No one, says a correspondent of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, writing
from New Orleans, who has ever witnessed the operations of a New Orleans
steam cotton-press can form any idea of their commercial importance, or the
novelty and interest of their operations. The ordinary bales of cotton seen on
our river steamers, or in the inland towns, appear to the uninitiated to have been
rather tightly squeezed, but see them subjected to one of these five hundred horse­
power inventions, it is rather a different affair. On the plantation the cotton is
subjected to the ordinary screw press, which leaves them about four feet in di­
ameter, bat as space on board European cotton ships is all important, the steam
press has been invented, by which fully one-third the bulk is saved at a trifling ex­
pense. The bale is dropped, as it were, into the knitted hands of an iron giant,
and the steam let on, causing the arms to contract with a groan, or roar like an
enraged elephant, pressing the mass upwards against a permanent platten, with a
force that would seem to threaten annihilation. Men stand ready with ropes that
are quickly passed through corrugations in the platteus, securing the compressed
mass, and bale after bale is thus turned off with incredible rapidity.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

518

TRADE BETW EEN DETROIT AND PHILADELPHIA,

The Detroit Tribune says : “ We have on former occasions called attention to
the fact that by the completion of the railroad from Elmira, N. Y., to Philadel­
phia, the merchants of our city and State are as near the latter market as to New
York city. The line of communication is as direct to one city as the other, and
the rates of freight are the same. There is, however, one advantage in favor of
Philadelphia, from the fact that between here and there, there is one less tranship­
ment than between here and New York city. Philadelphia is a large market, not
until lately accessible to us, and for several reasons our merchants may find it to
their interest to trade there. It now has a population of near 600,000, and its
jobbers offer large and varied stocks to select from. Its importers import direct
from Europe, and thus stand on a par with those of New York. It is a great
manufacturing city, its manufactures being estimated to amount to §150,000,000
per annum, and it is a fact that our merchants now purchase in New York and
Boston the manufactures of that city. Of course it is cheaper alwTays to buy
from the manufacturer. For drugs and medicines, shoes, paper hangings, certain
kinds of manufactured cotton fabrics, jewelry, leather, perfumery, &c., our mer­
chants would find Philadelphia the best city to purchase in. It is also, in conse­
quence of the thickly settled immense coal regions in its vicinity, where all are
only consumers, a good market for the sale of our surplus produce.”
A GOOD LESSON FOR APPRENTICES.

The Christian Register says that a father whose son was an apprentice, re
quired him to pay his board while at home. The son thought this a hardship.
But he understood afterwards, the wisdom of his father, when he saw the habits
his fellow apprentices had acquired in the expenditure of their wages, and the
straits to which they were reduced to meet expenses, which had become habitual.
Every boy should be called upon to pay a portion of his earnings for board, even
at his father’s house, however able the parent may bo to charge him nothing. He
learns thereby the proper use of money—how far it will go. The first earnings
always appear large enough to indulge in expenses of dress and amusement from
which they are entirely inadequate. A weekly call for a portion of these wages,
soon teaches the important lesson of a strict economy in expenditure, if he would
not, as so many do, begin thus early to gel into debt; a step which may, and
often does, harass the young, misguided apprentice through his minority.
A CURIOUS BARGAIN.

Hamilton says, in his Wandering’s in North Africa—“ I find among my notes of
these last days, mention made of a curious bargain, which was struck in my pres­
ence ; it was the sale of half a mare. The price of the entire animal was fixed
at a certain sum, half of which was paid down by the purchaser, who took pos­
session of the mare, which he was bound to keep in good condition. The foals
were to be joint property, and the original proprietor could at any time have the
use of the mare, or by repaying the purchase-money, again become her sole pro­
prietor. This is a common transaction ; and as a fourth, or even a smaller frac­
tion of a mare may be thus sold, some have many masters, and serious quarrels
often arise from such joint possession.”




Mercantile Miscellanies.

51 9

BANKRUPTCY AND BARBARISM IN LONDON.

The London Illustrated Times of a late date says :—“ W e are perfectly ashamed
of repeating the trite apothegm that ‘ truth is stranger than fiction yet rememberance of the saying is irrepressible. For a most marvelous mixture of the
wildest romance and sternest reality has recently evolved out of the proceedings
in the Bankruptcy Court in the case of Mr. Mark Boyd. Amid dry details of
certificates, assignees, dividends, and unsecured creditors, there suddenly started
up an element combining the romantic and terrible in an extraordinary degree.
A question was raised as to whether the bankrupt’s brother, Mr. Benjamin Boyd,
was alive or dead. It will bo remembered that this gentleman went on a yacht­
ing voyage to the South Sea Islands, and has not since been heard of. It was
stated in reply, that the fact of Mr. Boyd’s death was by no means proved ; for
that a skull said to be his, and brought to London, had been found to have sound
and perfect teeth, whereas the unfortunate gentleman 1wore ’ artificial teeth,
there were consequently still some grounds for the belief that Mr. Benjamin Boyd
was not dead, but was a captive among the natives. Could Mrs. Radcliffs—
could Monsieur Sue have invented anything more melodramatic than this ? One
brother beset by ‘ men of tape and quill ’ in London, interrogated by accountants,
examined by commissioners; the other brother wandering perhaps among antipode­
an savages, naked and tattooed, or perhaps tomahawked, or probably eaten! And
all this while shrewd men of business bandy about musty counting-houses, a grin­
ning skull, and speculate as to whose flesh once covered the ghastly relic. Might
not the ‘ Basinghall-street Romance’ surpass the ‘ Mysteries of Udolpho ’ in in­
terest.”
THE FIRST AMERICAN TRAD ER TO THE ALABAMA VALLEY,

