Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : August 1852, Vol. XXVII, No. II

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H U NT’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
E s t a b li s h e d J u l y , 18 3 9 ,

BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

VOLUME X X V II.

AUGUST,

C O N T E N T S OF NO.

1852.

I I .,

NUMBER II.

VOL. X X V II.

ARTICLES.
A r t .

p a g e

.

I. INFLUENCE OF COMMERCEUPON L A W ............................................................................. 147
II. COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES.—No. xxxm .—NEW
YORK. By E. H a l e , Jr., of New Y ork .................................................................................. 158
III. THE LAW FOR THE COMPUTATION OF INTEREST...................................................... 169
IV. OUR METALLIC CURRENCY.

By G e o r g e T u c k e r , o f Pennsylvania............................. 174

V. THE LAW OF PROGRESS IN THE RELATIONS OF CAPITAL AND LABOR. By
E. P. S m it h , E>q., of NewYork................................................................................................. 178
VI. THE N AVAL DRY DOCKS OF THE UNITED STATES................................................... 187
VII.

QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE THEORY OF STORMS. By R o b e r t H a r e , Esq.,
o f Pennsylvania............................................................................................................................ 191

J O U R N A L OF M E R C A N T I L E L A W.
Duties o f a carrier in preserving goods intrusted to his care................................... .........................
Authority of a factor over goods consigned to him, etc......................................................................
Bottomry—the Ann C. Pratt...................................................................................................................
Action of covenant when on an award of referees..............................................................................
Credit obtained for goods by alleged fraud...........................................................................................

196
196
197
203
205

COMMERCI AL C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W :
E M B R A C IN G A F IN A N C IA L A N D C O M M E R C IA L R E V I E W O F T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S , E T C ., I L L U S T R A ­
T E D W I T H T A B L E S , E T C ., A S F O L L O W S I

General activity in commercial affairs—Rapid increase in the amount o f stocks and bonds
thrown upon the market—New Orleans consolidated loan—Continued ease in the money-mar­
ket—Quarterly returns o f the New York banks—General Banking Law o f Connecticut—De­
posits and coinage at United States Mints for June—Commerce o f the United States for the
fiscal year— Laws of trade better than human legislation, illustrated by the regular supply of
the necessaries of life—Imports at New York for the fiscal year—Comparative imports o f dry
goods for the same period, showing the description of fabrics received—Comparative receipts
of cash duties for three years—Exports from New York for the fiscal year—Comparative ex­
ports of lea ling articles of produce—Fraudulent associations............................................... 200-215
VOL. X X V II---- NO.




II.

10

146

CO N TEN TS O P N O . I I ., V O L . X X V I I .

JOURNAL

OP

BANKING,

CURRENCY,

AND F I N A N C E .
PAOK.

Average dividends of Boston banks.................................................................................................... 215
The Precious m etals..................................................................................................................................216
The assessment list of Connecticut........................................................................................................ 218
Banks of the State of New Y o r k ....................................................... ..................................................219
Banks of the city of New Y o rk ............................................................................................................ 223
Suffolk Bank system o f checking counterfeit b ills .............................................................................223
Revenue o f the United Kingdom in thirty y e a r s .............................................................................. 224
The Free Banking Law of Indiana....................................................................................................... 224
Banks in Illinois..................
225

COMMERCIAL

STATISTICS.

The agriculture and manufactures of the United States................................................................... 226
Production of sheep and wool in the United States........................................................................... 227
Whale fishery in the regions about Behring’s Straits........................................................................... 227
Agricultural productions of Virginia.................................................................................................... 228
Exports and imports o f Galena............................................................................................................. 229
Importation of breadstuff's into Great Britain...................................................................................... 230
Comparative Commerce o f ports in the United States....................................................................... 230
Statistics of the slave trade...................... ............................................................................................. 231
Import o f hides into the port of New Y ork ......................................................................................... 231

NAUTICAL

INTELLIGENCE.

Light on Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island..................................................................................... 232
New Light at the entrance of Christiania Fiord..................................................................................232
Latitude of the astronomical stations................................................................ ............................... 232

COMMERCIAL

REGULATIONS,

The appointment o f wharfingers, and their duties, in New Orleans................................................. 233
New Orleans levee and wharfage dues.................................................................................................. 233
Duties on casks and barrels.................................................................................................................... 234
Of the survey of Lumber in Maine....................................................................................................... 236
Of navigation between the United States, Cuba, etc........................................................................... 238
Law o f Ohio to prevent fraud in trade.......................... .................................................................... 239
Of insurance companies in New York...................................................................................................240
Law o f weights and measures in Kentucky................................................ ....................................... 240

RAILROAD,

CANAL,

AND S T E A M B O A T

STATISTICS.

Michigan Central Railroad...................................................................................................................... 241
Statistics o f ocean steamships.................. .......................................................... ............................ 242
Effect of railroads on commercial cities.................................................................................................249
Statistics of locomotives on the Pennsylvania Railroad..................................................................... 250
Tolls on the James River and Kanawha Canal..................................................................................... 251
Boston and Worcester Railroad................................................................................................................252
Railroads in California............................................................................................................................ 252

J O U R N A L OF M I N I N G A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S .
African arts and manufactures...............................................................................................................
The early manufacture of iron in Pennsylvania...................................................................................
Strength* of iron...........................................................................................................
Manufacturing industry during the last and present centuries.........................................................
The lead mines of Arkansas...................................................................................................................
The iron trade o f England.....................................................................................................................

MERCANTILE

253
251
255
257
258
260

MISCELLANIES.

Commercial directories............................................................................................................................ 262
Mercantile Library Association of Boston........................................................................................... 263
Commercial education................................................................................................................................264
The London bookselling system............................................................................................................. 264
The cinnamon of C om m eicc................................................................................................................... 265
Adulteration of coffee in Paris— ..................................................................... ............................... 265
Our Commerce with Brazil and the Amazon.............................................................. .................... 265
High Prices o f marketing........................................
266
A business picture of Cincinnati............................................................................................................ 266
A Mahomedan's idea o f a Christian merchant...................................................................................... 266

THE

BOOK T R A D E .

Notices o f 44 new Books, or new Editions................................................................................... 267-272




n U N T ’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
A U G U S T ,

1852.

Art. I.— IN FLU EN C E OF COMMERCE UPON LAW .
A G R IC U L T U R E — C O M M E R C E — T H E
LAW S— TH E
Or

LATTER

E X P A N D IN G , G U I D I N G , A N D G U A R D I N G

R O M A N S Y S T E M — T H E E N G L IS H

AND

A M E R IC A N

SYSTEM

LAW — TH E

EARLT

E V IN C IN G T H E IN F L U E N C E

COM M ERCE.

T illage o f the earth is the first o f arts. Ordained by the Deity, it is es­
sential to natural and social existence, and forms the basis o f civilization and
wealth. The artisan, merchant, and mariner, are fed mainly by the farmer;
who, in affording support to life, contributes to the first principle and desire
o f our nature. Hence, primary encouragement and encomium are demanded
by this pursuit. The ancients with propriety venerated the plow ; and offered
gratulations to the successful husbandman. If culture o f the earth were
neglected, where could moral and intellectual culture be sustained ? or, with­
out rural districts to produce superabundant sustenance, whence would cities
derive nutriment 1
The man who stands upon his own soil, who feels that by the laws o f
the land in which he lives— by the laws o f civilized nations— he is the right­
ful and exclusive owner o f the land which he tills, is by the constitution o f
our nature under a wholesome influence not easily imbibed from any
other source.* The necessary labor performed in this pursuit contributes to
invigorate health, and to enhance human zest and enjoyment. The domain
the farmer improves, and the trees planted by his own hand— inciting his
heart by expectation— seem to him as friends; and, in proportion to the
toil and care bestowed, is the ardency o f his attachment. Continued com­
munion, too, with the many operations o f nature, inspires generous senti­
ments in the human breast. Thus agriculture, the primary employment o f




* E. Everett.

148

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

mankind and the seminary o f steadiness and virtue, is, at once, the founda­
tion of a nation’s glory and the bulwark o f its liberty. It is the supply
and defense of other pursuits: the substantial timber o f wealth and domin­
ion. Out o f it arise the unpolished materials and raw productions for many
a science, and the elementary interests o f enlightened government.
Y et this pursuit accomplishes its end by easy and sure methods, and
usually requires exertions o f ordinary powers without exposure to hazard
or danger. Its estimation is diminished in the presence o f many pursuits
more precarious and unstable: those pursuits which, often requiring less
rustic and more refined acquirements, demand talents more versatile with
greater exposure to vicissitudes and ventures.
The sphere of the husbandman is limited ; showing less elegance and skill
than rustic and rugged utility. Supplying demands o f nature, it is in a
great degree a stranger to cultured taste and finish, as well as to many re­
finements and luxuries. Yet, bound by many ties to a single locality, the
agricultor in general is patriotic and loyal. lie possesses habits rather mo­
notonous than migratory; with opinions and manners but little inclined to
change. Clearing and cultivating the soil, methods perhaps of hunting and
fishing, the care and rearing o f stock, with the plainer domestic arts and en­
gagements, secure his attention. D igging o f wells, regulation o f roads,
erection of bridges, habitations, barns and mills, together with edifices for
education and divine worship, are calls upon his toil. Here, resort is had
to mechanic arts affording implements and utensils necessary in these labors,
with those needed in the plainest domestic manufactures. Articles needful
for comfort are mainly fabricated by the females o f the household. D ili­
gent attention, with patient industry, keeps at bay the enemies of content­
ment. Games and sports o f society are athletic and valiant; and efforts at
endurance and hardihood are feats most praiseworthy and pleasing.
The seasons rotate with their influences and productions, while little ob­
scurity attends the Creator’s unfoldings. The farmer, observing the progress
o f nature, fences and fertilizes his fields, and maintains productive his inelosures. H e delves and plows with a mind to tillage, and develops the
strength o f the steed and ox in the toil o f his domain. He is diligent to
know o f his flocks and herds, and to attain food and clothing for his house­
hold. Meditating upon the beauties and bounties o f nature, his mind is
oftener quieted to repose than quickened into action. To the hazard o f con­
flagration he is hut little exposed. Perils attending agitated waves o f the
ocean seldom awaken his concern. Afar from speculative adventures and
risks o f precarious circumstances, he is seldom annoyed by fluctuations o f
trade or fanciful turns of fashion. W hen the harvest arrives, he fills his
barns and cribs ; and his toil is rewarded in the abundance o f his increase.
Revulsions and panics, with sudden and overwhelming reverses in trade,
find him as unconcerned as do city tumults awakened by gusts o f human
passion. The simple grandeur o f his rural state is exempt from all com­
plexity o f business relations, and he lives free from that manifold collision
o f interests encompassing denizens of cities.
W h at arts soever are gained different from the least mature and refined,
the most rustic and simple, come from other branches o f society than the ag­
ricultural. W ithout barter or Commerce, total possessions would be indi­
genous productions; while society would continue with few conveniences
and comforts. Locked up within a single domain, uninitiated in remote
and foreign observation, and destitute o f distant exchanges and examples, a




Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

149

simple and monotonous existence would be perpetual. Is it not Commerce
that emblazons characteristics o f those who appear on the ocean, that the­
ater o f enterprise and highway of nations ? Does not Commerce prompt
the erection o f extensive granaries, suggest internal improvements and fa­
cilitate transportation and travel ? Is it not Commerce that enables the ag­
riculturist to study traditions and scan the customs and manners o f other
nations ? Ideas upon tilth-producing soils, merits o f domestic animals, with
useful merchandise and novel and marvelous objects, come floating to the
farmer on the tide o f Commerce.
A m ong the foremost aspects o f Commerce is that o f exchange, gift for
gift. In daily intercourse, in the friendly circle, in the great life o f the peo­
ple, everywhere seeing thrift and prosperity, see we also trade. “ Com­
merce,” says Justice Story, “ undoubtedly is traffic ; but it is something more.
It is intercourse.” Surplus agricultural and manufactural with scientific pro­
ductions, are taken to foreign lauds ; and returning messengers bring innu­
merable commodities to increase varieties and quicken ingenuity of home.
A s ships’ bottoms imperceptibly accumulate barnacles, so ideas enure to those
engaged in trade. Exchanges and interviews in amplifying means o f eru­
dition, illuminate the understanding. Traffic appearing,’ the bugle sounds,
awakening pursuits o f science; and Commerce calls out and arrays the oper­
atives o f progress. Giving play to affluent energies, sallying out in search
o f gain and instruction, and emiting incitements to scrutiny, Commerce
enlarges domains o f discernment and skill. It elicits and confers on rough
material real and fancied utility. It urges mechanic, manufactural, and ar­
tistic experiments to elaborate attention ; and, in affording a broad capacity
to education and science, makes special pursuits o f many departments o f
knowledge.
Art thrives most
Where Commerce has enriched the busy coast;
He catches all improvements in his flight,
Spreads foreign wonders in his country’s sight;
Imparts what others have invented well,
And stirs his own to match them or excel.*
Collisions o f interests quicken human energies, and competition animates
trade. Sciences, flourishing most in each other’ s vicinity, the commercia'
metropolis presents them in their most improved phases. Here intricate
positions are prolific in their demands, and necessity is compelled to many
ingenuities. Distinction o f circumstances and diversities o f condition mul­
tiply. Partnerships, corporations, and combinations appear. Varieties of
avocations advance the public g o o d ; affording aptitudes, profoundness, and
a lithe emulation to the community. In thus contributing to thrift and
enlightenment, Commerce causes an influx o f pursuits demanding the guid­
ance o f law.
Enactments attend traffic, and lead barter in proper channels. The past
presents laws preventing artificers from leaving their country; and native
laboring and manufacturing interests (encouraged to independence) have
been protected from the crippling power o f free foreign competition. Com­
merce, not being discriminating in its importations, law has been invoked
to distribute the useful and necessary, rather than the useless and evil.
Vitiated and spurious commodities have been excluded by enactments, and




Cowper.

150

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

duties have been imposed on frivolous luxuries. Commerce thus guarded1
urges enterprises to diffuse advantageous plenty over the land. Years re­
volve, and innumerable products o f other climes, facilities of comfort, ingen
ious fabrics and sparkles o f invention, are wafted on the wings o f trade.
Extreme thirst for riches and love o f competition may too adventurously
run into speculations. These may drive commercial credit to an unnatural
degree; causing excessive supplies to precede demands with consequent evils
and miseries. Or, peradventure, the currency or other medium o f action,
may by ill legislation, prevent ease and regularity o f commercial operations.
Crises like these are deplorable; yet the history o f Commerce is not a stran­
ger to them. The fall o f the improvident and prodigal with the imprudent
and unfortunate, like the tower o f old, is a warning to the surrounding mul­
titude. Having scattered its effects, the crisis passes. Commerce, it may be,
influences the passage o f a “ Bankrupt Law,” and, thus disenthralled, pur­
sues the tenor o f her way.
Established on a substantial basis, enlivening Commerce vibrates with the
pulsations of the nation. Eventually its voice is heard in every avenue o f
the land— its advantages are secured in every rural retreat— its influence is
felt in every department o f government.
Commerces urges a crusade
against uncouthness and all things unseemly; and lays open the radiant
pathway o f national grandeur. It encourages the neat, the elegant, and
beautiful; taking to the highest point the contrivances and inventions that
minister to the graces and comforts o f life. It caters to the taste fostered by
Him who, reigning supreme, has attired his whole creation in countless forms
o f elegance and beauty ; painting the flowers, giving the rose its fragrance,
throwing out the arch o f the rainbow, tipping the wing o f the bird with
gold, and filling the air with music. Scientific agriculture, gardening, hor­
ticulture, keep accompanying pace with opulent Commerce. Through the
influence o f Commerce, the temple o f Solomon arose; and elegant archi­
tecture, painting, and statuary, with the loftiest decorations o f national mag­
nificence, owe their amplest conceptions to maturity in this pursuit. The
globe is girdled by Com m erce; by her the truths o f nature are sought.
Hoes she not navigate, discover, explore 1 Does she not ransack continents,
ascend in the air, and dive into the ocean ? Does she not penetrate the earth,
scale mountains, and traverse deserts ? W ith her are found the myriad
commodities o f traffic, and the many pursuits o f science. B y her appear
all that is fascinating and wonderful in nature, and all that is curious and
beautiful in art: all that human kind has of wit or wisdom, o f eloquence or
genius, o f ingenuity or science. Here we discover the field of nature, the
departments o f artifice and handiwork, the faculties o f mind, explored by
the operations o f trade, and traced by the regulations o f law.
Before Commerce becomes brisk or busy marts engage in enterprises, laws
are few. But society in emerging from a simple, natural state, to an arti­
ficial and refined condition, brings with it innumerable developments, with
corresponding enactments. In adding opulent scope to language,* Com­
merce throws out a potent influence upon law. “ There is no such witness
to the degradation of the savage,” says Trench, “ as the brutal poverty o f
his language; nor is there anything that so effectually tends to keep him
in the depths to which he has fallen.” Traffic in its progress meets with
terms to which the language was a stranger at its first moldings. Urging




* See vol. xxiv.y Merchants' Magazine, pp. 174-80.

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

151

investigation, eliciting new ideas and acting the neologist, it lights the torch
o f information and penetrates the recesses o f the temple o f truth. The
language o f trade, enriching itself both by terms borrowed from many lan­
guages and from novel inventions and discoveries, becomes fluent and volu­
ble in capacity, and fertile and copious in thought. And through these
processes, Commerce elaborates the science o f law. “ Our laws,” says Lord
Bacon, “ are mixed as our language; and as our language is so much the
richer, the laws are the more complete.”
Maxims and distinctions maintained in a rude and merely gregarious con­
dition, differ extensively from those held by enlightened men under a liberal
government. A narrow scope o f comprehension or o f action, and a paucity
o f laws are inseparable ; while a broad sphere o f civil authority and exten­
sive trade possess numerous enactments with many questions for adjudica­
tion. Growing transactions with newly arising exigencies, call for adapting
statutes; and every flourishing government, in augmenting its pursuits and
population, expands the number with the scope o f its enactments. Civil and
criminal remedies and regulations accumulate and become complex as well in
proportion to increasing opulence and population, as to the securities of­
fered to the reputation, liberties, and lives o f the people. W here man is
active in eliciting every ability and exertion, every truth and knowledge,
enactments preside with every check and restraint. Every progression in so­
ciety evolves new duties, extends refined sentiment, and binds the conscience
to respect new rights. Laws are based upon some well established princi­
ple o f human nature or upon some principle or reason of policy, authority,
or mercy, or o f decency o f balance, or harm ony; and though it be maintained
that, being simple, but few are required; yet, where mature civilization with
varied avocations and copious truths prevail, statutes and authorities will be
abundant. Decisions and court opinions being plainly conclusive, it is gen­
erally admitted that all laws are founded upon common sense. Yet what
is common sense but a judicious application o f ascertained principles to
things as they are ? A populous commercial community is a fertile field
prolific in ascertained principles. Its intelligent sovereignty hovers over a
ramification o f human affairs, which baffles isolated considerations while it
guards an intricate collection of interests. Laws and decisions are so nu­
merous that variety may be taken for confusion o f enactments; and compli­
cated, for contradictory cases. Hence arise the nice and subtle distinctions
so characteristic o f the law. A single and apparently trivial fact may qual­
ify, restrain, or enlarge an established rule. Hence, also flows that necessity
for perpetual activity o f judicial tribunals; and for those multiplying reports
o f decided cases, which render the law so emphatically an accumulating
science.
W ith trade appear distinct authorities and rules as maritime and com­
mercial remedies. Courts o f admirality, guarding rights springing from
marine contracts or services, afford their authority; and, having exclusive
civil and criminal jurisdiction, their sphere is broad while their “ process
sweeps the seas.” The Law Merchant or L ex Mercatoria, as a body of
usages, is both intricate and vast. Exclusively o f currency, credit, and sol­
vency ; also exclusively o f surety, stocks, trusts, and revenue; matters re­
lating to exchange, shipping, insurance, and the many forms and customs
touching the various mercantile contracts show the extent o f trade’s influence.
Questions continually arise which involve interests o f few, and upon cir­
cumstances immediately before o n e ; with others involving interests o f va­




152

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

riously employed thousands, and they scattered over a broad domain.
Records o f law receive voluminous acquisitions from matters relating directly
to Com m erce; and the law merchant affords a large proportion o f reported
cases.
Commerce influences law by fostering national peace. Cotton bales or
cannon balls affect nations; as governments, in truth, in their intercourse
with one another, know but the two mediums o f war and Commerce. Un­
der the benign influences o f Commerce, antiquated distinctions break away,
local animosities subside ; and, though mountains or seas interpose between
nations, less enmity prevails with trade, and more reciprocal goodwill.
Interests o f trade are links o f intercourse not easily sundered ; they hold the
anchors o f safety and security, and preserve the archives o f science. Inter­
changes o f courtesies and commodities, at home and abroad, add strength
to standard authority. Treaties o f amity and Commerce resist inveterate
spirits o f aggression and conflict. During the reign o f war and rage o f con­
tending arms, Commerce is fettered, and the laws are stifled and mute.
Then appear lust, discord, ferocity and carnage; then turbulent passion,
belligerent and sanguinary struggles, with the havoc o f the sword, usurp
the places o f peaceful pursuits, and o f law and order. Tranquillity of govern­
ment, and the reign o f peace regaining prevalence, agriculture unmolested,
presents her cornucopia; and Commerce pursues her march with safety and
profit. Law sits, serenely, decreeing judgm ents; and justice is dispensed to
all. Commerce, while encouraging pacific influences, rests on the sword,
which prevents destruction o f shipping and desolation o f coast. Navies,
established on enterprises in commercial navigation, guard prosperity, in
view o f aggression, and maintain vigilant readiness and power for war— the
truest safeguards o f peace.
Early laws, corresponding with earliest pursuits, were proclaimed by the
Divine Legislator. The Decalogue, so plain and so simple, yet so compre­
hensive, comprises an ample code for the regulation o f a rural people, living
in a simple state o f nature. The early Hebrews were eminently geoponical
and pastoral. Society’s advancement calls for other and more numerous
enactments. W hen the tables of the laws were handed to Moses, additional
laws to those already decreed, were required and bestowed. Maxims and
enactments, illustrative and additional, appear with progress o f society, as
recorded in the sacred volum e; and the same observation applies to the
primitive Saxons, their brethren on the continent, and the other nations o f
the earth. Agricultural and military combinations are less intricate than
manufacturing and commercial communities; while, where all these are
blended in one collection, the laws become necessarily voluminous. Modern
constitutions, like ancient systems, framed for the preservation o f liberty,
consist o f many parts. Senates, popular assemblies, courts o f justice, and
magistrates o f different orders, are blended to balance each other, while they
exercise, sustain or check executive power.
Publicists, legislators, with
judges, jurists and jurors, are delegated to frame, enact, elucidate and apply
the laws. The complex machinery o f government is kept in active opera­
tion ; freedom and domestic tranquillity are maintained; the common de­
fense and general welfare provided fo r; and justice and equity preserved
and dispensed. Here appear, also, occasions for the development of those
influences and features most prominent in distinguishing a nation.
W ithout alluding to other systems, we will observe the two prominent
ones that now sway the destinies o f Christendom.
W e learn, says a




Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

153

writer,* the art o f war from Rome, and maritime affairs from the English.
The influence o f Commerce appears conspicuously in the varied operations of
the Roman and British jurisprudence. The Roman system progressed to
a copious depository o f legal science. Rome’s distinguishing policy, how­
ever, was w a r ; and her intercourse proceeded directly from forces o f her
arms. Thus we see the iron cohorts and military sway preponderating, yet,
the gaining, in the subduement o f other countries, many influences flowing
from trade. Commercial Greece captivated her savage conqueror, and in­
troduced her arts among the Rom ans; while, with extended dominions in
the east, Rome’s taste for foreign varieties became a passion, and, exacting
pay for subjugation, she soon possessed every article that was expensive or
luxurious. She deduced laws, through the Greeks, from Crete and Tyre ;
formed a basis o f intercourse and obligation ; became mistress o f the seas:
and acquired the principles which have placed her on an endurable pedestal
in the temple of time. Yet, despising and scorning traffic, her polity has
never diminished its ardor and aptitude for the shield, nor departed from
tameness and timidity in trade. Her literature portrays much of battles ;
her chief writers and orators were eminent in soldiery. The Roman forum
was filled, not by a crowd o f mechanics nor mariners, but by w’arriors; and
the imperial system received its meditations from the field o f Mars. W ith ­
out aggression and conquest, therefore, it appears oppugnant and callous,
because, in barter it is restrictive and rigid. Catering to a taste to subdue
the world, Imperial Rome has continued to throw a sway, and infuse a love
o f arbitrary rule and o f war, over Europe, long after her pristine grandeur
departed. The most renowned in European science resorted to the fountain
o f imperial jurisprudence. Its jurists were eminently learned. A religious
order, pledged to gravity and austerity o f character, with ecclesiastical insti­
tutions and the most potent of polemical establishments, combined to sus­
tain and perpetuate the Roman polity; while itself, fixed and affluent, terse
yet copious, invaded the judicial systems of Europe, with an influence
scarcely less than that exercised over the European dialects and literature,
by the Roman tongue. But, with the revolutions and changes o f centuries,
the more enlightened nations have, by varied courses, transcended free
authority o f Rome.
In modern times, animosity and war among the
nations, have diminished, and the principles of the great Teacher o f Peace
have had greater attractions; the virtues of valor and knowledge o f car­
nage have been less sought; the arm o f oppression and the usurper’s
sword have been less lauded. Subduing conquest, less rigorous against the
rights o f common humanity, has been, in a measure, superseded by affable
exchange. Law has been varied to suit the genius of pacific intercourse
and traffic. The spirit o f Commerce, alienated from tyranny, exclusiveness,
and the majesty o f imperial rule, has liberalized the world. Intelligence, no
longer locked in the cloister and castle, has been spread broadcast among
the people. Superstition has been shorn o f its legions. Novel and valuable
inventions have appeared; while elevating views have advanced.
Interchange o f commodities and intercourse with other countries, aug­
mented the power and enlarged the ideas of the English. Advancing in
trade and science, and placed in novel positions, they looked upon the
Roman system as too contracted in traffic.
In their social relations, in
their pursuits, in their literature and science, were conspicuous variations ;




Von Muller's Univ. History.

154

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

and Rome began to appear as a relie o f the past. W hen the invention of
printing, awakened by commercial spirit, commenced to diffuse learning;
when the progress o f religious information began to be universally dissemi­
nated ; when trade and navigation were pursued to an amazing extent by
the use o f the com pass; the minds o f men, thus enlightened by science,
and enlarged by observation and travel, began to entertain a more just
opinion o f the dignity and rights of mankind.*
The thirteenth century shows the British character to have been mold­
ing. Then, out o f several races, a distinctive people was rising. The House
o f Commons, the archetype o f all the representative assemblies that now
meet, either in the old or in the new world, held its first sittings. The
sailors who manned the barks of the Cinque Ports, first made the flag
o f England conspicuous on the seas ; and the common law rose to the dig­
nity o f a science, and rapidly became a not unworthy rival o f the imperial
jurisprudence.! Commerce continued to advance; its scope and energy
verged onward, throwing out and establishing theories, and thrilling its way
in wider and wider circles. Generation ensued generation, with surprising
additions to traffic: and century followed century, with wonderful aug­
mentations o f shipping. Plucked from the untraversed waters of the W est­
ern Ocean was a hemisphere which attracted the attention o f the maritime
States across the Atlantic. The policy o f the common law being encourage­
ment to trade— England sought with eagerness this new arena for her Com­
merce. Efforts were succeeded by successes, and commercial enterprises
were, for a long time, conceived and consummated with a single view to
British interests. Sturdy sinews o f America were exerted to elevate the
parent country, whose colonial powers, in every direction, were affluent
channels o f grandeur. Similar courses continuing, the British empire be­
came pre-eminent in commercial importance, and not only the sovereign
o f the seas, but the wonder o f the world. The learned Blackstone conceived,
at this period, the plan o f his renowned commentaries. Locke had already
analyzed the human mind, and Newton, investigated the laws of nature.
Though secluded geographically from the rest o f the world, the British be­
came commercially ubiquitous; and the sun ceased to set on their dominions.
The Commerce and common law of the English, buoyant with science and
human rights, arrived together at supremacy.
Long continued prevalence o f trade exhibited its palpable traces and foot­
prints. D id not rudeness and barbarity disappear before it \ D id it not
restrain the exercise o f the instruments o f military prowess 2 W ere not
feudal restraints softened much earlier, and much more effectually for its
benefit than for any other consideration ? Did it not penetrate the main
arteries o f the body politic ? “ Formerly,” said Lord Mansfield,J “ we were
not that great commercial nation we are at present; nor formerly were mer­
chants and manufacturers members of parliament, as at present. The case
is now very different. Both merchants and manufacturers are, with great
propriety, elected members o f the lower house. Commerce having thus
got into the legislative body o f the kingdom, privilege must be done away.
...........Any exemption to particular men, or to particular ranks o f men, is,
in a free and commercial country, a solecism o f the grossest nature.”
The sanguine genius o f Commerce differed with Rome, whose course,




* Commentaries on Law of England, B. iv. p.434.
+ JllcCuulay's England, Harper’s ed., Vol. i. p. 325.
%In the House of Peers, 1770.

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

155

when unobservant o f military armor and martial scenes, became oscitant and
drowsy. Like their system of law, the active principles o f religion and
liberty espoused by the English, were plainly distinguished from Roman
tenets. Translations of the Scriptures, the compilation o f the book o f Com­
mon Prayer, with other means o f extensive education, enlarged the intellect
o f England, infused a taste for knowledge, and led to a flourishing literary
era. In the discovery and execution o f wise plans to facilitate their pro­
gress, the British stepped forth unrivalled by any nation among mankind.
Shifting the scenes on the stage o f time with energy and force, they pre­
sented a grand and cheering exhibition to the survey o f the world. The
common law, commencing at an early period, and promoted by customs and
usages gathered during successive invasions, gradually advanced with pro­
gressing enlightenment.
Flexible and plastic, it was easily matured and
molded by opinions and pursuits. W ell adapted to conditions and cir­
cumstances, it was inwoven with the favor o f prevailing sentiment. Eminent
judges avoided or became loth to quote imperial precepts. The Roman
law grew more and more into discredit, as the common law operated “ as
the wheel to the car o f Commerce.” The age o f general intercourse and ex­
change now dawns. Thought is free. Biblical theology wins attention ;
discipline in logic and philosophy advance; instruction hurls out ignorance ;
liberty flashes upon the view ; serfdom diminishes ; ideas o f human rights
are disseminated; London, the city o f ships, looms up to the wondering
gaze ; Britannia rules the waves ; the world awakes to a knowledge o f free­
dom. The common law fosters trade and a rapid interchange of commodities ;
the civil law is restrictive o f both. The civil law is replete with a by-gone
order o f things, while the common law is full o f freshness and life. The
one is o f the spirit o f the past; the other, o f the genius o f the present and
future. The one, o f a nature o f quietude and repose ; the other, o f a pro­
gressive and reforming nature.
Commerce found full amplitude in the New W orld. Earliest colonists,
migrating from commercial nations, were accompanied by characteristics of
a commercial people, and engaged extensively, from the time o f their settle­
ment, in commercial pursuits. European surprise was soon awakened by
the maritime plans and intrepidity of the colonists. England looked amazed
at the hardy industry of this recent people. Eloquent tributes were elicited
by their stalwort energy and daring. In an effort to restrain colonial pros­
perity, as they clipped the wings of the Dutch navigators, the British met
resistance eventuating in American independence. Conspicuously in the
celebrated Declaration, appeared the signature o f the president o f the con­
tinental congress— a distinguished commercial character.
W ant o f power
to regulate Commerce with foreign nations, was one of the leading defects of
the confederation, and, probably, as much as any one cause, conduced to the
establishment o f the constitution.*
The immortal Henry urged that Com­
merce be unfettered, and portrayed the advantages o f swift-winged trade.
W hile many commercial men contributed munificently to sacred and literary
institutions, the nearest universal freedom soon spread over the most
commercial regions o f the la n d ; thus diminishing the hereditary evil of
slavery.
In preferring the common law, upon which to predicate a national polity,
the Americans deviated, from that love for the heroic possessed by the




* Story's Commentaries on the Constitution o f the U. S.

156

Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

Romans, and revealed a greater regard for interchange o f commodities.
The North American Union, like the English, repudiated the doctrine
holding trade as inconsistent with Christianity. They could not determine,
with Pope Urban IT., that it is impossible with a safe conscience to exercise
any traffic; nor could the American Republic be induced to favor any
Roman tenet in respect to barter. The constitution o f the United States
laid down the rule by which to regulate Commerce with foreign nations, and
displayed for the Union’s home trade the broadest basis. These regulations
were not long without flattering advantages and encomiums. “ Happy
Americans !” said a European,* “ while the whirlwind flies over one quarter
o f the globe, and spreads everywhere desolation, you remain protected from
its baneful effects by your own virtues and the wisdom o f your government.
Separated from Europe by an immense ocean, you feel not the effect of
those prejudices and passions which convert the boasted seats o f civilization
into scenes of horror and bloodshed. Y ou profit by the folly and madness
o f the contending nations, and afford, in your more congenial clime, an
asylum to those blessings and virtues which they wantonly contemn, or
wickedly exclude from their b osom ! Cultivating the arts o f peace under
the influence o f freedom, you advance by rapid strides to opulence and
distinction.” In his farewell address, W ashington offered opinions encour­
aging to trade, maintaining that “ harmony and a liberal intercourse with
all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity and interest.”
Diffuse
and diversify, by gentle means, the streams of Commerce, recommended
the patriot, by giving trade a stable intercourse, defining the rights of our
merchants, and enabling the government to support them by conventional
rules o f intercourse— the best that circumstances and mutual opinions will
permit. Thus, the Americans have attained and favored the influences of
the common law, and thrown to neglect the dicta o f the Roman system.
“ In the one,” (the common law,) says a recent writer,f “ you see the
activity, the throng, the tumult o f business life ; in the other, the stagnation
o f an inconsiderable and waning trade.
In the one, the boldness, the im­
petuosity, the invention o f advancing knowledge and civilization ; in the other,
feebleness o f intellect, timidity o f spirit, and the crouching subserviency of
slaves.”
A moment’s notice, now, of those nations which still adhere to the Roman
school, and those that have followed or improved the English system, will
reveal the different characters o f their Commerce and condition. Excepting
Russia and Turkey, the nations on the continent o f Europe, Mexico, Guatimala and all those o f South America, including the empire of Brazil, main­
tain the supremacy o f the civil or Roman law. England, with her colonies
in all parts of the globe, and the United States, excepting Louisiana, adhere
to the common law. The Commerce o f the civil law is circumscribed by a
limited range, and prosecuted in inferior sh ips; it moves languidly along a
few familiar shores, or, if occasionally venturing forth into remoter regions,
it is with a hesitating, faltering movement, sluggish in its progress and
unprofitable in its results. The Commerce o f the common law, with en­
couraged merchants and superior vessels, enlivens every port and roams over
the surface o f every sea ; urging onward from city, bay and inlet, it pushes
its career wherever civilized man can penetrate ; girdles the globe in search
•Chas. J. Fox, 1794.
t Report to California Legislature on the Common and Civil Law.




Influence o f Commerce upon Law.

15 1

o f the necessaries and luxuries o f life, “ and returns laden with the spoils of
a ransacked world.”
The English, in disregarding the turbid principles o f an austere and
antiquated jurisprudence, were enabled to suggest and meet the exigencies
o f advancing science, and to build up a system affording more cheering
views and better precepts for the operations o f mankind. Inventions and
discoveries were vital signs o f progress. Rights o f humanity, the limits and
duty o f government and laws o f nations, were brought forth and defined.
The confederated North American republic, leading on in the path o f enlight­
enment, declared for the highest privileges o f the English law, and added a
recognition o f inalienable rights, everywhere to be acknowledged among
men. Through an unexampled solidity o f reasoning, force o f sagacity and
wisdom o f conclusion, the United States afford influences, as well in the
frustration o f the hopes o f tyranny as in the advancement of Commerce. To
secure fullest authority for trade, and in pursuit o f its love for freedom, the
sceptre has been wrested from kings : and, in giving its operations celerity,
the lightning has been snatched from heaven.
The press, the pulpit, the
school have been active ; the rail car, the steamship and magnetic line have
been busy : distance has been abridged ; “ space has been contracted and
shrivelled up like a scroll.” The progressive evolutions o f trade, and those
o f its concomitants, are without parallel in history. Legal science has been
correspondingly considered and enlarged.
The American law system, as
well on sea as on land, is broadly presented to the world. “ Wherever
there is an American ship,” says Marsh,* “ there is American law.” “ Especially
in its improved and varied condition in America, under the benign influence
o f an expanded Commerce, o f enlightened justice, o f republican principles,
and o f sound philosophy,” says Kent,f “ the common law has become a code
o f natural ethics and enlarged civil wisdom, admirably adapted to promote
and secure the freedom and happiness o f social life.” “ Throughout the
land, and more especially in thirty distinct and independent empires, many
o f them covering a territory exceeding the limits of the island of Great
Britain, this body of law,” says J. Anthon, “ is subjected to an elaboration
of the most expansive character, arising from new social positions, under
novel forms o f government, demanding equally novel applications of estab­
lished rules and principles.”
H ad the voices o f valor, with the emblazonry o f the shield, still been the
most captivating— had the terms of the civil law, impregnated with martial
habits, won the primary attention o f the people o f the American confederacy,
and the peaceful pursuits of Commerce been unencouraged— the people o f the
United States might long have been numbered among the melancholy vic­
tims of misguided councils— must, at best, have been laboring under the
weight o f some of those forms which have crushed the liberties o f the rest
o f mankind.
But, happily, “ a new and more noble course” was pursued.
W ith the formation of the Constitution o f the American Union, appeared
an epoch in the history o f governments ; then arose a monument o f wisdom,
exhibiting to the study o f the world a human record unrivaled in the annals
* ,l On whatever errand an American vessel may be bound—whether, freighted with Commerce, she
links continents together; or laden with provisions, she points her prow to a famishing people;
whether she bears the emblems of a nation’s progress to a convention o f the world or brings Irom
imprisonment the exiled patriotism of an ancient and heroic race ; or, whether in search o f some
uoble and gallant explorer, she rides on icy billows, and inter-penetrates the towering bergs o f the
Arctic circle ; wherever she is and whatever her business—there, on her decks, invisible but com­
manding, stands erect the majestic form o f American law.” —Luther R. Marsh, Esq.
f James Kent, LL. D.




158

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States:

o f the family o f man. Then ushered forth the light o f genuine toleration and
liberty, which, manifesting the spirit and essence o f Christianity, elevated
individual and social character, and irradiated society with a halo of genial
liberality. The knowledge o f circumstances, the suggestions of good sense,
with the lessons of experience, prevailed over an undue regard for the
opinions and habits o f other countries, and a blind veneration for antiquity.
Under this constitution and form of government— detached and distant from
rival nations, espousing no foreign prejudice, entangled in no alliance— the
courses o f our country have been free, and the scope o f her progress
extensive. Advancing to a significant position o f power, she has success­
fully buffeted impediments to free developments; and, already superseding
Britannia on the waves, promises a grandeur surpassing the ancient as well
as modem governments o f the globe. W hile, whithersoever public energy
has gone, or to whatever point inventive genius has led, regulating enact­
ments have followed ; and with every wave o f science, with every verge of
enterprise or sovereignty, an o’er-hovering a;gis has appeared in our system
o f law. The accumulating tide o f American precedent and example, has
tended with impetuous force from the new to the old world ; and a polity
already appears, destined, perhaps, by its exuberant wisdom, to overspread,
with the sway of a freshet, the systems of the past.
A . H. R.

Art. II.— COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF TH E UNITED STATES.
NUM BER

NEW

X X X III.

YORK.

O ur design in this article is to present not merely a statement o f the ab­
solute condition o f the Great Emporium, but by comparison of the various
particulars, with corresponding statistics o f other cities o f the United States,
and o f other countries, to show her relative position, in the several depart­
ments, among the cities o f the earth— to point out her differences from
them, and reveal her peculiar excellencies and deficiencies. O f course, the
article, thus constituted, will be also, to a considerable extent, an exposition
o f the condition, absolute and relative, o f the other cities, brought into the
comparison ; and will be in fact, excepting as to some details regarding New
York, not followed out in the case o f the others, a Comparative Vieiv, in
their principal features, o f some o f the leading Commercial and M anufac­
turing Towns on the two continents.
DESCRIPTION

OP NEW YORK.

Situation. The commercial metropolis o f America stands upon an isl­
and, at the head o f a bay formed by the junction o f the Hudson, or North,
with the East River, (a strait, connecting at the other end with Long Island
Sound,) and at a distance o f about eighteen miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
It is separated from the mainland by a winding water-way o f eight miles in
length, called Harlem River on the east side, and Spuyten D uyvel K ill on
the west, or North River side. This island, bearing the name o f the city,




N ew York.

159

and called by tbe Indians Manhattan, is 1 3 i miles long, from north to south,
with an average width o f one mile, 3,220 feet, or 8,500 feet, the greatest
breadth being on the line of Eighty-eighth-street— 12,500 feet, about 2 i
miles. Its area is about 14,000 acres.
The latitude of the city, reckoned from the City Hall, is 40° 42' 4 3 "
north, and the longitude west from Greenwich, 74° 0' 4 1 ", or east from
Washington, 30° 1' 13".
Its distance from various places, within the United States, by the nearest
mail-routes, is as follows
Albany.......................
Boston......................
Portland, Maine........ .................
Philadelphia.............
Baltimore................. .
Washington............... .................

Charleston, S. Carolina.. . . miles
New Orleans.............................
317 Buffalo......................................
Cincinnati.................................
St. Louis....................................
225

769
1,428
357
722
1,046

Surface. The surface o f the upper part o f the island is still consider­
ably diversified; the highest point is 238 feet above tide-water. The lower
part, the site o f the city, was formerly varied with hills and hollows, swamps,
ponds, marshes, rocks and acclivities, most of which diversity has been swept
away by the hand o f improvement. Many creeks and inlets on the mar­
gins of the rivers have also been tilled up, and a considerable area in the
southern part of the city is made-ground, considerably altering the original
water-line. The Battery is an artificial esplanade, built upon a ledge of
rocks, and a large part of water. Front and South streets, on East River,
and Greenwich, Washington, and W est, on North River, contiguous to the
Battery, were reclaimed from the rivers. Pearl-street, to some distance
above W all, was the original shore o f the East River. As improved, the
site of the denser part of the city consists o f a gentle slope from the center
toward either river, Broadway, the principal street, running along the line
o f the ridge.
_ Formation. The soil is a sandy alluvion, and less fertile than in many
other parts of the State. The basis is principally gneiss, but the north part
o f the island is composed of granular and primitive limestone, which is
quarried, and known as Kingsbridge Marble. The gneiss foundation is cov­
ered by a bed of alluvial or tertiary sands, o f considerable thickness, upon
which lies the diluvium to the depth o f ten to eighty feet.
E xtent o f the City. The city at present extends northward about three
miles from the Battery, and covers about one-fifth o f the island. The com­
pact portion is over nine miles in circumference. The rest o f the island is
under cultivation.
Plan. The city was originally laid out without any regularity, the streets
being mostly narrow and crooked. The founders had no idea of the destiny
o f their humble settlement. They knew little of the great advantages of
its situation ; the vast resource o f the interior o f the continent was to them
as though it had no existence, and had they known of it, their sober imag­
ination would never have dreamed o f the artificial river which was to bring
down the wealth of that far region. Little did they fancy their sheep-walks
were to bo the thronged avenues of a mighty trade. Could they have seen
the future, even the phlegm of the old Knickerbockers would have yielded
to amazement.
The irregularities and deformities of the early period have been mostly
corrected of late. After the Revolutionary War, great and systematic im ­




160

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States :

provements were undertaken, in view o f the anticipated growth o f the city.
The upper portion of the island was surveyed between 1811 and 1821, and
laid out into sixteen avenues, extending from Fourteenth-street in parallel
lines, and cut through rocks and hills at great expense. These were inter­
sected, at right angles, by 156 cross streets, running from river to river, and
numerically designated, forming squares, varying not much from 200 by
800 feet. In the lower part, beside the improvements before mentioned, a
groat many streets have been straightened, widened, or extended, at enor­
mous expense. The work is progressing, and in a few years more the whole
city will be provided with spacy and commodious avenues. N o other city,
probably, has made as great expenditure in correcting defects o f this nature.
A style o f building, combining a high degree o f elegance with much en­
larged conveniences, has superseded the old methods, and is rapidly sup­
planting the structures built after them. In the lower part o f the city, the
old stores and residences are giving way to large and magnificent stores and
warehouses, many o f them having brown stone, and a few marble fronts.
Up-town, the dwellings are mostly built in large and uniform blocks o f
brick, with ornamented iron railings in front, and make a very pleasing ap­
pearance. Some of the private mansions are most elegant structures.
Business Locations. The population principally resides in the upper
part of the city, and the lower part is nearly engrossed in the accommoda­
tion o f business.
The principal business portion— that where the great
commercial establishments are located— lies within the lines described by
the lower end of Broadway, Fulton-street, and the East River. A great
part o f this section was burned down in the fire o f December, 1835, but
was soon rebuilt in superior style.
Wall-street is the focus o f the
great monetary operations, that are watched with great interest not only
over the United States, but in Europe. Here are the great speculations in
stocks, bonds, houses, lands, and other merchandises. It is occupied by the
ofiiees o f brokers, banks, insurance companies, &c., and contains also the
Merchants’ Exchange and Custom-House. South-street is occupied by the
principal shipping houses, and the offices of most o f the foreign packet lines.
The dry goods jobbing and importing business, formerly confined to Pearlstreet, has extended to William, Broad, Pine, Cedar, Liberty, (he. On W a ­
ter and Front streets, and the vicinity, are the wholesale grocers, commis­
sion merchants, and mechanics connected with the shipping business. Broad­
way is not less an avenue o f business than the promenade o f beauty and
fashion. It contains the chief bookstores, jewelry, upholstery, hat and cap,
tailoring, millinery, retail dry goods, and other like establishments. The
hardware trade is chiefly in Platt and Pearl streets, and the leather dealers
occupy Ferry and Jacob streets.
Wharves. The water edges o f the city are fringed with seven miles of
wharves and docks. On each river there are about sixty piers, averaging
200 to 300 feet in length, and 50 to 60 wide. The shipping lies principal­
ly on the East River, as being a more secure position than on the other side.
The docks are usually crowded with vessels, waiting their turn for the berths.
To furnish the facilities in building wharves, piers, basins, Ac., which
the increasing Commerce o f the city demands, the Legislature, in 1840,
chartered the Atlantic Dock Company, with a capital o f $1,000,000.
Rivers and Harbor. The width o f North River is one mile to Jersey
City at the ferry, and one-and-a-half miles across at Hoboken. The width
0f the East River is one-third to one-half a mile. A t the South Ferry it is
1,300 yards— at Fulton Ferry 731 yards— at Catherine Ferry 736 yards.




N ew Y ork.

161

The bay is from l l to 5| miles broad— average 3— 8 miles long, and
about 25 miles in circumference, forming a basin in which all the navies o f
the world might ride at anchor in safety. The Bay o f New York commu­
nicates with Newark Bay through the Kills, in the west, between Staten Island
and Bergen Neck, and with another bay, at the south, called the Outer or
Lower Harbor, through the Narrows, a compressed strait between Staten
and Long Islands. This latter bay opens directly into the ocean. The in­
ner harbor, as well as being one o f the best, is also one o f the most beauti­
ful in the world. Besides all the natural beauty o f the scene, there can
hardly be a finer spectacle than is presented in the great city spread before
you, with its piers crowded with a dense forest of masts, bearing the flags
o f all nations— the shipping at anchor in the bay— and the countless steam­
boats, and vessels o f all descriptions, coming and going perpetually in all
directions.
D epth o f W ater and Tides. The currents in the rivers and bay are
very strong, keeping these waters open, often, when the rivers and bays
much farther south are frozen up. The whole harbor was covered by a solid
bridge o f ice in 1780, and not again until 1820. Very rarely since has
either river been frozen. Last winter the East River was obstructed for a short
period, but the North remained open.
The rise o f the tides is near seven feet. Going northward the rise in­
creases, and in the Bay o f Fundy is 90 feet, the maximum of the coast.
Southwardly it decreases, and in the Gulf o f Mexico is but 18 inches. The
time o f tide at other places on the coast, or on waters connecting with the
ocean, varies from that o f New York as follow s:—
Earlier.
Later.
h. m.
h. m.
Halifax, Nova Scotia.........
15 Eastport.......................
09
New Bedford.....................
i 40 Portland.......................
39
Providence..........................
41 Boston..........................
19
Sandy Hook.......................
45 Holmes’ H o le ..............
04
Norfolk...............................
41 Philadelphia.................
19
o 25 Baltimore......................
Richmond...........................
07
Charleston .................
19
Mobile Point...............
54
Albany..........................
34
Quebec.........................
49
The depth o f water at the wharves is 6 or 7 feet, and increases rapidly
outward. It is sufficient in either river to float the largest ships. A t the
old channel, on the bar at Sandy Hook, the depth is 21 feet at low, and 27
at high water. That o f the new channel discovered by Captain Gedney,
in the United States surveys, is at low water 32 feet. The channel inside
varies from 35 to 60 feet.
Defenses. The harbor is well defended. The principal works are at the
Narrows, which, at the point selected, is but one-third of a mile wide. Here
are built, on the Long Island shore, Forts Hamilton and Lafayette, the lat­
ter on a reef o f rocks, 200 yards from the shore, with three tiers o f guns.
On the Staten Island side, are Forts Tompkins and Richmond, the former
situated on the hights, and provided with a number o f subterranean pas­
sages. These forts are in excellent condition. The entrance from the Sound
to East River is defended by Fort Schuyler, on Throg’s Neck. Within the
harbor there are batteries on Bedlows’ and Ellis’ Islands, on the west side o f
the bay— and on Governor’s Island, 3,200 feet from the city, are Fort Col­
umbus, in the form o f a star, commanding the south side o f the channel;
VOL. XXVII.--- NO. II.
11




162

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United Stales.

on the north-west point Castle William, a round tower 600 feet in circum­
ference, and 60 feet high, with three tiers o f guns; and a battery on the
south-west side, commanding the entrance through Buttermilk Channel.
HISTORICAL

SKETCH.

