Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : February 1860, Vol. XLII, No. II

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E s t a b li s h e d J u l y , 1 8 3 9 , b y F r e e m a n H u n t .

V O L U M E X L II.

FEBRUARY,

CONTENTS

OF

1 860.

N O . I I .,

NUM BER II.

V O L . X L II.

ARTICLES.
A rt .

pag b

L P A R T IA L R E V IE W OF MR. C A R E Y ’S LE TT ER S TO TH E PR ESIDENT. RE­
PL Y TO MR. IIE N R Y C A R E Y B AIR D . By R i c h a r d S u l l e y , of Fort Wayne,
Indiana............................ ............................................................................................................................ 14T
II. COMMERCIAL A N D IN D U ST R IAL CITIES OF TH E U N IT E D STATES. No. l x x i i .
N E W ORLEANS, L O U ISIAN A. Progress of New Orleans - Impoits, Exports, and
Receipts— Domestic Trade— Bank Loans— Exchange Transactions— Effect of Loans on
Business— Receipts of Specie—Specie in Bank—Reaction in Trade attracts Specie—
“ Flows up the Mississippi.”— Operations of Steam—Rail roads affect Trade— Cotton goes
North—Small Ratio of Rank Loans— Mexican silver— Exchange during the past Year—
Several Years— Mint Operations—Gold Deposits— Effect of New York Assay-office—
Money for the past Year—Value of Products last Year—Railroad Routes—Tehuante­
pec— Steam Propellers— Value of Coastwise Trade— Cotton— Increased Value—Course
of Prices for past Year— Table of Crops and Comparative Value Sugar—Entire Crop—
Course of Market— Progress of Production—Table of Crops and Values—Tobacco—State
of Crops—Production and Value—Freights— Rates of—Number of Arrivals........................ IS®
III. PRODUCE A N D R A W M ATER IALS. Influence of Gold—Stimulus to Industry— Pro­
ducers more Prosperous— Greater Demand for Clothing— Raw Materials—English Pur­
chases—Decline in Values to 1850—Rise since— Increased Markets—Prominence o f
Cotton—Sources of English Supply—India a Consumer of Cotton - Goods sent Thither—
Egypt as a Market-Hand-loom Goods—United States Cotton— Proportion taken by
England—Larger Purchases by Europe—More Cotton per Hand—Exported Produce of
t he South—Food Raised—South and North—Articles of Food—The South Raises its own
Food—Cattle—Hay n it an Evidence of Wealth—A Necessity of Climate— Coal Analogy
— Comparative Value of Produce—Rise in the Value of Cotton............................................... 165IV . AM E R IC A N T R A D E IN T H E B LA C K SEA. By J. P. B rown , United States Acting
Consul at Constantinople ...................................................................................................................... 170
V. D E C IM A L SYSTEM A N D SIL V E R COINS OF T H E U N IT E D ST AT ES. B y Col.
F r e d e r i c k A. S a w y e r , of California................................................................................................ 17T
V L TIIE IN D IA N AR C H IP ELAG O SOUTH OF T H E EQ U ATOR —D U T CH E X C L U ­
SIVEN ESS A N D RESTRICTIONS TO COMMERCE. By T iio m a s D a l t o n , J r., of
New Y o r k .................................................................................................................................................. IPS
V II. CUSTOMS REFORM IN B E L G IU M ................................................................................................ 187

J O U R N A L OP M E R C A N T I L E

L A W.

Salvage—Vessels Employod in Salvage Business—Rights and Duties of Salvors—Liability for
Negligence— Saving of L ife ............................................................................................................................ 191
Seamen's W a g e s..............................
192

C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E A ND R E V I E W .
Close of the Decade—Scale of Progression—Comparative Exports of three Nations—Immense
Increase of Exports—Development of Capital—United States for Forty Years—Trade—Ton­
nage—Railroads—Disasters of 1819—United States Bank—Tariff Policy—Revolution—Bank
War—Speculation of 1836—Explosion—Death of the “ Monster’’ --Close o f Fourth Decade—
Failures of Nine States—Improvement— Famine o f 1S46—War—Revolution—Gold Discove­
ries—Return of Confidence—Progress—Over-action—Panic—Investments of Capital—Accumulation of Capital—Strong Position—Gold Y ield—Great Prospects for the Future—Price
o f Money—Dividends and Rates of Bills—Specie Exports—Assay-office—Mint—Aggregate
Specie Exportation- Drain on the Banks—Amount in Banks, Nine Cities—Decrease o f Re­
serve—Increase o f Circulation—Imports of past Year—Failures—Annual Report—Propor­
tion—Trade o f the past Year—Total in Statement..................................................................... 194-212
V O L . X L II.-----N O . I I .




’

10

146

CON TEN TS

OF

N O . I I ., Y O L . X L I I .
PAG*

J O U R N A L OF B A N K I N G ,

CURRENCY,

AND F I N A N C E .

Bank Clearing-house of New Y o rk ................................................................................................................. 21?
Statistics of Washington............................................................................................................................. ..
214
City Weekly Bank Returns—Banks of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Pitts­
burg, St. Louis, Providence...............................................................................................................................215
National Bank of Austria—Debt.........................................................................................................................220
British Shilling in Canada.—Debt of the State of New York................................................................ 221
Cities of O hio............................................................................................................................................................222
Valuation of Virginia.— Bank of England Notes........................................................................................ 223
Pennsylvania Finances.—Finances of Kentucky........................................................................................ 224
Grand Tax List of the State of Ohio for two years.— The Tuscan Coinage........................................ 225

STATISTICS

OF

TRADE

A ND

COMMERCE.

The Calcutta T rad e...............................................................................................................................................
Vessels Surveyed in New York. —Trade of Parana...................................................................................
Grain at Chicago.— Onondaga Salt Springs.......... ,...................... ..................................................................
Commerce of New Orleans. - Trade of bhanghae......................................................................................
Annual Review of the Albany Lumber Trade.............................................................................................

POSTAL

226
228
2*29
230
231

DEPARTMENT.

Statistics of the United States Post-office for 1858..................................................................................... 233
International Postal Arrangements.— Postal Contract with Belgium..................................................... 234

COMMERCIAL

REGULATIONS.

Colored Glass.— Mill Stones not Burr.— Nut G alls..................................................................................... 235
Weights of various kinds of Produce per bushel.— Cuban Clearances................................................ 236

NAUTICAL

INTELLIGENCE.

The Wreck Register of England for 1858.............................. ........................................................................ 237

JOURNAL

OF

INSURANCE.

New England Mutual Life Insurance Company...........................................................................................240
Insurance in Virginia.— Marine Losses for I8a9........................................................................................... 24*2

JOURNAL

OF M I N I N G ,

MANUFACTURES,

AND

ART.

History of the ‘ ‘ Ilot Blast” in Iron Making................................................................................................ 243
Coal Oil Manufacture............................................................................................................................................ 245
The Iron Elephant.— Submarine Gold .Mining............................................................................................. 246
Mining and Stamping Copper.— Electro-Magnetism among the Spindles.......................................... 247
Extracting Silver from Lead Ore..................................................................................................................... 248
Bread-Making in Spain.
................................................................................................................................ 249
Tempering Axes.—False Diamond................................................................................................................... 250

RAILROAD,

C ANA L , AND S T E A M B O A T S T A T I S T I C S .

Railroad Tolls and Tonnage...............................................................................................................................
Test of the Great Eastern.— Vessels passed through the Welland Canal during 1859....................
Railroads in Virginia— Railroad Accidents in 1859,................
............ ...............................................
Marine Engines. —Railway Tunnel through the Alps, Boring by Machinery....................................

STATISTICS

OF

AGRICULTURE,

&e .

Grow-th of Cotton in India.— W ool ...............................................................................................................
Tobacco Crop of Kentucky.................................................................................................................................
Culture of Cotton.—Crops of Java, year ending with June....................................................................
Imports of Cashmere Goats.— Ohio Agriculture for 1859.........................................................................
Patent-office..............................................................................................................................................................

STATISTICS

OF

POPULATION,

251
252
253
254

256
257
256
259
260

&c.

Population of Ohio................................................................................................................................................. 261
Births and Deaths...................................................... ......................................................................................... 263
Emigrants in 1859.—The number of Slaves in G eorgia.^........................................................................ 264

MERCANTILE

MISCELLANIES.

Furs.............................................................................................................................................................................
Economy.....................................................................
....... ......................................................................
The Sufferings of Indolence.— A Slave. Landing in Cuba.........................................................................
Consumption o f Tobacco in the World. -Importance, of Publicity.....................................................
How Many More Houses will New York Contain?.................................................................................
Cotton seeking the Northwestern Routevia the Lakes..............................................................................

THE

BOOK T R A D E .

N oticesof now Books or new Editions.................................................. ..




265
266
267
268
269
270

.......................... ......... 271-272

HUNT’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
FEBRUARY,

1 860.

A rt. I . — PARTIAL REVIEW OF MR. CAREY’S LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT.
REPLY TO MU. H E N R Y CAR EY BAIRD.
B r reference to the December number it will be seen that our oppo­
nent has, after some delay, changed his tactics. He has ceased to carry
the war into Africa, but appears now to rest his cause upon defensive
operations. And I must confess that I am a little disappointed, as I had
expected that he would have continued to apply to each of the important
points of my opinions “ its proper test.” It appears that he has done
little else in his last paper but ask questions; and because the statistics
he has hitherto produced have proved to him worse than a broken staff,
he seems modestly to expert that I ought to explain all difficulties, or, in
fact, to undertake to harmonize all that has been written by the principal
English authors upon political economy. But this seems to me not only
unreasonable, but quite unnecessary. W e are only concerned with the
main principles of the subject, and whether they necessarily lead to free
trade or protection. Notwithstanding, however, if my space will allow, I
will endeavor to accommodate him as far as possible. But before pro­
ceeding further, let us set him right upon one particular point.
Mr. Baird says:— “ In regard to statistics, Mr. Sulley has himself in­
formed us that very little reliance can be placed upon them as a proof of
the operation of general principles, thus clearly indicating his preference
for the treatment of social problems by the deductive system.” Now, so
far from this being my true position, I have not the least objection to
statistics when they are known to be facts, and when they are free from
those disturbing influences which I have pointed out; but when they are
got up for particular purposes, or to support a certain theory, then, in
my opinion, they are entitled to very little consideration, and ought to
be treated with all the rigor possible, consistent with truth, at the hands
of an opponent. Mr. Baird ought to have quoted the two following sen­
tences in the same paragraph, and then 1 should not have had to com ­




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Partial Review o f M r. Carey's Letters to the President.