J. M. Thompson was the first man who ever took a cargo of provisions from
the Ohio River to the Alabama Valley, and this he accomplished by means of a
barge of thirty-five tons, propelled by fifteen oars, and manned by as many Ken­
tuckians, who were all “ half-horse-and-half-alligator ” fellows. They had an easy
time of it floating down the Mississippi, rather a dangerous one in coasting the
Gulf of Mexico, and when they came in sight of the then Spauish fort of Mobile
they hoisted the American flag, and passed directly up the river without even
condescending to ask permission. It was a daring and high-handed act, and the
guns at the fort were got ready to fire upon the tresspassers, when the command­
ant concluded that the men must be mad, positively crazy ; so they escaped un­
harmed. Thompson made money by his venture, became a citizen of St. Ste­
phen’s, but died a few months after his arrival. The crew that accompanied him
from the Ohio, took to evil ways, and the majority of them were either killed in
private fights or executed by the Spanish authorities for breaking the laws.
ONE OF THE CURIOSITIES OF COMMERCE.

According to the Glasgow Mail, it appears a quantity of Glasgow manufac­
tured goods, which were sent out to Australia upwards of eighteen months ago,
were, owing to the depressed state of the market at the time, purchased by a firm
there at a low rate, and reshipped to this country. They wore, on their arrival
here, repurchased by a Glasgow house, who sold them immediately afterwards to
and Australian merchant. They are again on their way to the antipodes.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

52 0

« DON’ T STAY TOO LONG!”

We commend the subjoined truthfully pathetic waif, which we find floating
among our exchanges, to merchants and business men who have no time for their
wives and families. Would that every husband who reads ihe. Merchants’ Mag­
azine might profit by i t :—
“ Don’t stay long!” said a young wife tenderly, one evening, as her husband
was preparing to go out. The words themselves were insignificant, but the look
of melting fondness with which they were accompanied, spoke volumes. It told
the whole vast depths of a woman’s love—of all her grief, when the light of his
smile, the source of all her joy, beamed not brightly upon her.
“ Don’t stay long, husband !” and I fancied I saw the loving, gentle wife sitting
alone, anxiously counting the moments of her husband’s absence, every few mo­
ments running to the door to see if he was in sight, and finding that ho was not,
I thought I could hear her exclaiming in disappointed tones, “ Not y et!”
“ Don’t stay long, husband !” and 1 again thought 1 could see the young wife
rocking nervously in the great arm-chair, and weeping as though her heart would
break, as her thoughtless “ lord and master” prolonged his stay to a wearisome
leng th of time.
Oh, you that have wives to say, “ Don’t stay too long!” when you go forth;
think of them kindly when you are mingling in the busy hive of life, and try, just
a little, to make their homes and hearts happy, for they are gems too seldom re­
placed. You cannot find, amid the pleasures of the world, the peace and joy that
a quiet home, blessed with such a woman’s presence, will afford.
“ Don’t stay long, husband 1” and the young wife’s look seemed to say, “ For
here in your own sweet home is a loving heart, whose music is hushed when you
arc absent; here is a soft breast to lay your head upon, and here are pure lips,
unsoiled by sin, that will pay you with kisses lor coming back soon.”
TITLES OF BUSINESS FIRMS.

One of the best titles of a mercantile firm we have ever seen is “ Call <fc Set­
tle,” which is painted in golden letters cn a sign in one of our eastern cities.
Customers are reminded every time they pass, of their outstanding accounts.
“ Neal & Pray” is the title of another firm. But the following “ beats all.” Two
attorneys, says an old newspaper, in partnership in a town of the United States
had the name of the firm, which was “ Catchum & Chetum,” inscribed in the
usual manner upon their office door; but as the singularity and ominous juxtapo­
sition of the words led to many a coarse joke from passers-by, the men of law at­
tempted to destroy in part the effect of the old association, by the insertion of
the initials of their Christian names, which happened to be Isiah and Uriah ; but
this made the affair ten times worse, for the inscription ran : “ I. Catchum & U.
Chetum.”
INJUNCTION FOR IMITATING TRADE MARKS.

