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H U N T ’S
MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
F E B R U A R Y ,
1847.
Art. I,— HISTORICAL SKETCH OP NAVIGATION AND NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.
NUMBER IV.— NEW SERIES.
The actual habits of our countrymen attach them to commerce. They will exercise it
for themselves. W ars, then, must sometimes be our lo t; and all the wise can do, is to
make the best preparations we can. For either olfence or defence, the sea is the field on
which we should meet a European enemy. On that element, it is necessary we should
possess power.—J e f f e r s o n .
H a v i n g completed the historical sketch of navigation, down to the
ratification of the treaty of peace with Great Britain, in 1783, I regret
that I am obliged to suspend the execution of the remainder until I can
command more time to devote to that interesting subject, which I hope I
shall be enabled to do in the course of the next y e a r;—but, as naval
architecture has been only partially noticed in the preceding letters, and
as it now claims the intense consideration of this and all the other most
powerful maritime nations, I have concluded to devote the two last of the
present series to that important branch of nautical science. Still, I can
only give a very succinct account of its origin and development, with a
few suggestions on the expediency of establishing more exact principles
for the attainment of such perfection in the form of ships as shall more
certainly combine strength and stability with speed and capacity.
It is with great diffidence that I have ventured even to intimate possi
ble improvements in construction ; for it may be very justly presumed that
such inquiries are not only beyond the domain of a mere private citizen,
but exclusively pertain to those intelligent naval officers, architects and
ship-builders, who, from long experience, must be considered far better '
qualified to decide whether any beneficial change can be made in the
system which now exists.
The form and size of vessels, and the manner of building them, have
been as various as the purposes of their construction, and the nations and
132
Historical Sketch o f Navigation and Naval Architecture.
ages in which they have been employed; and, if plans or models of them
could be collected, they would form a most interesting and instructive ex
hibition : but, so imperfectly described are those of the most distinguished
maritime empires of antiquity, that it is impossible to obtain even sufficient
data, from the surviving works of Greek or Roman authors, to form a
definite opinion of their dimensions, configuration, or appearance, when in
a complete condition for commercial adventure or naval enterprise.
In civil architecture, the means are ample for becoming perfectly ac
quainted with its proficiency, as a science and an art—so far, at least, as
it was applied to public structures; for not only have many of the mag
nificent edifices which were reared in Egypt, Greece, and Rome, during
the memorable epochs when those mighty nations had reached the culmi
nating point of prosperity, affluence, refinement, and power, escaped the
ravages of conquest and time, but the treatise of Vitruvius has been trans
mitted across that broad and deep gulf of oblivion, in which the libraries
of entire kingdoms have been overwhelmed. We are, therefore, enabled
to fully comprehend the scientific principles on which they were projected,
the materials employed, the manner in which the work was executed, and
the imposing effect which must have been produced when all the architec
tural details—sculptures, paintings, and other sumptuous embellishments
of the temples, pyramids, obelisks, triumphal arches and columns of
Thebes, Tcntyra, Athens, Samos, Psestum, Agrigentum, and the “ Eternal
City” — were as perfect as genius, taste, science, art, and w.ealth, could
render them ; for sufficient portions of the largest and most magnificent
have been perpetuated, to enable a modem architect to make accurate
plans and elevations of them, in a restored condition; or to imitate an en
tire edifice, in such a perfect manner, as to rival the original in execution
and elegance. But ships, having been built of such perishable material as
wood, not a fragment remains, nor has a work on naval architecture, by
any author of antiquity, descended to us ; so that even the manner in
which the banks of oars were arranged in the fleets of Alexandria, Greece,
Carthage, and Rome, is a problem, which has not yet been satisfactorily
explained.
The galleys were divided into two classes—the first being called monocrota, or those which had single rows of oars ; and the other was distin
guished by the term polycrota, which included such as had three, five, nine,
or more tiers of oars. Those commonly used for naval expeditions were
of various dimensions, and were designated as biremes, triremes, quadriremes, quinqueremes, euneremes, and tessararemes, according to the number
of banks of oars in each.
The various series of rowers were called by different names. The
Thalamitce were those who sat low est; the Zygitce sat in the cross-seats,
and the Thranitce in the highest.
The triremes carried two hundred men, of which one hundred and eighty
were rowers, and the rest mariners ; so that the Athenian fleet of one
hundred and eighty triremes, which was commanded by Conon, in the
victorious action with the Spartan admiral, Pisander, must have contained
thirty-six thousand men.
The quinqueremes carried four hundred and twenty men, three hundred
of whom were row ers; and, as the Roman fleet, at Messina, consisted of
three hundred and thirty galleys, and the Carthagenian, at Lelybeeum, of
three hundred and fifty, most of which were quinqueremes, the former must
Historical Sketch o f Navigation and Naval Architecture.
133
have contained one hundred and thirty, and the other one hundred and fifty
thousand men. Those vessels, then, were necessarily of a very large
size ; for, besides their crews, the war equipments and provisions requisite
for such an immense number of mariners must have occupied a consider
able space.
But there are accounts of ships of still more enormous dimensions.
Hiero, king of Syracuse, caused one to be built, under the direction of
Archimedes, the herald of mechanical science, which had twenty banks
of oars. It was sent, as a present, to the sovereign of Egypt.
The largest vessel on record was constructed by Ptolemy Philopater.
It had forty banks of oars. The length was four hundred and twenty-four
feet, and the breadth fifty-eight feet. The height of the forecastle, from
the water, was sixty feet. The longest oars were fifty-eight feet, and
their handles were loaded with lead, to facilitate their motion. The crew
consisted of four thousand four hundred men, of which four thousand were
rowers. This leviathan of navigation was rather a royal yacht, than a
ship of war.
Another ship, which was constructed for the voyages of the king and
his court on the Nile, was three hundred and thirty feet long, and forty,
five wide.
Pliny states,* that there never had been seen, navigating the seas, a
ship more admirable than that which was constructed by order of the Em
peror Caius Caligula, for transporting from Egypt the obelisk which was
erected in the Circus of Mount Yaticanus, and the four huge blocks of the
same kind of stone which formed the base on which that massive and lofty
shaft of granite was reared. It brought, besides, one hundred and twenty
thousand bushels of lentils. This ship was so long, that it occupied the
greater portion of the left side of the harbor of Ostia, at the mouth of the
Tiber, where it was sunk by the order of the Emperor Claudius, after
three towers had been erected upon it of pozzuolana,f one of which was
used as a pharos.
Galleys, with nine banks of oars, were the largest class of ships, which
were generally employed in naval warfare.
That those indescribable galleys were very large, is to be inferred from
various passages in the historical accounts of the maritime expeditions of
the ancients ; but the manner of arranging such a number of rowers as
were employed, has occasioned much speculation among ingenious arti
sans, antiquarians, and writers on naval architecture ;— still, no clear and
satisfactory explanation has been given. On medals, and in a few bassorelevios, there are rude representations of war-galleys, in all of which the
rowers are placed in lines over each other. On the coin of the Emperor
Gordian is a galley, in which two banks of oars are conspicuous ; and on
Trajan’s column, in Rome, there is, among the sculptures which embel
lish it, a galley, in which three banks of oars are placed obliquely, above
each other.
If only four feet are allowed for each tier of oars, the sides of the ves
sel, above the water-line, even if only carrying nine rows, must have been
thirty-six feet. It is, therefore, most probable that there was some mode
* Pliny’s Nat. His., Book xvi., ch. 40.
t Volcanic ashes, used for forming concrete or beton, or what is called Roman and hy
draulic cement.
134
Historical Sketch o f Navigation and N aval Architecture.
of placing the rowers different from that of having distinct decks for each
tie r ; and Meibomius, in his treatise, De Fabrica Triremium,* has sug
gested several, which are, however, more ingenious than conclusive.
For a long period after the revival of navigation, most of the vessels
employed in long and dangerous voyages were small and fragile—and
some of those which constituted the exploring squadrons of Columbus and
Cabot were not decked, while the largest were much inferior to our coast
ing schooners ; but after a commercial intercourse was opened with the
American continent, by the Spanish, Portuguese, and English explorations,
and with India, by the new route of De Gama, larger vessels were grad
ually substituted—and when the Venetians and Genoese became involved
in war with Turkey, and finally with each other, for maritime supremacy,
the navies of all these powers began to assume a far more formidable
character, from the increased size of the vessels, and the number and
weight of the guns they carried.
France and Spain, however, were the first nations that formed really
efficient fleets, so far as relates to super iority of model, size, and construc
tion ; and the naval establishments for building and equipping ships, at
Brest, Cherbourg, Toulon, Carthagena, and Ferrol, were long superior to
those of any other country, and those of France still maintain that preem
inence which was acquired during the reign of Louis XIV.
Holland had preceded both England and France in navigation, and the
establishment of an imposing naval force ; but the ships of war, as well
as those in the merchant service, of all the nations which became most
distinguished for maritime adventure, were generally clumsy in their form,
being deep and broad, compared with their length, and high fore and aft
above the water—rude in their construction, and sluggish in their move
ments, until within a very recent period. In fact, the largest class of the
ships of the line seem to have been built to represent lofty castles upon
the coast, rather than the majestic and storm-defying cars of Neptune, to
bear the thunders of battle in triumph over the deep.
The aspirants for distinction in the art of ship-building have been nu
merous, but, with a few honorable exceptions, they have utterly failed in
their efforts. Confident of success, they zealously labored to produce
such a change in the contour of the frame as would effectually obviate its
notorious defects, and establish a form by which all the desirable qualities
would be obtained, both for the purposes of commerce and w a r; but, un
fortunately, the mode which was generally adopted rendered success im
possible, for it was founded on assumptions which were as unphilosophical
as they were destitute of the verification of facts.
There was a grave manner of discussing this important subject, which
was regarded as recondite by those who were zealous rivals in the inquiry,
because it was conducted in a manner which was as indefinite in terms
as it was incomprehensible in theory. The talismanic phrases of dead
rise, flat floor, clean run, quick shean, lean aft, fu ll bows, long fore foot,
bearings, rake o f stem and stern posts, and many others, which custom
had introduced, seemed to have been invested with apparent significance;
but as to the effect of which, in all their possible modes of practical com
bination, whether for advantage or injury, there were as many opinions as
competitors for the prize of excellence.
* That work was published in Amsterdam, towards the close of the seventeenth
century.
Historical Sketch o f Navigation and Naval Architecture.
135
The prospect of success, under such circumstances, was, therefore, not
only distant, hut improbable—for the inadequate process by which the
required result must be obtained, most commonly consisted in shaping
blocks of wood into some imagined form of perfection, for the hull of a
ship, but wi thout an attempted application of the laws of geometry, hy
draulics or mechanics. It was, in fact, rather a kind of physical guess
work, than a methodical effort to arrive at a correct theory by the only
certain method—that of analysis ; and not having a single element for
enabling them to reach a definite conclusion, either by exact experiment,
demonstration, or induction, vessels built on those incongruous and evervarying plans were often worse, and generally no better, than those which
had preceded them, in construction. If, now and then, one out of the
many hundred in the merchant or naval service proved to be more man
ageable, or, as the term is, “ worked well,” was safer in all kinds of
weather, or remarkable for sailing, it was the merest accident— and if
attempted to be copied, it was invariably a failure, which was shrewdly
attributed to the “ stepping of the masts,” the “ improper trim,” the
“ cut of the sails,” and many other plausible causes; when, in reality,
the whole difficulty arose from the new ship not being in form exactly like
that which had been adopted as the model; nor was it possible that it could
be, there being no rule, principle, or mode of producing a similitude,
except by the eye of the builder— as the actual dimensions, and varying
external outlines, were as unmeasureable as the statuary group of the
Laocoon, for all the purposes of exact imitation, since none of the lon
gitudinal, transverse, horizontal, or vertical sections or lines, were portions
of any geometrical figure, but irregular involutions, which had been de
veloped by whim or chance, and therefore could not be transferred to
another form with that precision which was indispensable for success.
The first work in which science was applied to the construction of ships,
was Paul Hoste’s “ Thsorie de la Construction des Vesseaux,” which was
published at Lyons, in 1696. Prior to the appearance of that interesting
treatise, experience and imperfect observation were the only guides of the
ship-builder. The torch of geometry had not illumined his path, nor was
the theory of mechanics applied to his daily labors. Ships were built by
absurd traditionary rules, which, for a long succession of centuries, had
been esteemed as infallible, and no one ventured to question their accuracy
or origin.
After a dreary night of darkness, Bernouville, Bouguer and Euler arose,
who joined to the highest theoretical attainments clear and definite con
ceptions of the practical application of analysis to some of the most
important elements of naval architecture. In the hands of Euler, in par
ticular, the subject first assumed a regular and systematic form. Since
that period, it has been enriched by the labors of Clairbois and Chapman,
of Sweden.
The precepts and system of sliip-building having been so ingloriously
influenced by caprice, prejudice, and chance, the rigid and scrutinizing
spirit of geometry calls for a more precise application of its principles to
that subject.
France wisely availed herself of the advantages which were thps to be
derived, and called to her aid the genius and science of the nation. By
prizes, public rewards, and honorable distinctions, the geometricians were
invited to consider all the great problems connected with ship-building,
136
Historical Sketch o f Navigation and Naval Architecture.
and to transfuse into the mechanical operations of her dock-yards all that
the most enlightened theories could teach. It can readily be conceiv
ed what advantages must result to an art, when the attention of such a
mind as D ’Alembert’s was directed to it.
After the discovery of the use of steam as a motive power in the pro
pulsion of vessels, and more especially since its recent extended application
to packet, mail, merchant, and war ships, it has become a subject of the
deepest interest, and numerous experiments have been made, to ascertain
in what manner the greatest speed can be acquired, in all kinds of vessels,
at any cost— or their capacities enlarged for all the purposes in which
they may be employed, without a diminution of velocity, or a proportion
ate augmentation of expense in construction, sails, rigging, engines, fuel,
and crews.
In mail and passenger steamers, speed is very desirable ; but to obtain
increased velocity with capacity for freight and armament, in merchant
and armed ships, in the manner proposed, is of still greater moment; and
while the problem involves serious difficulties, it is, nevertheless, confi
dently believed that it can be solved, if the requisite inquiries and experi
ments are conducted on purely scientific principles.
A form of the hull, then, which shall combine capacity and stability,
with a contour that is the best adapted for being most easily moved through
the water, by any power, must be the basis on which all investigations
should be founded. It was on that assumption, that inquiries were insti
tuted in the dock-yards of France during the reign of Louis X IV .; and
with such success have they been prosecuted ever since, that the various
classes of sailing ships, built in that kingdom, have been considered so
much superior to those of all other nations, that the navies of Spain, Eng
land, Russia, and the United States, have been notoriously improved, so
far as they have been adopted as models for construction. Still, a form
has not yet been ascertained, which is so perfect as to fulfil all the condi
tions required ; for it must be predicated on principles so correct in scien
tific theory, and so universal in their application, that they can be infallibly
adopted in the construction of every kind of vessel, from a jolly-boat to a
ship of the line.
To ascertain the form of a solid body, which would oppose the least
resistance in passing through a fluid, experiments were instituted in Eng
land, under the direction of the “ Society for the Improvement of Naval
Architecture,” which was established in 1791, in consequence of the deep
interest which the Duke of Clarence* took in that subject, as a naval offi
cer, and who was therefore selected as the president.
Greenland Dock was designated, as the most convenient piece of still
water, near London, for conducting the experiments, where four hundred
feet run and eleven feet depth was obtained. Colonel Beaufoy was ap
pointed to superintend the experiments, and was assisted by James Scott,
secretary of the society, and Captain John Leord of the navy. The colo
nel was aided by his highly accomplished lady in the calculations, and she
contributed no inconsiderable share to the progress and success of his
labors.
Colonel Beaufoy’s attention was first drawn to this interesting subject,
when but fifteen years of age, in consequence of hearing it stated, one
* The successor of George IV. to the British throne, under the title of William IV.
Historical Sketch o f Navigation and Naval Architecture.
137
evening, at his father’s house, by an eminent mathematician, as an axiom
generally received by naval officers and mechanics, that “ a cone drawn
through the water, with its base forward, experienced less resistance from
a fluid, than with its apex in front.” This paradoxical assumption excited
young Beaufoy’s curiosity, and before he went to bed, xvith the assistance
of a neighboring turner to prepare him an elongated cone, he ascertained
the fallacy of the alleged opinion, by making the experiment in one of the
large coolers of his father’s brew-house.
In a few years after its organization, the society sunk into decay from
the want of funds ; but the colonel continued his experiments for ten years,
at his own expense, and completed his tables, with appropriate drawings
of the apparatus and solids employed, in two manuscript folio volumes.
Simultaneously, but unknown to either party, experiments were prose
cuted in Sweden, for the solution of the same questions, under the sanc
tion of the iron-masters of Stockholm, by Lagerhjelm, Forselles, and
Kallsterias, at Fahlu mine, from the year 1812 to 1816.
In the year 1819, Assesson Lagerhjelm sent Colonel Beaufoysix copies
of the first volume of the Swedish experiments, which were distributed
among the public departments of England; but no notice was taken by
any of them of the work, beyond a formal acknowledgment of its receipt.
The colonel then attempted to procure a translation, at his own expense ;
but owing to the want of mathematical knowledge on the part of the
translator, their version was as unintelligible to an Englishman as the
original language. Thus circumstanced, he saw just enough to excite,
without gratifying his curiosity, until fortunately Lagerhjelm visited Eng
land in 1825, when the colonel was enabled to get a glimpse of the re
sults of the labors of his Swedish coadjutors. Soon after the return of
Lagerhjelm, he sent over copies of his second volume of experiments ; but
owing to the same cause, they were equally as unavailing as the former.
Colonel Beaufoy died in 1827, and having bequeathed his manuscripts
to his eldest son, he determined to procure correct translations of Lagerh
jelm ’s work, and fulfil his father’s xvishes, by publishing the whole Swe
dish and English experiments together. For accomplishing that object,
he employed a young clergyman, by the name of Elijah Smith, to under
take the task of translator and editor.
In the spring of 1832, Mr. Smith had succeeded in translating the first
volume of the Swedish work, when he proceeded to Stockholm to lay the
translation before the learned author, who, being an excellent English
scholar, corrected i t ; and then stated the object of Mr. Smith’s voyage to
the Society of Iron-Masters, who most liberally offered the use of the
copper-plates belonging to the original work, to facilitate, as well as to
diminish the expense of the publication of the translation.
In the summer, Mr. Smith had completed the translation of the second
volume of Swedish experiments, and was to have proceeded in the trans
lation of the “ Tentamen Theories Resistentice Fluidorvm Consiituendcc,”
written by Lagerhjelm. The work was to have consisted of three vol
umes ; the first containing Colonel Beaufoy’s experiments upon “ the resistance of solids moving through fluids the second, the translation of
the first and second volumes of the Swedish hydraulic experiments, and
also the work on the resistance of fluids, by Lagerhjelm ; and the third,
Colonel Beaufoy’s miscellaneous papers, which were numerous, on as
138
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
tronomy, naval architecture, air, magnetism, meteorology, the tides, trig
onometry, sound, and other scientific subjects.
The united experiments of the English and Swedish philosophers cost
over $240,000.
In the midst of his labors for completing the work, Mr. Smith was ap
pointed to the chaplaincy of the Russian factory at Archangel; and the
task of editing it devolved on the liberal and energetic son of the colonel,
who seemed to have inherited, and united, with the most profound filial
respect, the generous and enlightened spirit of his learned and enter
prising father.
After Mr. Smith left England, the son found that many errors had been
committed, in the original manuscripts, which rendered it necessary
that a minute and careful examination should be made of the whole work ;
the first volume, therefore, was not published until 1834.
In the preface, the son remarks, that “ as Colonel Beaufoy’s scientific
labors were given to the public, so likewise are these volumes intended
for gratuitous distribution.” *
A more appropriate and magnificent monument could not have been
reared, by filial gratitude and affection, than this superb work ; of which,
fifteen hundred and fifty copies have been published, at an expense of
nearly $20,000.
neaechus .
Art. II.— TRADE AND COM ERCE OF NORWAY.
I n a previous number of the Merchants’ Magazine,f we' published an
elaborate account of the trade, commerce, and resources of Sweden, de
rived chiefly from the valuable parliamentary papers of J ohn Macgeegor,
Esq., one of the Joint Secretaries of the British Board of Trade. The
following statement, respecting the trade and navigation of Norway, read
before the Statistical Section of the British Association at Cambridge, in
June, 1845, by R ichakd V alpy , Esq., has been collected chiefly from an
interesting return made to the English government by J. R. Crowe, Esq.,
H er Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General at Hammerfest; and, as the sub
ject was considered a desirable one to bring before the association referred
to, Mr. Valpy, by permission, abstracted from the return such particulars
as appealed the most likely to render the paper acceptable, in a commer
cial point of view.
The exports and imports are separately considered, and our attention
is, in the first place, directed to the export trade of Norway, which chiefly
consists of the produce of her forests, fisheries, and mines. The timber
trade is principally carried on in the southern provinces of Agershuus and
Christiansand, and to a less extent in the province ofDrontheim. Deals,
principally in twelve-feet lengths, balks, round and square, and timber of
various dimensions for building materials, constitute the articles of the
trade. The most extensive forests are in the interior, and chiefly on pro
perty belonging to peasants. No regulations for the management of the.
* I was indebted to the sons of the late Doctor Bowditch, for an opportunity of ex
amining the work published by Celonel Beaufoy’s son, who had presented it to their il
lustrious father.
t See Merchants’ Magazine for September, 1844, Vol. XI., p. 203-216.
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
139
forests exist in Norway ; each proprietor cuts as much wood as he thinks
proper. While the country was under the Danish dynasty, various at
tempts were made by that government to introduce their own system of
control; and for a short period a Forest or Wood Department was estab
lished, with officers to regulate the felling—but it was soon abolished, and
the quantity and quality to be felled was left to the discretion of the propri
etors. Much has been said and written about the decrease of the woods,
but it is now generally admitted, by those who are conversant with the
subject, that the reproduction is as rapid as the consumption, and that no
material decline is to be anticipated. Autumn and winter are the periods
of the year when the timber is felled; and, as soon as the snow is suffi
ciently deep to admit of its being transported, it is conveyed to the banks
of the nearest river, to await the freshets in the spring, which carry it
either to the saw-mills or sea-coast, as may be required. The timber is
invariably received on the banks of the river by the timber merchants,
who mark what they purchase : it then remains on the banks, on account
and at the risk of the purchasers, until it is transported by the freshets to
the place of destination. As soon as the rivers begin to increase, proper
people are sent up by the purchaser to clear the banks of the timber, and
to follow its descent in order to release any that may chance to lodge on
the way. Whenever lakes intervene, as is often the case, the timber is
then collected into rafts, and conducted across to the opposite outlet. It is
there cast adrift, and again carried along by the stream, until it reaches
the place where it is to be formed into shapes, suitable to the market for
which it may be intended. To Holland, where the Norway timber is
chiefly in demand for piles, it is sent round. For England, on the con
trary, where the demand is exclusively for building materials, with the
exception of the timber required in Cornwall for the use of the mines, the
balks are always squared. The principal markets for deals are England,
Ireland, France, and Holland; and quantities of an inferior description
are sent to Denmark.
For some years, this branch of trade has been gradually changing its
course. Formerly, England was looked upon as the chief and most cer
tain m arket; and, in return, England retained almost the exclusive trade
in manufactures, as but few manufactured goods found their way into the
country from other places. With France but little intercourse existed, and
scarcely any with the German States.
From 1809, however, the period when the English protective system in
favor of Canada came into operation, the decline of this trade with Eng
land commenced. Owing to the dimensions of the Norwegian timber and
deals, the change pressed more heavily on Norway than on any of the
neighboring States, and such property actually fell in value upwards of 50
per cent. If not entirely and immediately thrown out of the market, the
Norwegian dealer labored under so many disadvantages that ultimately he
was driven to seek more favorable outlets for his produce, and these he
found in France, where the custom of substituting boarded for stone or
brick floors was gradually gaining ground.
As the exports to England fell off the use of British manufactures de
creased in a similar proportion. Hamburgh and the German States
became new markets for this description of Norwegian produce, and Ger
man manufactures superseded, in a great measure, those of England.
140
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
The following table exhibits the quantities of timber and deals exported
to various countries in each year, from 1835 to 1841:—
Years.
Great
Britain.
France.
1835,..loads 135,987 156,842
1836,........... 140,785
1837,........... 141,567
...........1838,
160,357 179,885
1839,........... 151,250
1840,........... 152,350
1841,........... 159,602 ■ 187,497
Other
Holland. Belgium. Denmark. Hanover, countries.
160,097
5,317
81,733
16,012
4,442
162,168
9,150
69,375
18,522
4,459
177,135
5,480
109,400
21,622
6,132
Total.
560,430
582,047
571,105
603,916
680,517
666,497
666,868
N ote .— The quantities exported to the several countries in 1836,1837,1839, and 1840,
are not specified, with the exception of England.
Thus, in 1835, Holland took 28.56 per c e n t; France, 27.99 ; England,
24.27 ; Denmark, 14.59 ; and other countries 4.59 per cent of the total
quantities exported. In 1838, France took 29.79 per cent; Holland,
26.85 ; England, 26.55 ; Denmark, 11.49 ; and other countries 5.32 per
ce n t;—and in 1841, France took 28.11 per cen t; Holland, 26.55 ; Eng.
land, 23.93 ; Denmark, 16.44 ; and other countries 4.97 per cent of the
total exports of timber.
The annual average quantities of timber exported in the seven years
from 1835 to 1841, were 618,769 loads of 50 cubic feet; which, if we
include fire-wood, and articles of minor importance, such as hoops, &c.,
may be estimated to be worth, at the place of shipment, rather more than
two millions of sp. d., or £435,000.
The fishing trade is next in importance to the timber trade, and that
branch of the industry of Norway' forms the chief occupation of the inha
bitants of the towns on the west coast, from the Haze to the frontiers at
the entrance of the White Sea ; Bergen, Drontheim, Christiansand, Tromsoe, and Hammerfest, being the principal of such towns.
The exports consist of stock-fish, round and sp lit; clip-fish, or baccalau ; salted cod and halibut, in barrels and in bulk ; cod-roes, salted ; her
rings, salted or pickled ; liver and shark oil, and live lobsters. The stock
fish is prepared by the fisherman in the neighborhood of the fishing-grounds,
merely by drying in the open air, without salt. It is then conveyed by
him to the place of shipment, and sold to the merchant. The fish-roes
are prepared in the same manner by the fisherman; but the preparation
of the clip-fish, (which is similar to that cured at Newfoundland,) and the
pickling of the herrings, is solely at the risk of the merchant, who makes
his purchases as the fish are landed, employing his own people in the ulte
rior preparations. The markets for the stock-fish are the Italian States,
Spain, Portugal, France, and Belgium. Clip-fish are chiefly sent to Bilb o a ; the liver-oil to the Hanse Towns, Holland, and Belgium ; the codroes exclusively to France, where they are used as ground bait, chiefly in
the bay' of Biscay. Sweden, Russia, and the Prussian States, take the
herrings in a pickled or salted state, in barrels ; and Denmark is also a
market for them in smaller quantities. The stock-fish and clip-fish form
the chief proportion of the fish trade ; the herrings are second in impor
tance ; the raw and salted cod and halibut n e x t; and lastly, the live
lobsters.
The progress of the fisheries, since the year 1814, is shown in the next
table, where the annual average quantities of fish exported are given in
quinquennial periods, from 1815 to 1841 :—
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
Periods.
Dried stock- Clip fish, or
fish.
baccalau.
T o n s.
T o n s.
1815 to 1819,.....
1820
1824......
1825
1829,.....
1830
1834,.....
1835
1839,.....
1840
1841,.....
9,767
12,851
19,512
20,176
18,959
14,196
1,836
3,805
7,454
8,029
12,337
11,285
141
Herrings,
salted.
Cod-roes.
Cod liver and
shark oils.
B a r r e ls .
B a r r e ls .
B a r r e ls .
8,545
19,193
27,265
40,458
25,719
37,063
41,715
*
*
*
*
467,823
608,086
n o t k now n.
22,146
21,148
22,434
20,217
Live
lobsters.
JVo.
*
*
*
*
681,009
552,272
In addition to the exports here specified, raw fish are exported to some
extent, but in what quantities cannot be ascertained.
Although considerable fluctuations appear in the quantities of fish ex
ported at the different periods specified in the above table, which may, in
a great measure, be attributed to the varying nature of the fishing trade, a
growing increase has taken place since the year 1814.
The average of the five years from 1815 to 1819, in comparison with
the average of the two years 1840 and 1841, exhibits the following results
relating to the latter average :—
Dried stock-fish,.........................................................................................
Clip-fish, or baccalau,...............................................................................
Herrings, salted, (1840-41, with 1835-39,)............................................
Cod-roes,....................................................................................................
Cod-liver, and shark oils,..........................................................................
Live lobsters, (1835-39, with 1840-41,.................................................
-f- 45 per cent.
-j-514
“
-j- 30
“
—
j—137
“
—
j-117
“
— 23
“
and in comparing the average of the fifteen years from 1815 to 1829,
with that of the twelve years from 1830 to 1831, the results are as follows,
in regard to the latter average :—
Dried stock-fish,.........................................................................................
Clip-fish, or baccalau,................................................................................
Herrings, salted, (1835-39, with 1840-41,)..........................................
Cod-roes, (1815-19 and 1825-29, with 1830 to 1841,)......................
Cod-liver, and shark oils,.........................................................................
Live lobsters, (1835-39, with 1840-41,.................................................
-f- 27 per cent.
—
f-142
“
-j- 30
“
-j- 39
“
-j- 20
“
— 23
“
So that all branches of the fisheries exhibit a very considerable progress
since the year 1814, with the exception of lobsters, which have materially
decreased in the last of the two periods for which we have figures.
The cod fishery is carried on, with little variation, along the whole coast
from Bergen to the White S e a ; but the chief seat of it is near the Loffoden Islands, in the neighborhood of the much, but undeservedly, dreaded
Maelstroom ; and in the months of February and March upwards of 20,000
men are occasionally engaged in this fishery, which, on the coast of Finmark, also gives employment to from 12,000 to 15,000 men during the
summer, and attracts from 300 to 400 Russian vessels annually to its coast.
It is to be observed that the cod-liver does not always bear the same rela
tive proportion to the fish. There is a very striking difference occasion
ally in the quantity of oil the liver yields ; for six hundred livers may be
required one year to make a barrel of oil, when two hundred are sufficient
at another period.
The most important fishery is the herring ; and, although this is more
fluctuating than any other branch of the fishing trade, of late it has been
successful for a series of years. Like the cod, the herring fishery is car-*
* Not specified for these periods.
142
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
ried on at two periods of the year, in summer and winter. The chief lo
cality of the latter is along the coast from Macegal to Bergen, and of the
former from Drontheim to Hammerfest. At one time, the winter herrings
had abandoned the Norwegian co a st; but, since 1808, they have been
regular in their annual visit.
The lobster fishery is now scarcely of sufficient importance to merit a
separate notice. For the last three years, since 1841, the annual average
exports have not much exceeded 500,000 ; and, as the consumption in the
country has not increased, it is evident that this branch of the fisheries is
on the decline. It is pursued along the coast from the Swedish frontiers
to Christiansand, and the produce is almost exclusively reserved for the
London m arket; lobster smacks regularly running between the Norway
coast and London to receive them.
For the last seven years, since 1837, the annual average quantities of
smoked salmon exported have only been 5,455 lb s.; and of this, not above
200 lbs. have been sent annually to England, the chief market being
Denmark.
In Part XII., p. 112, of Mr. Macgregor’s Commercial Tariff, it is stated
that for several years salmon formed an article of export, but of late years
the catch has not exceeded the demand for home consumption. The de
crease in this valuable article has been attributed to the swarms of sharks
that have, of late years, retained possession of the banks lying off the
coasts. This fact was only accidentally discovered in 1841, by the cir
cumstance of two small vessels being fitted out as an experiment to try
the bank fishery for cod, which had not been previously attempted ; when,
instead of finding the object they were in search of, these voracious ani
mals were met with. In 1842, eight vessels were fitted out from Ham
merfest, expressly for the purpose of shark fishing, and no less than 20,000
were taken, without any apparent diminution of their number. The shark
oil produced was about 1,000 barrels. The total value of these fisheries
is estimated at more than 3,000,000 specie dollars, or £653,000, annually.
The metal trade is of a limited nature, although full seven-eighths of
the produce of the copper and cobalt mines is exported : the latter in the
shape of smalts and oxide of cobalt; the former in cake, sheet, and rosette
copper. Equally as much iron, in various shapes, is imported into the
country as is exported. Many of the iron mines cannot be worked to
advantage beyond what the local consumption may call for.
The following tables show the quantity of metals, and minerals of
metals, exported in each of the years 1835 and 1841, and the annual
average thereof during the seven years from 1835 to 1841 :—
Chrome iron.
lbs. avs.
Years.
1835..
.1838,.
1841..
Av’ge 1835 to 1841
505,120
884,389
■m
Per centage proport’ns
•rt’ns i
of the average com
’om- >
pared with 1835.>••••
*
)
1 873,727
-{-73 p. c.
T able I.
Chr. salt.
lbs.
Cobalt ores.
lbs.
Cob. smalts.
lbs.
2,520
...........
88,480*
154,378
33,660
123,056
197,924
60,189
...........
1,016,715
259,841
+ 2,250 p.c. ...........
+ 1,050 p. c.
Cob. oxide.
lbs.
255,920
+ 1 J p. c.
* The quantities of cobalt smalts exported in 1835 and 1841 only average about one-
tenth of the same for each of the intermediate years.
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
143
T able II.
IRON.
Old.
lbs.
Years.
Sheet,
lbs.
1835..........................
5,280
75,379
1841,........................ 4,850
Av’ge 1835 to 1841,
44,334
Per centage prop, of )
the average com- £ ... + 7 4 0 per c
pared w ith ’35,... S1
In blocks.
lbs.
1,044,120
1,233,931
1,189,784
-f-14 p. c.
Ore.
lbs.
1,534
Wrought.
Tons.
Cast.
Tons.
2,155
2,184
2,410
206
105
126
1,272
—21 p. c. + 1 2 p. c. + 6 3 p. c.
The results here set forth plainly prove that the exports of the mineral
resources of Norway have been, with but few exceptions, materially aug
mented of late years. Of the total quantities exported in the year 1841,
the chief proportion was sent to Great Britain. The total value of metals
produced in Norway, including the produce of the Kongsberg silver mines,
which amounts to full one-fifth of the whole, is estimated at about 1,000,000
specie dollars, or £217,500.
We will now briefly notice the fur trade, although it may be looked
upon more in the light of a transit trade, than as part of the national in
dustry. The production of the country has dwindled down to the catch of
a few thousand fox-skins, a few hundred bear, wolf, otter, and seal-skins,
with some of the smaller animals, annually. These are all sent to Finmark for barter with the Russians, with whom a lively traffic in these ar
ticles is carried on ; chiefly, however, with otter and fox-skins, purchased
in London at the sales of the Hudson’s Bay Company. From London the
skins are first sent to Hamburgh, where they are purchased by the Nor
wegian trader, who ships them to Finmark, whence the greater part of the
otter and fox-skins, which form nineteen-twentieths of the fur trade, are
conveyed to Moscow, and there sold to the caravan traders. The skins
are ultimately taken to Keachta, to be bartered with the Chinese for tea.
The value of these furs, including others of minor importance, does not
exceed 100,000 specie dollars annually, or £21,700.
The value of the total exports may therefore be estimated as fol
lows :—
Timber,.......................................about
Produce of the fisheries,....................
“
m ines,.......................
F ur,......................................................
2,000,000 specie dollars, or .£435,000
3,000,000
“
653,000
1,000,000
“
217,500
100,000
“
21,700
Freights by Norwegian vessels,
6,100,000
1,500,000
“
Total,...............................
7,600,000
“
'
1,327,200
326,000
£1,653,200
The value of the freights is added to the estimated value of the exports,
as the great bulk of the articles exported are conveyed by Norwegian
shipping; consequently, the advantage to that extent remains solely with
the native trader and ship-owner. From the official returns, it has been
estimated that the gross amount of freights earned by the transport of na
tive produce is fully equal to 1,660,000 specie dollars, or £362,200.
W e xvill now proceed to consider the import trade of Norway, and it
will be seen that the principal articles imported are salt, grain, colonial
produce, manufactures, tea, sugar, brandies, wines, provisions, hemp, flax,
cotton, wool, glass, and earthen-ware.
144
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
Salt is received as return cargoes from Spain, Portugal, France, and
Sicily, and occasionally from Liverpool. Grain comes from Denmark,
Prussia, Russia, and Sweden.
Colonial produce is sent from Hamburgh, Altona, Holland, France, Den
mark, and Great Britain.
Provisions are imported from Denmark, Russia, Hanover, and Holland ;
and raw cotton, cotton twist, manufactured goods, glass, serge stuffs, and
earthen-ware, are supplied by Hamburgh, Altona, and Great Britain.
The following short abstract from Mr. Crowe’s tables of the articles
imported into Norway from the several countries, may perhaps be some
guide to the extent and nature of the different branches of the Norwegian
import trade.
The trade of Denmark with Norway was stripped of its magnitude and
importance when the two countries were separated by the Congress of
Vienna, and Denmark was consequently deprived of many commercial
advantages which she had formerly enjoyed in her relations with Norway.
The trade in grain, provisions, and colonial produce, was exclusively in
the hands of the Danes ; and the merchants of Copenhagen were in fact
the bankers of Norway, and as such controlled nearly the whole of her
commerce—not only that which related to Denmark, but also the trade
with the rest of Europe. The Exchange at Copenhagen was the mart
where most of the commercial affairs of Norway were arranged.
The simple interchange of their superfluous produce now forms the trade
between the two countries, but it is yet of an extent to be of importance
to Denmark.
Instead of inserting in this paper the entire tables of the import trade
with the several countries, we shall only abstract the quantities of the most
important articles.
The imports from Denmark, in each of the years 1835,1838, and 1841,
appear in the next table.