plain of misrepresentation ; but, perhaps, tbat was more than he could
afford to do under the circumstances. W e certainly endeavored to show
in our last that statistics and facts were not always synonymous. W e are,
therefore, much beholden to the good intention of our opponent for plac­
ing us under the patronage of Mill in preference to that o f Smith ; but
beg to assure him that we shall still continue to acknowledge real statis­
tics, under such limitations as we have pointed out, and to seize upon all
facts fur the support of what we may think to be truth; in fact, to treat
our subject in what we may happen to think the most effective manner,
regardless of this or that system, which may have been used or instituted
by others. Let us now attend to the subject.
Notwithstanding that, in his previous article, Mr. Baird says “ he is
even prepared to hazard something in expressing the opinion that these
professors (English) have never established a single vital principle in
political economy,’’ he is now7 taken with a sudden fit of admiration for
Adam Smith, the founder of the school as well as of the science itself,
but assumes to find fault with his method of treating the subject. Now,
this appears a little supercilious to us, but our opponent very condescend­
ingly admits that “ there are central principles in the ‘ Wealth of Na­
tions,’ which, if fully developed and elaborated, are comprehensive enough
for the foundation of an enduring system o f political economy; but as
the author merely enunciates them, his followers of the English school
have failed to recognize their vital importance, and have allowed them to
pass entirely unnoticed, but have accepted many errors of his system as
fundamental truths.” In proof o f the above, our attention is directed to
two-thirds of a page o f quotation from the third book and the third
chapter o f the “ Wealth of Nations,” which seems merely intended to
show the benefits which might possibly arise from emigration and the
division of labor, under the difficulties of removal of raw material “ by
land carriage and river navigation,” at a time when it took an individual
longer to travel between Edinburgh and London than it does now to cross
the Atlantic. W e are then gravely asked “ if we can find among the
teachings of the followers of Adam Smith, of the English school, any at­
tempt to develop and push to their utmost limit these great principles.”
Now, if we believed there were any great principles involved, wre should
certainly feel bound to answer the question. W e will, however, confess
that we do not know that any one of the parties have advocated the fill­
ing up of the canals, or the destruction of the roads, for the protection of
home manufactures. And if our opponent had not stopped short in his
quotation, he would have perceived that Adam Smith had no intention
o f advocating any such system as he has attributed to him. On the con­
trary, he particularly said that certain manufactures to which he alluded
“ had grown up naturally, and, as it were, of their own accord, the off­
spring of agriculture,” aided by the difficulty o f transportation. It may
be well, however, to remind Mr. Baird that, notwithstanding the great
difficulties of transportation and of the protective system, which was
then universal, the natural principle of division of labor has triumphed
over all, and that this is the era o f free trade. Let us now inquire as to
some of these “ centrabprinciples ” which our opponent acknowledges are
to be found, and might have been elaborated into a comprehensive and
enduring system of political economy. If we were asked to point out
one of them, we should most likely direct attention to that which Adam




R eply to Mr. H enry Carey Baird.

149

Smith himself seemed to consider the most important, at least, if vve are
guided by the prominence lie has given to it— the division o f labor. The
division of labor is inherent in the nature and circumstances of man, and
must have been contemporary everywhere with the dawn of civilization.
It is apparent in all countries and in every situation, and when left free
to develop itself, individual interest is always ready to carry it to the
greatest possible extent. Attempts may be made to limit its operation,
but, in the nature of things, they must always be productive o f evil and
never productive o f good. The principle itself is also as plainly marked
in the variety of soils, climate, and productions, as it is-in the different
capacities and tastes of individuals. But we will not pursue the subject
in our own language when its operation has been so much more lucidly
stated by the author, which our opponent so much admires, (Adam Smith,)
and from whom he has quoted a newly found passage in support of the
opposite principle. Let the author speak for himself. The following we
take from the fourth book and second chapter o f the “ Wealth of Na­
tions :” —
“ What is the species o f domestic industry which his capital can em­
ploy, and of which the produce is likely to be o f the greatest value, every
individual, it is evident, can, in his local situation, judge much better
than any statesman or lawgiver can do for him. The statesman who
should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to
employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unneces­
sary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted
not only to no single person, but to no council or sei ate whatever, and
which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had
folly and pre-umption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.”
“ To give the monopoly o f the home market to the produce o f domes­
tic industry, in any particular art or manufacture, is, in some measure, to
direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capi­
tals, and must, in almost all cases, be a useless or hurtful regulation. If
the produce of domestic can be bought there as cheap as that o f foreign
industry, the regulation is evidently useless. If it cannot, it must gene­
rally be hurtful. It is the maxim o f every prudent master o f a family
never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make
than to buy. The tailor does not attempt to make his own shoes, but
buys them of the shoemaker. The shoemaker does not attempt to make
his own clothes, but employs a tailor. The farmer attempts to make
neither the one nor the other, but employs those different artificers. All
of them find it to their interest to employ their whole industry in a way
in which they have some advantage over their neighbors, and to pur­
chase with a part of its produce, or what is the same thing, with the
price o f a part of it, whatever else they have occasion for.”
“ What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce­
ly be folly in that of a great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply
us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, better buy
it of them with some part o f the produce of our own industry, employed
in a way in which we have some advantage. The general industry of
the country being always in proportion to the capital which employs it,
will not thereby be diminished, no more than that of the above men­
tioned artificers, but only left to find out the way in which it can be em­
ployed with the greatest advantage. It is certainly not employed to the




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Partial Review o f M r. Carey's Letters to the President.

greatest advantage when it is thus directed towards an object which it
can buy cheaper than it can make. The value of its annual produce is
certainly more or less diminished when it is thus turned away from pro­
ducing commodities evidently o f more value than the commodity which
it is directed to produce. According to the supposition that a com­
modity could be purchased from a foreign country cheaper than it can
be made at home, it could, therefore, have been purchased with a part
only of the commodities which the industry employed by an equal capi­
tal would have produced at home, had it been left to follow its natural
eourse. The industry of the country, therefore, is thus turned away from
% more to a less advantageous employment, and the exchangeable value of
its annual produce, instead o f being increased, according to the intention
of the lawgiver, must necessarily be diminished by every such regula­
tion ”
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
“ The natural advantages which one country has over another, in pro­
ducing particular commodities, are sometimes so great, that it is ac­
knowledged by all the world to be in vain to struggle with them. By
means of glasses, and hot beds, and hot walls, very good grapes can be
raised in Scotland, and very good wine, too, can be made of them at
about thirty times the expense for which at least equally good can be
bought from foreign countries. W ould it be a reasonable law to pro­
hibit the importation of all foreign wines, merely to encourage the mak­
ing of claret and Burgundy in Scotland ? But if there would be a mani­
fest absurdity in turning towards any employment thirty times more' of
the capital and industry o f the country than would be necessary to pur­
chase from foreign countries an equal quantity o f the commodities
wanted, there must be an absurdity, though not altogether so glaring,
yet exactly of the same kind, in turning towards any' such employment a
thirtieth or even a three-hundredth part more of either.”
This quotation could be lengthened with advantage, but space will not
allow.
It will be seen that Adam Smith, instead o f advocating protection, as
our opponent would have us believe, advocates the utmost freedom of
trade; and founds its necessity among nations, upon the same the princi­
ple of action (profit) which has enforced it so rigorously, all the world over,
among private individuals. His reasoning upon the subject is so clear
and cogent, that it is difficult to believe that any candid inquirer can
fail to be convinced. And whatever discrepancy may seem to appear in
his writings, nothing can.be clearer than his decision against the pro­
tective system. Therefore, to hold up any part of his writings as favor­
able to that particular system, is, in our humble opinion, not only unjust
to the author, but impertinent to the public.
Dr. Smith lays it down as an axiom, that no country can have more
than the legitimate profit of its own capital; and if it be diverted by
arbitrary legislation to other employments than those in which it has
peculiar facilities of production, it will obtain a less rate o f profit than
it would otherwise have done. And it seems almost unnecessary to say,
that no man holding these views, upon this particular point, could con­
sistently advocate the protective system. W e must now turn to another
part o f our subject.
Mr. Baird has furnished us, in the July number, with the amount of
production of wheat per acre in several States— the production, accord­




Reply to Mr. H enry Carey Baird.

151

ing to this statement, is about ten and a half bushels to the acre. But
instead of denying the indisputable fact, shown by the census report,
that the New England States had decreased in agricultural production,
while they had increased in population— showing that manufactories had
not in this instance reacted upon the land to increase its fertility, as as­
sumed by Dr, Smith, Mr. Baird contents himself with showing that,
notwithstanding this decrease of production of the manufacturing States,
they still produce more corn and grain per acre than several of the other
States; but forgets to tell us whether the difference arises from the pe­
culiarities of soil, or climate, or both. The difference, however, is but
slight, being in some instances only one bushel in favor of Massachu­
setts; but this fact has nothing to do with the decrease of the fertility of
those particular States.
In looking at these circumstances, it appears singular that our oppo­
nent and Mr. Carey should not be able to see that the evils of which they
complain would only be aggravated, instead of remedied, by a protective
tariff. The land produces upon the average ten-and-a-half bushels to
the acre— deducting seed, say nine bushels. How would it be more
profitable to those who have to live out of the nine bushels, to pay one
bushel more than necessary for their clothing? This would lessen the
rate of profit upon capital in general. W ho, then, would be benefited ?
Not the manufacturer; for he could not obtain a superior rate of profit to
that obtained from the land— or if he did for a short time, capital would
soon be attracted to manufactures, and bring down the rate to the
common level. But if we were to admit, contrary to experience in this
country, that the land around the manufacturing cities would increase in
fertility, it could not increase the general rate of profit— the extra amount
would certainly go into the pocket of the neighboring land owner, in the
shape of increased rent. Therefore, in our opinion, no other person can
really be benefited by what is called the protective system. On the contrary, great evils would accrue from excessive fluctuation, without any
good to balance the evil. But suppose the system to be adopted ; how
would it effect the general farming interest of the nation ? If, in the
neighborhood of manufacturing cities, the increase of fertility should be
sufficient to lower the price of ravv produce, the condition of the farmer
elsewhere would be deteriorated ; but we know from experience, that
would not be the case. On the other hand, admitting the price not to be
affected, the land owners in the neighborhood of the manufacturing cities
would be the only gainers. The only remedies that we can see for the
evil of a decreased rate of profit, are to be found in a more economical
system of taxation, improved agriculture, and steady industry, promoted
by the removal of all causes of fluctuation, both in currency and tariff.
One thing, however, is certain, that if the land only produces ten bushels
of wheat to the acre, the profit of twenty cannot be divided, by any sys­
tem of legerdemain we may chose to adopt. The saving of 7-32ds, or
5-16ths of a penny upon the cost of transportation o f a pound of cotton
to and from the manufacturers, while we increase the price of the manu­
factured article 20 or 30 per cent by a tax, would only increase the evil.
But we do not believe this would be exactly the case notwithstanding.
W hy should high duties act differently in this country than they do in
others? W e find a paragraph in the Daily Tribune, of December Oth,
1859, to the following effect:— ‘'A French Protestant journal asserts that




152

Partial Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President.

the high duties on English manufactures have failed in preventing com­
petition. Light goods from Manchester, suitable for the Arab market,
were ordered, by way of experiment, and notwithstanding import duties
and expenses, they were found to be 10 per cent lower than the same
kind of French goods.” Our opponent can account for this little circum­
stance at his leisure. W e will now pass to Ricardo’s Theory of Rent.
Our opponent, in introducing the subject, states his case in his own
way ; to which, however, we have no particular objection, except we think
it is not quite complete. But it is now twenty years since we read R i­
cardo’s work, and as we have it not at hand, it is quite possible, we may
be mistaken. But it strikes us, that in attempting to account for the
enormous increase of rents in the neighborhood of large towns, he attrib­
utes it to the different relative amounts of capital laid out upon their
cultivation, which he calls doses. These different amounts or doses of
capital, being in the end sacrificed to the land owner, because it was more
profitable than extending cultivation upon the poorer soils. Now, how­
ever this might seem to accord with the rest of his theory, it was not
exactly true in fact. Adam Smith stated the principle of rent more
correctly, though, as our opponent would say, he did not elaborate it ;
and yet Ricardo, like Maltbus, was indebted to him for the foundation of
his doctrine. W e quote from book 1st chapt. 11th, (Rent of Lands)
“ Wealth of Nations.”— “ The rent of land, says the writer, not only
varies w ith its fertility, whatever be its produce, but with its situation,
whatever be its fertility. Land in the neighborhood of a town g i'e s a
greater rent than land equally fertile in a distant part of the country.
Though it may cost no more labor to cultivate the one than the other, it
must always cost most to bring the produce of the distant land to market.
A greater quantity of labor, therefore, must be maintained out of it ; and
the surplus, from which are drawn both the profit of the farmer and the
rent of the landlord, must be diminished.” The principle o f rent is here
clearly and concisely stated, and it is as percei tible at every street corner,
where a business-house is to be built, as it is in tire case of land contigu­
ous to a city, used for agricultural purposes— a saving of labor, and an
increase of capital,'are synonimous operations. All produce being sold
at the same price in the market, an extra profit is obtained, over and
above the common rate upon other investments, by land that happens
to be comparatively more fertile, or nearest the point of consumption.
Tl'ie principle of rent, no doubt, produces inequality in society ; but de­
nying its existence will not destroy it, nor render it less effective. There
is only one equal or democratic mode of taxation ; that is, the tax direct.
If the principle of rent, laid down by Smith and Ricardo be not true,
will Mr. Baiid explain, in his next, how it is that the money value of
land, as well as the rent, has more than doubled since a free trade has
been established in food in Great Britain ? We pass now to the princi­
ples of Maltbus, which are, as Mr. Baird seems to think indissolubly
connected with that of rent.
W e quote the passage which he has given us, in his last article. It is
as f o l l o w s T h a t population has a constant tendency to increase be­
yond the means of subsistence, and that it is kept to ils necessary level
by the absence o f the means o f subsistence. The difficulty arising from
want of food must be constantly in operation, and must fall somewhere,
and must necessarily be severely felt in some one other of the various
forms of misery by a large portion of mankind.”