On the 16th of December, 1806, a case was tried before Judge Iloffinan in the
Superior Court, New York, and an injunction issued to restrain the defendant,
W . Johnson, from imitating the trade marks on soap of the plaintiffs, James B.
Williams & Brothers. The judge said :—In this case it is very clear that the plaintiffs were the original claimants to the
trade mark in question, and that the defendant, his agents, and others, must be
restrained and enjoined from selling, or in any way disposing of any soap in boxes
or other packages with labels or wrappers containing the words “ genuine Yankee
soap,” printed or written, or from advertising, selling, or ottering to sell, any soap
whatever—unless the same has been manufactured by or procured from the plain­
tiffs—as and for genuine Yankee soap, and also from using the words in connect­
ion with the soap manufactured and ottered for sale by him, and also for assimil­
ating in any way, or using any imitation of the trade marks of said plaintiffs.




The Book Trade.

521

T H E BOOK TRADE.
1. — Warerley Novels. In 48 volumes. Illustrated. Household Edition. Bos­
ton : Ticknor & Fields.
Here, for the first time in the annals of American book-making, we have an
edition of the Waverley Novels adequate to the author and to the subject. Bos­
ton may well be proud that to the enterprise of her publishers we are indebted
for a series of books which will long stand unrivaled on this side of the Atlantic.
Indeed, we almost doubt the reality of the title-page, and expect to see the im­
print transmute itself to London in our hands; but when we turn the leaf and
read the dedication, “ To Washington Irving, the Friend of Sir Walter Scott,”
we feel that it is truly American. The paper is firm and white, and the type is
beautifully clear. The illustrations are engraved in the finest manner, after
original designs; and that these will be true to the scenes they portray, we have
a guaranty in such names as Birket Foster. Landseer, Harvey, Faed. and Barley.
The volumes are of the 16mo. size, and the publishers intend to continue the se­
ries, which they have just commenced with “ Waverley," by the publication of
two volumes every month, until all are issued. The price is to be 75 cents per
volume What better dress can brave Sir Walter wear ? He has too long
stood among us in a suit so threadbare that we turned our backs upon him
coldly. Sometimes, to be sure, he has come to us in his courtly English garb,
but then its very costliness and splendor forbade us to claim an intimate acquaint­
ance with him. Now he comes to us richly yet plainly clad, and we need not
fear to take him by the band, and lead him home with us as an old friend and
counselor. And in the whole domain of thought, there is none whose words have
a truer meaning, whose wisdom is more profound ; none who is more worthy of
our love and honor, than rare Sir Walter Scott. He stands at the door, and his
hand is on the latch. Let us bid him enter, and welcome him to the quiet round
our hearths and the warmth within our hearts.
2. —Railroad Accidents; their Causes and the Means of Preventing them. By
Emile W ith, Civil Engineer. With an Introduction by A uguste Perdonnet, Graduate of the Polytechnic School. Translated from the French, with
an Appendix, by G. F orrester Barstow, Civil Engineer. 12mo., pp. 152.
Boston : Little, Brown & Co.
This book should be purchased and diligently read by every person who is in
any way connected with the management of a railroad. Its information is most
important, and is given in excellent method and with great clearness. The gen­
eral subject of “ railroad accidents,” as they are termed, has been very frequently
and forcibly brought before the minds of all. It has rarely happened that any
catastrophe has occurred on a railroad which has not been directly owing to the
ignorance or recklessness of man. A careful study of the causes of railroad ac­
cidents would be of benefit to all. In the language of the preface, it “ would
show those in charge of roads the dangers they are to guard against, and their
own personal responsibility with respect to them ; it would show passengers how
many of the fatalities occurring on railroads are justly chargeable to the careless­
ness of the sufferers; it might show them also, that if they would travel safely,
they must pay enough to maintain the road in perfect order in all its departments;
and it would show stockholders that the surest protection against accidents is
systematic management and the most perfect maintenance of their road in all its
details.”
3. — Marion Lester; or a Mother’s Mistake. By Miss Minnie S. Davis. 18mo.,
pp. 256. Boston : A. Tompkins.
A story of home and school life, launched, as the fair writer has it, “ upon the
literary sea, already teeming with ten thousand lights.” It inculcates a religion
of love rather than of fear.




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The Book Trade.