By this table, it will be seen that the trade of Denmark, in these periods,
has, for the most part, suffered a gradual decline. Grain, the demand for
which fluctuates, of course, with Norwegian harvests and provisions, forms
the most important features of the trade, and appears to be likewise the
most prosperous.
According to the most careful official estimate, the imports are valued at
rather more than 1,500,000 specie dollars, or £326,000.
Articles.
Coffee,.........................................
Cordage,-....................................
F lax,...........................................
H em p,.........................................
Grain—Barley,...........................
Wheat and flour,.........
Rye................................
Malt,.............................
L eather,.....................................
Linens,........................................
Provisions, viz :—Cheese,........
Butter,..........
Pork,............
Beef,............
Tallow,.......................................
W ool............................................
Woollens,...................................
1835.
97,630
19,082
20,813
25,260
191,387
18,049
93,994
13,597
285,822
91,636
244,913
932,561
410,126
358,262
64,582
77,929
1818.
77,418
15,474
8,786
4,340
230,272
10,437
67,241
13,869
97,230
87,947
316,457
1,465,949
528,546
391,494
62,120
71,434
37,633
1841.
64,706
18,273
7,273
1,190
217,501
7,453
85,171
16,362
111,908
32,646
233,929
1,918,511
639,702
358,138
87,108
139,623
41,702
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
145
In the same ratio as the intercourse with Denmark has declined, has
the trade with Sweden increased, and a lively intercourse by sea and land
has sprung up.
The quantities of the principal articles imported by sea from Sweden, in
each of the years 1835, ’38, and ’41, are given in the following table :—
Articles.
A lum ,.............................
Bricks,............................. .................. No.
Iron and steel,.................
Leather,...........................
Paper,...............................
Staves,.............................
Tobacco,.........................
T a r,..................................
Oats,................................
Butter,.............................
Linens,............................
Woollens,........................
18ol§.
1838.
30,961
381,787
322
76,761
14,228
59,840
157,257
2,761
5,241
80,675
95,907
11,453
8,135
458,629
1,049
5,965
45,430
75,894
105,435
3,134
76
116,776
105,516
16,233
1841.
39,661
783,459
717
629
47,669
95,550
83,050
4,706
9,348
117,905
93,036
12,280
No particular results are to be deduced from this statement, and it affords
but an imperfect idea of the commercial intercourse that exists between
Sweden and Norway, as quantities of manufactured and other goods find
their way by land, and of which no returns can be obtained.
The value of the imports that pass through the customs does not exceed
1,000,000 specie dollars, or £217,500.
The trade between Norway and Russia is of a two-fold character : the
first, with the Baltic, is simple, and similar to that carried on between
Norway and Prussia ; the second, with the northern provinces of Norway,
the White Sea, and Finmark, is of a more complicated and peculiar cha
racter. These places are mutually dependent on each other for the sale
of the superfluous produce of the fisheries, and for the most important ar
ticles of food. It is also of great political importance to Russia, and pe
culiar privileges and immunities are granted by that power to that particular
trade; and, by virtue of treaties with Sweden and Norway, Russia has
secured to herself exclusive immunities, not enjoyed by other nations.
No correct return of the extent of the trade with Russia can be given,
as the Russians are not bound to unload at the established ports, like other
foreigners. The following figures are taken from a table compiled from
official returns of imports, but it may be safely assumed that not one-half
of the Russian produce imported appears in these returns :—
Articles.
Candles, tallow,.........................
Feathers,.....................................
Flax-seed,...................................
Rye and rye meal,....................
Hemp..........................................
H ides,........................................
Linen,........................................
O akum ,...............................*—
Oil, cod and liver,....................
Tallow,.......................................
T ar,.............................................
Twine,........................................
Rope,..........................................
1815.
40,230
59,490
905
17,860
2,606,520
137,151
487,161
24,160
15,488
3,678
213
1,280
155,784
1818.
23,756
15,777
3,169
66,665
2,037,719
56,047
269,049
8,398
32,704
1,586
312
320
112,829
1841.
48,142
61,177
1,130
19,014
3,024,017
181,081
440,739
46,142
62,268
35,081
109
7,520
253,434
As it has been before remarked, these figures are:, in all probability, far
VO L. X V I. --- NO. I I .
10
146
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
from exhibiting the extent of the actual imports from Russia. They are,
however, given here as some guide to the nature of the transactions.
The trade between Norway and Prussia is confined to a few articles of
mutual necessity. The following were the principal imports in each of
the years 183b, ’38, and ’41 :—
Articles.
Flax...................................
Barley,.............................
Malt,..................................
Rye,................................
Hemp................................
Oil—hemp, &c.,.............
Provisions,........................
Soap,.................................
1815.
1818.
1811.
10,531
11,488
9.411
36,946
17,193
6,520
46,440
7,920
98,340
1,856
19,184
28,510
7,965
18,384
9,195
4,950
89,572
17,369
23,692
25,891
25,326
9,427
6,780
A more extensive import trade is carried on by Norway with Altona,
Hamburgh, and the German States, than with any other country. No less
than 150 articles are specified in the table given by Mr. Consul Crowe;
and of the greater part of these, large quantities were imported. The fol
lowing table is a short abstract of the most prominent imports, in 1835,
’38, and ’41
Articles.
Almonds,.............................
Alum ,...................................
Anniseed, &c.,.....................
Bark, medical,.....................
Brimstone,............................
Bricks,................................................. No.
Cotton wool,.........................
twist,.........................
manufactures, .........
Coffee,...................................
Dve-woods,...........................
Fruit, dried,..........................
Earthen-ware,.....................
Furs,.....................................
Glass,.....................................
Gums,....................................
Barley,..................................
Rve,.......................................
H ides,...................................
Hops,.....................................
Copperas,............................
Indigo,...................................
Iron manufactures,.............
Linens,..................................
Molasses,..............................
Paints and colors,................
Paper......................................
Potash,...................................
Rosin, ...................................
Salt,.......................................
Saltpetre,...............................
Silks,....................................
Soap,.....................................
Spices,...................................
Starch,..................................
Sago......................................
Sugar, raw,..........................
refined,.....................
1835.
36,342
17,865
126,976
11,258
19,429
430,498
35,962
57,392
214,562
1,694,229
492,083
292,503
37,112
21,047
63,929
15,570
9,653
10,875
56,104
80,795
42,297
10,798
92,569
147,021
334,008
67,288
37,156
12,703
24,759
110
12,101
8,261
120,364
54,146
22,954
28,187
1,969,390
1838.
47,964
9,849
110,782
11,572
26,956
398,479
50,332
96,977
210,513
2,242,387
215,313
355,049
22,081
26,923
115,771
10,494
8,827
7,209
123,693
105,287
39,715
9,467
95,990
149,074
514,320
88,091
139,394
18,014
33,085
115
26,379
10,457
100,191
69,323
29,415
32,993
1,574,203
1,307,142
1841.
39,086
13,121
84,744
12,899
20,189
888,576
57,348
120,865
394,103
3,609,812
257,299
359,791
20.935
35,817
127,201
12,973
2,452
6,082
197,558
93,123
42,844
17,229
118,697
214,804
493,915
102,162
34,633
16,027
39,469
100
25,459
10,969
319,949
65,301
36,120
36,048
2,027,894
1,561,882
147
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
Articles.
T ea,.......................................................lbs.
Tobacco.....................................................
R ice,..........................................................
W ine,................................................quarts
Woollen yarn,.................................... lbs.
Woollens,..................................................
Zinc............................................................
1835.
54,354
1,217,638
287,106
134,172
9,683
186,495
7,530
1838.
55,116
1,075,699
331,494
136,521
2,850
211,080
22,915
1841.
49,025
1,709,551
374,075
140,303
3,550
275,118
18,132
A glance at the preceding table will at once'establish the fact of the
importance and prosperous condition of trade between Altona and Ham
burgh and Norway. A great and continual increase has taken place since
the year 1835, in the imports of the following articles :— Bricks, cotton
wool, and cotton manufactures, colonial produce, (particularly coffee,) glass,
hardwares, linens, silks, soap, tobacco, rice, and woollens.
The value of the imports is not given.
The quantities of the principal articles imported into Norway from Hol
land, in 1835, ’38, and ’41, appear in the next table :—
Articles.
Bricks,............................ ....................No.
Cotton-wool,..................
Coffee,.............................
Dye-woods,....................
Earthen-ware,...............
Flax,................................
Glass,...............................
H em p,............................
Hoops,............................ ....................No.
Iron, cast,........................
Leather,..........................
Molasses,.........................
Oils,................................
Paints,.............................
Cheese,...........................
Rice,................................
Sugar, raw,.....................
refined,..............
Tobacco,.........................
S teel,...............................
1835.
1,556,443
221,992
42,203
99,833
313,981
11,893
34,355
4,695,492
373.179
32,058
15,101
122,163
62,417
202,775
31,465
55,851
380,216
68,365
23,130
1838.
919,551
13,516
69,529
16,524
55,634
182,158
18,657
16,237
1,326,025
252,365
17,443
7,464
112,769
60,910
263,700
37,791
46,000
456,189
51,750
22,204
1841.
1,894,285
38,865
81,654
20,620
77,192
316,727
49,211
9,420
6,073,584
354,637
49,465
33,502
157,853
60,543
251,130
46,007
37,444
556,680
61,651
36,903
This statement does not show any sign of increased activity in the trade
with Holland. Bricks, glass, hoops, and refined sugar, exhibit an in
crease; but most of the other articles have retrograded.
The next table exhibits the quantities of the principal articles imported
into Norway from Great Britain, in 1835, ’38, and ’41
Articles.
Brass wares,.........................
Cotton wool,.........................
twist,.........................
manufactures,...........
Coffee,...................................
Coals,.....................................
Dye-woods,...........................
Earthen-ware,.......................
Copperas,...............................
Flax........................................
Gunpowder,..........................
Hides,....................................
Fire-clav,...............................
Iron, wrought,.......................
cast,...............................
1835.
1838.
10,035
30,536
64,721
83,876
226,490
8,043
89,442
548,891
74,550
24,994
38,569
15,377
250,650
205
89
10,917
64,926
246,959
86.200
84,716
21,523
43,231
605,720
74,848
83,884
47,537
330,000
304
53
1841.
16,036
126,419
594,678
226,213
185,979
27,546
88,354
800,047
125,438
97,573
74,347
51,571
260,000
287
113
148
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
Articles.
Lead,.........................
Linens,.......................
Paints,......................
P orter,......................
Rice,..........................
Salt............................
Saltpetre,................... ......................... lbs.
Shot, patent,..............
S oap,.........................
S ugar,.......................
Tin-wares,.................
Thread,......................
Tobacco,................... .
Woollens,..................
Steel...........................
1835.
53,794
21,490
193,515
28,791
28,673
1,415
54,387
45,411
181,064
177,179
9,253
14,866
437,402
75,390
44,550
1838.
86,912
54,124
59.405
24,758
22,349
3,256
67,241
46,257
30,489
88,908
8,869
8,334
170,379
59,601
69,686
1841.
111,039
46,232
249,974
43,374
14,742
1,727
73,558
56,939
184,169
179,452
78,396
31,942
409,791
106,695
137,823
A considerable increase has taken place in many of the imports from
Great Britain, such as in cotton wool, cotton twist, and manufactures,
earthen-ware, gunpowder, lead, and woollens ; but, on comparing the trade
in manufactured goods and colonial produce between Great Britain and
Norway, and between Altona and Hamburgh and Norway, it will be found
that we fall far short of the latter. Since, however, says Mr. Macgregor,
in his Commercial Tariffs, Part XII., the establishment of a regular com
munication once a week by Hull steamers, between that port and Christiansand, considerable quantities of colonial produce and of British manu
factures are imported that way into Norway ; and it is hoped that the direct
trade with England through that channel will increase, and supersede, in
some degree, the indirect and costly traffic by way of Hamburgh and
Altona.
Our trade with Norway will most probably receive an impetus from the
recent modifications of our tariff; and, should alterations be made in the
duties now levied in that country on our cottons, woollens, and hardware,
the improvement would no doubt be rapid and lucrative, and the trade
might again be drawn into its legitimate and direct course.
The imports from France, although, generally speaking, they have in
creased of late years, are not as yet of much consequence. The exports
of Norwegian produce form the principal trade with that country. The
following were the principal articles imported from France, in 1835, ’38,
and ’41 :—
Articles.
Brandy,............................................quarts
Coffee,..................................................lbs.
Corks, cut,............................................... .
Flax,..........................................................
Glass,.........................................................
Leather,.....................................................
Molasses,..................................................
Paper,........................................................
Dried fruit,................................................
R ic e ,.........................................................
Salt,..................................................... tons
Sugar, refined,.....................................lbs.
Soap,.........................................................
Tartar,.......................................................
Turpentine,................................................
Vinegar,........................................... quarts
W ine,........................................................
1835.
1838.
1841.
698,956
84,245
16,214
10,786
13,641
101,636
612,253
9,598
89,815
10,788
9,485
51,172
1,420
9,870
675,652
97,497
27,734
59,994
19,624
93,649
390,105
18,824
29,553
3,395
635,760
185,979
28,504
63,390
14,460
175,566
801,188
28,900
114,294
17,671
11,701
25,883
7,724
8,664
8,760
46,884
331,180
11,021
59,901
3,109
2,283
10,020
2,020
104,688
458,232
87,060
256,828
>
Trade and Commerce oj Norway.
149
The greatest advance appears to have been made in the articles of cof
fee, cut corks, flax, glass, leather, molasses, paper, dried fruits, and soap.
Since the separation of Belgium from Holland, a direct intercourse has
been established with Norway, which promises well, and will probably
become extensive. At present, the imports from Belgium are confined to
a few articles, such as—
Articles.
Bricks,............................. .................. No.
Coffee,...............................
Cotton wool,.....................
Flax...................................
Glass,................................
Hoops,.................................................No.
Leather,............................
Paints,............................. .
Rice,.................................
Sugar, refined,..................
Soap,..................................
1815.
1818.
1841.
115,340
7,083
61,359
18,067
7,900
47,688
12,520
98,576
18,210
14,261
131,424
14,813
244,424
59,563
9,960
28,740
586,638
19,036
41,035
4,692
18,750
4,728
91
685
75,675
4,728
262
689
5,350
235,502
2,217
The trade with Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean States, is limit,
ed, and is confined to the produce of the respective countries. The prin
cipal imports were—
Articles.
Cork....................................................... lbs.
Figs,...........................................................
O ranges,...................................................
Raisins,......................................................
Salt,...... .............................................. tons
W ine,................................................ quarts
1815.
1818.
81,996
5,445
30,523
4,264
33,100
46,840
8,439
8,019
101,551
11,241
37,426
40,385
1811.
71,584
15,901
149,541
18,192
43,399
164,425
W e may here shortly observe that a very cursory examination of the
foregoing abstracts of the imports will be sufficient to acquaint us with the
increased consumption of articles of luxury, and this fact may be taken
as a fair criterion of the growing prosperity of the country.
It only now remains for us to take a short review of the shipping of
Norway.
There appear to have been—
In 1817,...................................................
1827,...................................................
1837,...................................................
and in 1841,...................................................
1.692 vessels, of 175,920 tons.
1,866
“
143,470 “
2,373
“
206,122 “
2,509
“
266,801 “
employing rather more than 15,000 men.
The Norwegian flag is to be met with in all parts of the world, com
peting with British shipping in the carrying trade. As a proof of the ex- •
tent and success with which they have appropriated to themselves a portion
of the carrying trade of the north of Europe, it need only be stated, that
in 1838, 249 Norwegian vessels, of 64,784 tons, cleared from Swedish
and Finnish ports in the Baltic with cargoes for foreign ports. And 18,733
tons of Norwegian shipping were employed in carrying freight from or:e
foreign port to another.
The vessels of Norway begin to offer a serious competition to our own
shipping in foreign ports, and it will be found that they not only rank next
to the British, but in many places command a preference. And this close
competition and preference is not to be traced to any peculiar encourage
ment offered by the Norwegian Government, or to any superior economy
150
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
which enables the Norwegians to sail their vessels at a cheaper rate than
British vessels, but chiefly to the superior class of masters which the laws
of Norway have created. The Norwegian Government, by wise regula
tions, have, in addition to the practical test required, made certain intel
lectual acquirements obligatory on those who aspire to be masters of ves
sels ; and the result has been that an intelligent and respectable class of
masters has been formed, which has created for their marine a confidence
and respect, which our own appears to be losing; for our ordinary class of
masters appear to have remained stationary, if they have not absolutely
retrograded.
These are valuable observations on the improvement of the commercial
marine of Norway; and no doubt much of the competition now offered in
foreign ports to our shipping, by the Norwegians, Prussians, Austrians,
and Americans, might be successfully encountered and overcome, if the
British Government would follow the example of the Norwegian, and
establish a sound and practical examination for the officers of our mercan
tile shipping.
For the last ten years, from 1833, the annual average number of vessels
that cleared from Norway to Denmark was 2,136 of 79,352 tons, and from
Denmark to Norway 2,262 vessels of 91,275 tons.
There were despatched from Altona and Hamburgh to Norway—
In 1835,................
1838,................
1841,...............
vessels of 12,990 tons, of which 92,511 tons were Norwegian.
“
14.365
«
10,359
«
19,997
“
16,136
“
“
From Norway to the several ports of Holland, the number and tonnage
of cargoes cleared were—
In 1835,.......
1838,.......
1841,.......
898 cargoes of 135,112 tons, of which 79,131 tons were Norwegian.
861
“
133,395
“
84,952
966
“
139,030
“
92,191
“
«
The chief proportion of goods exported to our own country is conveyed
in Norwegian vessels, as the following figures, showing the number and
tonnage of cargoes shipped from Norway to Great Britain, will testify :—
In 1835,..:...
1838,.......
1841,.......
787 cargoes of 115,136 tons, of which 103,607 tons were Norwegian.
917
“
134,048
“
125,048
“
“
831
“
135,842
“
125,502
“
“
And the following number and tonnage of vessels belonging to Norway
brought cargoes from foreign ports to Great Britain :—
In 1835,.......................................................
1838........................................................
1841........................................................
138 vessels, of 37,726 tons.
139
“
33,536 «
151
“
39,296 “
A large amount of shipping is employed in the trade between Norway
and France, as may be seen by the following number and tonnage of
vessels sent from Norway :—
In 1835, 730 vess. of 124,472 tons, of which 703 vess. of 119,837 tons were Norwegian.
1838,860
“
141,227
“
797
“
132,712
“
«
1841,829
“
148,203
“
....
“
139,842
“
“
Independent of this important amount of Norwegian shipping employed
between the two countries, about 31,200 tons are annually engaged in the
carrying trade between France and other foreign countries.
151
Trade and Commerce o f Norway.
In further illustration of the increased employment of the Norwegian
shipping in the direct and carrying trade with foreign countries, we have
inserted the following statement of the number and tonnage of Norwegian
vessels employed in the foreign trade with each of the principal countries
in the two years 1838 and 1841 :—
1838.
Countries a t w h ich
the vessels arrived.
from
Norw ay .
Vessels.
Tons.
o t h e r cou ntries .
t o ta l .
Vessels.
Tons.
Vessels.
Tons.
169
67
86
63
64
52
139
171
63
188
52,939
13,905
7,748
4,360
5,096
10,563
33,587
35,350
15,153
36,965
519
183
289
86
49,257
13,609
12,228
25,429
10,359
84,952
125,048
132,712
8,358
12,209
148
408
869
968
127
274
102,196
27,514
19,976
29,789
15,455
95,515
158,635
168,062
23,691
49,174
3,589
474,341
1,062
215,666
4,651
690,007
Sweden,............................
Russia,..............................
Prussia,.............................
Denmark,.........................
Altona and Hamburgh,...
Holland.............................
Great Britain,...................
France,.............................
Belgium,...........................
Other countries,..... ........
350
116
203
803
84
356
730
797
64
Total,........................
866
1841.
Sweden,............................
Russia,..............................
Prussia,.............................
Denmark,.........................
Altona and Hamburgh,..
Holland,............................
Great Britain,...................
F ra n c e ,............................
Belgium,...........................
Other countries,...............
487
121
281
118
1,146
359
731
760
33
102
68,801
15,250
19,977
37,784
16,136
92,191
125,502
139,482
4,072
13,562
182
72
61
138
85
78
155
207
69
188
60,502
19,643
6,786
9,188
14,164
20,164
40,727
45,775
16,270
44,573
669
193
342
1,256
231
437
967
102
290
129,303
34,893
25,863
46,972
30,300
112,355
166,229
185,257
20,972
58,135
Total,........................
4,138
532,487
1,235
277,792
5,473
810,279
886
Thus the total tonnage of the shipping employed in the foreign trade in
1838 was 690,007 ; in 1841 it amounted to 810,279, an increase over the
year 1838 of 120,272 tons, or 17^ per cent.
Of the 810,279 tons in 1841, 532,487 were employed direct between
Norway and foreign countries ; whilst the remaining 277,792 tons were
solely engaged in the carrying trade between one foreign country and
another, against 215,666 tons thus employed in 1838, which shows that
in 1841 there was an important increase of 62,126 tons, or 28J per cent,
in this division of their shipping trade. The figures in this statement do
not, of course, represent the actual number and tonnage of vessels belong
ing to the Norwegian commercial marine, as many vessels perform two
and three voyages in the course of the year. The real extent of the
shipping has been stated in a previous page.
The Norwegian Government, by attending to the skill and activity of
their pilots, erecting beacons, and preparing charts, are doing much to
facilitate the navigation of their coasts, and to make them, with their
thousand fiords and harbors, more accessible than they have been
hitherto.
e . v.
152
Mutual L ife Insurance.
Art. III.— MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE.
SOCIETY ON T H E BASIS OF M UTUAL IN SU R A N C E.
“ Non omnis moriar.”
system of insurance, as now practised in Europe and America, em
braces only three kinds of risks— marine, fire, and life risks. Over ships
and their cargoes, over houses and their contents, and the chances of life,
and over these alone, is its shelter thrown.* Of these three kinds, marine
insurance was the first to obtain a firm footing in this country, as it was
the first practised in Europe ; and, indeed, as a system resting on settled
rules of law, dates from the same period in England and the United States,
and was incorporated into the jurisprudence of both countries by the same
great lawyer, Mansfield. At first, the universal usage was, as our older
lawyers and merchants can still testify, to insure marine risks with under
writers— individual insurers, who guarantied each, on his own account, any
amount of risk he saw fit, and undertook an individual liability for that
amount, but no corporate or associate liability. Stock companies for ma
rine insurance were hardly known in America before the beginning of
this century, and began to be established at about the same time as the
companies for fire insurance. Indeed, fire insurance seems to have been
the purpose for which insurance companies were first formed; and on the
other hand it has never, we believe, been effected by underwriters, or
otherwise than by companies. The Marine Insurance Company, in the
State of New York, was chartered in 1802. The State Marine and the
Madison Marine were chartered in 1825. Nearly all the marine com
panies now doing business in the city of New York, have been chartered
since the year 1825.
Most of the fire insurance companies are of the same recent date.
Life insurance in the United States, dates as far back as 1818. In
that year, the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company began to
insure life risks. The Farm er’s Loan and Trust Company, in the city of
New York, was incorporated in 1822, under the name of the Fire Insu
rance and Loan Company. Its charter gives the company “ power and
authority to insure all kinds of property against loss or damage by fire,
upon any life or lives, and to grant annuities on any life or lives, or in any
manner depending on any life or lives.” The New York Life Insurance
and Trust Company, chartered with a capital of §1,000,000, in 1830, in
sured lives to the amount of §2,449,407, between that year and 1843.
The mutual system of insurance, either on marine, fire, or life risks, is
of very late date ; indeed, it can hardly be said to have been practised at
all in the United States before the year 1830. And it is stated in an in
teresting pamphlet, setting forth the plan and objects of the Mutual Life
Insurance Company of New York, that “ the subject of mutual life insu
rance was introduced to public notice in the United States by that com
pany, soon after it obtained its charter, in April, 1842.” During the
period from 1842 to 1845, the Atlantic Mutual, the Atlas, the Croton, and
the Pelican Companies, and others, were chartered, all on the mutual sys
T
he
* This is a general statement. Barratry, or the misconduct of ship-musters, is insured
against as a marine risk, although in its nature a distinct kind of risk. The Equitable
Insurance Company of New York city, we believe, insures against burglary. But this
is an exception.
Society on the B asis o f Mutual Insurance.
153
tem, and all, in addition to powers of marine and fire insurance, haring
power to insure on lives. The Mutual Benefit Life Company of New
Jersey, was chartered in 1845. Besides these, several of the heavy Eng
lish companies have agencies in the city of New York.
The foregoing sketch, slight as it is, is enough to show the great modi
fications the system of insurance has undergone, and the great advances
it has made, during the last fifty years. Confined, at first, almost entirely
to marine risks, we find it gradually expanded so as to take in fire risks,
and finally it receives its most peculiar adaptation as life insurance. At
the same time that the field of its operations was becoming broader, and
its shelter was thrown over more risks, the structure of the system itself
underwent great changes. At first, when marine insurance was the only
insurance, underwriters were the only insurers. Then corporate and joint
stock companies were established, at first, in England, for fire, and after
wards for marine insurance. And finally the mutual system is firmly es
tablished. We have here a two-fold advance of the system of insurance ;
at once in the number of risks to which it is applied, and in the mode of
that application. This progress, so interesting, so remarkable, affords
matter for much thought and hopeful anticipation. Is there not a natural
relation and connection between the mutual principle and the law of in
surance itself? and as it is the last, may it not also be considered the ne
cessary and natural result of that law ? And why may not the system of
insurance—gradually but rapidly extended as it has been, so as to embrace
successively first marine, then fire, then life risks,—why may it not he
still further extended to embrace other relations of life and new risks ?
Before going briefly into the details of mutual life insurance as estab
lished and practised in this country, let us say a word or two by way of
answer to these questions.
All insurance, whatever its kind, or the basis on which it is practised,
whether on the mutual or stock plan, whether on houses, ships, or lives,
rests on the same law—the law of average. This law is the result of a
science peculiar to modern times—the doctrine of chances. Modern ob
servation has succeeded, it is believed, in detecting, in the midst of the
individual irregularity of those events in life which we call accidents, a
prevailing general regularity running through and pervading them.
It has been made out that events on earth happen in equal numbers, in
equal tim es; that what we call chances, are, indeed, chances to the indi
vidual, but are subject to a general law of regularity in the aggregate.
“ The number of births, marriages, and deaths, the proportion of male to
female, and of legitimate to illegitimate births, the houses burned, and a
vast variety of other apparently accidental events, are yet, when our ex
perience embraces a sufficiently wide field, found to be nearly equal in
equal periods of time.” * As this fact is often stated, there seems to he a
wonderful mystery in it. Fate seems unveiled, and its decrees divulged.
Yet it is a truth, striking rather from the newness of its discovery than
from any mystery in itself. Instead of asking why events happen thus
regularly, may we not rather ask, why should they not ? To expect events
to happen in unequal numbers, in equal periods of time, other things being
equal, would be to expect effects without causes. While events are hap
pening, time must p a ss; and we have no more reason to suppose that
* McCulloch, Commercial Dictionary, Art. Insurance.
154
Mutual L ife Insurance.
events would happen irregularly, than to suppose that time would pass
with unequal velocities. That this truth should not have been thought of,
that it should not have been made use of, until this late day, might seem
strange, did we not recollect that it is not until this late day, that the true
and proper use of society, as a relation among men for their mutual benefit
and protection, and not an arrangement for the convenient oppression of
them, has been recognized.
If the individual uncertainty of the events of life were removed, we
should, indeed, have a great discovery. But we have no such thing.
Modern science declares, that out of a given number, in a given time, so
many shall surely die ; who shall die, it does not •pretend to say, it does
not care to know. It has secured enough for its benevolent purposes : for
while the uncertainty of those events which dishearten, and impoverish,
and destroy, remains, science enables man, by the exercise, at his will, of
a prudent foresight, free from all possibility of mischance, to prepare for
the event, and soften the blow as it falls ; and thus, in a new sense, while
“ Binding nature fast in fate,
Leaves free the human will.”
The system of insurance, as at present practised, assuming this fact of
regularity, with regard to shipwreck, fire, and death, and guarantying its
truth, provides a fund by mutual contributions, to be distributed in fair proportions among those of the contributors who shall suffer by these calami
ties. But are shipwreck, fire, and death, the only events which happen
with regularity ? Are they the only disasters in the world ? We have
said that this general regularity is nothing wonderful; it means nothing
more than the absence of any special interposition of Providence to dis
turb the ordinary course of human events. It is not then confined to ship
wreck, fire, and death. Nor are they the only disasters. It is not every
one who owns ships and houses. It is not every one who can indulge in
the complacent regret of Dogberry, that he is “ one who hath had losses.”
But all, the mechanic and the laborer, as well as the trader and the capi
talist, have health to lose ; and to them, health is wealth also, and the only
wealth. Moreover, the man of money is liable to loss of money in many
ways besides shipwreck and fire— ways far more frequent and dangerous
than they. Failures, frauds, the bad faith of buyers, of sellers, and of
agents, mercantile loss in its thousand forms, are events more frequent
than shipwreck and fire, and as disastrous. If, then, these events are as
capable of being made the subject of insurance as those to which it is now
applied, being equally regular— if they need it more, being more common
and more ruinous— why should not the system of insurance be made to
embrace them also ?
We hear much declamation and denunciation about the love of money
among men, the pursuit of wealth, the making haste to get rich. But we
are persuaded that it is not the desire of wealth that can or does keep the
world at work with the regularity of daily routine, which, day by day,
fastens the merchant to his wares, the mechanic to his tools, the laborer
to the ground. It is not the love of money, but the fear of want. Hope
ful, indeed, is human nature, far more hopeful than we think it, if the mil
lions who toil for daily bread are toiling with any other motive or hope.
No. It is the boding possibility of the poor-house, staring men in the
face—the chance of coming to want, arising from the present arrangement
of society, by which each man is left to take care of himself—the chance
Society on the Basis o f Mutual Insurance.
155
of falling in the ranks, in the forced march of life, to be trodden down by
the advancing throng—this possibility, this chance it is which keeps the
energies of men feverishly, ceaselessly at work.
We do not complain of this necessity for labor, but we do complain of
the unequal allotment of labor and of its uncertain reward. We would
not have the necessity of labor removed, if we could ; but we would have
some change, some modification of the arrangement of society from which
this inequality of allotment and uncertainty of reward arise, by which the
evils of them may be at least assuaged. We believe that these are in
truth those social evils for which so many and so various remedies have
been started. The Liberal and the Radical insist on the efficacy of party
organizations. On the other hand, the Fourierite urges a reorganization
of society. But the Socialists, going farther than all the rest, bid us
break society into pieces in order to recast it. Like Medea, they ask of
society to surrender its life with its infirmities into their hands, trusting to
their good faith, as well as capacity, to renew its youth.
What forms of government can do for man—how far, as a contrivance
of human wisdom to provide for human wants, they are effectual in pre
venting evil, and in doing good, the American citizen of the present day,
is, perhaps, better able to judge, than the citizen of any other country, or
the people of any other age. Americans know, because they enjoy to
the full, the blessings of civil liberty. But knowing to the full how much
civil liberty can do for man, we also know how much it cannot do, and
must, as the result of our experience, confess with chagrin how insufficient
for the well-being of men is civil liberty— how vast is the gap between
civil liberty and social liberty. The right of personal security, of private
property, and of reputation— the right of marriage, the great rule of equal
ity before the law, and the right of all citizens to a voice in those public
affairs which are the common concern of all—these go to make up civil
liberty. Yet what is civil liberty, as thus defined, but a statement of what
all men may claim as rights, rather than of what all men need— of the
wrongs which men must not do each other, rather than of the good they
may ? It contemplates a state of society in which each man stands apart
on his reserved rights, left, isolated, to take care of himself—in which the
strong and cunning secure a goodly share for themselves, by virtue of “ the
sacred right of property,” while the simple and the unfortunate are left to
go to the wall.
Side by side with this civil liberty may exist want, destitution, and de
gradation. In the enjoyment of this civil liberty, life may be a burden.
The greater its perfection, the greater the mockery of the contrast. It
affords one of the many illustrations of that wise saying of Johnson’s,
“ there are many things it is misery to want, which it is not happiness to
possess.” Civil liberty may be the highest boon to man, but there are
some things prior, if not higher. Man must be free, to be happy ; but he
must live, to be free.
Civil liberty prevails to a great extent in England and France,—to a
greater or less degree in all the civilized States of Europe. Americans
think it is enjoyed to the full in America. It prevails in Great Britain.
There, the strong may not strike the w eak; the poor may not rob the
rich; the equality of all before the law is tolerably well maintained. Yet
what shall we say of the four millions of English work-house citizens,—
of the seven millions of Irish “freemen ?” It prevails in America. Yet
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Mutual L ife Insurance.
what shall we say of the millions of our day-laborers, freemen all, under
the guarantees of civil liberty, yet hirelings, whose lot it is to toil each
day, the day long, but for meat to give them strength to toil. The three
millions of Southern slaves, without right to their own lives or their own
limbs, without the right of property or of marriage, standing in the scale
of civil liberty far below English paupers, yet have far more than they of
those physical and social comforts, the want of which makes life a de
pendence and a degradation. Slavery, true to the domestic and social
nature of the institution, secures to the slave, while it unmans him, many
of the physical and social wants of a man ; while English liberty, in its
respect for the sacredness of civil rights, stands reverentially apart, and
leaves them sacred and in rags. Want, and the fear of want—the de
pendence of the employed on the employer, of the laborer on the capital
ist, of the borrower on the lender,—all the evils, in short, of an unequal
and isolated social condition, may co-exist with civil liberty; but where
they exist, in the degree they exist, there is not social liberty. We would
have both. In addition to security for the rights of man. we ask provision
for the wants of man. W e would have secured a fair reward and a cer
tain reward for labor.
But if society needs something more effectual than the forms of civil
government, and the guarantees of civil liberty, to secure the masses, the
certainty of daily food, raiment, and shelter, freedom from dependence and
the fear of want, it also needs something more feasible than new theories
of society. Difficult as it is to pronounce concerning human society, what
is natural and necessary to it, and what is factitious, we are persuaded
that the relations of parent and child, of husband and wife, the family re
lation in all its branches, the relation of buyer and seller, of employer and
employed, and of rich and poor, have their root in the nature of things.
Any system which proposes to remedy the evils of society by cutting up
the roots of these, essays to cure by killing. The remedy must be brought
about, not by the destruction, but by the modification and amelioration of
the present order of things. We must take men as they are,—the inter
ests, the inclinations by which they are now moved,— and not by uproot
ing, but by giving them a new direction, bring about a better state of
things. Let parties continue their feverish strifes, working out, blindly
and unwittingly it may be, a high and useful end—let the merchant, the
mechanic, the laborer, keep to their callings, effecting public good while
intent only on private gains—let the sacred privacy and purity of the fam
ily relation remain—nay, more, let the inequalities of fortune remain, the
necessary result, perhaps, of a corresponding inequality of powers, and
more beneficial than any forced equality, were it possible,—let them all
remain, but give us at least some modification, some new adaptation of
them, which shall put an end to the cold isolation of man from man—
which shall make mutual dependence a bond of union, instead of a chain
of servitude—which shall secure aid in misfortune, not as a charity but as
a right— which, in short, shall make the freeman in law, free also in social
condition, and shall relieve civil liberty from the harsh contrast in which
it now stands with the rags of its votaries.
The great and growing inclination to associated action which pervades
society in this age, has been often remarked. Springing from a clearer
recognition, than has ever before prevailed, of the true use of society as
a union for mutual good, it may, perhaps, be looked upon more than any
Society on the Basis o f Mutual Insurance.
157
other one thing, as the characteristic of the age. By partnerships, by in
corporations, by joint stock companies, by lodges, by united fraternities,
and by clubs, the benevolent purposes and the great and daring purposes
of the age are effected or essayed. By these, canals have been dug and
railroads laid, steamships launched and factories built; by these, food has
been supplied for the hungry and care for the sick ; by these, great com
mercial enterprises have been carried on, colonies have been planted, and
empires founded ; by these, missionaries and teachers have been sent “ out
into all the earth.” How much the principle of associated action has
done for insurance we have already seen. We have seen that insurance
by individuals, which was never practised in more than one branch of
risks, has been partially superseded, even in that one branch, by compa
nies for insurance, to which all the other branches of insurance are ex
clusively confined; and we have noticed its last and most interesting de
velopment in the mutual system.
These facts force upon us the question—may not this plan of associated
action, which has done so much for the world, do still more 1 May not
this plan, which has done so much in the form of insurance, do far more
by means of insurance ? Let us not be misunderstood, when we say, that
by a wide and general application of the system of insurance, a direction
may be given to this most powerful agent, the spirit of associated action,
which would lead to much good. Only political quacks, or political dream
ers, cry up new panaceas for social evils. It cannot be too often repeated,
that if society is to be bettered, it is to be done indirectly, by degrees, and
by the application of forces now at work in society, not by the introduc
tion of new forces. Among these existing forces, the spirit of which we
speak is certainly one of the most powerful; as, directed to the purposes
of insurance, it is one of the most familiar. For both reasons, therefore,
a general system of association for the insurance of all the great risks of
society is recommended.
How will the system of insurance, thus applied, meet the evils arising
from the unequal allotment and the uncertain reward of labor ? We have
said that this unequal allotment and uncertain reward, come from that so
cial arrangement which leaves each man to take care of himself, to stand
or fall by himself, and which makes the masses dependent on daily labor
for daily bread. Now, to the laborer, thus self-dependent, thus relying on
a single dependence, loss of health or loss of labor is an utter blight.
W hat case can be imagined, more urgently calling for relief from a system
of compensations like insurance, than that of the laborer, out of health, or
out of work ? What is shipwreck to the merchant—what is fire to the
man of estate ? They have other ships, other houses ; they have wares,
and money in b a n k : at least, they have health and hands, while even the
use of these is denied the laborer pining in sickness, or unwilling idleness.
Moreover, as we have seen, the mechanic and the merchant are liable to
many kinds of loss, besides shipwreck and fire, equally subject to the law
of average occurrence, equally uncertain as to individual occurrence, mak
ing the reward of their exertions uncertain. But for these there is no in
surance. When they fall on a man, he is left to suffer alone.