DUTCH PERIOD.
Discovery. It is but 243 years since (September 3, 1609,) the intrepid
navigator, H endrik H udson, sailing in the employ o f the D'utch East India
Company, in search o f the long-desired western passage to India, discovered
the island of New York— and the little H a lf M oon, with her crew o f 20
English and Dutch sailors, passing the island amid the hostile demonstra­
tions of the astonished Manhattans, procsedcd up the noble river which yet
bears the name o f her commander— the first white man’s keel that ever di­
vided its waters.
F irst Commerce. The trade o f New York had birth in precedence o f
even her sittlement. The Dutch, then in the zenith o f their commercial
and political importance, and eagerly seizing every opportunity to extend
their Commerce, sent a vessel the next year to open a F u r trade with the
natives. Successful in the enterprise, more ships followed.
Founding o f the City. The interest o f the Commerce thus established,
led first to the occupation o f the island, and eventually to its permanent
settlement. A nd thus did New York, unlike most of the other colonies,
whose beginning arose out o f religious or political persecution, have its
origin solely in Commercial interests— the lever by which it has attained its
present magnificent degree o f bulk and prosperity, and which is destined
still to elevate it to a bight almost above our conceptions.
In 1612, a small fort was built upon the lower point o f the island, and
in 1613 was commenced the settlement o f “ Nieuw Amsterdam,” which the
next year contained four houses outside o f the fort.
F irst Conquest. A t this interesting period of its development, the em­
bryo metropolis was taken possession o f by an expedition from Virginia,
under Captain Argal— a name o f some mention in the annals o f the latter
colony. Thus early had the English got a thirst for this Dutch vineyard.
But it was soon after restored, by an arrangement under which the Knick­
erbockers retained the enjoyment o f it for a half century longer, and brought
it to a condition when it was better worth taking.
F irst Census. In 1615, the census o f New Amsterdam showed a popu­
lation o f thirty souls.
N ew Netherland Company. For the three years from 1615 to 1618,
the exclusive privilege o f trading with the Indians was granted to an asso­
ciation formed for the purpose, called “ The United New Netherland C om ­
pany,” which prosecuted its object with vigor. The relations o f the settle­
ment were widened, and the Commerce o f the company extended, by a
treaty with the Five Nations, which was inviolately observed by both parties
to the end o f Dutch power in the New Netherlands.
Special License. Upon the expiration o f he charter o f the United New
Netherland Company, three years more followed in which this Commerce
was disposed o f by special licenses, granting to individuals the privilege o f
trading with the Indians.
D utch W est India Company. But this democratic system, in 1621, was
supplanted by another monopoly. A ll rights and privileges relating to




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163

trade in this portion o f North America were then by Holland vested in the
Dutch W est India Company. The management o f the affairs o f this com­
pany in America was intrusted to a Director-General and a council o f five,
under supervision o f their superiors at h om e; and they also held legislative,
judicial, and executive authority within the settlement. Under their ad­
ministration, in the four years from 1624, the exports were valued at $68,000,
and the imports at about $45,000.
Second View o f Population. In 1623, completing the first decade o f
the settlement, the Director-General, commandant, the other officers, and
most o f the inhabitants resided within the fo r t. Some idea o f their numbers
may be formed from estimating how many people, after allowing proper
room for the dignitaries, could live inside of a small redoubt. The few
houses outside the fort, at this time, formed the commencement o f Pearlstreet.
Permanent and Vigorous Colonization Determined on. As yet, coloniza­
tion had been little in view ; but, as the trade grew more profitable, it was
resolved to establish a permanent colony, and to carry out a vigorous colo­
nizing system, that should speedily build up an imposing Dutch power in
America.
Purchase o f the Island. Accordingly, as the initiative in this scheme,
the whole island was formally purchased of the aboriginals, in 1620, for the
sum of twentyfo u r dollars.
Treaty with Plym outh. A t the same period the secretary o f the Direct­
or-General, who had been dispatched to Plymouth, carrying congratulations,
effected an agreement o f peace and friendly intercourse with the Pilgrim
colony— then six years old— and thus Knickerbockerism and Puritanism
shook hands.
Unfortunate Results attending Colonization. Under the stimulus o f a
charter o f peculiar privileges to all who should plant colonies in the New
Netherlands, large purchases o f country were made by some directors o f the
W est India Company, on North and South (Delaware) Rivers, and Staten
Island. But the Indians exterminated a colony in the Delaware valley, and
on the other side, the English very quietly robbed them o f a tract on the
Connecticut River, which the Director-General, W outer Van Twiller, had
purchased o f the Indians.
M ore Misfortunes, Quarrels, Wars, Victories. The English continued
to encroach more and more, and in the Swedes arose another enemy on the
Delaware. An indiscreet Director-General, named Kieft, not only pushed
the quarrel with both, but directed his bellicose disposition also against the
surrounding tribes o f Indians, w hich nearly all united in a general war upon
the Dutch. Unable to chastise the English, the colony o f New Amster­
dam revenged itself upon its other foes, rooting the Swedes totally out of
America, and “ conquering a peace” on several occasions from the Indians.
Progress o f Trade, etc. In 1635, the W est India Company exported to
Holland 14,891 beaver skins and 1,413 otter skins, valued at 134,925
guilders. In the year 1638, tobacco was produced to a considerable extent,
and N egro slavery existed. N ot long after this began the trade with the
Dutch colonies o f Curacoa and Guayama, the W est Indies, and with Africa.
Democratic Movement. The colony was not behind its English cotem­
poraries in attachment to popular ideas. Gen. Peter Stuyvesant, the ablest
and hist o f the Dutch Governors or Directors-General, found it convenient
to yield to the demands o f the colonists. A board o f nine men was consti­




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Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S tates:

tuted to represent the people, whose opinions the Governor was to consult
on all important matters, and who were to be arbiters in certain civil cases.
Subsequent efforts o f the same Governor to use certain powers, as attaching
to his prerogative, were successfully resisted.
Incorporation. In 1652, New Amsterdam, having a population o f about
1,000, received an act o f incorporation, and the government passed from
the W est India Company into the hands o f the two burgomasters and five
assistants, called schepens, and a schout or sheriff. The same year was the
first public school established.
A D utch Chinese W all— Origin o f Wall-street. In 1653, a wall, com ­
posed of earth and stones, was built across the island from river to river, be­
tween W all and Pine streets, whence probably the name o f the former. It
had a gate in Broadway, called the land-gate, and one at the present corner
o f W all and Pearl streets, opening on East Biver, (then reaching thus far
inward,) called the water-gate. It was intended as a defense against the In­
dians, who continued troublesome, however much whipped.
Census, 1656. In 1656, the city contained 120 houses and about 1,000
inhabitants.
F irst W harf. In 1658, the first public wharf was built by the burgo­
masters, where Whitehall-street now is.
F irst Map. In 1660, the first map o f the city was sent to Holland by
Gov. Stuyvesant.
Second English Conquest— Finis o f D utch Power.
In September,
1664, a second English invading force, o f four frigates and 300 soldiers, un­
der Col. Nichols, appeared in the bay o f New Amsterdam, and demanded a
surrender, in virtue of a patent to the Duke o f York from his brother,
Charles II., giving him the whole territory o f the New Netherlands, and
everything owned by Holland within it. Stuyvesant, an old soldier, who
had lost a leg at the capture o f Tobago, wanted to fight, but was not allowed.
The summons was obeyed.
ENGLISH PERIOD.
Political Changes. Nichols became Governor o f the province— the names
o f province and city were changed to N ew York, in honor o f the new pro­
prietor— the style o f the city government was altered to mayor and aidermen— and many like Anglican reforms effected.
Financial Measures. The property o f the Dutch W est India Company
was all confiscated, and a tax o f 1,200 guilders was extorted from the peaceloving, gain-pursuing people, who had accorded so amiably with the duke’s
proposals, as their contribution for the support of the ministry.
P ost to Boston. In 1673, the post-rider began his trips between New
York and Boston, leaving New York once in three weeks.
Population. A t the time o f the conquest, there were probably about
1,500 inhabitants— in 1673 there were 2,500.
Return o f the Knickerbockers. In July, 1673, nine years after the con­
quest, a Dutch squadron retook the city, and called it N ew Orange. But
their coming was only as the visit o f a past proprietor to a beloved estate
once his. They had only time to look about them, and behold what the
ruthless hand o f English innovation had done, and what it designed to do,
and groan over the vandalism, before they gave it up forever. The next
y e ir terminated this brief appendix to Dutch sway.
Trade— P u rsu it o f the Inhabitants. From the time the city came into




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165

the possession o f the English, its trade was rapidly extended, an ] its im­
portance augmented. The bolting, packing, and exportation o f Flour and
Meal became the employment of the principal part o f the inhabitants, and
furnished the most important branch of their trade. The flour was in the
best estimation o f any made in America.
Sale o f Land. In 1675, it was ordered that if the owners o f any unoc­
cupied land did not choose to build on it, it might be valued and sold to
those who would. In 1676, it was made unlawful to sell liquor to the In­
dians, and if any person was found drunk in the streets, without knowing
where he got his liquor, the whole street was to be fined. N o grain al­
lowed to be distilled, unless unfit for other use.
City and Province. It was not until some time after English rule was
established that any distinction of city and province appears. But gradu­
ally, as the latter expanded, it acquired its own peculiar interests. The
first marked distinction we find is in the complaint o f the country people
against the monopoly o f the flour business, secured to the city by law.
About 1688, the former made a vigorous effort to obtain an equal privilege
in the business, which the city strongly resisted, two-thirds o f its people de­
pending for subsistance on the bolting, packing, and exportation o f Flour
and Meal. In a petition to the council, in 1692, the continuance o f the
monopoly is asked for, on the ground that “ the bolting of flour and baking
o f bread hath been, and is, the chief support of the trade and traffic o f this
city, and maintenance o f its inhabitants o f all degrees. It hath for many
years past been an ancient usage.” The province triumphed, and a share
in the business was yielded to them, with great fears o f ruin to the interests
o f the city.
Streets and Houses. In 1677, there were 12 streets and 384 houses in
the city. In 1694, there were 983 houses, and the inhabitants o f 600 of
them subsisted by bolting flour and meal.
Vessels. In 1683, the vessels belonging to the city were 3 barks, 3 brig­
antines, 26 sloops, and 48 open boats. In 1685, the shipping had increased
to 9 or 10 three-mast vessels, o f 80 or 90 tons each, 200 ketches, about 40
tons each, and 20 sloops, o f about 25 tons a-piece. In 1694, there were
60 ships, 25 sloops, and 40 boats. In 1696, 40 ships, 62 sloops, and 60
boats.
Valuation. In 1685, the assessed valuation o f the city was £7 5,69 4,
and a tax was laid o f three farthings per pound. In 1688, the valuation
was £7 8,23 1, o f which £29,254 was in the South Road.
Abolition o f Printing and the Representative System. In 1686, James II.
the enlightened proprietor from whose former title the city and province
derived its name, displayed his fatherly care o f his American possessions by
the abolition o f the Representative System, and forbidding the use o f print­
ing-presses.
Cost o f a Charter. The same year the city paid to Governor Dongan,
the prefect o f its royal patron, £ 3 0 0 for an enlargement o f its charter, and
£ 2 4 to his secretary. The money had to be borrowed.
Wards. In 1688, the following are mentioned as the existing divisions
o f the c ity :— North, South,. East, W est, and Dock W ards, with Harlem
and the Bowery.
Leisler. On the deposition o f James, in 1689, the people o f the city ap­
pointed Jacob Leisler, a merchant, as Governor. He was sustained by a
military force; and the mayor, with several prominent citizens, although in




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Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United S ta tes:

favor o f W illiam and Mary, retired to Albany. The particulars o f Leisler’s
administration, and his unmerited execution, are too well known to need
repetition here.
Congress. In 1690, a Congress o f the co'onies assembled at New York.
E xtent o f the City, 1691. Wall-street, then known as Ciugal-street, was
outside o f the city.
F irst Lighting o f the City. In November, 1696, it was ordered that
lights be put in the windows o f houses fronting on the streets— penalty, 9d.
for each night o f default; and in December it was ordered that every sev­
enth house hang out a lighted lantern on a pole, seven houses to bear the
expense o f one light.
Population. The city numbered in 1696, 4,302 inhabitants, o f whom
6 *15 were blacks. In 1700, the population was about 6,000.
Position at opening o f Eighteenth Century. A t this period New York
began to attract much attention for the extent o f her Commerce. She had
become the entrepot for the northern colonies, whose products were shipped
through her to England and the W est Indies.
P ocks and Slips. In 1701, the docks and slips were rented for £ 2 5
per annum.
Slave Market. In 1711, a slave market was established in Wall-street,
near East River.
F irst R ope-W alk. In 1718, a rope-walk was built in Broadway, oppo­
site the Park.
F irst Tariff. In 1720, a duty o f 2 per cent was laid on European goods
imported. This is the first Tariff mentioned in the history of the city.
F irst Newspaper. The New York Gazette, weekly, appeared in 1725.
N ew Charter. In 1730, an enlarged charter was obtained from Govern­
or Montgomerie. As amended by acts o f the Legislature, it is still in force.
F irst Stage Route. In 1732, was established the first stage route to
Boston and Philadelphia. The stage left for Boston once a month, and oc­
cupied fourteen days on the journey.
Fish in Canal-street. A law was passed in 1733 to preserve fish in FreshW ater Pond, now Canal and contiguous streets.
P rice o f Land, 1759. £ 3 0 per acre was paid for land in the outer road.
Cost o f Light. The expense o f lighting the city, about 1770, was £ 7 6 0
per annum.
Cost o f Printing. All the printing o f the corporation wa3 done, about
1796, for £ 3 5 per annum.
Fires. The principal fires of this period were in the time of the negro
plot, and the great conflagration o f September 21, 1776, soon after the
British army took possession o f the city. It swept along both sides o f
Broadway, destroying 493 houses, one-eighth o f the whole city.
Epidemics. In 17 4 1 -2 , the yellow fever prevailed to an alarming ex­
tent. N o other remarkable sickness is mentioned in this period.
N egro Insurrection— The Blacks Burnt and Hung. In 1712, the Ne­
groes made an insurrection, fired the city in several places, and killed a num­
ber o f people; 119 o f them were executed. In 17 4 1 -2 , occurred the celehrated “ Negro Plot,” a much exaggerated affair. Some Irish Catholics
were implicated with the Negroes, and 154 Negroes and 20 whites were
committed to prison, o f whom 55 were convicted and 78 confessed ; 13 N e­
groes were burned at the stake, at the present corner o f Chatham and Pearl
streets, then out o f tow n; 20 were hung, one in chains, on an island in




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t

167

Fresh-Water Pond, now occupied by Elm-street; 78 were transported to
foreign parts, and 50 discharged.
Houses and Population. In 1730, there were 1,400 houses; 1731,
8,628 inhabitants; 1737, 1,416 houses: 1746, 1,834 houses; 1756, about
2.000 houses, and 10,381 inhabitants; 1771, 21,876 inhabitants; at the
opening o f the Revolutionary W ar there were about 4,000 houses, and
25.000 to 30,000 inhabitants, and three years after its close the population
was 23,614.
Trade. In 1742, W heat was quoted at 3s. 6d. per bushel. Coal was
imported from England, as cheaper than wood. From 1749 to 1750, 232
vessels entered the port, and 286 cleared out. The cargoes o f the latter
were made up of “ 6,731 tons o f provisions, chiefly flour, and a vast quan­
tity o f grain.” In 1755, the export o f Flaxseed to Ireland amounted to
12,528 hhds. In 1769, the imports amounted to £188,976 sterling, equal
to $839,782— o f which came from Great Britain £75,931 ; from the W est
Indies £ 9 7 ,4 2 0 ; from the South o f Europe £14,927 ; from Africa £697.
The imports for the same year of all the colonies from Great Britain are
stated by Hazard at £1,029,519, and the exports thither £ 6 73 ,0 02—
Charleston, S. C., taking o f the former £3 06,600, and furnishing of the
latter £387,114.
The Revolution. The trade of the city was much hampered by the op­
pressive acts of the British government, which led to the Revolution, and a
highly exasperated feeling prevailed. W hen the stamp-act was received,
in 1765, an effigy o f the Governor, in companionship with one o f the devil,
the latter holding the stamp-act in his hand, was publicly burned, after pa­
rading the streets. A Congress o f the colonies met in the city the same
year. The merchants joined heartily with those of the other cities in the
non-importation agreements, and other retaliatory measures.
Although
Boston was the devoted object o f ministerial vengeance, yet when the ne­
cessity for the war became apparent, all looked to New York as the point
where the most effective blow to the general interests o f the colonies could
and would be struck. During the occupation o f the city by the British
army, it suffered much from their vandalism. The public buildings were
despoiled ; all the churches, except the Episcopal, were desecrated to the use
o f the army, as barracks, hospitals, riding-schools, prisons, stables, & c .; the
schools and colleges were shut up. A ll the business was o f course pros­
trated, and every interest o f the city ground for seven years under an iron
heel. W ith the departure o f that army, in 1783, ended, the term o f Eng­
lish rule and possession.
AMERICAN PERIOD.

Fresh Start. W ith the introduction o f the Third Period in her history,
and especially after the adoption o f the Federal Constitution, New York
took a prodigious start, and has gone forward to this time with an unexam­
pled career.
Position at opening o f Nineteenth Century. At the opening o f the cen­
tury the population was above 60,000, having nearly trebled in the thirteen
years elapsed since the adoption o f the Constitution. New York was now
excelled in population only by Philadelphia, o f all the American towns, and
had soon so far distanced all, her Commerce making equal strides, as to
stand in a supremacy far beyond all dispute. W h at a change from the
opening of the last century 1




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Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States.

Steamboats. The first great event o f this period, and of the century,
was the success of Fulton and Livingston in their attempt to navigate the
North River by steam.
E rie Canal. The second was the opening o f the great E ric Canal, uni­
ting the waters of the Upper Lakes with those of the Atlantic. A n im­
measurable impulse was received from each o f these accomplishments.
The W ar o f 1812 -15. The second war with Great Britain, intermedi­
ate between them, inflicted a vast deal o f injury upon the Commerce o f New
York, more sensible from the extraordinary prosperity which that interest
had reaped through the state o f affairs in Europe. But with the return o f
peace, her ships again carried the national flag to all seas, and she seemed
to bound forward the faster for the interruption. Her regular ocean packet
lines were soon established, and steam navigation was pushed ahead upon
her own and other American waters.
Railroads and Telegraphs. New York has not been inattentive, since
the introduction o f Steam Carriage upon the land, to the advantages de­
rived from its employment. I f other cities have engaged more earnestly in
the construction of Railroads, it is because New York already enjoyed equal
facilities to what they designed thus to secure. It is impossible, whatever
lines o f connection may be instituted between the East and W est, and the
North and South, and however much augmenting the communication be­
tween section and section, but that New York, by an expense comparatively
trivial, can secure her full proportion o f the enlarged business, and maintain
her rank against whatever cities that may at present regard themselves in
the light o f rivals. As to the late invention o f the Magnetic Telegraph, she
is the grand focus from whence the system radiates to all parts of the Union
— the point where the Union centers. The advantages o f this great engine
o f intelligence is, therefore, pre-eminently hers. O f all the other remark­
able inventions and growth-advancing ideas o f the age, New York has made
the most efficient use.
Adverse Events. In this period there has been the full share o f public
misfortunes. In 1798, the yellow fever carried off 2,086 of the inhabitants
o f New Y ork; in 1805, it returned, destroying only 280, hut frightening
one-third o f the population from their homes, and materially affecting all
the interests of the city. Another visit o f the destroyer was made in 1822,
when 388 died, and most o f the district south o f the City Hall was vacated.
In 1832, that fearful scourge, the Asiatic cholera, prevailed, sweeping away
10,359 of the inhabitants. There were destructive conflagrations— in D e­
cember, 1804, destroying 40 stores and dwellings; 15 on W all, 17 on Front,
and 8 on Water streets, with a loss o f $2,000,000; in 1811, destroying 80
to 100 houses on Chatham-street; on the night, o f December 16, 1835,
when between 30 and 40 acres o f the most valuable portion o f the city
were swept by the flames— 648 buildings were burned, and the loss was
not less than 818,000,000; in 1845, destroying property to the value o f
$7,000,000. In 1837 was the severe commercial revulsion, in which the
whole country participated, spreading consternation over the land, and in­
volving thousands within the city, as well as thousands without, in the ruin
falling upon many o f the most wealthy houses o f the city.
The Product. Our history terminates in the actual living, moving, glow­
ing Spectacle before us— a vision that seems as if conjured up by some o f
those potent genii, whose wonderful skill and speed in the production o f
gorgeous cities are related in the Arabian Nights Entertainments. From




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169

following the misty form o f the Past, we step before the vivid reality o f the
Present. The mental Image o f what New York was, has brought us to the
palpable Substance of what she is. The Page that we have read, conducts
us to a Chapter printed upon the earth and water, in the material typogra­
phy o f men, buildings, bales, barrels and boxes, streets, wharves, and the
diversified vehicles o f land and sea carriage. W e read in these clear let­
ters her rank— the city o f First commercial importance o f this Continent—
the Second of the W orld. W e see, too, in both pages, that her foundations
are stable— her growth healthy. It is the result o f an energy whose depth
and elasticity are most wonderful. Nothing destroys or even impairs it.
Bad government within— tyranny from without— wars— capture and recap­
ture— the seven years’ ravage o f a foreign army— conflagrations— pestilence
oft repeated— commercial revulsions —the violent intrusion o f politics into
Commerce— and a vacillating commercial policy in the government— have
not been able at all to stay her progress— the check has never outlived the
activity o f the cause. W h o can limit the degree o f her expansion, and fix
the point, on the attainment o f which, she will either take the declining
plane, or rest in a maturity incapable o f farther development 3

Art. III.— TI1E LAW FOR TIIE COMPUTATION OF IN TER ES T.
P robably there is no subject connected with mercantile affairs, respecting
which so many questions have been raised, and upon which there have been
so many decisions in the civil courts, as that of interest on money.
The courts first began to take cognizance o f it about the reign of Henry
V III., o f England; prior to that period, the lending o f money at interest had
been entirely prohibited. B y statute o f 37 Henry VIII., ten pounds in the
hundred were allowed, for the forbearance o f one year. During the reign
o f James I., the rate o f interest was reduced to eight per cen t.; and, in the
reign o f Charles II., to six per cent.
It was, however, the statute o f 12 Anne which became tbe general law,
still in force in England. This has served as the model for most o f the
American statutes, which, nevertheless, are much less severe in their penal­
ties. In some o f the States, there is still a forfeiture o f the whole debt; in
others, o f the whole amount o f interest; but, in others, the loss of the ex­
cess o f interest is the only penalty o f a usurious contract. As a consequence
o f this uniformity o f expression in the English, and between them and most
o f the American statutes, the decisions made under any one o f them have,
as a general rule, come to be taken as authorities applicable to all the rest.
The calculation of interest may appear, to many minds, to be so plain and
simple a matter, that no doubt could occur with regard to the manner in
which it should be performed ; and yet, so far from this being the fact, there
is no point in the law, as we have already observed, on which questions o f
more difficulty have been raised, or which still remains in greater doubt and
uncertainty.
O f these questions, the three most important may be thus stated: 1. Is
the practice o f discounting bills o f exchange, promissory notes, Ac., by
taking interest in advance, legal 3 and, if so, to what extent may it be
oarried ? 2. Is it legal to compute interest according to the rule, that 30




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The Law f o r the Computation o f Interest.

days make a month, and 360 days a year? 3. W hat is the correct and
legal method o f computing interest where partial payments have been made,
or where there are mutual credits, as upon running accounts?
W e do not propose to enter here into an investigation of either of these
points, but briefly and summarily to state the course o f legal decisions, and
the law at present upon each.
Nor can we proceed further without adding to our remarks that impor­
tance to which they are entitled, by submitting the source and authority for
our statements ; this is none other than a work o f great magnitude and
Herculean labor, entitled “ Bartlett’s Commercial and Banking Tables.” * By
way of introduction to the tables of interest, there is an article extending
over sixteen quarto pages, which comprises the entire law upon this subject
from the earliest period. It has been prepared only by exploring the stores
o f the most extensive law libraries, after many months’ labor, by a most
talented member o f the profession, and at a cost o f nearly one thousand
dollars. It is sufficient to say, respecting the merits o f this article, that it
has received the unbounded approval o f some o f the highest judicial func­
tionaries o f the United States. By the lawyers, its brief sentences will be
found to comprise the contents o f whole volumes. But it is due to our
readers that we should allude to this great work again, hereafter.
Bankers’ discount is so called from the practice of bankers, from an early
period, in discounting bills o f exchange and promissory notes, to deduct
interest on the same for tlie whole time they have to run, in advance. This
method o f discounting has been repeatedly sanctioned by the decisions of
the courts, both in England and this country, and may now be regarded as
firmly established by authority. Although the courts have, for a long time,
uniformly sustained the practice, they have, however, as uniformly admitted
what in fact could not be denied, that it gives more than legal interest.
Thus, the decisions have engrafted a rule upon the law o f interest which is
in conflict with its acknowledged principles.
It would be interesting to
present the curious reader with the reasons which hav'e, from time to time,
been adduced in its support; but this would require too much o f our space.
W e must, therefore, refer him, for them, to the article itself, while we pass
to notice the extent and application o f this rule, by a brief extract:
“ The extent to which this practice may be carried, is not clearly defined.
Resting, as it does in a great measure, on authority, the cases themselves
will have to be consulted in order to ascertain its limits. Having been
introduced for the benefit o f trade and the convenience of mercantile trans­
actions, it is said that it will not apply to an ordinary loan o f money, but
must be confined strictly to the discounting o f such instruments as will, and
usually do, circulate in the course o f trade— that is, negotiable instruments,
payable at no distant day. This rule will be found to have been recognized
and observed in all the decisions, with the exception, perhaps, o f a few o f
the later American cases. In Fletcher v. the Bank o f the United States, 8
W heat. 338, the note discounted was drawn at nearly two years from date,
and, in its origin, was clearly not intended as a mercantile transaction. In
* Bartlett's Commercial and Banking Tables: embracing Tim e; Simple Interest; unexpired Time and Interest; Interest, account current,Time and Averaging; Compound Interest;
Scientific Discount, bo*h simple and com pound; Annual Income and Annuity Tables.
Equally adapted to the currenci s o f all commercial nations; The true or intrinsic value o f the Gold
and Silver Coins and the Standard weights and measures r { all commercirl coun ries; Also Am rican, English, French and German Exchange; The Exchange of Brazil and the importation o f Rio
Coffee. By R. M o n t g o m e r y B a r t l e t t , Principal o f Bartlett’s Commercial College, Cincinnati.—
Quarto, pp. 375. Publishers, Wm. Philips & Co., Cincinnati, John Chapman, London.




The Law f o r the Computation o f Interest.

1V1

The Maine Bank v. Butts, 9 Mass. 49, a mortgage was executed to secure
the payment o f one note for $4,000, in two years, another for $6,000, in
three years, and eight other notes for smaller sums, payable at sundry times,
respectively within three years. The latter were claimed to be usurious, for
one reason : because given for the interest on the larger sums, made payable
in advance.
And in M cG ill v. W are, 4 Seam. 21, there was a loan on
mortgage for five years, and notes executed for the payment o f the interest
yearly, in advance. The reservation or taking of interest in advance, in two
o f those cases, was expressly held to be legal, and in the other, it was im­
pliedly sanctioned. It is a question, however, worthy o f serious consider­
ation, whether there has been such an extension o f the course o f trade, with
regard to the discounting o f negotiable instruments, as will include trans­
actions o f this character, and whether they can otherwise be sustained.”
The second general question on this subject relates to the legality of com­
puting interest according to the rule, that 30 days make a month, and 360
days a year. There seems to have been some difficulty in arriving at a rule,
for fractional parts o f a year, combining the requisites o f accuracy and con­
venience. The calculation o f interest by days will secure the first requisite,
but the second, to a certain extent, is wanting. This fact has given rise to
the practice of computing interest by months, when the time was so ex­
pressed— whether it consisted of whole months only, or contained the frac­
tional parts of a month— each month being regarded as the twelfth part o f
a year. But when the fraction of a month was stated in days, the question
again occurred as to the manner of disposing of the days ; and the difficulty
was overcome by treating the days, in this case, as the fraction of a month
o f 30 days, which produced but a trifling variation from the result obtained
by calculating interest on them as days.
This rule, however, was afterwards carried farther. The time, when ex­
pressed in days, was, for convenience sake, converted into m onths; and the
year was thus regarded, as containing twelve months o f 30 days, or 360
days only.
But this rule has still been extended in practice. Not only has the time,
when expressed in days, been reduced to months, according to the arbitrary
standard o f allowing 30 days to each month, but, when originally given in
calendar months, it has first been converted into days, by ascertaining the
exact number of days it contains, and that number afterwards divided into
months o f 30 days, with a view to calculate interest in the manner first
stated.
O f these three forms, the first h' s been claimed to be entirely leg al; the
third and last mentioned, clearly cannot be sustained by any satisfactory or
even plausible reason; the second is very generally, though not universally,
employed by business men. Although admitted to be slightly inaccurate,
it has been sustained by judicial decisions, and affords room for more serious
controversy.
The question as to the legality o f this rule, may arise in three different
cases, namely : first, upon an instrument bearing interest, in which the time
is expressed in d a y s; second, upon an instrument bearing interest, in which
the time is expressed in months, or in months and the fraction of a month
— the latter being stated either in the form o f a fraction, or as so many
days; and third, where interest is to be computed from one fix: d day to
another, as upon an instrument in which the time o f payment is specified by
a particular day, or upon any sum o f money remaining unpaid after it has
become due, from the time it becomes due to the time o f payment.




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The Law f o r the Computation o f Interest.

But our limits will not permit ns to follow this splendid article in
“ Bartlett’s Tables,” through the consideration o f these points. The de­
cisions o f the courts upon them, as they have come up, and the arguments
offered, are all alluded t o ; and to this w'e must refer the reader, assuring
him, especially if he is a member o f the legal profession, he will be most
amply rewarded for his pains.
The next leading point o f the subject, and probably the most important
and embarrassing o f all, relates to interest where partial payments have been
made. The decisions o f the courts upon it, are very numerous, and they
have presented it in different forms and undet a variety o f circumstances.
These, however, appear to serve rather to bewilder the mind than to throw
any clear and reliable light upon the subject.
W ith some few peculiar exceptions, the decisions arrange themselves into
two classes, in which opposite rules are laid down for the calculation of
interest, where partial payments have been made, or upon running accounts
with mutual credits. This has given rise to what is called the legal and
the mercantile method of computing interest, in such cases.
’The legal method has finally assumed the form stated by Chancellor
Kent, in the case of The State o f Connecticut v. Jackson, in which he says:
— “ The rule for casting interest, when partial payments have been made, is
to apply the payment, in the first place, to the discharge o f the interest then
due. If the payment exceeds the interest, the surplus goes toward dis­
charging the principal, and the subsequent interest is to be computed on the
balance o f principal remaining due. If the payment be less than the in­
terest, the surplus o f interest must not be taken to augment the principal;
but interest continues on the former principal until the period when the pay­
ments, taken together, exceed the interest due, and then the surplus is to he
applied towards discharging the principal; and interest is to be computed
on the balance o f principal, as aforesaid.”
The mercantile method, on the other hand, which derives its name from
the fact that it has, by custom, long been used amongst merchants in keep­
ing their accounts, is this:— Oast interest on each item of debt, from the
time it became due to the time o f settlement, and add the principal and
interest together; compute interest on the several items o f credit, in like
manner, and add the principal and interest together; deduct the one sum
from the other, and carry the remainder to the new account; and proceed
in this manner whenever the account is balanced, until the final settlement.
One essential feature o f this method is, that rests are generally, once a
year or oftener, made in the account, and the balance o f principal and interest
struck, which is carried to a new account.
In the able article before us, in “ Bartlett’s Tables,” the several law cases
are examined which relate to either method, respectively. One or two cases
are there noted, in which, under peculiar circumstances, a rule different from
either was adopted. The inquiry is then presented, as to how far the law
upon this question can be regarded as settled by authority ; and the attempt
is then made, to investigate the principles by which it is governed, and the
propriety o f the rules that have been established.
It does not concern us here to notice more than one o f these points : it
is that which considers how far the law upon this question can be regarded
as settled.
In looking over the decisions in reference to the legal method, it is ob­
servable, that there is not a single English case in which it has been adopted




The Law f o r the Computation o f Interest.

1Y3

or recognized, in the form it has assumed in this country. It will be no­
ticed, also, that the line o f separation between the two cases, relating to the
two methods, is clear and well defined. Those in which the legal method
is established, have, with few, if any, exceptions, arisen from transactions in
which partial payments were made upon notes, bonds, & c .; and those, on
the other hand, in which the mercantile method was employed, have as
uniformly related to dealings with bankers, or between merchants, where
there were running accounts and mutual credits.
It appears, also, that in a number o f instances, the legal method has been
adopted by the courts of the several states, as a rule o f practice, merely, and
apparently from the consideration that, as some rule must be resorted to in
such cases, and as there was no principle involved which, of itself, pointed
out one rule rather than another, as the only true and correct rule, they
were at liberty to adopt such an one as to them seemed just and equitable.
W ith reference to the mercantile method o f computing interest, it may
be considered as settled, that it is not usurious, but may be employed by
merchants and bankers in making up their accounts; and that interest so
charged, can be recovered where there is either an express or implied con­
tract to pay it ;— that such a contract will be implied by law, first, where
accounts made up in this manner have, from time to time, been rendered
and received, without objection; and secondly, where there is a well estab­
lished usage of trade sanctioning such a mode of making up accounts ;— that
receiving and assenting to an account, in which interest is charged in this
manner, will amount to an express contract to pay it, which will afterwards
be enforced. And that, although in other cases it is not allowable before
interest becomes due, to agree that, when due, it shall be converted into
principal, and carry interest; yet, in case o f running accounts, where there
are mutual credits and a fluctuating balance, it is lawful to contract a p riori
that interest shall be computed in this manner.
Our limits will not permit us to notice that portion o f this examination,
in which an investigation is made o f the principles by which this branch of
the law is governed, and the propriety o f the rules that have been estab­
lished in connection therewith. W e presume there is no professional man
who will fail to procure the work ; this article alone is worth, to such, many
times its cost.
W e cannot, however, pass from this subject without noticing a few sug­
gestions which are offered, on the relative merits o f the legal and mercantile
methods o f computing interest.
The legal method discourages prompt and rapid payment on the part o f
the debtor. A t each payment a rest is made, and the oftener he pays, the
oftener the interest will be compounded against him. Every payment,
therefore, being the occasion o f a new compounding o f interest, it is evidently
to his advantage to delay the payments as long, and make them as seldom,
as possible. B y the mercantile method, on the other hand, the time o f
compounding does not depend upon the time when the payments are made,
but occurs at regular intervals, without regard to them.
The mercantile method has been uniformly employed almost from time
immemorial, by that class in the community who are more interested than
any other in establishing a correct rule for computing interest, where partial
payments are made— who have more frequent occasion to use such a rule
in practice, and therefore have better opportunities o f judging o f its conve­
nience and justice.
Yet, this method is not so favorable to them as the




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Our M etallic Currency.

legal method, where payments are made oftener than once a year. The
latter produces a greater accumulation o f interest, and would be to the ad­
vantage of a person keeping an interest account.
W e cannot close this article without some more explicit reference to the
great work in which our subject is discussed, and which we regard as the
most important and masterly one, o f the kind, ever offered to the com­
mercial world. W e have before spoken o f “ Bartlett’s Commercial and
Banking Tables,” but, in that instance, we had only a proof-sheet edition
before u s; now it is issued complete.
It contains tables adapted to every class o f commercial calculations, and
all the important legal ones; not only every variety of the calculations o f
interest and exchange, which ever arise in practice, but discount tables, ac­
count current, time and averaging tables, income tables, annuity tables,
&c., &c., adapted to all currencies of the world. For accuracy and ease in
the application, they have received the unlimited approbation o f eminent
commercial bodies and distinguished bankers and business men.
Now, a moment’s reflection must satisfy every one, that here is a standard
in conformity with which all the commercial calculations o f the civilized
world can be made. Such a uniform standard would at once produce har­
mony in all accounts; questions of accuracy could be solved at o n ce ; the
diminution o f labor among accountants would be immense; while employers
would be far better served than at present.
It is this point which we regard o f sufficient importance to press it upon
the attention of commercial men. The work before us is amply worthy o f
such high distinction.
It is a quarto, o f nearly four hundred pages. The
law o f interest is only one of numerous commercial points explained in it.
W e say the work is worthy o f this high honor, and we might quote, in
proof of the correctness of our assertion, the words o f some of the most
eminent bankers of our country :■— “ The work is original in every particular,
worthy of unlimited confidence, and richly merits universal patronage.”
But our object is not to extol the work ; we desire to awaken the interest o f
those who have not seen or examined it, and to assure them it is a matter
highly worthy of their investigation, and which will certainly afford them
much satisfaction, if it does not in the end become a source o f advantage or
profit.

Art. IV.— 0 U R M E T A L L I C

CURRENCY.
P h il a d e l p h ia ,

June 15,1852.

F reeman H unt, Esq., Conductor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc.
D ear S ir :—Some views on the currency having been lately put forth by a writer
in the National Intelligencer, of Washington, which appeared to me at once plausible
and erroneous, I thought it best to answer them in that journal; but as my specula­
tions on this subject have been frequently given to your Magazine, I wish these also
to find a place there, for which purpose I now inclose you a copy, with some small
corrections and additions. Whether they shall be verified or contradicted by time, I
wish them to be there recorded.




Our M etallic Currency.

175

The remaining numbers of your Magazine, from the tenth volume, I should be glad
to get. As a work of reference on American statistics it is invaluable, and our coun­
try affords no substitute for it.
I am, very sincerely, yours,
GEORGE TUCKER.
OUR METALLIC CURRENCY.
A mong the speculations which have lately appeared in the public jour­
nals on the subject o f our metallic currency, it is gratifying to find that they
nearly all agree in recommending a single standard; a conclusion to which
all the best reasoners on the subject o f money had arrived for more than a
century, though few nations have acted on it, from a mistaken apprehension
that if either metal was not a legal tender it would cease to circulate a»
currency.
This is a great point gained in the advancement o f sound theory on the
complicated and much-mooted subject o f money. But, supposing we adopt
a single measure o f value, which shall it be, silver or gold 1
Though the reasoning on this question is not quite as conclusive as on
that o f a single or double standard, there appears to me to be a great pre­
ponderance o f argument in favor o f silver.
Besides that the silver dollar is the general money of account, and is the
popular standard by which the value o f gold and of everything else is
measured, gold seems far more likely to alter in value. This metal was
once thought to be less liable to fluctuation than silver, for the discovery o f
America had reduced its value only to one-third, while it had reduced that
o f silver to one-fourth ; but now we have every reason to believe that it is
destined to a more rapid depreciation than either metal ever before expe­
rienced.
In the early part o f this century, before the Russian mines yielded much
gold, the whole quantity of that metal annually produced in America and
Europe was not supposed to exceed fifteen millions of dollars. N or was the
average annual product o f all Spanish and Portuguese America, at any pe­
riod, according to Baron Humboldt, more than twelve millions. But the
Russian, Californian, and Australian mines now yield six or seven times as
much as America and Europe produced thirty years ago, and bid fair to
yield ten times that quantity.
There is in every civilized community a large class o f contracts which en­
dure for a long series o f years, and as to these it would be desirable, for
the sake o f doing justice to both parties, to have an unvarying standard of
value; but this, from the unceasing fluctuations o f supply and demand in
the precious metals, as well as everything else, is impossible; yet we should
come as near to it as we can. Gold and silver have been universally pre­
ferred for this purpose, because their changes are slower and more gradual
than those o f other commodities; and, for the same reason that they have
been thus used, we should select the one as the standard which is least likely
to change.
I f gold should so depreciate as to reach the proportion which it bore to
silver before the discovery o f America, and had held for more than two
thousand years, that is, at about ten to one, then the holders o f perpetual
ground rents, of public debts, and o f all fixed dues in money, would lose
one-third o f what they had contracted to receive.
Some may be disposed to doubt this depreciation of gold, since the great




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Our M etallic Currency.

quantity yielded by California has scarcely yet produced a sensible effect;
but it must be recollected that the quantity, great as it is, does not yet bear
a considerable proportion to the quantity that was previously in circulation ;
and that before these large recent accessions there was an inadequate supply
o f the metal, which was manifested by its gradual rise o f price. But when
the quantities drawn from California alone, to say nothing o f the products
o f the Ural Mountains, Siberia, Australia, &c., shall double the quantity in
the world, as it bids fair to do, the price must inevitably fall. As the amount
o f other commodities will remain nearly the same, or will increase in a far
less ratio, either the value of gold must fall or it must cease to be used.
Since this last alternative is inadmissible, since not one man in a thousand
hoards away specie, we must o f necessity adopt the first. Tndeed, when we
see that a large addition to the supply affects the price o f everything else,
how can it be supposed that gold alone is not obedient to this universal
law ?
But a writer in the Intelligencer, under the signature o f “ An Observer,”
objects to silver as the standard on two grounds:— One, that it will impair
the obligation o f contracts: and the other, that it will occasion too heavy a
charge on the Treasury. Let us examine these objections.
The adoption o f silver as the sole standard will, according to the view I
have taken, so far from impairing the obligation o f contracts, tend to pre­
vent, or at least to lessen, their violation. Let us look at the source and ex­
tent of these obligations. Contracts ought to be fulfilled, because policy,
justice, and honesty enjoin their fulfillment; but when their execution is in­
consistent with these conditions, the obligation ceases.
The law refuses to
give its sanction to contracts to violate law, or that are made in bad faith,
or when made with incompetent persons, &c.
But a contract made to pay
so much money is substantially one to pay so much value, in human labor,
food, and raiment, which money is meant to represent; and this contract is
essentially violated if the debtor pays his creditor but two-thirds of his debt,
or anything less than the whole value he stipulated to pay. To say that
the debtor has the right to pay the pieces o f money he contracted to pay,
however they have depreciated, is to say that he has a right to do wrong.
It is true that, under ordinary circumstances, the parties may be consid­
ered as agreeing to run the risk o f those small and gradual alterations in
value to which the precious metals have always been liable, but when they
exceed that limit it is not honest nor just that either party should profit by
the letter o f his contract to violate its substance ; and Legislatures, in the
exercise o f one o f their highest attributes, will prevent such injustice, by
rendering the metal that is in a course o f depreciation, no longer a legal
tender.
But, it is urged, when both metals were legal tenders at the time the
contract was made, the debtor had the right to pay in either m etal; and
that this right to pay in the one that has fallen in value might have been
taken into consideration by the parties when the contract was made, and
the debtor, having thus paid the price for this advantage, it is not just to
deprive him o f it. The argument would be fair if this were the sole con­
tingency contemplated; but there was another and a very important one on
this question, which is, that it was competent for the Legislature at any
time to change the law o f legal tender, and, for the furtherance o f public
policy or justice, to alter the proportionate values o f these metals, and have
two standards instead o f one, or one instead o f two.
Every nation has oc-




Our M etallic Currency.

m

casionally done this, and it has been done more than once by the United
States. These changes have been made under the power given to Congress
to regulate the value o f coin, and no alteration has been made, or can be
made, that does not lessen the legal value of one metal or the other, and so
far serve to affect the property o f those who hold coins o f that metal.
Thus, when, by the act of 1837, the gold eagle, which had previously con­
tained 2471 grains of fine gold, was required to contain but 2324 grains,
the government undertook to give its creditors less gold for ten dollars by
fifteen grains than its coins had previously promised. As to the greater
part of these fifteen grains the law did no injustice. It merely conformed
to the market prices o f these metals; but the same thing may be said o f
the change I propose, and the government has the right, in common with
every one else, to make its payments in conformity with that change.
The second objection o f “ An Observer” is, that the adoption o f silver
would occasion a great loss to the Treasury. H e assumes that the govern­
ment, having coined eagles and stamped them as being worth ten dollars,
could not, without a breach of faith, receive them for less; but that in pay­
ing them away they must be passed at what they are fairly worth in the
market, and thus the loss by their depreciation would fall on the Treasury.
To this objection there are two answers. In the first place, when the gov­
ernment coins gold, and stamps on it its equivalent in silver, it does not
guaranty that it shall always be worth the same quantity. It gives no such
insurance. It is merelv responsible for the weight o f the coin, for the de­
gree o f purity required by law, and for the value at the time. It under­
takes no more. Its functions are analogous to that exercised in its inspec­
tions for flou r; it ascertains and certifies the quantity and quality, and leaves
the future price to the uncontrollable arbiter o f prices— the market. It must
be remembered that the State does not go abroad to purchase the bullion
for the mint, but merely coins that which individuals choose to bring to it,
to benefit themselves by the manufacture into coin, which, moreover, has
hitherto been gratuitous. A ll the gold which the mint has ever coined has
been procured in this w ay; there is, then, neither reason nor justice in sup­
posing a gratuitous insurance added to a gratuitous coinage.
But, in the second place, if the writer was correct in his premises, they
would not warrant his conclusion. It is admitted that, in paying its credi­
tors, the government cannot rate gold beyond its market price, but it is per­
fectly immaterial whether it receives it at its original or depreciated rate.
To make this clear, let us suppose that the annual wants o f the government
are fifteen millions o f dollars, and that the proportion o f value o f gold to
silver is at fifteen to one. In this case, supposing the public revenue equal
to the expenditure, the Treasury must receive fifteen millions in silver, or
one-fifteenth part of the same quality in gold, its equivalent; and whether
the gold coins be received at one rate or another— whether an eagle be
called one dollar or one hundred dollar’s— is as unimportant as the name of
a rose is to its sweetness.
Thus, too, in the case put by “ An Observer” o f an eagle being worth in
the market but $9 50, it will be the same thing both to the tax-payers and
the government whether the eagle be received at $10 or $9 50. If at the
higher rate, then, as every one will pay in gold, the taxes must be raised 5
per cent (or rather J j) to make the real equal to the nominal amount of
the revenue. The Treasury will then have the same amount as if the rev­
enue were paid in silver, or gold at its market price, and it will be the

von. xxvii.— no. 11.




12

1*78

Protection vs. F ree Trade.

same thing to the tax-payers whether they pay in silver or gold. A ll that
they would gain by passing the gold at more than it was worth, they would
lose by the additional tax.
The public, therefore, supposing it to have common sense, would not ob­
ject to the government receiving gold at the same rate at which every one
else received it, that is, at its fair market value ; and though it did object,
and the objection were respected, the State could neither gain nor lose.
I have thought it worth the trouble to take this notice o f “ An Observer’s ”
objections to silver as the sole standard, because those objections are spa­
cious and well stated ; but, judging from one or two passages in his articles,
I infer that, whatever may be his other attainments, he is not very convers­
ant in this branch o f political economy— certainly not in its history. He
supposes that in 1700 the precious metals were worth three or four times
as much as at present. N ow it is generally admitted that they had at­
tained their utmost limit o f depreciation some fifty or sixty years before.
Adam Smith, indeed, thinks that from 1700 to the time he wrote, about
1775, silver had slightly risen in value; and supposing him mistaken, there
is no reason to suppose it had fallen. After the disturbances in Spanish
America, in 1810, by which the mines were for many years less product­
ive, the price o f both had unquestionably risen, and some suppose that
they have hardly yet fallen to their former level.
For the preceding reasons I feel anxious that Congress should adopt a
single standard, and make that standard silver.
Mr. Hunter’s bill, which has passed the Senate, will indeed furnish a tem­
porary remedy for the scarcity o f silver now felt, but the objection to it is,
that it is temporary. By the adoption o f a single standard the remedy
would be as lasting as efficient.
t.

Art. V.— T H E LAW OF PROGRESS IS TH E RELATIONS OF CAPITAL AND
LABOR, &c.
I t has become apparent that the controversy between Mr. Sulley and m y­
self may as well be brought to a close. It can possess no interest for the
public, farther, than we are respectively the representatives of great schools
and systems o f Political Economy. I understood him in the outset to hold
such a position, and to come into the field prepared to defend the views o f
Malthus, Ricardo, and the modern English Economists. He was indignant
that “ the great men who have written on Political Economy since Adam
Smith, should be set aside to make room for Air. Carey,” and appeared as
their champion. I proposed to make good the defense o f Mr. Carey out o f
the mouths o f the very persons whose superiority Air. Sulley sought to vindi­
cate. 1 cited with this object Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, APCulloch,
and John Stuart Mill. In his reply, Air. Sulley overruled their testimony.
“ It matters little,” said he, in September, “ what Smith, Ricardo, APCulloch,
and Alill conceded— that would not make a proposition true if it were origi­
nally false.” Doubtless; but it might help to determine whether it was
true or false, and whether Air. Carey or myself were to be impeached in
their names, and summarily smote down, for contempt o f those whom the




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

179

world has agreed to regard as great teachers in this department o f inquiry.
Inasmuch as Mr. Sulley only indicated his great men in general terms, with­
out naming them, and was at liberty to say, if I should call any new
witness, that they were not the persons he had in mind, I distinctly invited
him in your November number to specify who he meant, and pledged my­
self to go to them for my citations. 1 showed in this the truest respect for the
Economists as a body, by announcing my belief that they contained suffici­
ent truth to furnish a corrective for their own errors. I went further, I
challenged him to name any single one, and proposed to refute him by
that on e; and in reference to the general question took upon myself the
task of showing that there is not a single one who has not made fatal con­
cessions and been betrayed by the necessities o f a false system into flagrant
inconsistencies. This was bold enough to be exposed to the imputation of
arrogance. It courted chastisement from a man whom I supposed able to
inflict it, if I was in error, and very willing to do so if he could. H e had
shown no mercy to Carey whom he had not read, how should I, whom he
had read, escape simple justice ? N o man would have pitied me in my
discomfiture.
W hether because I am right, or because Mr. Sulley cannot show that I
am wrong, he declines the issue. H e tells us in your April number, that
“ it would be more to the purpose, if my opponent could show that m y facts
and theories are inconsistent in themselves, than to trouble himself whether
they agree with Smith, Ricardo, &c., or whether they agree with me.” But
I did not undertake to discuss the correctness of Mr. Sulley’s opinions, ex­
cept in so far as they are those of the Ricardo school, or derived from them.
Error in those men is mischievous, because it derives credit from the defer­
ence paid to great names— because multitudes rely on their guidance, and
because we can never present an argument in behalf o f the protection system,
without having their authority appealed to, as settling the question against
us. There are hosts o f practical men who take it for granted, so often and
so confidently do they hear the Economists cited as having disposed o f the
point forever, that they must discredit the science and its teachers as merely
visionary. These men suffer their sons to be taught the doctrines o f Ricardo
and his school in our colleges, with as little apprehension apparently o f their
exercising a permanent control in their opinions, as they have o f their im­
bibing a belief in the heathen mythology from the classics. In this they
err greatly. It is a great object to make them see that the most vital
interests hinge upon the point, which they are apt to regard as purely
speculative, whether men commence the work o f cultivation upon the rich
soils and proceed to the poorer, as population and capital increase, or begin
upon the inferior soils, and pass to the occupation of the more fertile, as the
increased power of associated labor, and the acquisition of capital enable
them to do so. It was for this purpose mainly, that I addressed a commu­
nication to your Magazine ; it was also my object to show, that the question
having been solved correctly by Mr. Carey, the science o f Political Economy
constructed by him upon the basis offact, instead o f the plausible fictions which
Maltlius and Ricardo assumed, was entirely competent to account for, and
explain the history o f human progress. “ In order” — says Mr. Mill, in his
Logic, quoting Comte— “ to prove that our science and our knowledge o f the
particular case render us competent to predict the future, we must show
that they' would have enabled us to predict the present and the past.”
I brought the science o f Carey on the one hand, and the hypothetical




180

Protection vs. Free Trade.

dogmas o f Ricardo and Malthus on the other, to this test. I admit the
logical power o f the latter to the fullest extent. The fault is in their
premises. These granted, their conclusions follow— prove them inevitably.
I know no other class o f writers who pursue their inferences to their full
logical extent, and stand to them so unflinchingly. So much the more are
they stumbling blocks in the road to truth. So much the more was it
worth while to discuss what is due to their pretensions, especially to one
who fancied he could make it evident that he knew and appreciated them.
W henever Mr. Sulley becomes the tenth p a rt as formidable an obstacle to
the spread o f correct views, as they are, ho will find plenty o f abler oppo­
nents than myself, ready to contest his notions p er se, without troubling
themselves whether they agree with Smith, Ricardo, Ac. Meantime I must
decline the efi'ort. W hat the case o f the English Economists is, 1 thought my­
self able to understand and to meet, for it is extant in print, and I was
willing to argue it with him as counsel in their behalf, but when it comes
to his own untold fullness, I leave it to men o f more courage and endur­
ance.
For there is yet another difficulty which I could not overcome, even if his
self isolation from the great men, in matters of reasoning, did not remove
the inducements for discussion. He holds authority in quite as little
esteem in regard to matters o f fact. I cited some very interesting tables
from Moreau de Jonnes, to establish the facts that the agricultural produc­
tion o f France had, in the last one hundred and fifty years, increased twice
as much as the population, the first having quadrupled, while the second
has doubled— that the proportion o f the entire product going to the laborer,
has risen from 35 per cent to CO,— that notwithstanding this increase in the
proportion of the laborer, the total product is so much enlarged as to leave
a larger amount, though a less proportion, to the capitalists and non-agricultural classes— they having increased 100 per cent, while the surplus left,
after giving the agricultural laborers their enlarged proportion, has in­
creased 127 per cent. These statistics Mr. Sulley thinks “ no person who
glances over them with the eye o f a critic, will consider of the least weight.”
The fact that Moreau de Jonnes, the highest statistical authority in
Europe, has been occupied, with persevering pains, twenty-five years, in col­
lecting the materials for his tables, “ from historical, economical and
administrative documents,” shows to Mr. Sulley “ at once that no dependence
can be placed on them. The official position o f De Jonnes in that period,
his precise duty, indeed,— for he is at the head of the department o f statistics,
in that nation which more than any other in the world excels in such inquiries
— has given him such means o f information as no other man ever possessed.
A nation which has half a million civil officers to collect statistics for it—
whose franked letters to and from the executive departments rose in the
year 1843 to the number of 16,303,956, equal, computing their weight with
the mean weight o f the letters of individuals to 130,529,450 single letters*—
whose system o f centralization is such, that the ministry at Paris may be said
to have a finger in every business transaction in France— can obtain reliable
statistics, if the thing is possible. De Jonnes had no theory to support like
that under our consideration, and there is nothing tending in the slightest
degree to convict him of prejudice. Moreover, his statement has been be­
* Report o f M. Chegary to the Chamber of Deputies on Postal Reform, 5th July, 1844, quoted in
Journal dcs Economistes, for January, 1852.




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

181

fore the Economists of France, some two years, without contradiction. Tt
was read before the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, in January,
1850, as T infer, from a notice of it by the Paris correspondent of the London
Times, on the 17th of that month, a memorandum o f which I found within
a few days, that I had preserved. Now, if I cannot avail myself of the
authority of De Jonnes upon a matter not o f estimation but o f well sifted statis­
tics, for so he puts it forth, then it is vain to expect any authority would
establish a fact to the satisfaction of Mr. Sulley, when it runs counter to his
preconceived opinion. He having made up his mind that it is impossible
the laboring population o f France can ever have been worse off, than they
are now described by Blanqui in the extract I furnished, o f what avail is it to
cite the following description, in the quaint words of Fortescue, o f their con­
dition in the 15th century :—
“ ‘ Thay drynke water, they eate apples, with bred right brown made o f
rye. Thay eate no flesche, but if it be selden, a litill larde, or o f the entrails,
or heds o f bests sclayne for the nobles and marchaunts of the lond. Thay
w'eryn no wollyn, but if it be a pore cote under their uttermost garment,
made o f grete canvas, and cal it a frok. Their hosyn be o f like canvas, and
passen not their k n ee; wherefor they be gartrid, and their thyghs bare.
Their wyfs and children gone barefote ; thay may in non otherwise lyve ;
for sume o f them, that was wonte to pay to his lord for his tenement, which
he liirith by the yere, a scute, payyth now to the kyng, over that scute fyve
skuts. W her thrugh they be artyd by necessitie so to watch; labour, and
grub in the ground, for their sustenaunce, that their nature is much wastid,
and the kynd of them brought to nowght. Thay gone crokyd and ar feble,
not able to fyght, nor to defend the realme ; nor thay have wepon, nor
monye to buy them wepon w ithal; but verely thay lyvyn in the most
extreme povertie and myserye, and yet thay dwellyn in one the most fertile
realme o f the world.’ ”
He seeks to prove the facts of He Jonnes, no-facts, by the argument, that
“ while the crops have increased relatively to population one hundred per
cent, the prices o f grain have also slightly increased, showing that the de­
mand has fully kept pace with the su p p ly ; therefore, this quadruple
increase o f the crop is a chimera.” W ell, would not the demand have kept
pace with the supply, if each man consumed twice as much as before, as
De Jonnes avers they do, having more than three times as much wages to
buy with ? W h at other testimony can I produce that may not be argued
down in the same fashion ?
Mr. Sulley’s theory requiring that the laborers o f England should be in a
worse condition than one hundred years ago, o f what avail is the testimony
o f Mr. M’Culloch in his last book, on the circumstances which determine the
rate o f wages, published in November, 1851 ?
Their condition, says M ’Culloch, is greatly changed since the American
w a r; the people are now better fed, better clothed and better lodged than
at any period o f the past. W e know that Lord John Russell said, in 1814,
that the labouring classes had retrograded since the last century. But in
spite o f the respect due to so high an authority, we remain convinced that
his assertion is not justified by the facts. The greater part o f the objects
of consumption are at as low a price now as in 1740, and many, like the
articles o f clothing, are obtained cheaper, notwithstanding the well founded
complaints which the unhealthy habitations o f the working class Lave excited,
they are better lodged than during the past century or at any former period.