4-—Lake Ngami; or Explorations and Discoveries during four years’ Wander­
ings in the Wilds of Southwestern Africa. By Charles John A ndersson.
With an Introductory Letter by John Charles Fremont. With numerous
Illustrations, representing Sporting Adventures, subjects of Natural History,
devices for Destroying wild Animals, etc. 8vo., pp. 433. New Y ork: Dix
& Edwards.
Col. Fremont, in his introductory letter to the publishers, states his belief that
in “ publishing an American edition of Mr. Andersson’s valuable work,” they
“ will render an acceptable service to the cause of geographical knowledge,” and
that “ it is impossible that the record of his strange and important experiences
should not, everywhere, be received by favor, particularly by Americans.” Mr.
Andersson’s labors were directed to the same general object, and belonged to the
same epoch as that body of explorers whose efforts have almost succeeded in
throwing open the whole interior of Africa. It is not an unfounded anticipation
which expects to see Africa traversed from Cape Colony to Tripoli within the
next ten years. This “ narrative of explorations and discoveries ” contains an
account of two expeditions through Southwestern Africa, between the years 1850
and 1854. In his first journey, the author had a companion, and explored the
countries of the Damaras, (previously all but unknown in Europe,) and of the
Ovambo, (till now a terra incognita.) In his second journey the author was
alone, and altogether dependent on his own very scanty resources; but he cour­
ageously revisited the regions over which he had previously passed, and thus had
many opportunities of enlarging the stock of information acquired by himself
and friend when together. In this second journey the author reached the newlydiscovered Lake Ngami, by a route that had always been deemed impracticable;
and it is more than probable that this route (the shortest and best) will be adopted
as the one by which commerce and civilization may eventually find their way to
the Lake regions. This edition is handsomely printed, in library style, and illus­
trated by numerous woodcuts.
5. — Sights in Boston and Suburbs; or Guide to the Stranger. By B. L.
Midgley. 16mo., pp. 224. Boston : John P. Jewett & Co.
This little volume, although not intended as a history, nor as an index to many
public institutions, for which Boston is somewhat famous, contains information
of general interest to the stranger in regard to churches, cemeteries, fortifications,
halls, libraries, places of amusement, public buildings, and the various institu­
tions, (literary, historical, and scientific,) railroads and depots, &c. The volume
is copiously illustrated with fine wood engravings, by those clever artists, Billings,
Hill, Barry, and Andrew.
6. -— The Churches and Pastors of Washington, D. C .; together with five hun­
dred Topics of Sermons delivered in 1855 and 1856. To which is added a
List of all the Church Edifices, and their Localities. By Lorenzo D. John­
son. l2mo., pp. 170. New York : M. W . Dodd.
Washington is well supplied with churches of the different denominations, in
which the whole brotherhood of the States have an equal interest. Leaving the
political machinery in the District for the inspection of others, the author of this
volume gives a very concise view of the moral aspect of things, in connection
with the pastors and churches, in the Federal City.
7. — The Quadroon; or a Lover’s Adventures in Louisiana. By Capt. Mayne
Beid, author of the “ Bifle Bangers,” the “ Scalp Hunters,” the “ Hunters’
Feast,” etc. 12mo., pp. 379. New York : Bobert M. De Witt.
This book, we are told by the author, is a romance, nothing more; and fur­
ther, that it was written many years ago ; but another well-known work, treating
of similar scenes and subject, just as the “ Quadroon ” was about to be put to
press, made its appearance, and the author not being willing to be considered an
imitator, kept the work from the public eye. It is now presented to the reader
as a painting of life in Louisiana. The author disclaims all “ intention ” of aid­
ing the abolitionist, or glorifying the planter.




The Boole Trade.