R eply to M r. H enry Carey Baird.

153

Let us now quote a passage from Adam Smith, from whom, among
others, Malthus, in his preface to his second edition, acknowledges that
he obtained the principle. The passage reads as follows :— “ Every spe­
cies of animal naturally multiplies in proportion to the means of their
subsistence, and no species can ever multiply beyond it. Butin civilized
society, it is only in the inferior ranks o f people that the scantiness of
subsistence can set limits to further multiplication of the human species ;
and it can do so in no other way than by destroying a great part of the
children which their fruitful marriages produce.” W e take the following
also from the same page o f the “ Wealth of N a t io n s — “ In some places
one-half of the children die before they are fo u r years o f age, and in
many places before they are seven, and in almost all places before they
are nine or ten,” (book 1st, chap. 8th.)
Now we should really be obliged to Mr. Baird if he can point out the
difference in principle between the passages we have quoted from Smith
and Malthus, for it is more than we can undertake to d o ; and we hope
to be excused for thinking that, if he had been better acquainted with
the writings of Dr. Smith and “ his followers of the English school,” he
would not have made such sweeping assertions. In fact, if Malthus, Ricordo, and the free traders are to be swept away, there will be nothing
left of Smith. But Mr. Baird, in contradiction to his fpllowers, pays Dr.
Smith several very high compliments— among others, the following :—
“ In the ‘ Wealth of Nations,’ its author keeps in view, and makes
reference from first to last, to the teachings of actual experience.” This
we take to be a fact, and think the compliment well deserved ; we shall,
therefore, endeavor to uphold our opponent’s assertion upon this particu­
lar point. With respect to the excessive mortality among tlie children
of the poor, Dr. Smith’s observations are very correct— it prevails espe­
cially in large cities. It appears by the record of births and deaths in
the city of New York, that nearly 40 per cent o f the children die in the
first year, and this mortality is increased to more than sixty per cent
before attaining the age of five years. Infanticide and still births have
also increased, within the half century, from two-and-a-half per cent to
eight. But this rate is even slight, compared with some o f the European
cities. W e find it stated in a London paper a few years ago, that a
French surgeon had computed the mortality o f the children born in the
city of Lille— that in a certain quarter 96 per cent o f the children born
died before the age of three years; and it was also read from the tribune
by the French Minister of the Interior, from an official document, that, out
of 21,000 children born in Manchester, (England) 20,700 died before at­
taining the age of five years— (98 per cent.) Thus we agree with Mr.
Baird on two points— first that Dr. Smith, “ in his teachings, had reference
to actual experience,” and secondly, “ that over-population has really
never existed;” but we cannot forget, that it is the children of the poor
that are made the scape goats for the salvation o f the rich ; but deny­
ing the fact will not remedy the evil. What does it matter about Mr.
Carey’s “ careful reference to the history of the world,” to prove “ that
man commenced the work of cultivation on the higher grounds, and then
descended to the richer and heavier soils”— the circumstance, whether
true or false, is now not of the least consequence— but we think that
Mr. Baird’s admissions prove a little too much for his case. He says
“ with an increase of numbers, there is an increase of power of associa-




154

Partial Review o f Mr. Carey's Letters to the President.

tion, and an increase of wealth, and a constantly augmenting ability to
obtain control over the rich heavy soils of the valleys and river bottoms.”
Now this is carefully worded, and rather non-committal; but we must
be allowed to translate the passage.
The increase o f numbers, of course, means a relative increase of people
to production; power o f association, &c., division o f labor, invention of
machinery, and consequent increase of circulating capital, which our op­
ponent here calls wealth. These circumstances, then, enable society to
cultivate the heavier soils, cheaper ox more effective labor— a larger amount
o f circulating capital invested in various ways— draining, improved
machinery, and emollients for the amelioration of the soil. It then re­
solves itself into a question o f calculation, whether the extra crop more
than compensates for the extra capital employed— if it does not, no part
o f society can possibly be benefited.
On the contrary, if it does make
more than a relative return, the land owner, as we have seen, is the only
party benefieted. But why speculate further upon the matter, when the
statistics of the last census o f the United States, as well as those of
England and all other countries, prove the fallacy o f Mr. Carey’s assump­
tions. He may still contend, “ that of the yield of land capital receives
an increasing quantity, arising out of an increasing yield, & c.; but in our
opinion Mr. Baird has failed to show that Mr. Carey has one veritable
fact to stand upon. He has himself virtually admitted the comparative
decrease of the productions of the land in the United States; but he
complains that we have “ vainly attempted to prove a greater decline of
fertility in those States, which have some manufacturers, than in those
that have none.” But Mr. Baird is mistaken in this matter. W e cer­
tainly made no particular effort to prove anything; we merely stated the
facts from the census report; but we certainly considered them sufficient.
But we are told that capital receives an increasing remuneration, but a
decreasing proportion, from this increased yield. It would be ridiculous,
however, to controvert this assertion, as every one knows, who is at all
acquainted with these subjects, that the rate of profit has a tendency to
decrease in all countries, and in all ages, from causes already explained.
But it is useless to follow the fallacies of Mr. Carey— we could quote
Adam Smith by the page against them, and yet Mr. Baird tauntingly
asks, “ who more nearly approaches the position o f teacher o f these doc­
trines of Adam Smith, Mr. Carey, or myself?” Let us see. W e now quote
a short paragraph, respecting the proportion of rent, (from book 1st,
chap. 9th— conclusion of chapter on rent.) In speaking of the increase
of rent Dr. Smith says:— “ That rise in the real price of those parts of
the rude produce of land which is first the effect of extended improve­
ment and cultivation, and afterwards the cause of being still further ex­
tended— the rise in the price of cattle, for example— tends, too, to raise the
rent of land directly, and in a still greater proportion. The real value of
the land owner’s share, his real command o f the labor of other people,
not only rises with the real value of the produce, but the proportion of
his share to the' whole produce rises with it.” If this paragraph had
been written for the purpose o f contradicting Mr. Carey’s assumptions
respecting the division of profit, it could not have been more concise,
nor more complete. But let us show from actual circumstances that
Dr. Smith’s statement is correct, and consequently that Mr. Carey’s asser­
tions are unfounded. Let us quote from the December number of the




R eply to M r. H enry Carey Baird.

155

Merchants' Magazine, (page 747, “ Commerce in Animals,” <ke.) The
writer, speaking of the transportation of animals by railway, &c., makes
the following remarks:—
“ The effect of this change has been to increase largely the number of
cattle transported on railroads, and the number also carried to the eastern
markets. This whole class of business is taken from the canals, steam­
boats, and common roads, and done by the railroads. Another effect,
and a very important one, is to give better prices to western cattle
raisers; for the reduction of freights is not taken off from New York
prices, but is added to the first price o f the cattle. This is curious, but
is almost the universal effect of improved transportation. In fact, the rapid
increase of town population causes the demand to be steadily press­
ing against the supply.” There is, therefore, no opportunity for a fa ll
in price at the point of consumption. If the supply is gradually increas­
ed by transportation, it is met by increased demand.
The reduction on
transportation, enures directly to the benefit o f the producer; and
the western farmer has received all the advantages accruing from
the beneficial effects of railroads on the transportation of produce.
Thus we have daily exemplification of the truth o f Adam Smith’s doc­
trines, “ that every improvement in the circumstances of society tends,
either directly or indirectly— to raise the real rent o f land, to increase the
real wealth of the landlord— his power o f purchasing the labor or the
produce of the labor of other people.” Under these circumstances, shall
we cease to follow our old guides, and take up with the new theory, that
the supply of food increases faster than the demand? It makes no differ­
ence, whether the improvement takes place in the cultivation o f the soil,
or in machinery, or in transportation ; it is all one, and tends to the unequal
aggrandisement of the land owner.
In this particular case, the western
land owner has been benefited exclusively— the laborer in large cities, has
gained nothing by improved transportation, and the land owner in the
neighborhood has not been injured in the price o f his produce. W e
must now endeavor to conclude, as briefly as possible, as our article is
already too long.
Mr. Baird, in his last two or three paragraphs, boasts about Mr. Carey’s
harmopious and beautiful system ; that by an appeal to facts he has en­
tirely reversed that of Ricardo and Malthus. But if this be the case,
which we are not yet quite prepared to admit, we think that Adam Smith
and others must go along with them. But we have one thing more to
state upon this subject, which seems rather to contradict our opponent’s
assumptions. In the “ Daily Tribune," of the ‘29th October, 1859, we
find a review of Mr. Carey’s work upon ‘‘ Social Science,” from which the
writer seems to quote liberally, and the following is, we presume, Mr.
Carey’s language :— “ The power to maintain life, and that o f procreation,
antagonize each other, that antagonism tending perpetually toward the
establishment of an equilibrium.” But this is not Mr. Carey’s Pegasus,
if I may be allowed such a poetic allusion ; it is evidently a horse of an­
other color. W e have hitherto been told, in opposition to Smith, Mal­
thus, and Ricardo, that food increases faster than population. But we
are now told that there is an antagonism between the power to maintain
life and that of procreation.
In other words, which Mr. Baird has himself given us from Malthus,
“ population has a tendency to increase beyond the means of subsistence.”




156

Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States :

There is no mistake, then, in this— let us hear the friendly reviewer. He
speaks as follows:— “ It is, therefore, not by moral resistance and pru­
dential restraint alone, that the ends of providential order are to be se­
cured. A law woven into the very texture of the organs of reproduction,
will maintain the social harmonies— a law by which mental activity,
whether in literary, military, or trading life, is unfavorable to reproduc­
tion— a self-adjusting law, by which the reproductive power of man
diminishes, as his various faculties are more and more stimulated into
action.” Mr. Carey has at last been forced to surrender at discretion,
and to concede the main principle which Smith, Malthus, and others, have
promulgated; and the one against which he has so long contended.
Where are now his air built castles? They have “ crumbled into naught,
and left not a wreck behind.”
But forsooth, we are to be indebted to a self-adjusting law, by which
the reproduction o f the human species is to be regulated independently
o f moral causes. W e beg to be excused, however, for intimating, that,
in our opinion, this is a mere speculation ; and equally1 without founda­
tion as Mr. Carey’s former doctrine. Our opponents may talk glibly of
atheism, but when did Smith, or Malthus, or Ricardo, say anything equal
to this in moral turpitude? To what does this new doctrine logically
lead ? It substitutes the law o f blind necessity for that of moral ac­
countability. But other questions arise. By what principle is this retro­
gressive law o f life limited ? W ill the preponderance of the nervous
system, and the continued increase of mental activity spoken of, relatively
decrease, and finally destroy the physical or animal powers ; and so, in
the end, destroy7the race altogether ? Or will the world eventually realize
Swift’s Lilliput, where the inhabitants were only a few inches high, and
reckoned their time by7 moons? In other words, will mankind dwindle
in stature, and decrease in years ? These questions are proposed in all
seriousness, as our opponent may have an opportunity of replying to them
at his earliest convenience.
R. s.