182

Protection vs. Free Trade.

The oldest houses in our cities and towns are precisely those which offer to
the poor the most detestable quarters. The bread now consumed by the
poor is of a superior quality, and in the cities at least, the workmen use a
greater quantity o f butchers’ meat. Drunkenness and immorality, if they
have not materially diminished, have made no sensible progress. The
manners o f all classes have improved in humanity and kindness. The ex­
traordinary progress that has been observed in the health and longevity in
the population, attest a real amelioration in the lot o f all.*
I might show that this opinion is not a recent one with Mr. M'Culloch,
nor is it confined to the condition o f English laborers. So long ago as
1838, when he published an edition o f the Wealth o f Nations, he said in
one o f the notes :— “ Let any one compare the state o f this, or any other
European country, 500 or 100 years ago, and he will be satisfied that pro­
digious advances have been made, that the meant; o f subsistence have in­
creased much more rapidly than the population, and that the laboring
classes are now generally in the possession o f conveniences and luxuries that
were formerly not enjoyed even by the richest lords.” In another note he
states, that notwithstanding the great increase o f population since 1T70,—
more than 8,000,000 in Great Britain, exclusive o f Ireland— “ the population
is now incomparably better fed than at any former period, consuming a
much greater quantity o f wheaten bread and butchers’ meat,” which he
shows was furnished by their own soils— and so far from believing that the
limit had been attained, he believes “ it may safely be affirmed, that were
the whole island as well cultivated as East Lothian, Berwickshire, Northum­
berland, Lincoln, and Norfolk, its produce would be at least doubled.” This
increase was obtained with a continually decreasing proportion of the num­
ber o f persons engaged in agricultural labor— the cotsumers increased
more rapidly than the producers, and the crops more rapidly than both.
So strongly was Mr. M'Culloch impressed by the facts, that notwithstand­
ing he was the authorized exponent o f the same opinions professed by Mr.
Sulley, holding the chair o f Ricardo lecturer, he was obliged to say, “ The
presumption seems to be, notwithstanding the rapid increase o f population,
that the prices o f corn in England, in ordinary years, will at no distant
period be reduced to a level with those o f the continent.”
The reason of this, as I contend is, in the language o f Mr. Carey, because
POPULATION MAKES THE FOOD COME FROM THE RICHER SOILS,----and, Securing
the consumption o f the products o f the land upon the land, it furnishes in
the immediate vicinity the refuse, by the application o f which the poor soils
are made rich. In the cases \then the transportation from a distance is
necessary, a dense population is able to provide the machinery o f cheap
transportation, which a poor one must go without. The condition o f farmers
in a sparse population, in reference to fertilizing agents, may be seen in any
o f the slave states. In a letter o f W ilm ot S. Gibbs, o f Chester District,
South Carolina, to the Commissioner o f Patents, to be found in the Agricul­
tural Report for 1 8 50 -51, page 237, the difficulty is stated by one o f the
sufferers : “ The breadth of land we cultivate, and the few cattle we are able
proportionably to keep, seems to paralyze efforts.......... Plaster which could
be had in Charleston at $5 the ton, would cost $20 more to bring it up
here.
W e could buy three acres o f fresh land f o r what it would cost to
* This quotation may not correspond word for word with the text o f Mr. M‘Culloch, which I
have not seen. It is retranslated from the French, into which it was rendered by LeonFaucher,
in a review o f the book in the Journal dcs Economises, for April, 1852.




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

183

lime one." So it is that fresh land is constantly required, and the smaller
the population is, upon a given area, the more the land becomes insufficient
for their support, for instead o f any being improved, successive portions are
continually exhausted, and abandoned.
But it is obviously vain to seek for causes, unless we can agree upon the
facts to be explained. I have in all cases gone for testimony as to facts, to
those writers whose prejudices were all upon the side o f Mr. Sulley. If he
is not satisfied with them, I may as well forego all expectation o f convincing
him.
The questions which I should have been glad to discuss as preliminary to
that o f Protection, have an independent interest. A n interest to many
higher than that o f Protection.
Mr. Sulley regards the principles which Mr. Carey has enunciated as the
laws o f Distribution, as necessarily leading to what he deems the heresy of
Protection. Mr. Carey certainly published and demonstrated them in
1 8 38 -40, without any such intent. I know no impropriety in my mention­
ing that, within the last six months, I have seen a letter from an English
author, whom I have quoted, and who is in high standing with the advo­
cates of free trade, according to Mr. Sulley’s acceptation, to a very distin­
guished American Protectionist, in which he commends the study of Bastiat’s
Harmonies Hconomiques to his correspondent, as likely to convince him of
his error.
H e would have commended Carey’s Principles o f Political Economy, if
he had happened to know that they were the original mine from which
Bastiat procured his materials, and had he done so, it would scarcely have
made the joke richer. Bastiat himself seems to have died without becoming
sensible that he was in the road to Protectionism. There was room to
hope that a more dispassionate consideration than the question o f Protection
would obtain, might be secured for a problem o f wider scope— the problem
which seeks to determine whether human progress, physical, intellectual,
moral and political, is an accidental and anomalous fact, or whether it is the
result o f natural laws, universal in their application, and eternal in duration.
It is the problem of the age. Take the following summary o f the questions
now stirring the hearts o f men, from the Westminster Review, for April,
1852.
The great social idea now prevailing in Europe may be thus defined ; the
abolition o f the proletariat; the emancipation o f producers from the tyranny
o f capital concentrated in a small number o f hands ; re-division o f produc­
tions, or o f the value arising from productions, in proportion to the work
performed ; the moral and intellectual education o f the operative; voluntary
association between workmen gradually and peacefully, as much as possible,
for individual labor paid at the will o f the capitalist. This sums up all the
reasonable aspirations o f the present time. It is not a question o f destroy­
ing, abolishing, of violently transferring property from one class to another:
it is a question o f extending the circle o f consumers, o f consequently aug­
menting production, o f giving a larger share to producers, of opening a wide
road to the operative for the acquisition o f wealth and property— in short, o f
putting capital and the instruments o f labor within reach o f every man
offering a guaranty of goodwill, capacity and morality. These ideas are
just, and they are destined eventually to triumph ; historically, the time is
ripe for their realization. To the emancipation o f the slave has succeeded
that o f the s e r f; that of the serf must be followed by that o f the workman.




184

Protection vs. F ree Trade.

In the course o f human progress, the patriciate has undermined the despotic
privilege of royalty : the bourgeoisie, the financial aristocracy, has under­
mined the privileges o f birth ; and now the people, the workers, will under­
mine the privilege o f the proprietary and moneyed bourgeoisie ; until so­
ciety, founded upon labor, shall recognize no other privilege than that o f
virtuous intelligence, presiding, by the choice o f the people enlightened by
education, over the whole development o f its faculties and its social capa­
bilities.
Observe first, that in respect to the past, the privileges of birth which have
been undermined by the financial aristocracy are precisely, the landlord
privileges, those connected with, and growing out o f the ownership of land,
whether in the nobility or the squirearchy. In regard to the aspirations for
the future, as set forth by the Westminster Review, we can differ as to those
which regard instrumentalities, the abolition o f the proletariat for example,
or the abolition o f work for wages paid in gross, and without the laborers
taking a share in the risks o f the market, for the thing he works upon
without its involving any difference in regard to the ends “ o f giving a larger
share to producers, o f opening a wide road to the operative for the acquisi­
tion o f wealth and property,” &c. These ideas are just, and they are destined
to triumph. They obviously represent only further and advanced stages in
the same path o f progress, which we can trace backward in the past. The
laws which governed the motion o f the race in that path thus far, will pro­
duce motion in the same direction for the future. I f there are such laws.
If, on the contrary, what progress the race has heretofore made, has been in
spite o f the tendency and effect o f the natural laws— and this is what those
who follow Ricardo and Malthus believe— then further progress must be
obtained by the invasion o f those laws— by artificial reorganization o f society,
by revolution.
Let us see now, if we cannot discover the law o f the past, and whether it
does not demonstrate the harmony o f interests in all classes, instead o f any
discord, and show that the elevation of the laborer has resulted in the past,
as it will in the future, from a co-operation between him and the capitalist,
and not from strife— co-operation which neither could prevent or ever can
prevent from inuring to the benefit o f the other, but in largest measure,
nevertheless, to the weakest party.
And first, as to wages. Here it is thought, is the beginning o f discord,
so much and so necessarily so, that the abolition o f wages is the first idea
upon the programme of the Westminster Review. But our doctrine s, that
the rate o f wages is the index o f the productiveness o f labor. Cheap
labor is not got by low wages, but by high.
The laborer must receive his wages out of the price of the product of his toil,
which, other things being equal, depends on its quantity. The larger this, the
greater the fund for his payment. W hether administered by the capitalist,
as when he hires labor, or by the laborer himself, as when the latter hires
capital, the wages will vary according to the residuum left, after paying to
the representative o f capital, the share in the product which is due to its aid.
Thus much for the power to pay wages. In respect to the motive, it re­
quires little observation to learn that the human machine executes work
upon the same conditions as the steam-engine. To obtain the maximum
effect from the inanimate agents, we feed it well with wood and water, and
envelop the boiler with a sheet-iron jacket, to prevent the waste o f its vital
heat. Every one sees the folly o f stinting the engine in its food, or letting




The Law o f Progress in the Relations o f Capital and Labor.

185

its heat escape for want o f a jacket. It is as clear, upon a little reflection,
that the physical power o f man is impaired by stinting him in food, cloth­
ing or shelter. But over and above mere physical energy, he has the gift
o f intelligence, the most effective element in his industrial power. This can
be increased and enlightened by every accession of knowledge and develop­
ment o f the thinking faculty. But for this leisure is requisite, and leisure
is only to be had after wages enough have been earned to satisfy the pri­
mary wants o f humanity. Moreover, the great nervous stimulant that in­
tensifies toil, is the laborer’s hope o f bettering his condition, and rising, in
his own person, or in his posterity, to a higher grade of physical comfort and
mental culture. All these— food, clothing, shelter, leisure, the stimulus o f
a hope, fed by the assurance o f a first step in realized savings— are summed
up in high wages. Their rate therefore, the effectiveness of capital remain­
ing the same, and in the absence o f restriction or spoliation, indicates the
degree o f productiveness o f labor.
Labor when aided by capital, and in proportion as it is aided by capital,
in more and better tools and machinery, becomes more productive.
Every improvement in the quality o f labor, is attended by an increased
facility o f accumulation.
The increased power o f accumulating capital, tends to lessen the value in
labor of that already existing, because no commodity, however much labor
it required for its original production, will exchange for more labor than is
necessary to reproduce it at the time. It also tends to diminish the propor­
tion o f the value o f any product o f labor that can be demanded in return,
for permitting it to be used by another. The man who can get an axe by
the labor o f a day, will not give for its use as large a proportion o f its
value, or o f the w ood that he cuts with it, as when it required the labor o f a
week to provide himself with such an instrument.
Labor is thus enabled, with the increase o f capital (which is but the
aggregate o f axes and other tools, materials and food) to retain a constantly
increasing proportion o f the commodities produced, and consequently a
constantly decreasing proportion is left for the remuneration of capital.
Labor, by its improvement in quality, is rendered so much more produc­
tive, that notwithstanding the diminution in the proportion claimed by tho
capitalist, there is an increase in the absolute quantity o f commodities ob­
tained in return for the use of a given amount o f capital.
Land, like every other commodity, owes all its value to labor, and ex­
changes as time progresses, for less o f labor, or its equivalents, than has
been expended upon and about it, in bringing it to its existing condition in
reference to improvement and markets. This results from the fact, that the
acquisition of capital in the shape o f more and better machinery, (by which
I mean tools o f all kinds, every implement except teeth and nails) enables
one who would purchase land, to bring equal tracts into the same condition,
at less cost o f labor than was necessary previously. Moreover, the growth
o f capital enables men to clear-, drain, and subdue more fertile lands, than
those which at an earlier period, they were obliged to cultivate, because,
though less productive, they were easy o f tillage, and yielded a speedier re­
turn to labor with imperfect tools and processes, as a matter o f fact verified
by observation and history, the work of cultivation everywhere began upon
the light, in soils o f small fertility, and passes with the growth o f popula­
tion, capital, and the power of association to the more fertile soils, the most
productive being the last to be made available.




186

Protection vs. F ree Trade.

From the foregoing considerations, it results that capital o f all kinds,
moveable and immoveable, tends to increase faster than population, and
that the more rapid its increase, the more equal its distribution.
Such are in brief the laws o f production and distribution discovered by
Mr. Carey. Those whose eyes they may meet for the first time, will find
various facts in support o f them in the last November and January numbers
o f this Magazine. A few words will suffice to exhibit their application to
the theory o f social and political progress.
In the infancy o f society, there is no division o f laborer and capitalist.
Every man works for himself, and does everything for himself. The whole
o f his toil is expended in obtaining the means o f a wretched and precarious
existence, fluctuating from surfeit one day, to famine the next, without
achieving any surplus. That species o f mutual insurance which comes from
association and exchange, is impossible to any extent in the dispersion of
the hunter state. The superfluity o f one to-day does not supply the wants
o f another, and secure reciprocal aid for to-morrow.
W hen capital first makes its appearance distinct from labor, the laborer
is uniformly a slave. His toil is unproductive, because there is no heart nor
hope in it— as he produces little, he gets little, but the master soon sees it
his interest to make that little more, by giving the slave an increased pro­
portion of the fruits o f his labor, in the shape o f improved food, clothing,
and shelter. It is necessary, if for no other purpose, to prevent him from
running away. In the reign o f Richard II., the rolls o f Parliament show
both the spiritual and temporal nobility of England complaining that their
villeins fled into the trading towns— where, such was the liberal spirit o f
British law, a year’s evasion o f his lord’s pursuit made the slave free forever—
and that those who still continued in the country were emboldened to be­
have so insolently, that their masters were afraid o f exercising their power,
for fear o f losing them irrevocably. The master soon sees that he can in­
crease his profits by tempting the slave to increased task work by giving
him all the surplus he can earn after finishing his task. W ith this partial
liberty o f working for himself, comes the stimulus of hope ; he works harder
for himself than when working for a master, and o f course obtains higher
wages. His power and his intelligence increase, capital increases, and it is
finally seen that more work can be got from the slave, and at a cheaper rate
by paying him fair wages, than in any other way. The fear of setting him
free, diminishes as it is seen “ how the self-governing strength and energy
is stimulated and increased by the freedom to exercise it,” and he is allowed
to work out his liberty. A comparatively industrious and thriving commu­
nity succeeds to an idle and spendthrift one. The free laborer obtains an
increased share in the produce of his toil, in the shape o f increased wages.
These first enable him to make himself a stronger animal, and the capitalist
obtains more from his energy, just as he does more from a good stout ox,
than from a lean weak one. A further increase enables him to add intelli­
gence to his toil, and he is more valuable than before, just as man in his
lowest estate is a better working animal than the donkey. H e is now
enabled to serve, and thus to begin the acquisition o f capital for himself, as
the proportion falls, and with it the rate o f interest; he obtains the use o f
capital on cheaper terms, and thus increases his productive power, and his
capacity for saving. W ith his increased command o f capital, comes in­
creased political standing and social power. H e achieves the removal of
restrictions— the fetters o f class privilege, the relics o f his days of slavery




187

The N aval D r y Docks o f the United Stales.

and barbarism. TI1 0 middle class lias arisen and becomes an ever-increasing
power in the state, as it is fed from below by constant accessions from the
most numerous order in society.*
The power o f the aristocracy is gone. A n Earl o f Warwick could
once maintain ten thousand retainers, because he retained two-thirds of the
produce of his estates in the shape o f rent, because men were content to
serve for wages that afforded them less o f comfort and luxury than fall to
the lot o f the inmates o f the worst hovels in the filthiest quarter of a modern
town. The Duke o f Wellington maintains perhaps thirty. The men who
keep armies now are the chiefs o f industry. Thus civil and social equality
are worked out gradually, and the posterity of the slave become republican
freemen.
Laws which are adequate to explain the past, prophecy the future. The
emancipation o f the workman comes from Peace, and Concentration. It is
postponed by W a r and Dispersion. The Zoll Verein, the union o f thirty
millions o f people under different governments to maintain free trade with
each other, and to increase it by Protection against the system which has
formerly driven them to foreign trade, is the greatest among European
agencies for the emancipation of labor. It is, as the Westminster Reviewer
says, “ a question o f extending the circle of consumers, o f consequently aug­
menting production, o f giving a large share to producers, o f opening a wide
road to the operative for the acquisition o f wealth and property— in short o f
putting capital and the instruments o f labor within reach o f every man
offering a guaranty o f goodwill, capacity, and morality. This question
is being solved, and these objects are being attained, everywhere, just in
proportion as men protect themselves from being made tributary to sustain­
ing Great Britain in a monopoly of manufacturing, which she can only retain,
by keeping wages down. Her system inculcates, to producers everywhere,
that their interest should be, what Silas W right declared our agriculture
has ever been and must remain, an exporting interest. Every exporting
interest is based upon keeping wages down, and all who accept such coun­
sels, join in a conspiracy against the elevation o f labor at home and
abroad.
e

.

p

. s.

Art. VI.— TH E NAVAL DRY DOCKS OF TH E UNITED STATES.f
T h e Naval D ry Docks o f the United States constitute some o f the most
stupendous mechanical enterprises o f the country, and in one or two instan­
ces they are surpassed in extent and the difficulties o f their construction by
few similar works in the world. The number of these docks is seven. They
are located at the navy yards o f New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Ports­
mouth, Norfolk, Pensacola, and San Francisco. Their cost has been not
less than seven millions o f dollars.
* Statutes regulating the wages of labor, and compelling men to labor at fixed rates, were
successively enacted in England till a very recent period, the rates continually rising. Corporation
privileges have been restricted—the laws preventing combinations o f workmen, the emigration o f
artisans, &c., have been repealed, &c., &c.
+ The Naval Dry Docks of the United States. By Charles B. Stuart, Engineer-in-Chief o f the
United States Navy. Illustrated with twenty-four fine engravings on steel. Quarto, pp. 218. New
Y ork : Charles B. Norton.




188

The N aval D r y D ocks o f the United States.

B y far the most extensive, costly, and magnificent o f these structures is
the Granite D ry Dock of New York. It is the largest in the world, and in
the admirable plan and principles upon which it is built, it will remain for
ages one of the proudest monuments o f the engineering and mechanical skill
o f the nineteenth century.
W e propose to give a brief history, and an outline o f the plan o f this
vast structure, sufficient to convey to our readers some adequate idea of the
extent and importance o f this general subject; and our remarks will be
confined chiefly to points embraced in the recent valuable work o f Mr.
C harles B. S tuart, Engineer-in-Chief o f the navy. This is the first work
o f any extent and magnitude upon the subject which has been offered to
the American public. It aims to show in the most practical manner the
mode of working these docks, and to give a complete history and descrip­
tion, in the fullest detail, o f the Granite Dock at New York, the Floating
Sectional Dry Dock at Philadelphia, and the Floating Balance Dry Dock,
Portsmouth. It is illustrated with numerous, large, finely executed, and
accurate steel engravings; and it is such a work as was wanted to give to
the world the information, in regard to this branch o f the public service,
which has heretofore been chiefly confined to the officers of the government.
The details which it contains relating to the different materials of which these
works are made, the entire cost of construction, &c., are adapted to instruct
statesman and the man o f science. The entire appearance o f the volume,
its typography, engravings, paper, &c., are very fine.
The site for a naval dry dock in the harbor o f New York was examined
as long ago as 1820. Nothing, further, however, was done about it until
1835, when Congress authorized an examination for a definite location. But
no decisive measures were taken until March, 1841, when Congress appro­
priated fifty thousand dollars for commencing the W'ork. The work was
afterwards suspended, a new examination of the location made, and an in­
vestigation into the merits o f the various kinds o f dry docks. It was not
until October, 1844, that it was again resumed, under the charge of Gen.
W . G. M cN eil . By him the plans for the masonry were enlarged and
matured, the coffer dam was extended, and the excavation removed to the
level o f low-tide.
From April, 1845, to June, 1846, the superintendence was committed to
TV. P. S. Songer, who continued the construction o f the coffer-dam and the
dredging o f the excavation below the water inside the dam.
From June, 1846, to October, 1849, the labor was under the superinten­
dence o f W . J. McAlpine. It consisted o f enlarging and completing the
coffer-dam, the excavating o f the bottom portion of the pit excavation, the
driving o f the foundation piles, the putting in the foundation timbers and
concrete, the construction o f a large portion of the superstructure o f the
dock, and the foundations o f the pump, well, and engine-house.
In October, 1849, Gen. Stuart assumed the charge o f the work and con­
tinued until the date o f its completion, in August, 1851. Under the di­
rection o f Gen. Stuart, the superstructure was completed, and the construc­
tion o f the iron-turning gates, the various culvert gates, the pumping-engine,
and pumps, the floating-gate or caisson, the iron work o f the engine house,
the completion of the dock apron, and the removal of the coffer-dam performed.
The superstratum of the site selected for the dock, in the Wallabout
Bay, was found to be chiefly formed by vegetable decomposition, to the
depth o f ten fe e t; below this there is an almost impalpable quicksand,




The N aval D r y Docks o f the United States.

189

containing a large proportion of mica. W h en confined and not mixed with
water, it is very firm and unyielding, and presents a strong resistance to
penetration, but when saturated with water, it becomes semi-fluid and is
moved by the slightest current o f water passing over or through it. As it
was necessary to place the foundation thirty-seven feet below mean level, a
coffer-dam was required. One was, therefore, constructed four hundred and
seventy feet long, and from sixty to one hundred feet wide. The total cost
o f this dam, including repairs o f breaches, was nearly two hundred and
forty-six thousand dollars.
The pit, which was excavated for the foundation, covered an area o f two
acres at the top and one acre at the bottom. It was sunk to the depth of
forty-two feet in the earth. W hen the excavation had extended to within
about six feet o f the required level, springs o f fresh water burst up and
were the cause o f the greatest difficulty in laying the foundations. The
stratum through which it flowed was evidently at a great depth, and even when
contiguous they were not united. A very interesting account of the diffi­
culties which were occasioned by these springs is given by Mr. Stuart in his
work, from which we make a brief extract:—
“ The difficulties did not proceed from the mere flowing o f the waters, but
this, as it came up, brought with it large quantities o f sand, so fine and impal­
pable as to insinuate itself through the smallest interstices, even through the
checks and cracks o f the timbers, and if allowed to flow in this w7ay would soon
have endangered the surrounding works ; nor could the water be checked with
safety, as its pressure was found sufficient to raise the foundation, however
heavily it could be loaded. It became necessary, therefore, to provide for the
flow o f the water, and at the same time check the escape o f the sand.
“ One o f the most powerful springs was encountered near the temporary
pump-well, at the north-east corner o f the dock. The first evidence o f under­
mining from this spring was the settling o f the piles driven to support the pumps
and engine, rendering it necessary to change the pump-well; but the spring fol­
lowed, and compelled another change o f the well. This spring was driven out
o f the old well by filling it with piles, but immediately burst up among the foun­
dation piles o f the dock near by. In a single day it made a cavity in which a
pole was run down to the depth of twenty feet below the foundation timbers.
One hundred and fifty cubic feet o f cobble-stone were thrown into this hole,
which settled ten feet during the night, and fifty cubic feet were thrown in the
next day, which drove the spring to another place where it undermined and burst
up through a bed of concrete two feet thick. This new cavity was repeatedly
filled up with concrete, leaving a tube for the water to flow through ; but in a few
days it burst up through a heavy body o f concrete, in a place fourteen feet dis­
tant, where it soon undermined the concrete, and even the foundation piles, so
that they settled from one to three inches. These piles were thirty-three feet
long, and driven by a hammer weighing two thousand pounds, pulling thirty-five
feet at the last blow, with an average o f seventy-six blows to each pile, the last o f
which did not move the pile over half an inch.
“ This alarming result rendered paramount the adoption o f the most thorough
measures, to prevent any further injuries from this source. It was accordingly
determined to drive as many additional piles as could be forced into the space,
and by means o f followers, to force those already driven as deep as possible.
This was done although under many disadvantageous circumstances, the old con­
crete was removed to a depth o f twenty inches below the top o f the piles; an
area of about one thousand square feet around the spring was then planked, on
which a floor of brick was laid in dry cement, and on that, another layer of
brick was set in mortar made o f Roman cement; the space was next filled with
concrete and the foundations completed over all, in the usual manner and with
the greatest dispatch possible; several vent holes were left through the floor and




190

The N aval D r y D ocks o f the United States.

foundations. After a few days’ interval, when the cement had become set, the
spring was forced up to a level o f about ten feet above the former outlet, and
at this point it flowed clear, and no longer charged with sand.”
There were about forty o f these springs, which were treated in the same
successful manner.
The piles are chiefly sound spruce timber from twenty-five to forty feet
long, and averaging fourteen inches diameter at the head. The number of
bearing piles is six thousand five hundred. They were mostly driven to
the point of absolute resistance. The number o f blows given to each and
the depth driven by every blow were recorded.
But we must pass over the details of making the foundation and o f the
apron to protect the front o f the dock from undermining, to notice the
splendid masonry o f this magnificent structure. The work o f Mr. Stuart
will be found to contain even the minutest detail o f importance.
There is perhaps no modern structure that compares with this national
work in the dimensions or the durability o f the materials o f which it is
composed, or the beauty and accuracy o f their workmanship.
Eighty
thousand tons of stone have been used in its construction. The masonry
foundations are four hundred feet in length, and one hundred and twenty
feet in breadth. The main chamber is two hundred and eighty-six feet
long, and thirty feet broad on the bottom ; three hundred and seven feet
long and ninety-eight feet broad at the top, within the folding gates. By using
the floating-gate an additional length o f fifty feet may be obtained. The
hight of the wall is thirty-six feet. The smallest face stone exceeds three
thousand pounds in weight, and the average is about six thousand pounds.
The facing stones are all laid to a joint not exceeding three-sixteenths o f an
inch, and the joints are kept up full to the line, for the full depth o f the
stone. The quantity of cement used was twenty-nine thousand one hun­
dred and forty-seven barrels.
But our limits will not permit us to follow this interesting description
through the details o f the construction o f the “ pump-well and culverts
“ the engine h o u s e “ the turning-gates
“ the floating-gate;” “ the cul­
vert-gates
“ the iron-capstans
“ the pumping-engine and pumps
“ re­
moval of coffer-dam
&c., &c.
The work was just ten years in process o f construction. The aggregate
expenditure exceeds two million one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Four
hours and twenty minutes is the time required for the complete docking o f the
largest ship.
In this work, by Mr. Stuart, we are next presented with an ample account
o f the dry docks at Boston and at Norfolk. This is followed by a descrip­
tion of large and very beautiful plates in illustration o f the subject, and by
an appendix which concludes the first part.
The contents o f the second part are th<3 details o f the dock at Philadel­
phia ; the history and description o f the California Dock, and the details of
the one at Portsmouth. It would be exceedingly interesting to enter more
fully into this subject, and to contrast the features o f the Granite, the Float­
ing-Sectional, and the Floating-Balance D ock s; but it would lead us too
far and consume too much o f our limits.
W e cannot leave the subject without bestowing our thanks upon the accom­
plished author of this work, for the splendid volume which he has produced
upon a subject o f such vital importance to commercial and naval affairs, and
for the tasteful and elegant manner in which it has been produced by that




191

Questions relating to the Law o f Storms.

young and enterprising publisher, C h a r l e s B . N o r t o n , o f New York. W e
trust the public will appreciate these labors and bestow upon them that
high degree o f patronage to which they are so justly entitled.

Art. VII.— QUESTIONS RELATING TO TH E THEORY OF STORMS.
F reeman H unt, Esq., Editor Merchants' Magazine :—
D ear S ir :—In the number of your magazine for February last, you republished
some strictures on the report on storms, made by Prof. Espy, to the Naval Depart­
ment of the United States. Since then, I have received officially, a quarto pamphlet
entitled “ Esrv’s R eport on M eteorology.”
In this addition there are a number of important generalizations. These have sug­
gested a series of queries to Prof. Espy, as well as to meteorologists in general, which
it may be expedient for you to insert in your periodical.
Every farmer, navigator, and merchant, must take an interest in whatever concerns
the weather. I hope, therefore, that my queries may be sufficiently popular for in­
sertion in a magazine, intended for a body of men so intelligent and well educated, as
American merchants are in general.
Truly yours,
ROUT. IIA R E .

QUERIES BY DR. HARE, TO PROF. ESPY, OR TO METEOROLOGISTS IN GENERAL,
INDUCED MAINLY BY CERTAIN GENERALIZAIONS IN ESPY’s REPORT TO TIIE
NAVAL DEPARTMENT.

Having been called on officially to give his opinion on Prof. Espy’ s labors, Dr.
Hare lias preferred to publish them in full, rqther than resort to a brief epistolary
juridical communication.
The subjoined generalizations are quoted from the quarto pamphlet, entitled
“ Espy’s Reports on Meteorology,” page 5.
1. “ The rain and snow storms, and even the moderate rains and snows, travel
from the west towards the east in the United States, during the months o f No­
vember, December, January, February, and March, which are the only months
to which these generalizations apply.”
2. “ The storms are accompanied with a depression o f the barometer near the
central line of the storm.”
3. “ This central line o f minimum pressure is generally o f great length from
north to south, and moves side foremost towards the east.”
5. “ The velocity o f this line is such, that it travels from the Mississippi to
the Connecticut river in about twenty-four hours, and from the Connecticut to
St. John’s, Newfoundland, in nearly the same time, or about thirty-six miles an
hour.”
7.
“ in great storms, the wind, for several hundred miles on both sides o f the
minimum pressure, blow's towards that line directly, or obliquely.”
10. “ Many storms are o f great and unknown length, from north to south,
reaching beyond our observers on the Gulf o f Mexico and on the northern lakes,
while their east and west diameter is comparatively small. The storms, therefore,
move side foremost.”
11. “ Most storms commence in the ‘ far west,’ beyond our most western ob­
servers; but some commence in the United States.”
13. “ There is generally a lull of wind at the line o f minimum pressure, and
sometimes a calm.”




192

Questions relating to the Law o f Storms.

QUERIES SUBMITTED FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF PROF. ESPY, BEFORE MAKING
HIS NEXT REPORT.

1. Has not experience established, that vessels in approaching the Atlantic
coast o f the United Slates, are liable to be subjected, in the first instance, to a
violent south-easter, then to a calm or lull, followed by a north-wester, no less
violent than the gale first encountered?
2. Whether the gale o f 1836, o f which the phenomena were recorded by
Prof. Loomis, and published in the transactions o f the American Philosophical
Society soon after, does not exemplify the origin and progress o f such gales,
by showing that the wind blew from between north and west, towards an oblong
area o f minimum barometric pressure, on one side; while it blew towards that
area on the other side, from the opposite quadrant o f the horizon, between south
and east?
3. Whether the observations thus recorded, do not show that the area of mini­
mum pressure moved gradually from the north-west towards south-east, subjecting
every station successively exposed to it, first to a south-easter, then to a lull,
and finally to a north-wester?
4. Whether the course of this storm was not from north-west to south-east;
and whether it did not, in this respect, agree with the well known gales, or hur­
ricanes, above adverted to as universally called south-easters ?
5. These premises admitted, jYIr. Espy is requested to explain wherefore, in
one o f his generalizations, he alleges that storms travel from west towards the
east during the five winter months, instead o f alleging that they travel from
north-west to south-east, consistently with the observations of Loomis above
mentioned?
6. Whether, if the language o f the generalization were accurate, all gales ex­
perienced on the United States coast, would not blow from due east first, and
from due west afterwards?
7. Whether there is not another distinct kind o f storm, long known and uni­
versally recognized as the “ north-easter” or “ north-eastern gale,” which has
been distinguished from the south-easter, so called, by its direction, its longer
endurance, lesser violence, and by its not being usually followed, after a brief
lull, by a north-wester; nor any violent'wind in a direction directly opposite to
that in which it blew at the beginning o f the storm ?
8. Whether, moreover, co-existent with this north-eastern gale, there are not
always upper clouds, which are to be seen occasionally through openings in the
rainy strata, which upper clouds move slowly from the south-west in a direction
nearly opposite to that which the scud pursues ?
9. Whether, agreeably to the observations of Franklin, and general experience
confirming them, our storms producing north-eastern gales do not travel from
south-west to north-east, so that they are perceived earlier as the place of ex­
posure is more to leeward ?
10. Whether their traveling thus, does not warrant the opinion that they com­
mence in the Gulf o f Mexico, and are propagated gradually to the north-east
along the Atlantic States, and the neighboring portion o f the Atlantic ocean ?
11. Whether the observations o f Redfield do not establish, so far as they are
reliable, that certain storms travel from the Gulf along the coast o f the United
States, and o f course from south-west to north-east; and how these results are
to be reconciled with the generalizations in the report, or with the evidence ad­
duced by Loomis ?
12. Whether any absurdity which Redfield’s inferences involve respecting the
interior phenomena of his suppositious whirlwinds, justify distrust of the cor­
rectness o f the route which they are represented to have pursued?
13. Whether we are to admit a generalization, which agrees neither with
Loomis, Franklin, nor Redfield?
14. How can the observations o f Franklin, confirmed by a very general im­
pression that they were sagacious and well founded, be reconciled with those
made by Loomis, also highly esteemed, unless there be two kinds o f storms,




Questions relating to the Law o f Steams.

193

one o f which travels from the north-west to south-east, and the other from south­
west to north-east ?
15. Whether it can he correct to confound both o f these kinds o f storms un­
der the one generalization o f “ Storms moving from west to east ? ”
16. Whether there is any difference in the direction o f storms during the
warmer months, justifying the restrictions to the colder season, o f the generali­
zation that storms move from east to west ?
17. Do not tornadoes always move, whether in summer or winter, from west
to east?
18. Do not thunder gusts almost invariably move from west to east, usually
from N. W . to S. E. ?
19. Whether there is any coincidence as to time between the prevalence of
the terrific norther o f the Mexican Gulf Coast, and that o f our north-east
gales ?
20. Whether they are not both consequent to the displacement o£ the warmer
air lying on the Gulf, by the colder air o f the territory o f the United States,
north or north-east o f the Gulf, to whatever cause that displacement may be
due ?
21. Whether simultaneously with the existence o f the norther on the western
coast o f the Gulf, there is or is not, a north-easter blowing from the United
States territory eastward o f the Allegheny ridge, into the aerial estuary over
the Gulf?
22. There being three different climates within the territory o f Mexico, ac­
cording to the altitude of the localities throughout which they prevail, the lower
being designated as the hot region, the middle as the rainy region, and the upper
or table land o f the City o f Mexico, as the mild and dry region; whether it is
not evident that the clouds o f the Gulf do not ever cross the table land; but by
their access to the intermediate region, cause its characteristic humidity ?
23. Whether in point o f fact, the climate of the table land o f Mexico and
that o f the Gulf, are not independent o f each other, so that, however an ascent
o f the air o f a portion o f the Gulf may render an horizontal afflux to supply its
place necessary, the effect will be to draw the whole supply from the lower and
comparatively cooler territory o f the United States, lying to the nortli and east
o f the Gulf?
24. Whether, as the area o f the Gulf reaches to nearly two-thirds o f the size
o f the valley o f the Mississippi, and the territory o f the Atlantic States, it should
not have a great influence on the winds o f the United States, and whether it
does not justify a doubt o f the correctness o f any sweeping generalizations
which do not admit that great estuary to have any influence ?
25. Whether the prevalence o f gales supposed generally to occur about the
time o f the Autumnal Equinox, may not be explained by this fact, that the de­
cline o f the solar heat in September, cools the land more than the seas by which
it is bounded; whence it follows that at this season o f terrestrial refrigeration,
there will be greater propensity for the air over the land, to displace that o f the
adjoining seas; and whether this process is not likely to be peculiarly influential
in the case o f the Gulf o f Mexico, and the territory o f the United States, thus
creating an unusual tendency to the production o f north-east gales about the
time o f the equinox?
26. Whether the north-eastern gale does not cease to be a rainy wind at a
certain distance from the United States coast, and if so, at what distance does it
become a dry wind, a harbinger o f a cloudless sky ?
27. Whether this diversity in the character of the north-easter, may not be
fairly ascribed to the facts above cited in relation to the Gulf of Mexico, since
when the gale in question blows into the basin o f that estuary, the air displaced
by it being incapable o f surmounting the barrier made by the table land and
mountains, so as to get off to leeward, it has to flow back over the inblowing
gale, furnishing thus the moisture which forms its well known attribute?
28. Whether the fact that, beyond the range o f our Atlantic coast, there is
no such basin and barrier, is not the reason o f their being no moisture associV O L . X X V I I .-----N O . I I .




13

194

Questions relating to the Law o f Storms.

ated with winds having a north-eastern direction, since in that case there is no
barrier to cause the moist air displaced to flow in an opposite course above that
o f the displacing current below?
29.
Whether the general tendency o f the wind, in the upper region, to move
from south-west to north-east, over the United States territorv, does not fortify
the idea that the warm and moist air, displaced from the Gulf, must pursue an
opposite route to that o f the lower wind by which it may be supplanted?*
QUERIES RESPECTING THE CONFLICTING EXPLANATIONS OF THE CAUSES OF TOR­
NADOES AND W ATER SPOUTS.f

The preceding queries are intended to draw attention to those points o f view
in which the generalizations o f Prof. Espy are apparently irreconcileable with
well known facts, extensive experience, or the observations o f other meteorolo­
gists ; but as the learned Professor mingles references to his theory incessantly
with his observations, I request that he answer some queries bearing thereupon.
I therefore propose the following inquiries:—
Whether there are not two well known modes o f electrical discharge, by which
bodies oppositely electrified are made to neutralize each other, in one o f which,
electricity passes in a spark, in the other, is conveyed from one surface to the
other, by the motion of some intervening body; whence the alternate motion o f
clappers between bells, o f pith balls, or puppets between disks, and o f blasts o f
air from electrified points.
The existence o f these modes o f discharge being admitted, and also that one
o f them has been called the spark, or diruptive discharge, the other, the carrying
or convective discharge. I ask whether any charge whatever, may not be neu­
tralized either by the convective or diruptive process, so that the one is coinmutable for the other by a slight diversity o f distance.
Whether in every case o f the existence o f an electric charge, attraction does
not take place between the surfaces, or bodies employed to hold it?
Whether it does not follow, that wherever there can be a charge competent
to produce the diruptive spark discharge, there must be a competency to produce
the convective discharge?
These premises conceded, and it being admitted that lightning is a diruptive
discharge on a gigantic scale, does it not follow that there must be a gigantic
convective discharge in nature upon a scale o f commensurate magnitude?
Let Mr. Espy say where that convective discharge is to be found, if it be not
in the tornado or water-spout ?
Let him say in what respect the features o f the tornado are discordant with
those of a convective electrical discharge ?
Let him say why the phenomena observed by Allen, are not a magnificent il­
lustration of the alternation o f the convective and diruptive discharge ?J
Is it not evident that when a balloon rises it is pressed up, by the wedging in
under it o f the heavier surrounding air, and that this, while it presses the balloon
upwards, presses downwards on the column o f air immediately under it?}
If this be a true representation o f the process by which a balloon is elevated,
how could the ascent o f a balloon, however great, at the level o f the clouds, dis-*§
* Prof. Espy may probably consider bis generalizations as justified by the plotted record o f bis
observations, but the examination of them has not created that impression, lie has lectured and
reported upon his own theory and observations, without bringing those o f his predecessors or con­
temporaries sufficiently into view.
+ See Merchants' Magazine for February last, page 192
X The observations of Mr. Allen were stated in the following words:—“ Being within a few yards
of this spot, I had an opportunity o f accurately noting the effects produced on the surface o f the
water. The circle formed by the tornado on the foaming water was about 300 feet in diameter.
Within this circle the water appeared to be in commotion, like that in a huge boiling cauldron.
The waves heaved and swelled, whenever the point of this cone passed over them, apparently as if
some magical spell were acting upon them by the effect of enchantment. Twice 1 noticed a gleam
o f lightning, or o f electric fluid to dart through the column of vapor, .ifter theflash, the foam o f the
water seemed immediately to diminish fo r a moment, as i f the discharge $f the electric fluid had served
to calm the excitement on its agitat d surface.”
v
§ See Merchants' Magazine for February, page 193, last paragraph.




Questions relating to the Law o f Storms.

195

turb the column o f air supporting the balloon, so low down as the base rest­
ing on the terrestrial surface?
Does not this reasoning apply equally to a mass o f air warmer than that sur­
rounding it, in consequence o f the latent heat yielded by condensation o f the
contained vapor.
Is not this the reason why the inflammation o f a stratum o f carded cotton
above the mouth o f an inverted open-necked bell glass, produced not the slight­
est movement in fibers o f the same material, situated on a wire gauze within
the bell immediately over the bore o f the neck ?
Are not all the Espyan requisites for the production o f a tornado to be found
in the upward current o f air over equatorial regions, by which the trade winds
are induced ? If so, wherefore does not a tornado prevail there, as enduring as
that upward current?
QUERIES TO METEOROLOGISTS GENERALLY.

The following queries are not made with any reference to Espy’ s theory or
generalizations ; but with a view to complete the series which has at this time
been suggested to me as worthy of the attention of meteorologists.
Does it not follow that whenever any portion o f the atmosphere is charged
positively, or negatively, the aerial particles must undergo a corresponding rare­
faction from the reciprocal repulsion consequent to a similar stale o f electrical
excitement ? May not this be one cause o f a buoyancy and consequent ascentional power, producing a penetration o f the region o f frost, by the lower strata
o f the atmosphere ?
Whenever electrical repulsion tends to counteract gravitation, is it not reason­
able that barometrical pressure should be diminished, and may not oppositely
charged aerial masses by rushing together, sustain a diminution o f volume, and
cause a precipilation o f vapor as rain, by super-saturating the space within which
they commingle ?
If, as above suggested, a diversity o f electrical excitement be followed by cor­
responding variations o f the density o f the air and o f the space occupied by it,
whenever by such means a dilatation o f bulk occurs in a mass o f the atmos­
phere, will it not take up any moisture to which there may be access sufficient
to saturate the additional space occupied; and whenever the opposite change o f
diminution o f volume ensues, will it not deposite a proportionable quantity of
moisture ?
Is not the action o f the air in this respect in taking up and giving out mois­
ture, analogous to that o f a sponge, which absorbs or gives out any surround­
ing liquid, accordingly as it may be allowed to dilate by its own elasticity, or
made to contract by mechanical compression?
May not each globule o f water in a cloud be inflated with air like a bubble,
while this bubble may be expanded by electrical repulsion, so as to be more
buoyant, than if it were electrically neutral, and may not this be one cause o f
the buoyancy o f clouds?
May not a buoyancy thus arising, be one source o f ascensional power indu­
cing those upward currents which cause rain?
It is well known that clouds intercept the radiant heat given off by the terres­
trial surface to such an extent, that white frost, which is always the consequence
o f radiation, only takes place when the sky is clear. Does it not follow that the'
clouds must acquire heat by terrestrial radiation, so that the air with which they
are associated must consequently be made warmer and more buoyant than it
would otherwise be?
Have we not reason then to infer, that the heat arising from radiation, is one
o f the causes o f the buoyancy o f clouds?
Nevertheless, for the most, is not the persistence o f clouds only apparent ?
Are they not formed as the vapor, in any rising column o f air, reaches the level
where there is sufficient refrigeration to condense it; but is not the cloud thus
formed, dissolved usually by the air above, o f which the dew point is so low as
to enable it to take up the precipitated vapor ?




196

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

Are not the phenomena analogous to those o f the fog or cloud, which may
appear to surmount persistently the escape pipe o f a steamboat boiler, although
this is manifestly the effect o f a successive condensation of succeeding portions
o f the aqueous vapor?

JOURNAL OF M E R C A N TILE LAW .
F reeman H unt, E sq., Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc. :—
St . L ouis , June 10,1852.

I inclose you the decision o f one o f our courts upon a commercial question of
some importance, here, where there is no statute declaring the authority o f a
factor over the goods consigned to him— the whole matter being left to the com­
mon law :—
DUTIES o r A CARRIER IN PRESERVING GOODS INTRUSTED TO HIS CARE.

The case o f Bird vs. Cromwell, 1 Mo. R. 81, referred to in the decision o f the
case of Chouteau vs. Leech, in the Merchants’ Magazine for June, 1852, (vol.
xxvi., page 715,) may be o f some interest, and I send you a note o f it :
Bird vs. Cromwell, 1 Mo. R. 81. Cromwell brought his action on the case
against Bird, for negligence in transporting a quantity o f coffee, shipped on board
the defendant’s barge, from New Orleans to St. Louis, whereby the same got
wet and was damaged. On the trial, plaintiff proved the bill o f lading, showing
the shipping of the coffee, to be delivered in St. Louis, “ the dangers o f the river
only excepted,” and also proved, that when the coffee was delivered, part o f it
had been wet. The defendant proved, that on the voyage, the barge struck a
snag and shipped about four inches o f water; that, for the purpose o f repairs,
the barge was got to the shore in about twelve or fourteen minutes, and, the bow
being raised, the water ran back and damaged the plaintiff’s goods. None o f the
plaintiff’s goods were taken out, but, the leak being stopped, the barge was re­
paired, and she proceeded on her voyage after a detention of about 24 hours.
The court decided, that it was the duty of the carrier to use all exertions to pre­
vent damage, so long as they may probably avail, in all cases, whether the char­
acter o f the accident be such as, in the event o f a total loss, would discharge him
or n ot; and that, in this case, it was the duty o f the carrier to use all means in
his power to dry the coffee, and, if by opening the barrels and drying the coffee
he might have prevented the damage, and he neglected to do it, he was liable for
such neglect.
This case was decided in 1821, and has since been considered as the settled
law o f this State, upon the subject of the duties of the carrier, in preserving the
goods intrusted to his care.
Respectfully yours, &e.,
CHAS C. W tllTTELSEV, Att’y at Law.
AUTHORITY OF A FACTOR OVER GOODS CONSIGNED TO HIM, ETC.

In the Court o f Common Pleas, (St. Louis, Missouri, June, 1852,) James
Berry, Jr., & Co., vs. Christopher Rhodes.
This was a suit which, under the old code, would have been an action of
trover, for the conversion by the defendant o f a quantity o f glass belonging to
the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs, merchants o f Pittsburgh, consigned to Love &
Osborne, factors and commission merchants in St. Louis, a large quantity o f
glass for sale, at six months, or cash, but drew no bills upon the shipment. Love
&. Osborne’s commissions were five per cent, which included storage in their
own house, and insurance, but did not include freights, drayage, nor the storage
in other warehouses. Love & Osborne paid for freight and drayage about §280.
Love & Osborne being indebted to the defendant Rhodes upon a due bill for the
sum o f $482 89, Rhodes applied to them for payment, and they not having the




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197

money, he offered to take it in glass. They declined at first, stating that the
glass did not belong to them, but to a house at Pittsburg, and that taking the
glass would bo robbing Peter to pay Paul. After many solicitations, Love &
Osborne finally consented, and made the defendant a bill o f glass, treating it as
a cash sale, and discounting the interest off the six months’ price, and credited
the bill with the amount o f the due bill, still leaving a small balance in favor of
defendant. The sale, as regards the defendant, was treated as a cash sale, but
as regards the plaintiffs, was treated as a sale at six months. At the time of this
transaction, Love & Osborne had made no advances except for freight and drayage, and had given no acceptance to the plaintiffs. In their correspondence with
the plaintiffs, they merely stated that they had made sale, but gave no account.
In April, 1851, the plaintiffs drew on I,. & O., at four months, for SI,000, and
this bill was paid. In May, the plaintiffs drew another bill, at four months, which
was not paid. In August, 1851, L. & O. rendered an account of sales. The
sales, at the date of the payment o f the first draft, in August, amounted to
$2,427. In October, 1851, plaintiffs demanded the glass o f defendant, which not
being delivered, they sued, as for a conversion.
The defendant contended, first, that the payment for the goods, by the duo bill
o f Love & Osborne, was a good payment, and was to be considered as a cash
sale as between L. & O. and the defendant; although it was to be treated as a
credit sale, as between L. & O. and the plaintiffs. 2. That if it was not good as
a sale payment, then the defendant was to be credited with the amount duo L. &
O., by the plaintiffs, for freight and drayage, and the commissions upon the bill
sold the defendant, and for which L. & O., as factors, had a lien upon the goods
consigned.
The plaintiffs contended, 1. That as the factor could not pledge the goods,
neither could he sell to pay his own debt, to a person who bought with know­
ledge o f his agency. 2. That the defendant was not entitled to the credit he
claimed, as, at the expiration o f six months from the sale, the balance was in
fiivor of the plaintiffs, against the factors, Love and Osborne.
The court gave judgment in this case in favor o f the plaintiffs, for the full
amount claimed. The court held, that the conversion by the defendant was a
wrongful conversion, as he took them with a full knowledge o f the facts o f the
case, and that the goods did not belong to the factors, Love & Osborne, but
knew that they were the property o f a house in Pittsburg; and that as the de­
fendants thus took the goods with knowledge, the court held that the delivery of
the due bill was not a payment for the goods; and farther held, that the defend­
ant could not, under such circumstances, recover the amount that had been ad­
vanced by the factors, and was not entitled to any credit upon the amount o f the
bill purchased. The principle upon which the court decided the case was, that a
factor cannot sell the goods of his principal in payment o f his own debt, to a
person who purchases with the full knowledge that the goods are not the goods
o f the factor. To warrant the purchaser to set off the debt of the factor against
the claim o f the principal, he must be a purchaser bona fide and without notice.
Judgment for the plaintiff the amount o f the bill o f the glass, with interest after
six months.
.
---------BOTTOMRY.— THE ANN C. PRATT.
A bottomry bond made for a larger sum than is due, for the purpose o f being used to defraud
underwriters, is void, and no remedy can be had upon it, although no fraud was intended against
the owners o f the vessel.
The rule of the Admiralty, which holds that a bond may be good for a part and bad for a part, does
not apply to one made for the purpose of defrauding the insurers.
But a fraudulent bond will not necessarily vitiate the consideration so far as it is meritorious.
For so much, the creditor may recover by process in rem on the hypothecation implied by law.
When the master is separated from the ship, by death or other casualty, the mate succeeds in the
command as heres necessarius.
The possibility of this command being devolved on him, is a contingency contemplated by his en­
gagement, and he engages for a competent degree of skill in seamanship and navigation for the
management of the ship on the happening of this event. He is also entitled to the ordinary
presumption in his favor, that he acted with fidelity and ordinary skill, until the contrary is
proved.

C a rring to n , libellant, vs. t h e A nn C . P r a t t — P r a t t , claimant.

This is a libel on a bottomry bond executed by the acting master.