523

8 — 'Science vs. Modern Spiritualism. A Treatise on Turning Tables, the Su­
pernatural in general, and Spirits. Translated from the French of Count
A genok de Gaspakin, by E. W . Robert, with an Introduction by Rev. Rob­
ert Baird, D. D. 2 vols., l2mo., pp. 470 and 4G9. New York : Kiggins
& Kellogg.
Count Agenor de Gasparin, the author of these volumes, is one of the most
distinguished French Protestants of our times. He is a scholar, in the highest
sense of the word, and the author of several interesting and important works, be­
sides numerous lesser publications. He belongs to what is called in France the
“ Evangelical School,” in contradistinction to that which is termed “ Latitudinarian.” Since 1848 he has resided at the village of Yalleyres, in Switzerland ;
and it was there that in the years 1853-54 his attention was called to the subject of
the “ Turning Tables.” He applied himself to the study of its causes, and de­
voted several months to the investigation, in connection with the aid of personal
friends. These volumes contain a very full account of the experiments which he
made with so much care, and on so many occasions, and the conclusions to which
he came ; also his speculations on other kindred subjects, such as the Supernat­
ural in general, the Agency of Spirits, False Miracles, Animal Magnetism, Spirit
Rappings, etc. These topics are treated at length, with the vivacity which char­
acterizes the French mind, and in the style, in which it expresses its conceptions ;
and with more than ordinary ability. Dr. Baird, from many years acquaint nee
with the author, “ assures the readers of this work, that it is the production ot a
mind not likely to be satisfied with insufficient data, or misled by illogical deduc­
tions, and incapable of attempting to impose on others.”
9. — A Course of Lectures on the Constitutional Jurisprudence of the United
Slates; delivered annually in Columbia College, New York, by W illiam
A lexander Duer, LL. D., late President of that Institution. The Second
Edition ; Revised, Enlarged, and Adapted to Professional as well as General
Use. 12mo., pp. 545. Boston : Little, Brown & Co.
The maxim of Cicero, taken by the author of this volume for its motto, that
“ It is necessary for all persons to have some knowledge of the Slate," wyas never
more applicable than to American citizens at the present day. The Constitution
is the political catechism of the nation, and should be most faithfully studied by
all. And a book like this which traces accurately and clearly, with a judicial
pen and judicial experience, the principles and practical w'orking of the body of
Jurisprudence of the United States, is of the utmost importance and interest.
The introductory part of the work is a sketch of the history of the Confederation
down to the present Constitution, and an appendix supplies the text of several
valuable documents. In this new edition the author has added the most import,
ant subsequent decisions upon constifutional questions, both of the Federal and
State Courts, down as nearly as possible to the present time, besides many other
improvements. The work is printed in the best style of its publishers
10. — The School-Fellow; or Original Monthly Magazine for Boys and Girls.
With Illustrations. 8vo., pp. 438. New Y ork : Dix, Edwards & Co.
The volume of this periodical for the year 1856, forms altogether one of the
most readable and withal instructive and entertaining books for boys and girls of
all ages that has been published during the year. The contents of the volume
are varied, including every variety of subject, such as short and entertaining
stories, brief biographies of some of the most remarkable men of our own time,
historical sketches, geographical descriptions, poetical effusions, &c. It is copi­
ously illustrated with pretty and appropriate engravings.
11. —Kathie Brande. A Fireside History of a Quiet Life. By H olme Lee.
12mo., pp. 334. New York : Harper & Brothers.
A reprint of an English story, by the author of “ Thorney Hall,” “ Gilbert
Massenger,” “ Maud Talbot,” and other popular stories. It is written in an agree­
able style, and describes the joys and sorrows of a fireside life, by one whose ex
perience was evidently the great teacher.




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The Book Trade.

12. — The Ballads of Ireland; Collected and Edited by Edward Hayes. In
two volumes. 12mo., pp. 350, 380. Boston : Patrick Donalioe.
With few exceptions the present ballads are of recent growth, and the fruit of
a comparatively few years. The great majority of them will be new to the Eng­
lish and American public. They are the throbbings of Ireland’s heart when it
bounded with the life of a grand passion, which the magical genius of O’Connell
called into existence. Till then Irish poetry was sadly neglected. The struggle
for Catholic emancipation had produced little beside the immortal melodies of
Thomas Moore. The old literature of the land, had never been used for the de­
velopment of a ballad minstrelsy; the treasures of the dead Irish language were
buried in oblivion. Mo country is richer than Ireland in those poetic records
which form the early history of all nations. And her bardic productions have
an importance unknown to similar records of other lands. Her truest ancient
history will be found in the stray ballads of her persecuted bards, and the memor­
anda of her banished monks. Her modern minstrelsy is thoroughly Irish in
thought and feeling, although English in expression. She has wielded a foreign
tongue with ease and strength, molding it into gorgeous rhetoric and sweetest
song. These volumes deserve to be commended to all, for there are none who
may not be benefited by their perusal.
13. — Elements i f Plane and Solid Xieometry; together with the Elements of
Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, and an Article on Inverse Trigonometrical
Functions. By Gerardus Beer.man Dociiarity, LL. D. 12mo., pp. 189.
New York : Harper & Brothers.
The author of this educational treatise is at the head of the Mathematical De­
partment in the New York Free Academy, and the author of a “ Practical and
Commercial Arithmetic.” and the “ Institutes of Algebra.” His experience as a
teacher of youth has undoubtedly contributed to his success in this class of text­
books. and it is but fair to presume that the student will find much in this treatise
to interest him, and at the same time exercise his analytical skill, and prepare
him for a successful prosecution of his studies in the higher departments of math­
ematics, astronomy, and physics.
14. — God against Slavery; and the Freedom and Duty of the Pulpit to Rebuke
it as a Sin against God. By G eorge B. C iieever , D. D. 12mo., pp. 272.
This volume consists of a series of sermons, (divided into some twenty chap­
ters,) which, we are told, multitudes thronged the church, night after night, to
hear. It is rather curious to hear ministers of the gospel in different sections of
the Union, of the same denomination, presenting views on the subject of slavery
so entirely antagonistic. Mr. Checver’s brethren in the South, the majority of
them at least, quote the same Scriptures to show that God is in favor of, or santions, slavery. The author is an “ out-and-out ” spoken man, and whatever may
be thought of the soundness of his logic, he is certainly a bold and vigorous
writer and speaker, and no one, we presume, will doubt the honesty of his con­
victions, or misunderstand “ the meaning of his words.”
15. — A System of Moral Science. By L au r e n s P. I I ic k o k , D. D., author of
“ Rational Psychology,” &c. Third Edition. 12mo., pp. 418. New York:
Ivison & Phinney.
This volume is designed as a text-book for college study, and to be used in the
author’s own department of instruction at Union College. The first edition has
gone into use in colleges and academies as extensively as was anticipated, and
the work has been reprinted in cheaper stereotype form, to meet the increased
demand.
16. —Allha; or Shells from the Strand. By Mrs. A d a M. F i e l d . 12mo., pp.
300. Boston : James French & Co.
This new work is written in a style different from most of the present litera­
ture. It contains many interesting passages on patriotism and religion, with ex­
pressions of sentiment and affection, interworked with the continuous narrative of
scenes in life.