Now insurance does not pretend to diminish the aggregate of human
misfortunes. On the contrary, it assumes that aggregate amount as a fixed
fact. But it also assumes the larger aggregate of prosperity as equally
certain. It presupposes a loss of money to some of the insured, or rather
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Mutual L ife Insurance.
a payment of money, which the event proves needless. The fife, the ship
wreck, never happens. The life insured lasts longer than its average
length. Beyond the sense of security, therefore, which the premiums
have earned to the individual, they have been money given away ; but be
forehand no one could tell this. Insurance, therefore, takes from all a
contribution ; from those who will not need its aid, as well as from those
who w ill; for it is as certain that some will not, as that some will. But
as it is uncertain who will, and who will not, it demands this tribute from
all to the uncertainty of fate. And it is precisely the moneys thus given
away by some, and these only, which supply the fund out of which the
misfortunes of those whose bad luck it is that their moneys have not been
thrown away, are repaired. The afflicted finds his money spent to some
purpose, and only the fortunate part with it for nothing. From this point
of view the whole beauty of the system of insurance is seen. It is from
this point of view that it presents society a union for mutual aid, of the
fortunate and unfortunate, where those only who need it receive aid, and
those only who can afford it are put to expense. Thus, while the aggre
gate of human suffering and calamity remains undiminished—thus, while
the uncertainty of their visitation remains unremoved— human ingenuity
and co-operation equalize the distribution of this fearful aggregate, and al
leviate the terrors of this uncertainty.
Let us suppose such a system to be carried out. It shall embrace all
the ordinary risks of social life— 1. Shipwreck; 2. Fire ; 3. Life; 4. Loss
to the merchant and mechanic by failures, the frauds of employers, of
agents, of buyers and sellers ; 5. Loss in carriage by land: and, 6. Loss
of health and of employment, to the mechanic and laborer. The associa
tions might embrace only those of the same calling, or they might take in
all pursuits and all risks. Each city and township, or each county, might
have one or more associations of its own. County mutual fire companies
have thus been very generally established in this State. By a system of
mutual insurance thus generally established, embracing all callings, a
great fund, as it were, for the benefit of society, would be created ; a fund
to which none could be said to contribute gratuitously, from which none
but the needy should be aided ; a great reserve fund, held in readiness for
the uncertain case of want. We thus have the mechanic, the laborer, and
the merchant, joined hand in hand in mutual protection against the risks
of their callings; we have the masses, above all, shielded from the most
blighting evil of the inequality of human condition, the danger of destitu
tion ; we have society united on the basis of mutual insurance.
W e pass from these views, which, we fear, will be called theoretical,
to matters, which, we suppose, will be thought of more practical interest;
which, we are sure, afford the best illustration of the general system of
insurance, of its flexibility, and of the variety in modes of application to
the varying circumstances of life, of which it is capable. We will give,
briefly, the details of mutual life insurance as now practised in this coun
try, considering the sources and management of the capital or business
fund of the mutual life companies, the persons whose lives are insured,
the risks taken, and the persons in whose favor lives are insured, referring
more particularly to the charters of the Mutual Life Company and the
Mutual Benefit Life Company of New York city, the State Mutual of Wor
cester, in Massachusetts, and the Loan Fund Life Company of London,
which, although not a mutual company, is yet not merely a stock company,
Society on the B asis o f Mutual Insurance.
159
but combines the two. Both the London and Massachusetts companies
have agencies in the city of New York.
The great object of life insurance is the creation of a fund, out of which
the sums stipulated are to be paid in case of death. In the mode by which
this fund is created, lies the difference between the stock, or proprietary,
and mutual systems. In the stock companies, it consists, primarily, of
a capital stock in shares paid in by the proprietors. In the mutual
companies there are no shareholders distinct from the insured, those in
sured being themselves the insurers also, and the fund is raised from the
insurance rates, or premiums. In the proprietary, as well as in mutual
companies, the fund thus obtained from premiums is devoted to the pay.
ment of the sums insured ; but in the mutual companies there is, primari
ly, no other fund than this, nor is any other deemed necessary. The ob
ject of a capital stock is alleged to be to secure the insured, and supply
any amount in which the proceeds from premiums and business may fall
short of the sums insured. But if the funds from premiums are likely to
prove insufficient to cover losses, what are the stockholders to look to for
dividends on their shares? There is nothing but the premiums, strictly, out
of which they can pay themselves for the risks they undertake. In other
words, if the law of average, on'which the calculations of life insurance
are based, and by which the rates of premium are determined, is not suffi
ciently well established to secure an amount of funds from premiums, large
enough to cover losses and pay interest on stock, then life insurance stocks,
all insurance stocks, are far from safe, not to say profitable investments.
On the other hand, if the stock system is profitable, the mutual system
must, at least, be safe ; for premiums that yield fund enough to pay inter
est on capital stock, must, of course, yield fund enough to cover risks.
Now safety is all that, in the mutual system, is sought; if the guaranty
of the risk is good, it is enough ; profit is out of the question. There are
no stockholders. The insured, who would make the profit, are themselves
the insurers out of whom it would be made.
The rates of premium are determined on issuing the policy of insurance.
A man wishes to have his life insured for a certain sum, for the period of
his life; in other words, he wants a guaranty that this sum will be paid
on his death, whenever it happens. His age is twenty-five years. On
applying to a mutual life company, the tables of average life are consulted,
and the average age persons twenty-five years old attain, in the com
munity to which he belongs, is ascertained. The actual observations on
which this table is based, are the calculations made by l)r. Price from
the bills of mortality of Northampton, and by Dr. Heysham from those
at Carlisle, extending from the year 1779 to 1787. “ It is generally conceded that the rate of mortality, in the Middle and Eastern States, corresponds very nearly with that given by the Carlisle table —“ it may be
relied upon in all calculations wherein the tenure of life is concerned,
throughout the Middle and Eastern States, also the Western, and a portion
of the Southern.” *
The average chance of life of the applicant, ascertained by this table,
is the basis of the terms of guaranty. The company undertakes no pay
ment of a gratuity. It requires an equivalent from the insured. If this
* A Treatise on Life Insurance ; together with a Short Account of the Mutual Life
Insurance Company of New York. New York: 1845.
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Mutual L ife Insurance.
equivalent is to be paid in annual instalments, these instalments must be
of such an amount, that a number of them, equal to the number of years
which the party has a chance of living, will amount to the sum guarantied.
An instalment of this amount is demanded, as the consideration of the
guaranty; in other words, this is the fair proportion which the applicant
is to contribute to the common fund of the association of which he is thus
made a member, and in which he is at once insured himself, and the in
surer of his fellow members. And this annual instalment is the pre
mium rate.
The provisions relating to membership, and the payment of premiums,
in the Mutual Life Company of New York, are in sections 3 and 7 of its
charter. Section 3, provides that all persons who shall insure with the
corporation, and also their heirs, executors,'administrators, and assigns,
continuing to be insured, shall thereby become members thereof, during
the period they shall remain insured by such corporation, and no longer.
Sec. 7. “ Every person who shall become a member of this corpora
tion by effecting insurance therein, shall, the first time he effects insurance,
and before he receives his policy, pay the rates that shall be fixed upon
and determined by the trustees, and no premium so paid shall ever be
withdrawn from said company, except as hereinafter provided, but shall
be liable to all losses and expenses incurred by this company during the
continuance of its charter.”
If the man whose life is thus insured, lives out the average term of his
life, he will have paid out in premiums the sum insured ; if he lives
longer, he will have paid more than the sum insured ; if it is his chance
to die before his term of life is spent, the benefit sought is obtained : for
it is the chance, the chance of premature death, from the evils of which
life insurance aims to guard us.
But, it will be said, the moneys which have thus been paid out, as pre
miums, year after year, during a long life, and which have been accumu
lating in the hands of the company, might have been yielding interest du
ring this life to the insured, so that, if it lasts as long as the average, or
longer, and the premiums consequently equal or exceed the sum guaran
tied, he is a loser by the amount of the interest at least. This disadvan
tage is obvious—too obvious not to have pointed out its own remedy. The
company can do for the insured what he would have done himself with his
funds had they remained in his hands. What safer, or more profitable
disposition of the funds, than investment on security 1
The Mutual Life' Insurance Company, of New York, provides, by sec
tion 10 of its charter, that the whole of the premiums received shall be
“ invested in bonds and mortgages on unencumbered real estate within the
State of New York.” Section 11, however, authorizes the company to
invest “ a certain portion of the premiums received, not to exceed one-half
thereof, in public stocks of the United States, or of this State, or of any
incorporated city in this State.”
The State Mutual, of Massachusetts, authorizes its financial committee
to invest the capital, stock, and other funds of the company, to collect or
sell the stocks or securities on hand, or any part of them, and invest anew
the proceeds.
The Mutual Benefit Company of New York proposes, in its printed
statement, to invest “ in bonds, and first mortgages on unencumbered real
Society on the Basis o f Mutual Insurance.
161
estate, or in stocks of the United States, or of the States of New Jersey,
New York, or Massachusetts, or to members on their policies.”
This plan of loaning to members on their policies is borrowed from the
English companies, some of which united a scheme of loans with insu
rance on lives. By the terms of the “ National Loan Fund Life Assurance
Society,” of London, the assured has the privilege of converting his policy,
at any time, “ into a security on which he may borrow equal to two-thirds
of his payments.” “ He may, at any time, (after the expiration of one
year,) act upon the fund” to this extent, “ as a cash credit, upon giving
notice to the office or agent, at each branch of the Society.”
This plan, in connection with life insurance, has much, we think, to
recommend it. It contemplates the wants and emergencies of life, as well
as death—the present interest of the insured, as well as that of survivers.
It takes away, to a degree, the somewhat repulsive post mortem aspect of
life insurance. It is, in a manner, an approach to that general application
of the insurance system to the emergencies of life which we have been
urging. Yet it is merely a provision for loans, on which interest is to be
paid, and not a guaranty or insurance against the wants or misfortunes
which, it may be, occasion the necessity of borrowing. The facility,
however, of borrowing on the mere security of the policy, is no small thing
in these times, when money is necessary even to hire money, and the
ability to borrow implies that the needy man is worth at least twice the
amount he borrows.
The management of the fund is, perhaps, the most delicate and respon
sible part of the insurance system— even more so than the adjustment
of the premium rates. It i3 evident how much wise and judicious invest
ments may effect. The accumulations of the fund become, necessarily, in
course of time, very great. The investments are, in fact, at compound in
terest— for the interest, as it accrues, is itself put out at interest.
There is, however, a coloring, an exaggeration in the statements of the
warm friends of the mutual system, concerning these accumulations, which
may mislead. They are enlarged on as the profits cf successful business.
Bonuses, dividends, accumulations, are triumphantly pointed to as the re
sults of the mutual system, and we are reminded that the stock companies
pay but the bare sum insured. “ To illustrate the advantages,” (we quote
from the pamphlet before mentioned,) “ resulting in favor of the Mutual
Company, in these supposed cases of insurance, we shall take for our
data the accumulation of profits, from the experience of the Equitable
Society, of London, to which we have before had occasion to make refer
ence. Suppose the parties to have been thirty years of age, at entry, and
insured in the sum of $10,000; the insurances are continued twenty-two
years before the purposes intended are accomplished. The accumulation
on them during this term of twenty-two years, by the above, data, is
$10,050. We here have a very large accumulation of profits to the credit
of the parties, wholly growing out of the mutual principle, and continued
for their future benefit. These advantages are entirely lost with a joint
stock company ; the action of such a company gives no such benefits, as
the profits accruing from the transactions are periodically withdrawn from
it, and disbursed among the stockholders, in remuneration for their invest
ments.” This statement is not correct, in point of fact, with respect, at
least, to some of the stock companies. The National Life Company, of
von. xvi.— no.
ii.
11
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Mutual L ife Insurance.
London, for instance, undertakes to divide two-thirds of the profits (as they
are termed) annually, among those assured for life.
But, allowing the superior advantages of the mutual companies as thus
stated, and they are undeniable, we still deny that these sums, accruing as
in ordinary cases they can accrue, only from the accumulation of interest,
are, in truth, profits. If by profits anything more than this is meant— if we
are to understand by it the excess of premiums paid in over losses paid
out, the word is equally out of place. The premiums, based on the law
of average, are fixed at such rates as to be sure in the long run to equal
the amounts insured. If the rates are less, the company runs great haz
ard. If greater, the rates are exorbitant, funds will be accumulated unne
cessarily, and dividends made from them will in fact be but repayments of
needless charges.
The interest on deposits in savings banks is as much profit as the
interest on the funds of the mutual companies. They are, in this respect,
savings banks, and nothing else. The advantage is the same in both, and
it has often been enlarged upon in favor of the mutual life companies.
But, in addition to this, they have the great, the vital advantage, that a
certain fixed amount is secured, to be paid whether the sums deposited, or
premiums, equal that amount or not—while, in savings banks, only the
sum deposited is repaid, with interest. But the interesting connection of
the two systems is here obvious. Had we the space, we should deem it
no digression to state briefly the statistics of savings banks, and sketch
their rapid advance from the year 1804, when the happy scheme was first
introduced in England by Priscilla Wakefield, down to the present day,
when, in Great Britain, the number of depositors is over eight hundred
thousand, and the sums deposited amount to $117,000,000, and in New
York the number of banks is seventeen, and the amount deposited is over
$7,000,000. Savings banks and life companies are both the result of the
same general movement of the times—the same prevailing disposition
among all classes, to prepare for the chances of life, out of certain
gains to make provision for possible misfortunes, and to unite in providing
compensations for the evils and risks of an unequal and isolated social
condition.
The accumulated interest on investments is variously disposed of, by dif
ferent companies. It of course belongs to the members, in due proportion
to their payments of premium; only the mode of benefiting by it varies.
Some insist on the importance of retaining the interest and adding it to
the fund, in order to secure a safe basis for business. The share of inter
est due to each member is added to the sum insured, and the accumulated
amount paid on the termination of the life. This is the plan pursued by
the Mutual Life Company of New York. Another course is, to apply it to
the reduction of the premium rates ; a third, to distribute it in dividends.
The Mutual Benefit Life, of New York, and National Loan Life, of Lon
don, pursue either, at the option of the insured— or, as the circular of the
latter states the matter, “ Two-thirds of the profits are a n n u a l l y divided
amongst those assured for life, on the participating scale of the society ;
and each bonus, at the option of the assured, will be paid in money, or ap
plied to the reduction of the future premiums, or an equivalent added to
the policy.” These different plans all plainly amount to the same thing.
If the premium rates charged are high enough to secure an ample fund
for the operations of the company, the interest may be, and ought to be
Society on the Basis o f Mutual Insurance.
163
divided. If the dividends are low, it is equally wise and fair to accumu
late the interest. The insured gets the good of it, either in a dividend, or
a larger amount of policy, or a lower rate of premium.
Another important consideration relating to the premiums, is the terms
of payment. The general extension of the system evidently depends
much upon this. If the rates are not only high, but made payable at dis
tant intervals, and in large amounts, and if the penalties and forfeitures
are rigid, none but those of certain and considerable means can venture
upon life insurance. The present terms of the life companies are far
otherwise. If the insurance is for life, the premium is generally payable
in annual instalments, or in one gross sum. By the regulations of the
Mutual Benefit Life Company, the “ premium, if over $50, can be paid
one-fourth in cash, and three-fourths in a secured note at twelve
months, bearing 6 per cent interest, and subject to assessments if re
quired ; or it may be paid monthly, or quarterly.” This company has
another excellent arrangement which deserves particular notice. Persons
“ insure $500 for life, by paying twenty-five cents weekly, or $1,000 by
paying fifty cents weekly, the policy always remaining with the company,
with the premiums paid endorsed thereon ; and in case of death they will
be entitled to the amount thus insured, deducting therefrom the balance
remaining of weekly payments, with interest for the current year.” In
the National Loan Life Company, a “ life assurance may be effected either
by one payment, or by an annual premium, which may be paid monthly,
quarterly, or half-yearly, if more convenient.” And all the life companies,
we believe, offer to take back policies on certain terms, paying for them
a fair equivalent. But this privilege of surrender is, in general, confined
to policies for life. The National Loan Life, however, allows the assured
to convert his policy “ into an immediate payment, after five years, of its
present value.” We do not see how the advantages of the savings bank
and of the life company could be combined and placed within the reach of
all more effectually than by these facilities, in addition to the privilege of
borrowing on the security of the policy.
The person whose life is insured, as the term is, is the person on whose
death the money is payable. Life may be insured for life, or for a number
of years ; and insurance is made on survivorships, payable to one of two,
in case he survives, on the death of the other; and upon joint lives, pay
able to either of two, on surviving the other.
Life risks are, as a rule, guarantied only to persons of general good
health. The reason is obvious : insurance guarantees the law of average,
as it applies to communities ordinarily healthy,—to insure the sick would
be to guarantee the exception, and not the rule. The health of the appli
cant is ascertained by his solemn statements, and the examination of a
physician.
We have said that the person paying the premium is the one on whose
death the sum insured falls due. There is certainly, at first thought,
something chilling and repulsive in the idea that your own death is to be
the occasion and condition of the benefit bought by your own money. We
have seen, however, what present advantages and facilities to the insured
the mutual companies now afford. Moreover, we believe they allow per
sons to have insurance effected on the lives of others. Whether this
practice, in general, would be held consistent with the policy of the law,
and is legal, is not altogether clear. But it is very certain that any one
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Mutual L ife Insurance, etc.
having a claim on another, and therefore a pecuniary interest in his life,
may get that life, insured for himself; and, at any rate, policies may always
be assigned, and the creditor, or lender, cr purchaser, as assignee, receives
the benefit of the insurance. And even if the benefit, in ordinary cases
of insurance, does not go to the insured himself, yet it goes to that other
self, his wife and children. The obligation, too, of an honest debt, is ot
almost equal concern ; but, by the operation of law, a debt has priority
over these claims of wife and child—so that if the fund provided by the
insurance is insufficient to cover more than the debts of the deceased,-the
wife and child may still be left portionless, and even insurance fail of its
highest aim. In view of these considerations, the Legislature of New
York has enacted as follows :—
“ Sec. 1. It shall be lawful for any married woman, by herself, and in
her name, or in the name of any third person, with his assent, as her
trustee, to cause to be insured, for her sole use, the life of her husband,
for any definite period, or for the term of his natural life ; and in case of
her surviving her husband, the sum or nett amount of the insurance becoming due, and payable by the terms of the insurance, shall be payable
to her to and for her own use, free from the claims of the representatives
of her husband, or of any of his creditors ; but such exemption shall not
apply, where the amount of premium annually paid shall exceed three
hundred dollars.
“ Sec. 2. In case of the death of the wife before the decease of her
husband, the amount of the insurance may be made payable after death
to her children, for their use, and to their guardian, if under age.”
The wisdom of this act is obvious. It simply extends the right of in
suring survivorships, possessed by all other persons, to the husband and
wife. The exemption in favor of the wife and children, as here limited,
is sufficient to secure them, at the usual rates, at least $10,000 ; and this,
together with the accumulated interest of years, is a competency secured.
These details are enough to show the interest and importance of life
insurance. They also show, we think, the great feasibility of the whole
system of mutual insurance, and its capabilities of general application.
As to life insurance, nothing need he said in praise or defence of it.
The arguments for it may be stated in a few words. By the law’s of
nature, and by the laws of society, a man is placed in relations and under
obligations towards fellow beings, which, but for him, would not have
existed, and the consequences of which, though ceasing to him with his
death, remain to them after it. The wife, the child, the creditor, and their
claims upon him, do not die when he dies. Life insurance secures a sur
viving provision, so to speak, for these surviving obligations— or, rather,
secures a man from the mischance of being cut off prematurely, before he
has himself made such provision.
The strange 'superstition about interfering with the mysteries and de
crees of fate, and distrusting Providence, needs no notice. Life insurance
is no guaranty against death—no attempt to baffle or ward it off. It is
the very opposite. It realizes, it assumes and acts upon, the certainty of
death. Indeed, when a man has taken the responsibility to act for him
self so far as to incur the obligations of a man to wife, and children, and
creditors, it is an ill-timed apprehension of interfering with the ways of
Providence which fears to make provision for them, after death shall have
disabled him. Moreover, merely as an event subject to the law of aver
Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
165
age, apart from its blighting consequences to survivers, death may be con
sidered a fit basis of a system of insurance.
It remains to be seen, why all the other mischances of life, equally
calling for this beneficent system of recompenses, equally capable of its
application, should not also be made subjects of mutual insurance.
Art. IV.— LAW OF DEBTOR AND CREDITOR IS LOUISIANA.
NUMBER IV.*
I n a previous article, reference has been made to the principles of the
civil law, governing the relation of husband and wife.
So widely different are these principles from those of the common law,
and of such great importance is some knowledge of them to a mercantile
community, in so far as they affect the commercial relation of debtor and
creditor, and so little general information exists upon the subject out of
the State of Louisiana, that no apology is deemed requisite for giving to
its consideration a space not usually allotted in this Journal to any other
than purely commercial topics.
Before proceeding to consider the civil law provisions controlling the
rights and duties of husband and wife, upon the subject matter of property,
it may not be uninteresting to glance at the articles of that code defining
the relation itself, the character of the contract of marriage, and the causes
for which it may be dissolved in the life-time of the parties ;—and here, it
seems a matter of no slight surprise that the civil law, which establishes
Uffon a broader and more liberal basis than any other system the pecu
niary rights of married women, and most carefully and jealously watches
over and protects such interests, should, in many of its provisions, betray
so manifest a disregard to those rights which the sex so much more highly
prize, as above riches, and w’hich pertain to the feelings and the affections.
What an insult to her dignity and purity of character is that article of the
code which declares that the woman shall not be at liberty to contract a
second marriage until after the expiration of ten months from the dissolu
tion of the first, while it leaves the man to marry when he pleases !—as
if the marriage of the widow at a time when, by any possibility, she could
be in that situation so evidently in the mind of the law-makers, could only
be prevented by a legal prohibition ! Such a provision might have been
a wise one, and adapted to the prevailing character of the sex, in the me
ridian of Rome and Byzantium, after the glory of the ancient republic had
departed, and the empire was in its decline ; and, even there and then,
one would suppose that the legal restraint upon a woman who could think
of marrying a second husband, while in a state of pregnancy by her first,
would be likely to provoke greater evils than it was designed to prevent;
—yet, strange as it may seem, this prohibition is retained in the code of
Louisiana, copied from the Code Napoleon, which received it from the
Roman law. Nay, in the Louisiana code, it is dignified with an entire
* For No. I. of the series of articles relating to the Law of Debtor and Creditor in
Louisiana, see Merchants’ Magazine, for July, 1846, (No. I., Vol. XV., page 70-75.) For
No. II., see same for November, 1846, (Vol. XV., No. V., page 471-475;) and for No. III.,
see Magazine for January, 1847, (Vol. XVI., No. I., page 53-57.)
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Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
chapter, composed of one article—no other provision being allowed, by
its proximity, to detract from its emphatic character.*
But, in another respect, the civil code of Louisiana has made a long
stride of improvement upon the Code Napoleon and the Imperial rescripts.
By the latter, a dissolution of the marriage bonds for the cause of adultery
can only be claimed by the injured husband; by the former, “ the wife
may also claim a separation in case of adultery on the part of her husband,
when he has kept his concubine in their common dwelling.”f The language
of this article is quoted that the reader may fully appreciate the extent of
the moral stride of advancement in the legislation of one of our sister
States ! It would be doing great injustice to the moral enlightenment of
a recent legislature of that State, if the writer failed to notice another
prodigious stride in the march of improvement, by an amendment of this
article, thus—“ by adding after the word ‘dwelling’ the words, ‘or openly
and publicly anywhere !’ ”
By the civil code of Louisiana, as also by the Napoleon code, if the
wife who sues for a separation from her husband has left the common
domicil, or declared her intention to do so, the judge before whom her suit
is brought shall “ assign a house where she shall be obliged to dwell,
until the determination of the s u i t a n d further, she is held to prove that
she has not broken bounds, as often as it may be required of her, {•‘•la
femme est tenue de justifier de cette residence, toutes lesfois, qui elle en est
requise,”) under the penalty of a total suspension of all proceedings on
her behalf.j; With such Argus vigilance does the civil law watch over
the husband’s honor, by preserving the person and chastity of the wife
during this short suspension of his absolute control, that she may be re
turned to him unbesmirched by soil or cautel, should it be decided that she
is not entitled to have her demand for separation allowed !
By the civil code, a separation may be claimed by either party on ac
count of ill-treatment, if that be of a nature sufficiently cruel and out
rageous to render their living together no longer supportable. It may also
be claimed by either party if the other have “ publicly defamed,” “ aban
doned,” or made “ an attempt against the life” of the complaining party.
These are all the enumerated causes for which the dissolution of the mar
riage contract may be obtained under the civil code of Louisiana.
The separation “ grounded on abandonment” is that which is the most
frequent subject matter of petition to the courts of that State. The course
pointed out by the law to secure a separation for this cause, is so clear and
simple, involves so little expense and so little publicity, that the legislative
branch of the government is relieved from a burden which is not a little
troublesome to some of our State legislatures.§ It may not be uninterest
ing to take a passing glance at this very convenient mode of untying this,
so often, very inconvenient knot. Those who have “ got in” to our Court
of Chancery for that purpose, and are despairingly persuaded that they
have got into the fire from the frying-pan, will lament their deprivation of*§
* Chapter VI., Art. 134, Louisiana Code—228 Code Napoleon,
t Art. 137, Louisiana Code.
t Art. 145, Louisiana Code—Code Napoleon, Art. 268.
§ W e perceive, by a very ably written article in the “ Commercial Review,” published
in New Orleans, upon the subject of “ Divorce,” that, by a provision in the new Constitu
tion of the State of Louisiana, no divorce can be granted by the legislature of that
State.—[ E d .]
Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
167
such reasonable redress; and those who are trembling on the brink of
the cavern, almost ready to leap into its capacious maw, may be led to
the conclusion that a short sojourn in New Orleans would be much plea
santer, and more satisfactory.
Where the parties mutually seek the separation, the thing is accomplish
ed without the slightest difficulty, and as a matter of course. But suppose
the case—not a very violent supposition—of one of the parties being un
reasonably refractory ; and suppose, too,—not a very unnatural supposition
— that that party is the woman. She is sent—her health requires it—
poor thing ! to France, or to the North ; or perchance she is not there at
all, and never has been there—the climate would never agree with her
frail constitution— and her husband goes without her. He would not
leave her, could he avoid i t ; but his business requires it. The petition is
filed in court—the petitioner does not swear to it—he does not even sign
it—his lawyer does it all. He has told his lawyer that he wishes to be
separated from his wife by a good and valid judgment of a court of com
petent jurisdiction, and that his wife is out of the State—anywhere—in
Bordeaux or Mirimachi. The petition declares that she has withdrawn
from the common dwelling without lawful cause, and that she has con
stantly refused to return and live with her disconsolate husband ; and then
prays that, after due proceedings had, a judgment of separation be decreed
in his favor, and that she pay the costs of the suit! And what are the due
proceedings ? Why, of course, proceedings “ to make it appear” to the
judge that she—wicked woman !—has refused to return to her husband’s
home and arms. Now, mark how ingeniously this is “ made to appear.”
The 143d article of the civil code provides for it thus :—“ The abandon
ment with which the husband or wife is charged must be made to appear
by three reiterated summonses— (very much like those made by Charles
Kean’s horn-blowers before the walls of Angiers)—made to him or her
from month to month, directing him or her to return to the place of the
matrimonial domicil, and followed by a judgment which has sentenced him
or her to comply with such request, together with a notification of such
judgment given to him or her from month to month, for three times suc
cessively.” But how is she to be summoned to comply with this demand,
or notified of this judicial sentence ?—and, being summoned and being
notified, how quickly would she fly to her lord’s embraces, and yield her
self to the sentence of the cruel judge ! All this is provided for as it is
foreseen; the latter clause of the article does it beautifully:—“ The sum
mons and notification shall be made to him or her at the place of his or
her usual residence, if he or she lives in this State ; and i f absent, at the
place o f the residence o f the attorney who shall be appointed to him or her
by the judge fo r that purpose, at the suit o f the husband or wife praying
for separation.” Thus, upon filing the petition, in which it is represented
that she is out of the State, (the only allegation in it, perhaps, which the
petitioner would like to swear to,) Oily Gammon is appointed her attorney,
to represent and defend her—the summonses are served upon him—the
notifications are given to him. It is his duty to correspond with his fair
clien t; to inform her of the proceedings had against her, and urge her
compliance with her liege lord’s wishes. He does write, and directs his
letters where he is informed she has fled—to Siberia or C anada; and
when the three summonses and the three notifications have all been duly
served, he answers the petition, and tells the court that his client, so far
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Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
from returning to the matrimonial domicil, ht>s even refused to acknow
ledge the receipt of his very polite and professional epistles. At this, the
judge’s patience is exhausted. He forthwith decrees a separation of the
parties, and condemns her to pay all the costs of the proceedings, not for
getting a fee of one hundred dollars to Oily Gammon, attorney for the de
fendant, for his trouble in endeavoring to woo her back to the path of
duty! ! There is still, to be sure, a locus penitentice for the wicked and
obstinate woman. This is not a dissolution of the bonds of matrimony—
it is only a separation from bed and board ; and from the date of this judg
ment she has two years for repentance, and endeavors to find forgiveness
for her offences, and a reconciliation with her injured master. Should
she fail in this, (and it is for her husband to decide whether she shall fail
or not, for there is no power to compel him to become reconciled, against
his will, in that manner which it has been decided to be within the inten
tion of the law,) then, at the expiration of that time, a divorce a vinculo
matrimonii is decreed, as a matter of course, upon the mere filing of the
petition, setting forth the previous judgment, and that no reconciliation has
been had.
How different—how lamentably different is all this from the well-estab
lished policy of the common law, to preserve inviolable the sacred relation
of husband and wife !—to impress upon society the solemn and indissoluble
character of that contract which lies at the foundat ion of the well-being of
a community ; to erect about the conjugal relation barriers which may not
be thrown down, nor easily overleaped; and, by the imposition of a salu
tary restraint, to teach and enforce the performance of the social duties.
Compare the policy of the civil law, as evinced by the articles of the code,
with that announced by Lord Stowell, when presiding in the Ecclesiastical
Court of England. “ The policy of our law,” (says that profound master
of this branch of jurisprudence,) “ is not that limited humanity which looks
only at individuals : it is that real and extended humanity which regards
the general interests of mankind. If it were once understood that, upon
mutual disgust, married persons might be legally separated, many persons
who now pass through the world with mutual comfort, with attention to
their common offspring, and to the moral order of civil society, might have
been, at this moment, living in a state of mental unkindness—of es
trangement from their children, and in a state of the most licentious and
unreserved immorality. In this case, as in many others, the happiness of
some individuals must be sacrificed to the general and greater good.
When people understand that they must live together, they learn to soften,
by mutual accommodation, that yoke which they know they cannot break.
They become good husbands and wives, from the necessity of remaining
husbands and wives ; for necessity is a powerful master in teaching the
duties it imposes.”*
It is gratifying to turn from this branch of the subject to that, the consid
eration of which was the particular design of this article—viz : the provi
sions of the civil law upon the rights and duties of husband and wife, on
the subject matter of property.
It cannot be expected that a cursory review of this nature should enter
at any great length into the details of a system which constitutes so large
a portion of the civil code. Some of the general principles of that system
Evans vs. Evans, 1 Consistory Rep., 33.
Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
169
only can be noticed, by which the reader will perceive the fundamental
differences between the civil and common law of this domestic relation.
The civil code regulates the conjugal association, in relation to property,
in the absence of particular agreements, which the parties are at liberty to
stipulate as they please, provided the stipulations be not contrary to good
morals ; be not in contravention of the legal order of descents in what
concerns the inheritance of their children or posterity, or of their children
as between themselves ; and provided that such stipulations be made by an
act before a notary and two witnesses.
The property of married persons, by the civil code, is divided into sep
arate property and common property.
Separate property is that which either party brings in marriage, or
during the marriage acquires by inheritance or donation to him or her par
ticularly.
Common property is that which is acquired by the parties during mar
riage, in any other manner than by inheritance or donation.
The separate property of the wife is divided into dotal and extra-dotal.
Dotal property is the dowry, or marriage portion, and consists of the effects
which the wife brings the husband, to assist him in bearing the expenses of
the marriage establishment. The extra-dotal property consists of the pa
raphernalia of the wife, which form no part of the dowry;—this is called
the paraphernal property.
And first, as to the common property. Every marriage contracted in
Louisiana superinduces a partnership or “ community of acquets and gains”
between the parties, if there be no stipulation to the contrary ; and the
same partnership in property exists by law between persons going there
to reside who were married elsewhere, with respect to property acquired
during their residence. Of this partnership, the husband is the head and
administrator ; but his disposition of the moveables or immoveables of
the community is restrained within certain legal limitations. As in any
other partnership, the debts contracted during marriage enter into the
community acquets, and must be acquitted out of the common fund ; while
the debts of both husband and wife, anterior to the marriage, must be
acquitted out of their own personal and individual effects.
Upon the dissolution of the marriage, by the death of either party, all
the effects possessed by the husband and wife, reciprocally, are presumed
to be community property, unless satisfactorily proved to be separate pro
perty ; and upon such dissolution, the partnership property is divided into
two equal portions, (the community debts being first paid,) between the
surviver and the heirs of the deceased. If the wife be the surviver, she
has the right of renouncing the community, if, during its existence, she
took no active part in its administration. This renunciation must be made
within a time limited, and with certain formalities. If not made, or if not
made in good faith, or legally, judgment may be rendered against her as
a partner ; which can be satisfied from her individual, separate property,
if the community property be insufficient.
As has been before stated, the partnership in property, of the husband
and wife, exists in the absence of any agreement of the parties. It may
be modified or limited by contract entered into with the solemnities re
quired by law. In case it is stipulated that the partnership shall not exist,
the wife preserves the exclusive and absolute control and administration
of her moveable and immoveable property, and the free enjoyment of her
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Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
revenues. In case of such separation of property, each of the married
persons contributes to the expenses of the matrimonial establishment in
the manner fixed by the marriage contract; and, if no terms of contribu
tion are there agreed upon, the wife contributes to the amount of one-half
of her income.
Upon the decease of the husband or wife, his or her heirs, if of age, may
demand the moiety of the community property belonging to the deceased.
If they are under age, the surviver of the partnership, as the natural tutor
or tutrix of the heirs, has the administration of the property during their
minority ; after which, he or she is liable to account for the faithful exe
cution of the tru st;—and, as security for faithful payment to the heirs of
the full amount to which they are entitled, they have a tacit and legal
mortgage upon the immoveable property of the tutor or tutrix.
If the wife be the surviver, and marry again, her second husband be
comes co-tutor with her of the minor children of her deceased husband,
if the advice of a “ family meeting,” duly called, in the manner prescribed
by law, has been first obtained in the premises.
With regard to the separate property of the wife-—and first, the para
phernal. All her property which is not declared to be brought in mar
riage by her—to be given her in consideration of the marriage, or to
belong to her at the time of the marriage, is paraphernal. Of this pro
perty she has the sole administration, and may dispose of it as she pleases,
of whatsoever it may consist. If she has allowed her husband to admin
ister it, she may, at any time, withdraw it from his hands ; and if, not
withstanding her opposition, he persists in its administration, he is ac
countable to her for all the fruits of the property, as well those that exist
as those that have been consumed. She has a legal mortgage upon the
immoveable property of her husband, as security for the payment of what
soever comes into his hands from such administration.
The dotal property or the dowry of the wife is her separate property,
which she brings in marriage to assist in defraying the expenses of the
establishment. Of this property, the husband has the administration.
Whatsoever is declared by the marriage contract to belong to the wife,
or to be given her on account of the marriage by other persons than the
husband, is part of the dowry. During the marriage, dowry can neither
be settled nor increased.
Of what the dowry may consist—by whom, and in what manner, it may
be settled— how the parties are bound by whom the dowry is settled—
when the interests of the dowry commence—how, by whom, and when
the dowry may be recovered—are subjects provided for in great detail by
the various articles of the code ; but they may not be of sufficient interest
to the general reader to justify the space which would be necessarily taken
in their consideration.
The manner in which the restitution of the dowry and dotal effects of
the wife is secured to her, is a subject of the greatest importance, as af
fecting the rights and interests of those who may become the creditors of
the husband; and it is this subject to which the attention of the reader is
particularly directed.
The 2,355th article of the civil code, provides that, “ the wife has a
legal mortgage on the immoveables, and a privilege on the moveables of
her husband, to w it: 1st. For the restitution of her dowry, as well as for
the replacing of her dotal effects which she brought at the time of her
Law o f Debtor and Creditor in Louisiana.
171
marriage, and which were alienated by her husband—and this, from the
time of the celebration of the marriage ; 2d. For the restitution or re
placing of the dotal effects which she acquired during the marriage, either
by succession or donation, from the day when such succession devolved to
her, or such donation began to have its effect.” A legal mortgage is one
which exists tacitly, without a written instrument, by mere operation of
law.
The article 2,399, of the civil code, declares that “ the wife may, du
ring the marriage, petition against the husband for a separation of prop
erty, whenever her dowry is in danger, owing to the mismanagement of
her husband, or otherwise, or when the disorder of his affairs induces her
to believe that his estate may not be sufficient to meet her rights and
claims.”
Now, that the importance of these rights and privileges of married
women, in Louisiana, may be fully appreciated by those who are, or may
become creditors of their husbands, it may be well to suppose a case, not
only which may occur, but which is very likely to occur under the juris
prudence of that State. It would be hazarding little to say, that such
cases are by no means o f rare occurrence.