The brig

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Ann C. Pratt sailed from Frankfort, Nov. 7, 1850, on a voyage to the Western
Islands, and thence to such foreign port or ports as the master should determine.
On her outward passage she encountered heavy gales, squalls, and had fresh
breezes during the whole time. She labored badly, and leaked from the com­
mencement o f the voyage, although she had been overhauled, and was supposed
to be thoroughly repaired, so that three days after sailing, it was found necessary
to lighten her by throwing over nearly the whole o f her deckload. She arrived
at Terceira on the 29th of November. Here she discharged part of her cargo
and took part o f another. From Terceira she sailed for St. Michael, Dec. 30,
and made land the next day, but by a continued series of gales, squalls and bad
weather, they were prevented from making a harbor till the 11th of January,
when the vessel was brought to anchor and moored at Villa Tranche, an open
roadstead. She lay there till the 13th, when, the captain being ashore, the brig
was struck by a heavy squall, which drove her from her moorings, with the loss
o f all her cables and anchors, except part o f her best bower chain. The squall
struck her from the N. W. but soon veered round to the W . S. W., driving her
directly on shore, so that the hands on board, to save themselves from being
driven on the rocks, were obliged to stand off. On the same day, in the after­
noon, as is stated in the depositions o f Arey, and M'Donald, the second mate,
there was a consultation of the crew to consider what was best to be done. The
crew on board at this time consisted o f the second mate, two able seamen, one
one of whom, Hurris, was sick below, two ordinary seamen, one a Portuguese, who
spoke English very imperfectly, and two boys, one only of whom spoke English,
and the cook. With the exception of Arey and the second mate, the other mem­
bers o f the ship’s company say that they knetv o f no consultation of the crew.
I f there was any, it must have been very informal, and though Arey and McDon­
ald both say that the opinion o f the crew was in favor of proceeding to St.
Thomas, which was the port that the master determined to proceed to next, in­
stead of attempting to return to St. Michael or bearing away for an eastern port,
it is evident that Arey, in doing this, must have been governed by his own
opinion in concurrence with that o f the second mate. On her passage for three
or four days, the brig leaked badly till she took the trade winds, and from that
time she made her voyage without difficulty, and arrived at St. Thomas the 6th
of February. Here Arey called on the American consul and had, under his war­
rant, a survey. In a written report the surveyors stated the repairs that,, in their
opinion, were required to make her seaworthy. Three master shipwrights, the
only persons in the place who undertook such business, were applied to for pro­
posals or tenders for making the repairs ordered by the surveyors, and the con­
tract was made with Pland, whose offer was the most favorable.
The money
for making the repairs and to meet the other necessary charges for supplies
while she was under repairs, and for fitting her for her return voyage, beyond
what the master had on board, and the proceeds o f the sale o f the cargo, was
advanced by the libellant, under an agreement with Arey, on the security o f a
bottomry bond and a bill of exchange drawn for the sum claimed, on the payment
o f which to bond was to be held satisfied and cancelled. The bill having been
protested, this suit was commenced on the bond.
Rowe and Bartlett for the libellant.
Willis and Fessenden for the respondents.
W are , District Judge.
Several objections have been made to the libellant’s right to recover in this
case. In the first place, it is said that it was the duty o f Arey, when he was
blown off by the gale, to have returned to St. Michael’s and restored the com­
mand o f the vessel to the master, and that there was nothing in the state of the
weather that rendered this impracticable. But whatever fault may have been
committed by Arey in this part of his conduct, whether an error o f judgment or
a delinquency of a graver character, it cannot affect the libellant. The vessel
came into St. Thomas in distress. It is certain that repairs were needed. There
was a regular survey by competent surveyors, appointed by the American Con­
sul, and there is nothing in the evidence to impeach the fairness and the honesty




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

199

o f the surveyors. The libellant knew nothing o f the causes which brought her
there, without her master and without her papers, except what he could learn
from Arey and the crew, and their account sufficiently explained the fact. On
the separation of the master from the ship by death or other casualty, the mate
succeeds to his authority as heres necessarius; the law imposes on him the duties
and responsibilities, and clothes him with the authority o f master. This substi­
tution is a contingency that is contemplated by his engagement, which cannot be
declined by him but by a default of duty. Arriving at St. Thomas as he did, he
had all the authority to order necessary repairs and to make all contracts for that
purpose that he would have had, if he had been originally appointed master.
The circumstances under which he arrived, it may be said, ought to suggest
caution and prudence, and to awaken the vigilance of those who dealt with him,
but hia authority was the same as would have been that o f the original master.
Arey, who was now the acting master, not having the control of means adequate
to meet the cost o f repairs, and being unable to obtain them on the personal
credit o f the owners, was authorized to borrow on the credit o f the vessel. But
it is said that this authority, having its origin in necessity, is limited to the cost of
such repairs as are indispensably necessary to enable the ship to proceed on her
voyage; that the repairs ordered exceeded that necessity, and that beyond this
the master has no authority to charge the owners by a resort to the onerous ex­
pedient o f a bottomry bond. And it is argued, that beyond this there was a want
o f prudence and a wasteful extravagance in making the repairs that were made.
This argument presents itself with a double aspect— first, as it touches the
rights o f the bonder, and secondly, as it questions the discretion and good faith of
the master. As it affects the bottomry creditor, the answer appears to me to be
very obvious. All that is required o f the lender, in such cases, is to be assured
that an unprovided necessity exists, and that the means cannot bo obtained on
the personal credit of the owners. If the money is then advanced in good faith,
without collusion with the master for the purposes o f fraud, the lender is not
bound to see to its application. Emerigon Tracts a la Grapa, eh. 4, sec. 7.
Dig. 14. 1. 1. 59. The June, 1 Dodson, 465. If the sum advanced is somewhat
more than is strictly necessary, unless the lender’s suspicions are justly awakened
by gross and manifest extravagance, his claim under his bond will not be im­
paired. For when a case o f apparent necessity exists, the law does not impose
on him the responsibility of determining the extent o f the repairs required. The
lender, says Emerigon, is justified in relying on the honesty o f the master; and
besides, if he were required to decide on the nature and the necessity o f the re­
pairs, it would be requisite for him to be an expert in the business— il faut elre
du metier.
As relates to the master, the arguments apply with more force. His authority
to borrow money on bottomry is strictly limited to the necessities o f the ship,
and in order to justify himself to the owners, he must show the extent o f the
necessity. But then the question will return, what, in the sense o f the law, are
necessary repairs ? The text writers on this subject merely use the words ne­
cessary repairs without proceeding to describe, except in very vague and general
terms, what they are. In what sense, then, is the word necessary used in this
connection ? Is it in the strict sense, repairs that are indispensable to enable the
vessel to proceed on her voyage, or is it in a more loose sense, such as are proper,
fit and suitable under the circumstances ? This question was raised and very fully
considered by the Circuit Court, in the case of the ship Fortitude, 3 Sum., 337,
and the conclusion to which the court arrived, after a very elaborate examination
o f the theoretical writers, as well as the judicial decisions on the subject, was,
that the word necessary was used in the latter sense, as including what was
proper and suitable under the circumstances. The same doctrine, in substance,
was held by Lord Tenderden in the case o f Webster vs. Scchamp, 4 Barn, cjr
Aid. 354. The proper test to determine what, in the sense o f the law, are ne­
cessary repairs, is found by inquiring what a prudent owner, having a proper re­
gard to the safety of the property at risk, and the security off the lives of the
crew would do if he were present. In this case, the repairs ordered by the master




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were only such as were recommended as necessary by the surveyors, in their
report, and this, it appears to me, is sufficient to exonerate the master from any
imputation o f bad faith.
But the most difficult objection to be overcome, is the charge of meditated
fraud, not on the owners o f the vessel but on the underwriters. To enable the
owners to perpetrate the fraud, two sets of papers and accounts were made up
by the libellant— one for the owners, by which the matter was to be settled and
the payment made. This account made the whole cost o f the repairs to be
$4,460 83 Deducting $310 CO for cash received o f the master, $216 85, the
avails o f the sale of the cargo, $250 discounted by Pland, the contractor, who made
the repairs, left $3,683 38 as the amount actually advanced by the libellant, and
adding the maritime premium, $193 87, it amounts to $3,877 25. For this sum
a bill o f exchange was drawn by Arey on Seth Pratt, the father of the master
and owner, he having been left at St. Michael, and not expected to return in
season to meet the bill. Together with the bill, a written agreement was sent, by
which the libellants agreed to discount the maritime interest and to take $3,683
38 in satisfaction of the bond, provided the bill was duly honored and the pay­
ment promptly made.
With these papers, another package o f accounts and papers was sent for the
use o f the owners in adjusting and settling the loss with the underwriters. These
accounts showed the cost o f the repairs to amount to $4,712 57, and after deducting
$216 85, the sum received from the sale of the remains of the cargo, but without
any deduction for the cash received o f the master or the discount o f the contractor,
left the amount advanced by Carvington $4,591 42, and for this sum the bond
was executed, which, with the addition o f the maritime premium, amounts to
$5,050 56. The reason given by Carvington, in his letter to Seth Pratt, to whom
the papers were sent, for preparing this duplicate set o f accounts, is, that it was
“ done to protect your son’ s interest; for, doubtless, you are aware that there
are many charges attending vessels similarly circumstanced as the Ann C. Pratt,
which the insurers and the underwriters will not admit; consequently owners of
vessels have to protect their interests and make up their accounts in such a form
as their officers will permit of.” After this explanation o f the fabricated papers
and accounts, he proceeds to say— “ The other packages o f papers relate to the
owners, and in the account current, which will there be found, the facts and
original charges are those set forth, showing the balance due us to be only
$3,877 25, and for which amount Captain Arey has given us a draft on you, and
we have an agreement with him, as we do have with all others, who favor us with
their business, similarly circumstanced, that we are to relinquish the 10 per cent
maritime premium, which persons making advances on vessels enact.®
The calm self-possession and air of frankness with which all this is disclosed,
would lead one to suppose that such practices belonged to the ordinary usages
and common business habits o f the place ; and I feci a secret persuasion that 1
might do injustice to Messrs. Carvington & Co., to impute to them a greater loose­
ness of mercantile morality than is customary in such transactions in that com­
munity, or perhaps in other commercial places under like circumstances. But 1
feel bound to say that I cannot view such practices, even if sanctioned to some
extent by custom, in the same light in which the interested parties appear to
contemplate them, and I trust that I shall be doing no disservice to the general
interests of Commerce by suggesting that they cannot be tolerated in a court ot
justice.
The letter o f Carvington shows that the bond was executed for a larger sum
than was due, and that false accounts were fabricated to support the bond and to
enable the owners to extort from the underwriters a larger sum than by their
contract they were bound to pay. It being apparent that the bond is tainted with
fraud, can an action be maintained upon it? In the Admiralty, a bond may be
good for a part and bad for a part. If others are mixed up, and in it demands
for which the creditor is not entitled to claim maritime interest, as for money
which had been previously advanced on the personal credit o f the owner, with
other advances for which he had stipulated for this security, this will not vitiate




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201

the bond in toto. He may recover upon it so much o f the consideration as
is good, and it will be rejected for the residue. The “ Aurora,” 1 Wheal. 69.
The “ Hero,” 2 Dodson, 146. The ship “ Packet,” 3 Mason, 259. But I am not
aware that this equitable indulgence has ever been extended to a fraudulent bond.
From the language o f Lord Stowell, in the case o f the “ Tartas,” 1 Haggard, 14,
i., infer the contrary. “ This court, he says, “ proceeding on principles o f general
equity, does not hold that a bottomry, bad in part, necessarily vitiates the rest.”
But he immediately adds, “ It may be invalidated by a case o f fraud and the illconduct o f the party; and if such a charge could be established, then indeed this
bond would share the part o f the other unprofitable transactions connected with
this vessel.” A plain intimation that a bond tainted by fraud is, even in the Admi­
ralty, a totally void instrunent.
The fraud to which Lord Stowell alludes, is undoubtedly a fraud on the
owners, and, in the present case, as all the facts were disclosed and explained, no
fraud was intended or attempted on them. But in its original connection, it was
intended to operate as a fraud on the underwriters, who were ultimately to bear
the loss; and in morals, it certainly makes no difference, and ought to make none
in law, whether the fraud was intended to affect the primary or the ultimate
party who was to suffer by the loss. But even if the insurers are to be con­
sidered as third persons and strangers to the transaction, a bond is sometimes,
even by the rigid rules of the common law, held to be void when it is intended
to operate as a fraud on a third person, though it may be perfectly fair and unim­
peachable between the parties. Such was the case of Boynton vs. Hubbard, 7
Mass. Jtep. 112. That action was on a post obit bond, and though the jury found
that the transaction was fair and free from fraud between the parties, judgment
was arrested and the bond held to be void on principles o f public policy applicable
to such transactions, because it operated as a fraud on third persons. And it
appears to me that such a bond as this, framed with a view of practicing a fraud
on underwriters, ought to be held void, though as between the immediate parties
there was no fraud. It is easy for parties in foreign countries to make up ac­
counts and find vouchers to sustain exaggerated losses, and it is difficult for
underwriters to detect the fraud that is concealed under fabricated papers. They
are obliged to increase their premiums on fair and honest shipowners to cover
risks o f this kind. And it seems to me that when a bottomry creditor lends him­
self to a transaction o f this kind, though he may not derive any direct profit from
it himself, that a proper regard to the best interests o f fair and honest trade, as
well as a due respect for commercial morality, requires that the bond should be
held to be void, and the creditor left to seek such other remedy for the amount
justly due as his case admits. Under these views o f the subject, I must pronounce
against the bond. If I have come to a wrong conclusion, I am happy that my
opinion is open to be renewed by a higher court
But though the bond be void, this does not o f necessity vitiate the considera­
tion for which it was given, so far as it was meritorious. For repairs and sup­
plies furnished, the law gives a lien on the vessel without any instrument o f
hypothecation, which the creditor may enforce by process in rem. The counsel
for the libellant has amended his libel by filing an allegation to meet this posture
o f the case, founded on the consideration, in which he claimed the actual amount
advanced for the repairs and supplies. This I have no doubt of his right to re­
cover. In the account current which is supported by regular vouchers, this ap­
pears to be $3,683 38. But this being awarded on the hypothecation implied by
law, does not carry maritime interest.
A rey , libellant, vs. The A nn C. P ratt .
The libel o f Arey for his wages was argued and heard at the same time, and
on the same evidence with that on the bottomry bond. But in considering the
mate’s claim for wages, his own deposition, which was admitted in the case ot
bottomry, ( “ Fortitude,” 3 Sumner,) must be excluded. The exclusion,however,
o f this part o f the evidence, does not materially change the the aspect of the case.
The objection to the mate’s libel is, that he forfeited his wages by miscondnct,




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Journal o f Mercantile Law.

and the facts relied upon to show his alleged misconduct sufficiently appear from
the testimony o f the other witnesses.
The principal cause of forfeiture insisted upon is the alleged misconduct of
Arey at St. Michael. When blown off by stress of weather from the island, it is
said that it was his duty to bring the vessel back and restore the command to the
master, and that the condition of the vessel and the state o f the weather being
such as to render this practicable, if not clearly the safest and most prudent
course to be taken, his determination to bear away for the distant isle o f St.
Thomas, can reasonably be accounted for on no other supposition than a deter­
mination to leave the master, and assume for the remainder o f the voyage the
command himself. If sucli was the fact it was a gross violation o f duty, and the
lightest penalty with which it ought to be visited would be a forfeiture o f his
wages.
Two experienced shipmasters were examined as experts on this question ; and
with all the facts explained to them, with respect to the condition of the ship
and the state o f the weather, they expressed a clear opinion that tlie vessel might
with safety have been carried back to the island, and that a judicious and prudent
navigator would have done this rather than bear away fora distant port as that
o f St. Thomas. Their opinion is, undoubtedly, entitled to much consideration,
but it cannot, even admitting its correctness, be held to be decisive of the present
case.
The question hero is not precisely, whether this on the whole was the most
advisable and prudent course to be taken, but whether it was so clearly and
manifestly so, that no man of ordinary judgment could have mistaken it. Arey,
like every other man, is entitled to the ordinary presumption in his favor, that he
has acted fairly and honestly, until this is overcome by satisfactory evidence.
But Arey also, like every other man who offers himself for a particular service,
engages and pledges himself both for his competency and his fidelity. A mate
may bo degraded and put before the mast, as well for want of skill as for want
o f faithfulness. And we are bound to suppose that he had a reasonable degree
o f skill and experience in seamanship and navigation to enable him to take the
command and manage the vessel on the happening o f any casualty which sepa­
rated the master from the ship. This is one of the contingencies that is contem­
plated by his contract.
Up to this time the conduct o f the mate seems to have been entirely unex­
ceptionable, and we are not justified in imputing to him wilful misconduct, on
doubtful and inconclusive evidence. By a casualty, for which no blame attached
to him, he was left in the command of the vessel, and was obliged to act under
trying circumstances, and such as involved considerable danger. Taking all the
evidence together, it appears to me that there was but one of two courses
which could with propriety be taken : either to return to the island and rejoin
the master, or bear away for a West India port, Had he attempted to return and
the weather continued as it had been for the preceding fortnight or three weeks,
the vessel and the lives o f all on board would have been exposed to no inconsid­
erable danger. The brig had, during the whole voyage, leaked badly, and she
had shown herself unfit to contend with tempestuous weather. By steering lor
St. Thomas, it was known that in a short time she would take the trade winds,
when the wind would be in their favor, with an assurance of favorable weather.
They might then with confidence calculate on saving themselves and the ship.
W e have the opinion of two respectable and experienced shipmasters, that, under
all the circumstances, the proper course would have been to return to the island.
Arey chose the other. If it be admitted that the opinion o f the shipmasters is
the most probable, is the case so clear as to leave no room for an honest differ­
ence of opinion ; so clear that we are driven to impute the conduct o f the mate
to dishonest and fraudulent motives? I think not. Granting that it might have
been more judicious to have attempted to return to the island, the determination
of Arey to proceed to St. Thomas, at the worst was but an error of judgment,
and such an error as it would be very harsh to ascribe to a fraudulent and dis­
honest purpose.




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•

In procuring the repairs to be done at St. Thomas, I see nothing in the evi­
dence that gives a serious countenance to the charge of fraud. The expense was
probably somewhat more than the same labor and materials would have cost in
her home port, perhaps something more than would have been the cost if the
owner had been present to superintend the repairs. But this is, I presume, not
unfrequently the case when vessels are repaired under such circumstances. On
the whole, 1 find nothing in the mate’s conduct which will justify the court in
refusing to him his wages; but they are allowed on the contract price, and nothing
can be given, in this case, extra for his service as master.
ACTION OF COVENANT WHEN ON AN AWARD OF REFEREES.

In the Supreme Judicial Court o f Massachusetts, March Term, 1852. Azor
Maynard vs. Jabez Frederick.
This was an aclion o f covenant, broken on an award for $220 87, with interest
and tlie costs of reference, amounting to $15, rendered under a submission, the
material portions of which are as follow s:
“ Know all men hereby, that whereas Azor Maynard and Jabez Frederick,both
o f Boston, in the county of Suffolk, have heretofore had trades and dealings to­
gether, and trade and dealings with other persons, in which they were interested,
or however otherwise; and, whereas there exists a difference of opinion as to the
just and equitable rights of each, relative to, or in matters growing out of, said
trade and dealings, or however otherwise: Now, therefore, in order that a just
and equitable settlement shall be made between the said Maynard and the said
Frederick, and the true balance o f account which shall be due from one to the
other, if any, shall be determined, the said Maynard and Frederick agree to sub­
mit all matters in dispute, touching the trade and business hereinbefore referred
to, or however otherwise, to the arbitration and determination of Thomas Lord,
Reuben Lovejoy and Seth Whittier, all o f whom are mutually chosen and agreed
upon as referees, by the said Maynard and said Frederick, and the said M. and
F. agree to appear before the said referees, with such evidence as they shall con­
sider expedient, and will give evidence before said referees, of all matters relating
to said matters submitted to them.
And after hearing the parties, &c., and the evidence they or either o f them
shall produce, the said referees shall proceed to consider the matters and the evi­
dence, and shall make up an award in dollars and cents in favor o f the one or the
other, if, upon the whole, they shall consider that any sum is or shall be due from
the one o f said parties to the other; which award, so to be made up by said re­
ferees, or by a majority of them, shall be final and binding upon both of said
parties, and shall be in full settlement and discharge from one to the other, of
and concerning, and in respect to their said trade and dealings, from the com­
mencement thereof to the date of this agreement, &c., &c.” Bated July 8,
1847.
The award was signed by Lord arid Whittier only, and at the trial in the Court
o f Common Pleas, before Wells, C. J„ it Was proved, 1st. That no oath was ad­
ministered to the witnesses who testified before the referees; 2d. That one of
the referees refused to agree to or sign the award; 3d. That at the last meeting,
at which all three were present, Lord, the chairman drew up the award and
signed it; Lovejoy refused to sign, and Whittier declined to sign it then, alleging
that Lovejoy’s refusal made it necessary for him to give the subject more con­
sideration ; that a day or two after, a messenger called and asked him to go to
Lord’s; he went, conversed with Lord about it, and then signed it, Lovejoy not
being present or notified of the meeting. This evidence, however, was contro­
verted by the plaintiff', who introduced evidence tending to show that, at said
meeting, two of the referees agreed upon the award to be made, and thereupon
the chairman drew it up and signed it; that Lovejoy refused to sign it, and
Whittier said, in consequence of this refusal, he would take time to consider.
The referees separated, and upon reflection Whittier decided to sign it, and upon
request to go to Lord’s place o f business for this purpose, went and signed, in




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Journal o f Mercantile Law.

pursuance o f his previous determination, without being influenced by any sugges­
tion then made ; 4th, that it was sent to Lovejoy, who refused to sign; 5th. That
in making their award, the arbitrators went behind the following receipt which
had passed between the parties.
“ $200. Received o f Azor Maynard, two hundred dollars in full for rent of
wharf to April 1st; also in full o f all demands to date. Boston, April 1, 1847.
(Signed)
Jabez F rederick.”
And the defendant contended that the award should be set aside : Because, 1.
The witnesses should have been sworn, by the terms o f the submission. 2. The
award should have been unanimous. 3. The award, as Whittier signed under
the influence o f Lord, at a meeting where Lovejoy was not present, and o f which
he was not notified, was inconsistent with law and with the terms of the sub­
mission. 4. There was not sufficient evidence that the award was submitted to
Lovejoy, which was necessary. 5. The referees exceeded the submission by
going behind the receipt.
But the court ruled that it was not necessary to administer an oath to the wit­
nesses, nor that the award should be unanimous; that it was necessary for a
majority o f the referees to agree upon the award at a regular meeting, and if then
agreed upon, reduced to writing and signed by one o f the assenting arbitrators,
and the other, who had previously agreed to it, took some time to reflect, and
after reflection decided to adhere to his original determination, and then volun­
tarily, and without being influenced by any one, signed the award, it would be
valid, so far as this objection was concerned ; that it was necessary that Lovejoy
should have been notified to be present when the award was agreed upon, and
it was left to the jury, whether he was notified or present, or had reasonable op­
portunity to assent or object to the award ; and that the arbitrators, if it was ne­
cessary, in their opinion, to affect a just settlement between the parties, might go
behind the receipt.
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, and the defendant excepted to the
foregoing rulings. He also maintained in this court, that the arbitrators had no
power to award costs, and that the award was vitiated by including them.
C. T. Russell'for the plaintiff. J. C. Park for the defendant.
The opinion o f the court was delivered by Bigelow, J.
The award is not invalidated by the omission to administer an oath to the wit­
nesses. References are not bound by the strict rules o f evidence applied in
courts; they may, for example, examine interested witnesses. And however this
might be, the defendant cannot be permitted to stand by when such a course is
adopted, and afterwards object to it. His permitting it, sub silentio, is a waiver
o f any objection. It is urged that there was no consultation among the arbitra­
tors, but this is not supported by facts, and is overthrown by the finding o f the
jury, who were instructed that it was necessary a majority should agree upon the
award at a regular meeting. The jury have found that there was such a meeting,
at which a majority did agree. But it is said that one of the referees refused to
sign the award; this was of no consequence; if the majority had power to deter­
mine the matter submitted, and he refused to act, it was competent for them to
meet alone. Carpenter vs. Wood, 1 Met. 409. It is further argued that no one
asked for time. But he had agreed to the award ; no further consideration was
necessary, unless he changed his mind, and nothing was wanting but his sig­
nature.
That the award was signed by a majority only, would be sufficient to avoid it,
were it not for the express agreement that it should be binding if “ made up by
said referees, or a majority of them. Towne is. Jaquith, 6 Mass. 46.
The right o f the referees to go behind the receipt of April 1st, depends on the
agreement o f submission, which comprises “ all matters in dispute, touching the
trade and business hereinbefore referred to, or however otherwise,” while the
award was to be “ in full settlement and discharge, concerning the said trade and
dealings, from the commencement thereof to the date of the agreement,” the
trade and dealings being described as such as they had “ heretofore” had together,




■Journal o f Mercantile Law.

205

& c„ &c. Under this submission, it was competent for the arbitrators to go be­
hind the receipt. There was no limit as to time, and they were not restricted to
matters subsequent to its date. The receipt was net in itself conclusive, if erro­
neous from fraud or mistake, and it would be a much stronger objection to the
award if they had refused to go behind it, under such circumstances, than that
they disregarded it.
The objection that the arbitrators had no power to award costs, is well taken,
so far as it atfects that part o f the award, which is bad only for so much as is
thus awarded. The plaintiff may remit the costs, and have judgment for the
remainder. The other exceptions are overruled, and the costs being remitted,
judgment may be entered on the verdict for the plaintiff.

CREDIT OBTAINED FOR GOODS BY ALLEGED FRAUD.

In the Court o f Common Pleas, (Cincinnati, Ohio, June 7, 1852,) before Judge
Piatt.
McCoy el al. vs. Perkins, Woodruff el al. In this case Perkins, as is alleged,
obtained by fraud credit for a large amount of goods, (818,000,) and in comple­
tion o f previous design, is arrested in the act o f disposing o f them to various per­
sons, to whose stores, in the night season, he is delivering them. A bill was
filed, upon which an injunction was allowed and a receiver appointed. The argu­
ment arose upon a motion to dissolve the injunction so far as C. S. Woodruff,
the auctioneer, was considered, upon the ground that he was an innocent pur­
chaser from Perkins.
Judge Piatt held, that an allegation set forth that “ defendant fraudulently
sold and disposed o f goods for the purpose of defrauding his creditors, to a per­
son well knowing the intent,” brought the case within the meaning o f the statute
passed March 14, 1831, directing the mode o f proceeding in chancery, which
reads, that if any one “ is about to convey, assign, conceal, or dispose o f his
property with intent,” &c., as such actually perpetrated, is more positively within
the meaning o f the statute than when it is only intended.
Judge Piatt remarked that this was one o f a class which is tending to cast
shame upon the good name o f the merchant, and if permitted to go unpunished,
bring our courts into contempt. Debts are contracted under various pretenses
for the sole purpose o f fraud, and collectors come among us in the shape of
sheriffs, to be satisfied by writs o f habeas corpus. This is one o f the most strik­
ing instances. It is not sought to be denied that Perkins, from the start, intended
to swindle, and among those receivers of, I could almost say, stolen goods, I
am asked to discriminate in favor o f Woodruff, and why ? Can any one look at
the facts, as exhibited, and believe him an innocent purchaser ? To think so, we
must consider him devoid of all prudence or common sense. He purchases goods
to the amount of S8,000 upon an invoice furnished, as he claims, by a total
stranger, and at a moment’s notice. Yet how does this agree with the fact that
he consults his counsel as to the nature o f the writings, and secures a witness to
the payment of 03,000. He cannot take time, or use ordinary prudence in ex­
amining the stock he purchases, yet he advises over an ordinary bill o f sale, and
takes counsel upon a note of hand. He has sufficient caution and foresight to
come into this court armed, apparently, it all points. He must have anticipated
a storm somewhere, for he shields himself behind Mr. Blackburn’s well known
character, by making that person an innocent witness o f the sale.
It is difficult to say how Woodruffcould have got to the store o f Wm. Perkins
without being warned. The place is fairly hedged in by information. Eshelby,
looking from his shoe store over the way, sees rascality; Rooney, a very quiet
man, knows all about it; the sheriff is on guard, and creditors are besieging the
premises— yet Woodruff goes and comes in entire ignorance.
I can well understand why Perkins should be swift. The creditors, headed by
the officers, are close upon his heels— they drive him into Woodruff’s auction
store, and he has no time for delay. But what is the trouble with Woodruff?
Why should ho lose all presence o f mind and prudence ? •It may be that, in his




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Commercial Chronicle and Review.

anxiety to secure a great bargain, he forgot himself, hut the evidence does not so
indicate. I believe there was a combination between the parties, and so believ­
ing, will sustain the injunction.

COMM ERCIAL CHRONICLE AND R E V IE W .

GENERAL

A C T IV I T Y IN C OM M E R C IA L

A F F A I R S — RA PID

IN C RE A SE

IN

THE

A M O U N T OF S T O C K S

A ND

B OND S T H R O W N U P O N T H E M A R K E T — N E W O R L E A N S C O N S O L I D A T E D LO A N— C O N T I N U E D E A S E IN T n E
M ONEY

M ARKET— QUARTERLY

C O N N E C TIC U T— DE PO SI TS
UNITED

STATES

ILLUSTRATED
FOR THE
THE

FOR T H E

BY T H E

RETURNS

OF T H E

NEW YORK

AND C O I N A G E A T U N I T E D
FISCAL Y E A R — L A W S

REGULAR

OF T R A D E

S U P P L Y OF T H E

FISCAL Y E A R — C O M PA RA T IV E IMPORTS

ARTICLES

FROM N E W Y O R K

FOR T H E

OF P R OD UC E — FR A U D U L E N T

BETTER

BANKING

LAW

OF

FOR JU NE — C O M M E R CE OF T H E
THAN

HUMAN

LE G ISL A T IO N ,

N E C E S S A R I E S OF L I F E — I M P O R T S A T N E W Y O R K
OF D R Y

D E S C R I P T I O N OF F A B R I C S R E C E I V E D — C O M P A R A T I V E

YEARS — EXPORTS

BANKS— G ENER A L

S T A T E S MINT S

GOODS FOR T H E
RECEIPTS

SAME PE R IO D , SH OW IN G

OF C A S H

FISCA L Y E A R — C OM PA RA T IV E

D U T IE S

FOR T H R E E

EXPORTS

OF L E A D I N G

ASSOC IATI ON S.

T he Review for this month is usually uninteresting, from the tact that many
active business men are absent from the great commercial centers, seeking re­
creation in the country or at some fashionable retreat. Not unfrequently also,
the cholera or some other devastating epidemic has made its appearance and
hurried away those who would else have lingered in the haunts o f business.
But the present summer has been comparatively healthy in the large cities, and,
although there has been much bustling to and fro, and many departures, the
regular routine o f commercial affairs has been less interrupted than usual.
Capital is still freely offered, and at lower rates o f interest. The disturbance
among the fisherman has caused a cloud on our north-eastern horizon, to which
the timid have occasionally turned a furtive glance, but there has been no general
apprehension o f any serious difficulty. Large amounts of stocks and bonds are
created almost daily, and thrown upon the market, which seems to suit its ca­
pacity to the quantity offering. W e have been frequently asked to give our
opinion in regard to the security o f such investments, but could not do so with­
out making invidious distinctions. Should our national prosperity be uninter­
rupted, it is probable that nearly all o f the companies who have thus borrowed
a portion o f their capital, will be able to pay the interest promptly. Most o f
the bonds thus introduced, propose 7 per cent as the rate o f interest, and have
been negotiated, or sold by auction without very material depreciation. The
Milwaukee and Mississippi bear 8 per cent interest, and were taken at an average
o f 96.36. They are now held at par, and are slowly, but surely, gaining in
public estimation. The city o f New’ Orleans called for proposals for a loan of
$2,000,000, the proceeds to be applied to the extinguishment o f the present
floating liabilities o f the first, second, and third municipalities, and the city of
Lafayette, which are united under one financial government. The bonds bear
interest at the rate o f 6 per cent per annum, and are secured by a most ample
provision for the payment o f both principal and interest. The bids were opened
at the office o f Messrs. Corning & Co., in the city of New York, on the ] 9th o f
July. It was generally supposed that the stigma of repudiation, which has been
fastened upon State securities in that quarter, would operate against the bonds




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

207

in question, and few were prepared for a higher rate than 90 a 92 per cent.
This is manifest from the fact that many who hid a fraction over 91, at which
twice the amount was offered, expected to obtain at least a portion o f the loan.
Above these there was one offer for $1,000,000 at par, and the successful bid
for the entire loan at $100 68. This, deducting the accruing interest, brings
the bonds down nearly to par, and we are very much mistaken if at this they
are not among the cheapest investments made during the year. The bid, it is
understood, was on foreign account, and our remarks will not, therefore, have
anything to do with its market value.
The ease in the money market has led to the general belief that the banks
were greatly extended, and many have supposed that this extension was beyond
a safe limit. Recent returns show that this is not the case. The banks o f the
State o f New York have been called on by the Controller for their quarterly
statements, and the New York city banks have completed their returns, which
give us in round numbers the following comparison :—
Date.

Capital.

Loans and
discounts.

Specie.

Circulation.

Private
Deposits.

June 26, 1852............... $35,343,000 $81,873,000 $12,156,000 $8,202,000 $50,108,000
March 27, 1852.......... 35,137,870 71,550,054
9,716,070 7,671,989 43,415,125
December 20,1851...
35,133,640 64,141,399
7,364,439 7,073,345 34,631,459
September 20, 1851..
34,603,100 65,426,353
6,032,463 7,376.113 36,640,617
7,955,640 7,048,973 36,500,522
March 29, 1851............ 28,875,855 68,106,072
This may be varied a trifle by the official returns, but is near enough for all
practical purposes.
It shows an increase in coin o f $2,440,000, thus reducing the relative propor­
tion between the loans and discounts and the specie basis. But even this differ­
ence does not fully indicate the real strength o f their position. The increase in
loans and discounts, amounting to $10,300,000, is made up almost wholly by
temporary loans o f the increased deposits which can be called in at a moment’s
warning. W e doubt if the time-loans o f the banks in question are as large as
they were at the date o f the previous return. A large amount o f the best
business paper has been placed in the hands o f private capitalists, and the banks
have large sums loaned upon the most substantial stocks subject to call. There
appears at present to be no danger o f any sudden and unexpected demand for
money. It is not at all unlikely, as the fall business commences, that more
capital will be required, and the competition among business men may cause a
slight strengthening o f rates. Such a movement would have a most salutary
effect by checking rash enterprises, and limiting the expansion o f the over­
sanguine.
The Legislature o f Connecticut has passed a general banking law sinee our
last, and we annex a summary o f its principal provisions.
It authorizes the Treasurer o f the State to procure suitable bank-bills to be
issued under the provisions o f the Act. It provides that associations for banking
purposes shall consist o f not less than twenty-five residents o f the State, with
a capital o f not less than $50,000, or more than $1,000,000, half to be paid in
before commencing operations, and the other moiety W’ithin one year. The
circulating notes are to be countersigned in the office o f the Treasurer o f the
State, and issued to the associations, upon the deposit o f the stock o f the United
States, either o f the New England States, the States of New York, Ohio, Penn­




208

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

sylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky; the cities o f New York and Boston, or of
any incorporated city in the State o f Connecticut; all such securities to be taken
not above par, and to be made equal to a 6 per cent stock. Upon non-payment
o f the notes upon presentation, they may be protested; and if not paid within ten
days thereafter, with costs, the Treasurer must sell out the stock and call in the
circulation ; the holders o f the bills under protest being entitled to 12 per cent
interest until they are paid. The Treasurer conjointly with the School Com­
missioner, whenever in their judgment it is necessary for the safety o f
the bill-holders, may require the deposit o f additional security by giving due
notice to the parties. The stockholders, in addition to their stock, are made
individually liable for all debts o f the association to an equal amount.
The officers o f the association must make annually, and as much oftener as
directed by the Treasurer, a full statement o f its affairs, to be published at its
own expense.
There was no seeming necessity for a general banking law in Connecticut,
and its enactment was o f course strongly opposed by the banks already chartered
in the State, but the provisions o f the new Act possess but few objectionable
features.
In onr Journal o f Banking will be found a complete statement o f the de­
posits and coinage o f gold at the United States Mints, from the date o f their or­
ganization down to the 31st o f May. W e now present our usual statement for
the month o f June:—
D E P O S IT S

FOR

JU N E.
P H I L A D E L P H IA .

N E W ORLEANS.

From California.

Total.

From California.

Total.

Gold.................................
Silver..............................

$258,795
1,479

$379,092
9,497

$6,580,000
20,000

$6,687,000
27,400

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

$260,274

$388,589

$6,600,000

$6,714,400

G O L D C O IN A G E .

Pieces.

Value.

Double eagles...................

11,000

$220,000

Quarter-eagles.................

20,000

50,000

31,000

$270,000

Total gold coinage , . .

Pieces.

Value.

168,170
22,630
41,633
97^670
227,875

$3,363,400
226,300
20S,165
244,175
227,875

557,978

$4,269,915

105,000

$10,500

1,850,700

55,521

1,955,700

$66,021

936,788

$9,367

3,450,466

$4,345,303

S IL V E R C O IN A G E .

Dimes...............................

20,000
150,000
260,000

$10,000
15^000
13,000

Three-cent pieces..............
Total silver coinage..

430,000

$38,000

C O P P E R C O IN A G E .

Total coinage........

461,000

$308,000

The total deposits for coinage at our mints o f California gold, since its dis­
covery to date, amount to nearly $130,000,000; and the total -production of the
California mines may be safely estimated at $200,000,000.




Com m ercial Chronicle and R eview .

209

W e are now enabled to present some important statistics o f the Commerce o f
the country for the fiscal year which expired on the 30th o f June ; by which it
will be seen that our previous estimates o f the course o f our foreign trade, have
been fully vindicated. Many predictions were put forth, in certain quarters,
concerning the ruin which should come upon the country by the overstock o f
foreign goods; and the assertion that there could be no falling off in our re­
ceipts, unless the government interposed, has been more than once repeated.
Our own opinion, heretofore fully given, has been that the laws o f trade would
regulate this matter, far better than could be done by mere human legislation. It i3
strange that with such experience o f the wisdom o f the Divine Lawgiver, men
should be so afraid to trust themselves in this, to the same rules which govern them
in other cases. Take, as an illustration, the supply o f food necessary for the daily
subsistence o f a large city with a population o f half a million. What an im­
mense amount o f provision is consumed there in a single day ! What govern­
ment would undertake to feed so great a multitude, with such a variety o f luxu­
ries as they now enjoy?
What could mere human legislation do, toward
limiting the supply, so that there should be nothing lacking and nothing wasted?
If, in the changing seasons, some article o f usual consumption fails, who would
undertake to supply its exact equivalent in another commodity, so that there
should bo no essential want or waste ? Place the population o f New York city
in the most uncultivated o f our inland States, and soon the necessaries, and
even the luxuries o f life, would reach them methodically and without stint.
Now, shall we undertake to regulate such supplies and demands by our petty
laws, when the subject is not only far above our wisdom, but is already ordered
for us by One who can make no mistake? Such restrictive policy is founded in
selfishness, and cannot stand before the progress o f light and truth. As shown
in our last number, Commerce tends to unite all nations in a common brother­
hood, and its direction should not, therefore, be entrusted to men o f narrow
minds.
In illustration o f the workings o f the laws o f trade, we see at the port of
New York, in the total receipts from foreign ports, for the fiscal year just closed,
a falling- off, as compared with the previous year, o f -$12,943,573, exclusive o f
specie. The apparent falling off in specie is $7,862,110, but this is owing to the
fact, that during the previous year, some o f the receipts o f gold dust via Chagres,
were entered as foreign imports. There is an increase in the receipts o f free
goods (chiefly tea and coffee) o f $3,607,870, so that the decline in the receipts
o f dutiable goods is over $15,500,000. In the following table, the fifth column
shows the total actual receipts from foreign ports, and the seventh column gives
only the amount o f such goods thrown upon the market. During the year
1850-51 (the totals o f which are added at the foot o f the table) the amount
thrown upon the market was considerably less than the receipts at the port,
more goods having been warehoused; for the year under review, the reverse is
the case, the stock in bonded-warehouse having been drawn down more closely.;
so that the amount thrown into the channels o f consumption is greater than the
receipts:—
V O L . x x v i l . — NO I I .




14

210

Com m ercial Chronicle an d Review .

IM P O S T S

ENTERED

AT N E W Y O R K FROM

JU N E

80TH, 1852,

F O R E IG N P O R T S F O R

CO M PARED W IT H

T H E F IS C A L Y E A R E N D IN G

T H E P R E V IO U S Y E A R .

Entered for
consum ption.

Entered
warehouse.

Free “roods.

$12,374,701
11,279,004
8,384,172
5,790,795
4,399,085
5,073,162
8,854,311
7,024,952
9,302,024
8,410,448
G,090,996
7,626,181

Spec.e

July.......
A ugust..
Septem’r.
October..
Novem’r.
Decera’r.
January..
February.
March...
April___
May........
June.......

$1,022,725
1,358,089
864,916
1,204,994
938.056
1,050,185
1,281,594
1,003,383
916,519
732,422
453,109
640,722

$1,027,481
638,334
366,153
1,558,720
415,838
575,001
1,041,456
1,110,949
1,843,938
1,496,449
789,046
1,062,947

SB 1,143
186,503
115,550
23,165
218,473
25,376
104,736
110.293
525,421
327,400
380.584
429,747

Total..
Do. ’50-1.

$94,345,831 $11,466,714 $11,926,912 $2,528,391 $120,267,848 $16,712,962 $125,514,096
107,559,164
14,802,824
8,321,042 10,390,501 141,073,531 12,201,313
138,472,020

W ithdrawn from T otal thrown
warehonsc.

Total.

$14,506,050
13,461,930
9,730,791
8,577,674
5,971,452
6,724,324
11,012,097
9.249,577
12,587,902
10,966,719
7,719,735
9,759,597

$1,167,644
1,252.245
1,669 304
1,602,436
1,377,100
1.117,456
1,584,612
1,788,997
1,605,849
1,255,429
1,380,371
911,479

$14,650,969
13,356,08G
10,535,179
8,975,116
G,410,496
6,791,595
11,315,155
10,035,191
13,277,232
11,489,726
8,646,997
10,030,354

The falling off in the imports o f merchandise, as shown above, has been more
than half o f it in dry goods, divided between woolen, cotton, silk, and linen fab­
rics, all o f which have been received in smaller amounts. Miscellaneous dry
goods, including embroideries, artificial flowers, gloves, matting, &c., show a
slight increase, as will be seen by the following comparative summary:—
F O R E IG N D R Y G O O D S E N T E R E D

AT THE

PORT OF N E W

Y O R K F O R T H E F IS C A L Y E A R .

1S50—51.

1851—§1.

Manufactures of wool............
Manufactures of cotton..........
Manufactures of silk..............
Manufactures of flax..............
Miscellaneous dry goods........

$17,067,031
11,671,500
24,858,850
7,058,731
3,957,635

$14,388,565
9,982,547
22,319,951
6,346,259
4,183,740

Decrease ?2,67S,466
“
1,688,953
“
2,538,899
“
712,472
Increase
226,105

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

$64,613,747

$57,221,062

Decrease $7,392,685

Description o f goods.

Difference.

But a small portion o f this decrease occurred during the first six months o f
the fiscal year, that is, from July to December, inclusive; much the greater por­
tion having accrued since the first o f January:—

1850-51.

1851-51.

first six months, (July to December.)___
Last six months, (January to June)........

$31,731,481
32,882,266

$29,964,465
27,256,597

$1,767,016
5,625,669

For the year......................................

$64,613,747

$57,221,062

$7,392,6S5

Decrease.

W e now annex full particulars o f the imports o f dry goods at New York for
the year. The first table shows the amount o f the various fabrics entered di­
rectly for consumption, to which the total o f the second table (which contains
the amount withdrawn from warehouse) is added, to make the total thrown upon
the market. The third table shows the amount entered warehouse, to which
the footing o f the first table is added, to make the total receipts at the port:—
V A L U E O F F O R E IG N

GOODS E N TERED
TH E

FOR

C O N SU M PTIO N A T T H E P O R T

F IS C A L Y E A R

E N D IN G JU N E

W OOLEX.

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .
July......................
August..................
September..........
October.................
November.............
December..........

J a n u a ry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




$3,552,120
2,254,069
1,380,248
576,580
379,399
225,717
1,600,098

OF N E W Y O R K F O R

30TH .
COTTON.

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

$2,354,643
1,736,232
1,293,205
416,738
285,308
690.489
1,306,322

$1,607,775
943,925
546,523
314,028
267,516
306,972
1,843,441

$1,193,817
870,116
600,073
229,166
264,439
676,453
1,308,452

211

Com m ercial Chronicle and R eview .
WOOLEN.

COTTON.

1 8 5 1 -5 1

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1 8 5 1 -5 1

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

February................
March.....................
April.......................
May.....................................
June......................

1,273,619
1,134,479
918,680
586,350
1,068,752

990.291
1,182,921
762,030
897,305
688,785

1,452,882
1,123,009
698,757
237,349
428,923

938,177
1,002,385
768,902
277,351
330,785

Total..................
Add withdrawn .

$14,950,011
2,024,636

$12,054,269
2,157,409

$9,771,100
1,432,310

$8,460,116
1,586,823

$14,211,678

$11,203,410

$10,046,939

Total

e D t. f o r c o n s ’o n

$16,974,647

C O N TIN U ED .
S IL K .

FLAX.

1850-51.

1851-51

1850-51.

1851-51

July.............................
August.......................
September...................
October........................
November...................
December...................
January.......................
February.....................
March.........................
April............................
Mav..............................
June.............................

$4,572,161
2,803,145
1,874,495
762,231
673,438
582,307
4,032,002
2,423,859
1,640,577
1,281,669
918,399
1,512,986

$3,933,092
2,532,029
1,553,943
687,355
347,862
938,506
2,970,633
1,980,154
1,688,099
999,303
518,368
1,011,909

$741,095
619,777
483,040
451,455
323,704
216,914
692,138
887,394
873,251
569,399
268,986
244,949

$611,250
536,816
477,742
278,065
321,715
365,301
569,161
504,650
701,572
604,499
263,607
292,015

Total.......................
Add withdrawn___

$23,077,269
1,181,048

$19,161,253
2,342,742

$6,372,102
595,067

$5,521,298
851,704

Total ent. for consump’n

$24,258,317

$21,503,995

$6,967,169

$6,372,997

CO N TIN U E D .
M IS C E L L A N E O U S .

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

TOTAL.

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

July.............................
August.......................
September...................
October........................
November...................
December.....................
January.......................
February.....................
March.........................
April...........................
May..............................
June.............................

$ 380,698
383,468
342,998
202,295
240,445
123,195
540,204
419,240
399,988
259,456
124,013
176,670

$ 45 3 ,4 7 6
382,831
831,601
195,476
148,685
201,299
451,243
349,486
519,964
291,033
246,796
103,338

$10,853,849
7 ,004,384
4 ,627,304
2,806,689
1,884,502
1,455,105
8,707,883
6 ,456,994
5 .171,304
3,727,861
2,135,097
3,432,280

$8,5 46 ,2 7 8
6,058,024
4 ,256,564
1,801,799
1,358,009
2,872,048
6,605,811
4 ,762,658
5,044,941
3,425,767
1,703,427
2,426,832

Total.......................
Add withdrawn.. . .

$ 3,592,670
866,201

$8,665,227
474,362

$ 5 7 ,76 3 ,1 5 2
5,5 9 9,26 2

$48,86 2 ,1 5 8
7,413,040

$3,958,871

$4,139,589

$ 63 ,362,414

Total ent. for consump’u
VALU E OF

F O R E IG N

DRY
YORK

GOODS W IT H D R A W N
FOR

THE

F IS C A L

FR O M

YEAR

"W AREH OU SE A T

E N D IN G JU N E

W OOLEN .

July...............................
August.........................
September .................
October.........................




$56,275,198

THE

PORT

OF

NEW

3 0 t H.
COTTON.

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

$ 314,619
453,417

$318,717
297,124
494 ,48 4
78,782

$104,880
201,4S0
117,801
48,803

$157,371
121,312
107,154
48,188

151,313

212

Com m ercial Chronicle and Review .
■WOOLEN.

1850—51.

C OTTON .

1851-51

1850-51.

1851-51

November.........................
December..........................
January............................
February...........................
March...............................
April...................
May...................................
June...................................

54,997
111,860
105,827
90,176
84,552
117,031
76,800
103,444

52,948
73,650
214,102
201,935
143,427
149,562
70.584
62,094

49,675
58,168
254,224
202,950
171,836
140,401
52,646
29,446

34,911
89,071
280,601
811,647
229,213
144, S67
37,902
24,586

Total withdrawn........

$2,024,636

12,157,409

$1,432,310

§1,586,823

CO N TIN U E D .
S IL K .

FLAX.

July ...............................
August...........................
September.....................
October...........................
November.......................
December........................
January..........................
February ........................
March..............................
April................................
May.................................
June................................

$124,574
146,737
126,316
65,932
57,088
67,184
106,370
140,724
119,483
104,735
49,343
72,562

$265,709
121,689
245,100
144,646
184,560
129,256
291,886
384,198
193,600
155,249
138,717
88,132

$24,695
46,838
65,715
23,907
32,396
41,949
109,935
69,065
56,204
68,138
28,980
27,245

$37,782
65,350
44,778
53,667
25,160
41,508
121,635
188,788
140,042
75,329
40,355
17,310

Total withdrawn___

$1,181,048

$2,342,742

$595,067

$857,704

CO N TIN U ED .
M IS C E L L A N E O U S .

TOTAL.

J u l y ................................................
A u g u s t ........................................
S e p t e m b e r ................................
O c t o b e r .....................................
N o v e m b e r ....................................
D e c e m b e r ....................................
J a n u a r y ........................................
F e b r u a r y .....................................
M a r c h ..........................................
A p r i l ...............................................
M a y ................................................
J u n e ................................................

$10 ,98 4
8,912
23,816
6,263
18,176
5S,338
53,9 50
42,6S5
45,165
50,252
28,615
19,045

$21,109
19,767
31,059
68,538
56,083
50,957
22,320
63,071
50,674
56,554
26,705
7,525

$ 57 9 ,7 5 2
857,384
694,748
296,218
212,382
336,999
630,306
545,600
477 ,24 0
4S0.567
236 ,SS4
251,742

$ 800,688
625.242
922,575
393,821
358,662
384,442
930 ,54 4
1,149,639
756,956
531,561
314,263
199,647

T o t a l w i t h d r a w n ...........

$366,201

$ 47 4 ,3 6 2

$5,599,262

$ 7,413,040

V A L U E O F F O R E IG N

DRY

GOODS E N T E R E D

FOR

THE

FOR. W A R E H O U S IN G A T T IIE F O R T OF N E W Y O R K

F IS C A L Y E A R

E N D IN G JUN E

W OOLEN .

1850—51.
J u l y ................................................
A u g u s t ........................................
S e p t e m b e r ...............................
O c t o b e r ........................................
N o v e m b e r ..................................
D e c e m b e r ....................................
J a n u a r y .......................................
F e b r u a r y .....................................
M a r c h ..........................................
A p r i l 1.............................................




$48 6 ,3 3 9
358,198
282,783
0(5, 0 6 6

79,641
39,719
139,656
72,846
126,591
142,721

30 th .
COTTON.

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .
$341,315
495,957
277,903
128,408
87,820
214,273
184,111
103,492
164,179
121,917

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1851—52.

$ 393,933
181,452
116,729
91,744
101,690
103,186

$12 9 ,5 7 2
14 3,970
159,998
90,130
S l,0 3 7
349,086
208,856
52,631
154,083
80,984

222,412
173.326
170,125
105,873

Com m ercial Chronicle and Review .

213

W OOLEN .

COTTON.

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .

1 8 5 1 -5 1

1 8 5 1 -5 2 .

1 8 5 1 - 5 !.

107,244
234,216

109,736
105,125

92,118
144,811

39,519
32,565

Total ent. for warehousing..
Add ent. for consumption .

$2,117,020
14,950,011

$2,334,296
12,054,269

$1,900,400
9,771,100

$1,522,431
8,460,116

Total entered at the port

$17,067,031

$14,3S8,565

$11,671,500

$9,982,557

May...................................
J une..................................

CO N TIN U ED .
S IL K .

FLAX.

July..................................
August.............................
September.......................
October. . .........................
November.........................
December..........................
January ............................
February...........................
March...............................
April..................................
May...................................
June..................................

$222,142
181,643
232.520
63,977
67,224
54,043
206,005
196,362
211,348
135,904
111,418
109,085

$268,318
371,652
184,289
494,462
172,607
145,876
837,357
150,177
132,333
203,334
111,309
86,984

$71,207
70,028
56,833
63,647
49,068
30,185
54,355
32,402
116,799
59,923
59,082
23,100

$45,003
92,295
137,148
98,658
101,206
143,176
66,839
8,662
37,520
48,171
26,580
19,708

Total ent. for warehousing.
Add ent. for consumption .

$1,781,581
23,077,269

$3,158,698
19,161,253

$686,629
6,372,102

$824,966
5,521,293

Total entered at the port

$24,858,850

$22,319,951

$7,058,731

$6,346,259

CO N TIN U ED .
M ISC E L L A N E O U S .

TOTAL.

July...................................
August.............................
September.......................
October..............................
November.........................
December.........................
January.............................
February.. . . .................
March................................
A pril.................................
May...................................
J une...................................

$12,313
7,526
25,521
20,912
45,597
50,671
42,253
70,171
43,392
24,487
9,777
12,345

$27,465
38,693
90,092
73,081
66,542
21,651
24,402
45,685
52,762
45,301
19,817
13,022

$1,185,934
798,747
664,386
339,647
333,220
277,814
664,681
545,107
668,255
468,908
379,639
524,257

$811,073
1,142,567
849,490
884,739
509,212
874,063
1,321,565
360,647
540,877
499,707
306,961
257,404

Total ent. for warehousing.
Add ent. for consumption..

$364,965
3,592,670

$518,513
3,665,227

$6,850,595
$57,763,152

$8,358,904
$48,862,158

Total entered at the port

$3,957,635

$4,183,740

$64,613,747

$57,221,062

This falling off in the imports has resulted, o f course, in a corresponding de­
crease in the receipts for duties, amounting at the port o f New York to a de­
cline o f $2,991,284 93 from the preceding year. W e annex a comparison for
three years, beginning each year on the first o f July :—
R E C E IP T S O F C A S H D U TIES A T

1 8 1 9 -5 0 .
First quarter...
Second quarter.
Third quarter..,
Fourth quarter.
Total.




$7,645,956
3,811,743
6,996,656
6,033,253

NEW

YORK.

1 8 5 0 -5 1 .
08
60
48
57

$24,487,609 73

$10,190,324
4,827,205
9,295,257
7,857,408

8 5 1 - 5 !,
37
32
30
30

$31,670,195 29

$9,402,997
5,025,600
7,617,887
6,632,425

30
18
72
16

$28,678,910 36

214

Commercial Chronicle and R eview .

While the imports at the port, where more than three-fifths o f the whole
revenue is received, have thus declined, the exports have been without material
change. The shipments of specie from New York to foreign ports have increased
$10,650,972, and o f foreign free goods, $389,825 ; while domestic produce, ex­
clusive o f specie, has fallen off $8,643,221, and foreign dutiable goods,
$1,162,958; leaving a net increase over the preceding fiscal year o f $1,233,825.
The decline in the exports o f domestic produce occurred previous to the 1st o f
January; for the last six months the shipments were $24,478,521, against
$24,488,201 for the corresponding period o f 1851, being a difference o f only
$10,000. W e annex a monthly statement for the entire fiscal year, with a
comparison o f the totals for the last two years:—
E X P O E T S F R O M N E W Y O R K TO F O R E IG N P O R T S F O R T H E F IS C A L Y E A R E N D IN G JU N E

Domestic
Produce.

July.....................
August............... ...
September...........
October...............
November.............
December ..........
January ...............
February.............
March..................
A p ril...................
May......................
June.....................
T otal............... .
Co. 1850-51 . . . ..

30, 1852.

Foreign
dutiable.

Foreign
free.

$284,397
384,549
316,047
358,292
397,597
351,428
358,244
322,272
357,230
353,262
545,973
482,694

$2,311
22,974
134,271
106,626
62,368
21,918
26,693
93,932
100,557
67,719
10«,818
125,500

$6,004,170
2,673,444
3,490,142
1,779,707
5,033,996
5,668,235
2,868,958
3,551,543
611,994
200,266
1,834,893
3,556,355

$9,478,905
6,290,561
6,584,446
4,947,007
7,945,472
8,554,017
5,673,191
7,320,690
5,383,026
4,865,291
6,737,608
7,730,818

$38,853,757 $4,461,885 $871,687
47,496,978 5,624,843
482,655

$37,273,703
26,622,731

$81,461,032
80,227,207

3,259,594
2,593,9S6
2,702,382
2,451,511
2,512,436
2,419,296
3,352,943
4,313,245
4,244,044
4,249,924
3,566,369

Specie.

Total.

W e continue our monthly statement o f the comparative exports o f some o f
the leading articles o f domestic produce from New York to foreign ports, from
January 1st to July 17th, inclusive:—

1851.
Ashes— Pots . . . .bbls.
Pearls..........
Beeswax...............lbs.
Breadstuff's—
Wheat flour .. bbls.
Rye flou r..............
Corn meal..............
Wheat............ bush.
Rye........................
Oats.......................