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525

17. — Consumption. By Dr. W . W . I I ai .l . 12mo., pp. 276. New Y ork: J.
S. Redfield.
Dr. Hall’s idea of a “ preface ” is, in common parlance, somewhat original. It
is, nevertheless, a very sensible one. He regards it, when properly written, one
of the most important chapters of a book ; that is, when it gives a sketch of the
whole volume, and of the mind of the author. “ Scholars,” he says, “ read it
carefully.” Editors do—at least we do, as in the multitude of books on our table
we can scarcely find time to read any other part, except dipping in here and there
at random, or reading a single page at a glance. The *•preface ” (the idea is
unique) will be found in the concluding chapter. From this chapter may be
gathered the prominent ideas presented in the preceding pages. Common con­
sumption, he maintains, may be indefinitely arrested or permanently cured. The
cause of.consumption arises from imperfect nutrition and an impure blood, arising
from imperfect digestion and the breathing of an impure atmosphere. There is
much sound, common sense in this treatise, which, divested in a great measure of
the technicalities of the profession, is admirably well adapted as a popular “ hand­
book,” and that may be read with safety by all but extremely nervous patients.
The volume is dedicated “ to the candid and mature consideration of educated
physicians of all schools.”
18. —Mind and Heart; or School and Fireside Reading for Children. By W il­
liam B. Fowle. 18mo., pp. 159. Boston : Morris Cotton.
Mr. If owle, the author of this little volume, is, or was for a long time, a suc­
cessful teacher in the public schools in Boston, and is the author of a number of
works, dialogues, &c\, designed for the instruction and amusement of children.
He understands and fully appreciates their wants, and all he writes is “ calculated ”
to elevate the mind and improve the heart, by encouraging a love for useful
knowledge, and a respect for true religion.
19. — The Adventures of a Roving Diplomatist. By Henry W ikofp, author of
“ My Courtship, and its Consequences.” 12mo., pp. 299. New York: W.
P. Fetridge & Co.
Mr. Wikoff, although yet comparatively a young man, has seen much of life
in its varied phases. Hi3 “ Courtship and its Consequences ” produced at the
time quite a sensation in the fashionable world, and this volume, which we notice
has been published in England, will undoubtedly create not a little stir among
diplomatists on the continent. It is written in a lively, piquant style, and be­
trays the marked idiosyncrasies of the author’s mind and character.
20. — Life in Israel; or, Portraitures of Hebrew Character. By Maria T.
R ic h a r d s , author of “ Life in Judea.”
12mo., pp. 389. New York .- Shel­
don, Blakeman & Co.
These sketches belong to a series, (of which a part have already been given to
the public, under the title of “ Life in Judea,”) connected by a chain of succes­
sive developments of one idea— that of a coming Saviour. This idea is traced
through the history of “ the chosen people,” from the dawn of the early promises
to the full establishment of the kingdom of heaven upon earth.
21. — A Sheaffrom a Pastor’s Field. By H enry 0. Leonard. 12mo., pp. 384.
Boston : Abel Tompkins.
This neat volume comprises thirth-nine discourses, which contain the various
lessons of a village pastor. They are, in simple terms, the expression of the con­
victions of the author, (who is pastor of the Universalist Society in Watervillc,
Me.,) in relation to God, to the Saviour, to the nature of man, to human destiny,
to discipline and trial, and to Christian life and worship.
22. — Town and Country, and the Voices in the Shells. By R ic h a r d H e n r y
Stoddard. 18mo. New York : Dix, Edwards & Co.
This “ fantasy,” as the author calls it. is dedicated to his son, little Will. Stod­
dard, a blue-eyed boy of two summers. It is a pretty book, with several very
fine illustrations.




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The Boole Trade.