Art. II.— COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
N U M BER L X X II.

NEW

ORLEANS,

L O U IS IA N A .

P R O G R E S S O F N E W O R L E A N B — IM P O R T S , E X P O R T S , A N D P .E O E IP T S — D O M E S T IC T R A D E — B A N K

LO AN S—

E X C H A N G E T R A N S A C T I O N S — E F F E C T O F L O A N S ON B U S IN E S S - R E C E I P T S O F S P E C I E — S P E C IE IN B A N K
— R E A C T IO N IN T R A D E A T T R A C T S 8 P E C I E — ‘ F L O W S U P T H E M IS S IS S I P P I ’ ’ — O P E R A T IO N S

OF

STEAM -

R A I L R O A D S A F F E C T T R A D E — C >TTON GO E S N O R T H - S M A L L R A T I O O F B A N K L O A N S — M E X I C A N S IL V F .R
— E X C H A N G E D U R I N G T 1 IR P A S T

Y tC A R — S E V E R A L Y E A R S - M I N T

O P E R A T IO N S — G O L D D E P O S IT 8 - E F­

F E C T O F N E W Y O R K A SS A Y O F F IC E — M O N E Y F O R T H E P A S T Y E A R — V A L U E O F P R O D U C T S
— R A IL R O A D R O U TES— T E H U A N T E P E C
IN C R

LAST

YEAR

ST E A M P R O P E L L E R S -V A L U E OF C O A S T W IS E T R A D E — C O TT O N —

A SE D V A L U E — C O U R 8K O F P R IC E S FO R P A 8 T Y E A R — T A B L E O F C R O P8 A N D C O M P A R A T IV E V A L U E

— S U G A R — E N T IR E C R O P — C O U R SE OF M A R K E T — P R O G R E S S O F

P R O D U C T IO N — T A B L E

O F CROPS A N D

V A L U E S — T O B A C C O — S T A T E O F C R O P S — P R O D U C T IO N A N D V A L U E — F R E IG H T S — R A T E S O F — N U M B E R OP
A R R IV A L S .

T he progress that has been made by New Orleans in commercial im­
portance during the last ten years is somewhat remarkable, even in pre­
sence of the rapid develop.nent which all other sections of the country




i

157

New Orleans, Louisiana.

have made in the same period of time. The exterior commerce o f the
city affords an illustration o f this progress, and we have compiled the
following table of imports and exports of that port, with the receipts
from the interior, as given in the New Orleans Price Current during the
period mentioned as follows :—
I M P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S A N D R E C E IP T S A T N E W O R L E A N S .

,------------Exports.------------.
Foreign.
Domestic.

1842..
1860..
1851..
1852..
1853..
1854..
1865..
1856..
1857..
1858. .
1859..

Imports.

Total.

$976,127 $27,427,422 $28,414,149
407,073 87,698,277 38,105,350
445,950 53,968,013 54,413,963
250,716 48,808,169 49,058,885
623,934 67,768,724 68,292,658
255,265 60,656,687 60,931,852
311,868 65,05' ,094 55,367.962
288,428 80,576,652 80,865,080
366,491 91,538,371 91,894,862
605,771 88,270,224 88,875,993
775,303 99,769,649 100,734,952

$8,033,590
10,760,499
12,528.460
12,067,724
13,630,686
14,422,164
12,900,S21
16,682,392
24,891,967
19,586,033
18,349,516

Value of produce
from interior. Bank loans.

$46,716,045 $48,646,799
96,897,873 18,602,649
106,924,083 19,300,108
108,051.708 21,286,304
134,233,735 29,320,582
115,336,798 27,142,907
117,106,823 27,500,348
144,256,081 31,200,296
158,061,369 23,229,096
167,155,546 29,619,278
172,952,664 25,608,485

Tiie column of exports from New Orleans gives those to foreign ports only,
while the “ receipts from the interior” embrace not only the source o f those
exports, but of the considerable quantities sent coastwise in the course of the
domestic trade. The banking loans at that period have maintained a re­
markable uniformity in face of the increased business of the port. Those
loans do not, however, embrace, the exchange transactions, which reach a
high figure in the spring and run down again in midsummer, following
the course of the crops. In the last year they rose to over $10,000,000
in April, held by the banks, and fell to less than -72,000,000 in Septem­
ber. The result of larger exports of produce from that point, with a
uniform amount o f bank loans, seems to be an annually increasing im­
port of the precious metals. If we compare the imports of specie with
the amount held by the banks then the results are as follows :—
Receipts of
specie.

1850...
1851. , . .........
1852... .........
1853...
1854... ........

7,937,1 19
6,278,523
6,967,056

Amount in
bank.

$6,979,772
7,182,001
6,104,271
5,716,001
7,468,460

1855..............
1856..............
1857..............
1858..............
1869..............

Receipts of
specie.

Amount in
bank.

$3,746,037
4,913,540
6,500,015
13,268,013
15,627,016

$6,570,568
8,191,625
6,811.162
16,013,189
12,438,190

T he influx o f specie has been the result o f the increasing* produce ex-

ports flowing from this point, which is the center of immense exchange
operations. The panic of 1857, which checked purchases of goods, gave
a new impulse to the receipts of specie at that point, and the “ gold ” has
not failed “ to flow up the Mississippi.” Steam has not failed to extend
the connection of New Orleans by water to the growing ports and mar­
kets of Central and South America, and by rail, more directly with all
the producing sections o f the West, greatly extending the area of produc­
tion, which must find a market at that point. The operation of railroads
also tends to alter the current of internal trade with the West, since
much produce that formerly went exclusively to New Orleans by the
river, now finds a market North by railroads. The cotton used by facto­
ries in western New York comes by the way o f the Illinois Central Rail­
road, “ across lots,” instead of making the circuit by the sea. If this
tends to divert from New Orleans some o f the trade that formerly de-




158

Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:

scended to it along the water courses, that loss has been amply compen­
sated by the concentration o f Southwestern productions, and it is remark­
able that while the receipts of produce at that point are more than quad­
ruple those of 1842, and the bank loans half the amount then outstanding,
that there is never a scarcity o f capital for the great exchange operations
of that center. If the West and Southwest buy their goods in New York
and other northen ports, the exchange to pay for those purchases is credited
against produce sent to New Orleans, and the operation, particularly in
seasons of reaction, seems to turn more on specie. Of the $23,000,000
of silver exported in 1858 from Mexico, over $4,000,000 was received at
New Orleans. The low rate o f exchange at New Orleans in that year
seemed to divert a large amount of silver from the direct route that it
usually follows from Mexico to England. The New Orleans Frice Cur­
rent remarks:—
E x c h a n g e . Throughout the past year the market has been generally
well supplied with foreign exchange, and there has at no time been so
material a variation in either the supply or demand as to cause any very
marked elevation or depression in the rates. Indeed, the market has been
characterized by a remarkable degree o f steadiness, the average rate for
clear bills never falling below 7J, and never rising above 9 f per cent pre­
mium, until in July it was 10, and in August 101 percent. Bill of lading
bills have, of course, been sold under these figures, and bankers’ bills have
occasionally brought over 10 per cent, and within the past few weeks as
high as lOf per cent premium. The quotations for clear bills were lowest
in the month of December, when the average was 74, and highest in Au­
gust, when it reached 104 per cent. For francs, the average rate for the
year may be placed at 5f. 20c. As with sterling, the lowest average rate
was in December, being then 5f. 30c., and the highest in July, when,
owing to light shipments of cotton, it rose to 5f. 07c. per dollar.
Sixty
day bills on New York and Boston have fluctuated slightly during the
year, according to the demand and . supply— the lowest point reached
having been in October, when the range was from 2 a 21 for good signa­
tures, and the highest in May and August, when our quotations were J a
I f per cent discount. Northern exchange has generally been in good
demand through the year, and the supply of it, as well as of foreign
bills, has been, of course, commensurate with the large business transac­
tions in our leading staples o f cotton, sugar, tobacco, &c., & c .:—
C O M P A R A T I V E R A T E S O F E X C H A N G E ON L O N D O N , P A R I S , A N D

N E W Y O R K — S IX T Y D A Y B I L L S ,

C LE A R ON LONDON .

Months.
S e p t e m b e r .. . .

O ctober...........
November . . . .
December.........
J an u a ry..............

February..........
M a rc h .................
A p r i l .................

M a y .................
June..................
July..................
Augrst..............

1858 0 .
.1857 8 1856 7 r
N Y. London. Paris. N. Y.
N. Y. London. Paris.
London. Paris.
Prem. P’r dollar. Disco'nt. Prern. P’r dollar. Disco’nt. Prem. P’r dollar. Die.
6 20
6 17
2
5 22
if
94
if
9f
n
5 22
9
P ar.
5 60
84
5 22
2
if
44
2
5 25
6 17
8
6 25
*84
24
84
t-5f
6 27
5 67
5 80
24
74
n
H
n
5 30
6 60
Si
5 22
2f
7f
fif
34
if
5 30
5 31
24
7
5 23
24
7f
Sf
if
5 27
6 20
6 22
2f
7f
74
if
24
H
5 25
6 32
9
5 18
24
If
84
H
6f
5 17
5 26
5 18
9f
14
74
If
n
if
5 12
5 21
2
6 07
9f
If
7f
if
n
5 20
6 22
10
5 13
If
If
if
8f
n
5 15
5 15
9f
5 10
10
If
9f
if
If

* Discount.




t Unsaleable.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

159

The operations o f the mint at New Orleans the above period have been
as follow s:—
N E W O R L E A N S M IN T.

Deposits,
domestic gold.
I 8 6 0 .................
1 8 5 1 ................
185*2............... .
1853 ............... .
1854 ...............
1855 ...............
1856 ...............
1857 ...............
1858 ...............
1859 ...............