11,516
1,196
173,079
512,356
5,755
25,448
383,702
2,108

Corn....................... 1,221,253
Candles—Mould, bxs.
24,194
Sperm___
1,371
Coal................... tons
3,146
Cotton................bales 205,350
H a y ..........................
3,406
Hops..........................
113

1852.

1851,

1852.

9,577 Naval Stores.. ..bbls. 193,181 230,818
425 Oils—
147,790
Whale........ . galls. 772,779
30,246
Sperm.........
291,622
18,495
671,547
L a rd .......... .......... 180,445
7,040
Linseed . . . . ..........
4,240
7,791
26,825 Provisions—
761,021
P o r k .......... . .bbls.
27,823
21,457
236,460
Beef............ ..........
18.4S0
30,774
5,228
Cut meats.. ....lbs. 2,674,669 1,145,406
.......... 1.559,640 362,215
347
620,377
Cheese....... ..........2^702^645 460,628
37,209
L ard.......... .......... 3,674,145 2,038,177
2,403 Rice...............
21,539
17,897 Tallow............ .. .lbs. 1,363.477 260,719
262,132 Tobacco—Crude.pkgs.
10,442
13,305
6,189
Mail’d....lbs. 1,987,836 2,109,474
457 Whalebone.... .......... 917,610 443,535

It will be seen from the above that the exports o f cereals, with the single ex­
ception o f Indian corn, are considerably in advance o f last year. There is a
falling off in the shipments o f oils o f over three-quarters o f a million o f gallons,
owing to the high prices occasioned by the disasters among our whale fisheries.
In several items o f provisions there is also a decline, although there is an in-




J ou rn a l o f B a n k in g , C urrency, and F in ance.

215

crease in beef equal to 11,294 barrels, the tea. and bbls. in our statement being
all reduced to the latter denomination.
W e cannot forbear, in conclusion, from warning the public against irresponsi­
ble associations o f every description, which have sprung np all over the country,
their success in imposture being almost guarantied by an easy money market,
and the prevalence of a prosperous business. They swindle the emigrant and
the immigrant; they sell “ tickets ” o f passage to any part o f the globe, and con­
tract with parties here to bring their friends from abroad, in both cases defraud­
ing their victims out o f the whole, or a good share of their money. They spring
up in the merchandise line, and buy goods on credit that will never run out.
They buy and sell land-warrants, locate grants, and collect pensions. They
sell lottery tickets, pinchbeck watches, and galvanized pencil cases. Some o f
them take the form of building associations, where, in imitation o f a few (how
fe w !) really useful institutions o f this class, they profess the most generous de­
signs, but pocket the money o f the gullible. They are multifarious in their
plans and professions, but they all agree in real purpose; their methods o f oper­
ation are new, but their principles are ancient; their whole system is but pocketbook dropping, or thimble-rigging on an enlarged scale, with fresh apparatus.
Akin to this class, if not o f it, are some new banking associations professedly
located in the District o f Columbia. They may be controlled by honorable men,
but they are based on a system as rotten and irresponsible as the veriest hum­
bug by which honest men were ever cheared out o f their money. To avoid
these impositions the only safe policy in every department o f business is to fol­
low only the legitimate trade; to reject all flattering overtures or offered servi­
ces, which promise golden returns for trifling investments.
There is no
royal road to fortune; and if any offer, it is sure to be a decoy; those who wish
to be on the top o f the mountain, must needs bear the toil o f the climbing.

JOURNAL OF BAN KIN G, CU RRENCY, AND FINANCE.
AVERAGE DIVIDENDS OF BOSTON BANKS.
The following statement, for which we are indebted to Mr. Foxcroft, exhibits the
annual average dividends paid by twenty-three Boston banks, during fifteen years
ending with 1851:—
Atlantic...............
Atlas..................... ...................
Boston................... ........................
City....................... ...................
Columbian............ ...................
Eagle.................... ....................
Freeman’s.............
Globe................... ...................
Granite............... ...................
Hamilton..............
...................
Massachusetts....... ...................

27-30
4 11-30
7 6-30
5 12-30
6 3-30
5 28-80
11-30
6 19-30
5 27-30
9-30
6 23-30
5 17-30

Mechanics’ .....................per cent
Merchants’ .................................
New England............................
North........................................
1Shoe and Leather Dealers’.......
State........................................
Suffolk.......................................
Traders’ .....................................
Tremont.....................................
Union........................................

6 23-30
7 3-30
6 21-30
6 8-30
7 8-30
5 24-30
8 24-30
5 14-30
6 1-30
6 9-30
5 7-30

The above named are the only city banks that have been in operation throughout
the last fifteen years. There were, in 1837, thirty-four banks in operation, but since
then, eleven of them have closed up their affairs. Nine others have taken their places
— there being now thirty-two banks established in Boston.




J ou rn a l o f B an k in g, C u rrency , and Finance.

216

THE PRECIOUS METALS.
We present herewith a statement of the deposits atjd coinage of the precious metals
at the United States Mint and branches, from the date of their organization down to
the 1st of June, 1852. It will he seen that the receipts of domestic gold continue to
increase, although not in as great a ratio as during the last year. How long it will be
before the maximum is reached, it is of course impossible to tell. If the quartz rock
in California is as rich as represented, it is possible that the quantity produced will be
farther increased during the coming year. Our own impression has been that $50,000,000
per annum is the largest yield which can reasonably be expected, and that even this
amount will not be continued for many years. The recent discoveries of gold in
Australia may be but the prelude to other more startling developments of mineral
treasure, in quarters where no search has yet been made, but we have no fears that it
will be found in such quantities as greatly to depreciate in value, or to seriously im­
pair the security of existing investments in other species of property. The impetus
which it gives to production, will create a demand for fully as much capital as it will
furnish, and thus the equilibrium between supply and demand be undisturbed. The
Crescent City arrived recently with about $2,500,000 in gold dust, being one of tho
largest freights ever brought from that quarter. This will make the receipts here
since the first of June, about $1,250,000, as $4,770,000 have already been deposited
at the Philadelphia Mint. We are greatly indebted to R. Patterson, Esq., of the Phila­
delphia Mint, for his kindness in assisting to complete our tables, and for much valuable
information heretofore furnished upon this subject. It will be remembered that the
coinage at the Philadelphia Mint commenced in 1793, and at the branch mints in
1838. The Philadelphia Mint coins gold, silver, and copper; the New Orleans only
gold and silver; and the other branches only gold.
STATEM ENT OF TH E

C O IN A G E
FROM

O F T H E M IN T O F T H E

T H E IR

U N IT E D

O R G A N IZ A T IO N TO M A Y

ST A T E S,

AND

IT S

BRANCHES

31ST, 1 8 5 2 .

P H I L A D E L P H IA M IN T .

Periods.
the clos e o f

Gold.

Silver.

Copper.

Total coinage.

To
1847 $52,741,350 00 $62,748,211 90 $1,145,591 21 $116,635,153 11
Do. 1848.......................
2,780,93000
420,050 00
64,157 99
3,265,13799
Do. 1849.......................
7,948,33200
922,950 00
41,984 32
8,913,26632
Do. 1850......................
27,756,44550
409,600 00
44,467 50
28,210,51300
Do. 1851......................
52,143,44600
446,797 00
99,635 43
52,689.87S43
Five months 1852 . .
18,707,879 00
243,652 00
25,088 74
18,976,619 74
Total................$162,078,382 50 $65,191,260 90 $1,420,925 19 £228,690,568 59
NEW

ORLEANS

Periods.

M IN T .

Gold.

Silver.

Total coinage.

To the close of 1847 ....................
Do. 1848.......................................
Do. 1849........................................
Do. 1850........................................
Do. 1851........................................
Five months 1852...... ..................

$15,189,365
358,500
454,000
3,619,000
9,795.000
3,015,000

$8,418,700
1,620,000
1,192,000
1,456,500
327,600
46,000

$23,608,065
1,978,500
1,646,000
5,075,500
10,122,600
3,061,000

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

$32,430,865

$13,060,800

$45,491,665

C H A R L O T T E M IN T .

Periods.

To the close of 1847.
Do. 1848.................
Do. 184 9...................
Do. 1850...................
Do. 1851...................
Five months 1852....
Total...................




Gold.

$1,656,060
364,330
361,299
347,791
324,454
157,629

00
00
00
00
50
00

$3,211,563 50

D A H L O N E G A M IN T .

A T A L L T H E M IN T S .

Gold.

Gold, silver, & copper.

$3,218,017 50
271,752 00
244,130 50
258,502 00
351,592 00
141,083 00

$145,1 17.295
5,879,720
11.164,695
33,892,306
63,488,524
22,336,331

$4,485,077 50

$281,878,874 59

61
49
82
00
93
74

Journal o f Banking , Currency , and Finance.

217

STATEMENT OF THE VALUE OF GOLD, OF DOMESTIC PRODUCTION, DEPOSITED AT THE MINT,
AND ITS BRANCHES, FROM THEIR ORGANIZATION TO MAY 31ST, 1852.
PHILADELPHIA MINT.
From California.
.................
$44,177
5,481.439
31,667,505

Periods.
T o the close o f 1847 ............ ............
Y e a r 1 8 4 8 ................................. ............
1 8 4 9 .................................. ............
1 8 5 0 .................................. ..........
1 8 5 1 ..................................
F iv e m ouths 1 852................... ..........

Other sources.
$7,797,141
197,367
285,653
122,801

17,830,018

68,885

Total.
$7,797,141
241,544
5,767,092
31,790,306
47,074,520
17,898,873
$ 11 0,569,476

T o t a l ..................................
NEW ORLEANS MINT.
Periods.
T o the close o f 1847............... .................
Y e a r 1 8 4 8 .................................. .................
1 8 4 9 ...................................
1S50...................................
1851...................................
F iv e m onths 1852 ...................

From California.
.................
$ 1,1 24

Other sources.
$ 119,699
11,469

Total.
$ 119,699
12,593
677,189
4,580,021
8,770,722
2,292,457
$16,452,681

T o t a l....................................
CHARLOTTE MINT.
Periods.
T o the close o f 1 8 4 7 ...............
Y e a r 1 8 4 8 ..................................
1 8 4 9 ..................................
1 S 5 0 ..................................
1 8 5 1 ..................................
F iv e m onths 1852.....................

From California.
...................
....................
...................
...................
...................

..........
..........
..........
$15 ,11 1
6,151

Other sources.
370,785
390,732
320,289
300,950
173,425

Total.
$1,673,718
370,785
390,732
320,289
316,061
179,576
$3,251,161

T o t a l....................................
DAHLONEGA MINT.

%

Periods.
T o th e close o f 18 4 T ...............
Y e a r 1 848...................................
1 84 9 ...................................
1S50...................................
1 8 5 1 .................................
F iv e m onths 1 852.....................

From California.

Other sources.

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

.............
.............
$30,025

271,753
244,131
217,673

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

71,466

68,971

T o t a l....................................

Total.
$3,218,017
271,753
244,131
247,698
379,309
140,437
$4 501,345

AT ALL THE MINTS.
Periods.
T o th e close o f 1 847..............
ar 1848 ...............................
1 S 4 9 ..................................
1 8 5 0 ..................................
1 8 5 1 ..................................
F iv e m onths 1 8 5 2 ...................
T o te l...................................

.......
____
____
____
____

From California.
.................
$45,301
6,151,360
36,273,097
5 5,938,232
20,200,092
$11 8 ,6 0 8 ,0 82

Other sources.
$12,808,575
851 ,37 4
927,784
665,217
602.380
311,251
$16,166,581

Total.
$12,808,575
896,675
7,079,144
36,938,314
56,540,612
20,511,343
$ 13 4,774,663

F rom th e above it w ill be seen that th e d ep osits o f California g o ld a t our mints, for
coinage, since its first d iscov ery up to the first o f June, am ounts in round num bers to
$ 1 1 8 ,6 0 0 ,0 0 0 ;

t o this add $ 7,250,000 for June, au d the am ount thus in hand is

$ 1 2 5 ,8 5 0 ,0 00 ,

It is p ro b a b ly safe to estim ate the total p rod uction o f the California

m in es to date, at nearly $200 ,0 0 0 ,0 00 . T h e exp orts o f g o ld from N e w Y o r k to foreign
p orts since the 1st o f J an uary last, a re $12 ,00 0 ,0 0 0, and from other ports abou t




218

J ou rn a l o f B a n k in g , Currency, and F in ance.

$2,000,000. Tke imports from abroad, regularly entered at the Custom-House, are
about $1,500,000. In addition to this, a large sum in foreign coin is brought each
month in the hands of immigrants. The total exports of coin from the country since
the first receipts of gold from California, over and above the imports, still leave an in­
crease of gold coin in this country of between forty and fifty millions of dollars; part of
which has been added to the amounts on deposit in the banks, and the remainder is
in circulation. We annex also a comparative statement of the deposits of gold at the
mint and branches for the first five months of the last and current year :—
C O M P A R A T IV E ST A T E M E N T O F T H E
TH E

F IR S T

R E C E IP T S

F IV E

OF

M O N TH S

GOLD
OF

AT

1851

THE
AND

M IN T

AND

.B R A N C H E S

IN

1852.

R E C E IP T S O F G O LD A T P H I L A D E L P H IA .

F irst five m onths o f 1 8 5 1 . . . . ..........
D o . 1852 ........................................ ..........

U. S. Gold.
$16,748,616
17,898,873

In crease.................................

Other gold.
$32 4 ,8 1 6
533,232

Total.
$17,073,332
18,432,105

$ 20 8 ,4 1 6

$1,358,773

$85 ,10 5
74,273

$5,0 49 ,1 3 4
2,366,730

$10,832

$ 2,682,404

AT NEW ORLEANS.
F irst five m onths o f 1 8 5 1 . . . . ............
D o. 1 8 5 2 ........................................ ............

$ 4,964,029
2,292,457

D ecrea se...............................
AT CHARLOTTE.
F irst five m onths o f 1 8 5 1 . . . . ............
D o. 1 S 5 2 ........................................ ............

$ 160,078
179,576

$160,078
179,570

In crease.................................

$ 19 ,49 8
AT DAHLONEGA.

F irst fiv e m onths o f 1 8 5 1 ____ ............
D o. 1 8 5 2 ........................................ ............

$99 ,38 6
140,437

$ 9 9 ,38 6
140,437

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

$41,051

$41,051

AT ALL THE MINTS.
F irst five m onths o f 1 8 5 1 ____
D o . 1 8 5 2 ........................................ ............

20,511,343

$ 409,921
607,505

$22,381,930
21,118,848

$19 7 ,5 8 4
D e c r e a s e .............................

$ 1,263,082

We trust that Congress will, ere long, give us the new silver coin, made 7 per cent
lighter than the present currency, so that it may be retained in the country. We also
wish, if the dispute about a mint in this city must be continued, that an Assay Office
might be established here at once, which would relieve our business community of the
real difficulties connected with the present arrangement. The cost of such an estab­
lishment would be but trifling; the assayer might receive the dust on arrival, and the
moment its value was ascertained, the proper officer give an order on the Assistant
Treasurer here for the amount. The government could then transmit it to Philadel­
phia and coin it as its leisure ; and when enough expense had been incurred in the
useless effort to maintain a mint so far from the point where the gold arrives, it could
be transferred to this city.
THE ASSESSMENT LIST OF CONNECTICUT.
It appears from a statement published in the Hew Haven Journal and Courier,
that the assessment on the grand list of the State, bearing 3 per cent of the total
value, with ten dollars for each taxable poll, excluding railroad and some other stocks,




J ou rn a l o f B an kin g, Currency, and Finance.

219

amounts this year (1852) to §5,802,953 18, being an increase of about §1,100,000
over the previous year, (1851.) Hartford County stands first, having the largest pop­
ulation, and nearly the greatest territorial extent, but New Haven has been rapidly
gaining upon her of late years. In 1849, the list of Hartford County exceeded New
Haven by §137,084; now it exceeds it only §43,871. The several counties stand as
follows:—
Hartford...................... ____
New Haven...........
New London.......... ____
Fairfield.................. ____
Windham............... ____

*1 ,1 7 9,44 3 27 Litchfield.............. .........
00 Middlesex............ ..........
801,848 90 , Tolland............................
967,168 71
Total............ ..........
378,166 05

The assessments on the Grand List of New Haven amount to..........
Of Hartford........................................................................................
Of Norwich...........................................................................................
Of New London...................................................................................
Of Bridgeport.......................................................................................
Of Middletown.....................................................................................
Of Waterbury......................................................................................

$68 1 ,5 4 0 91
411,022 '.H
248,200 43
$ 5,802,953 18

§174.973
430,771
169,3S5
168,876
138,895
120,471
103,844

99
70
53
69
08
84
42

No other town in the State exceeds §100,000.
The list of New Haven amounts to nearly half the whole list of the county. It ex­
ceeds that of Hartford by §44,185 29, and Norwich, the next largest town, by over
§300,000. The six cities of the State have an assessment of §1,503,377 83, or more
than one-fourth of the whole wealth of the State.
BANKS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
The following is a complete list of the Banks of the State of New York, with the
names and residences of their respective agents at this date (July 1, 1852,) as pre­
pared by D. B. S t. J ohn, Superintendent of the Bank Department, pursuant to the
laws of 1851:—
Name of the Bank.
Location &. P. O.
Adams Bank........................ Ashford............
Agricultural Bank............... Herkimer . . . .
Amenia Bank....................... Leedsville.. . .
American Bank . , ................May ville..........
Ballston Spa Bank..............BallstonSpa..
Bank of Albion................... Albion..............
Bank of Attica....................Buffalo.............
Bank of Auburn................... Auburn..........
Bank of Bainbridge............Penn YTan . . . .
Bank of Cayuga Lake........Painted Post..
Bank of Central New York. Utica..............
Bank of Chemung.............. Elmira............
Bank of Chenango................ Norwich.........
Bank of Corning..................Corning.............
Bank of Dansville............. Dansville........
Bank of the Empire State.. Burton...........
Bank of Fishkill..................Fishkill.............
Bank of Fort Edward.......... Fort Edward..
Bank of Genesee..................Batavia............
Bank of Geneva................... Geneva...........
Bank of Havana.................. Havana...........
Bank of Kinderhook............ Kinderhook...
Bank of Lake Erie............... Buffalo.............
Bank of Lansingburg........... Lansingburg ..
Bank of Lowville....... . . . . Lowville........
Bank of Malone................... Malone..........




Agent.
Residence.
Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Albany City Bank................ Albany.
George Jones....................... Albany.
Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Albany City Bank................ Albany.
New York State Bank.......... Albany.
New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Albany City Bank................Albany.
Amasa S. Foster................... N. York.
Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Thomas Adams & Co............N. York.
New York State Bank..........Albany.
Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
New York State Bank.......... Albany.
New York Exchange Bank.. N. York.
Metropolitan Bank................. N. York.
Commercial Bank of T roy... Troy.
Bank of Albany................... Albany.
Henry Dwight, J r ................ N. York.
Commercial Bank of T roy... Troy.
American Exchange Bank... N York.
New York State Bank..........Albany.
Pepoon Hoffman............... N. Y^ork.
Albany Exchange Bank........Albany.
Union Bank of T roy ............Troy.

220

J ou rn a l o f B a n k in g , C urrency, and Finance.

Agent.
Residence.
Name of the Bank.
Location & P. O.
Bank of New burg................Newburg.......... Merchants’ Exchange Bank.. N. York.
Bank of Orange County.. . . Goshen.......... S. Van Duzer........................ N. York.
Bank of Orleans..................Albion. - .......... Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Bank of Owego.................. Owego. .* ..... Henry Dwight, Jr................. N. York.
Bank of Pawling................. Pawling......... Leather Manufacturers’ Bank. N. York.
Bank of Poughkeepsie......... Poughkeepsie. Merchants’ Exchange Bank.. N. York.
Bank of Rome..................... Rome............... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Bank of Rondout..................Rondout.......... North River Bank................ N. York.
Bank of Salina . ................. Salina............ Commercial Bank of Albany. Albany.
Bank of Saratoga Springs . . Saratoga Spr’s. New York State Bank..........Albany.
Bank of Silver Creek..........Silver Creek.. Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Bank of Syracuse................ Syracuse........ New York State Bank......... Albany.
Bank of the Union............... Belfast............. Taylor Brothers................... N. York.
Bank of Utica...................... Utica.............. Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Bank of Vernon..................Vernon Village New York State Bank......... Albany.
Bank of Watertown............ Watertown... Bruce <fc Young.................... Albany.
New York State Bank..........Albany.
Bank of Waterville............Waterville . . .
Bank of West T roy ............ West Troy . . . Mercantile Bank................... N. York.
Bank of Whitestown..........Whitestown .. Commercial Bank of Albany. Albany.
Drew, Robinson <fc Co........... N. York.
Bank of Westfield..............Westfield . . . .
Bank of Whitehall............... Whitehall.......... Mercantile Bank................... N. York.
Rlack River Bank............... Watertown.... New York State Bank......... Albany.
Broome County Bank.......... Binghamton .. Mechanics’ Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Camden Bank..................... Camden............ Commercial Bank of Troy... Troy.
Canal Bank of Lockport . . . Lockport......... Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Catskill Bank..................... Catskill............ American Exchange Bank... N. York.
Cayuga County Bank..........Auburn............ New Yoik State Bank..........Albany.
Central Bank....................... Cherry Valley. Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Champlain Bank................... Ellenburg....... George Jones....................... Albany.
Chautauque County Bank .. Jamestown.... Bank of Albany................... Albany.
Chemung Canal Bank......... Elmira............ Commercial Bank of Troy... Troy.
Chester Bank....................... Chester.............. S. Van Duzer & Son.............N. York.
Citizen’s Bank...................... Ogdensburg .. Delany, Dunlevey & Co........N. York.
Commercial Bank of Allegha­
ny County....................... Friendship...... Charles Colgate &, Co............N. York.
Commercial Bank of Clyde.. Clyde............. Albany Exchange Bank........Albany.
Com. Bank of Lockport....... Lockport.......... Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Com. Bank of Rochester...... Rochester... ... New York State Bank..........Albany.
Com. Bank of Whitehall . . . Whitehall....... Commercial Bank of Troy... Troy.
Cortlandt County Bank . . . . Ashford.......... Washburn C o ................... Albany.
Cuyler’s Bank ................... Palmyra.......... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Delaware Bank.................... Delhi.............. Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Drovers’ Bank of St. Law­
rence County................... Ogdensburg .. Albany Exchange Bank....... Adbany.
Dunkirk Bank...................... Dunkirk............ John Thompson..................... N. York.
Dutchess County Bank........ Amenia.......... Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Eagle Bank......................... Rochester....... Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Essex County Bank..............Keeseville.. . . Mercantile Bank................... N. York.
Excelsior Bank................... Meridian......... Washburn C o ................... Albany.
Exchange Bank of Buffalo.. Buffalo........... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Exchange Bank of Genesee. Batavia........... Albany City Bank................Albany.
Exchange Bank of Lockport. Lockport........ New York State Bank..........Albany.
Fallkill Bank....................... Poughkeepsie. Metropolitan Bank ............. N. York.
Farmers’ Bank of Amsterd’m Amsterdam... Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Farmers’ Bank of Hamilton
County............................. Arietta.......... Bernard <fc Crommelin,..........N. York.
Farmers’ Bank of Hudson... Hudson.......... Mechanics’ Bank................... N. York.
Farmers’ Bank of Miua . . . . Mina.............. Amasa S. Foster................... N. York.
Farmers’ Bank of Saratoga
County.............................. Crescent........ Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Farmers’ and Drovers’ Bank
at Somers......................... Somers............. Merchants’ Exchange Bank.. N. York.




J ou rn a l o f B an k in g, C u rrency, and F in ance.

221

Name of the Bank.
Residence.
Agent;
Location & P. O.
Farmers’ and Manufacturers’
Bank................................. Poughkeepsie. Phoenix Bank......................... N. York.
Farmers’ <fc Mechanics’ Bank
of Genesee....................... Buffalo.......
New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Farmers’ & Mechanics’ Bank
of Ogdensburg................. Ogdensburg .. Albany Exchange Bank . . . . Albany.
Farmers’ & Mechanics’ Bank
of Rochester................... Rochester....... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Fort Plain Bank................. Fort Plain. .. New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Fort Stanwix Bank.............. Rome............. New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Franklin Bank of Chautauque
County.............................. Marvin........... John Thompson..................... N. York.
Franklin County Bank........ Malone......... Groesbeck Brothers.............. Albany.
Freemen’s Bank of Washing­
ton County....................... Hebron......... George Jones....................... Albany. .
Frontier Bank..................... Potsdam....... . Troy City Bank..................... Troy.
Genesee County Bank........ Le Roy......... Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Geuesee Valley Bank.......... Geneseo....... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Glen’s Falls Bank................. Glen’s Falls.. Merchants’ & Mechanics’ B’k. Troy.
Goshen Bank..................... Goshen . . . . Ocean Bank........................... N. York.
Hamilton Exchange Bank .. Hamilton. . . . Commercial Bank of T roy... Troy.
Hartford Bank..................... Hartford
Phelps & Scovel.................... Albany.
Henry Keep’s Bank............ Watertown..., Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Herkimer County Bank....... Little Falls.., Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Highland Bank................... Newburg.. . . Phoenix Bank....................... N. York.
H. J. Miner’s Bank of Utica. Fredonia....... Nelson Robinson................... N. York.
Hollister Bank of Buffalo... Buffalo......... Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Hudson River Bank............ Hudson......... Metropolitan Bank................. N. York.
Hungerford’s Bank.............. Adams.......... Bank of Albany................... Albany.
Jefferson County Bank........ Watertown.. Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Kingston Bank..................... Kingston . . . . Bank of State of New York. N. York.
Kirkland Bank..................... Clinton......... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Knickerbocker Bank............ Genoa .......... Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Lewis County Bank............ Martinsburg.. Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Livingston County Bank . . . Geneseo....... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Lumberman’s Bank.............. Wilmurt....... J. Lewis Taylor ................. N. York.
Lockport Bank <&Trus,t Co.. Lockport.. . . Mechanics’ tfe Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Luther Wright’s Bank . . . . Oswego........ New York State Bank.......... Albany.
McIntyre Bank................... Adirondac. . . New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Madison County Bank......... Cazenovia. . . New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Marine Bank....................... Buffalo......... Mechanics’ it Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Mechanics’ Bank of Syracuse Syracuse....... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Mechanics’ Bank of Watert’n Watertown... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Merch’ts’ B'k of Canandaigua Naples......... Groesbeck Brothers . . . . . . . . Albany.
Merch’ts’ B’k of Chautauque
County.............................. Mina............ Phelps <fc Scovcl................... Albany.
Merch’ts’ B’k of Erie County Lancaster . . . New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Merch’ts’ B’k in Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsiq. Phoenix Bank........................ N. York.
Merch’ts’ B'k in Syracuse... Syracuse.. . . Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Merch’ts’ B’k of Washington
County.............................. Granville. . . . F. P. James............................ N. York.
Merchants’ and Farmers’ B’k
of Ithaca......................... Ithaca......... Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Merchants’ and Farmers’ B'k
of Putnam County..........Carmel............ Albany Exchange Bank........... Albany.
Middletown Bank................Middletown .. North River Bank................... N. York.
Mohawk Bank..................... Schenectady.. Mechanics’ Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Mohawk Valley Bank......... Mohawk........Bank of Albany...................... Albany.
Montgomery County Bank.. Johnstown . . . Albany City Bank................. Albany.
New York Bank of Saratoga
County.............................. Hadley............. F. P. James............................ N. York.
New York Security Bank... Hope Falls.... Sather & Church.................... N. York.
New York Stock Bank.......Durham...........John Thompson....................... N. York.




222

J ou rn a l o f B a n k in g , C urrency , and F in ance.

Name of the Bank.
Residence.
Location & P. O.
Agent.
New York Traders’ Bank of
Washington County......... N. Granville... Henry C. Tanner................... N. York.
Northern Bank of N. Y ork.. Madrid.......... Houghton Co..................... N. York.
Northern Exchange Bank... Brasher Falls.. Houghton & Co..................... N. York.
Northern Canal Bank.......... Fort Ann....... Henry C. Tanner................... N. York.
Ogdensburg Bank............... Ogdensburg .. Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Oliver Lee & Co.’s Bank . . . . Buffalo........... Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Oneida Bank....................... Utica.............. Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Oneida Valley Bank .......... Oneida........... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Onondaga County Bank....... Syracuse......... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Ontario Bank*...................... Canandaigua.. Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Ontario Branch Bank.......... Utica.............. Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Otsego County Bank........... Cooperstown.. Mechanics’ &, Farmers’ Bunk. Albany.
Oswego County Bank.......... Meridian......... Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Palmyra Bank..................... Newark.......... Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Patchin Bank....................... Buffalo........... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Phoenix Bank of Bainbridge. Bainbridge...... Charles Sanford................... N. York.
Pine Plains Bank................ Pine Plains... Henry Shelden <fc C o ............ N. York.
Powell Bank....................... Newburg........ American Exchange Bank... N. York.
Pratt Bank........................... Buffalo........... Bank of Albauy.................... Albany.
Prattsville Bank................. Prattsville. . . . American Exchange Bank. . . N. York.
Putnam County Bank.......... Farmers’ Mills. Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Putnam Valley Bank.......... Peekskill, P. 0. Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Quassaick Bank................... Newburg........ Merchants’ Exchange Bank.. N. York.
Rochester Bank................... Rochester....... Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Rochester City Bank........... Rochester....... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Rome Exchange Bank........ Rome.............. New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Sacket’s Harbor Bank......... Sackets’ Har'r. New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Salt Springs Bank............... Syracuse......... Henry Dwight, J r ................ N. York.
Saratoga County Bank........ Waterford. . . . Pepoon & Hoffman............... N. York.
Schenectady Bank
Schenectady.. Commercial Bank of Albany. Albany.
Schoharie County Bank....... Schoharie....... Bank of Albany.................... Albany.
Seneca County Bank........... Waterloo....... Albany City Bank............... Albany.
State B'k at Sacket’s Harbor Sacket’s Har’r. Henry Dwight, J r ................ N. York.
State Bank at Saugerties... Saugerties.. . . Anthony Lane....................... N. York.
Steuben County Bank.......... Bath............... John Thompson.................... N. York.
Suffolk County Bank.......... Sag Harbor. . . Metropolitan Bifnk................. N. York.
Sullivan County Bank........ Monticello.. . . North River Bank................ N. York.
Syracuse City Bank............ Syracuse......... Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Tanners’ Bank..................... Catskill.......... American Exchange Bank. . . N. York.
The City Bank, Oswego.. . . Oswego.......... Albany Exchange Bank........ Albany.
Tompkins County Bank. . . . Ithaca ............ Albany City Bank............... Albany.
Ulster County Bank............. Kingston......... Merchants’ Exchange Bank.. N. York.
Unadilla Bank..................... Unadilla......... William Watson & Co........... Albany.
Union Bank of Sullivan Co.. Monticello.__ Morford &. Vermilye.............. N. York.
Utica City Bank................... Utica.............. New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Valley Bank....................... Boonville....... Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Village Bank....................... Randolph . . . . Palmer <fc Co.......................... N. York.
Walter Joy’s Bank.............. Buffalo........... Mechanics’ Farmers’ Bank. Albany.
Washington County Bank .. Gr’nwich, P. 0. Commercial Bank of Troy ... Troy
Warren County Bank.......... Johnsburg___ Washburn & C o ................... Albany.
Watertown Bank Loan Co. Watertown... Albany City Bank................ Albany.
Westchester County Bank... Peekskill........ Bank of North America....... N. York.
Western Bank of Lockport. Lockport........ Commercial Bank of Troy. . . Troy.
Western B'k, Washington Co. Cambridge . . George W. Robinson............ N. York.
White Plains Bank........
Naples........... Phelps & Scovel.................... Albany.
White’s Bank of Buffalo.
Buffalo........... New York State Bank.......... Albany.
Williamsburg City Bank
Williamsburg. Bank of State of New York. N. York.
Wooster Sherman’s Bank
Watertown. .. Bank of Albany................... Albany.
Wyoming County Bank.
Warsaw........ John Thompson................... N. York.
Yates County Bank . . . .
Penn Yan....... Mechanics’ & Farmers’ Bank. Albany.




J ou rn a l o f B a n k in g , C u rrency , awe? F in ance.

223

BAMS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
L IS T O F B A N K S IN T H E C IT Y O F N E W

YORK,

T H E IR

ST O C K , D ISCO U N T D A Y S , A N D T IM E

Banks.

Ameiican Exchange .
Bank of America___
Bank of Commerce...
Bank of New Y ork..
Bank of N. America .
Bank of Republic . . .
Bank of State of N. Y.
Bowery......................
Broadway.................
Butchers’ & Drovers...
Chatham....................
Chemical...................
Citizen’s ...................
City...........................
Empire City..............
Fulton........................
Greenwich.................
Grocers’.....................
Hanover....................
Irvm g.......................
Knickerbocker...........
Leath. Manufacturers’
Manhattan................
Mechanics’.................
Mec. Banking Assoc..
Mec. Trademans’. ..
Mercantile.................
Merchants’ ................
Merchants’ Exchange..
Metropolitan..............
National...................
N. Y. Dry Dock........
N. Y. Exchange___
.North River..............
Ocean.......................
Pacific........................
People’s.....................
Phoenix......................
Seventh Ward...........
Tradesmen’s ..............
Union.......................
Total capital........

Location.

L O C A T IO N ,

O F P A Y IN G

Capital.

Par.

C A P IT A L ,

PAR

VALUE

OF

D IV ID E N D S .

Discount days.

Dividends.

60 W a ll.... $1,500,000 $100
46
“ ___ 2,001,200 100
32
“ ..
5,000,000 100
48
“ ___ 1,000,000 500
27
“ ___ 1,000,000 100
1 “ ___ 1,000,000 100
80
“ ___ 2,000,000 100
153 Bowery..
356,650
25
336 Broad’y..
500,000
25
25
124 Bowery.
500,000
Chatham sq.
300,000
25
2T0 Broad’y.
300,000 100
64. Bowery..
300,000
25
52 W all.. . .
45
720,000

May ifc Nov.
Jan. July.
C
C
“
cc
<<
May Nov.
Wed. ,t Sat. Jan it July.
Tues. &, Frid. Feb. & Aug.
u
cc
May tfe Nov.
C
C
Mon. & Thur.
C
C
CC
Wed. & Sat.
u
cc
Feb. it Aug.
Tues. &Thur.
Daily........... Jan. it July.
Tues. & Frid. Feb. it Aug.
“
“
May tt Nov.

268Pearl...
402 Hudson.
55 Barclay...
105 Pearl ..
273 Green’ch
141 8th Av.
45 William .
40 W a ll.. . .
33
“ ___
38
“ ___
398 Grand..
182 Broad’y.
42 W a ll.. . .
173 Green’ch
54 W all.. . .
36
“ ___
139 A v.D ...
187 Green'ch
187
“
222 Fulton..
461 Broad’y.
173 Canal..
45 W a ll....
234 Pearl....
177 Chatham
34 Wall___

Wed. it Sat.
Tues. & Frid.

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

600,000
200,000
300,000
500,000
300,000
200,000
600,000
2,050,000
1,440,000
632,000
200,000
600,000
1,490,000
1,235,000
2,000,000
750,000
420,000
250,000
655.000
1,000,000
422,000
412,500
1,200,000
500,000
400,000
1,000,000

30
25
50
100
50
25
50
50
18
25
25
100
50
50
100
50
30
100
50
60
50
25
20
50
40
50

Tues. k Frid.
“
“
cc
C
C

May tfc Nov.
“

Tues. & Frid. Jan. it July.
(C
t<
C
C
“
Tues. & Frid.
Mon. A Thur.
Wed.<t Sat..
Tues. cfc Frid.
Mon. ife Thur.
Wed. <t Sat.
Wed. & Frid.
Wed. * Sat.
Tues. it Frid.
“
“
((
((
Tues. & Frid.
Wed. tfc Sat.
Mon. & Thur.
Tues. & Frid.
Wed. & Sat.
Tues. & Frid.
K

<t

CC

CC

Feb. & Aug.
C
C
May it Nov.
(C
Cl
cc
C
C
Jan. & July.
June & Dec.
Jan. & July.
“
April it Oct.
Jan. 6l July.
C
C
“
CC

CC

CC

CC

“
“
“
“

CC

“
“
“
CC
“
May it Nor

$35,834,350

SUFFOLK BANK SYSTEM OF CHECKING COUNTERFEIT BILLS,
The Suffolk Bank of Boston, says the Traveler, has devised a method of checking to
a great extent, the passing of bad money. In their foreign department there are daily
received from the different banks in New England, large numbers of counterfeit bills.
These, of course, are returned as worthless, but before this is done, a description is
taken of each, with the name of the depositor, which by bank laws is always placed
on the band of each parcel. On the back of the bill is marked the date and a refer­
ence letter, and the bill is then returned. Should it again be put in circulation, the
person who receives it has but to call at the Suffolk Bank, and he can ascertain
through whose hands it has passed, and oblige the party to make it good, the record
of the Bank being sufficient evidence to force redemption. In most cases where these
counterfeits are put in circulation after once passing through the Suffolk Bank, the
emission is accidental. In some cases, however, the bill is passed knowing it to be
worthless, and we know of one instance where a man paid ten times the value of the
bill in order to save prosecution.




J ou rn a l o f B an k in g, Currency, and F inance.

224

REVENUE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN THIRTY YEARS,
A British Parliamentary paper, recently published, furnishes the materials for the
following table, showing the annual revenue of the United Kingdom during the thirty
years from IS'22 to 1S51 inclusive, together with the surplus or deficiency that has oc­
curred in eac!) year, and the amount of taxes imposed, and taxes repealed. The years
1823, 1825, 1830, and 1845 are those distinguished by the greatest reduction of duties.
In 1823 the salt-tax and assessed taxes to a large amount were the articles chiefly
dealt with; in 1825, wine and tobacco; in 1830, beer; and in 1845, sugar, cotton, and
glass. The years 1840 and 1842 are those in which the heaviest amount of new bur­
dens were imposed, the addition of 5 per cent to all the existing customs and excise
duties having been adopted in the former, and the income-tax in the latter. Out of
the thirty years embraced in the table, nineteen exhibit a surplus, and eleven a
deficiency:—
Year.
1822____
1 8 2 3 ....
1 8 2 4 ____
1 8 2 5 ____
1 8 2 6 ____
1 8 2 7 ____
1 8 2 8 ____
1 8 2 9 ____
1 8 3 0 ____
1 8 3 1 ____
1 S 3 2 ____
1 8 3 3 ____
1 8 3 4 ____
1 8 3 5 ....
1 8 3 6 ____
1837. . .
1 8 3 8 ....
1 8 3 9 ____
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844. . .
1 8 4 5 ____
1846
1847
1 3 4 8 ____
1 8 4 9 ____
1 8 5 0 ____
1 S 5 1 ____

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

Revenue.
£ 5 4 ,13 5 ,7 4 3
5 2 ’7 5 5 A 6 4
54,416,230
52,347,674

Surplus.
£ 4,7 44 ,5 1 8
4,300,747
3,888,172
3,049,156

Deficiency.

645,920
826,675
..........

50,786,682

..........

46.424,440

3,246,994
1,711,550
2,913,672
698,858
614,759
1,513,083
1,608,155
1,620,941
2,130,092

..........

46,475,194

. ...
47,844,898
____________
..........
47^567,565
..........
48,0S4,359
____________
____________
____________
..........
52,582,817

____________
..........
51,546,264
____________
..........
53,388^717
..........
52,951,749

655,760
345,227
1,512,793
1,593,971
2,101,370
8,979,539
1,443,304
3,356,105
3,817.642
2,S46,308
2,956,684
796,419
2,098,126
2,578,806
2,726,396

Taxes *
repealed.
£2,1 39 ,1 0 1
4,050,250
1,704,724
3,639,551
1,973,812
84,038
51,998
126,406
4,093,955
1,623,536
747 ,26 4
1,532,128
2,066,116
165,877
1,021,786
234
289
63,418
1,258,959
27,170
1,596,366
411,821
4 5 8 ’,810
4,535,561
1,151,790
344,886
585,968
388,798
1,310,151
2 ,679,864

Taxes
imposed.
£ 1 8 ,5 9 6
49,605
48,1 00
188,725
21,402
1,966
696 ,00 4
627,586
44,526
199,594
5,575
3,991
630
8,423
2 ,274,240
5,629,989

23,720
2,000
84

600 ,00 0

THE FREE BANKING LAW OF INDIANA.
We publish below an abstract of the free banking law of Indiana, wieli has passed
both branches of the Legislature of that state, and become a law. By this law, bank
issues are to be secured by government, and Indiana, New Tork, Kentucky and Penn­
sylvania stocks, with a specie basis, in addition, of 12|- per cent.
The first four sections authorize the state auditors to furnish sufficient blank
bank notes, with his countersign, and of the usual denominations from one to
five hundred dollars, to associations wishing to do business under this act; such
banking association may, however, furnish their own plates, dies, &c., all of which
are to be kept in the auditor’s custody ; and the third section has a provision, that
any such bank shall not pay out nor receive notes less than five dollars, issued by
banks out of the State; nor shall it issue bills less than five dollars to an amount ex­
ceeding one-fourth of its whole issue. The fifth section provides, that when such bank
shall transfer to the auditor any portion of certain stocks which shall form its basis,
said bank shall receive from the auditor an equal amount of the above-named counter­
signed and registered bank-notes for circulation. Section 6th defines the stock for




J ou rn a l o f B anking, Currency, and F inance.

225

such basis to be any United States indebtedness, or Indiana, as pay interest semi­
annually or oftener, and, except as to that of Indiana, the same shall produce at the
rate of six per cent per annum, and that of Indiana five per cent; nor shall the
auditor take any such stock at a rate above its par or market value. By section 7,
such bank (after signing and executing such blank notes as to make them obligatory
promissory notes, payable on demand at its place of business in the state) is author­
ized to loan and circulate the same as money, according to the usual rules of bank­
ing. Section 8 prescribes the manner of protesting notes of such bank as shall fail
to redeem its notes in United States money when demanded during business hours;
and authorizes the auditor in such case to redeem all notes of said bank out of stocks
held in trust by him. Section 9 authorizes the auditor to give such banks powers
of attorney to receive interest or dividends on stock transferred to him in trust, to be
applied to their own use—revoking such powers when their notes are failed to be
redeemed, or tvhen the principal of such stocks becomes an insufficient security. By
section 10, all such bank notes must bear on their face, “ Secured by the pledge of
public stocks.” Section 11 gives further remedy on failure to redeem bank-notes on
demand. Section 12 exempts the state from liability to pay any such bank bills,
beyond the proper application of securities pledged with the auditor for their re­
demption. It also limits the bank to a certain place for carrying on its business—
where its bills are made .payable. Section 14 allows the auditor to draw on the
treasury for the expense of printing the blank notes, and to charge and receive from
the banks receiving such notes an amount sufficient to reimburse the treasury, the
amount to be just and reasonable. Section 15 provides for destroying plates, (fee.,
of broken banks. By section 17, any number of persons may associate to establish
a bank under the provisions of this act; but the aggregate of their capital stock shall *
not be less than $50,000; and section 22 gives them the power to increase their
capital and the number of their associates from time to time. Section 18 requires a
certificate to be filed by such bank, designating its name, (fee. Section 20 embraces
the various powers of such banks, of discounting, receiving deposits, buying and sell­
ing gold, (fee., of loaning money on personal security at a rate not over six per cent
per annum, (which they may discount and take in advance of the sum loaned.) The
shares are deemed personal property and are transferable, (fee. Every shareholder,
by section 25, shall be liable in his individual capacity for any contract of such
bank, to an amount over and above his stock equal to the amount of his shares of such
stock. Section 26 authorizes such bank to hold, purchase and convey real estate for
its use in transacting business; or such as shall be mortgaged to it in security for
moneys due i t ; or conveyed to it in satisfaction of debts previously contracted in the
course of its dealings; or such as it shall purchase at sales, under judgments, decrees
or mortgages held by such bank. Section 27 provides for a semi-annual newspaper
publication of a full statement of the affairs of the association, under oath of the pre­
sident and cashier, each item of which is specified in the section mentioned. Sectton
28 defines the penalty for a violation of the preceding section. By section 30, a list
of the shareholders of such bank shall be filed in the clerk’s office, in the county in
which the bank is situated, and also in the state auditor’s office, semi-annually. By
section 31, no bill of less denomination than $500 will be made payable elsewhere
than at the bank’s usual place of business. Section 33 provides for 12| per cent in
specie to be kept on hand, on the amount of the bills in circulation. Section 34 makes
the act in force from and after the 1st of June.

BANKS IN ILLINOIS.
Hon. Thomas H. Campbell, Auditor of the State of Illinois, has furnished a state­
ment of the organization of the following banks in that State :—
Capital.

Marine Bank of Chicago...........................................................................
Clark’s Exchange Bank, Springfield.........................................................
Merchants’ and Mechanics’ Bank, Chicago..............................................

$50,000
100,000
100,000

The following certificates have been filed, but as yet no securities have been de­
posited by the said associations:—
VOL .

X X V I I . -----NO.




II .

15

226

Com m ercial Statistics.

The Bank of Peru, P eru .......................................................................
The Illinois River Bank, of Taylor Coffing, Peru............................
The Belvitlere Bank, Belvidere.............................................................
The Prairie State Bank, Washington, Tazwell Co................................
The Quincy City Bank, Quincy.............................................................
Commercial Bank, Chicago.....................................................................
Geneva Bank, Geneva...........................................................................
Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Bank of Quincy..............................................
Stephenson County Bank, Freeport........................................................
The City Bank, Chicago.........................................................................
Rock Island Bank, Rock Island.............................................................
Marine Bank of Chicago, No. 2.............................................................
Stock Security Bank, Danville.............................................................
Bank of North America, Chicago...........................................................

$200,000
250,000
15,000
500,000
1,000,000
52,000
100,000
500,000
50,000
60,000
50,000
500,000
50,000
'1,000,000

00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00

TO T A L .

Amount of Capital Stock....................................................................... $4,627,000 00
392,094 81
Amount of Securities deposited............................................................
Value of Securities deposited...............................................................
210,192 61
Amount of circulating notes issued ....................................................
189,875 00

COM M ERCIAL STATISTICS.
THE AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES.
The Hon. H iram B ell, in a speech recently made m Congress, grouped many inter ■
esting facts in relation to agricultural and manufacturing productions of the country
The amount of capital employed in agriculture in the United States he stated at
$1,281,329,919. Thus:—
$6,192,075
Acres of laud improved.. $1,120,420,000 Cheese, pounds of.............
68,026,920
Val. of farming implem’ts.
151,820,273 Hay, tons of.....................
Value of live stock..........
522,105,238 Hemp, water-rotted, tons.
2,084,440
454,203
Bushels of wheat.............
83,839,384 Flax-seed, bushels of........
Bushels of corn.................
147,896,513 Maple sugar, pounds o f . . .
1,965,555
Tobacco, pounds of..........
41,971,949 Cane sugar, hogsheads of
1,000 lbs.......................
15,932,200
Ginned cotton, bales, 400
27,525,545
lbs. each.......................
49,484,280 Value of home manufact’s.
Wool, pounds o f ..............
15,726,839 Hemp, dew-rotted............
9,949,120
Wine, gallons o f ..............
141,225
Butter, pounds o f ............
31,220,228
Total......................... $1,281,329,919
In this calculation he estimated the improved land at $10 per acre, the wheat at
80 cents per bushel, the corn at 25 cents, the tobacco at 6 cents a pound, the cotton at
5 cents, the wool at 30 cents, the wine at $1 per gallon, the butter at 10 cents a pound,
the cheese at 6 cents, the hay at $5 a ton, the water-rotted hemp at 8 cents a pound
the flaxseed at 80 cents per bushel, the maple sugar at 6 cents per pound, the cane
sugar at 5 cents, and the dew-rotted hemp at 8 cents. Some of the items are curious,
thus:—
The number of bushels of wheat is given at 104,799,530; do. of corn, 591,586,053.
The pounds of tobacco at 199,532,697. Gin cotton, 2,475,214 bales. Pounds of wool,
52,422,797. Pounds of butter, 312,202,286. Pounds of cheese, 103,184,585. The
largest crop in the aggregate, as will be seen, is corn. It yields upwards of
$147,000,000.
With regard to manufactures we have this information:—Entire capital invested in
the various manufactures of the United States on the 1st of June, 1850, not including
establishments producing the annual value of less than $500—$530,000,000.




Commercial S ta tistics.

Value of raw material..................................................
Amount paid for labor...................................................

227

$550,000,000
240,000,000
$1,320,000,000

Value of manufactures...................................................
Number of hands employed..........................................
Manufactured by each person ......................................

$1,020,300,000
1,050,000
$971

These figures of course are not strictly accurate, but they are probably as nearly so
. as possible.
PRODUCTION OF SHEEP AND WOOL IN THE UNITED STATES.
The Superintendent of the Census of the United States furnishes the annexed
table, showing the number of sheep and pounds of wool produced in each of the States
and Territories of the Union, according to the census of 1850:—
Sheep. :Lbs. of wool.
States.
States.
Sheep. Lbs. of wool.
110,333
109,897
Maine.................... . 440,943 1,362,986 Louisiana.............
99,098
131,374
New Hampshire...
384,156 1,108,476 Texas...................
91,256
182,595
919,992 3,410,993
Massachusetts.......
585,136 Tennessee.............
811,587 1,364*378
188,651
Rhode Island . . . . .
129,692 Kentucky............ 1,070,303 2,283,685
44,296
Connecticut...........
174,181
497,^54 Ohio..................... 3,937,086 10,111,288
746,435 2,043,283
New York............ . 3,454,241 10,010,301 '■Michigan..............
New Jersey......... . 160,488
375,396 i Indiana................. 1,122,493 2,610,287
Pennsylvania . . . . . . 1,822,357 4,481,570 Illinois.................
894,043 2,150,113
756,309 1,615,860
Delaware............
27,503
67,768 Missouri...............
149,960
177 902
480,226
373,898
124,892
Dis. of Columbia..,
253,963
525 ■Wisconsin.............
150
17,574
Virginia............... . 1,311,004 2,866,765 California..............
5,520
North Carolina... . 695,249
80
910,738 Minnesota Territ’y.
85
South Carolina.. . . . 281,154
15,382
487,223 Oregon Territory..
29,686
Georgia................. . 660,435
990,019 |Utah Territory...
3,262
9,222
Florida...............
23,311
23,247 New Mexico........
377,271
32,901
657,118
Total............. 21,571,306 52,417,287
Mississippi........... . 304,929
559,619 1
WHALE FISHERY IN THE REGIONS ABOUT BEHRING’S STRAITS.
On the 22d of March, 1852, the United States Senate adopted a resolution calling
upon the Secretary of the Navy “ to communicate to the Senate his opinion of the ex­
pediency of a reconnoissance of the routes of navigation in the northern seas, and the
China and Japan seas, and whether any vessels belonging to the service can be used
for that purpose; and also, what would be the expense of such a reconnoissance.”
The Secretary of the Navy, under date of April 5th, 1852, in reply to the Senate’s
resolution, has extracted from the files of the Navy Department, a carefully prepared
discussion of the subject by Lieutenant M aury, the able and efficient Superintendent
of the National Observatory at Washington. From the reliable statements of Lieuten­
ant M auri , we make the following extract touching the value and importance of the
whale fishery in the Anadir, Ochotsk, and Arctic seas, as the whaling grounds in the
regions about Behring’s Straits are called.
“ In the summer of 1848, Captain Roys, of the whaleship ‘ Superior,’ penetrated the
Arctic ocean through Behring’s Straits, and encountered in his adventurous pursuit all
the dangers of an unknown and Polar sea. He was successful in his enterprise, filling
his ship with oil in a few weeks. Influenced by the report which he brought back as
to the abundance of whales, owners in the United States fitted out a large fleet for
those grounds, and in 1849, Captain Roys was followed by one hundred and fifty-four
sail of whale-ships, each vessel (said to be) worth on the average, with her outfit,
$30,000, and manned by thirty able-bodied seamen each. This fleet took that season
206,850 barrels whale oil, and 2,4S 1,600 pounds of bone.




228

Com m ercial Statistics.

“ In the summer of 1850, there 'went up a whaling fleet of one hundred and fiftyfour American vessels, manned as above and of a like average value. This fleet, in
the course of a few weeks, left for their pursuits in those inhospitable regions, took
243,680 barrels whale oil, and 3,654,000 pounds of bone.
“ In the current year (1851) there went up a fleet of about one hundred and fortyfive American vessels ; but their returns have not been received; partial accounts of
wreck and disaster only have reached us. They are startling.
“ The lives and property at stake there, for the two years for which we have com­
plete returns, may thus be stated:—
1849.

Number of American seamen.................. 4,650
Value of ships and outfits................................... $4,650,000
Value of oil taken................................................ 2,606,510
Value of bone......................................................
814,112
$8,010,622

1850. Number of American seamen.................. 4,320
Value of ships and outfits...................................$4,320,000
Value of oil taken................................................ 3,161,201
Value of bone taken............................................ 1,260,630
9,341,831
Total ships in two years......................................
Total seamen.........................................................

299
8,910

Value of ships and cargoes...................................

$11,412,453

“ The losses during the year 1851 have been unprecedented, so far as heard from.
No less than seven sail of this fine fleet of 1851—the Honqua, the New Bedford, the
Arabella, the America, the Armata, the Mary Mitchell, and the Henry Thompson—
have been wrecked there and left behind as monuments of the dangers which meet
these hardy mariners in their adventurous calling. There are reports of other losses
and wrecks : these are certain; and though several of them were lost, not on shoals,
but otherwise, yet these are enough to tell of imperfect hydrography, and to show the
national importance of looking to it ; for it may be so that, in case of loss in the ice,
the knowledge of a sheltered anchorage near, and which a survey would give, would
have prevented the exposure to the ice which induced the loss.
“ All our Commerce with wbat is called ‘ the East ’ is not so valuable as this was for
1849 and 1850.”
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS OF VIRGIiNIA.
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Delegates, the Secretary of the
Commonwealth recently communicated to that body a statistical table of the Agricultural productions, <fcc., in Virginia, compiled and arranged from the census returns,
from which the following tabular statement is derived:—
A C R E S O F L A N D IN

Improved.
1,965,040
1,580,359
4,347,757
2,467,079

Divisions.