A young man, being about to enter into the bonds of matrimony, in
New Orleans, resolves, at the same time, to go into commercial business
in that city. The parents of his intended wife are reputed wealthy—how
many such there are ! The parties go before a notary public, and there
a marriage contract is executed in due form of law. The intended wife
brings to her future husband, as her dowry, which has been settled upon
her, the sum of twenty thousand dollars. In the presence of the notary
and the legal number of witnesses, this is actually paid into the hands of
the future husband, as the wife’s dowry. (It may have been borrowed for
that purpose, for an hour or two, from some banker—but to prove this !
hoc opus est /) All this is duly, and fully, and legally set forth by the no
tary in the marriage contract; the parties retire, and in due season the
marriage is solemnized, and the husband goes into business. He goes
North to purchase his goods—no man’s credit is better than his—he has
married a rich wife—she has brought him a handsome dowry—the mar
riage contract shows it—his credit is unlimited—his purchases are ac
cordingly. But, poor fellow !—he soon becomes embarrassed. “ His af
fairs are in disorder,” owing to “ his mismanagement, or otherwise,” and
the trembling wife “ is induced to believe that his estate may not be suf
ficient to meet her rights and claims.” She files her petition represent
ing these facts— they are proved. The husband, poor fellow ! does not
deny them—he can’t deny them—his conscience would not allow such a
denial; and after due proceedings she obtains a judgment against him for
a separation of property—for the twenty thousand dollars paid him as her
dowry, which is in danger—and the payment of this judgment is privi
leged, as by article 2,355 of the code already cited, upon all the moveable
and immoveable property of her husband ; a privilege, which rides over
all the claims of her husband’s creditors—a privilege, which absorbs all
the property which her husband has purchased at the North, and which is
barely sufficient to meet “ her rights and claims,” and defray the costs of
the proceedings— so improvident has the young man been in the manage
ment of his affairs ! All that the creditors, in such case, would get for
their judgment against the husband, would be a dear-bought knowledge
of the civil law of husband and wife.
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Origin o f Atlantic Ocean Steam Navigation.
Art, V.— ORIGIN OF ATLANTIC OCEAN STEAM NAVIGATION.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MERCHANTS1 MAGAZINE. ETC.
I s the Merchants’ Magazine of December I notice some remarks upon
the inscription on Capt. Roberts’ monument, erected in Cork, with some
observations upon the Savannah, and a letter, said to have been written by
Mr. Rush, respecting a conversation with the captain of the Savannah.
As materials for history, it is important that facts should be correctly
recorded.
In the first place, it is not true that the Savannah was built as an ocean
steamer.
In the second place, it is not true that she ever did cross the Atlantic by
steam.
In the third place, it is not true that she could cross the Atlantic by
steam—and therefore she has no claim to the credit of being the first
steamer that crossed the Atlantic.
She was constructed with a view of selling her to the Emperor of
Russia, for a coasting craft on the Baltic Sea, and in furtherance of that
speculation proceeded from Savannah, touching at Liverpool, to St. Petersburgh. When that enterprise failed of success, her career as a steam vessel
terminated—therefore it is manifest that she was not built for an ocean
steamer.
2d. Soon after her arrival at Liverpool, I happened to be in Liverpool
myself, and went on board of her, examined the machinery, as well as the
vessel, and was then informed that she steamed six or seven days, which
corresponded with the length of her passage, and was necessary to try and
prove the efficiency of her machinery. At that time I had not the slight,
est idea of navigating the ocean by steam, nor have we any evidence that
such an idea was entertained or broached by the public. It is worthy of
remark, that Mr. Rush’s letter of 1845, stating what the captain told him,
that the engine worked horizontally, is not true in fact. I saw i t : it
worked at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the horizon; and
therefore the captain, or Mr. Rush, or both, are in error in this particular,
and the error throws discredit upon the man’s statement that she steamed
eighteen days, which I suppose must require very strong faith to credit.
At all events, it is admitted that she did not steam across the Atlantic.
3d. The Savannah, if my memory does not betray me, had three masts,
was completely rigged as a sailing vessel, and of small capacity—and if
the statement of the captain, as recorded by Mr. Rush, be true, that she
was only two hundred tons burthen, it is apparent to any one acquainted
with steam navigation, that she could not carry fuel enough to steam her
half across the Atlantic; and therefore the argument that she wras not
constructed for an ocean steamer is perfectly conclusive, because it was
impossible for her to perform that duty; and that fact must have been as
well known by any engineer before her trial, as after. With the power
of sails her engine was carried over the Atlantic, but with the pow'er of
steam on board, the engine could never carry the ship across. No pre
tension was made in Liverpool, or in any other quarter, at that time, that
she was designed for an ocean steamer, or that she either did or could
cross the Atlantic by steam— and this fact goes far to show the absurdity
of the claim now attempted to be substantiated. She was no more an
Origin o f Atlantic Ocean Steam Navigation.
173
ocean steamer than the coasting craft which surrounded her in Liverpool,
and the only point of curiosity was, that she stood before the public as an
American coaster, and not a British.
It was not until the Sirius made the first steam voyage across the Atlan
tic, and excited universal enthusiasm, that the pretensions of the Savannah
were obtruded upon the public notice. At the time of the Savannah’s
voyage, and up to 1832, no practical idea of navigating the ocean by
steam was entertained or promulgated ; and even at the latter date it was
scouted on both sides the Atlantic as a wild, visionary, moonshine enter
prise. I apprehend no valid evidence can be produced to show that the
navigation of the Atlantic by steam-power was ever contemplated or
deemed practicable until 1832, when the project was first submitted to
several eminent merchants of New York, and declined by them, with the
ever memorable characteristic declaration, “ Go back to London, and if
you form a company there, and succeed in the enterprise, we will come in
and join you.” It was upon the strength of that assurance that the com
pany, when formed in London, was called the British and American
Steam Navigation Company—the design being to form a union of British
and American steam-ships in one line. The commercial crisis in the
United States frustrated that design.
Although the monumental epitaph of Capt. Roberts is a strong proof of
domestic affection, yet, as a public record, it would be in danger of con
veying erroneous impressions to the future historian, if he had no other
evidence and no other material from which to construct his story for pos
terity.
Capt. Roberts was an able and scientific navigator, but had no part in
originating and bringing into action the enterprise. On the contrary, he
was wholly unknown to the directors of the company, until he was called
upon to take command of the Sirius. These facts are too well known to
be controverted. The Sirius, and the Sirius alone, solved the great com
mercial problem of navigating the ocean by steam-power ; and so far as
credit is due to the commander of the first steam-ship that ever crossed
the Atlantic by steam, Capt. Roberts is undoubtedly entitled to that credit.
The true character and comprehensive results of ocean steam naviga
tion were not disclosed, until the successful experiment of the Sirius drew
aside the veil, and revealed the prospective advantages which hung upon
the skirts of the future. The popular mind was in a vein to jeer and
ridicule what was esteemed a chimerical and preposterous speculation,
and by no means prepared for the triumph of a new system of navigation,
which was to disperse the old. The prophetic current of the public sen
timent was on the side of failure, and scarcely a man could be found whose
doubts did not outweigh his expectations. Those who did not ridicule and
sternly oppose every step of the undertaking, stood aloof—they lent no
countenance or support to a scheme, as the Duke of Wellington called it,
which, in his judgment, was calculated only to disturb the established
usages of the country—although it pointed directly to extension of com
merce, the augmentation of the naval force of the empire, and the wealth
of nations.
I subjoin the note of the Duke of Wellington on this subject, because
it is characteristic of the man, and because it shows, in a strong point of
view, the light in which steam navigation was regarded at that time, by
gentlemen of the highest standing :—
174
Origin o f Atlantic Ocean Steam Navigation.
“ F. M., (Field Marshal,) the Duke of Wellington, presents his compliments
to Mr. Smith. The Duke has no leisure to receive the visits of gentlemen who
have schemes in contemplation for the alteration of the public establishments.
Junius Smith, Esq.”
The victory, therefore, achieved over so great a mass of prejudice, of co
ordinate interests and combined disparagement, was the more signal,
seeing it was not gained by statesmen and politicians, by the wisdom of
the learned, by the patronage of noble and aristocratical influence, by
the stirring spirit of republican genius, or the preponderating weight of
commercial opulence, more apt to follow than to lead. The domestic and
foreign relations of the country, the post-office, the army and navy, the
merchants and manufacturers— every man who had a country to defend, a
letter to write, or a bale of goods to ship, turned, as if by an instinctive
impulse, to the luminous prospect which brightened the horizon. Those
who lectured the loudest, and demonstrated to the satisfaction of their
listening auditors that it was impossible to navigate from Portsmouth to
New York by steam-power, saw the result falsified their theories, and
that no alternative was left but an absolute denial of the fact that they had
ever made any such declarations— a denial confronted by the evidence of
too many living witnesses to gain a moment’s credit. The new and rapid
means of international communication was fully appreciated. The atten
tion of government was, for the first time, awakened to the practical
importance of the new system of navigation, and the extent to which it
must inevitably lead. The old mode of transporting the mails, by gunbrigs and private merchantmen, was to be displaced by the Cunard line.
The Royal West India line, and projects for steam communication with
the East Indies, by the way of Good Hope, subsequently abandoned for
that of the Mediterranean, followed in close proximity.
Whilst this expression of public sentiment was in vigorous action in
Great Britain, the continent of Europe was no less agitated by the revo
lution which had been achieved by individual efforts. The mighty sea of
public opinion, which rolled its irresistible tide over the centre of com
mercial influence, was not restrained by its banks ; but, bursting away from
its primary limits, swept over the States of continental Europe with equal
force. Kingdoms clapped their hands, and nations followed the train of
events. France, Germany, and Belgium, in particular, since the ratifica
tion of peace upon the downfall of Napoleon, had been indefatigable in
their struggles to establish manufactures, to introduce machinery, and to
rival Great Britain in foreign and domestic markets. But they had much
to learn. It was no easy matter to supersede England in her great and
matured manufacturing establishments. The success of steam naviga
tion appalled and held in check the growing enterprise of the continental
States. It w’as manifest, that if merchandise could be transported to the
American market in fifteen days, the comparatively slow movement of
sailing ships, requiring forty or fifty days to accomplish the same thing,
must inevitably forestall the American market, and leave the continental
manufactures far behind her rivals in their commercial career.
France, strong in purpose, but weak in execution, planned and published
a comprehensive synopsis, embracing some of the most prominent com
mercial ports in the West Indies, North and South America, as the basis
of her commercial steam marine. But the whole project gradually died
away in the obscurity of night. Not a single ocean steamer was then, or
Origin o f Atlantic Ocean Steam Navigation.
175
has been since, fitted out by France for commercial purposes. But she
clearly recognized the power of steam as the means of strengthening her
naval marine, and directed her whole force to build up a steam navy that
would place her upon a more equal footing with her great rival. In this,
for a short time, she succeeded, and shot ahead of Great Britain in the
strength and power of her steam naval armament; but England, watchful
of every movement, was not to be deluded or overreached by commer
cial pretensions—she saw the object, and applied her superior skill to
the construction of larger and more numerous naval steamers, until she
stood as much before France in steam as she had before in sailing power.
Belgium made an unsuccessful attempt to share in the advantages of
steam commerce, which she did not want the sagacity to perceive—but she
had neither genius, nor engineering skill, nor capital, adequate to so great
an undertaking. It fell by its own gravity.
England had all three, and, rapidly extending her commercial marine,
monopolized the steam commerce of the world. She still holds that mo
nopoly. Not a seaport, foreign or colonial, that is not drawn within the
scope of her steam navigation opportunities. Her commercial policy of
seizing, adopting, and carrying out every invention and every improvement
which the genius of man spreads before her, has placed her at the head of
the commonwealth of nations. She upholds her supremacy by the best
means of securing it, and compels, in a civil way, even Americans to
come within the spreadings of her net-work.
The United States—what shall I say 1 I hardly dare trust myself to
speak of my own country in reference to this subject.
We have the ability, the acquirements, and the means, in an eminent
degree, to stand foremost in the race of competitors—but truth compels
me to say, we want the enterprise even to place our name upon the list.
The consequence is, the loss of a portion of our best trade, and the cheer
less prospect that the remainder will soon follow. Foreigners have already
engrossed almost the whole of the European importing business, and what
ever profits were drawn from that source, are now cast into the lap of
foreign manufacturers.
It is difficult to account for this extraordinary, apathetic, unnational delu
sion. It goes far to do away with the assumption of her commercial en
ergy and progressive greatness ; it rests upon the past and obscures the
future. No more certain sign of declension in commercial vigor can be
presented to the contemplation, than that of a nation falling back upon ancient
usages, and throwing aside the improvements of the age. It is an anomaly
in American history. It stands alone with a fearful augury. It seems to
indicate a feebleness of purpose, the existence of which no one is willing
to admit, and yet may find it hard to deny. The alacrity with' which
improvements in agriculture and manufactures are seized and appropriated,
contrasts strongly with the rejection of improvements in foreign trade, that
are, in the hands of others, undermining our national wealth. They—
agriculture and commerce— ought to go hand in hand, as the interest of
each is the interest of both.
Adventitious circumstances—as European wars, or short supplies of
food— may give a temporary impetus to foreign commerce ; but, as a
general principle, superior tactics in navigation, as in all other things,
must command and sustain an ascendancy in trade, and throw the less
skilful and less enterprising into the rear of nations.
176
Origin o f Atlantic Ocean Steam Navigation.
In 1839,1 came out in the British Queen from London, the first voyage
she made to New York; and with more assurance, perhaps, than the oc
casion would justify, informed my friends that, barring accidents, to which
all new machinery is liable, I would diue at my house in Sydenham, eight
miles from London, on the 15th of August. We sailed from Portsmouth
on the 12th of July, and arrived at the port of New York, Saturday, the
27th of July. After discharging, coaling, and receiving cargo, we sailed
for London in the afternoon of the 1st of August. On the 13th of August
we took a pilot in the English Channel, passed the Needles at daylight on
the 15th, and ran up to Portsmouth. The branch railroad thence to London
not being then completed, we embarked on board a small steamer for
Southampton, and arrived there in time for the London train. At four
o’clock in the afternoon we were in London, distributed the New York
journals for the press, and reached my house at Sydenham at six o’clock
precisely, the regular dining hour, not varying one minute from the time
specified previous to sailing from Portsmouth on the 12th of July. I was
absent from London thirty-two days.
This showed, in the first place, a voyage completed to the United States
and back, in less time than the average passage of the best sailing ships.
In the second place, that time was doubled by being abridged. Fifteen
days in steam commerce was equal to thirty occupied in sailing. The
toil of half a man’s life was compressed into the other half; so that, in
effect, if a man labored twenty-five years, he availed himself of fifty. In
the third place, it showed that commercial capital employed in foreign
trade, was, through the agency of steam, rendered capable of carrying on
double the commerce that was then carried on, or that half the amount of
capital employed would suffice for conducting the same amount of business.
Millions were created, applicable to foreign or domestic trade, seeing that
whatever portion of capital was relieved from one employment, was ready
to be applied to another. Answers to letters written to the merchants of
the United States a month before, were received in England and on the
continent of Europe by the same ship. Not only Great Britain, but all
Europe, was stirred from the foundations, and looked with intense interest
to the grand revolution which was achieved. It was no longer a matter
of doubt, or hypothetical speculation, but of undeniable evidence. The
past was forgotten in present realization. Men looked forward to the
prospective magnitude and practical importance of a new era in the af
fairs of nations—the approximation of States; the interchange of intel
lectual wealth ; the extension of civilization ; the facilities of commerce,
and the concentration of our wide-spread race into one. great Christian
community. Everybody saw a fact was developed, fraught with porten
tous consequences to the political and social institutions of Europe. In
deed, the influence of mind is already distinctly seen, in the melioration
of servitude, and the subdued tone of bigotry that tramples down the rights
and the conscience of man.
The materials for thinking are accumulated, the activity of intellectual
vigor strengthened, and the desire for the attainment of knowledge sharp
ened, in proportion to the facility of obtaining it. Thousands of cultivated
and contemplative intellects saw, or thought they saw, in the signs of the
times, traces of the approaching millennial period, when wars, and pesti
lence, and famine, shall cease to disturb the human family. Steam navi
gation, in conjunction with railroads, has given a mighty impetus to moral
Mineral Resources o f Missouri.
177
energy, which no previous period has ever witnessed, and which plainly
indicates the onward movement of corresponding events. It is remarka
ble, and ought not to pass away unobserved, that the eternal Jehovah, in
His inscrutable economy, has reserved these mighty engines of moral and
civil instruction, until the establishment and extension of innumerable be
nevolent societies, bursting away the barriers of local and ethical distinc
tions, seemed to call for their development. History and experience teach
us, that success in great undertakings is often the punishment of the pro
jector. But that is a risk, which every man who loves his country better
than himself, or the advancement of society more than his own, must take.
The world is wont to do least for those who do most for the world. Co
temporaries, as well as posterity, reap the harvest which others have
sow n; but the great end of Providence is answered, if the world be
benefited.
Now, let any one of common sense ask himself the question, if all this
effervescence of the public mind, which has been partially described, could
have happened, if there had been any previous idea of the practicability
of navigating the ocean by steam-power, much less if it had already been
accomplished ? Let him ask himself, if the pretence set up by the Sa
vannah is not a manifest pretence, originating long after the death of the
Savannah, and subsequent to the demonstration of a fact which gave birth
to the assumption ?
J. s.
Art. VI.— MINERAL RESOURCES OF MISSOURI.
M INERA LO G ICA L OBSERVATIONS IN T H E STA TE OF M ISSOURI, MADE BY DR.
LEW IS FE U C H T W A N G E R .*
F or mineral wealth, very few of the United States can excel the State
of Missouri; and, judging from the developments made within the last few
years, this State bids fair to vie, in valuable minerals, with both hemi
spheres ; for, with the exception of the two precious metals, the gold and
platina, most of the important and useful minerals and ores have of late
been discovered, and worked with the fullest advantage to the miner.
According to their intrinsic value, the following mineral substances may
be enumerated :—Lead, iron, copper, cobalt, silver, nickel, zinc and cala
mine, manganese and wadd, coal, rock-salt, barytes, sand and quartz, car
bonate and sulphate of lime, alumine and potters’ clay, fullers’ earth, varie
gated marble and oolite, saltpetre, and specimens of antimony, tin, tung
state of iron and lead, and diamonds, jasper, chalcedony, and felspar; gold,
also, is said to have been found.
I.
LE A D .
Having visited the various mining districts in Jefferson, Washington,
St. Francis, and Madison counties, and examined on my way the mines of
Mammoth lode, of Mr. Valle and Mr. Perry, around the town of Potosi,
and Mine la Motte, and obtained a specimen of lead from Mine a Joe, it
became manifest to me that they afford ample room for a scientific and
economical investigation; for although since their discovery (1715) lead
* Read before the New York Lyceum of Natural History.
12
VOL. XVI.--- NO. II.
179
Mineral Resources o f Missouri.
has been dug out by the French settlers, yet it was never worked to ad
vantage until the last ten or twelve years, since which time it has proved
highly lucrative, and has assisted to develop other metallic veins ; so that,
at the present day, this State is capable of supplying almost the whole
world with lead. The geologist will find that nearly all the metallic veins
run from northeast to southwest, while the mineral beds or patches lie
further w est; that is, the same direction exists in all, beginning with the
valuable mines on the Merrimac, (Virginia mines,) the Ridgwood’s, the
Mammoth, Perry’s, Valle’s, Mine a Joe, Mine la Motte, as far south as
Perryville, all of which have regular veins of six to eight inches in thickness,
and from ten to twelve feet in width, while the extensive mining district
around Potosi consists mostly in float mineral. In the first instance, shafts
to the depth of one hundred and ninety feet have (Valle’s) been dug, while
in the latter, the mineral has never penetrated more than fifty feet.
For about seventy miles, the rocks and hills are very lofty, (as at Bol
duc’s and the Mammoth mines,) and abound in the crystalline quartz, the
shape of which is quite characteristic in this part of the country, (at a
distance of about sixty miles from St. Louis.) It is, throughout, a drusy
quartz, very beautiful to look at, sometimes cellular and mammillary, or in
the shape of cauliflowers, and attached to chalcedony, and varies in size
from a few inches to many feet. The rocks, themselves, below the quartz,
are composed of—1, the cliff limestone, a compact magnesia limestone,
(equivalent to the Niagara limestone,) and— 2, a white compact sandstone,
(equivalent to the Potsdam sandstone of New York,) which is the geolo
gical position of the lead district. This cliff" limestone contains no fossils,
is amorphous, and contains about 50 per cent of lime, and 40 per cent of
m agnesia; but a rhombic, crystallized carbonate of lime, I have seen as
sociated intimately with the lead at Valle’s mine. In many places, where
the sandstone and the cliff" limestone do not accompany the lead, sulphate
of barytes may be seen in great abundance, forming either the gangue, or
the veinstone, and is not alone the guide for the miner in “ prospecting,”
(a term used in discovering mineral locations,) being in many places inti
mately mixed with the lead ore ; but also in several counties, such as in
Jefferson and Washington, whole mountains and large surfaces are com
posed of the barytes, which, at some places, is of dark color and coated
by oxyde of iron, but again, in other places, forms large deposits of the
very whitest semi-crystalline compact mineral, such as I have brought
specimens of) and presented to the society from Jefferson county, being of
a brilliant white color.
The lead found in this State, is either a carbonate, and passes under the
name of drybone, or a sulphuret, called, generally, galena, but here it
passes by the name of blue mineral; the first is found in great quantities
at Mine la Motte and Perry’s mine, and the attention of the miner and
smelter has only been drawn to it since the last ten years. It having al
ways been considered a tiff, (a term used for either carbonate of lime,
barytes, or fluorspar,) it was thrown aside as worthless, until a German
miner, who settled at Mine la Motte, bought up several millions of pounds
for a trifle, and reduced it by means of a high blast furnace; from that
time their eyes were opened, and it has attracted the attention ever since
of all the miners in the State, and on account of yielding more lead than
galena, (it yields 72 per cent pure metal,) it is now the principal material
for smelting. The blue mineral, or galena, occurs mostly massive ; but
Mineral Resources o f Missouri.
179
in some mines, such as Perry’s and at Potosi, it appears in cavities or fis
sures, and crystallized in the original form of a cube. I possess crystals of
three inches in diameter, obtained among the patch mineral, for no crystals
are obtained at any depth, nor in any regular vein, except at Rozier’s mine
at Perryville; the vein is four feet in thickness, and contains all the min
eral in a crystallized state ; this mine is situated at the most southern ex
tremity of the lead district. The quality of the blue mineral,' according
to locality, varies in richness, which appears to diminish on going to the
southeast, while it increases from the northwest. If we begin with the
per centage of the lead from Wisconsin, it yields, according to Dr. Owen,
84 per cen t; that from Potosi, yields from 70 to 80 p ercen t; that of Mine
la Motte does not exceed 66 per cent. The difference of per centage af
fects, at the same time, its commercial value ; for the lead smelters at Po
tosi pay $18 for 1,000 pounds of the blue mineral, while those at Mine la
Motte pay but $10 for 1,000 pounds of the same mineral. Likewise, the
difference in the quality is, according to the latitude, distinctly observable ;
for, at St. Louis, the Illinois lead was worth, while I was there, $3 75 per
100 pounds ; that from Potosi, $3 50; and that from Mine la Motte, but
$3 37 per 100 pounds. The lead from the upper mines, which includes
that from Potosi and neighborhood, stands generally highest, being of very
soft and pure nature, while Valle’s lead is known to be hard ; which I can
only attribute to its containing zinc, which is found intimately mixed, and
which, probably, although in small portions, enters into its composition ;
while that from Mine la Motte is considered still more inferior, probably
owing to some copper, which it more or less contains, and is carried over
mechanically in smelting, and by that means deteriorates it. The drybone appears to be more abundant at Mine la Motte, for I perceived the
same, heaped up and under operation, at nearly all the washing establish
ments. There are one hundred and fifty persons engaged here in digging
the m ineral; each miner is entitled by a lease to one lot of forty feet for
each hand he employs. It is mostly found in patches of from forty to sixty
feet, without any regular vein, and may at once discontinue; but when found
in a thick stratum, it forms the upper crust of the blue mineral at about
twenty feet from the surface, above the regular gangue of the cliff lime
stone, and not unfrequently in connection with the black oxyde of cobalt,
which, again, forms the roof of the drybone. On examining one of the
diggings, called the golden vein, I observed, for twelve feet from the sur
face, a red, ferruginous clay ; the next twelve feet, an ochre, containing
considerable manganese o re ; and three feet farther, a calcareous chert,
or green slate, between which, was a layer of about six inches in thickness
of drybone, and below the slate a regular deposit, from three to four feet in
thickness, of the blue m ineral; below that an ochre of twelve feet thickness,
and then another layer of the blue mineral, the bottom of which is again
the cliff limestone, which forms invariably the receptacle of the blue min
eral ; the same limestone contains also copper ore, sulphuret of cobalt,
and sulphuret of nickel.
There are yet a great many miles square belonging to the public lands
which contain lead, and many a poor man, if hard pushed, goes out pro
specting for lead, and has no difficulty in finding it. About six miles from
Potosi, in Washington county, I perceived an immense area, containing
barytes on the surface, and about one hundred pits from four to six feet
deep, which were all excavated and the lead taken out from them. But
180
Mineral Resources o f Missouri.
the lead mines are mostly owned by companies, or wealthy land-owners,
or such persons as possess a furnace ; they lease the mineral lands for a
bonus of 10 per cent of the crude mineral. I perceived around Potosi
a number of such lease patches, and on one, probably a rich spot, I saw
a lock and key on the shaft, and a number of black and white men en
gaged in raising the ore upon their leases, which they hold as long as
mineral can be produced. At Mine la Motte, however, the arrangement
between the proprietors' and lessees is altogether different. Here, the
latter have to pay the 10 per cent from the metal, or any other mineral of
a current commercial value, and no crude mineral is permitted to be taken
off the premises. Of course this regulation has of late become very oner
ous ; the various minerals discovered there, such as copper, nickel, sulphuret and oxyde of cobalt, either from want of materials or of means,
have not been made as lucrative to the miner as they would be if they
were allowed to export the ores to Europe.
Before the mineral is purchased or received at the furnace, it is properly
washed and selected by means of the washing establishments or shaking
apparatus, by which the ore is separated from the rock. Large troughs,
or tubs, of about six feet square, contain large metallic sieves fitted in them,
to which are attached some cranks that keep the square sieves shaking
the ore while they dip them in the tubs containing water. In this opera
tion, which lasts but fifteen minutes, all the minerals, if small enough, fall
through, and are deposited on the bottom; the larger minerals remain in
the sieves. In both, the rocky and other minerals, as well as the ore, will
fall down according to gravity; the blue mineral will be deposited first,
then the drybone, then the cobalt, and the lightest is the rock. After the
mineral has been assorted, it is ready for disposal or for smelting, and no
mineral is easier reduced than the ores of lead. The drybone is reduced
in a shaft, or blast furnace ; the air being thrown into the furnace by a
fan-blower of a ten-liorse power engine, and a small addition of the oxyde
of iron, whereby the carbonic acid of the drybone is transferred to the
iron, forming a carbonate of iron, and the lead runs out pure. The blue
mineral is reduced in a Scottish, or short furnace, with the addition of
charcoal and a little lim e; and by means of a strong blast, after a few
hours the metal is softened, and runs out in a large cauldron, from whence
it is poured out in pigs of from 60 to 70 pounds. The slags from the lead
contain still from 5 to 8 per cent, which are melted over in a slag furnace.
The lead so obtained at Mine la Motte and other places in the State of
Missouri, contains a small portion of silver, which has latterly attracted
the attention of English capitalists, who have, within a short period, purchased more than 1,000,000 pounds of the lead, in pigs; and although
100 pounds of the lead contain but half an ounce of silver, have, never
theless, extracted from that quantity 350 pounds of pure silver, equal to
$5,600, and reducing the value of the lead over half a cent per pound.
After putting the lead in its former shape, it commands the same price as
when first imported.
The process for extracting the silver, is called the crystallizing process,
is very simple, and attended with little expense. It is performed in the
following mode :—The argentiferous lead is melted in cast-iron pots ; and,
when perfectly fluid, the fire is removed, and the draught-holes closed tight.
After a little while, the lead mass is stirred by means of an iron bar. The
lead is now forming into small crystals, which are all gradually removed
The Lead Region.
181
by means of a ladle. This operation is continued till two-thirds of the
lead, according to the quantity of silver contained in the mixture, has been
taken away. The silver is now remaining, and may be refined by the
cupelling operation. The lead thus drawn off, contains but traces of sil
ver mechanically adhering to the crystals of lead. For this proof of ob
taining all and any quantity of silver contained in the lead, the loss of the
latter is but 2 per cent.
The quantity of lead produced in the State of Missouri, is very consid
erable. Not less than 9,000,000 of pounds were, in 1846, brought to
m arket; and if we consider that 3,000 pounds of pig lead are produced
every eight hours, (as Mr. Perry assured me he produces in his furnace ;)
that twenty furnaces are capable of bringing such a quantity to m arket;
while this State, in eight years, (from 1825 to 1832,) did not furnish over
5,000,000 of pounds, at the present price of lead, the above 9,000,000
are valued at $315,000.
Art. VII— THE LEAD REGION.
T he lead region of the Mississippi occupies not far from one hundred
square miles. The two principal towns are Galena and Dubuque,which are
both handsome and flourishing. The original possessors of this land were
the Sac and Fox Indians, who used to sell to the white settlers on the
frontier the ore which they often found upon the surface of their soil. The
first white man who went into the mining business, (which was on a small
scale,) was Dubuque. He was supposed to possess a cure for the bite of
the rattlesnake. He became a great favorite with the Indians, and for a
long time was the only man not of their blood whom they would suffer to
live upon their soil. After his death, they placed him in a leaden coffin of
their own manufacture, and buried him on the picturesque bluff which
bears his name ; and after this, they destroyed every vestige of his prop
erty.
In process of time, extravagant mineral stories were circulated through
out the country, and the general government purchased the Indian El
Dorado of its possessors. The first man who went into the mining
business at Galena, after the country had become our own, was Col.
Richard M. Johnson. Since that time, thousands of people, on various
occasions, have made and lost money in the mining business, which, from
the very nature of the case, is in reality a perfect lottery. Lead—lead, is
the burden of everybody’s song—and the quantities that are shipped to
St. Louis are truly immense, But a man may dig until doomsday, without
finding a lead, and consequently die a beggar—while another, in a few
months will realize a fortune, upon which he is too apt to retire, and squan
der at the gaming table, so that you also soon find him an idler, and in
want. One individual I have myself known, who came to Galena with
$500, and having labored with unceasing industry for about three years,
and expended his little fortune, when I saw him, had not the means to pur
chase a loaf of bread, and was utterly without employment. Notwith
standing the liberal mining regulations of the government, the fates were
against him, and he was compelled to give up his mineral dreams in
despair. Another individual, whom I saw at Galena, was remarkably
fortunate in his operations. A little more than a year ago he commenced
182
Mercantile Law Cases.
digging a certain hill-side, and the first thing he knew, his spade struck
against a solid mass of ore. He was encouraged, and proceeded in his
excavations, and, in the course of a single year, he sold a sufficient quan
tity of 80 per cent ore to amount to the sum of $23,000. His mine is
still yielding quite abundantly, and as it is probably the best in this region,
I will describe it in a few words.
After descending a shaft of some eighty feet in depth, you find yourself in
the centre of an immense cave, with chambers leading in various direc
tions. The walls and ceilings are mostly of pure sand, excepting where
an occasional solid mass of native lead glistens like silver, or gold, in the
torch-light. Square blocks of the ore, weighing from half a pound to one
hundred, all lie as accurately dovetailed together, as if placed by the hands
of a master-mason. While looking upon these singular masses, I could
hardly banish the thought from my mind, that we were in view of treasures
that had been hidden here in those days when giants inhabited the world.
When my curiosity was fully satisfied, I seized the rope, and with a pal
pitating heart passed upward out of the bowels of the earth into the
pleasant sunshine.
M E R C A N T I L E LAW CASES.
P R IN C I P A L A N D F A C T O R — C O N S IG N M E N T — A D V A N C E S — S A L E .
In the Court of Common Pleas of England, June 11, and July 6, 1846. Smart
v. Sand.
Where A. consigned goods to B., a factor, for “ sale and return,” and directed B. not to
sell them below a certain price, B. being in advance on account of said goods, gave no
tice that if the advances made by him were not repaid, he would sell the goods to repay
himself, and he did sell them accordingly below the price limited by A. Held, in an ac
tion brought by A. to recover the amount at which the goods had been limited, that the
factor had no right under the circumstances to disobey the plaintifFs orders, and that he
was liable for the balance.
This was an action of assumpsit, brought to recover of the defendant, a corn
factor, the value of a cargo of wheat, consigned by the plaintiff to the defendant
for sale. The declaration set out the consignment, and the order of the plaintiff
not to sell below a certain price, and averred the violation of the order on the part
of the defendant. The defendant pleaded that he was the factor of the plaintiff;
that he was under advances to a large amount to the plaintiff, on account of said
cargo of wheat; that while so, he gave notice to the plaintiff that these advances
must be repaid, and if this was not done, defendant would repay himself for said
advances out of the proceeds of said cargo, averring that the cargo was sold at
the highest market price, and produced less than the amount advanced. For a
further plea, the defendant pleaded that he had a lien, as factor, on the cargo con
signed to him, in respect to the advances he had made to plaintiff.
There were other pleas, not necessary to be inserted here, to show the grounds
of the opinion of the court. To these pleas there was a general demurrer, as
signing inter alia for cause, that if the defendants meant to insist that the ad
vances gave them a subsequent authority to disobey the plaintiff’s orders, such
authority should have been pleaded as the result of an express agreement, and
not have been left as an inference of law; and also, that the plea was an argu
mentative traverse of the promise, and amounted to the general issue.
In support of the demurrer, it was insisted, that as the factor’s power of sale
was not coupled with an interest, he had no right whatever to disobey the plain
Mercantile Law Cases.
183
tiff’s orders. The defendants may have a lien for their advances, yet this would
not give them authority to sell.
On the other side, it was contended that, in certain cases, when the factor has
made advances, after he has given notice to the principal, and those advances are
not repaid, there is an implied authority in law to sell without the assent of the
owner. To sustain this position, Story on Agency, 331, was cited and relied
upon. The opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, in Brown v.
M’Gran,* delivered by Mr. Justice Story, was also cited. It was contended also,
that where advances have been made, the factor’s power becomes enlarged, and
the consignment becomes a security for the money advanced.
Coltman, J., delivered the judgment of the court.
Let us first inquire, what are the relative positions of a principal and factor for
sale ? From the mere relation of principal and factor, the latter derives authority
to sell at such time, and for such prices, as he may, in the exercise of his discre
tion, think best for his employer; but if he receives the goods subject to any spe
cial instructions he is bound to obey them, and the authority, whether general or
special, is binding. This was not denied ; but on the behalf of the defendants, it
was contended, that where a factor has advanced money on goods consigned to
him for sale, the authority to sell is irrevocable, because it would be coupled with
an interest. That may be true; but it was incumbent on the defendants to main
tain also, that on the failure of the principal to pay such advances within a reas
onable time after demand, the authority of the factor was enlarged ; and that he
had an absolute right to sell at any time for the best price that can be obtained,
without regard to the interests of the principal, and without regard to the nature
of the authority originally given to him. No case was cited in which this point
appears to have been decided in any English court. In Warner v. M’Kay, (1
Mee. & W., 591,) it was incidentally mentioned; and, as far as any opinion of
the judges can be collected, from what passed, it would seem that Parke, B.,
thought that a factor might sell to repay himself advances, and that Lord Abinger
was of a different opinion; and certainly there is nothing there decided, that can
be treated as an authority for our guidance in this case. But we were referred
to a passage in Story’s Law of Agency. In the chapter on the Right of Lien of
Agents, he says, (s. 371,) “ In certain cases, where he has made advances as a
factor, it would seem to be clear, that he may sell to repay those advances without
the assent of the owner, (invito domino,) if the latter, after due notice of his in
tention to sell for the advances, does not repay him the amount.” For this, is
cited a decision of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, which refers to the case
of Pothonier v. Dawson, (flolt’s N. P., 383.) The latter was not an instance of
goods placed in the hands of a factor for sale, but of a party, in whose hands
goods were deposited to secure the repayment, at the time agreed upon, of the
money lent; in which case Gibbs, C. J., said, “ Undoubtedly, as a general propo
sition, a right of lien gives no right to sell the goods; but when goods are deposit
ed by way of security to indemnify a party against a loan of money, it is more
than a pledge. The lender’s rights are more extensive than such as accrue un
der an ordinary lien in the way of trade.” And he proceeds to say, that “ from
the nature of the transaction, it might be inferred that the contract was, that if
the borrower failed to repay the money, the lender might sell to repay himself.”
We were also referred to Story, on Bailments, chapter v., “ On Pawns and
Pledges,” (5 308,) where the rule of law is said to be, that if a pledge is not re
deemed within the stipulated time, by a due performance of the contract, the paw
nee may sell it in order to have his debt or indemnity.
But the relation of principal and factor, where money is advanced on goods
consigned for sale, is not that of pawner and pawnee, as they are delivered for
sale on account, and for the benefit of the principal, and not by way of security
or indemnity against the loan, though they operate as such, the factor having a
lien upon them, and upon their proceeds, when sold, to the amount of the claim
against the principal. The authority of factors, whether general or special, may
* 14 Peters, 480.
184
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
become irrevocable where advances have been made; but there is nothing in this
transaction, from which such a contract as described by Gibbs, C. J., can be in
ferred ; and the defendants were bound to prove a contract, if at any time the
goods were to be forfeited, or the authority to sell enlarged, so as to enable the
factors to sell at any time for the repayment of the advances, without reference
to its being for the interest of the principal to sell at that time and for that price.
Nor can we find any principle in law by which, independently of the contract,
such authority is given. On these grounds, it appears to us, the third plea is bad
in substance. It is unnecessary to consider whether the authority thus supposed
to be given to the factor, is to be construed as an enlargement of his original au
thority by some rule of law, or as arising from some implied condition annexed
to the original contract. In either case, it would be very doubtful whether they
should not be treated as identical. The contract laid in the plea, therefore, sets
up a defence which amounts to the general issue. For the reasons we have above
given, we think the third plea is bad, and the other special pleas are open to the
same objection; and our judgment must, accordingly, be for the plaintiff*
Judgment for plaintiff.
COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
COMMERCIAL LEGISLATION— THE SUB-TREASURY— SCARCITY OF AMERICAN COINS— IMPORTANCE
OF A SOUND NATIONAL COINAGE— UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT STOCK PRICES— TREASURY
NOTES— LEADING FEATURES OF THE BANKS OF BALTIMORE, BOSTON, NEW ORLEANS, AND NEW
YORK— EXPORTS FROM THE PORT OF NEW YORK— PRICE OF FLOUR IN NEW YORK, AT THE
CLOSE OF EACH MONTH----EXPORTS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES TO GREAT BRITAIN---- RECEIPTS AND
EXPORTS OF FLOUR AT NEW ORLEANS, BALTIMORE, PHILADELPHIA, AND NEW YORK, 1845,
’46----RECEIPTS OF PRODUCE AT CLEVELAND, OHIO, IN 1841, ’42, ’43, ’44, ’45, ’46—OHIO CA
NAL t o l l s , 1842, ’43, ’44, ’45, ’46— s h i p m e n t s o f f l o u r a n d w h e a t f r o m Mic h ig a n —
RECEIPTS ON NEW YORK CANALS, AT TIDE-W ATER, ETC., ETC.
T he year 1847 has commenced its career under singular circumstances. The
radical principles in relation to commercial legislation, which were, through the
ascendancy of the Democratic party, forced upon Congress, have been put in
practical operation, and mercantile affairs have been slowly accommodating them
selves to the new state of things. The position of the foreign markets has been
such as to promote external commerce, and the reduced tariff, which came into
operation December 1, 1846, has favored the entry of a larger quantity of goods
in return for enhanced exports. This state of affairs naturally produced a larger
revenue to the government at a time when the Independent Treasury law required
the collection of that revenue to be made in specie only; and the natural aversion
of all classes, the mercantile, particularly, to innovation, was heightened by the
extent of the operation of the Treasury Department under the new law. The
Sub (or Independent) Treasury law required, after the 1st January, 1847, the re
ceipt of specie, or government liabilities only, in payment of government dues.
Had there been none of the latter in circulation, specie would have been required
for the whole amount of duties. The law of July, 1846, authorized a loan of
$10,000,000, either in Treasury notes or a ten years’ stock. Of this amount,
one-half, or $5,000,000, was issued in the shape of Treasury notes, bearing in* The above case is taken from a number of the “ Jurist,” a legal periodical published
in London. It is gratifying to the American lawyer, to find Judge Story’s opinions fre
quently cited with great approbation in the argument of cases reported in this Journal.
W e are also pleased to see that the intrinsic merits of Mr. Phillips’ Treatise on Insurance,
have made his book very respectable authority in Westminster Hall.—Penn. Law Journal.
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
185
terest one-tenth of one to five and two-fifths per cent; and in November, the balance
of the loan was taken in a 6 per cent stock, at ten years, at a little over par. The
advantage of borrowing on a stock, is, that it shoves the payment ahead, and
makes the Treasury easy, as far as it goes, for the present. Notes, on the other
hand, enter into the currency, and add to the circulating medium, at the moment
of issue, instead of diminishing i t ; they, however, by returning to the Treasury
rapidly, deprive the government of its present cash means. On the 1st of Janu
ary, when the Treasury law came into operation, there were outstanding of these
notes, $3,933,250, and of old notes, $377,531, making $4,310,781. These notes
were mostly in the hands of the banks, which had gradually bought them up, an
ticipating a demand for them, instead of specie, to meet custom-house dues. Ac
cordingly, the payments into the custom-house appear to be in Treasury notes for
large sums, and specie for small ones. The scarcity of American coins adds,
however, greatly to the difficulty of counting and paying over specie by those un
accustomed to it ; and many display their ill-temper by paying in small American
coins—dimes and half-dimes—a process which requires great labor and consider
able time. These are, however, the little vexations which must necessarily at
tend the first workings of a new system. The labor and apparent inconvenience
which attends the first use, by the public, of specie in large sums, naturally makes
the system that requires it, to a certain degree, unpopular. The condition in
which the specie currency remains, is of itself evidence of the extreme neces
sity of some great struggle to correct it. The fact that, in the seventy-first year
of our existence as a nation, the currency of the country, instead of national
coins, consists almost altogether of foreign coinage depreciated 16 to 20 per cent,
and productive of great evils, is sufficient evidence that there has been wrong man
agement heretofore—that, through some neglect or misuse of its powers, Congress
has failed to “ regulate” the currency which commerce has furnished for the use
of the country. A sound national coinage is of itself the only firm basis for a
healthy credit system. With the channels of circulation well filled with national
coin, a broader and sounder fabric of credits can be reared, than can possibly be
the case when, as heretofore, the whole paper system has reposed on depreciated
foreign coins packed for export; and a sparse circulation of worn and clipped
pieces from foreign mints feebly co-operates with the credits of institutions. The
importance of this has frequently led to a general recoinage in England and
France, where national pieces are no longer a legal tender when worn below a
certain weight. But a few years since, all the light gold coin of Great Britain
was called in. To remedy existing evils, a great effort on the part of the people,
as well as the government, is necessary; and the co-operation of a mint in New
York seems to be indispensable. The demand of the government for a new loan
of $20,000,000, had the effect of inducing capitalists to husband their means in
the hope of obtaining it on favorable terms, while takers of the loan of 1856 were
induced to sell. The following is a table of quotations for United States govern
ment stocks, at various periods of the year:—
PRICES OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT STOCKS.
January 1.
April 4.
December 1.
January 16.
January 22.
6 percents, 1862, 108* a 110 110* a 110* 102 a 103 100 a 100} 101 a 1 0 1 4
6 “
1856,
a ------ ----- a ---1004 a 101 96} a 97
98 a 984
5 “
1853, 100 a 100* 101* a 102* 93} a 934 90 a 91} 91 a 92
Treasury notes, )
99}a 100 99}a 100
99} a 100
1 mill to 5f, J --- a ---- — a ----
186
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
Just before the breaking out of the war, in May, stocks were in demand and
rising. A 6 per cent stock, which was worth in April 110, would bring, January 16,
but 97; while the Treasury notes, bearing but a nominal interest, are in demand
at par, as a currency for custom-house uses. The value of government securi
ties has been depressed by their prospective abundance. The war has not, how
ever, tended, in any degree, to check the operations of commerce, or materially
interfere with financial or mercantile operations. The means adopted by Con
gress to raise the money required, partake closely of the nature of paper money,
and have so far influenced the value of the stock, as to cause them to rise 2 per cent.
The law of July, 1846, authorizing the issue of notes at a rate of interest not ex
ceeding 6 per cent, made them redeemable within the year, and receivable for all
government dues; and a new law authorizes the issue of $23,000,000, in denom
ination as low as $50, at a rate of interest not to exceed 6 per cent, and not to
be sold under par, to be reimbursed in one or two years, and be fundable on pre
sentation in a 6 per cent stock redeemable in twenty years. A peculiarity of the
new law is, that it pledges the proceeds of the public lands for the redemption of
the principal, and payment of the interest, on the new loan ; and it is made the
duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to apply any surplus receipts from the
lands, above the amount of the interest, to the purchase of stock at the market
value. The debt, including the loan of 1856, is about $27,000,000, and the new
loan of $23,000,000 will make $50,000,000, on which, the annual interest will
amount to about $3,000,000, which is near the sum of the proceeds of the public
lands for last year. The progress of business will probably swell the ordinary
revenues above the usual peace expenditure of the government, and the extent of
the public income from all quarters will doubtless suffice to keep $28,000,000 of
Treasury notes at or near par, more especially that quantities will be taken up in
internal exchanges, and most of the small denominations absorbed in private in
vestments. Should they fall below par, they will always be worth the value of a
United States 6 per cent stock, twenty years to run ; and the provisions of the
law, by appropriating the proceeds of the public lands for the payment of the in
terest and ultimate redemption of the stock, settles the vexed land question for at
least twenty years to come. Large quantities of the public domain will be ab
sorbed as military bounty lands. How far that will affect sales of land, is a
problem for time to solve. The probability is, that it will not diminish them much,
if any. The abundance of Treasury notes, and of small denominations, will ren
der nugatory the specie clause of the new Treasury law, and perhaps, as a matter
of state policy, no plan could, at this juncture, have been better devised as a
means of creating a demand for, and supporting, the government securities. Un
der the old law, Treasury notes were never resorted to for custom-house purposes,
unless the discount on them was so great as to make the saving an object. Un
der the present law, par is readily given as a matter of convenience. It is ob
vious, however, that, unless the notes can be maintained at par, the ability of the
government to pay them out ceases ; and an abundant issue may suddenly result
in an absolute loss of revenue, the receipts being all in notes too depreciated to
be again put out. The notes assimilate very much to government paper money,
and it is a trite saying, that such resorts are “ strength in the beginning and
weakness in the end.” It is, however, true, that paper money is an admirable
mode of imposing a war tax, and probably falls more equally on the whole people
than in any other form.
187
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
The following table indicates the position of the banks of four leading cities
at their latest returns, as compared with the same time last year:—
LEADING FEATURES OF THE BANKS OF FOUR CITIES, IN NOVEMBER.
1845.
Baltimore...................
Boston.........................
New Orleans.............
New York..................
Loan3.
Specie.
Circulation.
Deposits.
$9,677,773
30.945,887
7,112,541
44,163,470
$1,885,336
2,773,930
6,162,080
8,074,030
$1,856,641
5,929,248
2,555,896
6,419,013
$3,167,180
8,809,536
7,334,173
27,159,115
'$18,915,376
$16,752,798
$46,469,994
Total..................
1846.
Baltimore.................... ....
Boston.........................
New Orleans..............
New York..................
$10,143,299
29,814,647
8,943,799
38,533,810
$1,861,500
2,437,072
6,577,998
7,113,070
$2,159,149
6,373,686
3,167,171
6,192,514
$3,113,750
6,806,373
7,561,590
22,812,755
Total, 1846.......... ....
“
1845..........
$87,435,555
91,899,671
$17,989,640
18,915,376
$17,892,520
16,752,798
$40,294,468
46,469,994
$4,464,116
$925,736
$1,139,722
Decrease.................
$6,175,526
The general business of the Union has been progressing, and large sales, at
advancing prices, have continued to characterise domestic produce. The Eng
lish demand for food, arising, as is now pretty evident, not so much from a supply
less than ordinary, but a consumption greater than usual, continues steady and
active. The export of quantities from the port of New York, for a series of
years, has been as follows:—
EXPORTS FROM THE PORT OF NEW YORK.
Apples..........................
Ashes, Pots...................
Ashes, Pearls................
Beef..............................
Beeswax........................
Brandy......... half pipes and casks
Butter............................
Cassia............................
Candles, Sperm............
Candles, Tallow...........
Cheese...........................
Cheese............................
Clover Seed..................
Cocoa............................
Coffee............................
Cordage.........................
Corn...............................
Corn Meal........... hhds. and bbls.
Cotton...........................
Cotton Goods...............
Logwood.......................
Fustic............................
Nicaragua.....................
Cod, Dry...................... .
Mackerel........................
Herring......................... .
Flaxseed.......................
Flour..............................
Flour, Rye................... .
1841.
1844.
1845.
15,016
43,041
2,584
36,048
7,154
294
48,034
28,947
11,856
23,326
8,964
62,112
1.561
13,071
19,401
2,559
51,301
28,715
164,354
30,435
7,014
1,281
196
40,559
3,859
5,898
4,131
274,881
8,798
13,463
40,532
9,706
61,648
6,387
6,485
28,761
14,380
10,383
27,791
11,241
77,173
3,519
7,304
54,702
3,805
242,886
36,650
325,460
21,930
7,817
779
121
42,653
2,276
6,467
3,924
347,249
6,669
14,439
46,724
9,567
55,552
4,595
4,803
28,884
17,414
10,559
36,637
5,935
113,698
6,477
5,637
43,706
3,993
304,292
28,650
262,445
22,323
9,694
1,145
179
36,694
4,485
4,602
14,586
469,520
9,257
1846.
15,888
29,914
4,909
66,539
4,575
4,743
44,209
8,468
14,460
37,519
13,182
162,712
6,186
4,573
8,719
2,557
1,489,459
113,659
187,536
33,905
7,342
806
47
30,943
6,943
4,624
5,616
1,193,428
12,145
188
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
EXPORTS FROM THE PORT OF NEW YORK— CONTINUED.
Gunpowder................
Hams and Bacon.......
Hides..........................
'H ops............................
Lard.............................
Lead............................
Shooks........................
Boards......................... ............ M.
Staves........................
Hoops.........................
Shingles......................
Nails...........................
Rosin..........................
Spirits Turpentine__
T a r..............................
Turpentine.................
Oil, Whale..................
Oil, Sperm...................
Pepper........................
Pimento.......................
Pork............................
R ic e ............................
Rum ............................
Soap............................ .
G old............................
Silver.......................... ...........
Sugar, Refined...........
Tallow.........................
Tobacco.....................
Tobacco......................
Tobacco......................
Whalebone.................
W h eat.........................
Whiskey.....................
W ool...........................
1843.
8,293
8,235
53,633
2.842
188,687
1844.
11,821
9,481
45,615
3,098
198,094
23,769
4,748
3,239
1,000
1,761
9,248
82,844
1,702
35,374
202,049
2,567,916
472,563
2,187
5,247
48,962
28,100
1,767
29,322
5,688
4,619
1,797
2,423
7,857
105,225
2,127
26,049
207,908
2,368,966
380,332
5,111
3,305
90,772
23,628
4,235
44,114
1,375,526
5,313,357
19,121
11,827
5,525
8,150
15,487
13,668
58,282
736
106
9,066
4,102
12,989
11,799
14,521
44,885
70
64
1844.
17,753
5,095
46,396
3,059
84,819
25,784
35,844
9,188
7,365
1,338
2,200
8,797
99,950
4,112
31,983
237,252
3,117,984
900,244
3,644
9,933
76,481
23,922
3,671
31,720
1,047,670
2,009,718
46,310
7,410
3,527
7,706
20,954
24,431
304,654
1,038
3,120
1846.
14,980
14,297
55,924
5,402
209,024
12,502
44,870
4,254
5,670
1,272
1,936
8,655
93,324
12,539
27,032
147,930
1,001,266
601,274
1,302
3,672
82,363
26,734
2,890
31,387
821,898
667,451
7,495
8,121
4,794
12,710
8,348
15,858
1,477,356
2,202
1,690
The increase in many of these articles is very marked, and has given employ
ment to a large amount of tonnage at very favorable rates and remunerative
prices. The following is a table of the monthly exports and prices:—
EXPORTS FROM THE PORT OF NEW YORK MONTHLY, WITH THE PRICE OF FLOUR AT THE
CLOSE OF EACH MONTH.
1846.
1845.
Flour.
Price.
Wheat.
Corn.
Flour.
3,902
400
13,202
84,444
142,115
58,991
13,370
7,247
18,703
20,084
6,672
7,190
4,702
6,118
6,647
4,293
75,837
133,429
13,316
6,388
14,656
17,122
24,881
27,351
21,495
50,272
60,616
59,473
71,773
102,277
4.87
4.874
4.75
4.68
4.624
4.68
4.31
4.754
4.62
6.25
7.00
5.75
46,591
9,276
25,813
64,339
51,053
125,816
100,780
99,664
151,765
222,380
303,121
276,758
112,607
201,220
10,581
17,444
92,756
95,089
26,259
7,231
117,949
195,182
367,350
245,791
69,613
41,153
37,152
64,497
70,633
131,027
102,550
77,586
86,895
163,967
115,161
232,894
304,654
304,292
469,520
Wheat.
January.
February
M arch...
A pril__
M ay......
June......
July.......
August..
Sept’ber.
October.
Nov’ber.
Dec’b e r.
1,600
Increase,
Corn.
Price.
5.624
5.50
5.50
5.37
4.50
4.06
4.18
4.00
5.00
6.00
5.37
5.62
1,477,356 1,489,459 1,193,428
1,172,702 1,185,167 723,908
In order to show the exports to Great Britain from this port, for six months
weekly, we append the following table:—
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
189
EXPORTS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES FROM NEW TORE TO GREAT BRITAIN, WEEKLY, W ITH
TOTAL EXPORTS FROM THE PORT, FOR THE SAME TIME.
Flour.
49,117
13,653
11,937
10,130
6,045
10,968
13,700
14,340
17,380
2,480
July
Wheat.
50,137
Corn.
6,541
4,836
9................
16................
23................
29...............
Aug’t 6................
14...............
20...............
27...............
Sept’r 4 ...............
12...............
18...............
24...............
Oct’r 2 ...............
9 ................
15...............
22................
’
30...............
Nov’r 6................
13................
20................
27................
Dec’r 4 ...............
11................
18...............
25................
31................
14,800
12,560
23,890
30,724
12,555
12,975
15,696
20,743
8,807
33,716
30,850
25,236
44,063
35,330
29,338
23,554
20,573
25,440
111,532
56,073
51,488
44,876
46,067
70,819
36,151
57,947
11,603
11,169
18,264
31,801
10,219
47,751
57,929
6,951
67,109
68,785
81,666
104,065
44,746
14,482
80,355
38,103
26,982
T o ta l..;................
Total ’45, 6 mos.
500,733
779,353
365,909
902,524
1,154,468
303,054
733,257
959,762
231,026
Oats.
Meal.
9 ...............
16...............
23................
29...............
Aug’t 6 ...............
14...............
20...............
27................
Sept’r 4 ................
12...............
18...............
24................
Oct’r 2 ................
9 ...............
15................
22................
30................
Nov’r 6................
13...............
20................
27 .............
Dec’r 4 ...............
11................
18................
25................
31................
Rye.
17,029
THE
Barley.
25,310
21,460
22,989
14,728
11,217
10,170
10,250
27,668
33,460
47,295
83,315
Whale Oil.
July
2,515
251
•• ••
7,061
9,365
10,671
17,029
589,061
24,283
Sperm.
13,654
3,602
6,758
29,863
34,753
47,649
Whalebone.
6,546
1,000
250
1,900
31,466
685
106
597
1,459
3,499
2,922
17,000
4,432
1,196
•
Total................
Total ’45, 6 mos.
3,398
3,630
2,741
6,936
5,835
24,028
89,096
30,640
54,658
12,845
........
8,083
24,296
6,671
31,222
104,660
589,257
1,432,138
35,105
12,712
21,913
11,947
7,905
18,542
3,613
9,337
32,850
13,686
42,018
19,533
18,760
28,986
25,901
16,462
6,582
9,648
40,297
12,332
61,905
382,821
330,590
187,775
1,024,900
451,109
1,214,225
190
Commercial Chronicle and Review,
The English demand absorbed nearly all these quantities. The following is a
comparative table of the quantities shipped to Great Britain, for the year ending
June 30:—
610,625
30.
Lead.
3,368,085
610,625
3,368,085
EXPORTS OF CERTAIN ARTICLES TO GREAT BRITAIN, FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE
969,306
37,078
8,'860
Wheat.
848,607
57,349
68,442
688,719
78,026
425,960
Weal.
15,772
642
33,750
1,015,244
974,398
1,192,702
50,164
35,335
20
2,010
134,898
1
811,445
1
811,445
Flour.
England.......
Ireland........
T otal....... .
Corn.
Wool.
1845.
England.......
790
T otal.......
35,355
2,010
135,688
The quantities of corn and meal sent to Ireland direct, have become important,
and that, doubtless, will be an increasing trade. The following is a table of the
receipts and exports of flour, at four leading ports, for the year ending Dec. 31:—
FLOUR— EBLS.
RECEIPTS.
FOREIGN EXPORTS.
1845.
1846.
New Orleans.....................
Baltimore............................
Philadelphia.......................
New Y ork.........................
599,836
563,632
475,449
1,963,150
1,020,816
794,105
753,252
1,548,394
Total........................
3,602,076
1845.
79,266
238,900
2t)l,956
469,520
5,116,167
989,642
1846.
372,112
516,504
364,812
1,193,428
2,446,656
The exports from New Orleans are to foreign ports other than Cuba. The
large increase in exports has not sufficed, however, to sustain prices under the
enhanced receipts, the free outlet having been restrained by lack of freights.
The inmost avenues of communication have felt the influence of the external
demand. The following is a table of the receipts of produce at Cleveland, on the
Ohio canal, for a series of years:—
RECEIPTS OF PRODUCE AT CLEVELAND, VIA OHIO CANAL.
W heat...
Flour.....
P ork......
Coal.......
A shes....
Butter....
Bacon....
Lard.......
W ool................
Iron & n ails....
Pig Iron..
Corn.......
1841.
1842.
1,304,421
441,425
29,794
478.370
100,111
1,403,280
58,168
1,881,271
9G1,161
107,805
3,905,417
968,160
1,311,665
492,711
52,272
466,844
584,851
1,115,056
260,202
1,267,245
1,311,185
199,803
3,172,872
1,924,386
1841.
1844.
1845.
1846.
813,356 1,000,079
205,581 1,672,340
577,369
511,710
352,732
368,355
13,177
36,653
19,948
42,996
387,834
560,842
886,880
893,806
1,082,733 1,399,694 1,060.973
660,983
1,008,387 1,206,935 1,087,184 1,341,333
215,819
90,010
1,926,666 1,722,628
863,911 1,494,821
1,649,835 1,546,365
722,734 1,073,444
391,138
848.916
961,982
970,709
7,008,140 6,945,746 ,
>9,122,o22 11,527,908
2,891,551 2,103,740 i
164,967
527,270
MERCHANDISE CLEARED AT CLEVELAND.
59,773
49,456
44,310
79,579
Salt.........
52,501
58,952
Merch’dise.. lbs. 15,164,747 10,091,803 12,822,725 11,843,265 JO ,886,708 10,796,123
1,532,129 1,789,422 2,964,955 2,429,720" 1,711,753 1,116,578
Gypsum.
Cheese ..
30,854
77,551
A curious item here, is the fact, that the receipts of cheese at Cleveland have
ceased, and it is now shipped inland. It is observable, that the export of merchan-
191
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
dise, by canal, has declined annually since 1843!
canals is as follows:—
The revenue on the Ohio
OHIO CANAL TOLLS.
1841.
$387,442 22 $324,259 81
58,460 34
68,640 09
4,085 13
8,291 42
5,866 13
35,922 36
15,355 27
22,349 98
3,712 27
4,349 33
610 17
640 32
T otal........... $475,531 53 $464,423 31
The expenses, &c., are about $250,000.
GO
1842.
Ohio C anal....
Miami.............
“ Extene’n
Wabash &. Erie
Muskingum....
Hocking..........
Walhonding....
1844.
$343,710
77,844
12,723
48,569
29,384
5,286
1,976
8,746
1846.
99 $252,199 01
25
74,319 78
22
32,007 47
20
73,907 44
64
38,461 26
44
4,519 73
78
1,183 82
55
6,612 66
$328,018
116,665
$473,211 47
$595,474
$528,262 07
110,521
34,037
5,145
1,090
The increase on the Wabash, is mostly from Indiana business. The shipments
from Michigan, for several years, have been as follows:—
SHIPMENTS FROM JIICHISAN.
TOLEDO.
FJour.
1842,.........................
1843,
...... ........
1844,
................
1845;................ ........
1846,................
37,280
59,368
38,070
86;382
Wheat.
110,730
187,800
38,548
565,711
753,211
MONROE.
9,310
41,699
Wheat.
79,455
121,107
67,369
155,108
218,906
372,847
Flour.
DETROIT.
Flour.
Wheat.
180,210
263,083
296,170
225,431
464,092
98,923
106,181
112,352
230,608
114,397
The crop of Michigan is estimated this year at 9.000,000 bushels; of which,
near 2,500,000 are accumulating in store for spring navigation. Of these large
lake productions, considerable quantities seek the New York canals by way of
Oswego, whence the clearance by canal is as follows:—
1845, ........
1846, ........
Flour.
Wheat.
Corn.
Butter.
Cheese.
Lard.
bbls.
bushels.
bushels.
lbs.
lbs.
lbs.
379,383 119,572
471,318 433,446
9,268 2,884,671
347,747 2,664,553
3,678,038
4,868,026
Bacon.
lbs.
160,186 ..............
553,063 548,356
All these streamlets uniting upon the New York canals, have produced a great
volume of trade, as expressed in the following table:—
1844.
00
CANALS.— RECEIPTS AT TIDE WATER.
Forest.
Quantity.
Quantity.
Value.
Boards & Scantling__ ft.
708,749 $873,436
832.200
Furs and Peltrj\...
232,434,700 237,924,666 4,044,720
Shingles.................
78,125
72,120
234,390
Timber................... ....ft.
921,982
498,534
2,492,668
Staves...................
97,533,000 139,754,800
628,898
Wood..................... .cords
86,258
16,550
17,696
Ashes.....................
80,646
69,668 1,393,860
Agriculture.
Pork........................
45,153
571,637
63,646
B eef......................
67,699
50,000
507,743
Bacon.....................
1,631,700
118,299
Cheese...................
26,674,500 27,542,861 , 1,921,000
Butter.....................
21,825,455 3,055,564
1 22,596,300
L ard......................
3,064,800
245,184
W ool......................
9,504,039 2,946,252
5 7,762,300
Hides.....................
293,009
36,277
Flour...................... •bbls.
2,517,250 14,021,081
2,222,204
W heat..................... bush.
1,620,033 1,941,869
1,262,249
1846.
Quantity.
Value.
817,150 $1,021,385
260,335,271 4,422,936
69,822
244,378
1,798,168
251,096
106,152,500 1,513,432
11,832
59,160
46,812 1,076,904
80,093
800,925
45,600
364,800
4,000,500
290,037
35,560,118 2,844,537
21,477,657 3,220,633
6,721,000
498,810
8,866,376 2,571,415
340,900
42,613
3,063,441 15,470,271
2,950,636 3,366.141
192
Commercial Chronicle and Review,
CANALS.— RECEIPTS AT TIDE WATER— CONTINUED.
1844.
Quantity,
Rye..........................bush.
62,239
17,861
Corn.........................
Barley..................... .
818,472
Other Grain............
1,166,524
Bran and Ship-stuff.
1,177,489
Peas and Beans......
21,176
Potatoes..................
18,263
Dried Fruit..............
1,299,400
Cotton......................
79,600
Tobacco..................
318,900
Clover and Grass-seed...
4,594,800
Flax-seed.................
3,114,000
Hops.........................
1,319,700
Manufactures.
Domestic Spirits....£jails.
1,191,317
3,909,000
Leather....................
Furniture..................
2,177,400
Bar and Pig Lead...
6,422,600
Pig Iron..................
Iron ware.................
Domestic Woollens.
867,200
Domestic Cottons...
1,584,600
Salt........................... bbls.
175,013
Merchandise............
492,300
Other Articles.
Stone, Lime & Clay. lbs. 50,159,800
Gypsum....................
1,801,800
Mineral Coal..........
18,480,700
Sundries...................
54,722,400
Aggregates.
Forest...................... tons
Agriculture..............
Manufactures..........
Merchandise............
Other Articles..........
T otal.....'..........
1845.
1846.
Quantity.
Value.
Quantity.
157,438
35,803
1,137,917
1,294,609
1,067,665
66,175
145,569
360,966
66,800
670,900
3,161,200
8,303,960
874,200
$111,002
21,479
671,371
491,951
160,150
70,145
58,076
32,477
5,177
80,508
221,284
166,079
157,356
321,799
1,610,149
1,427,953
1,920,800
1,468,232
96,800
230,939
1,502,900
445,100
2,609,100
1,094,400
5,283,700
1,690,500
$232,304
1,126,854
813,933
710,474
220,181
96,800
114,686
135,261
34,495
313,092
76,608
131,943
185,955
1,588,601
444,809
15,363,925 2,765,507
2,561,624
256,162
223,500
8,940
41,800
140,546
8,031,218
313,800
328,918
223,611
19,592
182,574
265,222
48,830
1,923,390
719,787
180,035
276,872
63,170
26,933
47,116
2,633,256
4,665,398
944,900
1,407,529
1,879,446
172,968
505,708
186,615
1,900,029
582,628
147,023
88,497
1,426,549
5,160,654
2,226,114
489,800
10,574,740
10,892,243
1,219,091
1,425,340
2,324,774
692,442
3,594,322
55,344,593
12,263,800
47,798,300
83,237,259
83,016
27,666
119,406
3,329,490
44,200,033
12,084,100
10,846,600
90,841,614
Value.
545,202
383,363
39,957
246
62,625
607,930 7,759,596
447,627 27,612,291
49,812 6,432,259
253
88,497
99,321 3,559,658
603,010 8,589,291
628,454 33,662,818
46,076 4,805,799
1,795
276,872
82,982 3,770,476
1,031,395
1,204,943 45,452,321
1,362,319 51,105,256
This volume of produce has kept the business of the canals in great activity.
The total business of the canals has been, for several years, as follows:—
Tons.
1839.
1840.
1841.
1842.
1843.
1844.
1845.
1846.
1,435,713
1,416,046
1,521,661
1,236,931
1,513,439
1,816,586
1,977,565
2,150,144
Value.
$73,399,764
63,303,892
92,202,929
60,016,608
76,276,909
90,921,152
100,624,859
115,732,780
Tolls.
$1,616,382
1,775,747
2,034,882
1,749,196
2,081,590
2,446,374
2,646,181
2,758,249
A large portion of this increase, of tonnage, it will be seen, is in vegetable food,
of that description which has formed so large a proportion of the increased ship
ments to England. The following is a table of the value of certain articles of
produce, delivered on the New York canals, and of the same articles shipped to
Great Britain, and the total shipments from the United States :—
Commercial Chronicle and Review.
1845.
1846.
Received Exported to Total from
on Canals. G. Britain. U. States.
Beef Tallow....
Pork, bacon,&c.
Butter & cheese.
Wheat..............
Flour.................
Com..................
Meal..................
Rye and Oats...
H ops................
250,009
572,814
4,050,634
1,211,759
9,999,918
8,931
43,506
171,561
777,906
643,705
338,647
20,160
745,436
43,893
102
8,996
1,810,551
3,236,479
758,829
500,400
6,759,488
404,008
641,029
133,477
16,309,123 2,568,845 14,214,261
Increase.......
193
Received
on Canals.
364,800
1,589,772
6,065,170
3,366,141
15,470,271
1,126,854
232,304
185,955
Exported to
G. Britain.
Total from
U. States.
1,354,341 2,474,208
768,266 3,883,884
531,085 1,063,087
1,056,325 1,681,975
5,186,677 11,668,669
797,176 1,186,663
190,073
945,081
638,222
142,694
41,693
10,917
28,421,267 10,037,554 23,583,482
12,112,144 7,468,709 9,339,221
Seventy-five per cent of the amount of the increased receipts of the canals
was exported from the Union; and that the remainder was in excess of the home
wants, is evident, from the fact, that prices are less than at the same period of
last year.
The nature of the trade is such now, as to warrant anticipations of a rapid in
crease ; and, from the fact of the high freights and possibly diminished quantity
of cotton to be exported, greater facilities for transportation may be looked for.
Such a result will allow of greater remuneration to growers. The prices of cot
ton continue to advance; and while those planters who have entirely lost their
crops will suffer, by those who have a fair supply, as is the case in the Atlantic
States, a most profitable year will doubtless be experienced. The general move
ment is such, as to lay the foundation of a large future trade. Thus far, the
spring trade has opened fairly*
To ship-building, particularly, a great impulse has been imparted by the growth
of the export trade, and the consequent high freights which have been obtained
during the past year for transportation of produce, while the low tariff holds out
greater prospects of return freights. Up to the 22d of January, the arrival of du
tiable goods at the port of New York was $4,610,997, against $2,428,691, in the
same period last year, being nearly 100 per cent. As a consequence, the duties
have been $1,201,830, against $745,100; presenting the fact, that the duties un
der the new tariff average 4 per cent only less than under the old ; that is to say,
the duties this year are 26 per cent against 304 last year. The prospect of an
improved business in the spring and fall, has induced great confidence among im
porters. Tlie Secretary of the Treasury has, with the view to facilitate business
in the warehouse, appointed Mr. D. H. Barhydt as a register of goods ware
housed, with the view to issue certificates of deposit on goods placed in bond, spe
cifying the quantity, packages, and value. These certificates may be available
in the market to small capitalists, as security in procuring discounts, inasmuch as
that their return is necessary to the release of the goods they represent. By
these means, the importer of small capital can command on these warrants dis
counts, and they will become the best possible description of security for loans;
or the goods may be sold outright, as securely and satisfactorily by means of these
warrants, as if the articles themselves were taken out of warehouse and exposed
for sale. In fact, by such a warrant, the importer holds in his hand his goods, ,
either for sale or discount, as securely, and as easily transferable, as his dollars
in bank are disposed of by check.
13
VOL. X V I.---- NO. I I .
194
Commercial Statistics.
COMMERCIAL
STATISTICS.
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF N E W YORK,
FOR THE YEAR ENDING ON THE
30tH OF
DECEMBER,
1846.
W e commence this statement with an account of the value of the exports and imports
of merchandise in each month of the year, as taken from the custom-house books. It
will be seen that the total exports, in 1846, were $36,423,762 ; exceeding those of 184&
by $3,532,100, and those of 1844 by $1,795,322 ; which were larger than any former year.
VALUE OF IMPORTS, IN 1846.
VALUE OF EXPORTS, IN 1846.
For. goods
dutiable.
Months.
January.............
February,..........
March................
April,..................
May,...................
J u n e ,.................
July....................
August,.............
September,.......
October,............
November.........
December..........
4,842,884
4,177,952
8,657,793
4,105,393
4,160,360
4,605,527
5,411,595
7,585,427
5,272,923
2,738,997
2,568,183
4,279,813
Do. free.
Specie,
For. goods Do. not
dutiable, dutiable.
^
Domestic
goods.
376,905 43,221 124,575 36,857
474,360 96,779 120,355 52,248
1,092,476 62,225 122,072 66,216
2,228,878106,544 195,518114,927
1,300,751 27,286 208,562 85.850
1,239,006 29,122 223,504 93,058
729,235 54,879 122,403 40,414
826,815 44,882 167,772 39,484
600,849 10,044 305,860 82,309
991,449 69,809 296,240 74,199
719,215 139,392 247,930 60,357
537,496 61,346 118,345 65,876
$
1,939,412
1,673,242
1,463,529
1,998,736
2,529,096
3,745,687
2,876,015
2,413,782
2,238,101
3,354,142
3,510,269
4,211,300
Specie.
$
21,762
126,70(1
257,781
519,599
291,041
None.
80,463
57,589
2,255
70,350
7,680
None.
58,406,847 11,117,435 745,529 2,223,136 811,795 31,953,611 1,435,220
11,117,435
2,223,136
745,529
811,795
1,435,220
Total imports,
70,269,811
Total exports,
STATEMENT OF IMPORTS INTO THE PORT OF NEW YORK, FOR
Brandy,.... .half pipes
q. c sks & bbls.
Coal,..........
Cocoa,......
Cochineal,.
Coffee........
Cotton,.....
Duck..........
.................pieces
Earthen-ware,.. crates
and cask
Figs,.........
Glass,.......
G in ,.........
Hemp,......
Hides,....... .........bales
........... No.
Iron, bar,..
piff,.
sheet, hoop, &c.
Indigo,....
Lead,.........
Molasses,..
1846.
1845.
4,824
4,047
35,116
5,969
480
382,268
289
322,456
1,659
3,474
8,622
7,286
53,236
7,269
741
312,362
62
356,749
1,193
7,970
29,417
35,893
1,574
2,356
43,623
145
694
566,446
15,390
17,371
49,864
997
1,164
293,796
73,822
5,168
32,537
140,747
2,150
2,501
51,009
730
768
703,282
19,597
28,937
55,484
2,069
1,667
385,214
62,506
5,780
36,423,762
1845-46.
1846.
1846.
Molasses,............. bbls.
23,557
33,127
01. oil,.................casks
231
1,102
bxs. and bask.
11,807
32,915
Pepper,................ bags
21,245
16,579
Pimento,......................
7,066
20,782
Rags,................... bales
11,730
14,331
Raisins,.............. casks
7,962
11,729
............. boxes 354,732 304,642
............drums
3,305
2,122
Rice,.......................tcs.
36,443
34,631
1,300
1,972
Rum,.......... puncheons
Salt,.....................bush. 1,303,6631,055,509
Saltpetre,............. bags
9,295
18,599
Sugar,................ hhds.
67,238
88,268
577
................... tcs.
1,626
................. bbls.
7,242
17,039
.................. bxs.
85,744
22,958
................. bags
37,652
38,771
Tobacco,............hhds.
17,674
8,998
. boles & cer.
14,916
17,191
Wine, butts and pipes
1,289
883
. hhds. & hf. do.
12,415
8,155
qr. casks,..........
41,691
27,361
Ind. bbls...........
11,293
6,811
19,911
boxes...............
10,692
19,514
22,272
W ool,................. hales
Commercial Statistics.
195
FOREION ARRIVALS AT THE FORT OF NEW YORK.
Colonel T horne, of the United States Revenue Service, furnishes the following list of
arrivals at the port of New York, from all foreign countries, for the year ending Decem
ber 31st, 1846:—
Nation.
Ships. Barks. Brigs. Schrs. Galliots. St’mers. Arm.vess. Total.
American,................
475
584
277
234
I,o20
British,....................
50
48
198
78
.......
6
580
Bremen,...................
20
28
16
3
67
Swedish,..................
2
9
29
I
41
Hamburgh,*..............
8
13
5
26
French,...................
5
3
7
15
Norwegian,............
]
12
7
1
21
Dutch,......................
3
4
8
3
.......
2
20
Danish,.....................
1
4
2
9
16
Portuguese,...............
1
7
8
16
Prussian,..................
8
4
12
Austrian,...................
2
6
1
9
Sardinian,.................
1
6
2
1
10
Belgian,...................
3
1
4
Russian,...................
2
1
3
Brazilian,................. .
1
4
5
Genoese,...................
1
1
Mexican,...................
1
1
2
New Granada,..........
2
1
2
5
Central America,......
1
1
Oldenburgh,.............
2
2
Tuscany,.................. .
1
1
Mecklenburgh,..........
1
1
Spanish,.....................
.......
1
1
2
4
Chilian,.....................
1
1
2
Peruvian,..................