.--------------- -Coinage.--------------- *>
G old
Silver.
$ 3,619,000
$ 1,456,500
9,795,000
827,600
4 ,470,000
157,000
2,220,040
1,125,000
1,274,500
3,246,000
450,500
1,918,000
292 ,75 0
1,744,000
1,315,000
545,000

2,942,000
3,033,996

Total.
$5,0 75 ,5 0 0
10,122,600
4 ,622,600
3,445,000
4 ,520,500
2 ,368,600
2,036,750
4,257,000
3,571,996

On the first discovery of gold in California the quantity which poured
into New Orleans was very large— the channels being then irregular, and
the mint at Philadelphia being not only difficult to get at, but inadequate
to the work. In the year 1851 over $47,000,000 reached Philadelphia
from California. In 1853 nearly $53,600,000 was received there. This
gradually fell under the operations o f the San Francisco Mint and New
York Assay-office to about the same amount in 1858 as at New Orleans.
The money market for the past year has been described as follows:—
The market opened at the beginning of the commercial year with a
very healthy tone— the banks holding an unusual large amount of coin—
capital out doors being abundant, and the prospects for a good business
season, taken altogether, being of a flattering character. City mortgage
notes were easily negotiated at 8 a 9 per cent, first class long-dated ac­
ceptance at 8 a 9, and second class ditto at 10 a 12 per cent per annum.
With only slight fluctuations in the out-door market, either in respect to
the rates of interest or the demand for the various securities which were
offered, business moved along steadily and satisfactorily— the tendency
being all the time towards greater ease, until, at the close of the month
of March, the rates were reduced to 1i a 81 and 9 per cent for mortgage
notes, 7J a 81 for first class long-dated acceptances, and 9 a 10 per cent
for second class ditto. Short business paper, o f which there was not much
offering, owing to the facility of obtaining discounts at the banks, was
taken freely at 6 a 7 per cent per annum, as it had been in fact before,
during most of the season. Throughout April and up to about the mid­
dle of May the market was in a remarkably easy condition. The amount
of unemployed means in the hands of capitalists, at all times large during
the season,, appeared to have rather increased than diminished, whilst at
the same time a considerable diminution took place in the quantity of
desirable paper offering. Owing to these causes the rates of interest fur­
ther slightly gave way, and generally ruled for the period mentioned
above at 7i a 81 for mortgage notes, 7 a 71 and 8i for first class, and 9
a 9} and 10 per cent for second class long-dated acceptances. These, if
not considerably lower rates, would, in all probability, have ruled for the
remainder of the season had it not been for the breaking out of the war
in Europe ; but as soon as it was known that hostilities had actually com­
menced, a disposition was showm not to enter into new engagements or
incur new obligations until an opportunity had been offered of judging of
the course of events, and the chances of the war becoming general
throughout Europe— a matter involving, o f course, the most serious con­




160

Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:

sequences. The fears of a disturbance o f financial and commercial affairs
thus engendered, caused the market to tighten up, and the rates of inte­
rest to gradually advance, until by the middle o f June we had to quote
first class mortgage notes at 9 a 10, first class long-dated acceptances at
9 a 10, and second class ditto at 12 a — per pent per annum, with prime
short business paper at 8 a 81 per cent. For a short time, indeed, it was
difficult to negotiate even favorite signatures at better than 10 per cent
per annum. During July, however, we noticed a considerable easier mar­
ket, and our quotations were reduced to 8 a 9 per cent for first class
mortgage bonds, 81 a 9 for first class long dated acceptances, and 8 per
cent for prime short paper. The rates have further given way in August,
especially for prime short paper, of which we have noticed sales at 6 a 7
per cent, and occasionally at a fraction below the inside figure ; first
class city mortgage notes ranging mostly at 71 a 81, first class long-dated
acceptances at 71 a 81, and second class ditto at 10 a 12 per cent per
annum.
In relation to the trade o f the last year, the same authority remarks:—
The total value of our products received from the interior, according to
our annual valuation table, sums up 1172,952,664, against £167,555,546 ;
showing an increase over last year of $5,397,118, and over 1841-12, a
period of seventeen years, of $127,236,619, or over 300 per cent. This
exhibits a very fair rate o f progress for our city, but it would doubtless have
been materially exceeded, had earlier, more energetic, and more liberal
enterprise been directed to the development of the rich and varied re­
sources of our vastly extended interior. Within a few years, however,
movements, but too long delayed, have been made to penetrate the interior
by railroads, and the leading one, the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great
Northern has made such progress, that before the lapse of many months
such connections will be made as will put New Orleans in quick commu­
nication with nearly all parts of the country north, west, and east o f
us— a consummation that cannot fail to be highly advantageous to the
enterprise itself and to the general trade of our city. In another direc­
tion the New Orleans, Opelousas, and Great Western Road is seeking to
develop and draw to us the rich resources of our own State and of our
sister State, Texas, and we are pleased to notice that arrangements are
making for a vigorous onward progress. Another enterprise, in the suc­
cess of which we conceive our city to be largely interested, is the Tehu­
antepec Transit Route. Already such progress has been made as to
demonstrate the great advantages it will possess over any other route,
when properly improved, and we sincerely hope that all obstacles to its
prompt completion will be speedily removed..
W e have, on several previous occasions, adverted to the great and mani­
fest advantages that would accrue to our trade from the establishment of
lines of steam propellers between our port and the leading northern cities,
New York and Boston, and we are pleased to notice that the matter is
awakening such attention as will, we trust, so n attain a practical fruition,
and demonstrate the mutual advantage o f such communication, to the
South and North, and also to the West, which section, when thus assured
of speed and punctuality in the transportation of freight, will doubtless
contribute largely to the success of the enterprise.
According to the Custom-house records the total value o f exports to




,

New Orleans Louisiana.

161

foreign countries o f produce and merchandise o f the growth and manu­
facture of the United States, and o f foreign merchandise, for the fiscal
year ending June 30th, 1859, was $101,634,952, against $88,382,438
last year, showing an increase o f $13,252,514. O f the value o f exports,
coastwise, the Custom-house has kept no record since 1857, but an esti­
mate which we have made from our own tables enables us to state that
the amount is about $32,000,000; thus making the total value o f our
exports, foreign and coastwise, $133,634,952. The value o f foreign mer­
chandise and specie imported in the same period was $18,349,516, against
$19,586,013 last year, showing a decrease of $1,236,497. There is no
record of the value of the numerous cargoes of domestic and foreign
merchandise and produce received coastwise, but its amount would count
by lens o f millions.
After alluding to the war of the last year, the Price Current remarks:—
Our leading staple, cotton, felt most its depressing influence, but, never­
theless, the result o f the season’s operations in this article, taken in the
aggregate, should, we think, be highly satisfactory, at least to the plant­
ing interest, for we find by our calculations that although the crop of the
year just closed has exceeded the one immediately preceding it in the
large amount of upwards of 680,000 bales, yet the average price obtained
for it is a fraction in favor o f the larger crop, while the aggregate increase
in value for the total crop received at the ports exceeds thirty fo u r mil­
lions o f dollars.
Fortunately for our home interests, however, the intelligence of actual
hostilities came at a period of the season when the great bulk of the crop
had been disposed of, and there has since been no heavy weight o f stock
to press prices down below a fair remunerating range. Indeed the sea­
son has, considering all the circumstances, maintained a remarkable de­
degree of steadiness, as the extreme prices for middling show a difference
in the entire season of only I f cent, the highest quotations being 12$ a
12f cents in April, at which point the warlike aspect of European affairs
checked the evident upward tendency, and the lowest being 1Of a 11 cents,
under a pressure o f stock of upwards of 500,000 bales, and when the
total receipts at all the ports showed an excess over the previous year of
more than 1,000,000 bales. The same figures were again touched in
May and June, under advices of actual war. This remarkable steadiness
and firmness, under such circumstances, attests very emphatically the
mercantile ability and ample resources of our factors; and the planting
interest, we conceive, may well be satisfied with the general results o f the
season’s operations. Am ong the difficulties and perplexities which the
factor is called upon to encounter is one which we have repeatedly called
attention to in our columns, but thus far with little or no effect, it would
seem, for the past season has found it more formidable than ever. W e
allude to the increased proportion o f sandy and dusty cotton sent to mar­
ket— a description that can hardly ever be disposed o f except under the
excitement of an indiscriminate speculative demand, and much o f which
is found wholly unmerchantable, to be got rid of only under the auc­
tioneer’s hammer. This evil has attained to such magnitude that it
behooves planters to apply some remedy, as the complaints from abroad
o f the unsaleableness of such descriptions lead to the probability that
they will be almost wholly repudiated in the coming season’s operations.
Those who pack cotton falsely, by introducing sand or trash into the body
V O L . x u i.— N O . I I .
11




162

Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States:

of the bale, (and according to certificates from manufacturers, both abroad
and at home, 'there must be many such,) should, if by possibility they can
be traced, be summarily dealt with, in order that so important a branch
of trade may be purged of such a damaging evil, involving, as it does, to
some extent, the good faith of the planting interest generally.
The course of the market through the entire season is indicated by the
following tables, which show the monthly fluctuations in prices, with the
rates of freight to Liverpool, and the rates for sterling exchange ; and by
reference to them it will be seen that the extreme range for middling,
through the entire season, as we have already stated in another place, has
been only I f cent per pound. The average price of the season, for all
qualities, we find to be 111 cents per pound, against I l f cents last year,
and 1 2 4 cents the year previous, and the average weight of the bales we
have ascertained to be 458 pounds, against 460 pounds last year. On this
basis the aggregate weight o f the cotton received at this port would be
812,629,484 pounds:—
TABLE SHOWING THE QUOTATIONS FOR MIDDLING COTTON ON T H E FIRST OF EACH MONTH,
W IT H THE RATE OF FREIGHT TO LIV ERPO O L, AND STERLING BILLS AT SAME DATE.
lOtJO

M id d lin g .
C ts . p e r p o u n d .

G)«7i

S te r lin g .
P e r c t . p r e m iu m .

84 a
7f a
7 a
64 a
74 a
7# a
74 a
84 a
84 a
94 a
84 a
8 a

S e p t e m b e r .................................

October...........................
N o v e m b e r .................................
D e c e m b e r .................................... ...................

January.........................
February .......................
March.............................
A p r il..............................
M a y ................................
J u n e................................
J u l y ................................
August............................

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

H i a I lf
l i p a 11#
llfalli

T A B L E S H O W IN G T H E P R O D U C T O F L O W M I D D L IN G T O G O O D

F r e ig h t.
P en ce per pound.

15-32 a
9-16 a
15-32 a
.. a
15-32 a
15-32 a
7-16 a
13-32 a
f a
4a
11-32 a

9
S i
84

8
84
8 f

8f
94
94
10 4
10

lO f

M ID D L IN G

..
..
4
f
4
4
15-32
7-16
9-32
..
f

4 a . .
C OTTON , T A K IN G

A V E R A G E O F E A C H E N T IR E Y E A R F O R T E N Y E A R S , W I T H T H E R E C E IP T S A T N E W

TH E

ORLEANS,

A N D T H E T O T A L C R O P O F T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .

T o ta l crop ,
b a le s .

1849-50.....................
1850 51 .....................
1851-52.....................
1852-53.....................
1853 54 .....................
1864-55.....................
1855-56.....................
1856 57.....................
1857-58.....................
1858-59.....................

2,096,706
2,355,257
3,015,029
3,262,882
2,930,027
2,847,339
3,527,845
2,939,519
3,113,962
3,851,481

R e c e ip ts at
A verage
N e w O r le a n s .,
p r ic e .
b a le s .
C ts . p e r lb .

837,723
995,036
1,429,183
1,664,864
1,440,779
1,284,768
1,759,293
1,513,247
1,678,616
1,774,298

A verage
p r ic e
p e r b a le .

$50
11
49
8
34
9
41
8f
38
9 1-16 40
9
40
12 4
57
H f
62
I lf
53
h

• . .

00
00
00

T o t a l v a lu e .

00
00
00
00
50
00

$41,886,150
48,756,764
48,592,222
68,259,424
54,749,602
51,390,720
70,371,720
86,255,079
88,127,340
92,037,794

•. . •

$650,426,815

00

The annual statement of Mr. P. A. Champomier makes the
total crop 362,296 hhds. o f 1,150 pounds each, or an aggregate of
414,796,000 pounds. Of this quantity 308,471 hhds. were brown sugar,
made by the old process, and 53,825 hhds. refined, clarified, &c., includ­
ing cistern bottoms, and the whole was the product of 1,294 sugar-houses,
o f which 987 were worked by steam and 311 by horse power. Had it
S u g a r .




New Orleans, Louisiana.