Trans-Alleghany.............
Valley..............................
Tide-Water.....................

10,360,135

Total.......................
L IV E

Piedmont.........................
Tide-Water.....................
Total......................... ..




15,792,206

$216,401,605

STOCK.

92,442
57,932
83,488
38,530

1,968
869
7,551
11,095

112,850
53,925
90,518
60,326

14,550
1,633
37,678
35,652

Other
Cattle.
248,967
129,074
186,298
104,79S

272,393

21,483

317,619

89,513

669,137

Horses.

Trans-Alleghany.............

value
of farms.
$49,527,721
51,079,875
72,230,951
43,503,058
Cash

FARM S.

Unimproved.
6,954,536
2,187,789
4,045,099
2,604,882

Asses &
Mules.

Milch
Cows.

Working
Oxen.

Com m ercial Statistics.

229

Sheep.

Trans-Alleghany...............................
Valley................................................
Piedmont............................................
Tide-Water........................................

639,469
189,212
333,373
148,450

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

1,310,504

PRODUCE

D U R IN Q T H E Y E A R

Swine.

Value o f live stock.

535,815
244,856
601,349
447,823

§9,863,324
6,696,850
10,687,546
6,419,930

1,829,843

§33,656,659

1, 1850.

E N D IN G JUN E

Trans-Alleghany...........bushels
Valley......................................
Piedmont..................................
Tide-Water.............................

Wheat.
1,289,245
3,771,555
4,316,753
1,835,163

Eye.
168,551
165,765
105,375
19,239

Indian Corn.
9,485,398
4 ,182,234
11,695,752
9,892,935

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

11,212,626

458 ,93 0

35,254,319

Trans-Alleghany........ pounds
Valley....................... ...........
Piedmont...........................
Tide-Water............................

Tobacco.
224,717
622,246
64,285,345
1,603,919

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

56,803,227

Trans-Alleghany............
V alley...........................
Piedmont.......................
Tide-Water......................
Total.......................

Oats.
3,448,541
1,352,616
3,559,411
1,723,581
10,179,149

Wool.
1,290,472
520,705
721,099
327,389

Butter.
4,157,356
2,292,286
3,143,091
1,496,046

Cheese
290,629
93,459
110,791
41,413

2,860,765

11,089,379

436,292

Value o f home made
manufactures.
$ 79 2 ,8 0 9
233,465
784,438
345,600
$2,156,312

Value o f animals
slaughtered.
$ 1,676,699
1,272,368
2,632,903
1,921,016
$7,502,986

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF GALENA.

f

The following statement, derived from an authentic source, shows the quantity and
value of principal exports from Galena, 111., for the year 1851, and also the amount
and value of lumber received at Galena, during the same period:—
E X P O R T S F R O M G A L E N A I N 1851.
Quantity.
Value.
Articles.
Articles.
Quantity.
Value.
L ead ........ . .lbs. 33,082,190 $1,417,851 Lim e............... bbls.
1,168
$992
127,672 Corn Meal........
Flour.........
39,335
171
342
8,431 Eggs..................
C orn .........
24,090
22,880
2,288
Oats..........
59,629
11,907 Hides and skins.
9,326
14,125
Barley.. . .
21,372 Horses..............
42,731
800
40,000
Wheat.......
210
Neat
cattle.......
350
1,500
30,000
Rye...........
390
195 Sheep ..............
500
750
Potatoes ..
14,000
8,400 Hogs.................
250
1,500
Beans.......
510
767 Soap.................
900
2,022
25 Candles.............
Flaxseed...
25
1,200
3,800
Pork..........
47,775 Beef.......... . . . .bbls.
3,185
32
384
Lard.......... ...lbs.
12,500 Hay.................. ton3
125,000
75
600
Bacon . . . .
35,256
312,568
Butter.......
10,852
Total value
87,618
........ $1,800,358

The total amount and value of lumber, <Lc., received at Galena, for the year 1851,
was as follows:—
Quantity.

Value.

Lumber........................................feet
Laths............................................ No.
Shingles............................................
Long timber................................. feet

5,085,684
89,100
2,470,500
12,312

§50,856
2,450
7,411
515

W o o d ................................................cords

4,245

12,735




230

Commercial Statistics.
IMPORTATION OF BREADSTUFFS INTO GREAT BRITAIN.

A

T A B U L A R ST A T E M E N T O F T H E

Q U A N T IT Y ( i N

PORTED

FROM

IN T O

P A R T S , IN

G R E A T B R IT A IN

EACH Y E A R , FRO M

Year.
1815..............quarters
1816............................
1817............................
1818............................
1819............................
1820............................
1821............................
1822............................
1823.............................
1824............................
1825............................
1826............................
1827............................
1828............................
1829............................
1830............................
1831............................
1832............................
1833............................
1834............................
1835............................
1836............................
1837............................
1838............................
1839............................
1840............................
1841............................
1842............................
1843............................
1844............................
1845............................
1846............................
1847............................
1848............................
1849............................
1850............................
1851............................

1815

Q U A R TE R S) OF CORN M EAL AND

IR E L A N D , T H E
TO

B R IT IS H

CO LO N IE S , A N D

FLOUR IM ­
ALL

OTHER

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

From Ireland. From Brit. Colonies.
821,192
25
873,865
3
695,651
25,877
1,204,733
56,618
967.680
14,257
1,415,722
40,897
1,822,816
40,916
1,063,089
23,439
1,528,153
209
1,634,000
891
2,203,962
95,059
1,693,392
30,500
2,828,460
61,035
2,826,590
21,600
2,307,244
7,335
2,215,521
79,634
2,429,182
225,240
129,476
2,990,767
2,737,441
117,745
2,792,658
66,829
2,679,438
25,016
2,958,272
IS,501
19,060
3,030,293
3,474.302
19,479
2,243,151
17,438
2,327,782
178,828
2,855,525
208,382
2,083,600
247,127
2,721,400
146,647
2,460,800
297,926
2,992,800
312,439
1,625,000
431,075
879,900
516,431
1,827,000
229,313
1,175,000
210,510
1,210,500
126,533
1,136,160
163,278

From other parts.
333,041
319,203
1,775,353
3,474,051
1,693,255
1,300,953
216,738
102,365
53,432
609,147
962,718
2,213,830
2,550,310
1,272,396
2,680,414
2,355,412
3,316,760
668,422
336,524
492,071
296,189
625,032
1,306,870
1,515,250
4,573,660
3,811,694
3,378,599
3,475,970
1,299,776
2,794,357
2,118,707
4,480,302
11,769,728
7,125.688
10,616,388
9,134,220
9,773,733

Total imp’d.
1,154,258
1,193,071
2,496,881
4,735,402
2,675,192
2,757,572
2,080,470
1,188,893
1,581,794
2,244,03S
3,261,739
3,941,722
5,439,805
4.120,586
8,994,993
4,650,567
5,971,182
3,788,665
3,191,710
3,351,558
3,000,643
3,601,865
4,356,223
5,009,031
6,834,249
6,318,304
6,542,506
5,806,697
4,167,823
5,583,OSS
5,423,945
6,536,777
13,196,059
9,182,338
12,001,848
10,473,253
11,073,171

COMPARATIVE COMMERCE OF PORTS IN THE UNITED STATES.
We give below official tables of the value of foreign and domestic exports from
the seven principal commercial cities of the United States, also a comparative statement of the value of imports into the same, all in each quarter, of the years from
1850 to 1852:—
A C O M P A R A T IV E STA TE M E N T O F T H E V A L U E

O F F O R E IG N

F O L L O W IN G

GOODS, «fcC., E X P O R T E D F R O M T IIE

D IS T R IC T S .

1 8§0 .

1851.

1850.

1851.

1851.

3d q u a rter.

3d q u a rter.

4 th q u a r t e r .

4 th q u a r t e r .

1st q u a r t e r .

1st q u a r t e r .

Boston.. . .
New York..
Philadel’a .
Baltimore..

$527,640
5,766,415
20,280
40,700

$352,145
2,809,658
16,051
64,492

$598,991
4,198,573
122,447
53,397

$500,587
2,9S2,S10
123,403
19,955

$560,015
2,427,626
24,007
76,068

$597,691

N. Orleans.

69,807

51,207

176,571

40,603

104,453

81,229

$3,293,553 $5,149,979

$3,667,358

$3,192,169

$727,252

$6,424,842




m

48,332

231

Commercial Statistics.
A C O M P A R A T IV E

S TA TE M E N T

1850.

Boston. . . .
New York.
Philadel’a .
Baltimore .
Charleston..
N. Orleans.

O F D O M E S T IC E X P O R T S F R O M

1851.

1850.

3d quarter. 3d quarter. 4th quarter.
$1,390,850 $3,303,004 $2,398,609
13,364,937 19,476,164 12,370,315
936,200 1,452,600 1,321,316
1,581,469 1,705,636 1,429,101
921,536 3,539,504
2,704,983
8,181,507 5,361,080 10,703,127
2,561,816 1,561,751 2,724,700

T H E F O L L O W IN G D IS T R IC T S .

1851.

1851.

4th quarter. 1st quarter.
$3,741,791 $1,685,301
18,540,781
1,421,324 1,203,039
1,469,990
1,998,590 5,919,460
10,636,117 19,104,084
1,541,876

1852.

1st quarter.
$2,761,602
1,288,057
4,622,520
16,022,337

$30,721,761 $33,781,671 $34,486,672 $39,350,469 $27,911,884 $24,694,516
A C O M P A R A T IV E S T A TE M E N T OF T H E V A L U E

1850.

Boston.......
New York.
PhiladeFa .
Baltimore .
Charleston.
N. Orleans.
Mobile____

OF

IM P O R T S IN T H E

1850.

1851.

F O L L O W IN G

D IST R IC T S .

1851.

1852.

1851.

3d quarter. 3 4 q u a r t e r . 4th quarter. 4th quarter. 1st quarter. 1st q u a r t e r .
$7,880,117 $9,095,182 $5,883,439 $6,010,793 $8,365,748 $8,151,858
49,266,402 42,297,534 20,106,910 22,086,714 42,557,960 32,110,000
4,176,770 4,842,691 2,021,599 2,059,052 4,451,638 4,612,098
1,682,231 2,439,640 1,386,418 1,384,258
638,305
371,015
713,9.36
563,011
635,586
546,5S6
1,417,902 1,618,496 4,538,449 4,848,594 4,116,694 3,355,516
100,662
39,501
77,231
306,382
$65,009,509 $61,084,710 $34,600,488 $37,331,370 $60,130,345 $48,600,487

STATISTICS OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
A return, as nearly as the same can be furnished, of the number of slaves embarked
on the coast of Africa, and landed in Cuba and Brazil, in each year from 1842 to the
latest date to which the accounts extend :—
CUBA.

Year.

B R A Z IL .

Number.

1842
................................
1843
................................
1844
................................
1845
................................
1846..........................................
1847.........................................
1848
................................
1849............
1850
...............................
1851
................................

3,630
8,000
10,000
1,300
419
1,450
1,500
8,700
3,500
5,000

Year.
1842...................... .................
1813...................... ..................
1844......................
1845...................... ..................
1846...................... ..................
1847...................... ..................
1848........................ .................
1849...............; ___
1850........................
1851........................

Number
17,435
19,095
19,453
50,324
56,172
60,000

IMPORT OF HIDES INTO PORT OF NEW YORK,
From.

Africa......................................
Angostura...............................
Buenos Ayres.........................
“
kips...................
“
salted...............
“
horse.................
British Provinces...................
Calcutta, <tc............................
California................................
Carthagena.............................
Central America....................
Cork........................................
Curacoa...................................
Chili........................................

From.

No.
7 5 ,3 1 5
2 5 7 ,5 4 7
3 6 2 ,0 0 4

Maracaibo.........................
Maranham and Para.........
Mexico...............................

1 1 ,8 3 6
4 7 ,7 5 9
1 7 ,1 3 2
21
4 ,7 3 8
2 ,7 9 1
3 2 ,0 2 2
2 3 ,3 2 8

6 7 ,1 0 2
1 ,5 5 8

No.
2 5 ,3 7 0
1 2 ,8 2 4

9 4 ,9 5 1

“
salted...............
“
horse................
Rio Janeiro.......................
Smyrna..............................
West Indies.......................
Coastwise..........................
To Dealers........................
New Orleans.....................
Southern States................
Texas.................................

5 '5 3 6
3 ,0 0 6
2 7 ,3 1 7
100
1 8 ,3 4 0
2 5 ,6 6 0

3 1 ,0 5 0
2 1 ,8 7 6
2 3 ,9 4 6

12*2

Laguayra and Porto Cabello..
Liverpool................................
London....................................




3 4 ,7 3 6
2 ,2 5 7
150

Total— 1 8 5 1 ................. . . .
“
1 8 5 0 ................. . . .
1 8 4 9 .................

1 ,3 4 2 ,5 9 8
1 ,4 3 5 ,1 1 9

232

Nautical Intelligence.

N A U T IC A L

IN T E L L IG E N C E .

LIGHT ON CAPE WILLOUGHBY, KANGAROO ISLAND.
D epartm en t

of

Sta te , W

a s h in g t o n ,

July 17, 1852.

The annexed notice to mariners, transmitted to this Department by the United
States Consul at London, to whom it was officially communicated by the Lords Com­
missioners of the Admiralty, is published for general information:—
L IG H T ON C A P E W IL L O U G H B Y , K A N G A R O O IS L A N D , SO U TH A U S T R A L IA .

Colonial Secretary ’ s Office, A delaide , December 30, 1851.

Notice is hereby given, by the authority of his Excellency, the Lieutenant-Govern­
or, that on and after the 10th January, 1852, the light in the Sturt Light-house, lately
erected on Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island, will be exhibited from sunset to sun­
rise.
This Light-house is situated on the eastern extremity of Kangaroo Island, in lati­
tude 35° 49' 20" South, longitude 138° 13' 30" East, and is a Revolving Light, ap­
pearing at regular intervals of one-and-a-half minutes.
This light is elevated 241 feet above the level of the sea, and can be seen 24 nauti­
cal miles, illuminating 259 degrees of a circle, from N. by W. £ W., round to S. W. by
By his Excellency’s command,
W. % W.
CHARLES STURT, Colonial Secretary.

NEW LIGIIT AT THE ENTRANCE OF CHRISTIANIA FIORD,
R o y a l N o r w e g i a n M a r in e D e p a r t m e n t , C h r i s t i a n i a ,

June 5.

As the present coal-light on Fcerder, at the entrance of the Christiania Fiord, will,
in the course of the summer, be replaced by a fast lens-light of the first class, notice
is hereby given that in the course of twelve or fourteen days the said light will be
placed 130 ells (260 feet) south of the present light-house, about 190 above the level
of the sea. The light on this place will be equally visible, as from its present site, to
those vessels coming from sea, and seeking the Christiania Fiord; only in cases of
vessels within Fcerder, coming west of the Fuglehuk Light, will the light on Fcerder
be invisible, in consequence of the high ground north of the light.
Due notice will be given of the period when the new apparatus will be lighted.
LATITUDE OF THE ASTRONOMICAL STATIONS.
C o a s t S u r v e y S t a t i o n , ( n e a r P e t e r s b u r g ,) V i r g in i a ,

July 13, 1852.

:—I have the honor to report the following results of preliminary computations
of observations for latitude on the western coast, made by Assistant George David­
son, during his expedition with the reconnoissance party of Lieutenant-Commanding
Allen, from San Francisco southward. The longitude results will be furnished as
soon as completed. I would respectfully request authority to publish the present no­
tice :—
S ir

L A T IT U D E OF T H E A S T R O N O M IC A L S TA TIO N S
P R E L I M IN A R Y O B S E R V A TIO N S

BY

AT THE

AS SIS T A N T

SEVERAL

GEORGE

P O IN T S , A S D E T E R M IN E D B Y

D A V ID S O N , U N ITE D

ST A T E S

COAST

SURVEY.

Name of Station.

Santa Cruz.....................
San Simeon....................
San Louis Obispo..........
Santa Barbara...............
Prisoner’s Harbor...........
San Pedro.....................

General locality.

Latitude.

Bay of Monterey, California . . . .
36°
San Simeon Bay,
“
....
35
San Louis Obispo Bay, “
....
35
Santa Barbara Chan’l, “
....
34
Island of Santa Cruz, “
....
34
San Pedro Bay,
“
....
33
Very respectfully yours, &c.,

67'
38
10
24
01
43

26.9'
24.4
37.5
24.7
10.2
19.6

A . D. BACHE, Superintendent.
W . L. H o d g e , Acting Secretary of the Treasury.




Commercial Regulations.

C O M M E R C IA L

233

R E G U L A T IO N S .

TIIE APPOINTMENT OF WHARFINGERS, AND THEIR DUTIES, IN N. ORLEANS.
The Common Council of the city of Hew Orleans recently passed the following
“ Ordinance for the Appointment of Wharfingers, and for Regulating the Duties of
the s a m e —
A N O R D IN A N C E F O R T H E A P P O IN T M E N T OF W H A R F I N G E R S , A N D R E G U L A T IN G

T IIE D U T IE S O F

T H E SA M E .

Section 1. That there shall be appointed by the Common Council, in the month of
May, (or as soon after as practicable,) and every year thereafter, the following Whar­
finger^ and Assistants, who shall enter upon the discharge of their duties on the first
day of June.
One Wharfinger for the steamboats, steamships, flats, etc., of the First District.
One Assistant Wharfinger for all that portion of the First District from the flatboat
landing unto the upper line of said district.
One Wharfinger for the whole of the Second District.
Two Assistant Wharfingers for the Second and Third Districts.
One Assistant Wharfinger for the Fourth District.
Sec. 2. The Assistant Wharfingers of the First and Fourth Districts shall make
daily reports of the arrivals and departures of all vessels, flats, etc., with their ton­
nage, to the Wharfinger of the First District. The Assistant Wharfingers of the Sec­
ond and Third Districts shall also report in same manner to the Wharfinger of the
Second District.
Sec. 3. It shall be the special duty of the Wharfingers to make a weekly report to
the Controller of all and every description of vessels, their tonnage, etc., which may
each day enter and moor within the limits of the port under their superintendence;
which weekly report shall be filed in the office of said Controller for further refer­
ence and examination, in regular rotation and dates.
Sec. 4. The Wharfingers and Assistants shall perform such duties as are now pre­
scribed by existing ordinances, or that may be hereafter prescribed by the Common
Council. The office of the Wharfingers shall be open from sunrise to sunset, (Sun­
days excepted.) They shall receive for compensation fifteen hundred dollars per an­
num, payable monthly, and the Assistants nine hundred dollars per annum, payable'
monthly.
Sec. 6. For the faithful performance of their several duties, the Wharfingers shall
furnish bonds and security in the sum of five thousand dollars each; and the Assist­
ants in the sum of two thousand dollars each.
Sec. 6. All ordinances or parts of ordinances conflicting with the foregoing ordi­
nances be, and the same are hereby, repealed.
NEW ORLEANS LEVEE AND WHARFAGE DUES.
The Common Council of the city of Hew Orleans have passed the subjoined ordi­
nance, which was approved by the President of the Board and Assistant Board of
Aldermen, and by the Mayor of the city, on the 2Sth of May, 1852, and is now in
force:—
A N O R D IN A N C E T O R E G U L A T E T H E L E V E E

AND

W HARFAGE

D U ES ON S H IP S A N D V E S SE L S A R ­

R I V IN G F R O M S E A , A N D ON STE A M B O A TS, F L A T S , B A R G E S , E TC.

Art. 1. That from and after the passage of this ordinance the levee or wharfage
rates on ships or other sail vessels, steamships, steamboats, flats, barges, and other
craft, shall be fixed as follows:—
On all ships or sail vessels of 1,000 tons and under, 25 cents per ton.
Excess of tonnage over 1,000 tons, 20 cents per ton.
On all steamships, 17| cents per ton.
On all steamboats of 1,000 tons and under, 15 cents per ton.




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Commercial Regulations .

Excess of tonnage over 1,000 tons, 10 cents per ton ; provided, that boats arriving
and departing more than once each week shall pay only two-thirds of these rates.
On each flatboat not measuring over 80 feet, $10.
On each flatboat measuring 80 to 100 feet, $12.
On each flatboat measuring over 100 feet, $15.
On each barge more than 70 feet long, $12.
On each barge less than 70 feet, and not exceeding 15 tons burden, $8.
On each steamboat hull used as a barge, $25.
On eacli scow and coastwise pirogue, $2.
For every flatboat, barge, or other vessel, not including steamboats, employed in
transportation of brick, lumber, or other building materials, or in bringing produce
from this and neighboring parishes to this city, and measuring not over 25 tons, the
levee and wharfage dues shall be $30 per annum.
From 25 to 50 tons, $60 per annum.
Over 50 and not exceeding 75 tons, $80 per annum.
Over 75 and not exceeding 100 tons, $125 per annum.
Over 100 tons, $200 per annum.
,
Art. 2. Every proprietor of any small craft of the description above mentioned,
who shall desire to enjoy the privilege accorded by the present ordinance, must apply
to the Treasurer of the city of New Orleans for the purpose of obtaining a license,
approved by the Mayor, and countersigned by the Controller, which license shall specify
the number or name of such craft, which shall be painted in a conspicuous place on
the side of said craft.
Art. 3. Hereafter it shall not be lawful for any pirogue, flatboat, barge, boat or
keelboat, to remain in port longer than eight days, under the same provisions and
penalties contained in Art. 3 of an Ordinance of the General Council, approved May

26, 1843.
Art. 4. That the payment of the levee dues on ships or sail vessels, steamships,

and steamboats, shall be exacted and collected by the Collectors of Levee Dues, and
an extra duty of one-third these rates shall be paid by all sail vessels or steamships
which may remain in port over two months, the same to be recovered at the com­
mencement of the third month; and if over four - months, an additional duty of onethird these rates.
Steamboats shall be entitled to remain thirty days in port after payment of the
dues. All over thirty days to pay an additional duty of $2 per day.
Art 5. That all vessels now in port, and that have paid a daily or weekly wharf­
age, shall be allowed (and the Collectors are hereby authorized) to deduct the amount
so paid from the rates now to be collected.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances conflicting with the foregoing be, and the
same are hereby, repealed.
DUTIES ON CASKS AND CARRELS.
T reasury D epartm en t,

June 7, 1852.

Sir :—In reply to your inquiry on the subject of the claims for a return of the duty
which has been paid upon the cost of casks containing molasses imported from Cuba,
on the plea that they were originally made in the United States and shipped to that
Island, and therefore exempt from duty as being articles of American manufacture,
I have the honor to state tint nearly if not all of the casks in which molasses is im­
ported from Cuba were originally shipped from the United States as molasses shooks ;
that is to say, the cask is made and put together and the heads fitted in ; the tempo­
rary shop-hoops are then removed and the casks taken apart, the staves being laid
one on the other in a solid form, and strapped together in that mode by two small
hoops ; the heads of the hogsheads, each head complete, are in like manner laid one
on the other, generally six or eight together, and also strapped together with hoops ;
and in this form shipped sometimes in entire cargoes to Cuba, where they are pur­
chased by the planters, who also buy the hoop3 likewise shipped from the United
States, either as poles in their original state, as cut in the woods, or split into hoops,
and ready shaved for use, and tied up in long bundles. The molasses hogsheads are
then put together from the materials thus sent from the United States, and are used
for the return cargoes of nu'lasses. These molasses shooks, complete in the above
form, are usually sold in Cuba, according as the supply may be more or less abundant,
at from 90 to 100 cents each, besides which is the labor of putting them together,
hooping them, and other work needful to render them suitable for use. But, whilst




Commercial Regulations.

235

the original cost of these shooks is as above only from 90 to 100 cents, the cask for
the molasses is universally charged in the invoices at the rate of 5| cents per gallon,
which, on the average size of 110 gallons each, is equal to $6 05 for each hogshead,
This very heavy charge for the cask had its origin many years since, and has been
steadily adhered to ever since, and, as it will be seen, is an enormous profit to the
parties upon the actual cost. It is in fact a part of the real cost of the molasses itself;
for if the parties were not, by custom and agreement, authorized to charge this very
heavy price for the cask, but were obliged to furnish it at the real cost, then the price
of the molasses would necessarily have to be increased in the proportion, and the duty
therefore on the cask, of which complaint is made, though nominally on it, is virtually
on the molasses.
In proof of this it is only necessary to state that parties sometimes furnish their
own casks, in which cases the bill for the molasses is nevertheless rendered by the
vendors in the usual form, charging the molasses at the stipulated price per gallon,
and for the casks at the rate of 5^c, per gallon, or about $6 each, and then from the
foot of the bill a deduction is made for the casks furnished by the vessel at the current
market value of them, which is frequently only 87| cents, and rarely if ever exceeds
$1 25, leaving the difference between these hitter prices and the $6 per cask charged
as a clear augmentation on the price of the molasses itself, and which would appear
in the charge per gallon for the molasses, if it was not allowed to be made in the
extra charge for the cask. There seems to be no good or just reason why the present
law exempting from duty American productions returned from a foreign port should
be charged so as to apply to molasses casks thus shipped in the form of shooks, sold
as merchandise, and probably changing owners various times in Cuba, and returned
as complete packages containing foreign merchandise. It is shipped as a rough
material, and returned in a new shape, after having had foreign labor bestowed upon
it. The law in question provides that American goods from a foreign port, in order
to be entitled to free entry, shall not only be in the same state as when shipped, but
also contemplates that it shall be free from any increased value from foreign labor
which may have been bestowed upon it, and shall not in the mean time have been applied
to any other use. There is no calculating the extent to which a principle of the kind
contemplated in this clause for an exemption from duty would lead. American wToolen or cotton fabrics could be returned in the shape of ready-made clothing ; Ameri­
can leather in the shape of boots and shoes ; American wood in the shape of furniture ;
and so of other articles. Still less reason exists why, under the circumstances, as
detailed above, such exemption should be made for a remission of duties upon the
value of the cask, charged as it is at so high a rate, with a view of compensating for
the low nominal price at which molasses is sold, for it would be a virtual remission of
the duties on the molasses itself.
The average price at which molasses is sold in Cuba ranges from H to 2 reals per
keg of 5£ gallons, and at some seasons has gone up to 3 and 3.} reals of 12^ cents
each ; at the former rates, which are those at which the great bulk of the crop is sold,
it would only be 3-£ to
cents per gallon—a rate which evidently shows the necessity
of having some perquisite in the shape of an outside charge, to give an increased com­
pensation for the article. But to put the case in a still stronger point of view, it is
only necessary to state that, so depressed was the article in the y ear 1830, that no
charge whatever was made for the molasses, and entire cargoes were furnished at the
only charge of 5| cents per gallon for the cask ; and, had an ad valorem duty then
existed, not only the cask, but the molasses also, would, on the principle now claimed
by the parties, have been admitted free of duty.
The claim as it regards molasses casks would equally apply to the boxes for sugar,
and could not be denied to the latter if granted to the former.
Box shooks, that is to say suitable boards sawed to the proper size for sides, top,
bottom, and ends of boxes, are strapped together, as in the case of the molasses shooks,
and shipped by hundreds of thousands to Cuba, as it is believed all the boxes (1,700,000) for the entire crop of the island are shipped from the States; and these box
shooks are sold at from 65 to 75 cents each, but are charged to the purchasers of sugar
at the fixed and invariable price of $3 25 each, and, as in the case of the molasses
casks, forms a part of the real cost of the article they contain, as they in like manner
with the hogsheads are put together in the Island and prepared for the reception of
the sugar. The planter, in making his calculations as to the price erf his sugar, of
course takes into view his large profit on the box ; and if he asks 3 cents for the sugar
aud §3 25 for the box, he would demand 3^- cents for the sugar, if the purchaser was




236

Commercial Regulations.

to furnish his own box—which, however, is never done—though, as already stated, it
is occasionally the fact as regards casks for molasses.
The number of hogsheads of molasses imported into the United States during the
fiscal year ending euding the 30th of June, 1851, was about 351,000, which, at the
average invoice price of $6, would be $2,106,000 ; the duty on which, at 30 per cent,
was $631,800. The number of boxes of sugar was about 956,000, which, at the in­
voice cost of $3 25 would be $2,107,000; the duty on which at 30 per cent, was
$632,100. If the principle is adopted that this duty was erroneously exacted, it would,
for the six years that the present ad valorem tariff has been in operation, make an
ao£regafe °f $3,790,800 on the molasses casks, and $3,792,600 on the sugar boxes,
and, together, $7,583,400 to be returned from the Treasury.
Congress, of course, when enacting the present tariff of ad valorem duties, took in­
to view these items, as forming a portion of the invoice cost of molasses and sugar,
and levied the rate accordingly, which on sugar, including the heavy charge for the
box, is only about one cent per pound instead of 2£ cents, which previously existed ;
and on molasses only about 3 cents instead of 5 cents per gallon, which existed under
the tariff of 1842.
The principle now put forward would equally apply to other objects of importation,
and, altogether, would form demands upon the Treasury which it would be extremely
difficult to meet ; and it may be further added that a very large portion of the mil­
lions which would be returned on the molasses and sugar importations would accrue
to the benefit of non-resident foreign merchants, who are the owners and shippers of
those articles, and who, as well as the resident American importers, made their calcu­
lations at the time based upon the duties which were levied agreeably to existing
laws, paid for the merchandise at corresponding rates, and who of course realized the
regular and usual profits on their importations. To now return these duties would be
an actual bounty to the parties, which they would not have enjoyed had they been
exempted from duty at the time, as the purchasing price in Cuba and the selling
price in the United States would so have regulated themselves that the average profits
would not have been greater than what has already been realized upon those impor­
tations.
The duties on these packages have not been paid from the pockets or at the cost of
the importers, but by the citizens of the United States who consumed the articles in
question ; and in the opinion of the Department, the former, neither in law nor
equity, have any claim for a return of said duties.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
THOS. CORWIN, Sec. Treas.
H on. R. M. T. H unter , Chairman o f Senate Committee on Finance.

OF T1IE SURVEY OF LUMBER US MAINE.
A N A C T R E G U L A T IN G T H E

S U R V E Y O F L U M B E R ON T H E K E N N E B E C R I V E R .

1. The Governor hereby is authorized, with the advice of the council, to ap­
point some suitable person to be surveyor general of lumber, for the counties of Ken­
nebec and Lincoln, and the town of Brunswick, in the county of Cumberland, and the
town of Fairfield, in the county of Somerset, to hold his office for the term of four
years, unless sooner removed by the governor and council, who shall give bond with
sufficient sureties to the treasurer of the county of Kennebec, in the sum of two thou­
sand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his duty, to be approved by the governor
and council, and shall be sworn to the upright and faithful performance of his trust.
And said surveyor general shall be authorized and required to appoint such number
of deputies, not less than ten, who shall be sworn to the faithful performance of their
duties, and give bond therefor to the surveyor general, and may be removed by him
at pleasure. Provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent any per­
son or persons from completing any contract, heretofore made, with express reference
to a survey by a particular individual.
S ec . 2. In the survey and admeasurement of lumber, of the sorts in this act here­
after mentioned, the following rules and regulations are hereby established. Pine
boards and planks shall be divided into four sorts. The first sort shall be denomina­
ted number one, and shall include boards not less than one inch thick, straight grained
and free from rot, sap, knots and shakes. The second sort shall be denominated number
two, and shall include boards not less than one inch thick, free from rot and large
knots, and suitable for piaffing ; provided, that such boards as are clear but may be
S ec .




Commercial Regulations.

237

deficient in thickness as aforesaid, shall be received as number two, by making such
allowance for the deficiency in thickness as may be required to make them equal to
one inch thick. The third sort shall be denominated number three, and shall include
boards not less than seven-eighths of an inch thick, nearly free from rot, and nearly
square edged, and suitable for covering buildings. The fourth sort shall be denomi­
nated number four, and shall include all boards and plank of every description, not
being within the other three denominations. Spruce, hemlock, and juniper boards,
plank and joists shall be of two sorts. The first shall be denominated number one,
and shall include all boards, plank and joists, that are sound and square edged. The
second sort shall be denominated number two, aud shall include all other descriptions.
Pine joists shall be divided into two sorts. The first sort shall be denominated
number one, and shall include all joists that are sound and square edged. The se­
cond sort shall be denominated number two, and shall include all other descrip­
tions.
Sec. 3. Timber shall be surveyed forty cubic feet to the ton, and shall be divided
into two sorts. The first sort shall be sound, straight and square-edged, and in lengths
or joints of not less than sixteen feet, and due allowance shall be made for sap. The
second sort, or number two, shall include all other timber. No provisions in this act
shall change the present method of surveying ship timber, knees, masts, spars or
ship plank.
Sec. 4. In surveying the lumber aforesaid, the contents thereof shall be truly
marked thereon in plain characters and all other marks erased. Allowance and de­
duction shall be made for splits, not exceeding in any case one-half of the length of
said splits. And all said lumber shall be received and sold according to the aforesaid
marks ; and it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell or purchase any
of said sorts of lumber within the aforesaid territory on said river, unless the same
shall be surveyed and marked as aforesaid by the surveyor general or by one of his
deputies, except such as may be purchased by any person or persons, for his or their
own use, or home consumption. In all surveys by the surveyor general or his depu­
ties, there shall be placed upon each piece of lumber, except such as belongs to num­
ber four, the numerical mark showing the particular sort or quality, to which it be­
longs.
Sec. 5. The fees of the surveyor general or his deputies for marking and surveying
said lumber, and giving certificates therefor, shall be paid by the purchaser, and at
the following rates, viz., for boards, plank and joists, sixteen cents per thousand feet
board measure, and for timber, six cents per ton. And whenever said survey and
marking shall have been done by a deputy of said surveyor general, he shall pay to
said surveyor general for his perquisite, one-eighth part of the fees therefor.
Sec. 6. If any person shall sell or purchase within the aforesaid territory, any of
the aforesaid descriptions of lumber not surveyed and marked as this act requires, he
shall forfeit one dollar for every ton of timber or every thousand feet of said other
lumber, sold or purchased as aforesaid, and if any person not being the surveyor
general or one of his deputies, shall take an account of, or survey any of the aforesaid
descriptions of lumber, sold or purchased as aforesaid, he shall forfeit not less than
two nor more than ten dollars for every ton of timber, or every thousand feet of said
other lumber which he shall survey or take an account of; but said forfeiture shall
not extend to such lumber as the parties may agree to have shipped without survey;
provided the same be actually shipped in pursuance of said agreement.
Sec. 7. Whenever any seller or purchaser of any of the lumber aforesaid shall be
dissatisfied with the survey made by any of said deputies, he may appeal to the sur­
veyor general, who shall decide the point of difference, and the survey and certificate
shall be made according to said decision.
Sec. 8. If the surveyor general or any deputy, shall unreasonably refuse to do aud
perform any duty required of him by this act, or shall be guilty of any fraud or deceit
in the performance of any such duty, he shall forfeit a sum not less than ten or more
than fifty dollars for every such offence.
S ec . 9. All fines and penalties, forfeited by any person or persons under the pro­
visions of this act, may be recovered by action of debt; or the same may be recovered
by indictment in the district court or supreme judicial court, one-half to the use of the
county in which such offense may have been committed, and the other half to the
person who shall sue or prosecute for the same.
Sec. 10. Any person aggrieved shall have a right to commence and prosecute to
fiual judgment and execution an action on the bond given by the surveyor general in
the name of the . treasurer of the county of Kennebec, for the benefit of the persons




238

Commercial Regulations.

so aggrieved; and said aggrieved person shall indorse the writ, and the judgment,
when for the defendant, shall be rendered against said person for whose benefit the
suit was brought, and execution shall issue thereon.
S e c . 11 . The said surveyor general shall be required to keep a record of all lumber
surveyed by him, and by his deputies ; and his deputies shall be required to make
return of all lumber surveyed by them respectively to the surveyor general, as often
as once in each month, and oftener, if required by said surveyor general.
S ec . 12. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act be,
and the same are hereby repealed. [Approved April 23, 1852.]
OF NAVIGATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES, CUBA, ETC. ETC.
C IR C U L A R

IN ST R U C TIO N S

TO

THE

COLLECTORS

AND

OTHER

O F F IC E R S O F T H E

CUSTOMS

June 30, 1852.
The Department has received official information that the Spanish government, by
a royal decree of 3d January, 1852, has authorized the admission into the ports of
Spain and islands adjacent, on a footing of equality with Spanish vessels as to navi­
gation and port duties, the vessels of all nations which may concede a like benefit in
their respective territories to the vessels of the Spanish mercantile marine, and that
the American Minister at Madrid had made an arrangement with the Spanish govern­
ment by which the privileges conceded by said decree to foreign vessels should take
effect, as regards the American flag, on and after the first day of May last.
The Collectors of the Customs are therefore requested and instructed to admit
Spanish vessels arriving from Spanish or an}' other foreign ports, those of Cuba and
Porto Rico excepted, to entry on the same footing as American vessels, as regards
tonnage duty, light money, and all other dues to the United States, so far as respects
the vessels; but the provisions of the act of 13th July, 1832, as regards Spanish
vessels arriving from the ports of Cuba or Forto Rico, are to remain in full force.
Any tonnage duty or light money which may have been exacted contrary to the tenor
of the preceding instructions from Spanish vessels that may have arrived in the United
States since the first ultimo, will be returned by the Department under the usual
certificates and formalities.
Under the circular instructions from this Department, of 13th June, 1849, Spanish
vessels from the ports of Cuba have been admitted to entry free of tonnage duty
when arriving with a cargo of molasses or in ballast, in consequence of American
vessels arriving in the ports of that island being exempted from the customary foreign
tonnage duty, provided they arrived in ballast, or loaded outward with a full cargo of
molasses. The Department, however, has recently ascertained that this exemption of
tonnage duty on American vessels arriving in ballast is not accorded to such vessels
unless they likewise depart in ballast, and that the full tonnage duty of one dollar
and fifty cents per ton is exacted if they take away any portion of a cargo of the pro­
duce of the island, molasses only excepted. Under these circumstances the Depart­
ment does not consider itself authorized, under the provisions of the act of 13th July,
1832, to admit to entry Spanish vessels from Cuba on any other terms than American
vessels are admitted into the ports of that island; and, consequently, all Spanish
vessels arriving from said island in ballast, must pay the same tonnage duty of one
dollar and fifty cents per ton, as i3 exacted on American vessels entering the ports of
Cuba, unless they likewise leave the United States in ballast; but Spanish vessels
arriving from the ports of Cuba with a full cargo of molasses will continue to be ex­
empted from the payment of any tonnage duty.
Spanish vessels arriving from a port in Porto Rico, will, in all cases, whether in
ballast or cargo of any description, pay a tonnage duty of eighty seven-and-a-half
cents per ton, being the amount which, agreeably to the latest authentic advice in
possession of the Department, is exacted upon American vessels in that island, unless
any vessel so arriving from said island shall produce a certificate from the principal
officer of the customs at the port of her departure, duly certified by the American
consul, that a less tonnage duty is charged at said port upon American vessels, or
that the latter under any particular circumstances are entirely exempted from the
payment of tonnage duty ; in which case said vessel shall be admitted to entry on
like terms as may be thus accorded to American vessels in the ports of Porto Rico.
In all cases where Spanish vessels may arrive from the ports of either Cuba or
Porto Rico, and shAl produce certificates as above, duly verified by the American




T reasury D epartment,

Commercial Regulations.

289

consul of any modification in the rate of tonnage duty on American vessels in the
ports of said islands, the collectors of the customs will report the same to the Depart­
ment, and if they may not have been already authorized, they will be instructed to
make a similar modification, agreeably to the act of the 13th July, 1832, in the ton­
nage duty upon Spanish vessels thus arriving from said islands.
Complaints have been made to the Department that under the instructions of 5th
ultimo, to the collectors of some of the principal ports, annulling so much of the cir­
cular of 13th June, 1849, as exempted from tonnage duty Spanish vessels arriving
in ballast from Cuba, various Spanish vessels have paid this duty when they had no
knowledge of the change at the time of their departure for the United States. The
collectors are instructed to report all such cases for the consideration of the Depart­
ment, with the view of affording such just relief as it may be in its power to grant.
The report in any such case will state the time of clearance and departure from
Cuba, the time of arrival in the United States, and the amount of tonnage duty paid
in each case.
The collectors will report promptly to the Department any authentic information
they may receive of modifications in the tonnage or other dues upon American vessels
in the ports of either of the above islands, in order that the Department may promptly
meet any such modifications in favor of American vessels by extending the same to
Spanish vessels arriving in the United States from the ports of either of those colo­
nies.
W M . L. HODGE, A ctin g Sec. Treats.

LAW OF OHIO TO PREVENT FRAUD IN TRADE.
The. following Act of the General Assembly and Senate of the State of Ohio, to
prevent fraudulent practices in trade, was passed at the last Session of the Legisla­
ture, and approved March 19, 1852.
AN

ACT TO

PREVENT

F R A U D U L E N T P R A C T IC E S .

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly o f the State of Ohio, That if any
person shall execute and deliver, or shall cause or procure to be executed and de­
livered to any person, any false or fictitious bill of lading, receipt, schedule, invoice,
or other written instrument, to the purport or effect that any goods, wares or mer­
chandise, had been or were held, delivered, received, placed or deposited, on board of
any steamboat or watercraft, navigating the waiters in or bordering upon the State of
Ohio, when such goods, wares and merchandise were not held, or had not in fact and
in good faith been delivered, received or deposited on board of such steamboat or
other watercraft, when such bill of lading, receipt, invoice, schedule or written instru­
ment was made and delivered according to the purport and effect of such bill of lading,
receipt, invoice, schedule or written instrument, with intent to injure, deceive, or de­
fraud any person whomsoever, or if any person shall indorse, assign, transfer, or put
off, or shall attempt to indorse, assign, transfer or put off, any such false or fictitious
bill of lading, receipt, invoice, schedule, or other written instrument, knowing the
same to be false, fraudulent or fictitious, the person so offending shall be deemed
guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the peni­
tentiary, and kept at hard labor, for a term not exceeding four years, nor less than
one year.
S ec . 2. If any person shall execute and deliver, or shall cause or procure to be
executed and delivered to any other person, any false and fictitious warehouse re­
ceipt, acknowledgment, or other instrument of writing, to the purport and effect that
such person, or any person or persons, copartnership, firm, body politic or corporate,
which he or she represents, or pretends to represent, held or had received in store,
or held or had received in any warehouse, or in any other place, or held or had re­
ceived into possession, custody, or control, of such person or persons, copartnership,
firm, or body politic, any goods, warts or merchandise, when such goods, wares or
merchandise were not held or had not been received in good faith, according to the
purport and effect of such warehouse receipt, receipt acknowledgment, or instrument of
writing, with intent to defraud, deceive, or injure any person whomsoever, or if any
person shall indorse, assign, transfer or deliver, or shall attempt to indorse, transfer
and deliver to any other person any such false and fictitious warehouse receipt, re­
ceipt acknowledgment, or instrument of writing, knowing the same to be false, fraudu­
S ec .




240

Commercial Regulations .

lent, or fictitious, such person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on con­
viction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary, and kept at
hard labor, for a term not more than three years, nor less nor one year.
Sec. 3. That if any person or persons, or the agent of any person or persons, hav­
ing in his or their possession, custody or control, any goods, wares or merchandise, by
virtue of any genuine instrument of writingjof the purport or effect of any such instru­
ment of writing as is mentioned in the first or second sections of this act, shall, with­
out authority, and with intent to injure or defraud the rightful owner thereof, sell, as­
sign, transfer or encumber such goods, wares or merchandise, or any part thereof, to
the value of fifty dollars or upwards, or shall in any way convert the same to his own
use, or if the consignor or consignors or the agent of such consignor or consignors of
any goods, wares or merchandise, not being the absolute owner thereof, and not hav­
ing authority to stop, countermand or change the consignment thereof, or not having
authority to sell or encumber the same during the transit, shall, after the shipment
thereof on board any watercraft, or after the deposit thereof in or upon any vehicle
for land carriage, in any way stop, countermand or change the consignment thereof,
or shall sell, dispose of or encumber such goods, wares or merchandise, during their
transit or after their delivery, or shall in any way convert the same, or any part
thereof, to his or her own use, to the value of fifty dollars or upwards, so that the
right owner thereof shall sustain a loss thereby to the value of fifty dollars or up­
wards, the person so offending, with intent as aforesaid, shall be guilty of a misde­
meanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary thereof, and
kept at hard labor, for a term not less than one year, nor more than four years.
Sec. 4. That the ninth and tenth sections of the act entitled an act to prevent
fraudulent practices, passed the 12th day of March, 1844, and the first section of an
act entitled an act to amend the act entitled an act to prevent fraudulent practices,
passed January 31st, 1846, be, and the same are hereby repealed.
OF INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NEW YORK.
The following act to amend the act entitled “ an act to provide for the incorporation
of insurance companies,” passed April 10th, 1849, was passed April 1, 1852, and is
now in force:—

Sec. 1. It shall and may be lawful, for any marine insurance company to be organ­
ized pursuant to the provisions of the said act hereby amended, to establish and main­
tain one or more agencies beyond the United States, for the transaction of its lawful
business, upon such terms and conditions as the said company may prescribe.
Sec. 2. In case any such agency or agencies shall be established in Asia or Europe,
the statement required by the thirteenth section of the said act hereby amended, may
be deferred for the space of five months from and after the first day of January in
each year, and when made, it shall refer to the first day of January then next pre­
ceding.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
LAW OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES IN KENTUCKY.
From a revised statute of the law of Kentucky we extract the following, with re­
gard to weights and measures, which takes effect on the 1st of July next:—

Sec. 6. The hundred-weight shall consist of 100 pounds avoirdupois, and 2,000 such
shall constitute a ton; and all contracts hereafter shall be construed accordingf)ounds
y, unless the contrary be expressly stipulated.

Sec. 7. Sixty pounds of wheat, fifty-six pounds of rye, fifty-six pounds of Indian
corn, forty-eight pounds of barley, thirly-three-and-a-third pounds of oats, sixty pounds
of potatoes, sixty pounds of beans, twenty pounds of bran, sixty pounds of cloverseed, forty-five pounds of timothy-seed, fifty-six pounds of flax-seed, forty-four pounds
of hemp-seed, fifty-two pounds of buckwheat, fourteen pounds of blue-grass-seed,
fifty pounds of cornmeal, fifty-seven pounds of onions, and fifty-six pounds of salt
shall constitute a bushel of such articles respectively.




\

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics .

241

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILROAD.
This road extends from Monroe to Laporte, a distance of 188 miles. The stock is
principally owned, we believe, by eastern capitalists. The President of the company,
G e o r g e B l is s , Esq., resides in Springfield, Massachusetts. The managers of this
company have issued a brief statement of the condition of that company and its busi­
ness of last year. When it connects directly with Chicago, which will be during the
spring, the traffic must be very largely increased. The earnings for the year 1851
were as follows:—
Passengers.

January............................................
February...........................................
March................................................
April..................................................
May....................................................
June..................................................
July....................................................
August..............................................
September........................................
October...............................................
November..........................................
December...........................................
Mails for the year.............................

$60,462 09

f

Mails a n d
raiscellane’s.

Freight.

$1,820 31
1,809 73
2,810 99
4,016 10
5,404 44
5,350 96
5,058 04
5,027 81
8,612 39
9,596 83
6,134 89
4,759 60
............

$14,683 75
13,676 32
9,546 43
17,632 40
19,649 08
17,624 77
16,980 13
19,776 66
27,762 84
40,895 59
26,419 50
18,757 68
..............

..............
$595 25
20 88
45 50
7 95
170 57
..........
327 38
..........
..........
502 50
..........
8,167 35

$243,105 15

$9,837 38

Total............................................................................................
Recapitulation for 1851, as compared with 1850:—

$313,404 62

1850.
Passengers..........................................
Freight...............................................
Mails and miscellaneous...................

1851.

$25,779 22
109,253 81
4,504 94

$60,462 09
243,105 15
9,837 38

$139,537 97

$313,404 62
139,537 97

%

Increase about 125 per cent..............................

$173,866 65

The earnings for 1851 were upon a longer line than was open for use in 1850—25
miles of new road having been opened in March, and about 20 more in September,
1S51.
The expenses for repairs and operating and managing the road, including taxes and
rents of the Erie and Kalamazoo Road for the year 1851, were $137,404 19.
Earnings as above........................................................
Expenses............................................................................................

$313,404 62
137,404 19

Net earnings..............................................................................

$176,000 43

Two dividends of 7 per cent each, upon the amount of capital stock paid in, have
been declared as follows:—
1st July, 1851, upon $712,600, being amount paid in upon stock at
that date..........................................................................................
2d January, 1852, upon $902,020......................................................
Total...........................................................................................
V O L . X X V I I .-----N O . I I .




10

$49,882 00
63,141 40
$113,023 40

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

242

The total amount expended in construction and for equipment to 1st
January, 1852, was.........................................................................
The indebtedness of the company at that date was as follows:—
7 per cent mortgage bonds due in 1860—total amount
issued.......................................................................
$1,000,000
Less amount unsold....................................................
94,000

$2,378,082 05

$906,000 00
Balance of debt due to the State of Michigan, payable $50,000 per
annum, with interest at 6 per cent.................................................
8 per cent bonds due in 1853 ............................................................
All other indebtedness, after applying cash and available means on
hand...............................................................................................
Capital stock subscribed..............................................
$992,700
Less amount unpaid....................................................
90,500
Due to income account for amount expended in construction

200,000 00
31,614 00
187,068 79
902,200 00
151,199 26

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

$2,378,082 05

Mortgage bonds on hand, unsold 1st January...................................
Amount payable on stock subscriptions at same date.......................

$94,000 00
90,500 00

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

$184,500 00

The main line of the road is all built with a heavy rail, except about twenty miles
at the eastern end, the iron for which is now at Dunkirk, and will be laid down early
in the ensuing spring.
The equipment of the road on the 1st January, 1852, consisted of twenty-five loco­
motives, (including four purchased and delivered at Buffalo, which cannot reach Michi­
gan until the opening of lake navigation,) sixteen passenger cars, four hundred and
twenty-six freight cars, equal to cars of four wheels, and ninety-two repairing and
lumber cars.
The preceding statement is exclusive of the Northern Indiana Railroad, the ex­
penditures upon which, up to 1st January, 1852, for all purposes of construction and
equipment, had been $1,553,133 38. This road was opened for use to Laporte (187
miles from Lake Erie) in December last; and from Michigan City to Chicago on the
20th inst. A continuous line is thus formed by the Michigan Southern and Northern
Indiana Roads from Lake Erie to Chicago, with the exception of thirteen miles be­
tween Laporte and Michigan City, which is now supplied by a plank-road. It is ex­
pected that the entire line will be completed in April next, when the trains can pass
without interruption from Lake Erie to Chicago.
Further expenditures will be required for completing the stations and depot accom­
modations, and for covering advances by the company for their steamboat connections
upon the Lakes. The work of construction upon the road will be substantially com­
pleted previous to the issuing of the annual report in June next, by which time the
cost of the work can be definitely ascertained.
STATISTICS OF OCEAN STEAMSHIPS.
C O L L IN S L IN E -----C U N ARD L IN E ----- H A V R E L IN E ----- B R E M E N
B I L T S -----P A C IF IC

L IN E ----- C A L IF O R N IA L IN E S I V A N D E R -

S T E A M S H IP C O M P A N IE S -----M IL L S ’ L I N E , &C.

In the Merchants’ Magazine for September, 1851, (vol. xxv., pages 377-379,) we
published a comparative statement of the amount of duties paid on merchandise by
the Cunard steamers arriving at New York and Boston, from their commencement to
the year 1851; and in the number for November, 1851, same volume, Merchants’
Magazine, we gave a tabular detail showing the value of, and the amount of duties
paid on imports into the port of New York by the vessels belonging to the “ Steam
Navigation Company” and the “ United States Mail Steamship Company,” since the
establishment of these lines. In the Merchants’ Magazine for March, (vol. xxvi., pp379-381,) we gave the passages of the Cunard and Collins line from June, 1851, also
the amount of specie taken to Liverpool on each voyage, and the passengers carried
from port to port to the close of the year 1851.




Railroad , Canal, anc? Steamboat Statistics .

243

The subjoined tables, furnished by the Courier and Enquirer, give some additional
particulars of the Collins and Cunard lines, and also of the Havre, Bremen, and Pacific
steamers:—
By the first table it will be seen that the shortest passage from New York to Liver­
pool in 1851, by the Collins line, was performed by the Pacific, in May; time 9 days
20 hours : the longest (of the same line) was made by the Atlantic in October; time
12 days 15 hours. The passages average 10 days 21 hours and 10 minutes, the year
through. The largest amount of specie shipped on any occasion was $1,096,644, by
the Baltic, in November last. The total amount of specie exported during the year
by this line was $10,520,341. The Pacific took out 238 passengers in May, being the
largest number hence during the year. Total number of passengers carried to Liver­
pool from New York 2,129.
The second statement shows the average passages of the return voyages from Liv­
erpool during the year to have been 11 days 17 hours and 30 minutes. The Pacific
brought out the largest number of passengers (192) in September. The total number
brought by this fleet from Liverpool to New York in 1851, amounts to 2,027. The
duties paid at the Custom-House for goods imported during the year amount to
$2,122,537 56.
By the third statement the Cunard steamers are shown to have performed twentythree passages from New York to Liverpool, at an average speed of 11 days 4 hours
aud 13 minutes per trip; they carried over 2,012 passengers—the largest passenger
list numbering 175, per the Africa, in April. The total amount of specie exported by
these vessels was $16,726,675; the heaviest sum on freight per any voyage was
$1,425,992, taken out by the Africa in December last.
The fourth table gives the passages of the Cunard steamers from Liverpool to this
port, which averaged 12 days 15 hours and 7 minutes per trip. The Asia took out
the largest passenger list in August, numbering 163. Total passengers from Liver­
pool to New York, per Cunard steamers, in 1851, 2,106. The duties paid count up to
$2,829,001 31.
The fifth and subsequent tables of similar character relate to other lines of steam
navigation connected with the port of New York.
S T A T E M E N T S H O W IN G

THE

DAT

O F S A IL IN G , N U M B E R O F

DAYS

P A S S A G E , P A S S E N G E R S AND

S P E C IE , O F T H E C O L L IN S L IN E , OUT OF T H E P O R T O F N E W Y O R K , D U R IN G T H E Y E A R

1851 .