1
1
Venezuelian,.............
1
1
Lubeck,.....................
1
1
Colombian,................
1
1
H aytien,...................
1
1
Sicilian,.....................
3
1
4
Total,.................
571
425
901
COASTWISE ARRIVALS
Months.
January...........................................
February.........................................
M arch.............................................
April.................................................
M ay.................................................
Ju n e .................................................
July...................................................
August..............................................
September.......................................
October............................................
November.......................................
D ecem ber......................................
Ships.
382
NEW YORK,
3
7
4
2, e 93
1846.
Barks.
Brigs.
Schrs.
9
11
25
11
14
14
19
6
10
11
12
27
43
44
45
39
42
51
39
44
40
45
38
50
317
284
379
515
339
355
349
189
255
335
225
177
Aotal.
375
356
475
600
423
433
425
253
318
416
297
292
Whole number, as above,...............................................................................
Which, added to the arrivals from foreign ports,........................................
4,663
2,289
Makes a total for the year of.........................................................................
Whole number last year,................................................................................
6,952
7,843
Decrease,................................................................................................
891
11
17
26
35
28
13
18
14
13
25
22
38
N ote.'—In the above, no sloops are included; which, if added to the many schooners
from Virginia and Philadelphia, with wood and coal, which are never boarded, owing to
the remoteness of the points at which they come in, would make the number much greater.
196
Commercial Statistics,
COMPARATIVE VIEW OF ARRIVALS AND PASSENGERS IN DIFFERENT TEARS.
Years.
1840,.......
1841,.........
1842,.........
1843,.......
No. of arrivals.
1,953
2,118
1,960
1,832
Pass’gers.
62,797
57,337
74,949
46,302
Years.
1844.........
1845........
1846,.......
Pass’gers
61,002
82,960
115,230
No. of arrivals.
2,208
2,044
2,293
TOBACCO TRADE OF N E W YORK, IN 1846.
A correspondent of the “ Journal of Commerce” furnishes the following statement of
the tobacco trade of New York, for the year ending December 31st, 1846. It will, we
, doubt not, prove interesting to many of our readers:—
STATEMENT OF THE TOBACCO TRADE OF NEW YORK, FOR THE TEAR
1846.
Delivered in January,...... ........
it
February,..... .......
(t
March,........ ........
U
April,...........
(4
May,............
«*
June,............ .......
((
July,............ .......
((
August,........ .......
CC
September,.. .......
«(
October,....... .......
(«
November,..,.......
((
December,...
Total,...................
Kentucky.
326
253
451
627
640
552
343
453
602
1,180
1,270
541
Va. and N. C.
0
17
16
4
25
75
121
?96
196
161
170
74
7,238
1846.
Ohio,
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
20
3
27
12
0
Md.
0
0
1
11
0
0
4
9
3
8
0
24
71
60
955
STATEMENT—CONTINUED.
January 1, stock on hand,. .......
Deceived in January,....... .......
it
February,......
1C
March,......... .......
1C
April............. .......
mi
May.............. .......
((
June, ........... .......
CC
July...............
CC
August,......... ......
CC
September,....
CC
October,...... ......
CC
November,... ......
Cl
December,.... .......
S to c k
3,357
250
53
202
310
409
312
664
770
1,184
935
287
305
190
40
1
0
18
56
206
227
223
267
400
71
276
6
0
0
0
0
0
11
16
4
17
20
1
33
1
6
0
7
0
0
0
13
6
6
0
33
12
9,058
7,238
1,975
955
108
71
84
60
1,820
1,020
37
24
on hand 1st January, 1847..........
2,901
STATEMENT— CONTINUED.
K y.
Stock on hand, January 1, 1844,.................
CC
CC
1845,...............
cc
“
1846................
CC
CC
1847,...............
6,128
3,985
3,357
1,820
V a .a n d N . C . O h io .
195
326
171
1,020
3
0
18
37
M d.
T o ta l.
0
10
9
24
6,396
4,321
3,555
2,901
I t would seem, from the foregoing statement, that the tobacco trade of New York is;
in a rapid state of decline.
197
Commercial Statistics,
COM MERCIAL NA VIGA TION O F G REAT BRITA IN .
ENTRIES AND CLEARANCES OF COLONIAL AND FOREIGN SHIPPING.
The following is a return of the number and tonnage of British shipping entered in
wards at ports of the United Kingdom from British colonial ports, and cleared outward
therefrom to such ports, in each year, since 1820:—
Y e a r.
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,...............
ENTERED INWARDS.
Tonnage.
Ships.
2,532
2,473
2,772
2,856
3,014
2,991
2,564
2,880
2,974
3,043
3,104
3,148
3,286
3,326
3,633
3,512
3,534
3,534
3,698
3,887
4,160
3,283
3,909
4,151
5,685
656,213
649,041
723,113
757,659
810,478
926,308
711,313
784,693
829,727
842,795
870,869
875,419
912,441
922,856
1,040,091
1,040,244
1,078,681
1,111,260
1,162,684
1,251,826
1,364,517
1,067,485
1,304,236
1,375,705
1,895,529
CLEARED OUTWARDS.
Tonnage.
Ships.
2,698
2,709
2,751
2,983
3,086
2,903
2,779
3,113
3,092
3,143
3,284
3,402
3,433
3,483
3,573
3,685
3,446
3,781
3,865
4,376
4,352
3,538
4,161
4,979
5,046
663,145
670,140
702,628
764,761
808,711
771,152
735,180
823,891
819,148
850,132
884,295
920,081
906,501
950,011
1,012,076
1,047,727
1,013,967
1,168,011
1,187,147
1,365,228
1,383,760
1,127,520
1,357,129
1,604,029
1,706,835
The following is a return of the number and tonnage of British vessels entered inwards
from ports of foreign powers in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, respectively, and
cleared outwards to such ports, in each year, since 1820 :—
Y e a r.
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,...............
ENTERED INWARDS.
T onnage.
Ships.
6,669
6,857
6,647
6,844
8,657
7,451
8,755
8,437
7,683
8,306
9,429
8,012
7,774
8,197
8,290
8,579
9,202
9,866
11,169
11,139
11,734
12,760
12,779
13,082
13,817
863,891
930,282
931,790
941,447
1,248,475
1,027,862
1,282,628
1,205,983
1,098,438
1,219,949
1,390,223
1,185,425
1,151,481
1,228,864
1,250,665
1,334,285
1,407,365
1,525,331
1,785,401
1,782,216
1,835,495
2,047,882
2,070,660
2,112,006
2,289,744
CLEARED OUTWARDS.
S h ip s.
T onnage.
5,766
5,768
5,393
5,553
6,133
6,152
6,948
7,331
7,125
7,707
8,640
7,895
7,900
8,015
8,219
8,532
8,919
10,004
10,932
10,997
11,835
12,830
12,806
12,837
14,008
757,295
800,091
771,058
811,595
904,848
881,048
1,066,748
1,089,045
1,040,042
1,156,468
1,318,971
1,205,031
1,230,642
1,223,949
1,277,386
1,368,822
1,420,008
1,600,755
1,785,641
1,803,478
1,912,699
2,103,414
2,137,440
2,122,742
2,427,552
198
Commercial Statistics.
COMMERCE OF CHINA IN 1845-46.
We proceed to compile from our latest files of papers received from China, a compre
hensive view of the commerce of the several ports, so far as it can be gathered from the offi
cial reports of British consuls residing in Canton, Shanghai, &c.
The following abstracts of trade under the British flag, at Canton and Shanghai, shows the
immense, and, as compared with 1844, the fast growing discrepancy between the amount of
British imports and exports, which, says the Chinese Mail of May 7, 1846, we leave to be
accounted for by those who have hitherto maintained that China had not produce enough
to satisfy its demand for foreign manufactures.
ABSTRACT OF TRADE UNDER BRITISH FLAGS, AT THE PORTS OF CANTON AND SHANGHAI, IN
1845, AS COMPARED WITH 1844.
Canton............
Shanghai.........
Imports.
10.392,934 15,506.240
5,822,494
2,313,873
Exports.
20,734,018 17,925,360
5,838,882
2,267,430
15,415,426
26,572,900
17,820,113
20,192,790
In crease in 1845.
Imports.
D ecrease
Imports.
5,113,306
2,708,621
Exports.
2,808,658
3,571,445
2,708,621
6,380,103
5,113,306
Next to the English ranks the American trade ; but as there are no published returns,
except those by the British consul of Canton, we can only judge of the transactions at that
port, which in value have increased very considerably. According to the official report of
F. C. Magregor, the British consul, the United States imports at Canton are as follows:—
1844, in 57 vessels, of the burden of 23.273 tons,...............
1845, in 83
“
“
38^658 “ ................
$1,320,170
2,478,048
Showing an increase in 1845, over 1844, of 26 vessels, and 15,385 tons; and in value
more than 100 per cent, ($1,157,178.)
The export trade of the Americans is equally remarkable with that of the import, as
will be seen by the following exhibit:—
1844, in 49 vessels, of the burden of 21,600 tons,...............
1845, in 85
“
“
37,959 “ ................
$6,686,171
7,979,834
Increase in exports.................................................
$1,293,663
Great Britain and the United States enjoy the largest portion of the Chinese trade; that
of other foreign countries with China is comparatively insignificant; but as several Euro
pean nations have only opened a direct commerce with China since the late war, it is im
possible to say to what extent it may be carried, or how far they may rival the commerce
of those countries who have been longer in the trade. The entire foreign trade for 1844
and 1845 is comprised in two short tables, a reference to which shows at a glance what
progress has been made during the past year at the port of Canton; and we believe that,
with the exception of the English and Americans, foreigners have almost confined their
operations to that port.
The following table, confined exclusively to Canton, shows the amount of trade at that
port, under British, American, French, and other flags, during 1845, as compared with 1844.
FOREIGN TRADE OF CANTON, DURING
1845.
1844.
Flag.
British............
American.......
French...........
Dutch.............
Danish...........
Swedish.........
German.........
Lorchas.........
Others............
Imports.
10,392,934 15,596,240
2,478,468
1,320,170
8,318
33,823
77,751
231,708
19,871
51,990
114,817
18,234
123,530
5,743
825.060
614,824
22,482
60,517
Total $(a)4s.4d.
14,062,811 17,843,249
1845.
1845,
COMPARED WITH
1844.
Exports.
20,734,016 17,925,360
7,979,864 6,686,171
93,010
37,136
635,533
572,188
141,129
179,615
153,688
419,973
122,888
219,596
7,522
163,688
9,002
30,566,426 25,513,949
1844.
Increase in 1845.
Imports.
D ecrease.
Exports.
2,808,658
1,293,693
55,880
63,345
141,129
25,927
297,085
212,074
154,686
Imports.
5,112,306
1,582,484 5,052,477
5,362,922
1,157,878
96,583
117,767
210,236
25,505
153,957
32,119
38,035
Commercial Statistics.
199
The trade of Foo-chow-foo for the year, is quite insignificant. The gross amount of
import is £72,147 17s., of which £67,820 Is. 4d. was carrried away by the ships which
brought it, so that the actual sales of British goods were £4,327 15s. 8d.; the exports, in
th e a g g r e g a te , being £683 4s. 3d. The Americans appear to have been more successful
at this port. They imported in three vessels, goods amounting in value to £11,513 19s. 10d.,
of which £4,235 16s. 2d., from Hongkong, was probably on British account; and their
exports were £776 os.
The returns from Shanghai exhibit a great increase—though scarcely greater than was
anticipated. The imports for 1845 are £1,082,207 against £501,335, the previous year;
the exports, £1,259,091, against £487,528. In cotton goods, the imports exceed those of
Canton, the respective quantities being:—Shanghai, 1,283,875 pieces; Canton, 875,020.
In 1845, Shanghai imported 426,563 pieces of cotton fabrics; there is, therefore, an increase
on the year of upwards of 850,000 pieces.
It is matter of regret that the United States has not taken measures to procure, through
its consuls, accurate statements of the trade, &c., of the several ports of China. This ne
glect should be remedied; almost all our information on the subject is derived from the
pains-taking officials of the British government.
EXPORT OF TEAS FROM CHINA TO THE UNITED STATES,
F rom
30 th
J u n e , 1845, to ls£ J u l y , 1846; w i t h e x p o r t o f S i l k a n d S u n d r ie s to th e U n ite d
S t a t e s , i n 41 v e s s e ls ; d e r iv e d f r o m th e “ C h in ese R e p o s ito r y .”
1845.
Vessels.
Airone...................
Huntress.............
Tonquin...............
Inca......................
Panama ................
Heber...................
Howqua...............
John (4. Adams. -.
Ann McKim........
Mary Ellen...........
Montreal...............
Horatio.................
Clarendon.............
•Lenox...................
Date.
September
“
October
November
“
“
“
December
“
“
“
“
“
“
13,
23,
24,
13,
28,
30,
30,
9,
6,
23,
26,
27,
29,
30,
Y. Ilvson.
55,478
148,823
1,667
341,260
250,138
324,078
321,831
152,597
153,431
381,205
322,288
433,479
63,171
Hyson. H. Skin. Twankay. G. Powder. Imperial.
....„
729
18,031
10,761
2,400
5.366
12,465
3,080
25,732
2,850
2,850
13,076
61,018
47,608
20,722
23,233
19.346
5,325
8,732
3,906
18,196
8,3 J4
1,940
11,340
14.950
26,293
93,411
27.311
20,045
17,667
24.829
45,047
22,857
8,140
62,131
69,645
9,449
7,112
42.503
36,811
15,573
14,300
47,316
49,194
25,794
58,577
36,913
51,765 108,695
79.610
54,007
.... .
1846 .
2,
7,
14,
“
14,
“
17,
“
19,
“
20,
“
24,
“
31,
February 8 ,
“
“
25,
“
25,
March
2.
“
9,
“
23,
“
30,
April
1,
24,
“
28,
May
8,
“
15,
1.
June
“
21.
“
23,
“
27,
310,887
270,103
210,720
470.356
230,635
186,625
52.597
260,702
177,767
273,428
288.900
203,311
165,382
404,268
191,184
24.203
185,658
373,151
241,418
247,494
192,370
189,890
86,474
217,609
59,517
168,648
Total Pounds. •
Season of 1844-45, “
“
“
1843-44, “
“
8,633.731
9.171,298
6,800,419
Henry....................
Montauk...............
Eliza Ann.............
Cohota..................
Leland..................
Oneida..................
Grafton.................
Rainbow..............
Geneva................
Ann Maria...........
Loochoo...............
Natchez................
T a rtar...................
Paul Jones...........
Medora................
Wissahickon.........
Lucas....................
Helena..................
Douglass.............
Zenobia................
Albion..................
John G. Coster---Jas. Boorman.......
A kbar...................
Candace................
T . W . Sears.........
January
“
11
12,584
5,838
11,003
19,313
19,058
77,392
22,292
10,716
31,985
95,193
20.387
24,662
39,030
68.910
44,376
10,628
60,729
23.842
47.929
48.081
29,556
4,353
42,449
28,638
7,645
4.364
13,545
39,289
19,005
16,240
20,259
3,427
6,953
61,703
33,661
11,482
74,496
32,401
100,094
21,704
97,092
30,657
107,145
9,168
34,881
77,500
75.897
25.593
68,456
32,100
48,258
905,566
358,915
539,794
47,397
52,308
11,236
56,886
24,749
36,490
41,201
67,856
20,338
41.551
128,321
62,198
79.204
78,156
15,181
14,595
90,717
49.,922
47,852
69,985
100.749
37,653
59,205
50,434
32,719
43,358
24.570
33.449
57,894
11,088
7.335
31,224
24,343
18,719
17,266
20,261
67.036
8,803
11,843
5,021
25,368
2,588.776
2,654,859
1,738,291
1,253,709
941,065
597,088
854,043
674,978
456,245
66,020
2,658
10,238
100,679
42,947
59,377
22,101
17,662
30,164
15,129
27,770
36,781
7,171
3,234
17,920
29,576
16,332
18,562
16,310
40,261
7,330
7,793
5.360
13,685
200
Commercial Statistics.
1845.
Vessels.
Airone..................
Huntress...............
Tonquin................
Inca......................
Panama................
Heber...................
Howqua................
John Q. Adams...
Ann McKim... •• •
Mary Ellen...........
Montreal...............
Horatio................
Clarendon.............
Lenox..................
EXPORT OF TEAS---- CONTINUED.
Souchong. Powchong.
4,849
280
3,034
53,027
360
40,550
75,738
90,561
11,237
33,574
45.269
32,061
18,100
80.956
37,613
84.485
5,897
20,457
23,417
55,543
17,701
8,718
38,359
27,244
55,604
6,868
Pekoe.
Oolong.
4,793
4,066
10,626
16,946
25,730
7,495
16,008
9,496
3,615
Green.
84.999
7,766
164,368
33,129
506,917
283,541
368.674
503.841
262.997
309 908
490,392
540,082
727,556
63,171
Black.
4,849
3,314
168,806
120,354
101,798
78,843
75,891
143,010
84.485
42,362
88,456
26,419
69,218
62,472
Total.
89,848
J 1,080
333,174
153.483
608,715
362,384
444,565
646,851
347,482
352,270
578,848
566,501
796,774
125,643
437,614
437,028
321,379
689,591
360.879
496,314
110.588
481,284
401,823
343,605
505.429
344.352
402,735
572,597
310.882
46,078
349,192
590,048
338.543
421,559
274.887
565.491
205.514
426,780
148,054
303,238
27,963
17.022
76.145
102,456
29,432
34,497
228.306
83.884
90.583
161,858
175,380
142,912
93,538
135,242
71,638
75.509
27.384
163,662
14,865
4,791
300,848
93.687
402.979
242,255
299,042
465,577
454.050
397,524
792.047
390.311
530,811
338,894
565.168
492,406
505,463
680,809
487,264
496,273
707,839
410,994
117,716
424,701
617,432
502.205
436,424
279,678
866.339
299.201
832,759
390,309
602.280
14,235.825
13,801,115
10,131,837
4,266,267
6,950,468
4,125.527
18,502,092
20,751.583
14,257,364
1846.
Henry....................
Montauk...............
Eliza Ann.............
Cohota..................
Leland..................
Oneida..................
Grafton................
Rainbow...............
Geneva.................
Ann Maria............
Loochoo...............
Natchez................
T a rtar..................
Paul Jones...........
Medora................
Wissahickon........
Lucas....................
Helena..................
Douglass...............
Zenobia................
Albion..................
John G. Coster....
Jas. Boorman.......
A kbar..................
Candace....... ........
T. W . Sears.........
27,963
17,022
66,982
82,070
2,890
11,852
173,409
71,779
33,306
150,019
110,795
137,218
57,008
69,102
87,079
60,003
51,857
23,664
131,623
3.874
4,791
275,488
60,694
309.276
181,006
247,054
25,360
32.993
82,791
45,942
51,988
4,429
6.483
15,307
3,064,160
5,280,865
3,133,133
946,378
1,301,965
799,622
35,435
69,285
60,178
220.294
298,353
132,594
9,163
20,386
17,341
22.949
12.105
46,800
2,910
29,318
5,694
36,530
66,140
9,928
11.635
23,652
3,720
32,039
10,991
26,542
5,304
31,948
2,897
"+
7,580
8,929
35,267
2,304
801
100,112
Besides the above named 40 vessels, the Talbot sailed on the 22d July, with a cargo of
drags and sundries, making the aggregate despatches from China to the United States, 41
vessels, during the season; the Ann McKim was laden at Shanghai, and the Montauk took
there a portion of her cargo. The Talbot, Huntress, and Lenox, touched at Manilla, to
fill up.
W e give below the following table, specifying the various articles exported to the
United States:—
EXPORT OF SILK AND SUNDRIES TO THE UNITED STATES, ON THE ABOVE NAMED
Pongce9.........................
tt
Handkerchiefs..............
ft
Sarsnets.........................
tt
Senshaws.......................
n
S atins............................
.
“
Damasks........................
tt
Satin Levantines..........
tc
Crapes............................
((
Crape Shawls................
tt
Crape Scarfs..................
Sewing Silk.................. .............lbs.
Grass cloth.....................
Fans and Screens........
if
ti
54,004
50,975
6,167
4,085
1,982
321
1,099
199
.32,987
10,290
630
436
698
1,168
Cassia........................
Matting.......................
Rhubarb.....................
Sweetmeats................
Vermillion..................
Split Rattans..............
Pearl Buttons.............
China ware..................
Fire Crackers............
Aniseed star...............
Oil of Cassia.............
41
tt
tc
it
it
it
it
Camphor......................
Lacquered ware..........
VESSELS.
7,877
23,533
1,135
4,637
176
1,068
204
644
20,610
159
154
174
1,356
201
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures,
JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES.
PEN N SY LV A N IA IRON TRADE, 1844-1846.
T he following statement of the iron trade of Pennsylvania is derived from the Phila
delphia “ Commercial List:”—
The supplies of iron sent from the different mines of the State, by the various improve
ments, from the 1st of December, 1844, to the 30th November, 1845 and 1846, have
been,—by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal:—
1846.
1845.
Pig Iron....................................lbs.
Wrought Iron................................
Castings..........................................
57,405,226
18,669,843
5,918,897
38,183,139
8,103,667
6,336,969
T otal..............................
Or, 36,604 tons of 2,240 lbs.
81,993,936
52,623,775
Of the above amount, there were received from the Susquehanna and Tidewater
Canal:—
Pig Iron....................................lbs.
Wrought.........................................
Blooms...........................................
Castings..........................................
1846.
1845,
50,247,556
14,915,302
4,352,369
386,129
34,476,562
6,215,611
5,192,356
357,907
The balance came from Port Deposite, and was brought down in arks, by the Dela
ware Canal, and taken off at Bristol:—
Pig Iron................................... lbs.
Bar and Sheet Iron......................
Castings..........................................
Blooms............................................
1846,
1S45.
42,764.493
106,389
428,588
34,450,094
1,553,899
580,420
1,000
1846.
1845,
By the Schuylkill C anal:—
Pig and Wrought Iron...........lbs.
Nails...............................................
Total quantity brought down and carri
Pig Iron and Castings............lbs.
Bar and Sheet................................
Blooms..........................................
Nails and Spikes...........................
7,413,440
1,612,800
19,786,400
6,348,160
up by the Reading Railroad:—
1846.
1845.
22,343,270
9,372,910
2,459,060
7,251,670
7,106,936
2,803,588
1,217,254
2,990,356
1846.
1845.
By the Columbia Railroad:—
Pig Iron...............................
Blooms.................................
Bar and Sheet......................
Castings................................
Nails and Spikes.................
2,115,500
1,116,300
9,008,100
434,100
21,500
48,400
1,572,550
10,890,900
620,800
99,000
Received by the Norristown Railroad-:—
1846.
Pig, Castings, and Rolled... .. .lbs.
Nails.....................................
10,288,789
1,741,792
819,616
No return.
202
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
RECAPITULATION.
Pig Iron and Castings.
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.......
Delaware Canal....................................
Reading Railway..................................
Columbia Railway................................
Norristown Railway.............................
Total.........................................
lbs.
18,669,843
106,389
149,112,233
Or 66,568 tons.
37,157,242
Or 15,588 tons.
Nails and Spikes.
Reading Railway..................................
Norristown Railway.............................
Columbia Railway................................
Schuylkill Canal................................
Tidewater Canal....................................
Total.........................................
Wrought.
lbs.
63,324,093
43,193,081
7,413,440
22^343^230
2,549,600
10,288,789
lbs.
7,251,670
1,741,792
21,500
1,612,800
9,372,910
9,008,100
Blooms.
lbs•
2,459,060
...........
7,251,670
............
4,352,369
10,627,772
Equal to 101,217 kegs.
14,063,099
Or 6,278 tons.
T H E COAL TRADE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
We are indebted to C. G. C hilds, Esq., the Editor of the “ Philadelphia Commercial
List,” for the tabular statements and remarks which follow. Few men are more indus
trious in collecting statistics of trade; and the accuracy which marks the labors of Col.
Childs, can scarcely be questioned :—
The coal trade of Pennsylvania is attracting, more and more, the attention of the coun
try. No thinking person can contemplate its progress, without being deeply impressed
with the importance to our Union, of the State in which such vast resources of fuel are
found. Were Pennsylvania annihilated, with all her mountains of coal and iron, how
melancholy would be the condition of her surviving confederates, in regard to these two
great requisites of civilized life.
If the importance of the coal trade is inconceivably great, its progress has been aston
ishing. Anthracite coal was first used as fuel (on tide-water) in 1820, and the total supply
then sent to market, was 365 tons!—a quantity smaller than that now annually consumed
by hundreds of single establishments. W e now find a single iron manufacturing company
in our State, consuming 60,000 tons of anthracite, and 100,000 bushels of bituminous
coals annually.
From being regarded as a doubtful article of combustion at all, anthracite coal has come
to be largely used for domestic purposes, for the production of steam in manufacturing es
tablishments, for propelling steamboats and railroad locomotives, and more recently for the
manufacture of iron, for which purpose it is employed on an immense scale. In 1840,
there were no anthracite furnaces in full and successful operation. There are now 40
furnaces in blast, many of them of the largest class. Within the last three years, 18 roll
ing mills have been erected, which consume hundreds of thousands of tons of coal annu
ally. This branch of business, so important in a national view, is destined to increase
rapidly, as the demand for railroad iron increases in almost every section of our country.
It is only by collecting details and uniting them, that the extent and importance of the
coal trade is made apparent. It has already more than trebled the coasting trade of Phil
adelphia, and pays, annually, a freight on the shipments coastwise from this port, of more
than a million of dollars. If this trade is of so much importance in this period of its com
parative infancy, what will it be in its full growth ?
About the year 1837, a report was made to the government by Major Bache, of the
Topographical Engineers, on the subject of an artificial harbor, or breakwater, at Cape
May, in which he states, that the insurable interest created by the coal trade passing
around Cape May alone, already amounts to more than twenty-two millions of dollars per
annum, estimating merely the vessels in ballast coming after it, and the value of the ves
sel and cargo carrying it to the various ports at which it is wanted. Many of these vessels
203
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
bring us supplies from the ports they come from, at merely a nominal freight, instead of
ballast—plaster, fish, lumber, salt, and other articles required for consumption in the inte
rior, which add materially to the resources of the canals and railroads.
In England, coal appears to have been first used as fuel, about the close of the 12th
century. In 1239, Henry III. granted a charier to the burgesses of Newcastle, to dig for
coal; which is the first legal mention of the article on record. As early as 1140, we find
among the Leges Burgorum, an enactment giving special privileges to the in-bringers of
fuel, which is described as being “ wood, turves and peats.” The English coal trade,
which now amounts to forty millions of tons annually, may indicate to us something of
what we have reason to predict in our future career.
Perhaps few persons have distinctly considered the aggregate expenditure in the im
provements designed to facilitate the transportation of coal from our vast coal fields. Let
us look at some definite statistical account of these operations:—
NAMES AND COST OF THE CANALS AND RAILROADS LEADING TO THE COAL MINES.
C anals. R ’lrds.
length, length.
Cost.
L ehigh C oal R egion.
The Lehigh Navigation extends from Easton to Whitehaven,
71 miles ; and thence to Stoddartsville, 16 miles, there is an
improved navigation.................................................................
87
Whitehaven and Wilkesbarre Railroad, from Whitehaven to
Wilkesbarre, with three inclined planes and one tunnel....
Mauch Chunk Railroad, from Summit and Room Run Mines,
to Mauch Chunk, and back tracks..........................................
Beaver Meadow Railroad, from the Beaver Meadows, to land
ing on Lehigh Canal,.................................................................
Hazleton Railroad, to Lehigh Canal,..........................................
Buck Mountain Railroad, to Lehigh Canal,..........................................
Summit Railroad,............................................................
Total Lehigh Improvements,...........................................
87
$4,555,000
20
1,350,000
36
600,000
26
10
360,000
120,000
4 40,000
220,000
98
$7,045,000
S chuylkill R egion.
The Schuylkill Navigation commences at Philadelphia, and
terminates at Port Carbon, (including cost for enlarging to
this time,)............................................................................. .
The Reading Railroad extends from Richmond to Mt. Carbon,
with a branch from the Falls of Schuylkill to the Columbia
Railroad, at Peters’ island, including cost of locomotives,
cars, &c.,....................................................................................
Little Schuylkill Railroad, between Port Clinton and Tamaqua, cost $280,000, and new rails now laying, $220,000,.
Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad, cost $430,000;
new rails, and 7£ miles extension to Swatara, $120,000,...
Danville and Pottsville Railroad, unfin’d, and only part in use,
Mount Carbon Railroad,...............................................................
Mount Carbon and Port Carbon Railroad,.................................
Schuylkill Valley Railroad,..........................................................
Mill Creek Railroad,.....................................................................
Railroads constructed by individuals—aggregate,.....................
Railroads under ground in the mines,........................................
Total Schuylkill,...............................................................
108
108
$5,675,000
93
11,000,000
20
500,000
55
29£
7
2£
14
7
70
60
550,000
680,000
155,000
120,000
300,000
120,000
180,000
75,000
357
$19,365,000
16
4
$200,000
70,000
20,000
20,000
24
$310,000
O ther P laces.
Lykens Valley Railroad, to Susquehanna Canal,.....................
Wisconisco Canal, to Millersburgh, on Susquehanna,..............
Swatara Railroad, to Union Canal,..............................................
Lorberry Railroad,.........................................................................
12
Total other places,.............................................................
12
4
204
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
RECAPITULATION.
Canals. R’lr’ds.
Lehigh Improvements,
Schuylkill,....................
Other places,................
length. length.
Cost.
98
87
$7,045,000
108 357
19,365,000
12
24
310,000
T otal,................
207 479
To these must be added the Delaware and Hudson Canal, 108 miles long,
and Railroad 24 miles, cost..........................................................................
Morris Canal, 108 miles long, constructed to carry coal to New York, cost
$26,720,000
3,250,000
4,000,000
Grand total,............................................................................................ $33,970,000
Total length of canals,............... 417 miles. | Total length of railroads,......... 503 miles.
The coal trade gives employment to a very great number of persons. Indeed, nearly
all the cost of the articles is the result of labor. In its locality, it is worth only from 25
to 50 cts. per ton ; averaging 35 cts. per ton. But in all the operations connected with
mining and transportation, a vast amount of labor is employed. We must take into ac
count, not only the miners, and the boatmen and brakemen on the canals and railroads,
and the hands on board the transporting vessels, and the cartmen at the places of delivery,
but also the thousands employed at some time, in making the necessary railroads and
canals, the locomotive and stationary engines, the boats, &c. &c.
The sums thus invested in providing avenues for the coal trade may be computed ; but
the enhanced value of lands, and the property which appears in smiling villages, where
once roamed the panther and the bear, baffle all our attempts at calculation.
These exhibitions of the extent of the coal trade, and of its importance to the Union,
lead us to ask whether this interest has not a very strong claim upon the government for
protection and encouragement. If not, how could such a claim be conceived of as possi
ble ? W hat operations can be more intimately connected w'ith the prime elements of
national growth and power ? W hat political wisdom can discern the propriety of withhold
ing the protecting power of the government here, unless it be that which denies, altogether,
the justice and policy of any restrictions on the disheartening competition of other nations,
which is fitted to keep back our own enterprises for centuries ?
The proximity of the Nova Scotia mines to the New England States—the immense
capital of the British Mining Association, (the present holders of the original grant to the
Duke of York,) and the facilities they possess for bringing their coal into this country, to
the destruction of our own industry, seem to require some legislative enactment in behalf
of this important trade.
As early as July, 1789, and soon after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, a law
was passed laying a duty of 2 cents per bushel on imported coal. (See Pub. Doc., p. 72.)
August 10th, 1790, the duty was increased to 3 cents per bushel. Again, on the 3d
of May, 1792, the duty was increased to 4£, and on the 7th of June, 1794, to 5 cents per
bushel. This duty was continued under all the party changes, mi til April 27th, 1816,
when the duty was changed to 5 cents per heaped bushel. In 1824, May 26th, after our
coal had begun to be useful, the duty on imported coal was increased to 6 cents per bushel,
or $1 50 per ton ; Gen. Jackson, then a member of Congress, voting in favor of this duty.
In 1842, the duty on imported coal was raised to $1 75 per ton ; but even with this check
to its importation, some supplies were brought in, as will be seen by a subsequent state
ment taken from official documents. By the present tariff the duty is only about 45 cents
per ton on board, and may be reduced to 35 cents.
It thus appears that Washington, Madison, Monroe, Adams and Jackson, gave their
high sanction to the protection of the coal interest—an interest of the importance of which
even those far-reaching minds must have formed a very inadequate idea. Of the use of
coal in the production of steam, it is not easy to say what supposition and expectations it
would be safe to pronounce extravagant. In an address lately delivered, a Mr. Pierpont
indulged in the following illustration:—
“ It required twenty thousand men twenty years to build one of the pyramids of Egypt
The same number of men might, by the aid of steam, accomplish as much work now in
twenty-four hours. Cylindrical boilers are the seven-league boots of the country.”
In reference to the use of coal in the manufacture and working of iron, it is pertinent to
quote the remarkable language of Mr. Locke., in his Essay on the Understanding, where
he says: “ Were the use of iron lost among us, we should, in a few ages, be unavoidably
reduced to the wants and ignorance of the ancient savage Americans.” And, whether
we can fully subscribe to this sentiment or not, we cannot object to the beautiful declara
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures•
205
tion of the sume philosopher, that he who first made use of iron, “ may be truly styled the
father of arts, and author of plenty.”
Our large table shows the comparative quantity of anthracite coal sent to market from
the commencement of the trade in 1820 to the close of the past year. Nearly all the
above returns are official, being obtained by us from the different regions. It will be seen
they vary in several cases from the reports of the Miners’ Journal, the only paper besides
our own that has pretended to keep up original yearly statements of this important trade.
Anthracite coal was first used as fuel (on tide-water) in this country, in 1820, when the
total supply sent to market was only 365 tons. If we divide the 27 years that have
elapsed since coal was first used, into three periods of nine years each, it will be seen that
the total supply from all the mines in the first period, ending with the close of 1828, was
239,845 tons; second period, ending in 1837, 3,826,829 tons ; third period, ending with
1846, 11,570,141 tons ; showing the annual average receipts for the first nine years, to be
26,648 tons ; second period, 454,534 tons ; and third period, 1,285,571 ;—from which it
appears that the quantity consumed during the last nine years was nearly three times as
large as during the preceding eighteen years.
Now, by way of contrast, let us take the total amount of capital invested in all the
manufacturing establishments at Lowell, and see how it compares with the above expendi
tures. During a visit to that remarkable city, last summer, we obtained a copy of the
“ Statistics of Lowell Manufactures for 1846.” From it we learn the following particu
lars. The amomit of capital invested in all the factories, including buildings, machinery,
houses for the operatives, &c., is as follows :—
Capital.
Capital.
$600,000
Merrimack Man. Co.,............ $2,000,000 Tremont Mills Man. Co.,.......
1,200,000
Hamilton,................................
1,200,000 Boott Cotton Mills,.................
1,200,000
Appleton,,................................
600,000 Massachusetts,.........................
Lowell,................................
600,000 Lowell Machine Shop,...........
300,000
Middlesex,...............................
750,000
Total capital,..................$10,550,000
Suffolk,.....................................
600,000
1,500,000
Lawrence,................................
Thus, it will be seen, that the whole amount invested in all the manufactories at Lowell,
is less than one-third of the sum actually expended in constructing avenues for bringing
Pennsylvania coal to market. The annual shipments of coal coastwise from this port,
have been as follows:—•
Tons.
Years.
1822,......
1823,......
1824,......
1825,...... .
1826,..... .
1827,...... .
1828,.....
1829,...... .
181
4 vessels, carrying
1,123
11
3,958
40
19,378
190
27,413
271
39,327
397
45,915
469
47,100
429
“
Years.
1830,....
1831,.... ..
1832,.... ..
1833,.... ..
1834,.... ..
1835,.... ..
1836,.... ..
Tons.
644 vessels, carrying 63,137
((
563
55,640
((
1,592
158,442
<
«
2,010
198,168
44
1,575
156,154
44
2,361
267,139
(«
3,225
344,812
During the subsequent nine years, our returns are incomplete.
The following statement, showing the number and class of vessels which cleared with
coal from the Delaware River, during the past year, will serve to illustrate the value of
this branch of our business, in a commercial point of view. During the year 1846, there
were cleared from Richmond, the Depot of the Reading Railroad Company—
i Steamboats,.....................
Ships,............................. .................
23 Barges,............................. ..............
Barks,............................. ................
928
341 Boats,................................ ..............
1,150
Brigs,............................. .................
.................. 4,092
Total,................... .............. 7,485
Sloops,......................... .................
935
The quantity of coal shipped in the above vessels was 892,464 tons.
There were also cleared from this city, and at Bristol, during the same period, laden
with Lehigh coal, 1,468 vessels, exclusive of boats, carrying 181,792 tons of coal.
Total number of clearances from the port of Philadelphia in 1846, 8,953—all laden
with coal, and carrying 1,074,255 tons, in addition to that shipped in boats from the Lehigh.
The quantity of coal which has passed through the Delaware and Raritan Canal, to
New York, has been as follows:—
1842, ............................... tons
171,754 1845,.
.tons
372,072
1843,.........................................
193,332 1846,.
339,924
1844,..........................................
267,496
Year.
Beaver
Meadow. Hazleton.
TO THE CLOSE OF
Sugar
Loaf.
1846 ;
Buck 3ununit&
Mount’n W ’sbarrc.
SHOWING RECEIPTS FROM VARIOUS MINES, TOTAL SUPPLY, AND ANNUAL INCREASE OF THE TRADE.
Total
Lehigh.
Little
Total
Lacka
Schuylkill. Sch’kill. Schuylkill. wanna.
365
365
1,073
1,073
2,240
2,240
5,823
5,823
9,541
9,541
6,500
28,393
28,393
31,280
16,767
31,280
31,360
32,074
32,074
47,284
30,232
30,232
25,110
79,972
25,110, .......
89,984
41,750
41,7501 ........
81,854
40,966
40,966
70,000 195,271 14,000
70,000' ........
123,000 212,971 40,000
123,000, .......
106,244 226,692 34,000
106,244; ........