163

not been for the loss by crevasses and overflows, which is estimated at
about 53,000 hhds., the crop would have reached 415,000 hhds., or nearly
to the extent of the great crop o f 1853, since which time there has been
a material curtailment of the culture in the upper parishes. There is no
doubt, also, that the frosts o f the 9th and 10th November, which greatly
alarmed planters and induced many to cut and windrow their cane, caused
some considerable diminution of the product.
The first receipt of the new crop was three hhds., from the Parish o f
Iberville, on the 20th September, which was nine days earlier than the
first receipt from the parish last year, and nearly a month-and-a-half ear­
lier than the first receipt in the previous short crop year, thus indicating
a favorable growing season and an early maturity. The three hogsheads
were dry, and of good color and grain, and brought nine cents per pound.
W e have compiled from our records the annexed statement o f the sugar
product of Louisiana for the past twenty-five years, showing the amount
of each year’s crop in hogsheads and pounds, with the gross average
value per hogshead and total, the proportions taken by Atlantic ports and
Western States, and the date o f the first receipt o f each crop. By this
statement it will be seen that the total product of Louisiana from 1834 to
1858, inclusive, a period o f twenty-five years, was 4,614,709 hhds., valued
at $248,130,260, and that of this quantity the Atlantic ports took
1,485,653 hhds., and the Western States 2,314,454 hhds. The crops
from 1828 (which is as far back as our estimates extend) to 1833, summed
up 281,000 hhds., which would make the total product, in a period of
thirty years, 4,895,709 hhds., or 5,200,166,700 pounds. W e would here
remark that up to 1848 the product in hogsheads is estimated, and 1,000
pounds taken as the average weight per hogshead ; but for the crop since
that date, we have taken the figures o f Mr. P. A . Champomier, as we find
them in his annual statem ents :—
/------ Total
Year.

1834 . .
1835 . .
1836 .
1837 .
1838 .
1839 . .
1840 .
1841 . .
1842 . .
1843 . .
1844 . .
1845 . .
1846 . .
1847 . .
1848 . .
1849 . .
1850 . .
1851 . .
1852 . .
1853 . .
1854 . .
1865 . .
1856 .
1857 . .
1858 . .

Hhds.

100,000
30,000
70,000
65,000
70,000
115,000
87,000
90,000
140,000
100,000
200,000
186,650
140,000
240,000
220,000
247,923
211,303
236,547
321.931
449,324
346,635
231,427
73,976
279,697
362,296




Exported Export'd to
to Atlan - Western
crop.------- * A,v. prico
tic ports, States,
Pounds.
per lihd. Total value.
hhds.
hhds.

First
receipts of
new crop

100,000,000 $60 00 $6,000,000 45,500 44,500 October
15.
30,000,000 90 00 2,700,000
1,500 23,500 November 5.
70,000,000 60 00 4,200,000 26,300 35,000 November 1.
65,000,000 62 50 5,062,500 24,500 32,500 November 1.
70,000,000 62 50 4,375,000 26,500 32,500 October
17.
IS.
115,000,000 50 00 5,750,000 42,600 58,000 October
46,500
87,000,000 55 00 4,785,000 38,500
October
14.
13’
90,000,000 40 00 3,600,000 28,000 50,000 October
12.
140,000,000 42 50 4,750,000 63,000 60,000 October
52,000
October
100,000,000 60 00 6.000.000 34,000
22.
200,000,000 45 00 9,000,000 101,000 70,000 October
8.
75,000
October
186,650,000 55 00 10,265,750 79,000
4.
70,000
October
140,000,000 70 00 9,800,000 45,500
7.
2.
240,000,000 40 00 9,600,000 84,000 115,000 October
108,000
40
00
October
220,000,000
8,800,000 90,000
5.
269,769,000 50 00 12,396,150 90,000 125,000 October
11.
231,194,000 60 00 12,678,ISO 45,000 123,000 October
17.
257,138,000 50 00 11,827,350 42,000 149,000 October
19.
368,129,000 48 00 15,452,688 82,000 206,000 October
9.
6.
495,156,000 35 00 15,726,340 166,000 185,000 October
4.
385,726,000 52 00 18,025,020 122,000 143,000 October
254,569,000 70 00 16,199,890 39,133 131,027 October
10.
1,850 39,576 November 8.
81,373,000 110 00 8,137,360
307,666,700 64 00 17,900,608 43,885 153,012 Septemb’ r 29.
414,796,000 69 00 24,998,424 93,885 187,339 Septemb’r 20.

164

Commercial and Industrial Cities o f the United States.

T o b a c c o . The tobacco crop, as received at New Orleans has presented a
lo w average o f quality, there having been an unusually meagre proportion
o f the heavy, rich, or fat descriptions, and also of the cutting qualities,

while a much larger proportion than usual proved of a nondescript and
comparatively unsaleable character, having been cut before maturity.
This deficiency in quality has had much to do with the marked falling o ff
in the average price of the season, as compared with last year.
W ith respect to the growing crop, the advices lead to the impression
that in no event is it likely to reach the amount produced last year. It is
hoped, however, that every care will be taken to make it better in quality.
To this end thorough maturity is the first requisite, and the next the cur­
ing with care, and with as little fire as possible. It is recommended that
in packing for market the rich heavy tobacco be prized in good keeping
order and in hogsheads of 1,600 to 2,000 pounds, while the light des­
criptions, free from gum, should be prized in dry order, with but mode­
rate pressure, and in hogsheads of not more than 1,300 to 1,600 pounds
net weight. W ith these requisites observed a more ready market and
better prices will be assured.
The following table, made up to the 30th November of each year,
shows as nearly as possible the proportion of each separate crop received
at this port, and the extreme quotations for tobacco o f this market about
the middle of the months of April and October in the following years:—
Hogsheads.
From Dec. 1, 1842, to Nov. 80,
U
1848,
“
it
1S44,
“
(( 1845,
“
U
1846,
“
<( 1847,
“
t< 1818,
“
“ 1849,
“
M 1850,
“
“ 1851,
“
<( 1852,
“
it
1858,
“
it
1854,'
“
it
1855,
“
it
1856,
“
M 1857,
“

1843 ...........
1 844.........
1845 ...........
1846 .........
1847 .........
1848 ...........
1849 ...........
1850 .........
1851 .........
1852 ........... . . .
1 853.........
1854 .........
1855 ...........
1856 .........
1857 ...........
1858 .........

78,403
67,812
61,712

96,904
67,403
47,763
54,020
65,934
88,399

,------------- Prices

April.
2 a 5
D a 5
11 a 11
2 a 11
11 a 12
2 a 12
21 a 61
4 a 9
5 a 12
3 a 51
31 a 71
5 a 9
6 a 10
5 f a 101
8 a 20
6 a 12

October.
2± a 5
11 a 9
2 a 10
11 a 10
11 a 10
2 1 a 61
5 }a 8
5 a 10
21 a 9
41 a 8
5 a 91
4 f a 81
61 a 10
7 a 16
8 a 18
5 a 11

Notwithstanding the large excess o f the cotton crop over
that of any previous year, the very ample supply of tonnage, and the ab­
sence o f any considerable foreign demand for breadstuff's, provisions, &c.,
have tended to a low range of freights throughout the greater portion of
the past season ; a result which has not been satisfactory to ship-owners,
but which the producers of all our leading export staples have had the
advantage of. The rate for cotton to Liverpool being the guiding basis,
we present below a table which shows the highest and lowest rates in
each m onth; and it will be seen by reference to it that the highest point
o f the season was 4d. in November and December, and the lowest Id. in
April, May, and June .—
F r e ig h t s .

18S8-S9.
September
O ctober.. .
November
December.




Highest.
9 - 16d.
9-16
i
i

Lowest.
16-32d.
15-32
15-82
16-32

Produce and Raw Materials.

165

Highest.

January .
February
March. . .
April.......
M a y ----June . . .
J u l y ----A ugust. .

Lowest.
15 32
7-16
7-16

i
i

i
7-16
5-16

i
i
i

t

11-82
i
i
i
The total number of sea arrivals at this port since 1st September, ac­
cording to our records, is 1,998, viz., 764 ships, 300 steamships, 345
barks, 180 brigs, and 409 schooners; showing an increase, as compared
with last year, of 10 ships, 53 barks, 33 steamships, and 21 schooners, and
a decrease of 24 brigs. The entries at the Custom-house for the year
ending June 30th, were as follow s:— W hole number of vessels 2,062,
tonnage 1,182,000 ; showing an increase, as compared with last year, o f
39 vessels and 102,178 tons. Included in the arrivals are 345 foreign
vessels, with a total measurement o f 167,588 tons; showing an increase,
as compared with last year, of 5 vessels and 9,638 tons.
These accounts of the three great leading staples of New Orleans for
such a series of years indicate the great progress that has been made in
that direction. On page 471 of vol. xli., will be found a comparative
table of the great mass of articles that make up the sum of the receipts
from the interior. The leading items, cotton, tobacco, and sugar, make
up $133,071,331, and the balance, $39,881,333, is composed mostly o f
articles o f western produce, which descend the water courses to seek a
market at that point. These latter are much affected from year to year
by the state of the foreign market for breadstuffs and provisions, and the
last has not been propitious for tha' trade. The general items are such
as to indicate, in connection with the direction of political events, a splen­
did future for that city.

Art. III.— PRODUCE A M RAW MATERIALS.
I N F L U E N C E O F G O L D — S T IM U L U S T O

IN D U S T R Y — PR O D U C ER S

M ORE

PRO SPERO U S— G R E A TE R

F O R C L O T H I N G — R A W M A T E R I A L S — E N G L IS H P U R C H A S E S — D E C L I N E I N V A L U E 8 T O

1850—

DEM AND

R IS E S IN C E —

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

CONSUM ER

O F C O T T O N — G O O D S S E N T T H I T H E R — E G Y P T A S A M A R K E T — H A N D -L O O M G O O D S — U N I T E D S T A T E S C O T ­
T O N — P R O P O R T IO N T A K E N B Y E N G L A N D — L A R G E R P U R C H A S E S B Y E U R O P E — M O R E C O T T O N P E R H A N D EXPORTED

PRO D U CE OF T n E S O U T H — FO OD R A IS E D — SO UTH

S O U T H R A IS E S I T 8 O W N F O O D — C A T T L E — H A Y N O T

AN

AND

N O R T H — A R T IC L E S

O F FO OD— TH B

E V I D E N C E O F W E A L T H — A N E C E S S IT Y O F C L I ­

M A T E — C O A L A N A L O O Y — C O M P A R A T I V E V A L U E O F P R O D U C E — R IS E I N

TH E V A L U E OF COTTON.

T he influence of gold in the last ten years has been apparently very
great upon the general industry o f the commercial world, although that
influence has not been manifested in the mode generally looked for, viz.,
in the depreciation of its value relatively to other commodities. As a
general fact, gold has not depreciated since prices are now not greatly
different from what they were at the date o f its discovery in California.
Food, in particular, through the influence o f harvests, exchanges for less
gold now than at that date. The impression that gold would fall in
value, and by so doing lighten the burdens of tax-payers and the debtor




166

Produce and Raw Materials.

classes generally in Europe and America, stimulated great industrial ac­
tivity, which has had a reactionary influence upon the new gold supplies.
The increased wealth which that industry has produced, demands a greater
supply of gold to activate its exchanges. In fact, this increase of wealth,
simultaneously with the Asiatic absorption o f silver, seems to have out­
run the supply of gold, and imparted an appearance of glut to the general
markets. The most remarkable effect of the general increase of wealth
seems, however, to bo the power of absorbing materials for human cloth­
ing, of which the most prodigious quantities have been taken up at still
advancing prices. As an indication of the progress made in this direction,
we may refer to the returns of English consumption— that country being
in some sort the work-shop of the world. The five chief materials for
human clothing are hemp, flax, silk, wool, and cotton. These have been
imported into England as follows :—
IM PORTS OF R A W MATERIALS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS INTO GREAT BRITAIN.

1 8 3 5 .......... lbs.
1840..................
1845..................
1850..................
1855...................
1850..................
1857..................
185S..................