Passage.

Date.
January 8..............
“ 22..............
February 5............
March 5...............
“
19...............
April 2 ...............
“ 1 6 ...............
May 10...................
“ 24...................
June 7 ................
“ 91
July 5.................
“ 19.................
August 6 ............
“
1 6 ............
“
SO............
September 1 3 ___
“
2 7 ___
October 11.............
“
2 5 .............
November 8 ........
“
99,
December 6 ........
“
2 0 ........
Total.. . ,
Average time




Name.
Baltic......................... ........
Pacific......................... .........
Arctic.......................... .
Baltic......................... .........
Pacific...........................
Arctic............................
Baltic......................... .
Pacific..........................
Arctic.......................... .
Baltic......................... .
Pacific.........................
Arctic..........................
Baltic.........................
Atlantic..................... .
Pacific.........................
Baltic . . .....................
Atlantic..................... .........
Pacific.........................
Baltic.........................
Atlantic.....................
Pacific.........................
Baltic.........................
Atlantic............... .
Arctic .......................

D.
10
11
11

10

H.
16
18
5
16
20
2
4
20

Passengers. Specie.
50
$484
34
208,630
30
125,000
79
2,326
60
317,940
124
212,880
197
160,000
238
375,350
144
425,380
6
168
837,000
4
160
931,000
125
5
780,000
4
70
620,000
..
68
106,670
4
70
413,000
2
63
557,970
14
65
288,400
2
88
611,857
9
78
10,000
15
40
372,750
..
46
858,120
10
59
1,096,644
11
33
837,500
9
40
371,440

04
10 21 10

2,129 $10,520,341

‘244

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

ST A T E M E N T S H O W IN G
AM O UN T O F

D U TIES

THE
OF

D A T OF A R R I V A L , N U M B E R O F D A T S P A S S A G E , P A S S E N G E R S AND
TH E

C O L L IN S L IN E IN T O

TH E TO R T OF

TEAR 1851.
Date.
January 1...........
“
27............
February 19.........
“
19..........
March 6 ..............
“
2 3 ..............
April 3.................
“ 19.................
May 11.................
« 04.
June 6 ................
“ 2 2 ................
J uly 5 .................
“ 21
August 3 ............
“
n ............
“
1 6 ............
September 1........
“
14........
“
28........
October 1 5 ............
“
2 6 ............
November 9.........
“
23.........
December 7 ........
“
2 3 ........

Name.
Baltic, via Provincetown___
Arctic, via Halifax................
Baltic......... .........................
Cambria, with Atlantic’s car’o
Pacific..................................
Arctic...................................
Baltic...................................
Pacific...................................
Arctic....................................
Baltic...................................
Pacific...................................
Arctic....................................
Baltic...................................
Pacific...................................
Atlantic..............................
Arctic..................................
Baltic...................................
Atlantic...............................
Pacific...................................
Baltic...................................
Atlantic...............................
Pacific..................................
Baltic..................................
Atlantic...............................
Pacific...................................
Baltic..................................

N E W T O R K , D U R IN G T n E

Passage.
D. II. Passen’s,, A't of duties.
$120,536 60
106
17
154,786 20
16
37
185,846 90
11 21
31
146,503 40
162,402 75
12 2
22
67,206 25
14 18
15
73,759 95
12 8
26
33,259 20
20
9 19
17,552 70
10 19
15
10 7
16.977 95
37
25,689 72
10 2
60
68,693 91
11 5
97
9 22
94
119,119 45
182,455 80
12 4
120
192,809 45
10 15
132
128,466 15
11 6
36
9 13
148
68,890 10
11 14
182
72,189 50
10 17
192
58,730 15
32,712 18
10 20
102
24,129 50
13 15
155
11
21,961 60
143
10 19
17,765 25
92
10 14
60
15,810 85
11 7
24,545 85
47
90,186 20
13 5
61

293 8 2,027 $2,122,537 56
Total___
Average time.............................................. 11 17 30
S T A T E M E N T S H O W IN G
S P E C IE

OF THE

THE

CUNARD

Date.
Januarv 1............
“
29............
February 26..........
March 2 6 ..............
April 23.................
May 7 .................
“ 21..................
June 4 ...............
“ I S ................
July 2.................
“ 16.................
“ 30..................
August 1 3 ............
“
2 7 ............
S ep tem b er 1 0 . . . .
«
24
October 8 ...............
«*
2 2 ...............
November 5 ..........

“
19........
December 3 ........
“
17........
11

3 1 ..........

Total...........
Average time




DAT

OF. S A IL IN G , N U M B E R O F D A Y S P A S S A G E , P A S S E N G E R S A N D

L IN E OUT O F T H E P O R T O F N E W T O R K , D U R IN G T H E T E A R

Name.
Africa.........................
Asia...........................
Africa........................ .
Asia.......................... .
Africa..........................___
Asia...........................
Europa..................... ___
Africa....................... ___
Asia........................... .
Niagara..................... .
Africa.......................
Asia........................... ___
Niagara.....................
Africa....................... ___
Asia...........................
Niagara..................... .____
Africa.......................
Asia...........................
Niagara.....................
Canada...................... ___
Africa........................
America..................... ___
Europa...................... ___
___
___

Passage.
D. II.
10 14
10 19
10 11
10
8
10 14
10 10
11
1
10 19
10
3
3
9
11
1
o
10 13
10 17
12

14

17
13
17
17
2

11
11

7
14

13

10

10

01
114 18

257

1851.

Passengers.
Specie.
$218,713
51
70
272,537
211,179
79
102
706,600
175
558,238
140
372,509
110
579,000
142
6S1,000
150
1,115,920
91
950,328
94
1,101,543
153
641,500
69
415,000
71
80
55
88
61
31
55
62
30
53

2,012

857,333
995,395
535,000
500,000
380,000
945,398
1,295,992
1,425,992

1,120,000
847,494
$16,726,675

Railroad , Canal, awe? Steamboat Statistics.

245

STATEMENT SHOWING THE DAY OF ARRIVAL, NUMBER OF DAYS PASSAGE, PASSENGERS, AND
AMOUNT OF DUTIES OF THE CUNARD LINE INTO THE PORT OF NEW YORK DURING THE
YEAR 1851.
Passage.
A’ t o f Duties.
Date.
Name.
D. II. Passengers.
$ 25 2 ,2 4 3 90
Jan uary 1 7 ...............
A s i a .....................................
58
13 9
327,643 85
February 1 6 ............
A f r i c a .................................
118
14 9
157,119 15
M arch 1 4 .................
A s i a .....................................
91
12 20
128,369 25
A p r il 10.....................
A frica ...............................
104
11 21
107,685 80
“
23.....................
A s i a .....................................
10 17
79
91,278 15
M ay 8.......................
28
E u rop a ................................
11 14
61,655 25
“ 21........................
A f r i c a .................................
y&
10 16
96,443 90
June 4 ......................
A s i a .....................................
10 14
88
156,506 45
“ 2 0 ......................
N ia g a ra ...............................
12 17
63
220,936 85
J u ly 2 ......................
A frica ...................................
11
1
68
174,925 70
A s i a ......................................
“ 1 6 ......................
115
10 23
136,289 05
A u g u st 1 .................
N ia g a r a ..............................
113
12 4
147,744 20
A f r i c a ..................................
104
“
1 2 .................
10 6
145,693 65
“
2 8 .................
Asia..............................
173
12 5
100,859 41
September 1 1 ___
Niagara.........................
12 3
134
“
24 . .
89,080 45
Africa............................
144
10 19
66,325 50
October 1 0 ............
Asia..............................
124
12 16
40,295 50
“
2 5 ...............
Niagara...............................
13 21
109
322 75
November 9 ..........
Canada................................
115
11 12
110,384 95
'■
1 9 ..........
Africa .................................
101
11 2
76,461 95
December 5 ........
America .............................
44
13 10
140,734 65
“
2 3 ..........
Europa, via Halifax.. . .
16 21
35

Total .................................................................
Average tim e ...........................................
S T A T E M E N T S H O W IN G
S P E C IE

THE

OF TH E

D A Y O F S A IL IN G , N U M BER

HAVRE

Days.

February 8 ............
April 5..,...............
May 6...................
“ 31...................
June 2 8 ...............
July 26..................
August 23.............
September 3 0 ___
October 18............
November 15........
December 13.........

L IN E

267 40
12 15 7
OF DAYS

Name.

12
13
12
11

OB' A R R I V A L , N U M B E R

8188,000
668,952
858,031
968,630
872,126
960,000
187,047
692,834
279,925
559,346
570,000

791

$6,704,891

16
6
10
4
8
23
16
20
9
2
10

Specie.

49
100
90
140
101
78
36
63
64
45
25

10

12
12
11
12
12
13

AND

1851.

Passage.
D.
H. Passengers.

Total. . . .
Average passage..............................
DAY

PA S SA G E , P A S S E N G E R S

OUT O F NEYV Y O R K , D U R IN G T U E Y E A R

Franklin................... ____
Franklin................... .......
Humboldt.................. .......
____
Humboldt.................
Franklin................... ____
Humboldt.................. ____
Franklin................... ____
Humboldt.................. ____
Franklin................... ____
Humboldt.................. ____

ST A T E M E N T S H O W IN G T U E

§2,8 2 9,00 1 31

2,100

O F D A Y S P A S S A G E , P A S S E N G E R S AND

AM O UN T O F D U T IE S OF T H E H A V R E L IN E IN T O P O R T O F N E W Y O R K D U R IN G T H E

YEAR

’51.

Passage.

Date.
January 16............
March 2 2 ..............
Slay 19 .................
June 17.................
July 1 4 .................
August 12.............
September 8 ..........
October S .............
November 2...........
December 5 ...........

Name.
Franklin..................___
Franklin.................. ___
Franklin................ .___
Humboldt............ ___
Franklin................ .___
Humboldt.............. ___
Franklin................ ___
Humboldt.............
Franklin................ ___
Humboldt,........... ___

Total............................................ .
Average passage...........................




D.
14
14
11
12
11
12
11
10
14

ir. Passengers. A’t of duties.
$311,37S 50
41
6
129,536 90
33
14
76,455 05
97
12
89,182 70
60
329,079 80
5
102
129,998
80
18
79
100,096 20
12
108
1
133
68,430 05
15
136
61,975 65
73,956 90
15
65
2
16

854

$1,370,090 55

246

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

S T A T E M E N T S H O W IN G
S P E C IE O F T H E

THE D A Y

B R E M E N L IN E

O F S A IL IN G , M E M B E R

OF D A YS PA SSA G E , PA SSE N G E R S

OUT O F T H E P O R T O F N E W Y O R K D U R IN G T H E Y E A R

Date.

Passage.
D.
H. Passengers.

Name.

February 2 2 ..........
March 2 9 ...................
April 29.....................
May 1 7 ......................
June 1 4 ......................
July 1 2 ......................
August 1 2 ..............
September 6 . . . . .
October IS.............
November 1 ..........

Washington..............
Hermann................... ..........
Washington.............. ..........
Hermann................... ..........
Washington.............. ..........
Hermann................... ..........
Washington.............. ........
Hermann................... ........
Washington.............. ........
Hermann................... ........

15
13
14
12
13
12
15
14
17

..
••

§3 7,5 74
43,770
95,384
47,120
265,684
325,000
7,956
357,540
43,619
70,665

18

662

§1 ,1 9 4,31 4

Average passage...............................
ST A T E M E N T S H O W IN G
AMOUNT

THE

9

D A Y O F A R R IV A L , NU M BER

O F D U T IE S O F T H E B R E M E N

Specie.

50
94
54
85
104
90
94
28
33
30

12
12
12
12
18

T otal__

AND

1851.

L IN E IN T O

THE

OF

DA YS P A SSA G E , PA SSE N G E R S AND

PORT

OF

NEW

YORK

D U R IN G T H E

YEAR 1851.
Date.
January 8 ..............
April 10,...............
May 9.....................
July 2 ...................
“ 31...................
August 2 9 ............
September 23 . . . .
October 23.............
November 28........
December 23.........

Name.
Washington..............____
Washington..............____
Hermann...................____
____
Hermann...................
Washington..............____
Herman.................... ____
Washington..............____
Hermann.................. ____
Washington . . . . . . . . ____
Hermann..................

Total . . .

___

Passage.
D. h. :Passengers. A’t of Duties.
§169,159 95
45
17 ..
55,980 35
81
15
54,909 52
91
13 18
11 22
142
52,303 10
133,506 85
124
13 12
157,104 70
166
14
5
86,691 95
16 . .
192
4,0,640 95
186
12 20
46,429 05
14 21
160
23,698 90
141
13 14
71,700 70
12
63
152

Average passage..............................
ST A T E M E N T S H O W IN G
B IL T 'S

THE

D A Y O F S A IL IN G A N D

L IN E , OUT O F T H E

PORT OF N E W

Date.
January 2 7 .................. ..
February 2 9 .......................... . .
March 2 8 ................................... ..
April 2 8 ................................... . .
June 1 3 ....................... ..
August 1 5 ................... ..
September 1 2 .............. . .
October 7 ................. . .
“
2 2 ................. . .
November 8 ............... ..
..
“
22
December 6............... . .
“
2 2 ...............
Total number of passengers




4 1,391

$892,126 02

20
NUM BER
YORK

OF

PA SSE N G E R S

D U R IN G T H E Y E A R

Name.
Prometheus...................
Prometheus................... .............
Prometheus................... .............
Prometheus...................
Prometheus................... . . . .
Prometheus...................
Prometheus................... .............
Prometheus...................
Daniel \Vebster............ ........
Prometheus...................
Daniel Webster............ ........
Prometheus................... ........
Daniel Webster............ ........

OF

VANDER­

1851.

Passengers.
64
172
109
112

225

400

367
275
420

2,768

241

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
STATEM ENT

S H O W IN G

V a n d e r b il t ’s

TH E

l in e

DAY

in t o

OF

th e

Date.

A R R IV A L ,
port

of

NU M BER

n ew

York

O F P A S S E N G E R S A N D S P E C IE
D U R IN G T H E

Name.

January 21 .................
March 24 ....................
April 1 8 ...........................
May 1 9 ...............
J uly 3 ......................
August 1 3 .................
September 5 ...................
October 4 ........................
November 6 ..............
“
1 6 ..............
December 1 ...............
“
19 ...............
“
2 9 ...............

Prometheus................... ...........
Prometheus................... ...........
Prometheus................... ...........
Prometheus................... ...........
Prometheus................... ........
Prometheus................... ........
Daniel Webster............ ........
Prometheus................... ........
Daniel Webster............ ........
Prometheus................... ........

YEAR

Passengers.
244
232
246
324
240
360
240
466
518
460
410
302
285

Total.....................
ST A T E M E N T S H O W IN G T H E
ST A T E S

AND

P A C IF IC

u

to

“

26........

Specie.
$7,395
19,121
178,572
50,000
123,081
2,684
117,348
120,677
128,117
63,000
$S09,995

D A Y O F S A IL IN G

M A IL

S T E A N S H IP

1851.
Date.
Steamships.
January 11.. Georgia.........
“
13.. Empire City .
“
20.. Crescent City
“
25.. Ohio...............
“
27.. Falcon..........
“
28.. Cherokee. . . .
February 11. Georgia........
“
13. Empire City..
“
26. Ohio..............
“
29. Crescent City
March 1 1 . . . Georgia........
“
13 . . . Empire City .
“
26 . .. Ohio...............
“
28 . . . Cherokee.......
April 10....... Empire City
“ 11....... Georgia.........
“ 26....... Ohio..............
“ 29....... El Dorado.. .
May 12 ........ Georgia.........
“ 13........ Empire City..
“ 26........ Cherokee.......
“ 28........ Crescent City.
June 11........ Georgia.........
“ 13___ _ Empire City.
26........ Cherokee. . . .
“ 28........ Crescent City
D U R IN G T H E

OF

1851.

AND NUM BER OF
C O M P A N IE S , OUT

P A S S E N G E R S O F T H E UN ITED
O F T IIE

PO R T OF N E W

YORK

YEAR

Empire City.
Cherokee. . . .

ST A T E M E N T S H O W IN G T H E
U N IT E D ST A T E S A N D
D U R IN G T H E

Date.

January 6 . . .
“
6 ...
“
o/|
2 4 ...
February 7 ..
“
8..
«
18..




YEAR

DAY

PA C IF IC

Passeng’s.
Date.
160 July 28..
87 August 11
“
12.
15
112
“
26
“
28. . .
36
170 September 11
u
13
“
26
203
“
140
27
244 October 7
208
“
11 . .
84
“
13
“
22
230
305
“
25
117
“
25 . .
251 November 6
((
10
“
86
11
<(
22
“
236
24
82 December 1
“
210
6
“
106
9
“
208
11
“
80
22
«
287
26
178
250
Total.
89

Passeng’s.
Steamships.
225
Ohio...............
75
Empire City..
360
Georgia..........
80
Cherokee .......
400
Illinois...........
184
Empire City..
616
Ohio...............
240
Georgia..........
620
Illinois............
150
Cherokee.......
350
Empire City..
603
Ohio...............
280
Philadelphia..
564
Illinois...........
200
Georgia..........
Cherokee .......
304
Empire City..
210
572
Ohio...............
Illinois............
542
Georgia...........
300
Falcon............
250
Cherokee.......
268
Empire City..
218
Ohio...............
375
El Dorado___
270
Georgia...........
610
. . 13,528

O F A R R I V A L , N U M B E R OF P A S SE N G E R S A N D S P E C IE O F T H E
M A IL S T E A M S H IP

CO M PA N IE S INTO T H E P O R T O F N E W Y O R K

1851.
Steamships.

Georgia...
Crescent City............
Cherokee.
Falcon. . .
Empire City..............
Georgia....
Crescent City............

Passengers.

540
400
250
325
212
351
218

Speci«.

$223,732
1,354,298
861,387
14,484
736,064
105,093
8,126

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

248

Date.
February 23............... ..
“
23...............
March 8 ................... ..
“
8 ...................
“
21................... . .
“
2 2 ...
..
April 7.....................
8.....................
“ 12.....................
“ 20..................... . .
“ 24..................... . .
May 5 . . . . .............. . .
“
8 ....................... . .
“ 17.......................
“ 21.......................
June 3 ....................... . .
“
5 .......................
“ 19....................... . .
“ 21....................... . .
July 6 ....................... ..
“
6....................... . .
“ 20....................... ..
“ 2 1 ;..................... ..
August 7 ................... . .
“
7 ................... . .
“
21...................
September 6.............. . .
“
7.............. ..
“
20..............
“
22.............. . .
October 7 .................
“
7................. . ,
“
18.................
“
23................. . .
November 2.............. . .
“
4 .............. . .
“
5 .............
“
19.............. . .
“
26..............
“
29.............. . .
December 6.............. . .
“
7..............
“
21............. . .

Steamships.
Cherokee................. ___
Ohio.........................
Empire City............ ___
Crescent City..........
Ohio........................

Passengers.
102
159
127
261

Georgia....................
El Dorado...............
Cherokee.................
Ohio........................
Georgia....................
Crescent City.......... ___
El Dorado...............
Ohio.........................
Empire City............
Georgia..................... ___
Crescent City.......... ___
Cherokee................. ___
Empire City............. ___
Georgia....................
Crescent City.......... ___
Cherokee.................. . . .
Empire City............ ___
Georgia....................
Cherokee.................. ___
Empire City............
Georgia....................
Cherokee................. ___
Ohio......................... ___
Empire City............
Georgia.................... ___
Cherokee.................
Empire City............ ___
Ohio......................... ___
Georgia.................... ___
Falcon..................... ___
Cherokee................. ___
Empire City............ ___
Ohio......................... ___
Georgia.................... ____

S T A T E M E N T S H O W IN G T H E D A T

OF

S A IL IN G

OUT O F T H E P O R T O F N E W

Date.
March 1 9 ...............
May 2 6 .......................
June 2 6 .......................
July 2 8 .....................
August 2 8 ................. , ..
September 17 .........
November 1 ..........
December 1 ......... , . .
«

2 9 ............

Total passengers




464,845
'774,930
689,646
390,178
517,275
325,960
938,390
403,119
575,299
1,269,426

20
229
2S2
179
527
105
375

1,000,683
1,151,210

146
200
336
280
151
160

1,004,987

490,700
1,124,323

1,400,000
1,640,689
1,497,176
1,228,283

19S
508
150
374
120
423
37
ISO
400
61
209
52
112
390
5,577

Total

Specie.

1,435,711
101,107
1,557,358
1,119,163
30,000
1,439,650
1,592,004
1,083
15,175
1,446,000
82S,S27,553

AND N U M B E R O F PASSEN G EF.S OF M IL L S ’ L IN E
YORK

D U R IN G T H E Y E A R

1851.

Steamships.
Brother Jonathan........ ...............
Brother Jonathan........ ..............
Brother Jonathan........ ...............
Brother Jonathan........ ...............
Brother Jonathan........ ...............
Brother Jonathan........ ............
Brother Jonathan........ ............
Brother Jonathan........ ............
Independence.............. ..............

Passengers.
175
159
231
190
273
411
410
412
359

2,650

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE DAY OF ARRIVAL AND NUMBER
OUT OF THE FORT OF NEW YORK, DURING
Date.
Name.
M a y I S .............................
B rother J on a th a n ............
June 2 0 .............................
J u ly 1 7 .............................
B rother Jonath an............
A u g u st 8 0 ......................
B rother Jon a th a n ............
S ep tem b er 2 3 ...............
B rother Jon a th a n ............
O ctob er 2 S ......................
N ov em b er 2 8 .................
T o t a l........................

249

OF PASSENGERS OF MILLS LINE,
THE YEAR 1851.
Specie.
Passengers.
$2,000
..........
141
54,000
..........
806
2,750
..........
238
400
..........
..........
248
818
..........
127
14,575
..........
300
..........

1,760

$74,139

EFFECT OF RAILROADS ON COMMERCIAL CITIES.
M r . P oor, of the American Railroad Journal, in a brief editorial, gives a most

striking as well as correct illustration of the effect of railroads in enlarging the circle
of business of cities, as follows:—
The city of New York is now accessible from every part of New England (with the
exception of the eastern part of Maine) and the State of New York, by one day’s
journey on railroads. A traveler may leave Waterville, Me., which is 480 miles dis­
tant from New York; Montreal, Canada, which is 400; and Dunkirk and Buffalo,
which are about 470, in the morning, and reach this city the same evening by con­
tinuous lines of railroad, at an average charge of two cents per mile. Light articles
of freight, newspapers, etc., are forwarded to, and received from the same points with
equal dispatch; so that the six millions of people residing within the States named,
are within one day’s time of this city. And in the evening, the most remote parts of
it are, in the ordinary course of the mail, put into possession of our morning news;
and, on the other hand, our shops and the stands in our markets display the delicacies
and dainties which the morning light shone upon some 400 miles distant. The whole
country within this distance, by means of railroads, is made the market garden of the
city, and every inhabitant is brought into as intimate relation to it, as was the person
who lived within 30 miles a few years since. A trip of a day is now sufficient to
bring nearly every inhabitant of New York and New England to this city, and who
may, if they choose, return home the next.
These facts will serve to show the influence that railroads are exerting, in the fa­
cilities they give in the movement of persons and property. To a city they increase
the area of country tributary to it in a much a greater ratio than the length of their
lines. To give a clearer idea, we will briefly illustrate this proposition. We will as­
sume that the speed of the ordinary loaded team on common roads is 2^- miles per
hour, for 12 hours, which will give 80 miles as the extent of a day’s travel, and 60
miles as the diameter of the circle from which a city without railroads could draw its
daily supplies of food, etc. This would give an area of country of not far from 2,700
square miles.
The freight train on a railroad moves at an average rate of 12 miles an hour, or
288 miles in 24 hours. The circle within daily reach of a city by freight trains on
railroads would be 576 miles, embracing an area of 124,416 square miles, or more
than 46 times greater than the circle within reach of the same point by the ordinary
wagon ! By the use of railroads, therefore, a city increases its capacity for business,
as well as its supplies of food, and all the articles used in the economy of life, 4,600
per cent!
It will be found upon calculation that the difference in cost of the two modes of
carriage supposed, is in about the same ratio as the above distances.
The above statements are a most striking, as w’ell as correct illustration, of the
value of railroads, and demonstrate most clearly their importance in increasing the
business of commercial, or trading points, and proves how necessary they are to farm­
ing communities, in creating a value for their products, in opening a market for them.
They explain the rapid growth of cities, that are the termini of a large number of
railroads, and the rapid appreciation in the value of the country they traverse. With
an ordinary road, a farmer living sixty miles from a city may be without a market for
many of his most important articles of produce from the cost of transportation, while
another living upon a railroad but 400 miles from the same point, finds a ready sale
for all he can raise at remunerating rates.




Engines.

Placed on road.

July 9, 1850
Dec. 22, 1850
Sep. 23, 1849
Sep. 10, 1850
Jan. 22, 1S50
July 22, 1850
Sep. 5, 1850
Sep. 18, 1850
Dec. 9, 1850
Oct. 16, 1849
*
Oct. 7, 1850
Oct. 16, 1850
Oct. 16, 1849
Nov. 16, 1849
Oct. 16, 1849
Oct. 16, 1849
Jan. 22,1850
Nov. 2, 1849
Sep. 1, 1849
Oct. 16, 1849
Oct. 29, 1850
Nov. 25, 1850
Oct. 16, 1849
Sep. 7, 1850

4
4
2
8
4
4
4
4
4
2
4
4
4
4
4
4
2
4
2
4
o
2
4
4
6
8

4
5
6
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
6
4
6
4
4
5
3
3

6
0
0
6
6
6
6
6
6
0
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
0
0
6
0
6
6
0
6
7

Total
miles
run.

37,083
41,878
4,206
15,874
23,824
25,039
19,687
33,484
2?,901
11,434
7,722
6,913
17,091
17,958
13,247
22,671
1,788
2,038
8,760
27,332
13,200
10,544
28,450
35,820
7,678
15,963

Cost o f
repairs.

8742 20.9
582 17.7
270 69.9
440 83.9
845 34.1
449 11.9
661 89.7
637 02.5
347 45.4
369 98.4
139 71.5
161 08.5
217 07.8
580 10.7
341 55.0
1,008 81.6
342 30.2
2,145 32.2
440 72.5
988 55.8
255 53.3
350 10.2
310 77.8
498 37.3
446 43.7
588 07.0

Cost per 100 miles run, o f
Tallow,
oil, and
Repairs, waste.
Fuel.

82 00
1 39
6 43
2 77+
3 54+
1 79+
3 36+
1 90+
1 24+
3 23+
1 81
2 33
1 27
3 23
2 57f
4 45
1 91 +
105 26+
5 03
3 61+
1 93+
3 32
1 09+
1 39
5 81+
3 58+

$0 66+
0 51
1 01+
1 44
1 08+
1 59
1 10+
0 864
0 56+
1 29+
0 69
0 71
1 15+
1 07+
1 30
1 11+
1 75+
0 90+
0 58+
0 90
0 68
0 58+
0 56+
0 58
1 12+
1 50

87 29
6 65
7 33+
12 94
7 72+
7 50+
10 98
9 22+
9 81
6 63+
7 22
7 15+
13 16+
11 64+
8 92
9 08
2 93
0 00
9 09+
7 77+
6 87+
9 25+
10 45+
6 60+
9 20+
13 85

Average cost of repairs per 100 miles run on Pennsylvania Railroad........
Average cost of repairs per 100 miles run on Baltimore and Ohio Railroad..
* Formerly the Porter—Rebuilt this year, 1851.




Total ex­
penses per
100 miles
run.

Repairs
Expense
per ton on per ton on
drivers
drivers
per 100
per 100
miles run. miles run.

Weight.

$9 95+
8 55
14 78
17 15+
12 35+
10 88
15 44
11 99
11 62+
11 16+
9 72
10 19+
15 59
15 95+
12 79+
14 64+
6 60
0 00
14 71
12 29+
9 49
13 16+
12 11+
8 57+
16 14
19 03+

80
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

45,275 25,825
38,675 22,875
48,150 21,000
43,350 43,350
40,825 25,320
45,275 25,825
44,800 25,400
44,800 25,400
44,800 25,400
23,350 14,600
44,800 25,400
44,800 25,400
44,800 25,400
44,800 25,400
30,650 16,750
45,275 25,825
23,900 12,000
........
48,750 21,000
45,275 25,825
47,800 21,000
24,225 12,000
44,800 25,400
36,675 22,875
34,675 34,675
50,975 50,975

15+
12
61+
12+
28
14
26+
15
09+
44+
14+
18+
10
25+
30+
34+
32
00
48
28
18+
55+
08+
12
33+
14+

80 77
0 76
1 40+
0 79
0 97+
0 84+
1 21+
0 94+
0 91+
1 53
0 76+
0 80+
1 22+
1 25+
1 52+
1 13+
1 10
0 00
1 40
0 95
0 90+
2 19+
0 95+
0 75
0 93
0 74+

|2 92
6 73

Engines marked (a) were built by M. W . Baldwin, the remainder by Norris & Brother.

Weight
on
drivers.

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Allegheny.#...
Armstrong.#..
Blair.#...........
Beaver.a........
Cambria.........
Clarion.#........
Clinton.#........
Columbia.#...
Center.a.........
Clay..............
Clearfield.a...
Crawford.#...
Erie.a.............
Elk.a..............
Franklin.#. . . .
Huntingdon.#.
Harrisburg.a..
Heisley*.......
Indiana.# . . . .
Juniata.#.......
Mifflin.#........
Penrose.# . . . .
Venango.# . . .
Wyoming.a...
Washington.#.
W estmorel’d.a.

Size of
No. of drivers,
drivers. ft. in.

250

STATISTICS OF LOCOMOTIVES OK THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD.

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics .

251

TOLLS ON JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL.
T A R I F F O F T O L L S P E R TON O F

2 ,0 0 0

A N D K A N A W H A C A N A L, A D O P T E D

LBS. P E R
THE

6TH

M IL E , TO
DAY

BE

C H A R G E D ON T H E JA M E S R I V E R

O F F E B R U A R Y , 1 8 5 2 , TO GO IN T O O P E R A ­

T IO N ON T H E F IR S T D A Y O F M A R C H , 1 8 5 2 .
A R T IC L E S A T 4 CENTS P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Anvils, ale, beer, bellows, books, burr-blocks, butter candles, carpenters’ work, car­
riages, crackers, cheese, Chinaware, confectionary, copper, copperas, cordage, cotton,
cotton yarn and cotton bagging, cutlery, drugs, dry goods, dyestuffs, eggs, fancy arti­
cles, furniture, (household,) furs and peltry, fruits, foreign articles not otherwise desig­
nated, glass and glassware, hair, (curled,) hardware, hats, caps, (fee., hides and skins ,
(dry,) honey, hops and herbs, joiners’ work, leather, lemons, licorice, liquors, machine­
ry, mechanics’ tools, metals not otherwise designated, millstones, oil of all kinds,
oranges, oysters not in the shell, paints, paper, pink-root, porter, poultry, powder, put­
ty, raisins, rice, saddlery, saltpeter, stationery, seed of all kinds not otherwise desig­
nated, cigars, steam-engines, steel, spices, spirits turpentine, shoes and boots, snuff,
sulphur, tallow, teas, tin and tinware, venison, vices, wrapping paper, woodware, zinc.
A R T IC L E S A T 3 £ CENTS P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Bacon, beef, (salted and fresh,) coffee, groceries not otherwise designated, hempen
yarns, lard mutton, pork, (salted and fresh,) sugar, wool.
A R T IC L E S A T 3 CENTS P E R TO N P E R M IL E .

Beeswax, cider, earthen and queensware, hemp, mahogany, moss, nails and spikes,
soap, tobacco of all kinds, vinegar.
• A R T IC L E S A T 2 £ CENTS P E R TO N P E R M IL E .

Agricultural products not otherwise designated, ashes, (pot and pearl,) apples and
other dried fruits, chalk, feathers, fish, (salted and fresh,) ginseng and other roots, log­
wood, molasses, snake-root.
A R T IC L E S A T 2 CENTS P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Agricultural implements, barley, beans, buckwheat and buckwheat flour, castings,
(iron,) flax and flaxseed, flour, grindstones, hides, (green,) iron, (bar and railroad,) lead,
(bar and pig,) marble, (dressed,) peas, pitch, potters’ and stoneware, rosin, rye, stone,
(dressed,) shot and shells, (cast iron,) shot, (lead,) tar, tobacco, (stems and scraps,) tur­
pentine, wheat.
A R T IC L E S A T 1-| CENTS P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Apples and other green fruits, bark, (ground and unground,) barrels, casks, and
boxes, (empty,) bloom-iron, caps, sills and dressed timber, salt.
A R T IC L E S A T 1 CEN T P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Bran and other mill offal, charcoal, coal tar, coal and coke passing down the canal,
corn and cornmeal, fruit trees and other shrubbery, hay, fodder, shucks, straw, <fcc.,
passing up canal, live-stock, ores, (except iron,) oats, (clean and sheaf,) oysters in shells,
pig-iron, potatoes of all kinds, rags and waste cotton, scrap-iron and old castings,
shingles, vegetables.
A R T IC L E S A T

CENT P E R TO N P E R M IL E .

Cement, clay, earth, and gravel, coal and coke passing up canal, ice, hay, fodder, and
sheaf-oats, coming down canal, lime passing up canal, limestone, marble, (rough,) min­
eral water, posts for fencing, slates for roofing, staves and heading, timber of all kinds,
(undressed,) tiles for roofing.
A R T IC L E S A T J CEN T P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Stone, (rough.)
A R T IC L E A T 1 - 5 T H CEN T P E R TON P E R M IL E .

Bricks, iron-ore, lime passing down canal, oyster-shells.
A R T IC L E S P A Y IN G 1 2 | CENTS P E R TON F O R A L L D ISTA N C E S.

Coke and coal for burning lime for improvement of the soil, wood for fuel, manures
of all kinds and articles used as manure, rails for fencing.




252

Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Hoop-poles and laths, 25 cents per ton for all distances.
Paving-stone and sand, 5 cents per ton for all distances.
Corn and cornmeal, from Foushee’s Mills to Richmond, 1 cent per bushel.
Pig iron transported from Richmond upwards to any point short of Maiden’s Ad­
venture, for the purpose of being manufactured into nails and other manufactured ar­
ticles, 25 cents per ton of 2,000 lbs. per mile, instead of that now charged under the
tariff of the Old James River Canal.
All articles transported only on the lower level of the canal, will be charged with
one-half the tolls charged on the Old Canal, except in cases provided for by special
resolutions of the Board of Directors.
No rough stone transported on the canal to pay for a less distance than 20 miles.
On all articles, except coal, mill offal, manures of all kinds, and articles used as
manure, hoop-poles and laths, rails for fencing, lime for the improvement of the soil,
paving-stone, sand, and wood for fuel, transported on any portion of the enlarged Old
Canal, (between Richmond and Maiden’s Adventure,) the tolls shall be equal at least
to those charged on the Old Canal.
T O L L S ON P A S S E N G E R S .

On white persons, 12 years old and upwards, 1 cent per mile.
On white persons, between 12 and 5 years old, -J cent per mile.
On colored persons, 5 years old and upwards, | cent per mile.
Toll on passengers, two mills per mile in favor of any boat that carries passengers,
at a rate not exceeding £3 50 per passenger, exclusive of meals, from Richmond to
Lynchburg, and vice versa, and in that proportion for the wray travel along the line of
the canal. The former discrimination shall be made for children and servants. Tolls
on passengers on all other boats than packet-boats shall be the same as shall be ex­
acted from the latter for each passenger.
BOSTON AND WORCESTER RAILROAD,
The Boston and Worcester Railroad Company was incorporated in 1831, and the
road opened July 4th, 1835. Its length (from Boston to Worcester, is 45 miles,) in­
cluding branches is 69 miles. The present fare is $1 15. It has a double track be­
tween Boston and Worcester. The cost of the road Jan. 1, 1852, was §4,862,700.
The following table has been compiled by G eorgf A. F oxcroft, Esq.; it exhibits the
operations of the road during the last ten years, its cost, and the market price of the
stock at the beginning of each year. The item of “ interest” is deducted from the
receipts and expenses:—
Year.
1842............
1843............
1S44............
1845............
1846............
1847............
1848............
1S49............
1850............
1851............

Cost.

Value of
stock.

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

2,836,200
2,914,100

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

3,485,200
4,113,600

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

4,908,300
4,882,600

107
114
120
116
112
115
106
93
102

Gross
receipts.
M
U
“
ft

«(
ft
it
ft

<f

8413
487,455
554,712
722,170
716,284
703,361
757,947
743,923

Net
expenses. income. Dividends.
$168,510 $180,697 7 per cent.
tt
206,641 176,726 6
ct
233,264 193,139 n
tt
249,729 237,726 8
tt
283,876 270,836 8
ft
381,986 340,1S4 10
ft
381,917 334,367 8 i
(f
405,551 297,810 6
ft
377,041 380,906 6 i
ft
392,687 350,000 7

5,844,839 3,085,212 2,702,627 7 9-20 avg.
RAILROADS IN CALIFORNIA.
The Alta California predicts, at no distant day, the whizzing of locomotives, as
they are rushing with lightning speed over the plains of California, and expresses at
the same time the hope that she may be the first to claim the honor of constructing
a railroad of any note on the coast of the Pacific. Of the railroad character of the
State, the Alta California remarks:—
“ It is a mistaken idea, which has been entertained by some, that the character of




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

253

our State, its lofty hills and deep valleys, -will prevent it being ever a railroad coun­
try. Although it would be a difficult task to run a train of cars along the coast range
of mountains, or pierce the fastnesses of the Sierra Nevada, yet from the great cen­
tral points of our State to nearly all the prominent towns in the mining region, the
character of the country is such as to afford the greatest facility for the laying of
rails. The great valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, capable of supporting,
from their agricultural products, a vastly greater population than now inhabit the
whole State, and on whose sides are scattered the riches which have made California
the cynosure upon which the world's eyes are gazing, are broad and level, and in
every way adapted for railroads. That the northern portion of our State is to be the
thickly settled portion, there can be scarcely a doubt; and as it fills up with perma­
nent settlers, the descendants of the Anglo Saxon race, greater facilities for travel
than at present exist, must be afforded, and if obstacles are found in the way they
will be removed. But what is to prevent the construction of a railroad track from
Sacramento City, to the great mining regions of the Yuba, the Middle and North
Forks of the American, and the various settlements in the immediate vicinity of
these rivers ? Or from Stockton to the Mokeiumne, Stanislaus, and the mining settle­
ments south of them? Or from San Francisco and Monterey to both? True, at
present the price of labor is an obstacle, but this will settle down, ere long, to a proper
standard. We have, in our own borders, extensive quarries of stone, and noble oaks,
and lofty pines, which could be used in construction; and there is little doubt that, ere
long, discoveries of coal will be made, as hundreds, if not thousands, throughout our
State, are searching in every nook and corner for the riches of the earth iu some form.’,

JO URNAL

OF

M IN IN G

AND

M ANUFACTURES.

AFRICAN ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.
The Christian Statesman, furnishes an interesting statement of African Arts and
Manufactures, as follows :—
Travelers in Africa all coincide in one important particular, namely, that the
natives of that continent exhibit a remarkable degree of genius, and display in their
numerous manufactured articles such a knowledge of mechanics as to agreeably sur­
prise all who have heard of or been privileged to behold their handiwork.
Iron ore of superior quality is found in immense quantities, and from it are made,
by the untaught natives, ornamental and useful articles, such as spears, arrows, rings,
chains, hoes, bracelets, Ac. A small but regular amount of this material, made into
a peculiar shape, is called a “ bar,” and appears to be the standard of value by which
their currency is regulated.
They are exceedingly skillful in the tanning and manufacture of leather. Their
amulet cases, spears and dagger-sheaths, whips, bridles, pouches, powder-flasks,
sandals, boots, Ac., are made with remarkable neatness.
In addition to these may be named their war-horns made from the tusks of ele­
phants and other animals; their musical instruments—the strings of the “ banjo"’
being formed from the fibres of trees. Their bags for carrying materials, and baskets
of all sizes and descriptions, are wrought with great symmetry and beauty from seagrass, and the leaves of their innumerable and useful trees, plants, Ac. The palm
tree, says a traveler, “ is applied by them to three hundred and sixty-five uses.
Huts are thatched with palm leaves ; its fibers are used for fishing tackle, ropes, sieves,
twine, Ac.; a rough cloth is made from the inner bark; the fruit is roasted, and is ex­
cellent ; the oil serves for butter ; and the wdne is a favorite drink.”
In some portions of Africa, they are exceedingly skillful in making canoes. These
are dug out of trees, and are amazingly large. Some are capable of carrying from
fifty to one hundred and fifty persons, besides ten or twelve hands to pull. Mats in
abundance, of all kinds, sizes, and qualities, are manufactured, chiefly by the women.
These mats are used for many purposes—to sleep on, partition off rooms, for bedcurtains, bags, carpets, Ac.; the fine ones make nice table covers, and are used for
clothing. They look as if they were woven—are sometimes eight feet wide, and
fifteen or twenty feet long.
Clothes are made in abundance ; they are spun (without any wheel) from the na­
tive cotton, and woven in a strip from five to ten inches wide, then cut to the length
they want the cloth, and sewed together. Various figures are made in weaving. The




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

254

colors handsome and permanent. Pottery made of clay is very common,, and stands
the fire as well as any other ; the vessels are of all sizes, from a quart to twenty
gallons. Hats, similar to the American palm-leaf summer hats, are made in various
styles, and are much superior to the American article—more durable and fine.
In making clothes, the Mandingoes are very expert to cut and sew shirts and other
kinds of garments, and in making their caps and robes.
Wooden spoons of a neat, fine quality, are also produced ; and bowls, fine and su
perior, from a pint to a half-barrel, neat and cheap. Wooden fish-hooks are made,
and much used ; large fish-baskets, also, for catching fish. Many of their gree-grees
display much skill in their manufacture. Soap, good and cheap, is abundant. Jugs,
bottles, bowls, are made, (earthen,) and a multitude of other little things we cannot
now mention, very ingenious and skillful.
•
The native African, it is to be understood, is naturally indolent; and although the
various articles of labor here mentioned would perhaps convey the impression that
they are an industrious people, yet the contrary is the fact.
What a market is here opened for the sale of our manufactures ? Who can rightly
calculate the amount of employment it would afford the operatives and workmen of
our land to clothe her unnumbered millions, and the enormous trade that she could
afford us in the luxuries, and what we consider the necessities, of life, from her pro­
lific tropical soil ?
Well might the poet, speaking of Africa, exclaim :
“ Regions immense, unsearchable, unknown,
Bask in the splendors of the solar zone ;
A world o f wonders—where creation seems
No more the work of Nature, but her dreams.”

THE EARLY MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN PENNSYLVANIA.
S amuel H azard, Esq., now in the employment of the government of Pennsylvania,

in collecting materials from the colonial records for official publication, furnishes some
interesting statistics of Iron from 1 7 4 9 to 1 7 5 6 , which we here subjoin:—
A N ACCOUN T O F IR O N
V A N IA , F R O M

RETURN ED TO TH E
B Y THE

M ADE AT THE

C H R IS T M A S , 1 7 4 9 ,

SEVERAL

TO T H E

FORGES

5TH

IN

THE

P R O V IN C E

OF JA N U A R Y, 1 7 5 6 ;

H O N . W M . D E N N Y , E SQ ., L IE U T E N A N T -G O V E R N O R

R E S P E C T IV E

OW N ERS OF THE

S A ID

P IN E

OF PE N N SY L­

A S TH E SAM E W A S
OF

T H IS P R O V IN C E ,

FORGES.

FORGE.
T o n s . Cwt. Q r s . L b s . Tons. Cwt. Qrs. Lbs.
103
5
0
0
0
0
122
0
109
3
0 16
4
1 18
112
161
5
0
0
135 10
0
0
3 15
0
0
2
6
747 12
—
—
—
—

From Christmas, 1749, to 25th Dec., 1750.
«
25th Dec. 1750
“
1751.
«(
“
1751
“
1752.
u
“
1752
“
1753.
«
“
1753
“
1764.
«(
“
1754
“
1765.
u
“
1755 to 5th Jan,, 1756.

POOL FO RG E.

73 10
1 2
0 17
77 17
72 11
1 13
2
89
5
3
—
—
— —

From 25th Dec., 1749 to 25th Dec., 1750.
U
“
1750
“
1761.
U
“
1752
“
1752.
M
“
1752
“
1753.
GLASGOW

POTTSGROVE




4

o

6

595

7

0

0

15

0

0

FORGE.

From 19th Sept., 1760, to 9th N o v . , 1751.
U
9th Nov., 1751, to 16th Dec., 1752.
it
16th Dec., 1752,to 16th Dec., 1753.
U 16th Dec., 1753, to 21st Dec., 1754.
“ 21st Dec., 1754, to 21st Dec., 1755. .
(> 21st Dec., 1755, to 5th Jan., 1756.

From 25th Dec., 1755, to 25th Dec., 1756.

313

108 15
0
0
106
8
0
0
5
119
0
0
115 11
0
0
0
0
137 12
0.
0
7 16
—
— — —
FORGE.

64

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

255

COVENTRY FORGE.

From 25th Dec., 1*749, to 25tli Dec.,
“
“
1*750
“
“
“
1751
“
“
“
1752
“
“
“
1753
“
“
“
1754
“
“
“
1755
“

1*750.
1751..
1752..
1753..
1754.
1755.
1756.

Tons. Cwt. QrB. Lbs.
1 14
8
45
0 21
5
47
1
7
48
3
2
1 19
50
9
2
51
5
2
3 7
52
2
8
45
1

Tons. Cwt.

Qrs. Lbs.

339

9

1

1

495

14

3

6

430

3

1 21

342

1

1

0

3,378

13

3

11

WINDSOR FORGE.

From 25th Dec., 1749, to 31st Dec., 1750.
“
31st
1750
“
1751.
“
“
1751
“
1752.
“
“
1752
“
1753.
“
“
1753
“
1754.
“
“
1754
“
1755.
“
“
1755 to 5th Jan., 1756.

0
90
77 17
97 11
48 16
99 18
78
8
2
3

2
1
2

7
23
5
6
1
1 13
7
2
0
0

H ELM STEAD FO R G E .

From 25th Dec., 1749, to 25th Dec., 1750.
U
ii
1750
“
1751..
it
U
“
1752..
1751
((
((
1752
“
1753..
(f
t.
“
1754..
1753
M
((
1754
“
1755..
«(
«(
“
1756..
1755
•

U N IO N F O R G E —

Made in the year 1751. ........................
From 25th Dec. 1751, to 25th Dec., 1752.
«
u
1752
“
1753.
<t
u
“
1754.
1753
«
u
1754
“
1755.
u
tc
“
1756.
1755

59
5
46 16
89
5
51
0
101
1
69
5
9
63

1
2
2
1
0
0
0

7
26
0
27
9
16
21

-(Built 1750.)
45
54
53
46
60
81

7
10
16
16
5
10

Total

2
3
3
2
1
2

0
0
0
0
0
0

STRENGTH OF IRON.
For railway service, especially for railway axles and other material portions of the
running gear, it is very essential that great strength should be obtained. The Lowmoor Iron deservedly stands high in the estimation of our railway managers. The follow­
ing result of an experiment on coupling chains lately made at Manchester, in England,
by the London and North-Western Railway company, will be interesting to the con­
sumers of iron:—
Best Staffordshire Iron—first experiment—diameter of chain 11-8 inch ; stretched
3 3-4 inches; broke with 27 tons, 10 cwt.
Best Staffordshire Iron—second experiment—diameter of chain 1 1-8 inch; stretched
4 1-8 inches ; broke with 25 tons, 0 cwt.
Lowmoor Iron—diameter of chain 1 1-8 inch ; stretched 7 inches; broke with
55 tons, 16 cwt.
The Staffordshire Iron was made expressly for the trial, and when great strength
is desired, it is proper so to state, as there is a wide difference in the preparation of
the different qualities. The New York Herald contains an account of several highly
interesting experiments which have recently been made, wTith a view of testing the
strength of iron manufactured from the Franklinite ore of New Jersey. The follow­
ing table exhibits the strength of this iron, compared -with the best manufactures of
other countries:—




256

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

O M P A R A T IY E S T R E N G T H

O F A M E R IC A N , E N G L IS H , A N D S W E D IS H IR O N — T R E D G O L D S TE S T.

Best Swedish bar iron............................................................................ lb.
Inferior Swedish bar iron...........................................................................
Best English bar iron............. ...................................................................
Inferior English bar iron............................................................................
American manufactured from N. J. Franklinite bar iron..........................

72,804
53,224
61,660
55,000
77,000

This test shows that the iron manufactured from Franklinite, is the strongest article
of the kind now known; and it must command a ready sale, at high prices, for chaincables, railway axles, and all other purposes where great strength is required. The
question with manufacturers is quality, and the price of little consequence in compari­
son. In a trial in casting water pipes, by mixing a portion of Franklinite with bog ores,
it was found that in attempting to break the castings, the sledge hammer made quite,
an indentation in the castings before it broke, showing some malleability in cast iron,
a very important desideratum. Iron manufactured of Franklinite, drawn down from
a bar about one inch square, and accurately gauged, required a weight equal to
77,000 lbs. per square iuch, to tear it asunder. This shows it to be nearly fifteen
per cent better than any other iron known to Commerce.
The annexed assay on a bar of iron made from Franklinite, sent to the national
forges of the government of France, from the mines in New Jersey, is the best evi­
dence of its importance and immense value:—
V A L U A T IO N

OF

R E P U B L IQ IT E F R A N C A I S E , A D M IN I S T R A T IO N D E

F R A N K L IN IT E
LA

IR O N .

M A R IN E , F O R G E R N A T IO N A L E S D E

L A C IIA U S A D E .

The bar obtained by direct treatment of the ore in the Catalan forge, is 25 milli­
metres by 24.5 millimetres, and presents a section in square millimetres of 612, m. 50.
Kilograms.

Charge under which bar began to stretch....................................
Elastic force per millimetre.........................................................
Charge under which the bar broke..............................................
Absolute tenacity per millimetre................................................
Elongation of the bar at the moment of fracture, per millimetre.

15,000
24
25,000
40

M.

5
•
8
3

Aspect of the fracture, all nerves ; the bar was imperfectly welded and contained
fissures which diminished the real surface exposed to fraction, in consequence of the
absolute tenacity. Had the bar been sound, would have been greater than here ap­
pears—at the moment nf fracture but little heat was disengaged.
The tensions of the hydraulic press of the national forges are given by means of
an excellent apparatus, which indicates the results with the greatest precision. An
immense number of experiments have been made writh this press, not only upon all
the irons of France, but upon the very best irons of England, Sweden, Spain, and
Siberia. Never until the present assay has any bar been tried the absolute tenacity
of which surpassed forty kilograms per millimetre.
(Signed,)
T h. B o r n e t ,
Chef des Travaux aux forges Nationales de la Chaussade.

This ore is found in inexhaustible quantities in Sussex county, New Jersey, and
nowhere else in the world. As interesting and as conclusive as these experiments ap­
pear, we learn that, in the course of a few days, developments will be made that
will, without doubt, astonish the iron manufacturers of every country. It is undoubtedly
true that cheaper and poorer qualities of iron can be manufactured abroad, imported
into this country, and sold at prices below wdiatour manufacturers can afford; but for
all purposes where a superior article is required, iron manufactured from the Frank­
linite must monopolize the demand. It has been asserted that the numerous accidents
to the machinery of our ocean steamships were in consequence of the poor quality of
the iron used. If that is the only cause, it is now in a fair way of being removed.
As soon as arrangements have been perfected for manufacturing iron from the Frank­
linite ore, we shall have the best article in the world, at prices comparatively moder­
ate. Millions upon millions of dollars have been paid annually for importations of
iron for our railways, and for afl other purposes, while we have had, within a few
miles of this city, the most valuable and extensive mines of a most superior ore untouched,
and, until within a few years, unknown. The time has, however, arrived for the most
rapid development of the mineral wealth of this country. Capital is cheap and abun­
dant, and it cannot be more profitably employed than in thoroughly working the nu­
merous valuable mines which are known to contain inexhaustible quantities of the
richest ores. Great Britain has become the wealthiest and most powerful commercial




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures .

257

country iu the world, directly through the products of her mines, and there is no rea­
son why we should not immeasurably eclipse her through the same agency. Of all
minerals, iron ore is the most valuable for all practical purposes. Gold is nothing com­
pared with it. Before the lapse of many years the mining interest of the United
States will, without doubt, be greater than any other, aud those who are the pioneers
in the movement will reap the richest harvest.
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY DURING THE LAST AND PRESENT CENTURIES.
[From a Lecture delivered at the Manchester Mechanics’ Institution, England, by W . Fairbairn, Egq.]
If we take— I will not say a statistical—but a cursory view of the recent position
of Manchester and the surrounding districts, and compare it with what it was at the
close of the last and the commencement of the present century, we shall find that at
that period the useful and industrial arts were comparatively of little importance.
We shall also find that the gems of a new and, above all others, an important branch
of manufacturing industry were springing into existence. I have no returns of the
state of our manufacturing industry at that period, but the writings of one of our
earliest aud most intelligent spinners, to whom this country is indebted for many im­
provements in machinery—Mr. John Kennedy—informs us that the spinning of cotton
yarn antecedent to the year 1798 was of an exceedingly limited description. That
gentleman, iu his account of the rise aud progress of the cotton trade, states that the
hand-loom, as a machine, remained stationary for a great number of years, without
any attempt at improvements until 1750, when Mr. John Kay, of Bolton, first intro­
duced the fly-shuttle, and that the spinning of cotton yarn from that period and for
many years previous, was almost entirely performed by the family of the manufac­
turer, at his own house. This united and simple procefts went on till it was found ne­
cessary to divide their labors, and to separate the weaving from the spinning, and that
again, from the carding and other preparatory processes. This division of labor, as
Mr. Kennedy truly says, led to improvements in the carding and spinning “ by first in­
troducing simple improvements in the hand instruments with which they performed
these operations, till at length,they arrived at a machine which, though rude and ill-con­
structed, enabled them considerably to increase their produce.” Thus it was that im­
provements and the division of labor first led to the factory system, and that splendid
and extensive process which at the present moment, and for many years to come, will
affect the destinies of nations. From 1750 to 1770, when Mr. Hargreaves, of Blackburn,
first introduced his spinning jenny (by means of which a young person could work
from ten to twenty spindles instead of one,) there was little or no change; but a very
material alteration took place shortly after the introduction of these improvements,
which were immediately followed by Mr. Arkwright’s machinery for carding and roving.
These, accompanied by the introduction of Mr. Crompton’s mule, in 1780, may be
justly considered to constitute the origin of the factory system, which has now grown
to such colossal dimensions, as to render it one of the most important and most exten­
sive systems of manufacture ever known in the history of ancient or modern times.
“ Mr. Arkwright built his first mill at Cromford, in Derbyshire—(again quote from Mr.
Kennedy)—iu 1771. It was driven by water; but it was not till 1790, or some time
after, when the steam-engine of Watt came into use, that the cotton trade advanced
at such an accelerated speed as to render its increase and present magnitude almost
beyond conception. This immense extension is not only a subject of deep interest to
the philosopher and statesman, but one which is likely to furnish a large field of obser­
vation for the future historian of his country. I will not trouble you with the statis­
tics of the cotton trade, as it now exists, but simply observe—as many of you are
doubtless better informed on this subject than myself—that I am within the mark
when I state that not less than 31,500 bales of cotton are consumed weekly in the two
kingdoms, England and Scotland; that nearly 21,000,000 spindles are almost con­
stantly in motion, spinning upwards of 105,000,000 hanks, or 50,000,000 miles of ya n
per day—in length sufficient to circumscribe the globe 2,000 times. Out of this im­
mense production, about 131,000,000 yards of yarn are exported; the remainder is
converted into cloth, lace, and other textile fabrics. This marvelous increase, this im­
mense extent of production, could not be effected without considerable changes in the
prospects of the moral, as wrell as the physical, condition of society. It has entirely
changed the position of the resident population of the district, and the secluded valleys,
farm-houses, and neat cottages—the beauties of Lancashire landscape of the last gen­
eration—are rapidly giving way to the conversion of villages into populous towns,
VOL. X X V II.— NO. II.
17




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with innumerable erections, which resound with the busy hum of the spindle and the
shuttle. Along with these changes we see a new generation springing into existence,
factories, steam-engines, and tall chimneys rising in every direction, and the noise and
smoke which meet the eye and the ear of the stranger at every step, give evidence o f
the activity and prosperity of the industrious hive, which at some future time in Eng­
lish history will announce to succeeding generations the inventions and discoveries of
the nineteenth century.
In this attempt to place before you a short account of the use and progress of our
national industry, I must not forget that yarn, however finely and dexterously spun,
is not cloth ; and here we enter upon another and equally ingenious process The yarn
must be woven before it is fit for use; and we shall find weaving one of the most in­
teresting as well as elaborate operations of the useful arts. I need not inform you the
ancient Hindoos, Egyptians, and probably the early Chinese, converted their yarn into
cloth. The Indian and Oriental department of the Great Exhibition exhibited the
mode and primitive character of their looms and other implements, which have been
handed down from generation to generation from the earliest periods, without
change or improvement, till the present day. Looms of this rude construction
were introduced into Europe during the first glimpses of civilization, and for many
centuries even the most advanced nations were content to use the same instruments,
almost without improvement, until the introduction of the flying shuttle, and the sub­
sequent invention of Hall and Arkwright opened a new and untrodden field for im
provements in every department of art and manufacture. Power-looms at that period
were unknown, and although attempts were made by Mr. Cartwright, as early as 1774,
to convert the hand-loom into a machine to be moved by power, it was not until the
beginning of the present century that the power-loom assumed its present form, and
presented that intelligence of structure which rendered it self-acting, and enabled it
to compete with the hand-loom weaver. From that time (about 1810 or 1812,) we
may date the commencement of that increase to which that important branch of our
manufacture was extended. The improvements introduced by Mr. Bennett Woodcroft
and others, for weaving twills and similar fabrics, created new expedients and appli­
cations, and greatly increased the demand for this description of manufactures;
whilst the inventions of Jacquard for weaving figured cloth, startled every one with
their extreme ingenuity and beauty, and accomplished the perfection of machinery
for the production of textile fabrics. The increase and extent of cloth manufactured
from power-looms may be estimated from official returns kindly furnished me by Mr.
Leonard Horner. There are now at work in the United Kingdom above 250,000
power-looms. Now, as each loom will, upon the average, produce from five to six
pieces of cloth per week, each 28 yards long, say 25 yards a day per loom, we
have 250,000, which, multiplied by 25, gives 6,250,000 yards or 3,551 English miles
of cloth per day; the distance between Liverpool and New York. Only think of the
importance and extent of a manufacture that employs upwards of 12,000 hands in
weaving alone, supplying from that source (the power-loom) an annual produce of
cloth that would extend over a surface, in a direct line, of upwards of 1,000,000
miles.
But although much has been done, much has yet to be accomplished before the
supply equals the demand. It must appear obvious to those who have studied and
watched the unwearied invention and continued advancement which have signalized
the exertions of our engineering and mechanical industry. But neither difficulties nor
dangers, however formidable, can stand against the indomitable spirit, skill, or per­
severance of the English Engineer; nor will it be denied that the ingenuity and neverfailing resources of our mechanical population are not only the sinews of our manufac­
ture, railways, and steamboats, but the pride and glory of our own country. It is for
this important class that I have ventured to address you, and I trust that the time is
not far distant when we shall witness establishments suitable for their education;
such as will teach them to reason and to think, and to impart that knowledge essen­
tial to a more correct acquaintance with physical truth, and a clearer conception of the
varied manipulation of those arts in which consist the true interests of the country.
THE LEAD MINES OF ARKANSAS,
To F r e e m a n H u nt , Esq., Editor o f the Merchants' Magazine, etc.: —
The object of the present paper is to give an account of the argentiferous lead mines
of Arkansas, and the reasons for believing them to be worthy of attention. These




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259

have excited considerable attention for several years past; and various, and somewhat
contradictory statements and reports, have been made, from time to time, concerning
them. The consequence is, that the public mind has become quit* skeptical as to their
character for productiveness, if not of their very existence.
The writer has spent much time in investigating them, and watching their
developments, as far as it has proceeded, during the past two years; and in comparing
them with other mines of a similar character elsewhere, which have been longer
worked, and whose character for productiveness has been established beyond a doubt,
the result is a thorough conviction that they do not fall behind those of any other
part of our country in any of the essential characteristics which indicate an abundance
of mineral.
When any tract of country is first discovered to contain mineral, it is always the
first inquiry, both of practical miners and scientific men, what is the mode of its ex­
istence,—that is, whether it exists in regularly formed veins or lodes, or in disconnected,
isolated patches.
As soon as it is ascertained that there is a regular system of veins or lodes,
especially if they run nearly east and west, no one, who is either practically or scien­
tifically acquainted with mining, has any doubt of their capacity for productiveness,
whenever they are judiciously and energetically worked. There is a correspondence
running throughout all the works of nature, that when certain characteristics are
found, others are sure to follow, as day and night, seed-time and harvest. The farmer,
in judging of the capabilities of a certain soil, does not ask to see a crop growing
upon it before lie will believe it capable of producing one. When he sees what he
knows to be the essential characteristics of a good soil, he knows, without further
evidence, that if he uses the proper degree of industry, with a genial season, the labor
of his hands is sure to be rewarded.
The Creator has made the world for man—its mineral as well as its agricultural re­
sources ; and He has not placed the indications of mineral wealth before us to mock
our curiosity, or to entice us into ruinous enterprises, but as guides or indexes to point
us to the places of their deposit.
The principal difficulties that have hitherto attended mining operations in our
country, have been from the want of sufficient capital, and of that steady and patient
perseverance which is requisite, in every kind of business, to insure success. There
are few examples in our country, as yet, where men have engaged in mining with the
persevering energy that we witness in every other pursuit. They are too much, or too
little excited—too hot, or too cold ; they have the most extravagant expectations of
immediate wealth, or else they are totally faithless of any success in mining en­
terprises.
Now, it is not reasonable, nor is it good sense, for one to expect that he is going to
make his fortune in a day at mining, or in a month, or a year. But it is reasonable
and according to the dictates of good sense and sound judgment, to expect that where
the essential characteristics of a good mineral region exist, the patient and persever­
ing prosecution of mining operations, guided by the aids which experience and science
afford, will as certainly be productive of a satisfactory reward, as that of the farmer,
the mechanic, or the manufacturer.
Nor i3 this all. In large operations like mining, which require much capital, as
well as a rare kind of scientific and practical skill, the business is not over-done, like those
pursuits which are within the reach of the generality of mankind; consequently the
profits are usually much greater.
This is proved by the most abundant and reliable documents from all the principal
mining countries on the globe. One of the principal sources of the overgrown wealth
of England has been her mines. Whatever may be said of the fate of their operatives,
their employers have grown rich almost beyond example. Mexico and South America
have filled the world with silver; and yet their ores are, on an average, no richer
than those of Arkansas. The only doubt is as to the quantity. But those who have
seen both the Mexican and Arkansas mines, declare that the surface signs of the latter
are as promising as those of the former, but the Mexicans are down from 1,000 to
1,800 feet, while we are scarcely down 100. The English obtain their lead principally
from 300 to 600 feet deep. They scarcely expect to find more than enough to guide
them in their course for the first 200 feet. The same is true of their copper and tin
mines; the principal part of these ores are obtained from 1,500 to 1,800 feet below
the surface.
Disastrous failures have sometimes occurred in mining, yet what business is there
where they have not ? But when we come to inquire into the causes of them, we




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Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

shall find them to be the same that they are in every other kind of business. Some­
times a failure is owing to the want of a proper knowledge of the business, and some­
times to a lack of energy and skill in its prosecution, or more likely to both of them
combined. Another cause of failure in mining is the incompetency, or the untrust­
worthiness of the Superintendent; but the most common of all, and the one most to
be dreaded, is the practice of gambling. When failures occur in mining, they are
almost always attributable to some one, or all of the above causes, though the im­
pression generally is that they are the result of some inherent difficulty or uncertainty
in the business itself. But the truth is that there is no inherent uncertainty about it;
when it is conducted with skill and energy, and persevering industry, it is certain to
reward the outlay of labor and capital as any other business is. The difficulty, when
there is any, is almost always in the ignorance, or bad management, or wickedness of
the men engaged in it.
B. LAWRENCE, Geologist.
THE IRON TRADE OF ENGLAND.
At a meeting of the Society of Art in London, Mr. Blackwell delivered a lecture on
the Iron Making Resources of the United Kingdom. The following extract of Mr.
Blackwell’s Lecture, which we copy from a late London Journal, will interest a
portion of the readers of the Merchants' Magazine.
In opening his lecture Mr. Blackwell alluded to the Exhibition building itself as
one, the conception and construction of which illustrated in the most striking degree
the extensive iron-making resources of the country.
In glancing at the rise and progress of the iron manufactures of the country, the
course pursued was to divide its history into two epochs, the first extending from the
earliest historical notice existing to the period of the first introduction of fuel as an
article used in smelting; and the second, bringing down its history to the present
time. Many of the more extensive workings now known were, in all probability,
known in the earliest periods ; and it appeared certain that the mineral fields recently
discovered in the county of Northampton were known and worked by the Romans.
The quantity of iron manufactured in this country had proceeded rapidly in extent
since 1740, until in the last year the quantity manufactured was not less than 2,500,000
tons, and the total value of all descriptions of goods was not less than £10,424,000.
The great increase in this branch of industry was mainly to be attributed to the
near proximity of the fuel with the ore, an advantage possessed to so great an extent
by no other country, not even by the United States. The sources of supply were
obtained from the two divisions, the argillaceous and carbonaceous iron-stone, and the
ore was found in part composed of, or combined with, in greater or less proportions,
the oxides of iron, alumina, silica, manganese, magnesia, soda, potash, crystals of nickel
and znee, copper, and lead. Among recent improvements in the manufacture of iron,
the most important were undoubtedly the discovery of the hot blast, and the applica­
tion of the waste gases of the furnaces. Having described the varied localities where
the mineral was found, it was stated that the entire area of the formations in which
iron ore could be found was about 5000 square miles ; but that, notwithstanding the
immense quantities that were annually raised, there appeared to be every reason for
believing that the iron-making coal fields of the country were not even approaching
to exhaustion. Most important and valuable discoveries of extensive deposits had
within the last few years been made in the north of England, at Middlesborough,
which could be worked with the greatest economy ; and also an extensive district in
Northamptonshire, in the immediate neighbourhood of the route of the Northampton
and Peterborough Railway. Ireland contained several extensive deposits of ore, but
at present no iron manufactures were carried on in that country. The results of the
varied improvements in the manufacture, although strongly opposed at first, and the
removal of protective duties upon iron, had effected a most extraordinary reduction
in the price, and one equally extraordinary in its consumption. The Museum of
Practical Geology, recently established, was calculated to produce a vast amount of
good by the diffusion of instruction upon subjects connected with mining and metal­
lurgy. The number of hands employed in all branches of the iron manufacture was
not less than 500,000. They were generally well paid, and, though hitherto com­
pletely neglected, were now rapidly rising to a position of equality with that of any
other portion of the laboring population of the United Kingdom. It is impossible,
said the lecturer, after completing an interesting survey of our iron-making resources,




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261

not to be struck with the vast and almost inexhaustible supplies of iron which we
possess, and with the wonderful fact that the extraordinary demand which railway
and other requirements have produced, should have lead not to an increased price,
but to the constant discovery of new and cheaper sources of supply. In this respect
the iron trade illustrates most strikingly what appears to be a general law—that the
natural resources of the world are invariably developed at the times when the pro­
gress of society most requires them, and when that progress is already such as to enable
us to avail ourselves to the greatest advantage of new discoveries. Thus with the iron
manufacture. At first the stores of fuel which our forests contained, and the iron
ores which cropped out at the surface of the ground were amply sufficient for our
purposes. Then came the knowledge of the power of smelting with coal; and with
this knowledge, the steam-engine placed in our hands the vast stores of mineral fuel
of our coal fields. The modern system of railways next produced a demand for iron
of an unprecedented character ; and simultaneously with this demand occurred the
introduction of the hot blast and the use of the black bands in Scotland. The more
intimate connection of the old and the new world by means of transatlantic steamers
is followed by the discovery of Californian and Australian gold ; giving to the com­
mercial and civilized world at large an activity and a movement such as it has never
before witnessed—causing streams of population to flow in unprecedented numbers
from the older countries of Europe to comparatively new regions, and bidding fair to
make the vast and magnificent countries of Central America and Australia the seats
of great and important empires. And these populations, not isolated as the colonists
of old—not struggling with long periods of poverty and slow growth, but springing
up rapidly into flourishing communities—all take with them into their new homes the
social wants and requirements of the older countries which they have left. Iron
steamers will be required to continue their connection with those countries, and to
carry on the extensive Commerce they will originate ; new lines of railroad will be
necessitated, not from towns to towns, but from state to state, and even from ocean
to ocean. And not only in America are these mighty movements at work, but else­
where also. In India, with its 150,000,000 of population, railroads must be laid
down; the government of that country cannot be held without them; its natural
resources cannot be developed without them; the rapidly extending requirements of
our cotton manufacture will necessitate them ; and every mile of railway that is laid
down will lead to the demand for ever-increasing quantities of iron. And even in our
own country the sanitary measures to which such attention is now being directed,
will require an extremely large and increasing supply of iron, both for an abundant
supply of water to the dense population of our manufacturing districts, and also for
purposes of building, which the rapidly increasing prosperity of our working classes
will no longer permit to be overlooked a9 in the past. If the increase during the last
twenty-five years has been 60 great—from 600,000 tons to 2,500,000—there is every
reason to expect an equal increase during the next twenty-five years, as the general
requirements of society must develop themselves in an equal, if not in an accelerating
ratio. And now, to supply these requirements another great source of iron is disclosed
to us ; to the argillaceous and black band ironstones of our coal fields, and the
hmmatites of our carboniferous limestones, are added the oolitic ores, with the rich
per centage of iron they contain, and the low cost at which they can be raised, and
their exhaustless supplies. Can this constant progression of means— this develop­
ment of one resource after another—as society requires it, be other than a wise and
most beneficent arrangement, which has for its purpose the advancement of society
to an even higher and higher point, and the attainment of that amity among all the
nations of the earth which must ultimately prevail. Nor does it appear a less wise
and beneficent arrangement that these stores of mineral wealth, so needful for the
world’s progress, should exist in climates temperate as our own, which has produced
the strong and vigorous Anglo-Saxon race, to whom work is less a toil than a passion,
and amongst whom there are so many who do not shrink to devote even their entire
lives to the development and extension of some great enterprise. But if to the AngloSaxon race has been given so large a proportion of the mineral riches of the world,
it must not be forgotten that equal to the power thus committed to their care is the
responsibility thereto attached, and they must of necessity be the guiders and the
promoters of the advancing civilization of the present; seeing that the very basis of
that civilization is to be found in the increased and increasing power to adapt to the
requirements of society the great physical resources of the world, and that the
science and the skill of the present day would be comparatively powerless but for the
stores of iron aud coal by which that science and that skill can be rendered available.




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Mercantile Miscellanies .

The steam-engine, the railroad, and the telegraph, the characteristic features of the
present day, are indeed preparing a quiet revolution for the world. Breaking down
class interests, and substituting universal interests in their place, they are fast uniting
in one bond of unity the entire human race, and are leading rapidly, to use the words
of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, “ to the accomplishment of that end to which
indeed all history points, the realization of the unity of mankind.” For ourselves it
should not be sufficient that in the hands of a higher power than our own we are
unconsciously working out the designs of Providence, but we should strive to discern
the coming changes which are arising around us, that thus conscious whereunto our
work is tending, we may be enabled to place ourselves in harmony therewith. That
we have earnest workers amongst us, men working with noble aims, with no party,
or merely national spirit, but in the great cause of humanity itself, the Exhibition of
1851 has clearly shown. May its promoters long be remembered with honor, and
may the important benefits which it already appears to have conferred upon all our
principal trades, be productive of the results for which its promoters so nobly worked.

M E R C A N T IL E

M IS C E L L A N IE S .

COMMERCIAL DIRECTORIES.
One of the first effects of Trade and Commerce upon society is to collect large
numbers of mankind within small districts of country; in other words, it causes largecities, with all their bustle and activity, and crowded streets and dwellings, rapidly to
to spring into existence. The necessity of a guide, or directory, to the place of bust
ness or residence of each individual is thus early felt. The first directory of New
York was published more than fifty years ago. It was a small two-by-three-inch
book, with a paper cover, and contained a few hundred names only. Since that pe­
riod, the population has doubled itself several times, and the New York Directory has
become a volume of several hundred pages, and contains about one hundred thousand
names.
The directory of Messrs. Wilson & Trow* for the city of New York, which has lately
been published, consists of seven hundred and thirty-one pages. It was compiled
during the month of May, or in the twenty-six working days which succeeded May 1st,
and printed and bound. It is in advance of former years by nearly three weeks. But
this unusual enterprise was doubtless greatly stimulated by competition. The fact
that Wilson and Trow were the competitors gave immense impetus to their effortsThe work which is first out, and which is the most accurate, full, and complete, is in­
variably the successful one.
This year both publishers issued their works on or about the same day. But the
work of Wilson & Trow contains twenty-five thousand names more than any former
directory, while the rival directory contains a few thousand less names than some of
the previous directories. It is this fact which has given to the feat of these publish­
ers its eclat.
We have examined some parts of this work with considerable care. The number
of lines of names on each page is 180. If we suppose each line to contain a name,
then this work contains 122,000 names. But each line does not in all cases contain a
name. The aim is to state in each the name of the individual, his place of business,
and his family residence. Of course, in many cases these statements are too long to come
within the compass of a line. There will average on each page from fifteen to thirty
* Wilson & Trow’s New York City Directory, 8vo., pp. 673. Appendix, 8vo., pp. 44. W ilson^
Street and Avenue Directory, 8vo., pp. 14. New Y o rk : John F. Trow.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

263

instances of this kind. If we suppose the number for each page to be twenty, and
deduct accordingly from the volume, it will be found to contain 108,500 names.
The population of the city somewhat exceeds 500,000. This work, therefore, con­
tains about one name out of five of the whole population. Six persons are generally
considered as the average for families at large. In localities it may vary somewhatFemales and children, and young persons not in business, and transitory individuals,
compose that portion of the population whose names are not found in a directory. It
is just, therefore, to conclude that the canvass for names on this work must have been
very faithfully and thoroughly done. That it has not been so done in former years, is
now manifest by the larger number of names which this directory contains over every
other.
It would not be possible to estimate the names of mercantile firms, nor be worth
the labor. The favorite name of Smith occupies eight pages, and Smith, John, nearly
a page of double columns, while Michael, Patrick, James, Philip, Thomas, and Wil­
liam Smith, each occupy a large portion of a column.
There is Stevens and Stevenson, Stephens and Stephenson, Stephan and Stephani,
and Stevins and Stephen, which are an example of the variations of an original word.
The Mcs are an immense family of prefixes. They occupy twenty-three pages of
the volume. McCarthy and McCarty are the most numerous branch, although they
are run hard by the McGraths, McGuires, McGowans, McDonnells, and McCormicks.
We have examined this work for correctness, within the range of our observation,
and find it very accurate and reliable.
It is printed in a very handsome style, and is perhaps the most tasteful and finished
directory in its appearance that wasi ever issued in the city of New York, as it is in
the completeness, fullness, and accuracy of its contents.
MERCANTILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF BOSTON,
The thirty-second annual report of this association exhibits its affairs in a most
prosperous and flourishing condition. Its means of usefulness have heen progressive,
and its future prospects are regarded at this time as more brilliant than at any former
period of its foundation. The additions made to the library during the year just
closed, by purchase, have been 2,285 ; by donation, 161, and by binding of magazines
and reviews, received and paid for during the year, 67—in all, 2,513, which, added to
the number of volumes on the catalogue, per annual report of the previous year,
(8,988,) makes the present number of volumes in the library of the association 11,451.
The expenditures for books, magazines and reviews, and binding during the year,
amounted to $2,294 23, being an increase over the amount expended during the pre­
vious year for the same purposes of $986 86. The following table shows the increase
of the members of the institution for the last three years—years ending 1st of April:
1850.

1851.

1852.

Number of renewals of subscription.
Number of new subscriptions...........

611
987

853
945

1,069
1,254

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

1,598

1,798

2,322

By the Treasurer’s report it appears the whole amount of receipts for the year
ending April 1st, 1852, were $7,541 77, to which is to be added a balance received
from the administration of 1850-51 of $452 58, making a total of $7,885 94. The
expenditures during the year amounted to $6,385 94, besides which the association
made an investment of $1,500, leaving a balance in the Treasury of $108 64. The
institution is entirely free from pecuniary incumbrance, and has invested funds to the




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Mercantile Miscellanies.

amount of $17,600. Two courses of lectures were given, under the auspices of the
association, during the pa9t season, which, after paying lecturers and all expenses,
produced net proceeds amounting to $1,437. The Lecture Committee, in their report,
mention with gratitude the kindness of that highly-accomplished merchant and edu­
cated gentleman, G e o r g e R. R u s s e l l , LL. D., who declined the pecuniary considera­
tion tendered him for his lecture, and requested that the money should be invested in
books for the library. The weekly exercises for debate, declamation, and composi­
tion, have, it appears from the report, been well attended during the past year. The
benefit derived from a participation in these exercises can hardly be over-estimated
by the members. The arrangements of the association for classes in bookkeeping,
penmanship, and languages, are well calculated to promote a very beneficial object,
employing the best teachers in the several branches. Among the teachers in book­
keeping and penmanship we notice the name of our accomplished frieud, G e o r g e If,
C o m e r , Esq. The rooms of the association are regarded as quite inadequate to its
wants, and the erection of a building suitable for its use has from time to time en­
grossed the attention of its officers. The invested funds ($17,600) will undoubtedly
soon be appropriated for the erection of a building.
COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.
If. C o m e r , of Boston, a thoroughly accomplished teacher of bookkeeping,
penmanship, and other branches of commercial education, has recently published a
new writing-book, containing a series of exercises for acquiring a beautiful, and what
in our estimation is of more practical value, a cl^ar and distinct handwriting. “ The
size of this book, (a copy of which is before us,) that of a letter-sheet, presents a
practical advantage hitherto overlooked. The copies, being in a free, natural hand,
and upon separate slips, precludes the necessity of dampening the paper to print
upon, which renders it soft, fuzzy, and unfit for writing;—any number of pages of any
one of the copies may be repeated at convenience.” Mr. Comer brings to his task in
teaching, (if that can be called a task with one who seems to enter the pursuit with
an almost enthusiastic devotion to it,) genius, talent, and experience, that would com­
mand fame and fortune in almost any other walk in life. Mr. Comer has appended
to his writing-book some directions to teachers and pupils, forming a clear and com­
prehensive lecture upon the principles of penmanship, so that the book becomes, as it
were, a most useful teacher. To young men just entering mercantile life, we would
say, if your location or circumstances prevent you from availing yourselves of Mr,
Comer’s “ Initiatory Counting-Rooms,” procure the various works of that gentleman
on bookkeeping and penmanship, and make them your study.
G eorge

THE LONDON BOOKSELLING SYSTEM.
A deputation from the Booksellers’ Association recently attended at Strathedenhouse, Kensington, the residence of Lord Campbell, to hear the decision of his lordship, Dr. Milman, and Mr. George Grote, on the question of “ underselling ” in the
bookselling trade. Lord Campbell, in pronouncing the decision of the arbitrators,
said:—“ The substance of the regulations submitted to us, we understand to be, that
all booksellers keeping a shop in London, or within twelve miles of the General PostOffice, are to become members of the association, and are to receive a ticket entitling
them to buy new books from the publishers; that the publishers of new books specify
a retail price for each copy; that they sell copies to the retail booksellers at about 30
per cent under that price; that they require an engagement from the retail booksel­




Mercantile Miscellanies .

265

lers not to allow to their customers a larger discount than 10 per cent from the retail
price; that, without this engagement, the retail dealers cannot be supplied with copies
of new books ; and that for a breach of this engagement they forfeit their tickets,
and are cut off from any further dealings in new books with the publishers.
Having
listened to very able arguments, having read everything which has come within our
reach on either side, and having considered the subject very deliberately, we have
unanimously come to the conclusion that these regulations are unreasonable and inex­
pedient.” His lordship then stated at considerable length the grounds of the opinion
at which they had arrived. Mr. Longman and Mr. Chapman, on behalf of the two
parties for whom they acted, severally thanked the noble lord and his co-arbiters for
the time and attention they had devoted to the subject.
THE CINNAMON OF COMMERCE.
The cinnamon of Commerce is the inner bark of a tree closely resembling the lau­
rel, or sweet bay, a native originally of Ceylon, but which is now grown in the other
parts of the East Indies, and also in Jamaica and other West India Islands. The
trees are usually left to grow unmolested until they are nine years old, at which time
the young shoots or branches, that are about three years old, are lopped off. The
bark is then slit on one side and removed from the branch, tied up in bundles until
the next day, when it is loosened, and the skin or outer bark scraped off. It is then
dried or rolled up into quills or pipes, about three feet Jong, which have a slit down
one side where the bark was cut. The smallest quills are rolled up inside the larger;
the whole are then tied up in bundles of 80 or 90 lbs. w'eight, and wrapped up in
cloths, when they are ready for exportation. It is an astringent and highly aromatic
and warm flavor, and yields by distillation an extremely fragrant and pungent volatile
oil, kept for pharmaceutical use under the name of oil of cinnamon.
ADULTERATION OF COFFEE IN PARIS,
A Paris correspondent of the National Intelligencer says that a manufactory of
paste-coffee has just been pounced upon by the police, that would do no discredit to
the inventors of the wooden nutmegs, that gave so equivocal a fame to a certain por­
tion of our own countrymen. It is chiefly for their benefit, and to prove to the world
that Yankees do not enjoy the monopoly of dishonest ingenuity in this line which is
generally attributed to them, that I note the commencement of the manufacture of
coffee in Paris. Here is the process:—
A paste is prepared of about the consistency of dough for bread, and perhaps of
the same materials, only of adulterated or valueless flour. This paste or dough is, by
means of molds skillfully prepared, made to assume the shape of grains of coffee,
whether of Mocha, or Bourbon, or Martinique, to suit the taste of buyers. The arti­
ficial grain is then baked till it takes the color of parched coffee. It is then mixed ill
proper proportions with genuine parched coffee, and retailed as such, with great profit,
in the grocery stores. The practice, very general in France, of buying from the gro­
cers, coffee ready parched, facilitates this mode of falsification, otherwise impossible.
OUR COMMERCE WITH BRAZIL AND THE AMAZON.
Lieut. M a u r y proposes, in a Memorial to Congress, that a line of steam communi­
cation be opened between some southern Atlantic port and the port of Para, in
Brazil. Para is a port of considerable importance even now, and, situated at the out­
let of the Amazon, would soon command a lucrative trade. A direct communication
between it and some central port like Norfolk, already in close connection with New
York, would save our merchants the labor and expense of transmission by way of
England to Rio Janeiro,—a practice too commonly adopted, because of the length of




Mercantile Miscellanies .

266

time consumed in sailing a voyage hence to Rio. Our commerce with Brazil is al­
ready greater than with any other country except England and France. Her imports
from the United States, in 1835, amounted to $2,608,656, and since that period they
have annually increased. Our exports thither in 1850-51 were $3,752,916, and the
imports hither were $11,525,304. It is needless to argue the importance of keeping
up a steady increase in this reciprocal system of exports and imports. Brazil pro­
duces sugar, coffee, chocolate, salt, nitrate of potash, gold, diamonds, topaz, beryl,
tourmaline, amethysts, and precious commodities almost innumerable. Her agricul­
ture is not perfect. It needs the incitements of commerce and internal facilities ;
with an open line of communication from the Amazon to the Coast, emigration must
pour in, and the resources of the country be developed in all their richness. The
cattle trade of the region is a peculiar feature of its natural advantages. Ores of iron
and copper, laid idle for years, must start into circulation, and employ the minds and
hands of working, energetic men. The spice trade, the traffic in fruits, exportation of
animals, all proffer opportunities of profit, waiting the turn of the tide to become pro­
ductive. Viewing the question in these lights, the importance of the contemplated
enterprise becomes so plainly manifest that it can scarcely fail to take the attention
and invite the scrutiny of the commercial public.
HIGH PRICES OF MARKETING.
The Providence Journal alluding to the general complaints of the ruinous and in­
creasing prices of marketing, remarks that there is something not right about the
present system. The consumer pays enormous prices, and the producer gets but a
moderate return. There are too many interests between the farmer and the people
who buy his meats and vegetables. With the steam communication extending west­
ward, with the low fares, the easy transportation, and the wonderful cheapness of
agricultural productions, only two or three days’ journey from us, there should not be
such high prices of all that supplies the table. It is a subject worthy of serious con­
sideration. The high prices which press upon men of moderate means, cut off the
poorer classes from many kinds of wholesome food, and deprive them of many of the
comforts of life. Something should be done to bring the producer and the consumer
nearer together.
A BUSINESS PICTURE OF CINCINNATI,
A new paper, the Sun, just started in Cincinnati, gives the following picture of the
business of that city:—
Here, on the landing—lying side by side—are steamboats which have come from
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, Iowa,
Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Old States and new States—slave States and
free States—Northern States and Southern States—are all here, lying quietly togeth­
er, in the friendly embraces of Commerce. But, look again: from what countries
came these cargoes of merchandise and produce ? Is it not one and the same coun­
try ? Here are the products of the Alleghanies—the grain of Ohio—the salt of Vir­
ginia—the tobacco of Kentucky—the lead of Missouri—the iron of Tennessee—the
cotton of Mississippi and Arkansas—the sugar and molasses of Louisiana, and the
rice of the Carolinas! And what are there returned for them? Bacon for the Ne­
groes—sugar-mills for the planter—bread for the manufacturers—oil and lard for all
countries. Can the most active imagination conceive of more elements of consolida­
tion in national interests, and of fervent patriotism in a people ?
A MAIIOMEDAN’S IDEA OF A CHRISTIAN MERCHANT.
Some years ago a Philadelphia merchant sent a cargo of goods to Constantinople.
After the supercargo saw the bales and boxes safely landed, he inquired where they
could be stored.
“ Leave them here, it won’t rain to-night,” was the reply.
“ But I dare'not leave them thus exposed; some of the goods might be stolen,” said
the supercargo.
The Mahomedan merchant burst into a loud laugh, as he replied—
“ Don’t be alarmed, there ain’t a Christian within fifty miles of here.”




The Book Trade .

THE

BOOK

267

TRADE.

1. —A Pronouncing Dictionary o f the Spanish and English Languages. Composed
from the Spanish Dictionaries of the Spanish Academy, Terreros, Salva, upon the
Basis of Seoane's Edition of Newman and Barrctti, and from the English Dictiona­
ries of Webster, Worcester, and Walker, with the Addition of more than Eight
Thousand Words, Idioms and Familiar Phrases, irregularities of the verbs, and a
Grammatical Synopsis of both Languages. By M. V e l a z q u e z d e l a C a r d e n a , Prof.
Columbia College. Royal 8vo. pp. 1,300. New York: D. Appleton Co.
Of all the dictionaries of the Spanish and English languages heretofore within the
reach of the public, none have approached the completeness and perfection of this great
work. It is prepared upon the basis of the most approved and successful of the
works which have preceded it, but from every other, additions and improvements
have been drawn; including also, the advantage of the author’s long and familiar
knowledge of his mother tongue and the large works of eminent scholars of the Span­
ish Academy. Many familiar words, not found in the dictionaries, but constantly in
use in Cuba, in Mexico, and in South America, are now first given, as well as a long
catalogue of terms used in the arts, in chemistry, botany, medicine, natural history,
and mercantile terms and phrases. The pronunciation of the Spanish is so clearly set
forth as to render it well-nigh impossible for any person who can read English readily,
to fail of obtaining the true sound of the Spanish at sight. It contains likewise an
“ Outline Grammar of the Spanish,” and a “ Grammatical synopsis of the English Lan­
guage,” each having a grammar in miniature and all the irregular verbs of both lan­
guages. The method for the pronunciation of the English is worthy of the attention
of every one to whom the Spanish is the mother tongue. It is based upon the method
so much admired by Don Lorenzo Hervas, of giving to every elementary sound in the
language, a corresponding alphabetical character instead of notation with figured
vowels. The work is issued in a fine and substantial form, for which the publishers
deserve high praise.
2. —Second Series of Voyages to Various Paris o f the World, made between the
Years 1802 and 1841. By G e o r g e C o g g e s iia l l . Selected fromhis MS. Journal of
eighty voyages. 8vo., pp. 335. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
Few men have made more voyages to sea within the same period than the author
of this volume. These have been to all parts of the world, and many of them during
years of danger from foreign foes. The author in this second series, has selected some
of the most striking and marvelous scenes of his life. These are narrated in a simple,
plain style, and will interest the reader by the striking facts and occurrences presented.
Perhaps there is no other work from which the nature of our commercial service may
be so well understood as from these graphic pages.
3. — The Days of Bruce. A Story from Scottish History. By G r a c e A g u i l a r .
2 vols. 12mo., pp. 355 and 229. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
This is a tale of unusual power and eloquence. Its author was a youthful, but very
accomplished woman; and her delineations of the female character, especially in its
high and noble traits, are equalled by few writers. In this tale the scene is laid in
Scotland, and at a romantic period of its history, to serve rather as a wide field for the
exercise of her talents. Its sentiments are excellent and its scenes abounding in stir­
ring interest; while many of its characters possess such charming traits as to enlist
all the sympathies of the reader.
4. — A Step from the New World to the Old and Back again, with Thoughts on the
Good and Evil in both. By H e n r y P. T a p p a n . 2 vols., 12mo., pp. 304 and 304.
New York : D. Appleton & Co.
These very agreeable volumes consist of a trip through parts of England, Scotland,
Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, and up the Rhine. The author presents us
with his impressions in a natural and unaffected manner. He describes, in an animat­
ed and interesting style, the objects which attracted his attention, and although so
much has been written upon Europe of late, the contents of these pages are fresh and
new, and display a cultivation of style and thought which is unusual.




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5. —The Paris Sketch Book. By W. M. Thackeray. 2 vols. 12mo., pp. 227_and
238. New York : D. Appleton & Co.
Number six of Appleton’s Library consists of the “ Paris Sketch Book,” by the in­
imitable Thackeray. It is certainly a most agreeable book, and one of the choicest of
this series of rare and desirable works. It is in the same good taste and attractive
style with all the others, which renders this one of the best collections of entertaining
and instructive works within the reach of the public.
6. —Romance o f Natural History; or, Wild Scenes and Wild Hunters. By C. W
W e b b e r . 8 vo ., pp. 610. Philadelphia: Lippincott Grambo & Co.
The Wild Hunters of the world embrace many very conspicuous characters, and the
scenes through which they have passed are some of the most thrilling that man has
witnessed. In these pages the author presents what may truly be called the romance
of hunting. He has endeavored to trace the passions of the hunter-naturalist through
their gradual development up to the stern and strong individualities of such men as
Audubon, Wilson, Boone, <fec., and has, therefore, sought to present him in plain un­
varnished guise, amidst wild scenes of primitive nature. In a narrative form contain­
ing many personal reminiscences of the author, there is presented in these pages the
sober facts of Natural History, the wild adventures of the hunter, and the vigorous
and spirited thought of a dashing and brilliant writer.
L—History of Kentucky. From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. By
T. S. Arthur and W. S. Carpenter. 12mo., pp. 316. Philadelphia: Lippincott,
Grambo & Co.
These three volumes are the first of a series entitled “ Lippincott’s Cabinet Histo­
ries,” of all the States of the Union. They are to be prepared with care and accu­
racy by intelligent and accomplished writers, and written in a popular style, suited to
libraries and extensive family reading. We welcome this enterprise as one entitled to
the approbation of the public, and feel confident from the volumes before us, that the
series must give entire satisfaction to the mass of readers.
8. —History o f Virginia. From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time.
S. Arthur and W. S. Carpenter. 12mo., pp. 330.

By T.

9. —History o f Georgia. From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. By T.
S. Arthur and W. S. Carpenter. 12mo., pp. 315.
10. — The Waverly Novels. By Sir W a l t e r S c o t t . Complete in twelve volumes.
Printed from the latest English editions, embracing the author’s last corrections,
prefaces, and notes. Vol. 1. Waverly and Guy Mannering. Yol. 2. The Antiquary
and Black Dwarf. Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo Co.
Scott’s works could not be desired for general readers in better style than they are
offered in this edition for twelve dollars. It is the last edition revised and corrected
by the author. Indeed it is a reprint of the famous Abbotsford edition, the most
splendid and superb which was ever issued.
11. — Roughing it in the Bush. By Mrs. Moodie. In two parts. 12mo., pp. 210 and
224. New York : G. P. Putnam.
Putnam’s Semi-Monthly Library of which these volumes form numbers twelve and
thirteen, still maintains its high reputation as an agreeable series of choice and cheap
works. In these pages before us, the authoress describes her experience as an emi­
grant in the back regions of Canada. They are quite interesting and present a very
striking picture of the hardships and trials of emigrants to a new country. Her lot
was severe, truly roughing it in the bush, and her fortitude as well as talent at com­
position are worthy of commendation.
12.— The Solar System : a Descriptive Treatise upon the Sun, Moon, and Planets,
Including an Account of all the Recent Discoveries. By J. Russell Hind, of the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 12mo. New York : G. P. Putnam.
A series of popular treatises on practical science is a Dew enterprise. Such is the
one of which this volume is the first issue. It is similar in plan to Putnam’s SemiMonthly Library, but consists of treatises on important and useful subjects. We wish
this enterprise success, for if the other volumes of the series are as excellent as this
they will place within the reach of the public a vast amount of scientific and practical
knowledge at a low price.




The Book Trade.

269

13. —Dollars and Cents. By A mt L a t h r o p . 2 Vols., 12mo., pp. 266 and 245. New
York: G. P. Putnam.
This is a story of domestic scenes written with much ease and neatness of style,
and abounding in striking scenes and incidents. The reader will find in these pages
much to please and interest him.
14. — Up the Rhine. By T h o m a s H o o d . With comic illustrations. First and Second
Parts. 12mo. pp. 168 and 173. New York : G. P. Putnam.
These volumes form the ninth, tenth, and eleventh numbers of Putnam’s SemiMonthly Library. Their selection is marked by the same excellent taste, entertaining
humor, and lively spirit which are so conspicuous in former numbers. Their price is
so cheap that they should meet with a universal circulation.
15. — The Poetical Works of Louis Napoleon, now first Translated into English. By
Bon G u a l t i e e . 12mo., pp. 91. New York: G. P. Putnam.
These are poems such as the author presumes Louis Napoleon would write. Some
of them contain quite pleasant points or hits, and are done with considerable
cleverness.
16. — Gems o f Female Biography. Cbmpiled by Rev. D aniel S mith. V oL 1. 16mo.,
pp. 430. New York: Lane & Scott.
For the parlor, the fireside, and the closet, this volume is designed to serve as an
agreeable and instructive companion. It is more especially prepared for young ladies
of intellect, education, and refinement, who are annually entering on the active and re­
sponsible duties of life. Among the number of women of high character, whose biog­
raphies are presented, are, Lady Jane Grey, Catherine Parr Countess of Warwick,
Elizabeth Barret, Elizabeth Howe, Lucy Hutchinson, Ann Bacon, &c., <fcc. Although
a compilation, those incidents of the private history of these individuals are selected
which serve more clearly to delineate their true and noble characters.
17. — Christianity Tested by Eminent Men : Being Brief Sketches o f Christian Biog­
raphy. By M e r r it t C a l d w e l l , A. M. With an introduction by Rev. S. M. V a i l .
18mo., pp. 218. New York: Lane & Scott.
These sketches are very brief. In some instances they are scarcely more than anec­
dotes ; but each presents a striking point in the Christian character of the respective
individual.
18. —A Harmony and Exposition o f the Christian Scriptures. Part 1. The Gospels.
By J a m e s S t r o n g , A. M. 8vo., pp. 450. New York: Lane & Scott.
In this work the narratives of the four Gospels are arranged on such a plan as to
furnish a consecutive account of every event by the selection of leading texts. The
different narratives are also given in parallel columns, to enable those who wish to
make a comparison. In connection with this, there is a commentary, somewhat gene­
ral and loose in style, and consisting chiefly of a paraphrase of the language of the
original. The work is embellished with numerous plates, and accompanied with sev­
eral dissertations on the localities of ancient Jerusalem, and on the time of the ap­
pearance of the Saviour. It is issued in a firm and substantial style.
19. —Lectures to Young Men on their Dangers, Safeguards, and Responsibilities. By
Rev. D a n ie l S m it h . 18mo., pp. 247. New York : Lane & Scott.
These lectures are quite general iu their character, and touch only upon a few points
of importance to young men. Their moral sentiments are well suited to elevate the
mind of youth, and to aid iu the formation of a true manly character.
— The Widow’s Souvenir; a Gift-Book for Widows.
128. New York : Lane Scott.

20.

By A. C.

K o se .

24mo.,p p .

Christian consolatiou to the widow is the theme of this little work; the selections
are in good taste generally, and suited to console the griefs of the bereaved.
21. — Pequinillo.
Brothers.

A Tale.

By G. P. R.

J am es.

8vo., pp. 132.

New York: Harper

This tale is published in Harpers’ Library of Select Novels. It is written in an
agreeable and pleasant style, with frequent touches of sarcasm, and contains many
•triking passages.




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22. — The Life and Works o f Robert Burns. Edited by
volumes. Vol. 2. New York: Harper & Brothers.

R obert C h a m bers.

In four

The second volume includes in its scope the life and writings of Burns, from Novem­
ber, 1786, to December, 1791. The blending of the life and productions together in
this edition, is a feature that imparts to it more than an ordinary interest. It is, in our
judgment, the most desirable as well as the most full and complete edition of Burns
that has been given to the public.
23. — Overing: or, the Heir of Wychcrly. A Historical Romance. By E l d r e d G r a y ­
so n , Esq., author of “ Standish, the Puritan,” &c.
12mo., pp. 416. New York:
Cornish & Lamport.
This romance appears to be founded on the life and character of an individual, the
younger brother of John de Courcy, Earl of Ulster, who, as we learn from the files of
the old “ Mercury” emigrated to America, and settled in Newport, R. I., where he
came with small means of support, &c. His history, we are told by the author, seems
to have been transmitted to the inhabitants of Rhode Island with much oral faithful­
ness, inasmuch as they all appear to agree in its details. The author has, however,
made this character the medium to exhibit the peculiarities of the age and people,
when and among whom the individuals commemorated flourished, rather than a sober
history. It is highly interesting as a romance, and is rather in a beautiful and attract­
ive style. Cornish and Lamport give evidence of a taste and liberality in the style
in which this, and, indeed, all their publications are now produced—not surpassed by
the Appletons’ or Putnam’s.
24. —Sujnmerfield; or, Life on a Farm.
Derby & Miller.

By

D ay

K.

L ee.

12mo. pp.

Auburn :

A pleasant tale, designed to illustrate the pure and quiet scenes of rural life. It is
written with much smoothness and ease, and with good taste and elevation of feeling,
and must prove very extensively acceptable.

25. —A Peep at “ Number Five : ” or A Chapter in the Life o f a Country Pastor. By
H. Trusta, author of “ Sunny Side.” 18mo., pp. 296. Boston: Phillips, Samson
& Co.
Few of the little tales of the present day have been better received than “ Sunny
Side,” by the same author. The present volume is a work of the same stamp. It
contains many of those pleasant and delightful scenes which deeply interest the rea­
der, while its tone is excellent.
26. —The Classical Manual; an Epitome o f Ancient Geography, Greek and Roman
Mythology, Antiquities, and Chronology; chiefly intended for the use of Schools.
Compiled by J. S. S. B a ir d . 12mo., pp. 200. Philadelphia: Lea <fc Blanchard.
Few works on this subject are so well prepared as this. The more advanced scholar
will find it very useful to refresh his memory.

27. —Eleven Weeks in Europe ; and what may be Seen in that time. By James F r e e ­
man C larke.
12mo. pp. 328. Boston : Ticknor, Reed <fc Fields.
In eleven weeks the author of these charming letters visited England, France,
Switzerland, and Belgium, and spent one week on the Rhine. The letters are quite
agreeable to read, because the writer is a very companionable man, observing, intelli­
gent, and of cultivated taste and feelings. We have seldom seen a book of travels
in which it was so pleasant to ramble with the author.
28. — Outlines of English Literature. By T h o m a s B. S h a w . A new American Edi­
tion, with a Sketch of American Literature. B y H e n r y T . T u c k e r m a n . 12mo.,
pp. 487. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.
The author of this volume was a professor of English literature in the University
of St. Petersburg, and for the purpose of aiding his pupils in a general knowledge of
the subject this manual was prepared. It is nevertheless a work of value and char­
acter. Its criticisms are discriminating and just. They are well written, and convey
perhaps a better general knowledge of the English literature than any work of the
same size. The essay by Tuckerman is also quite comprehensive.




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29. — The Twelve Months ' Volunteer: or, Journal o f a Private, in the Tennessee
Regiment of Cavalry, in the Campaign of Mexico, 1846-7, Including a. History
of the War with Mexico, embellished with Correct Engravings, from Drawings
by the Author. By G e o r g e F u r b u r . 8vo., pp. 637. Cincinnati: J. A. & U. P.
James.
A general outline of the contents of this work comprises a soldier’s life in camp, his
amusements, duties, and hardships ; a description oi Texas and Mexico; the manners,
customs, and religious ceremonies of the Mexicans, and the operations of all the twelve
months’ volunteers. It is written with considerable variety of style, but generally in
that thoughtful and reflective manner which indicates a mind completely master of
the subject; and it abounds in anecdotes and striking incidents which will beguile the
attention of the reader and please him as he advances, although the subject of the
volume is somewhat out of date.
30. — Chambers' Pocket Miscellany. Volume I. 12mo., pp. 180, Boston : Gould
Lincoln.
This is one of the class of cheap and readable books which are now so extensively
offered to the public. It will be found quite entertaining.
31. —Historical Sketches o f Kentucky: Embracing its History, Antiquities, and
Natural Curiosities, Geographical,- Statistical, and Geological Descriptions, with
Anecdotes o f Pioneer Life, and more than One Hundred Biographical Sketches
o f Distinguished Pioneers, Soldiers, Statesmen, Jurists, Lawyers, Divines, Ac.
Illustrated by Forty Engravings. By L e w i s C o l l in s . 8 vo ., pp. 560. Cincinnati:
J. A. & U. P. James.
As a general history of men, localities, and occurrences in Kentucky, in a word, as
a sketch of those events which hardly find a place in an elevated historical work, but
which are the true expression of human life, this volume will be found quite interest­
ing and instructive. A more intimate knowledge can be obtained of this wealthy and
chivalrous State from its pages than from almost any other work, or series of works.
It is prepared in a plain and familiar style, and should be owned at least by all the
sons of Kentucky.
32. —Judge HalihurtoFs Yankee Stories.
delphia : Lindsay & Blakiston.

With Illustrations. 12mo„ pp. 192. Phila­

This volume possesses the merit of being the best delineation of the Yankee char­
acter which has been offered to the public. It abounds in quaiutness and humor, and
will afford the reader great amusement.
33. — The Cavaliers of England; or, the Times of the Revolutions of 1642 and
1688. By W m. H. H e r b e r t . 12mo., pp. 428. New York: J. S. Redfield.
lire tales in these pages are written with much spirit and attractiveness. As illus­
trations of the times and spirit of the age of the Cavaliers, they are interesting and
valuable.
34. —Bronchitis and Kindred Diseases, in Language adapted to Common Readers.
By W. W. H a l l , M. D. 12mo., pp. 348. New York : J. S. Redfield.
This is a work for all readers. It treats the subject of consumption with much
science, yet in so clear and simple a manner as to be easily apprehended by any one,
although unacquainted with medical terms.
35. — The Two Fathers. An Unpublished Original Spanish Work. By A d a d u s
C a l p e . Translated into the English by the author and H e n r y E d g a r . Part 1st.
The Ruins of the Paraclete. 12mo., pp. 203. New York: Stringer & Townsend.
This is one of those worl^p which have little claim to the public attention. Its
unnatural fancies, and exaggerated conceptions are calculated only to disgust the
reader.
36. — The Spae-Wife; or, the Queen's Secret. A Story o f the Times of Queen
Elizabeth. By P a u l P e p p e r g r a s s , Esq. Part 2. Baltimore : John Murphy.
Quite an interesting and brilliant tale.




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87.— The Poetical Work o f Fitz-Green Halleck. New Edition. 12mo., pp. 232. New
York: J. S. Redfield.
All of Halleck’s poems will be found in this volume, with the addition of parts of
a poem which has not been published. It is issued in good style, and adapted to an
extensive circulation. Of the merits of these poems it is unnecessary for us to speak.
No one who has ever read “ Marco Bozzaris,” or “ Green be the Turf above Thee,”
can fail to appreciate Halleck.
38. — The Practical Model Calculator,for the Engineer, Mechanic, Machinist, Manufac.
turer of Engine-work, Naval Architect, Miner, and Millwright. By O l i v e r B y r n e .
8vo., pp. 591. Philadelphia: Henry C. Baird.
The title of this work is very appropriate. It designates its character. Its contents
embrace every class of calculations which become the subject of investigation with
scientific men in the various pursuits above mentioned. The method of these calcu­
lations is very clear and simple ; such as to render them very convenient to the ex­
perienced man, and useful also to the novice and student.
39. —Pynnshurst: His Wanderings and Ways o f Thinking.
12mo., pp. 431. New York : Charles Scribnei;.

By

D o n a l d M ac L e o d .

Few writers can compose a volume of this size which shall contain so much that
is agreeable and excellent. The author writes with a smooth and polished pen; and
although there are occasionally appearances of labor in his pages, the general flow of
his thoughts is natural, easy, and graceful. There are many passages of power and
force, which intervene like flashes of lightning in an otherwise serene sky. The work
is entitled to a place among the most agreeable books of the season.
40. —Physical Theory o f Another Life.
York: William Gowans.

By

I sa a c T a y l o r .

12mo., pp. 270.

New

A new edition of the works of this able writer has long been needed, and we ar e
gratified to see the publication of them undertaken in the handsome style which this
volume presents. The “ Physical Theory of Another Life ” is one of the series which
has been extensively read, and secured for the author much of his present reputation.
It is a treatise which will interest all thoughtful minds.
41. — The Art-Journal for July.

New York: George Virtue.

This number is embellished with an engraving of the “ Prince of Orange landing at
Torbay,” “ The Bagpiper,” from a picture in the Vernon Gallery, and the “ Son of
Niobe,” from the group by J. Leeb. There are, in addition, numerous cuts executed
with much taste and elegance.

42. —The Progress of Freedom, and other Poems. By Bernard Smpr. 12mo., pp.
219. New York: Adriance, Sherman & Co.
The leading poem in this collection covers some fifty pages. It has in it “ thoughts
that breathe and words that burn.” The shorter poems, moral, religious, and senti­
mental, are generally truthful in sentiment, and easy and graceful in versification.
43. —Meyer’s XJniversum; or, Views o f the most Remarkable Places and Objects of
all Countries, in Steel Engravings by Distinguished Artists. With Descriptive
and Historical Text, by Eminent Writers in Europe and America. Edited by
C h a r l e s A. D a n a . V ol.l, parti. New York : Hermann J. Meyer.
The first part of this work contains four engravings on steel, embracing views of
Niagara Falls, the Tower of London, Heidelburg, and Fingal’s Cave in Ireland, ac­
companied with appropriate letter-press illustrations, historical and descriptive. The
name of Charles A. Dana, Esq., the editor, is a sufficient guaranty for the scholarly
and accurate execution of the literary department of this work.

44. —Arthur and his Mother ; or, the Child of the Church. A Rook for Children.
By

C harles

B. T a y l o r , M. A.

18mo., pp. 136. New York: Stanford iSc Swords.

An excellent little work for youthful readers.