131,250, 298,508 41,000
131.250} ........
146,522 .......
146,522 397,045 35,000
192,320 33,617
225.937 492,152 31,000
214,211 420,875 13,000
159,564 38,426 16,221
.........
142,071 38,429 34,000
7,350
221,850 433,608 9,000
102,183 43,619 50,366 29,039
154
225,288 431,291 20,000
*78,164 *26,232 *21,263 *17,170
*142,828 394,699 40,000
163,762 45,422 31,012 31,930
272,129 513,891 27,000
267,734 639.428 31,000
138,825 54,729 44,579 26,814 2,844
219,245 70,379 73,625
2,866 13,749
377,821 778.500 57,000
257,740 77,227 70,266
1,843 23,914
429,159 1,007,424 76,000
46,103 117,773 522,297 1,145,583 91,000
§274,663 85,648 98,150
* Great Freshet which injured the Canal,
t 54 tons by Tamanend Company.
Pine ShamoGrove.
kin. Wyoming
6,500
16,767
31,360
47,284
7,000
79,972
89,984 43,000
81.854 54,000
209,271 84,600
252,971 111,777
226,692 43,700
339,508 98,845
432,035 104,500; ........
523,152 114,387 17,000
433,875 76,321 13,000
442,608 122,3001 20,639
451,291 148,470 23,860
434,691 192,270 17,653
540,891 205,253 32,381
670,428 227,605 22,905
835,500 251,005 34,916
1,083,4241266,072 47,928
1,236,583} 318,000 56,139
§ 109,652 from Room Run.
Total
Supply.
Annual incr’se
and decrease.
365
1,073
708
2,240
1,170
5,823
3,583
9,541
3,718
34,893 25.352
48,047 13,154
63,434 15,387
77,516 14,082
112,083; 34,567
174,734 62,651
176,820
2,086
363,871 187,051
487,748 123,877
376,636! 111,112 D.
596,603 119,967
683,057 86,454
881,476 198,419
737,407 154,069 D .
11,930
819,328 81,921
15,505
864,414} 45,086
21,463
808,913' 55,501 D .
10,050 47,3461,108,050,299,137
9,900 57,740 1,256,3121 148,262
13,087 114,906 1,627,235,370,923
9.900 178,401 2,014,888 387,653
12,572 ! 188,003 2,333,5941 318,705
t Including 5,865 tons from Wilkesbarre.
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
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
Lehigh.
1820,
206
PENN SYLVA NIA A N TH R A C IT E COAL T R A D E ,
FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT, IN
Journal o f Mining and Manufactures.
207
The total number of arrivals at New York from foreign ports in 1846, was 2,293 ves
sels. Suppose these vessels to average 400 tons each, and the whole tonnage would
amount to 917,200 tons. The number of vessels cleared from Philadelphia, laden with
coal, during the same period, was 8,953 vessels, averaging 150 tons each—total tonnage
of 1,342,950 tons, or upwards of 425,000 tons more than the whole tonnage arrived from
foreign ports at New York.
As a nursery for seamen, the Pennsylvania coal commerce, even in its infancy, is en
titled to consideration in a national point of view. There is no department of our com
merce, if we except the Whale Fisheries, which gives employment to so many vessels, or
to so great an aggregate tonnage, or which calls into service so many seamen. In any
emergency which might arise in the defence of our extended and dangerous sea-coast,
here would be found a body of hardy, bold and active men, trained for dangerous service,
and equal, in the most important qualifications, to the best seamen in our national vessels.
Great Britain has for many years fostered her coal trade, with a view to the rearing up
of seamen, to man her “ wooden walls.” Admiral Collingwood, and many others of her
naval heroes, were trained on board British colliers.
It is not saying too much to assert, that the coal of Great Britain has been one of the
chief sources of her prosperity—a prosperity which mines like those of Peru and Mexico
would perhaps never have secured. That shrewd and sagacious writer, McCulloch, ob
serves in his Commercial Dictionary—“ It is the possession of her coal mines which has
rendered Britain, in relation to the whole world, what a city is to the rural district which
surrounds it—the producer and dispenser of the rich products of art and industry.” If this
remark be just, how clear is it that Pennsylvania must hold such a relation to the United
States, if not our whole continent. The more our position is 'contemplated, in the light
either of history, or of sound judgment in regard to the elements of prosperity, the more
clearly must it be seen, that the coal and iron of our mountains have an importance to
our nation, not easily exaggerated.
On what grounds can our government reasonably hesitate to put forth its best energies
for the sustaining of the great coal and iron interest of Pennsylvania—a Pennsylvania in
terest indeed, geographically, but a national interest in all its great ultimate bearings, if
such a thing as a national interest can be known or conceived of?
TH E BRITISH COPPER TRADE.
The merchants, coppersmiths, &c., of Birmingham, have agreed to memorialise the Lords
of the Treasury on the evils, impolicy, and hardships, to which they are subjected by the
excessive duty now levied on copper ore. The memorial, in plain and succinct terms, de
tails the disadvantages which its promoters have to encounter, and shows that in conse
quence of the duty now levied, the falling off in the revenue, derivable from copper ore,
during the last year, was no less than 21 per cent. The memorial concludes by urging the
following upon the attention of the Lords of the Treasury:—
“ 1. That an extensive trade in the manufactures of this town and neighborhood is car
ried on to the states of South America and the island of Cuba, and that your memorialists
are much interested in the unrestricted import of foreign copper ore, as it is the most avail
able return for the value of their exports.
“ 2. That there has been of late years a great falling off in the export to the Continent
and America of British manufactured articles of brass and copper, in consequence of the
same being supplied by manufacturers in Belgium and France, who have unrestricted trade
in foreign copper and copper ore.
“ 3. That this is a very important branch of the manufacturing trade of this town- and
neighborhood ; the metals brass and copper entering into the composition of most of the
articles on which the largest portion of the population are employed.
“ 4. That the price of copper in this country, notwithstanding the decline in the value of
the manufactured articles abroad, has maintained a high range for the last two years; and
that your memorialists consider that this has been supported by the restricted introduction of
foreign copper ore, which is peculiarly adapted to the preparations of fine metal much re
quired in the Birmingham manufactures.”
A similar movement is being made by some of the merchants of Liverpool. The me
morial, from the latter place, contains some clauses referring to the injury sustained by ship
owners in consequence of the decline of the trade.
208
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance,
JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY AND FINANCE.
BANKS OF BALTIMORE.
T he following condensed review will show the relative position of some of the leading
items, and also affords a comparison w ith the statements of former y e a rs:—
CONDENSED VIEW OF THE CONDITION OF THE BANKS OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE, ON THE
FOURTH OF JANUARY,
Banks.
Capital.
Investment
in Stocks.
1847.
Discounts.
Specie. Circulation.
Deposits,
Merchants’..................... $1,500,000 $150,876 $2,000,739 $252,130 $205,880 $408,092
Baltim ore.................... 1,200,000
22,126 1,677,765 300,205 230,592 560,774
U nion...........................
916,350
13,258 1,237,662 124,315 143,340 298,210
Farmers’ & Planters’..
600,625 38,220 1,047,752 236,030 406,076 275,224
Mechanics’ ..................
589,812
7,211 1,037,012 206,319 204,818 578,410
Comm’cial & Farmers’.
215,560
58,231
829,258 229,830 171,769 367,068
Farmers’ & Merch’ts..
393,560 132,523
426,960
63,905
99,603 108,202
Chesapeake..................
337,092 120,844
500,787 *89,648 102,278 238,066
Marine..........................
309,200
75,374
437,410
99,184 114,730 204,492
W estern........................
308,680
11,354
521,204 187,556 275,060 170,736
Franklin.......................
301,850
17,183
370,617
25,186
31,201 52,765
6,969,329
The Banks of Battimore had on
647,200 10,082,2351,814,3081,983,248 3,261,999
Investment
in Stocks.
Capital,
Jan. 5,1846... $3,971*681
Jan. 6, 1845... 6,956,362
Jan. 1, 1844... 7,490,549
Jan. 2, 1843... 7,985,638
Jan. 3, 1842... 8,880,118
Jan. 4, 1841... 8,826,279
Jan. 6, 1840... 9,499,004
Discounts.
Specie.
Circulation.
Deposits,
$856,697 $10,143,299 $1,861,500 $2,159,140 $3,113,750
835,481
9,677,773 1,885,336 1,856,641 3,167.180
7,551,824 3,529,265 1,647,559 3,652,973
1,123,724
7,895,929 2,393,564 1,242,397 2,334,967
979,747
1,508,852
8,731,284 1,259,785 1,169,793 2,094,807
9,452,575 1,317,860 1,521,667 2,547,226
1,521,117
1,307,004 11,784,338 1,036,765 2,198,867 3,224,498
In 1844, the Citizens’ Bank wound up. The Franklin Bank is included in 1840, and
not in 1841, ’42, ’43 and ’44, but is in ’45 and ’46.
BANKS IN MASSACHUSETTS.
The annual abstract of the returns from the banks of this State is published in accordance
with the law of the commonwealth, as prepared by the secretary, the Hon. John G. Palfrey.
The statement shows the state of the banks on the first Saturday of October last.
It appears that returns were made by one hundred and five banks—twenty-five of which
are in Boston.
The whole amount of banking capital is...................................
The bills in circulation amount to...............................................
The amount of specie on hand is...............................................
Aggregate of loans.......................................................................
$31,160,000.00
14,594,914.50
3,054,755.68
51,326,114.06
W e find from the returns of the Savings Banks, contained in the same publication, that
the whole amount of deposits in those institutions, is nearly eleven millions of dollars.
In the New Bedford Savings Institution, there are 2,102 depositors, and the amount of
deposits, $422,553.93. The investment in bank stock amounts to $188,500, and the loans
on personal security to $200,458.51. The dividends of this carefully managed institution
have averaged 5.1 per cent for the last five years.
* Including $24,550 U. S. Treasury Notes.
209
Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.
FINANCES OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1846.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury of this State exhibits the following state
ment of the finances of Massachusetts, in 1846:—
The receipts for the year amounted to.............................................
The expenditures to............................................................................
$563,723.88
555,065.31
The aggregate amount of receipts includes—
Cash on hand, 1st January, 1846.................................... ,...............
Balance of State Tax for 1845..........................................................
Temporary loans........................
$7,698.54
66,606.75
54,000.00
This sum.............................................................................................
Deducted from the whole receipts................................ ....................
$128,305.29
563,723.88
Leaves.................................................................................................
As the ordinary receipts for the year.
The amount of the expenditures includes......................................
5 per cent stock of 1842, paid in 1846............................................
Railroad loans, note to Phcenix Bank..............................................
$435,418.50
This sum.............................................................................................
Deducted from the whole expenditure.............................................
$133,940.00
555,065.31
$90,800.00
37,140.00
6,000.00
Leaves................................................................................................. $421,125.31
As the ordinary expenditures of the year; showing an excess of ordinary receipts over the
expenditures, of $14,28328.
FINANCES OF N EW JERSEY.
The following summary view of the finances of New Jersey in 1846, is derived from the
annual message of the governor of that State:—
Balance in the Treasury, January 10, 1846.....................................
Received during the year, from all sources, including a special
loan of $10,000................... .........................................................
$5,278.90
158,669.30
$163,948.28
Disbursements during the same period, including $10,000 of the
special loan above, and $5,000 balance of the loan of the pre
vious year........................................................................................
155,174.47
Leaving a balance in the Treasury, on January 4th, 1847, of....
$8,773.81
FINANCES OF PENN SYLVA NIA IN 1846.
RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.
The receipts during the last fiscal year, amounted to $3,529,057.28, to which add the
sum of $384,868.09, the balance in the treasury on the 1st of December, 1845, the com
mencement of the late fiscal year, exclusive of an unavailable deposit in the United States
Bank, and the aggregate presents the means of the Treasury for that period. The pay
ments during the same time, amounted to $3,529,264.67. T hus:—
Receipts during the fiscal year......................................................
Balance in the Treasury, November 30,1845............................
$3,529,057.28
384,886.09
Total revenue..................................................................
Amount of expenditures during same period..............................
$3,913,943.37
3,529,264.67
Balance in the Treasury, November 30, 1846............
$384,678.70
V O L . X V I . -----N O . I I .
14
Railroad Statistics.
210
RAILROAD
STATISTICS.
PH ILA DELPHIA AND READING RAILROAD.
C ol. C. G. C hilds, of the “ Philadelphia Commercial List,” furnishes the following
comprehensive history and description of this great public work, which, we have reason
to know, may be relied on for its general accuracy. About one-third of the stock of this
road is owned in Boston, a third in Europe, and the remainder in Philadelphia and other
places. It is under very efficient management, and the President of the Company, John
Tucker, Esq., is admirably fitted for the station that he occupies:
This railroad was projected in 1833, a charter obtained in 1834, surveys made the
same year, and 41 miles put under contract and construction, in 1835.
It was originally designed lor its present purpose, an outlet, or avenue to market, for the
Schuylkill Coal Region ; but its first charter extended only to that town which has the
honor of giving it a name, the Borough of Reading, 59 miles from its terminus on the
Delaware River, near Philadelphia; as the right of constructing a railroad between
Reading and Port Clinton, 20 miles, had already been granted to another corporation, the
<• Little Schuylkill Railroad Company,” terminating at the latter point. From insufficient
means, this Company were unable to extend their road, and yielded their right and
charter to the Reading Railroad Company, who, with a further extension of their char
ter, beyond Port Clinton to Pottsville, went into an active prosecution of the whole work,
from Pottsville to the Delaware, 93 miles, under one charter, now known as the Reading
Railroad.
Every Pennsylvanian is familiar with the great embarrassments to the business of the
country, checking commercial enterprise, disastrous to every branch of industry, and fatal
to public and private credit, during the period from 1838 to 1842. Notwithstanding all
these difficulties, the friends of this road pushed steadily on with its construction, taxing
their energies, their means, and their credit, to the utmost, to insure its speedy comple
tion ; and, on the 1st day of 1842, the first locomotive and train passed over the whole
line, between Pottsville and Philadelphia.
From that date to the present, its business, its revenue, and its credit, have increased, in
a degree scarcely paralleled by any similar improvement, until its tonnage and its receipts
are measured, as at present, by millions.
Two continuous tracks of railway extend the whole distance of 93 miles, from Mount
Carbon, near Pottsville, to the Delaware River, three miles above the heart of the city of
Philadelphia ; with a branch also laid with a double track 1 i miles long, connecting, by
the State Road, with the principal business street of the same city, for the passengers,
merchandise, and city coal business. The rail used, is of the H pattern, with both top
edges alike ; and weighs 45J, 52J and 60 lbs. to the yard ; the lightest having been first,
and the heaviest last used. A few tons of other rails, purchased before a further supply of
the pattern adopted for the road could be obtained in England, and varying from 51 to 57
lbs. per yard, are also in use.
The track is laid in the most simple manner, the lower web, or base of the rail, being
notched into 7 by 3 white-oak cross-sills, and these laid on broken stone, 14 inches deep,
and well rammed. This method is found admirably calculated for the enormous tonnage
of the road, being rapidly and economically repaired and replaced, securing a thorough
drainage, and preserving its line and level true, at all seasons of the year.
The grades of this road, are the chief elements of its success in revolutionizing public
opinion, on the subject of the carriage of heavy burdens by railway. From the most im
portant branch coal-feeder of the road, at Schuylkill Haven, to the Falls of Schuylkill, a
distance of 84 miles, the grades all descend in the direction of the loaded trains, or are
level; with no more abrupt descent, tliag 19 feet per mile. A t the Falls, an assistant
locomotive engine, of great power, pushes the train, without the latter stopping, or any
delay, up a grade of 42J feet per mile, for 1 4-10 miles, leaving it on a descending
orade, within four miles of Richmond, whither it is readily conveyed by the same engine,
which started from Pottsville, never leaving her train.
The bridges on this line, are of great variety in plan and material of construction,
stone, iron and wood. The most perfect and beautiful structure on the road, if not in the
State, is a stone bridge over the Schuylkill, near Phcenixville, built of cut stone through
out, with four circular arches, of 72 feet span, and 16J feet rise each, at a cost, with ice
Railroad Statistics.
211
breakers, of $47,000. There are 75 other stone bridges and culverts, varying from 6 to
50 feet span ; all of circular arcs, spanning water-courses, branches of the Schuylkill and
roads. There are seven bridges from 25 to 38 feet span each, built of iron, trussed after
the “ Howe ” plan, with wrought-iron top, and bottom chords, wrought-iron vertical ties,
and cast-iron diagonal braces. These bridges are stiff and light, and present a very neat
and handsome appearance. As, however, the flooring is of wood, and therefore liable to
decay and accident, they have only been used where the width and depth rendered stone
bridges impracticable, the latter being always used in replacing wooden structures, whereever it was practicable. There are 22 long wooden bridges, varying from 41 to 160 feet
span, built on various principles, chiefly of lattice-work, assisted by heavy arch pieces. Of
this latter description, the bridge over the Schuylkill at the Falls, is a fine specimen. It is
<336 feet long, consisting of four spans of 134, two of 152, and one of 160 feet, respec
tively, with its deck 46 feet above the river. There is one bridge built on “ Burr’s ” plan,
with double arch pieces of 149 feet span ; and one on “ Howe’s ” plan, 156 feet span, also
assisted by arch pieces. Besides the above, there are 28 wooden bridges of short spans,
from 14 to 39 feet, built of King post, Queen post, “ Howe’s truss” and joists.
There are four tunnels on the road. The longest of these is near Phoenixville, 1,934
feet long, cut through solid rock, worked from five shafts, and two end breasts ; deepest
shaft, 140 feet; size of tunnel, 19 feet wide, by 17£ high ; total cost, $153,000, Another
tunnel at Port Clinton, is 1,600 feet long, worked from the two ends only ; material, loose
and solid rock mixed ; 1,300 feet are arched ; depth below the surface of ground, 119 feet;
total cost, $138,000. The Manayunk tunnel is 960 feet long, through very hard solid
rock, worked from two ends ; depth below surface, 95 feet; total cost, $91,000. Another
tunnel, under the grade of the Norristown Railroad, and through an embankment of the
latter, is 172 feet long, formed of a brick arch, with cut stone facades.
The depots on this road, are all substantially built, but with a view to use, rather than
ornament. At Schuylkill Haven, three miles from Pottsville, is erected a spacious engine
house, round, with a semi-circular dome roof 120 feet diameter, and 96 feet high ; with a
40 feet turning platform in the centre, and tracks radiating therefrom, capable of housing
16 second-class engines and tenders. A t Reading, are located the most complete, exten
sive and efficient workshops, and railroad buildings of every description, to be found in the
country. The Company’s property covers here, besides the railroad tracks, 36 acres, the
greater part of which is already in use, for the various operations required to keep this
vast machine in life and motion. The main machine-shop is 159 by 70 feet, filled with
the most valuable tools and machinery, all made, with the exception of three or four
lathes, in the Company’s workshops, by their own mechanics. Other machine-shops, one
87 by 40 feet, are used for fitting iron and brass exclusively.
The iron foundry is 164 by 32 feet, with two cupolas. The largest blacksmith’s shop
is 121 by 31 feet, 57 smith’s fires being daily in use on the works, all blown by fans, driven
by steam. The main carpenter’s shop is 140 by 46 feet, with a pattern shop in the second
story.
The iron coal cars, tenders, and smoke-pipes, are made and repaired in a shop 123 by
83 feet.
A merchandise depot just completed, is 124 by 84 feet, to accommodate that rapidly
increasing branch of business. About a mile below the Reading depot, where the railroad
is nearest the river, most efficient water-works have been lately constructed, consisting of
a reservoir, on the Neversink hill-side, 51 feet above the rails, holding 700,000 gallons
of water, supplied with a force-pump worked by a small steam-engine. Attached to this
station, are also two separate tracks with coal-shutes beneath, 300 and 450 feet long each,
for the use of the town ; two wood and water stations; a small portable steam-engine for
sawing wood, a refreshment house for crews of engines stopping to wood or w ater; a
brass foundry, passenger car house, passenger rooms, offices, &c. &c. All the machinery
of the main shops and foundry, is driven by a very handsomely-finished stationary engine,
with double cranks, of 35 horse-power, built entirely on the works.
At Pottstown station, 18 miles below Reading, extensive and efficient shops have also
been erected, chiefly for work connected with the bridges and track of the road, and new
work of various descriptions. The principal shops here, are 151 by 81,101 by 41, and 81
by 44 feet. The first shop is covered with a neat and light roof, built of an arched
“ Howe truss,” forming a segment of a circle, 78£ feet span, by 16 feet rise.
At Richmond, the lower terminus of the road, at tidewater, on the river Delaware,
are constructed the most extensive and commodious wharves, in all probability, in the
world, for the reception and shipping, not only of the present, but of the future vast coal
tonnage of the railway ; 49 acres are occupied with the Company’s wharves and works,
extending along 2,272 feet of river front, and accessible to vessels of 600 or 700 tons.
The shipping arrangements consist of 17 wharves, or piers, extending from 342 to 1,132
212
Railroad Statistics.
feet into the river, all built in the most substantial manner, and furnished with shutes at
convenient distances, by which the coal flows into the vessel lying alongside, directly from
the opened bottom of the coal-car in which it left the mouth of the mine. As some coal
is piled or stacked in winter, or at times when its shipment is not required, the elevation
of the tracks by trestlings, above the solid surface or flooring of the piers, affords sufficient
room for stowing 195,000 tons of coal. Capacious docks extend in-shore, between each
pair of wharves, thus making the whole river front available for shipping purposes; 97 ves
sels can be loaded at the same m oment; and few places present busier, or more interest
ing scenes, than the wharves of the Reading Railroad, at Richmond. A brig of 155 tons
has been loaded with that number of tons of coal, in 130 minutes, at these wharves.
A very convenient and neat engine house, has lately been erected at this station ; it is
of a semi-circular shape, with a 40 feet turning platfonn in the centre, outside ; from
which tracks radiate into the house, giving a capacity for 20 engines and their tenders of
the largest class, the building 302 feet long on the centre line, by 69 feet wide. It is built
in the simple Gothic style, the front supported by cast-iron clustered pillars, from the tops
of which spring pointed arches, and the whole capped with turretted capping. Immedi
ately adjoining, are built spacious machine and work-shops, for repairs of engines and
cars, all under one roof, 221 by 63 feet. A visit to this chief outlet of the Pennsylvania
coal trade, will give the best idea of its magnitude, and of the various branches of indus
try connected with it.
The business of this road requires a large amount of running machinery. The latter
consists of 71 locomotive engines and tenders, including five in constant use on the lateral
railroads in the coal region ; 3,020 iron, and 1,539 wooden coal cars ; 482 cars for mer
chandise, and use of road, and 17 passenger cars.
The engines vary from 8 to 22£ tons weight; two very powerful engines, of 27 tons
weight each, are used exclusively on the Falls grade, before mentioned. The iron cars
weigh 2 4-10 tons, empty, and carry five tons of coal. The average load of each engine,
during the busy months of the year, is about 410 tons of coal, (of 2,240 lbs.) The cost of
hauling coal on this road, is about 35 cents per ton. Freight or merchandise, 75 cents
per ton, and passengers 41 cents each, through. Its grades have chiefly secured this great
economy in transportation.
The total length of lateral railroads, connecting with the Reading Railroad, under
other charters and corporations, but all contributing to its business, using its cars, and re
turning them loaded with coal and merchandise, is about 95 miles. Some of these rail
roads are constructed in the most substantial manner, with the best superstructure at present
used in the country.
By the monthly reports which have been made of the business of the Company, it ap
peal's that the receipts from Dec. 1st, 1845, to October 31st, 1846, have been $1,707,312 25.
The receipts for the remaining month of the fiscal year, which ended Nov. 30th, 1846,
will be sufficient to swell the gross receipts to about $1,900,000.
In the last annual report., the managers estimated that the gross receipts would be, for
the same period, $1,725,000. From this statement, it appears that unless the expenses
vastly exceed the estimate given in the same report, the result of the year’s business will
prove very gratifying to the stockholders.
RAILROAD IRON IN TH E UN ITED STATES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
In your number for January, is a statement of the quantity of railroad iron now made
in the United States, taken from the Pottsville Miners’ Journal, in which it is stated, that
the first railroad iron made in this country was in 1844, but does not mention by whom.
As this is a very prominent article in our manufactures, it is desirable the date of its com
mencement should be accurately known. I believe the first made here, was by the “ Great
Western Iron Company,” on the Alleghany River, about forty miles above Pittsburgh; of
which company, Mr. Knowles Taylor, of New York, was the president, and principal pro
jector. In January, 1842, this company had 200 tons railroad iron ready for delivery at
Cincinnati, for a railroad in Indiana, at $50 per ton, at which price they lost money. This
company is now called the Brady’s Bend Iron Works, and is entitled to the credit of
making the first railroad iron in the United States. The Miners’ Journal, in the list of
the several iron companies, puts down the Fall River Company “ in C o n n e c tic u t .” It is
near Taunton, Massachusetts.
213
Commercial Regulations.
COMMERCIAL
HARBOR
REGULATIONS
REGULATIONS.
OF P O R T
ALTERED FROM THE DECREE OF MARCH
OF
MACAO,
CHINA.
31 ST, 1846.
W e give, below, the new harbor regulations for the port of Macao, China, which went
into operation on the 7th of May, 1846. They will be found important to masters of ves
sels, and others interested.
The governor, “ for the convenience of trade, and to diminish the responsibility of the
harbor-master,” has resolved to alter the regulations, enacted provisionally by the decree of
31st of March, 1846, and to order the following, which shall take effect from this date,
(7th May, 1846 :)—
1. The office of the harbor-master shall be near the custom-house.
2. Every vessel wanting a pilot on entering the roads, shall have her national flag at the
foremast-head.
3. The harbor-master alone, shall have power to employ in his service pilots who have
passed an examination.
§ 1. In the department of the harbor-master no cognizance shall be taken of losses in
any ship, under charge of a pilot who has not been examined and sent on board by the
harbor-master, whether in entering or departing.
§ 2. The pay of pilots who have been examined, shall continue the same as those now*
established.
4. The captain, or master of the ship, shall deliver to the person authorized to keep a
register of them, a list of the names of all the passengers, declaring their employment and
destination ; also, all the papers he brings, mentioning the number.
5. The captain, immediately on landing, shall produce to the harbor-master his register,
and a list of the crew of the vessel. These documents shall be kept at the harbor-master’s
office till his departure.
6. The harbor-master shall send immediately to the chief of the custom-house, a state
ment of the number of tons of the ship or ships entering the river, or Typa, extracted from
the proper document and authenticated by it.
7. Ships cannot enter or leave the harbor, in the northeast monsoon, drawing more than
fifteen feet of water, and in the southwest, requiring more than sixteen feet, and that only
in spring tides. On other occasions there are only thirteen feet.
8. Vessels are not allowed to enter the harbor with gunpowder on board. It must be
deposited on entering, at the Bar-fort, and received again on the vessel's departure.
9. It is prohibited to throw ballast or ashes into the sea, within the ports.
10. Vessels cannot change their anchorage within the river, without the. consent of the
harbor-master.
11. Vessels are obliged to have their sheet-anchor always ready to drop.
12. If any of the crew desert the ship, it must be made known to the harbor-master,
who shall take measures for his apprehension. If h e is not found before the vessel sails,
he may be apprehended as soon as he appears, if that is desired, in order to be delivered
up to the competent authority.
13. It is prohibited to leave sick persons in Macao, and these can be landed only by per
mission from the harbor-master.
14. No captain shall have the power to turn away all, or a part of the crew of his ves
sel, without the consent of the harbor-master.
15. It belongs to the harbor-master to make a registration of the crew.
16. Masters or captains of vessels who intend to depart, shall produce some time before
to the harbor-master, all their papers and clearances which ought to be given them by the
custom-house, declaring if he has gunpowder in deposit; and if these papers are regular,
the harbor-master shall give the last clearance.
Contravention of these articles shall be subject to the award of the law.
The authorities to whom the cognizance of these things belongs have thus understood
and decreed.
(Signed)
J o ao M a r i a F e r r e i r a do A m a r a l .
Macao, 1st May, 1846.
214
Commercial Regulations.
SH IPM ENT OF COTTON.—REGULATIONS,
The following notice has been promulgated by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce:—
A merican C hamber of Commerce, L iverpool, 3 d D e c e m b e r , 1846.
G entlemen :— I beg to acquaint you, for the information of the mercantile community
of New York, that, in pursuance of a recent order of the Lords of the Treasury, from
and after the 12th December, the landing waiters will not weigh cotton, or other free goods
imported into this port, except a few packages to ascertain the average weights.
Shippers of cotton will observe, that, in consequence of this change, it will be necessary
that the weights should be accurately taken at the port of shipment, so as to avoid delaysand differences in the adjustment of freight on landing.
I am your very obd’t servant,
G. J. D uncan,
S e c r e ta r y o f th e A m e r ic a n C h a m b er o f C o m m erce , L iv e r p o o l.
In connection with this notice, the New York sliip-owners have agreed as follows:—
N ew Y ork, December' 28, 1846.
The undersigned, owners or agents of vessels engaging freight from this port to Liver
pool or London, agree that, on and after this date, all freights to either port, engaged by
either of them, shall be'on condition that the freight shall be paid immediately on the land
ing of the goods, and the same shall be particularly noted on the bills of lading, before
signing, to wit: “ Freight to be paid immediately on the landing of the goods, without any
allowance of credit or discount to the consignee.” They also further agree, that freight ors
cotton shall be charged on the invoice weight, which must be furnished by the shippers fceore the bills of lading are signed, and the amount of freight to be paid specified on the
bill of lading.
G rinnell , M inturn & C o .
R obert K ermit .
E dward K. Collins & Co.
WOODHULL & M lN TU R N .
C harles H. M arshall.
T aylor & M errill .
S prague, R obinson & Co.
S late, G ardiner & H owell.
J ohn G riswold.
N esmith & W alsh.
C ook & S mith.
D unham & D imon.
J ohn O gden.
T homas S. W inslow .
D. & A. K ingsland &.
D avid Ogden.
E. T. H urlbut & Co.
C o-
The following is the law passed by the South Carolina legislature in relation to the tare
on cotton:—
“ Be
i t e n a c te d b y th e S e n a te a n d H o u s e o f R e p r e s e n ta tiv e s , n o w m e t a n d s i l t i n g i n
G e n e r a l A s s e m b ly , That the custom of making a reduction from the actual weight of bales
of unmanufactured cotton, as an allowance for tare or draft thereon, be and the same is
hereby abolished; and that, hereafter, all contracts made in relation to such cotton shall be
deemed and taken as referring to the true and actual weight thereof, without deduction for
any such tare or draft.”
NAVIGATION* OF STEAM -VESSELS.
The “ rule” for the guidance of persons in charge of vessels navigated by steam was ab
rogated on the 1st January, 1847, by an act of the British Parliament. The following sec
tion is the new law :—
“ That every steam-vessel when meeting or passing any other steam-vessel shall pass as
far as may be safe on the port side of such vessel, and every steam-vessel navigating any
river or narrow channel shall keep as far as it is practicable to that side of the fairway or
mid-channel of such river or channel which lies on the starboard side of such vessel, due
regard being had to the tide and to the position of each vessel in such tid e; and the mas
ter or other person having the charge of any such steam-vessel, and neglecting to observe
these regulations, or either of them, shall for each and every instance of neglect forfeit and
pay a sum not exceeding jC50. Lights are to be hoisted, *in conformity with regulations to
be made by the Admiralty, from sunset to sunrise, whether under way or at anchor, and
also on the coast, within twenty miles of the coast of Great Britain and Ireland, except in
the river Thames above Yantlet Creek.”
215
Nautical Intelligence.
NAUTICAL
INTELLIGENCE.
NAUTICAL INVENTION FOR STEERIN G SHIPS.
W e cheerfully publish the subjoined notice of “ Boston,” relating to Mr. Brown’s inven
tion, as an act of justice, omitting the illustrations:—
Boston, January 19, 1847.
F reeman H unt, E sq.
Dear Sir—In the January No. of the Merchants’ Magazine, a very valuable publication,
I noticed, on the 90th page, a notice as follows—“ Nautical Invention for Steering Ships,”
taken by you from the Philadelphia North American, but which, you state, is an improve
ment, and of great importance to navigators. On looking over that article, I find that this
improvement, claimed as the invention of R. C. Holmes, agent for the underwriters, &c.,
and in said article pronounced by the first seamen as the greatest improvement ever accom
plished, consists of two barrels or drums. It is then said, “ the invention is a new feature
in mechanics, nothing like it having been discovered in the books of the patent office.”
I have now be/ore me a circular, issued some years since, of an invention very similar,
if not exactly the same, which was invented, and I think patented, some time prior to 1826;
at any rate, it was used on board a Boston vessel about that time. This invention was
made by John Mills Brown, who was formerly connected with the Federal-street Theatre,
and now resides at Cold Spring, Putnam county, New York. My only object in address
ing you, is, that the credit of the invention, if any, may be attributed to the right source,
and to caution those who intend paying for the new improvement, so called. Annexed,
you will find a sketch of Brown’s plan.
Yours, &c.,
B oston.
“ My invention consists of two cylinders, A and B, formed out of one solid piece. The
tiller-rope is wound round the small barrel A, then rove through a sheave and on to the
large cylinder B ; so that if you turn the wheel so as to wind up the rope on the large bar
rel, it will, at the same time, be let off of the smaller barrel, and the tiller be moved a dis
tance which is equal to half the difference of their respective circumferences; and as the
two ends of the tiller-rope operate on the opposite sides of the wheel, there is no strain
or shock upon the helmsman. It is quicker than any other wheel, and can be applied in
various ways.”
HARBOR OF GLUCKSTADT.
A t the extremity of the North Harbor Dam a lantern of twenty-three feet above high
•water will be kept burning every night from the 1st December, 1846, which in every direc
tion may be seen at the distance of one league from the harbor, throwing a reddish glare
from southwest over west as far the North Elbe shore. Before the head of the North
Harbor Dam there is a shallow place, on which, at ordinary flood tide, there are twelve to
thirteen feet w ater; up to the time that this shallow place will be filled up, there is placed
on the outermost westerly point a green buoy, with handle and broom. At the south side
of the same is the entrance into the harbor, which, at high water, has the depth of seven
teen to eighteen feet. In the harbor is stationed a steamer to tow ships to and from Gluckstadt, and those who require the assistance of the same have only to hoist their national
flag on the mainmast, as soon as the same may be expected to be visible from the harbor.
REVOLVING LIGHT ON CAPE ST. VINCENT.
Notice has been given that a light was in preparation for Cape St. Vincent, and the Por
tuguese government has now announced that a revolving light was established there on the
29th of October, 1846. Each revolution of this light is performed in two minutes, in the
course of which period a brilliant light appears for a short time, and is then succeeded by
darkness. The light-house stands on the western part of the cape, in lat. 37° 2' 9" north,
and in Ion. 9° O' 0" west of Greenwich; and the light being 221 feet above the level of the
sea, may be seen at the distance of about nineteen miles.
216
Mercantile Miscellanies.
MERCANTILE
MISCELLANIES.
PH ILA DELPHIA M ERCAN TILE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
T he twenty-fourth annual meeting of this institution took place at their hall on the even
ing of the 12th January, 1847, John B. Myers, Esq., in the chair, and A. T. Chew, Secre
tary. The report of the president and directors, is a comprehensive, husiness-like paper.
The past year of the association has been one of general prosperity.
The regular augmentation of the members of the society, the increased attendance at
its rooms, and its manifest capacity for enlarged usefulness, are causes of congratulation to
all who feel an interest in its welfare.
The directors have, on so many occasions, urged the claims of the institution to support,
and dwelt so earnestly on the benefits which it offers to all who are disposed to share its
advantages, that lengthened appeals, in relation to these topics, are deemed unnecessary.
The shelves of the library are capable of containing fifty thousand volumes; and it
should be a laudable ambition, with all who may be connected with the institution, grad
ually to fill them with such works as shall be of permanent value. W hen every depart
ment of literature and science shall there be appropriately represented, then, indeed, will
exist a proud monument to the mercantile character of Philadelphia.
The number of volumes taken out for perusal within the past year, has been 19,911, be
ing an excess of 5,115 over the preceding year. The newspaper room has been supplied
with the usual number of papers, and most of the valuable periodicals may be found on the
tables. It is recommended to the next board, to increase these so for as may seem judi
cious, this description of reading being particularly attractive to the visiters.
The resolution which was adopted at the last annual meeting of the stockholders, in re
lation to the proposition to open the room every afternoon at 3 o’clock, was carried into
effect by the directors, and seems to have given universal satisfaction. The attendance, in
consequence, of woman, whose countenance gives lustre to every enterprise, has imparted
a new feature of refinement and interest to the association.
It farther appears from the report, that the public voice has responded to the calls of the
institution with a liberality surpassing the hopes of its most sanguine friends; and its history
will, hereafter, be one of quiet triumph, and its condition, in all human probability, one of
unmingled prosperity. It was rightly assumed, that an institution which held out sources
of innocent enjoyment to the young, and which, by expanding the intellect, necessarily
improved the qualities of the heart, would not be permitted to languish in this commu
nity.
The connection which is traced between intellectual culture and mercantile ability—be
tween moral excellence and business success—must be exemplified and augmented by the
influence of this, and similar associations, in the United States ; while the course of life in
the young, which strengthens morals and guards integrity, will, it is thought, find its best
illustration in those fostered under its care. The directors have added considerably to the
valuable works of the library, during the past twelve months; the number of volumes pur
chased, being 641. They have endeavored so to arrange the resources of the company,
that a considerable addition may be made to the catalogue during the next year.
It has become necessary, in consequence of the large addition of works to the library,
since the last catalogue was published, to have a new catalogue prepared with the least
possible delay. The last was seriously defective in classification and arrangement, and has
been proved entirely inadequate to the purpose for which it was intended. James Cox, the
Librarian, who has served the institution with so much fidelity during the last seventeen
Mercantile Miscellanies.
217
years, has presented an ingenious form for a catalogue, which seems tg obviate former de
fects, and the directors recommend its being adopted for the contemplated new one.