23. — Cyclopedia of American Literature; embracing Personal and Critical
Notices of Authors, and Selections from their Writings. From the earliest
Period to the present Day. With Portraits, Autographs, and other Illustra­
tions. By Evert A. Duyckinck and George L. Duyckinck. 2 vols., royal
8vo., pp. 676 and 781. New York : Charles Scribner.
This work has received high encomiums from many of the most distinguished
American authors, such as Washington Irving, George Bancroft, George Ticknor, Edward Everett, and Jared Sparks. Their testimonials, with the general
approbation of liberal critics, have united in giving to it a very favorable repu­
tation. And since it is by far the most extensive publication on American liter­
ary history that has yet been issued, it is not wonderful that it has met with a
large sale. Its compilers do not pretend that their work is perfect, but it is gen­
erally agreed that they have executed their laborious task in an amiable spirit,
and with much ability. They have collected an immense amount of facts—some
important and some trivial—relative to a great number of persons; and thus
they have at least formed a valuable storehouse of information. In such a vast
compilation of facts, (for the first time,) it is to be expected that numerous mis­
takes in dates and matters of fact are almost unavoidable. In this work we find
some such mistakes, but they are not numerous, and we must regard the work as
generally very reliable. The chief complaint against it is in regard to its defi­
ciencies. Many authors, who were and are eminently deserving of extended notice
in it, are not even mentioned by name. Yet this shortcoming may be easily and
speedily remedied by adding another volume; and the editors themselves appear
to ha,ve anticipated the exigency in proposing “ to add supplements to future
editions.” Its editors “ ask a generous and kindly consideration for a work of
much difficulty,” and we doubt not that they are already gratified with the re­
ception that has generally been accorded to their publication. The volumes are
neatly printed, and contain two hundred and twenty-five portraits, four hundred
and twenty-five autographs, and seventy-five wood engravings, (views of colleges,
libraries, and residences of authors ;) also, elegant steel engravings of Benjamin
Franklin and James Fenimore Cooper.
24. — The Puddleford Papers; or Humors of the West. By H. H. R il e y .
With Original Illustrations.
12mo., pp. 353.
New York : Derby &
Jackson.
Puddleford is, or rather was, a new settlement somewhere in the Great
West. Like a thousand other new settlements, it had its green state to pass
through. Puddleford’s pioneers were like other pioneers—rough, honest, hardy,
strong in common sense, but weak in the books. This volume is the interval
history of Puddleford, and, by inference, of similar new settlements. Its leading
characters are here “ drawn to the life,” and their portraits handed down to
posterity.
25. —About New York: an Account of what a Boy saw in his Visit to the City.
By P h il ip W a l l y s . Profusely Illustrated. 18mo., pp. 102. New York:
Dix, Edwards & Co.
This description of what a boy saw in New York is reprinted from that ex­
cellent monthly magazine, the “ School-Fellow,” and with the illustrations of pub­
lic buildings and scenes, drawn from life, forms a very attractive book for boys,
especially those who have never seen the great commercial emporium of the
country.
26. — History of Henry the Fourth, King of France and Navarre. By John S.
C. A bbott. With Illustrations. 18mo., pp. 335. New York : Harper &
Brothers.
Mr. Abbott, the author of this series of books, relating to kings and queens
and their times, is one of the best writers for the young among us. His histories
are fraught with valuable instruction, and illustrate the idea that veritable history
transcends, in all the elements of mystery and grandeur, all that man’s fancy can
create.




The Book Trade.

521

21.— New Granada: Twenty Months in the Andes. By Isaac F. Holton, M. A.,
Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in Middleburg College. With
Maps and Illustrations. 8vo., pp. 605. New Y ork: Harper & Brothers.
Whether it be read for knowledge or for amusement, this large and handsome
volume will keep the reader’s attention. It is mainly a record of the author’s
travels and description of the country through which he passed ; but it abounds
with instruction, rising from the homeliest economical, to the highest scientific
views. The maps have been constructed with unusual care, and the illustrations
are excellent.
28. — The Elements of Punctuation. With Rules on the Use of Capital Letters ;
being an Abridgement of the “ Treatise on English Punctuation.” Prepared
for Schools. By John W ilson. Fifth Edition. 12mo., pp. 152. Boston •
Crosby, Nichols & Co.
In making this abridgement of his “ Treatise,” the author has, he thinks, re­
tained everything essential to the knowledge of an art which should be understood
by all, and has composed the book according to a plan which will render it sus­
ceptible of being used, in a great measure, according to the taste and judgment
of the teacher himself.
29. — El Gringo; or New Mexico and her People. By W . W. II. Davis,
late United States Attorney. I2mo., pp. 432. New York : Harper k
Brothers.
This volume is mainly written from a diary the author kept during a residence
of two-and-a-half years in New Mexico, and the matters contained in it are
either drawn from careful personal observation, or other reliable sources. The
historical portions are wholly obtained from official records at Santa Fe. The
book is illustrated with thirteen engravings on wood, from drawings made on the
spot.
30. — Songs and Ballads. By Sydney Dyek. 12mo., pp. 298. New York :
Sheldon, Blakeman & Co.
Many of the songs in this neat volume were written for music publishers, who
furnished the titles and form of the versification, leaving the author no choice in
the matter; yet most of them have met with much favor, and many persons will
be glad to obtain them in this permanent form, together with the other lyrics now
first printed.
31. — Mcn-mon Wives.