Hemp.

Fla*.

72,352,200
82,971,700
103,416,400
119,402,100
136,270,912
142,613,525
169,004,562
184,310,000

81,910,100
139,301,600
159,562,800
204,928,900
145,511,437
1S9,792,112
21)9,953,125
144,439,332

Silk.

4,027,649
3,800,980
4,866,528
5,411,934
7,548,659
8,236,685
12,718,867
0,035,845

Wool.

41,718,514
50,002,976
76,813,855
74,326,778
99,300,446
116,211.392
129,749,898
127,216,973

Total,
lour article*.

Cotton.

Price of
Upland in
Liverpool.

160,014,463
326,407,692 lO^d.
276,137,256
531,197,817
6
344.258,7^5
721,979,953 4£
404,137,912
714,502,600
4£
388,031.454
891,751,962 5$
456,863,714 1,023,886,304
6
521,426,452
969,318,896 7^
463,608,150 1,076,519,rOO 7*

This table gives in pounds weight the quantities of raw material im­
ported into Great Britain from all countries in each year. It does not
include the wool used of home growth, or the increasing supply o f Irish
flax, but it indicates the demand that England has annually made upon
the countries that produce raw materials for the means of supplying the
large demands made upon her factories for goods. The stimulus every­
where given to the production of exchangeable values, and the diminished
cost of transportation, as well as the more liberal policy of governments,
have left to the producer a larger share o f the products of his own indus­
try, and this has shown itself in a demand for clothing. It is to be ob­
served in the table that up to 1850 the proportion o f the four other
articles increased faster than cotton. Those articles, worked more and
more into fabrics, that before had been exclusively o f cotton, the result
w h s cheaper fabrics that gradually glutted the markets, and the price of
cotton fell from 101 cents in 1835, almost year by year, to 41 cents in
1848, the extreme low prices being the effect o f the famine. In that
period of time, however, the purchases of cotton had doubled in England,
ami of the other four articles they had tripled. These are the receipts of
raw materials into the work-shops of England only. Those of the conti­
nent have received similarly increased quantities. Since 1850— that is
to say, since the discoveries of gold, a change has taken place. The sup­
ply of all the raw materials has increased in magnitude, but the demand
for clothing has apparently increased in a greater degree, since an aggre­
gate quantity of raw materials in 1857, 50 per cent greater than the large
supply of 1850, sold at a rise of 75 per cent in price, or at a rate of 7ld.
per pound for cotton, against 41d. This result is well worthy of conside­
ration. It is true that the great activity of the few years ending with
1857 was checked by a panic ; but recovery has been rapid, and the new
countries to which England sends goods, have become the most important
consumers. The most remarkable of the present consumers of goods are




167

Produce and Raw Materials.

the Asiatic customers of England. The theory has been for a long time
entertained by many eminent writers in England that the emancipation
of India, and the application of British capital to the development of the
resources of India with the means of transportation, would not fail to
evolve a supply of cotton thence, equal in quantity and quality to that of
the United States. Success in procuring more cotton from India has
been attained to a certain extent; also in Egypt and Turkey efforts were
made by the distribution of seed and other modes to increase the cotton
culture, and the crops have considerably increased. The sources of British
supply of cotton have been as follows at different periods -

1885.

1841.

1845.

United States. 282,855,380 336,847,793 626,650,412
Brazil.............
27,530,300
15,388,974
20,157,633
Egyptian.......
11,917,208
11,162,336
14,614,699
West Indies..
2,518,836
10,759,840
88,394,448
East In d ie s ..
43,876,820 100,104,510
58,437,426
AUother..........................................................
725,336
368,698,544

474,063,453

721,979,953

1850.

1857.

493,153,112 654,758,048
80,299,882
29,910,832
18,931,414 24,882,144
228,913
1,443,568
118,872,742 250,338,144
2,090,698
7,986,160
669,576,861

969,318,896

The influences at work in India, in Egypt, and the West Indies, favored
by the rise in prices, developed the supply. In 1841, the quantity shipped
by India rose to a high point, because the China war turned much of it
from its usual destination. After that event the supply fell to a low
figure from that source. Of late it has steadily increased under the rising
value of the article, seemingly justifying the hopes of those who looked
to India as a source o f supply. There has arisen, however, another fea­
ture, which, as far as the markets o f the world go, entirely neutralizes that
Indian supply. It is to be found in the fact, that step by step as the
shipment of raw cotton from India has increased, the demand there for
goods has increased. In fact, this demand has outrun the supply of the
material, and India is every year becoming more important as a cotton
consumer. The following table will show the quantity o f cotton goods
sent from England to India, with the equivalent weight in raw cotton,
together with the weight of cotton received thence :—
COTTON EXPORTS FROM ENOLAND TO INDIA.

Yarn, lbs.

1835
1841
1845
1857
1858

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

5,305,212
13.639,562
14,116,237
20,027,859
36.889,583

Calicoes, yards.

64,227.084
126,003,400
193,029,703
469,958,011
791,537,041

Aggregate
raw cotton, lbs.

16.000,000
43,000,000
60,000,000
130,000,000
223,000,000

Raw cotton
Imported.

43,876,820
100,104,510
58,437,426
230,378,144
132,722,576

The year 1857 was an exceptional year for imports of cotton from
India. In the past year, 1S58, it appears 91,000,000 pounds more cot­
ton has been sent to India than was received thence. If we were to in­
clude China in the calculation the result would be still more remarkable,
since China took in 1857, 121,000,000 yards of cloth. And as China
derives a great deal o f raw cotton from India, if that article is sent to
England for manufacture, and then sent to China in the shape of goods
instead of as raw material, the result may be beneficial to English work­
shops, but it does not increase the Euiopean supply of cotton.
If we turn to Egypt and Turkey we find that in 1858 there were derived
thence 38,248,112 pounds of raw cotton, and there were sent thither
10,389,353 pounds yarn ami 257,567,351 yards cloth, together equal to
62,009,000 pounds of raw cotton, 23,700,000 pounds more than was re­




168

Produce and R aw Materials.

ceived. The fact is the same in relation to South America. The United
States alone afford a net surplus o f cotton above the weight of goods they
buy back. This process seems to be on the increase, since all those dis­
tant nations, as they progress in wealth, demand machine goods. These
are supplanting, apparently, the rude hand-loom goods o f China and
India; and where the clothing o f 200,000,000 is liable to undergo this
change, the prospect is that, how great soever may be the increased
production of cotton, it cannot keep pace with the demand for goods.
W e here have not alluded to the fact that India cotton is always mixed
with that of the United States. When any quantity o f cloth is made
some United States cotton is required. W hile the demand upon England
for manufactures has thus been extended, she has taken less than her usual
proportion of the crop of the United States. In 1840, the crop was a
large one, 2,177,835 bales; of this England took l,246,f91 bales, or
nearly 60 per cent, and Europe took 629,212 bales, or rather less than
30 per cent. In 1869, the crop was 3,851,481 bales, and England took
2,019,252 bales, or 52 per cent, and Europe took 1,002,252 bales, or
nearly as large a proportion as before. Thus England seems to loose her
predominance in that market, while European countries raise their de­
mand in proportion even to an immense crop, thus widening the market
for the materials. The production of cotton in the United States has in­
creased to an extent greater than the force of bands was once supposed
equal to. The process has been so improved upon, more particularly in
relation to picking, that what was once supposed incredible, viz., eight
bales to the hand, has become common, and in many sections ten bales
to the hand is obtained, and that accompanied by a considerable increase
in the production of food. Hence the product o f cotton increases, not
only with the natural increase in the numbers of the workers, but also in
the ratio of greater expertness. Other industries have also flourished.
If we take the figures o f the exports of Southern production for a series
of years, we may observe the progress in this respect:—
EXPORTABLE PRODUCTS OF THE SOUTH.

.

1820.

1830.

1810.

Naval stores........
$292,000
$321,019
$602,520
1,714,923
1,986,824 1,942,076
Rice.......................
Tobacco...................
8,118,188 8,833,112
9,883,957
S u g a r.......................
1,500,000 3,000,000
6,200,000
Cotton................... 26,309,000 34,084,883 74,640,307

ISM.
$1,142,713
2,631,657
9,951,023
14,796,150
101,834,616

1859.
$3,695,474
2,207,148
21,074,038
31,455,241
204,104,923

Total............. $37,934,111 $48,225,838 $92,268,860 $130,356,059 $262,546,824
Number h an ds...
1,543,688
2,009,053
2,487,355
3,119,509
4,000,000
Product per hand..
$24}
$22}
$37
$43}
$65.6

The figures for naval stores, rice, and tobacco are the export values of
the crops. The sugar and cotton are the values of the whole production.
The result is, that the value per head o f these articles, which increased
16 per cent from 1840 to 1850, increased 50 per cent in the last nine
years. It must not, however, be supposed that this was all the products
of that section. On the other hand, the production of those exported ar­
ticles formerly involved the purchase of food for the hands employed in
the production. A t present a large portion of food is raised by the same
hands in addition. This is a most interesting feature of Southern industry,
yet but little understood. There have been no general returns of production
since 1850, but we may comparp the products of leading articles as given
by the census of 1850 :—




169

Produce and Raw Materials.
North.
Population.............
W h e a t...........bush.
C orn .......................
S w in e.....................
Horses.................)
M u les................. f
H ay.........................
Cows....................1
O xen ...................v
Other cattle . . . . )

■1840.- - - - - - - - - - - >
South.

54,748,284
124,988,073
10,084,970

30,074,998
252.543,802
16,216,323

2,097,307

2,238,362

9,402,097

846,111

7,509,022

7,402,564

,---------- 1850.-

North.
1 578.737
13.527,229
72,607,129
243,01.3,603
10,343,265
( 2,284,344
j
40,341
12.815,484
{ 3,481,617
4 878,366
( 4,224,628

South.
871,458
9,664,656
27,878,815
349,057,501
20,008,948
2,052,375
513,990
1,023.158
2,833.338
822,078
5,469,441

These figures present facts somewhat different from the popular idea,
which is, that for articles of general agriculture the North and West are
much in excess of the South. The leading items of food and labor at the
South, as at the North and West, are cattle, horses, mules, swine, and
corn ; “ bacon and corn cakes,” “ hog and hom iny” are the staples.
Now the census figures show that in addition to the great export crops
the South raises far more corn and pork than the other sections. The
South had, in 1850, absolutely double the number of swine that the
other sections held. It raised 109,000,000 bushels more corn than the
whole North and West. It raised 100 bushels of corn for every black
hand. The wheat was less in actual quantity; but there were raised five
bushels of wheat for every white person, which is the same ratio as at the
North. The South had more cattle o f all kinds than the other section,
and it is enabled to maintain them, because it is not compelled to house
or make hay for the winter fodder, which are heavy drafts upon Northern
labor imposed by the climate. The South had horses and mules, 2,571,365,
and the North 2,324,685, an excess of 246,680 in favor of the South, and
yet the latter States raised only 10 per cent of the hay that was raised at
the North. Allowing the actual cost of making hay, in labor, &c., to be
$5 per ton, the same number of cattle cost the North 144,000.000 more
to keep them than at the South. The hay expense is, however, shared with
the cattle of all kinds. These must be fed in the winter at the North,
and that is not required at the South. In all that concerns agricultural
prosperity the South has a decided advantage. The larger production of
hay at the North has sometimes been appealed to as an evidence of its
greater agricultural wealth, whereas it is only an evidence of a more disad­
vantageous climate. The Southern cattle obtain the same quantity of
food as those of the North, that is, a quantity sufficient for their wants,
but they obtain it themselves. Nature has it always ready for them. A t
the North, on the other hand, men have to cut the food in the summer,
cure and preserve it for the winter, when the Northern animals could not
get it for themselves. Analagous to this is the Northern coal industry.
The South produces comparatively a small quantity, and needs but little
in proportion to the requirements of a Northern winter. If the $35,000,000
worth of coal mined at the North is an evidence of wealth, it is also an
evidence of the exactions of the climate. Nearly all. the industry ex­
pended in coal mining and hay making is a tax upon Northern life, rather
than an evidence of wealth. That portion of coal which is applied to
transportation and manufactures is, of course, an element of production,
but that used as fuel is a tax. The labor that, with a climate as severe
as that at the North, would be required at the South to supply fuel and
fodder, is now expended in raising cotton, sugar, and rice for export. If




170

Am erican Trade in the Black Sea.

we compare the weight and value of the articles, cotton, butter, cheese, to­
bacco, sugar, wool, rice, hemp, and flax, North and South, the results
are as follows
Quantity.