The sinking fund, which it is contemplated to set apart for the purpose of liquidating the
ground rent, will, it is believed, be sufficiently large to effect that object in the course of a
few years. When this is accomplished, the company will be in unencumbered possession
of their valuable property, and derive therefrom a very considerable income.
The directors have caused to be engraved, by Wm. E. Tucker, a representation of the
library building, which is justly admired for its accuracy and exquisite finish. It is in
tended for a vignette to new certificates of stock, now in course of preparation ; which,
when completed, the stockholders can obtain in lieu of their old ones, by leaving the latter
with the treasurer or librarian.
The report is signed by Thomas P. Cope, Esq., who has for several years filled the office
of president, with the entire approbation of the association. We subjoin a list of the offi
cers elected for the present year:—
Thomas P. Cope, President; Isaac Barton, Charles S. Wood, Joseph Patterson, Robert
F. Walsh, J. J. Thompson, J. L. Erringer* William L. Schaffer, W. E. Bowen, Mamiaduke Moore, Philip S. Justice, W. L. Rehn, William Ashbridge, Directors; John Fausset,
Treasurer.
ROUSSEL’S M INERAL AND PERFUM ERY MANUFACTORY.
We recently visited, in Philadelphia, the perfumery manufactory of Eugene Roussel, which
is the most popular one of its kind in the United States. Indeed, we believe that no
other manufactures the same variety of articles, or to the same extent. M. Roussel is a
Frenchman, and came to this country in 1838, when he commenced the manufacture of
perfumery in every variety; and, from a very small beginning, he has risen to be one of
the most extensive manufacturers in the world. The large experience which M. Roussel
enjoyed in Paris, as foreman of the extensive house of Laguirer, Pere et Fils, so generally
known for more than half a century throughout all Europe, and who were honored with a
silver medal from the French government at one of the great triennial exhibitions of the
products of national industry in France, eminently qualifies him to conduct, profitably and
honorably, the business in which he is engaged. The capital invested in Roussel’s estab
lishment, exceeds $50,000 ; and the number of hands employed, is over 100. The shav
ing cream manufactured at this establishment, is of a superior quality, and exceeds tan thou
sand pounds per annum ; which, at the moderate calculation of twenty-five times for every
box, would shave four millions. Roussel manufactures over 50,000 pounds of toilet soap,
of all kinds, and 2,500 gallons of cologne water, besides a large quantity of hair oils, po
matums, extracts for the handkerchief, hair dyes, &c. The amount of his annual sales of
perfumery and soaps, exceeds $60,000.
M. Roussel was the first to introduce mineral water into the United States, in bottles,
which he commenced in 1839. The sales of this water did not then average more than ten
or fifteen dozen bottles per day, and at this time he puts up and sells from thirteen to fourteen
hundred dozen, daily. Not less than one hundred establishments for the manufacture, have
grown up since M. Roussel introduced its manufacture into the United States. The value
of the corks consumed, alone, amounts to $10,000; sugar, $12,000; cost of bottles per
annum, $6,000; number of bottles manufactured per annum, 4,500,000. The total value
of mineral waters sold, amounts to $60,000. The amount of wages paid persons in the
manufacture of the several articles, is about $20,000. M. Roussel has received several
gold and silver medals from the different industrial institutions of our country, and we have
no doubt but that the articles from his establishment are equal in every respect to those
made in Paris.
218
Mercantile Miscellanies.
ST. LOUIS, T H E FUR TRADERS’ POST.
Thomas Allen, Esq., of St. Louis, recently delivered a lecture before the Mercantile L i
brary Association of St. Louis, on the fur trade, and kindred subjects. A portion of it has
been published in the papers of that city, but that part which details the history of the for
trade has been omitted, as it stated that the lecturer is engaged in a more elaborated work
on the trade.
W e see St. Louis, the for traders’ post, has become' St. Louis, the empress city of the
W est; that the steamboat has taken the place of the Mackinaw boat; that the iron horse
of the railroad is supplanting the pack-mule and the wagon-train ; and that a messenger of
news, in place of the Indian runner, has come into service ; which has annihilated all space,
and brought the whole family of the United States to feel as one body, throughout which,
thought is communicated with the quickness of sensation in the nervous system. We shall
not regret that agriculture has taken under its care the former hunting-grounds of the sav
age, nor that manufactures are occupying the old dams of the beaver. Commerce, the
civilizer, of which the for trader was the forerunner, is working all these beneficent changes.
She is doing more. She is increasing the population, opening new sources of industry, en
larging, cheapening, and equalizing the means and variety of enjoyment. The beaver,
model of industry as she is, is not more active <fn supplying the necessities of her young,
than commerce in supplying the wants of man. Without commerce, we should have had
no broadcloth nor domestic, no loom nor cotton-gin, no steam engine, nor gunpowder, nor
paper-making, nor printing, nor tea, nor coffee, nor spices—we should have had no Homer,
nor Shakespeare, nor Milton, nor Scott—and ages would have passed without experience,
and lives without knowledge.
St. Louis, from her position and destiny, requires the full stature of mercantile character.
She is advancing to a throne of empire, second to one only in this great valley, which is to
be with her future millions of inhabitants the garden and granary of the world. The mer
chant is to play a very important part in working out and shaping this glorious destiny.
The moral influence, the popular renown, which each individual will possess in the great
procession of coming events, will depend, not wholly on his industry or his fortune, but
more on the enlightened energy of his mind, and the probity of his character.
In the foundation of a library, we recognize the true spirit of mercantile liberality. Prop
erly conducted and sustained, it will prove to the merchant a b a n k , whose capital can never
fail, and whose issues will not depreciate—a b a n k , upon which he can make drafts, with
out limit, for geography, for history, for information in respect to the commercial systems
and police of nations, the nature and extent of their commerce, their sources of industry,
their tastes, their wants, and their supplies. How delightful would it be to see the young
merchants of St. Louis making a run upon such a bank ! W hat a hope-inspiring spectacle
to behold them animated with a desire to exhaust the institution of its treasures!
A u contraire, let me add: when we see a city of merchants, devoured by the avarice of
gain, taking no relief but in passing sensual pleasures, we can have no expectation of seeing
them rise above the condition of mere shopkeepers. But when we observe a city of shop
keepers habitually seeking the temples of knowledge, we shall confidently look among them
to find the Spragues, the Rogers, the Hallecks, the Charles Lambs, the Lawrences, the
Roscoes, the Hancocks of their day.
H IN TS TO M ERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN.
Keep your accounts straight. Many a man has lost a fortune by carelessness. The
little time and trouble it takes day by day, to keep debt and credit, and file away bills that
have been paid, is nothing to be compared to the future benefits. No man is perfect, and
the most honest may forget that you have adjusted your account, and present his bill
again. If you feel sure you have cancelled the debt, you may not convince your creditor
of the fact. But if you have preserved his bill receipted, there can be no mistake or fur
ther trouble about it.
AM ERICAN IRON-WOOD.
W e learn that the revenue authorities of England have permitted iron-wood, a species
of cedar or mahogany, the produce of this country, to be admitted duty free; being of
opinion that the wood in question comes under the description of furniture wood, and is
admissable to entry free of duty under the order of the lords of the treasury of 22d ult.
The Book Trade,
219
T H E BOOK T R A D E .
1.
—A Treatise on the L aw o f Principal and A gent , chiefly with Reference to M ercantile T ransactions.
By W illiam P aley , of Lincolns Inn, Esq.. Barrister at Law. The third edition, w ith considerable
additions, by J . H . L loyd, of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. Third American edition, w ith
further extensive additions, by J ohn A. D on lap , Counsellor at Law. New York : Banks, Gould &.
Co., Law Booksellers.
It is well remarked, by the learned editor of an English edition o f this standard Treatise on the
Law o f Principal and Agent, that the vast extension of modern commerce, both foreign and domestic,
and the novelty and variety of the channels through which it is carried on, and perhaps, also, a dif
ferent system of transacting mercantile business, have given rise to new situations and questions upon
the subject of commercial agency, which have come under legal investigation. The volume before
us, a handsome octavo of nearly five hundred pages, is unquestionably the most complete and tho
rough edition of the work that has ever been produced ; and the numerous additions, made by the
American editor, are of a character materially to enhance its value. It would, w ith the endorsement
of our leading jurists, be almost, on our part, a work of supererogation to enlarge upon its value to
professional men, as well as to the merchant, who desires to understand the leading features of the
subject.
2.
—A Treatise on the C rim inal L aw o f the United States : comprising a D ig est o f the Penal Statutes
o f the General Government , and o f M assachusetts, Mew York , Pennsylvania, and V ir g in ia ; with
the D ecisions on Cases a risin g upon those Statutes, together with the E n g lish and Am erican A uthor
ities upon Crime and L aw in G eneral. By F rancis W harton . 1846.
Such a work as this has long been a desideratum with the profession. The works of Barbour and
the Davis’s—the only American treatises, strange to say, attempted, upon the same subject—amount
to simple examinations into the duties o f justices of the peace, and as such are beneficial only to
those who stand in need of the most elementary expositions of criminal law. T he book of Mr. D.
Davis, it is true, also goes to enlighten citizens as to their office w hen called upon to act as grand ju
rors ; but this scarcely enlarges its sphere of usefulness. Practitioners at the bar have been hitherto
obliged, for their part, to rely upon the labors of Chitty, Russell, Archbold, and Roscoe, who give us
the old crown law, with the British judicial decisions added to it—a code, which every day causes
to differ more and more from our own, which is the offspring of freer institutions and a larger per
sonal liberty. The ordinary expedient, of compensating for the defects of these writers by a supply
of domestic foot-notes and references, has become altogether insufficient; since the decisions of our
courts have so increased in number as to be often of really more importance than the English text
upon which they profess to comment. It is on this account that the work now before us, has been
so sincerely welcomed. Its author is Mr. Wharton, a gentleman whom Pennsylvanians have been
complimenting for his able performance of the duties of prosecuting attorney of the commonwealth,
for Philadelphia. It is w hat it professes to be—the criminal law of the United States digested, as
well as compiled, and possessing every requisite that could be desired in it. An able legal writer has
remarked upon the concluding book, On Trial and its Incidents, that the reader will find in it, “ the
subject, not only masterly treated, but an amount of information embodied, divided, and digested, in
a manner altogether unattempted in any previous work on criminal law, English or American.” This
may be said truly of all of the six books of which it is composed. It is, throughout, executed in a
painstaking and industrious, yet finished and scholarlike manner.
3.
— Instructions to Young Sportsmen, in all that Relates to G uns and Shooting. By Lieut. Col. P.
H a w k es . First American, from the Ninth London edition. To which is added, the Hunting and
Shooting of North America, with Descriptions of the Animals and Birds. Carefully Collated from
Authentic Sources. By W illia m J. P o r t e r , Esq., editor of the New York Spirit of the Times.
Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.
This is a very thorough and complete manual for the sportsman, embodying the whole range of
subjects connected with guns and shooting in England ; and the American editor, whose taste and
studies eminently fit him for the task, has omitted only w hat is of a local character, and supplied the
place with whatever of utility or interest pertains to sports in the United States. It is, on the whole,
one of the most complete and thorough treatises on the subject, that has ever fallen under our ob
servation.
4 . — Sm all Books on G reat Subjects. N o s. 7. 8 , 9. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.
The numbers before us, o f these comprehensive essays on popular subjects, complete the series.
No. 8 , is devoted to an exposition of vulgar and common errors, adapted to the year of MDCCCXLV ;
No. 7, to Christian doctrine and practice in the second century ; and No. 9, is an introduction to vege
table physiology, with reference to the works of De Candolle, Lindley, etc. The circulation of these
works in England, has been commensurate with the marked ability displayed in their production
and if it is not so in this country, we shall be the losers.
-220
The Book Trade.
By W illiam Y ouatt . Edited, with Additions, by E. J . L e w is , M. D., Member of
the Academy of Natural Sciences. Philadelphia; of the Philadelphia Medical Society; of the Prus
sian Medical Society, etc. Philadelphia : Lea & Blanchard.
Mr. Youatt’s success as an author, in this particular department of literature, has been owing, in a
great measure, to his enthusiastic devotion to the study of natural history. In the present volume,
devoted to the dog, we find embodied, not only the early history, classification, varieties, and qualities
of the dog, but whatever is calculated to promote his training for the various uses of domestic
pursuits. The diseases which affect the dog, and the mode of treatment, are fully discussed ; and we
have, moreover, a fund of anecdotes, illustrative of his faithful characteristics, which will interest
the admirers of this noble animal. Dr. Lewis, without abridging, as we are informed, the English
edition, has added to the volume some sixty additional pages, thus adapting it to the wants of our own
country, where the varieties of the animal are more numerous than they are in England.
6 .— A m eric a n N a t u r a l H is to r y . By J ohn D. G odman , M. D. T o w h ich is added h is la st work,
“ Rambles of a Naturalist,” with a Biographical Sketch of the Author. In two volumes. Philadel
phia: Uriah Hunt & Son.
This work, the production of Dr. Godman, who was born in Maryland, in the year 1794, has passed
through numerous editions, and acquired the character of a standard in the department of literature
which it covers. It comprehends a classified account of the animals of all North America—their ge
nus, and whatever tends to illustrate their character and habits. Its standard value, and the high
reputation the author enjoyed, will secure for the present edition, which is published in a handsome
and substantial style, a steady, if not extensive sale. It abounds in illustrative anecdotes of animals.
9.— T h e D o g .
7.— S ta te B o o k o f P e n n s y lv a n ia ; c o n ta in in g a n account o f the G eo g ra p h y , H is to r y , G o v e rn m e n t ,
R eso u rce s , a n d N o te d C itize n s o f the S ta te , w ith a M a p o f the S ta te a n d o f each C o u n ty. By T homas
IL Burro ugh s . Philadelphia: Uriah H unt & Son.
The title very succintly expresses the leading features of this interesting manual, which appears
to have been prepared w ith great care, and its arrangement is the most convenient for study or
reference of any work of its kind that has of late fallen under our notice. It has a separate map of
each county in the State, with appropriate and well-executed illustrations. The author was some
time Secretary of State in Pennsylvania, and had access to various means of information not familiar
to many compilers, and has given us a clear and comprehensive account of the “ Key stone State”
and its resources.
8.
— T h e P ublic a n d P r iv a te H i s to r y o f the Popes o f R o m e , f r o m the E a r lie s t P erio d to the P re se n t
T im e : in c lu d in g the H is to r y o f S a in ts , M a r t y r s , F a th e rs o f the C h u rch , R e lig io u s O rd ers , C a rd i
n a ls, I n q u is itio n s , S c h ism s, a n d the G re a t R e fo rm e rs . By Louis M a r ie de C orm enin . Translated
from the French. Two volumes. Philadelphia : James M. Campbell.
This is a very remarkable work in many respects. It purports to come from the pen of a French
Roman Catholic, and yet, while it records the virtues of many of the popes, it discloses the vices and
crimes of others—a large majority of them, to a degree, that is calculated, in some portions of the
work, to excite disgust in the minds of most readers. The author of the work thus briefly prefaces
it, which we shall quote, in order to give some idea of its spirit and design :—
“ The history of the popes is an immense work, which embraces within its scope the political, mo
ral. and religious revolutions of the world. It runs through a long series of ages, during which, the
bishops of Rome, whose mission was to announce to men a divine religion, have forgotten it in their
pride of power, have outraged the morality of Christ, and become the scourge of the human race.
Formerly, the thunders launched from the Vatican by sacrilegious priests, overthrew kingdoms, and
covered Europe, Asia, and Africa, with butcheries, wars, and conflagrations. But the times are
changed; religious passions are softened; philosophy has overthrown absolute thrones, and broken
down the colossal power of the popes.”
A brief analysis of these epochs precedes the author’s history, and offers a frightful picture of mon
strous debaucheries, bloo ly wars, memorable revolutions, etc., which prepares, by its wonderful re
cital, for the long succession of pontiffs and kings, celebrated for their crimes, or illustrious fer their
exploits. The strong republican feelings of the author, although a Catholic, may have biased his
opinions in regard to the character of popedom ; but, on the other hand, they led him to watch, w ith
a close and critical eye, all movements having a tendency to the concentration of power, either in
Church or State, in the hands of a single individual. The translator was evidently qualified for hia
task, and has doubtless retained the spirit and intent of the author. The two volumes cover more
than nine hundred large octavo pages, and the work is splendidly illustrated w ith colored plates,
which will compare well with the original French, of which they are copies. It is, on the whole, a
work well calculated to create a deep interest in the public mind, and must obtain a wide circulation.
9. — L e g e n d s a n d S to rie s o f Ire la n d . By S am uel L o v er , Esq., R. H. A. First series. Philadelphia:
Carey & Hart.
A choice collection of the author’s inimitable legends and stories, overflowing with genuine Irish
w it and humor, and as free from indelicate inuendoes and vulgarity as such writings can well be.
Those who have read the “ Handy Andy” of Lover, cannot abstain from the excitement offered to
their risibilities in the present volume.
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10.
— H i s t o r y o f th e R e v o lt o f th e N e t h e r l a n d s , T r i a l a n d E x e c u ti o n o f C o u n t s E g m o n t a n d H o r n , a n d
th e S ie g e o f A n t w e r p . Translated from the German of F red er ic k S c h il l er . By the Rev. A. JW . Morrison , M. A. New York : Harper & Brothers’ New Miscellany.
This work of Schiller was first published, we believe, a t Weimar, in 1788, in the author’s native
German. How long it has been translated into our own, we have not the means at hand of knowing
This, however, is the first edition of the translation that has ever been produced in this country. The
materials of the author were at the time it was written abundant, and the only difficulty he must have
experienced, was to seize the truth from such unequal, partial, and often contradictory narratives as it
is quite natural to suppose existed. But the philosophy and genius of Schiller have lent a charm to
the work that cannot fail of interesting a large class of the English admirers of German literature and
history. To Schiller’s mind, one of the most remarkable events which have rendered the 14th century
among the brightest of the world’s epochs, was the foundation of the freedom of the Netherlands.
W e are glad that the Harpers have introduced it into their admirable series—the New Miscellany—of
which it forms the NXIst number.
11.— T h e
P l e a s u r e s o f T a s t e , a n d o th e r S t o r i e s ; s e le c te d f r o m th e w r i t i n g s o f M i s s J a n e T a y l o r , w i t h
a S k e tc h o f h e r L i f e . By Mrs. Sarah J. H ale , author of “ Traits of American Life,” “ Ladies’
W reath,” &c. New Y ork: Harper and Brothers.
This excellent volume was prepared originally for the “ Massachusetts School Library,” a fact
th a t would commend it to all who are acquainted with the high-standing of the committee who con
trolled the introduction of every work introduced into the series, were not the reputation of Mrs.
Hale so well known and highly appreciated for sound judgment, purity of taste and character, not
only as an authoress, but as a woman, in all her varied relations. The selections are excellent, and
the biography of Jane Taylor, by Mrs. Hale, though brief, is comprehensive and to the point.
— P i c tu r e s o f E a r l y L i f e , o r S k e tc h e s o f Y o u t h . By Mrs. E mma C. E mbury . New York : Harper
& Brothers.
The design of these tales, is to illustrate, in a simple and pleasing manner, some of the more im
portant lessons of early education. The work has already passed through several editions, and those
who are familiar w ith the author’s talents in this department of literature, need not be told that she
has accomplished successfully, so far as it can be, her design. At least, it is a most agreeable collec
tion of stories, that will be read with general satisfaction.
12.
13. —H u t t o n 's B o o k o f N a t u r e L a i d O p en : R e v i s e d a n d I m p r o v e d . By Rev. J . L. Blake , D. D., au
thor of various works on General Literature. New York : Harper &. Brothers.
The design of this little work, which is very generally known, we suppose, is to lead the young
mind to a contemplation of the works of the Creator. Dr. Blake has added a few questions at the
foot of each page, which will render it an agreeable and instructive family or Sunday-school book.
— E v e n i n g s a t H o m e ; o r th e J u v e n i l e B u d g e t O p e n e d . By Dr. A ik in an d Mrs. B arbauld . Re
vised edition. New York : Harper & Brothers.
Fifteen London editions, and we know not how many American, would seem to indicate the great
popularity of this work. T h at it is deserved, all who are acquainted w ith it, will readily admit.
Purer minds, than Dr. Aikin and Mrs. Barbauld possessed, never attempted, that we are aware, to ca
ter for the instruction and amusement of the young ; and thousands, grown to years of maturity, will
bear testimony to the benign influence received through these pleasant and profitable pages. The
present edition is beautifully illustrated with engravings after Harvey and Chapman, by that excel
lent artist, Adams.
1 5 . ________ T h e B o o k o f N u r s e r y R h y m e s , T a l e s , a n d F a b le s. A G i f t f o r A l l S e a s o n s . Edited by L aw rence
L ovechild . Philadelphia: George B. Zieber.
This is a beautiful edition, consisting of most of the old ballads which afforded our grandfathers
amusement in the days of their childhood ; such, for instance, as “ Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog,”
and many others, as well known and popular.
14.
16. ________ A l a d d i n , o r th e W o n d e r f u l L a m p . A G i f t f o r a l l S e a s o n s . W it h F i ft e e n E x q u i s i t e I l l u s t r a t i o n s
o n W ood, E n g r a v e d b y D o u g h t y , G ilb e r t, G ih o n , T V a itt, a n d D o w n e s , f r o m O r i g i n a l D e s i g n s b y
D a r l c y . Edifed by L aw rence L ovechild . Philadelphia: George B. Zieber.
This popular eastern tale, or romance, designed for the amusement of children, is reproduced in an
elegant and captivating style, w ith highly-colored illustrative engravings, ft has ever been a favorite
w ith “ little folks,” and the beautiful form of the present volume will enhance its value to them.
17.
—E l e r y W r i t t e n i n a C o u n t r y C h u r c h y a r d . By T homas G ray. W ith Thirty-six Illustrations,
Engraved on Wood. By S. G il b e r t . Philadelphia: John W. Moore.
Gray’s elegy, which has ever been considered a perfect gem in English poetical literature, like
Shakespeare and the Bible, is above criticism; and therefore our only object at this time, is to no
tice the present as a most beautifully printed, bound, and illustrated edition of it. Each page occu
pies but one verse of the poem, which has an appropriate illustrated engraving. Indeed, so graphic
are the descriptions in every line of the poem, that it would be strange if the ingenious artist did not
catch the movements of the poet’s mind, which, aside from the thoughts that impressed it at the time,
was so perfectly alive to the most artistic conception of composition.
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18. — The Treatm ent o f Insanity. By J ohn M. G a lt , M. D., Superintendent and Physician of the
Eastern Lunatic Asylum of Virginia, at Williamsburg. New York: Harper & Brothers.
W e have, in this volume of nearly six hundred pages, a very elaborate and able treatise on insan
ity. Dr. Galt seems to have embodied in his work a vast amount of matter on the subject, gathered,
not only from his own experience in this particular department of practice, but from the labors of the
most eminent and popular writers at home and abroad. It is designed for the profession, but contains
much that will interest the intelligent reader.
— American H istorical and L ite ra ry C uriosities ; consisting o f Fac Sim iles o f O riginal D ocum ents ,
Relating to the Events o f the Revolution, etc., etc. W ith a Variety o f R elics. A ntiquities, and Mod
e m Autographs. Collected and Edited by J . J ay S m it h , Librarian of the Philadelphia and Logamian Libraries, and J ohn F. W atson , A nnalist of Philadelphia and New York, assisted by the
19.
Association of American Antiquarians. Philadelphia: Carey ic Hart. New York: W iley &
Putnam.
The design of this handsomely executed book, is indicated in the title-page quoted. It embodies
numerous autograph letters of General Washington, William Penn, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin,
Lafayette, Mrs. Martha Washington, Kosciusko, George Whitfield, etc., besides modern autographs,
and many printed literary curiosities of the past. The work is to be continued in numbers, and w ill,
when completed, contain much that will interest, not only the antiquarian, but all who are curious in
such matters, or delight in recalling the reminiscences of the past. It is well remarked by the editor,
that “ the past has a charm for Americans, as well as for the inhabitants of countries whose history
goes far into the shadowy and unknown ; our early and romantic past has the merit of being known,
and truly related ; every thing which adds to these truths, is sought for w ith avidity by the curious.”
It is with such views that the present work has been prepared and published.
20. —Songs and Ballads. By S amuel L o v er . Including those sang in his “ Irish Evenings,” and
hitherto unpublished. Third Edition, with additions, corrected by the author. New Y ork: Wiley
& Putnam.
The Reserved popularity of the present collection of these ‘‘ Songs and Ballads” in America will
secure for the present edition an extensive demand. “ A reprint,” says Mr. Lover, in his preface to
this edition, “ of a London edition of my songs and ballads has lately been republished in this country,
deficient of the songs of ‘ Handy Andy’ and *Treasure Trove,’ and but very few from my ‘ Irish
Evenings.’ This present edition contains all those 1 have enumerated, besides all the songs of my
‘ Irish Evenings,’ many o f which are here published for the first time. In fact the present edition is
the only perfect one in existence, being much more ample than any collection of my songs published
even in Europe, and the only authentic copy of my poetical works in this country, it having gone
through typographical corrections uuder my own hand.”
21—Herdsmen and T illers o f the Ground ; or, Illustrations o f E a rly Civilization. By Mrs. P ercy
L in n et t . New York : Wiley &. Putnam.
The present volume, with one which preceded it, is intended as part of a descriptive history of the
Progress of Civilization, as far as it can be made interesting to juvenile readers; and a series of sketches
of the life of races existing a t present in various stages of advancement. The subjects included in this
volume, are the Nomadic Herdsmea-of^Silena—the Pastoral Tribes of the Asiatic Land—the Moun
taineers of Caucasus—Calmucks and Krughts, or Cossacks of Independent Tartary, etc. It is amusing
and instructive, and the. highly-colored engravings, illustrative of the subjects, are spirited and
life-like.
22. — Glimpses o f the W onderful. New Y ork: W iley &.Putnam.
This is a beautiful annual, designed for children and youth. The wonders o f nature and art are
combined in a happy and attractive form. Amusement is here rendered subservient to information
th at is well calculated to enlarge the intellect of the young mind. The several “ wonders” are
illustrated w ith well executed cuts.
23.
— The M odem Standard D ra m a ; A Collection o f the most Popular A c tin g Plays , with Critical R e
m arks ; also, the B u sin ess o f the Stage, Costumes, etc. Edited by E pes S a r g en t , author of “ Ve
lasco, a Tragedy,” etc. Vol. III. New Y ork: William Taylor & Co.
T h e th ird volum e o f this collection o f p o p u lar plays, ju s t com pleted, includes,—T h e Poor G en tlem an —
H a m le t—C harles II.—V enice Preserv ed —Pizarro— T h e L o v e C h ase—O th e llo —L e n d M e F iv e Shillings.
T h e volum e also contains a b rie f m em oir o f M r. W illia m B u rto n , and a p o rtra it o f th a t gentlem an in Dr.
O llapod, in the com edy o f th e “ P o o r G e n tle m a n .”
24.
— The Roman T r a ito r ; a T rue Tale o f the Republic. A H istorical Romance. By H enry W illia m
H e r b e r t , author of “ Marmaduke W yvil,” “ Cromwell,” “ The Brothers.” New York: William
Taylor & Co.
This is the first attempt of the author, as we are informed, in classical fiction, and he has chosen
the conspiracy of Catiline as a theme particularly adapted for the purpose, and as being, moreover,
an actual event of vast importance, in many respects unparalleled in history. Mr. Herbert, it would
seem, to the history of the strange events related in this tale, has scrupulously adhered; and the
dates, fucts, and character of the individuals introduced, we are assured, will not be found in any
material respect erroneous or untrue.
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25.
— The Complete Poetical Works o f Thomas Campbell; w ith a M em oir o f h is L ife , and an E ssa y on
h is G enius and W ritings. Illustrated with Fine Steel E n g ra vin g s. New Y ork: D. Appleton & Co.
It would be a work of supererogation, on our part, to speak of the poem 3 or power of Campbell.
There are few but w hat admire his subdued enthusiasm ; and it has been, we believe, very truly,
said of him, that he is par excellence the poet of the fair sex. There are, perhaps, no works more
relished by cultivated females. But our chief object is to notice the present edition, which appears
in uniform style with the publisher’s standard poets, some ten or dozen volumes of which have al
ready appeared. In some respects, it is handsomer—the type is larger, and the illustrations, many of
them, better.
26. — Sailors1 L ife and Sailors' Y arns. By Captain R ing bolt . New Y ork: Charles S. Francis.
A portion of the contents of this volume was originally published in the Boston Journal; written,
as the author says, for his own amusement in leisure hours, at sea. The “ yarns,” as they are termed,
we have the. assurance, are founded upon fa c t; and some are strictly true, with the exception of the
names of persons. These sketches of a sailor’s life, and narratives of incidents a t sea, are written in
an agreeable vein ; and the sentiments which many of them contain cannot fail to commend them
selves to sailors, and to those interested in the sailor’s welfare. W e commend it to all who “ go down
to the sea in ships, or do business upon the great deep,” either in the capacity of seamen or passen
gers, as alike interesting and instructive.
27. —D iscourses on U nm an Mature, H um an L ife , and the M ature o f Religion. By O rville D ew e y ,
D. D., Pastor of the Church of the Messiah, in New York. New Y ork: C. S. Francis & Co.
Dr. Dewey has embodied in the present collection, not only most of the sermons and essays that
have been published in his name, but has added several sermons not before printed, together w ith a r
ticles from reviews, and occasional discourses. A number of discourses, etc., are arranged under dis
tinct heads, as “ Human Nature,” “ Human Life,” and the “ Nature of Religion.” The word dull
will not apply to any thing from the pen of Dr. Dewey. Sermons, w ith him, are finished essays, full
of deep and manly thoughts. His style is eminently nervous, impressive, bold; and the conservative
portion of the Unitarian denomination, have not a more able and powerful exponent of their faith.
The present volume is, in the main, practical; and may be read by the liberal and intelligent of all
sects with advantage.
By L. M aria C h il d , author of “ Mothers’ Book,” “ New York Letters,”
etc. III. For Children of Eleven and Twelve Years of Age. New York : C. S. Francis & Co.
This little volume, one of an admirable series, consists of tales, poems, and sketches, adapted to
the tastes of children ; written in that pure and loving spirit, so characteristic of every thing from the
au& or’s pen—all in h er happiest and best vein. To those who know the author, the announcement
is enough ; and to those who do not, we can only heartily commend w hatever she writes—sure that
we run no risk in doing so.
<28.— Flowers f o r Children.
'2d.— Greenwood Illustrated, in a Series o f Picturesque and Monumental Views, in highly-finished L in e
E n o ra vin g , fro m D raw ings taken on the spot. By J ames S m il l ie . The Descriptive Notices by N
C lev elan d . Part ill. New York: R. Martin.
W e spoke in terms o f high commendation of the two previous parts. The present is equal in all
respects. It contains a correct map of Greenwood, surrounded by four beautiful views of Lorn Girt
Hill, Ocean Hill, the Monument to Wm A. Lawrence, Arbor W ater, and the Receiving Tomb. There
are, besides, a view of the Tour Fern Hill, and another o f Ocean Hill.
30. — The Scripture T reasury, being the Second P a rt o f the Scripture Text-Book ; arranged f o r the use
o f M inisters, Sabbath-School Teachers , and Families. D esigned to afford a General View o f the
M anners, Customs, and H istory o f the Jews and other M otions mentioned in Scripture, and o f the
Geography. M atural Histoinj, and A r ts o f the A ncients , together with a variety o f other subjects re
corded or referred to in the Sacred Volume. New York: Lewis Colby & Co.
T he object of this book is succinctly stated in the title-page, and we should consider it an excellent
Rid to all persons studying the sacred Scriptures, either for religious or literary purposes.
—L ife in Mew York. By the author of “ T he Old W hite Meeting-House.” New Y ork: R. Carter.
The sketches of this little volume purport to be drawn from life; and they are given to the world,
says the author, that the interior life of the great city may be known to those that read. The design
of the author is beneficent, and his sketches o f life in New York generally graphic; but his views
of society, as it now exists, lamentably superficial. He has no faith in “ Fourierism,” or the efforts
of any of our modern reformers, to make it b e tte r; while he admits th at “ there is a shocking w ant
of humanity in this community.” W e hail every work of this class, though deficient in the elements
of vital reform, as prophetic of “ the better time coming.”
31.
—Ju lia O rm ond; or the Mew Settlement. By the authoress of “ The Two Schools.” New York :
Edward Dunigan.
This tasty volume forms the seventh, of “ Duaigan’s Home L i b r a r y a series of tales of a social’
moral, and religious tendency, designed chiefly for Catholic families. The beautiful style in which
they are published, as well as their literary merit, will render them attractive to many who do not
belong to the church.
32.
224
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33.
—L i f e o f Stephen D e c a tu r , a Commodore in the N a v y o f the U nited S ta te s. By A lexander S lidell
Vol. XL of Sparks’s American Biography. Boston: Charles C. Little and
James Brown.
The present volume forms the eleventh of the “ new series” of Sparks’s American Biogra
phy, and is devoted entirely to a memoir o f the life of Commodore Decatur. The author availed
himself not only of all previous publications relating to the subject of the memoir, but had access to
original information, derived from the most authentic private sources, which constitutes a large portion
of the work. It is probably the most elaborate and authentic, as it is evidently the most carefully
prepared history of the hero, whose manly life and deeds the appreciating author has exhibited in a
manner that reflects the highest credit on his ekiil and scholarship. It is, on the whole, one of the
most deeply interesting embraced in the admirable series of Mr. Sparks.
Ma ck en zie , U. S. N.
34. — T h e Isla n d B r id e , a n d other P oem s. By J ames F. C olman. Boston: VVm. D. Ticknor & Co.
The leading poem, “ The Island Bride,” covers one hundred and sixteen pages, which we have not
found time to read. The remainder of the volume is occupied with shorter pieces, of varied length
and merit. Several of them evince a poetic taste, if not the largest development of poetical fire or
inspiration.
—E u ro p e a n A g r ic u ltu r e an d R u r a l E co n o m y. F rom P e rso n a l O b servation. By H enry C olman .
Vol. II. Part VII.
The labors of Mr. Colman in European agriculture are drawing to a close, only three parts more
being required to complete the plan as promised in the original prospectus. The work, when com
pleted, will form one of the most valuable additions to the practical and scientific literature of the
country that has ever been contributed by a citizen of the United States. T he part before us is de
voted to “ Tiles and Pipe Draining—Ploughing connected with thorough Draining—Irrigation—Rota
tion of Crops—Soiling, or Horse Feeding,” etc.
35.
lO 3 W e subjoin the titles of the more important works intended for review in the present
number, which we are compelled to defer for a future. They shall all, however, be
duly noticed.
I.
— T h e L i v e s o f L o r d C hancellors a n d K eepers o f the G re a t Seal o f E n g la n d , f r o m the e a rlie st tim es
t i l l the r e ig n o f K i n g G eorge I F . By J ohn L ord C am pbell , A. M , F. R. S. E. First Series, to
the Revolution of 1688. In three volumes, 8 vo. From the Second London Edition. Philadel
phia : Lea & Blanchard.
^
2 — Specim ens o f the Poets a n d P o e try o f G reece a n d R om e. B y V a rio u s T r a n s la to r s . Edited by
W illiam P e t e r , A. M., of Christ Church, Oxford. One splendid volume, 8vo., pp. 530. Philadel
phia: Carey & Hart.
3 _ G r a h a m 's P ractice. Vol. I. Third Edition. Revised, corrected, and enlarged, 1847. Second vol
ume of new edition, not yet published. Published by Gould, Banks & Co., New York. Also, from
same publishers, W heeler's L u le on the P ra c tic e a n d P le a d in g s in E q u ity .
4 .— T h e E s t r a y ; a Collection o f Poem s. By H. VV. L o n g f e l l o w . Boston: W illiam D. Ticknor & Co.
5 — Poem s. By T homas Buchanan R ead . Boston: William D. Ticknor & C o . J2mo. 1847.
6. — T h e S p a n ia rd s and th e ir C o u n try. By R ichard F ord , author o f “ The Handbook of Spain. New
York: W iley and Putnam’s “ Library of Choice Reading.”
7. — S p e n ser and the F aery Q ueen. By Mrs. C. M. K irklan d . New York : W iley & Putnam's “ L i
brary of American Books.”
8 — Selections f r o m the P oetical W o rk s o f G eo ffry C h a u c e r : w ith a C oncise L i f e o f th a t P o et , a n d
R e m a r k s I llu s tr a tiv e o f h is G e n iu s . By C ha rles H. D e s h l e r . New York: Wiley & Putnam’s
“ Library of American Books.”
9. — T h e P rin cip les o f Science applied to the D o m e stic an d M echanic A r t s , a n d M a n u fa c tu re ; w ith R e
fle c tio n s on the P ro g re ss o f the A r t s , an d th eir Influence on N a tio n a l W elfa re . By A lonzo P otter ,
D. D. Revised Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers.
10. — T h e Poetical W o rk s o f P ercy B y s c h c S h elley. Edited by Mrs. S helley . In one royal octavo
volume. Philadelphia: Crissy & Markley.
I I . — Chronicles o f the C i d ; f r o m the S p a n ish . By R o b er t S ou th ey . First American Edition, 8 vo.
Lowell: Daniel Bixby.
12.—L i te r a r y S tu d ie s ; a C ollection o f M isc e lla n e o u s E s s a y s . By W . A. J ones. Vol. I. New York :
Edward Walker.
13—H is to r y o f W y o m in g , in a S eries o f L e tte r s , f r o m C harles M in e r , Esq., to his son, W ililia m
P enn M in e r , Esq. 8 vo. Philadelphia : Crissy & Markley.
14 . —R o r y O 'M o re : a N a tio n a l Rom ance. By S amuel L ov er , Esq., author of “ Legends of Ireland,”
&c. W ith illustrations by the author. Philadelphia. Lea & Blanchard.
15. — T h e U se fu l A r t s , considered in connection w ith the a pplication o f Science : w ith n u m e ro u s e n g r a
v in g s . By J acob Bigelow , M. D., Professor of Materia Medica in Harvard University; author of
“ The Elements of Technology,” etc. etc. New York : Harper &. Brothers.
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