A Narrative of Facts Stranger than Fiction. By
12mo., pp. 326. New York : Derby & Jack-

Meeta Y ictoria Fuller.

son.
It is the aim of this volume to show the workings of the system of Mor­
mon polygamy, especially its degrading influence upon the intellectual, moral,
and social well-being of the community in which it is practiced. The narrative
consists of a novel—the first scene is laid in New England ; the last in Utah.
* 32.— Essays. By Thophilus Parsons. Second Series. 12mo., pp. 285. Bos­
ton : Crosby, Nichols & Co.
The first scries of Professor Parson’s Essays was published ten years ago, and
these have been written at various periods since. No systematic exposition of
the doctrines of the New Church is attempted in either volume, but each essay
contains statements of these doctrines, or allusions to them.

33.— The Life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. By M. De Marles, Continuator
of Dr. Lingard. From the French. With an Appendix, containing Fifteen
of Mary’s Letters; and additional Notes by M. I. Ryan. 12mo., pp. 391.
Boston : Patrick Donahoe.
The work of M. De Maries has now been some time before the public, and the
number of editions through which it has gone, speaks forcibly in its favor. In
the Appendix will be found some of Mary’s most interesting letters.




52 8

The Book Trade.

34. '— The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year
1857. 12mo., pp. 376. Boston : Crosby, Nichols & Co.
This excellent work has now been published for twenty-eight years, and has
become universally known as a reliable manual for reference, useful to all classes
of intelligent citizens. Each volume is complete in itself. The Astronomical
Department has been prepared by Mr. George P. Bond, Assistant Observer at
the Cambridge Observatory. The article upon “ Terrestrial Magnetism,” by
Professor Joseph Lorering, of Harvard University, gives an account of the his­
tory and present condition of this interesting department of science. The greater
part of the volume consists, as usual, of a well-arranged collection of political
and statistical information relating to our General government and the individual
States. The tables of the votes for President and Vice-President since 1789,
and of the popular vote for President since 1824, are of interest to all. The
European part of the work is revised from the best authority to late dates. Obit­
uary notices of eminent persons, deceased daring 1855 and 1856, are given, and
have evidently been prepared with care. The chronicle of the events of the pre­
ceding year closes the volume.
35. — Memoirs of Washington. By Mrs. C. M. K irkland. With Illustrations.
12mo., pp. 516. New Y ork : I). Appleton & Co.
Mrs. Kirkland has prepared this biography for the especial use of young peo­
ple—not children, exactly, but the older pupils in our schools, and some learners
who have done with schools. She considers that young people generally regard
Washington “ as a cold, far-off, statue-like person, admirable rather than imitable,
fit for reference but not for love,” and her design is to introduce him “ to their
more intimate knowledge and tenderer regard.” Upon this plan, a very enter­
taining and handsome volume is afforded, and one which, if it has extensive cir­
culation will greatly increase the demand for the large standard works on the life
and times of Washington.
36. — Voices from the Spirit-Land: through N athan Francis W hite, Medium.
12mo., pp. 260. New York : Partridge & Brittan.
This volume of rhyme and blank verse is one of the many works recently pub­
lished, designed to promulgate a belief in the spiritual character of the modern
manifestations. Its introduction includes a biographical sketch of the medium,
wrho is represented as a gentle-hearted, simple-minded young man ; with only the
limited common-school education of a humble New England farmer’s son; with­
out imagination or ideality; incapable ol deception; and utterly ignorant of
bookmaking. “ Any defects, therefore” (according to the introduction) “ apart
from the Voices themselves, 'which stand precisely as uttered, must be charged to
others than Mr. W., and his impressing spirits.”
37. — The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion; or, Familiar
Letters to his Nephews, containing Rules of Etiquette, Directions for the For­
mation of Character, etc., etc., illustrated by sketches drawn from life, of the
men and manners of our time. By Henry Lunettes. 12mo., pp. 480. New
York : Derby & Jackson. Cincinnati: II. W . Derby & Co.
This volume differs widely from all other “ manuals of politeness” that wo have
ever seen. Books of this kind usually consist of brief rules for polite conduct,
to which comments are sometimes added. But this work apparently treats the
subject as though it required four hundred and eighty pages for its proper discus­
sion. And it is more than likely that the book will meet with an extensive sale
on account of its size, which we cannot think it is entitled to on account of its
merits.
38. — L e n a Rivers. By M a r y J. Holmes, author of “ Tempest and Sunshine,”
“ The English Orphans,” “ The Homestead on the Hillside,” etc. 12mo., pp.
416. New York and Auburn: Miller, Orton & Mulligan.
Mrs. Holmes is a very agreeable and even Jacinating writer ; and is especially
successful in her description of home and the family relations. Each of her works
have attained signal popularity, and the present will only add to her well-estab­
lished reputation.