Value.

Northern S ta tes............................................ lbs.
Southern States...................................................

Nine articles.

2,292,054,661
2,896,100,602

$72,294,524
142,480,235

Excess at the Sou th ....................................

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

$70,195,711

In these figures we find how rapidly the Southern States have concen­
trated within themselves the means o f feeding the large working popula­
tion, while they have been enabled to throw off from the same working
force an annual surplus of those articles suitable for export; and in
doing this it has more distinctly marked its position as the sole source
for the supply of that great raw material for human clothing, the manu­
facture of which occupies so large a proportion o f the population and
capital of England and Europe. N ot only the quantity of cotton per hand
is as we have seen increasing, but its money value advances in the ratio
of the spread of the markets for the goods and the prosperity of the peo­
ple who buy in those markets. The production of this article increases
in the ratio of the natural increase of the hands and of the larger quanti­
ties that they can raise. The progress o f the United States crop has
been in quantity, and in the average value at Liverpool, in the two last
periods of eight years, as follows :—
Bales.

Ave. price.

1844 a 1851.....................................................
1852 a 1859.....................................................

18,132,293
25,488,014

5Jd.
6id.

$875,789,519
1,486,587,562

Value.

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

7,355,791

...

$560,798,043

Such has been the vast results o f this cotton product in the last eight
years ; an increase o f 40 per cent in quantity was attended by an increase
of 20 per cent in price, and there results an increase of 70 percent in net
proceeds. The next eight years indicate a still more considerable progress in
the same direction.

Art. IV.— AMERICAN TRADE IN THE BLACK SEA.
TnE results of the Crimean war were to attract much attention to the
resources of the Black Sea and the Danube. The army expenditures in
those regions stimulated the consumption of European fabrics, and gavean impulse to the export trade. The peculiar nature o f the navigation
required, however, a style of shipping adapted to it. This has been done
to some extent, and the course of trade there, with some of its advantages
and difficulties, has been pointed out in the following sketch by the Uni­
ted States Acting Consul at Constantinople, J. P. Brown, Esq.
C o n s t a n t in o p l e , December 2, 1859.

The trade'of the United States in the Black Sea annually increases,
as well as that with this port. During the last six months several Amer­
ican vessels of a peculiar construction from Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago,
Illinois, have passed through the Bosphorus, on their way to the Sea of




171

Am erican Trade in the Black Sea.

Azoff and the Danube. These vessels are nearly fiat bottomed, with
sliding keels, which enable them to navigate the shallow waters o f that
sea, and pass the bar of Sulina, in the mouth o f the Danube, without
being compelled to discharge a portion of their cargoes. It tells volumes
for Yankee enterprise that such vessels should pass through the inland
seas of the New W orld, and seek business in the most remote ones of
the old hemisphere. Some of them came freighted to this port mostly
with coal, and under charters for grain in the Danube. This new field
others occupation for a large number of such bottoms, and is worth the
attention of enterprising ship builders and owners on the lakes.
The following letter from Taganrock, in the Sea o f Azoff, is not with­
out interest, and shows how Russia is allowed to diverge from the stipula­
tions of her treaty with the “ Allied Powers,” with reference to the ports
of the Black Sea. All the ports of the Circassian coast should be thrown
open to foreign commerce. The Circassians on the western side of the
Caucassus still hold out against the Czar’ s forces, but it is not believed
that, with the naval force used as a blockade, this can continue lo n g :—
T agan rock,

November

2 2 ,1 8 5 9 .

Russia solemnly hound herself by the treaty of 1856 to acknowledge
the neutrality of the Black Sea, and the free trade o f all its ports, and
to conform, in consequence, to the execution of the stipulations for which
she has pledged her word in the face o f all Europe. But what is the
conduct o f Russia? Under inadmissible pretexts o f the abnormal state
of Circassia, she closed the ports o f the Circassian coast against foreign
commerce, notwithstanding the protests of several States, and o f the Cir­
cassian people. But Russia has not limited herself to this, for, discover­
ing that the western cabinets seem to have forgotten how persistent she
is in her policy, she has conceived the project o f illuding entirely the
stipulations o f the treaty. Desirous to carry out heT ambitious projects,
but finding herself solemnly bound by treaties, she has recourse to all
manner of schemes to ruin indirectly both the neutrality and free com­
merce of the Black Sea. You are aware that the trade of Europe with
the Black Sea is carried on chiefly with the ports o f Taganrock, Berdianska, and Marianopol, in the Sea of Azoff, which irrefutably is a tribu­
tary o f the Black Sea. Russia is perfectly aware o f all this, but what is
she energetically scheming to do? She presumes to compel foreign ves­
sels sailing to and from the aforementioned ports to load and unload
henceforth at Kertch, a port contiguous to Yeni-Kaleh, and this under
the unreasonable obligation of establishing the custom-house officers at
the same port. It is superfluous to state that if the powers do not oppose
this project, the neutrality and free commerce o f the Black Sea, guaran­
tied by the treaty of 1856, are but illusory, because indirectly under­
mined by this government, which, after levying enormous dues on the
vessels passing through the Straits of Yeni-Kaleh, capriciously compels
them now to load and unload at Kertch, and to discontinue carrying on
freely and directly their operations with the ports o f Marianopol, Berdianska, and Taganrock. Russia thus not only violates the treaty as far as
it regards the Black Sea, but she deals a ruinous blow at the whole com­
merce of Europe in that quarter, which will now be much more restricted
than it ever was before the treaty o f 1856. Besides the aforementioned
restrictions, another compulsory measure is to be adopted, namely, the




172

Am erican Trade in the Blade Sea.

obliging every vessel to take for ballast iron and casks o f water; in short,
all these measures are adopted 'to monopolize the trade for the Russian
steam navigation company, in which the aristocracy, ministers, and princes
are interested, and which is dependent on the orders of his Highness the
Grand Duke Constantine, Grand Admiral and Minister o f the Marine, to
the detriment of foreign nations. The Russian Government has more­
over ordered that the Straits of Yeni-Kaleh shall be converted into a new
Sebastopol, by erecting batteries on a level with the water on the coast
and bank of that town, which will be able to keep up a cross fire with
the opposite shore; 15,000 soldiers are employed in constructing the
magazines, barracks, and redoubts of Yeni-Kaleh, as well as for the bat­
teries and castles on the bank. Generals and officers of engineers are
charged to hasten the termination o f these military works, which will
make of Yeni-Kaleh the Sebastopol o f the Black Sea and the Cimerian
Bosphorus.
W e do not know the nature o f the protests which the ambassadors of
the European powers will make in St. Petersburg, but it is certain that
the foreign trade, seeing itself thus arbitrarily acted upon, and justly
alarmed, will have recourse to the most strenuous efforts to check this
Muscovite monopoly of the Black Sea trade, and likewise to object to
the construction of fortresses in the Straits o f Yeni-Kaleh.
The following letter from the Danube will give some account o f its
trade for 1859 :—
I b r a i l a , November 15,1859.

The trade o f the Danube having now come nearly to a close for the
year, it is time to have a review o f the past and prospects for the ensuing
year, 1800.
S o ft W h e a t . This crop turned out very favorable this year, as re­
gards quality, in Moldavia, and consequently some very fine parcels were
brought forward to Galatz. Not so, however, in Wallachia, where the
generality o f this produce was o f very poor quality. Exception can,
however, be made to what came from the mountainous part o f the coun­
try. Choice parcels were first held up at very high prices, say from 30s.
to 32s. per qr. f. o. b., owing to the low rates o f freights, but as freights
have latterly advanced, prices have given way considerably, and best par­
cels may now be quoted at 28s. a 30s. per qr. f. o. b.
H aud W h e a t . Owing to their being very slight demand for this ar­
ticle in the beginning o f August last, prices o f this produce were moder­
ate in proportion; but a strong demand having shown itself for Naples,
prices were run up from 28s. a 29s. to 32s. a 33s. 6d., and still continues
firm. It is to be hoped that during the dead of the winter, once the
Danube is frozen, prices of this article may also give way.
I n dian C o r n . This article, (crop of 1858,) not being of a particular
good quality in Ibraila, could have been had in the months of May and
June last at 13s. to 13s. 6d. per qr. f. o. b., and kept so all August, when
it gradually rose in value, and is now at 1Vs. per qr., and as crop 1859,
that will come forward in 1860, is considered much below an average in
both provinces, prices are not likely to give way much in the winter for
what remains of crop 1858. The crop in Moldavia was of a splendid
quality, and always averages 18d. to 2s. a quarter more money.
B a k l e y . This crop was very plentiful in Wallachia, and not one-half




X

Am erican Trade in the Black Sea.

173

has vet been exported. Prices are now giving way, having been held up
to 11s. 6s. per qr. f. o. b., owing to the want of vessels, and can now be
had at about 10s. 6d. per qr. f. o. b., with every appearance of a further
decline. The weight does not exceed 48 lbs. per bushel, and generally
speaking 47 lbs.
R ye. Little has come forward this year, ruling from 13s. to 14s. per
qr. f. o. b.
M ill e t . N ot a single cargo has yet arrived from the interior; the
value is about 13s. per qr. f. o. b. in Ibraila.
F reig h ts have been kept down considerably this year, owing to the
new mode o f shipping by steam and tugs to Sulina, where vessels of large
tonnage, say 2,000 quarters and upwards, have been obtained to load
outside the bar at 5s. 6d. a 6s. 6d. per quarter, thereby keeping freights
down in Galatz and Ibraila to 8s. a 9s. As yet there is not sufficient
competition or facility by steam tugs to Sulina, but the expense to take
down a cargo of grain may be considered to be from Is. 9d. to 2s. 6d. per
quarter, according to the season of the year. There is, however, this
difficulty in the way, that vessels chartered for tonnage may carry, ac­
cording to build, over or under the average o f seven quarters per ton.
On arrival o f the lighter and steam-tug at Sulina the vessel may require
more cargo, that is, not sufficient having been sent down, and may de­
mand for dead freight. And on the other hand the quantity sent down
may exceed the quantity required, and therefore so much must return to
store. This'can be avoided only when the speculation is large, and what
remains over for one cargo can go to a second.
There are no warehouses at Sulina, and the expense there if a small
store be even obtained, would soon surpass the value in the corn ; so that
the only way is either paying for dead freight o f vessel, if short, or re­
turning what is over to Galatz or Ibraila for resale. The steam compa­
ny of the Danube certainly facilitate as much as is in their power by
returning what is over free of freight to Galatz or Ibraila. By loading
in this way, there is a saving of at least 2s. per qr. of freight, which on
a large transaction is worthy of consideration. Vessels for this trade
must be chartered before hand, or at Constantinople on their way up, as none
go seeking to Sulina. Offers can be had at Galatz or Ibraila.
During the autumn, however, this trade is not very safe for vessels
loading outside the bar and in the open Black Sea.
Present rates of freights are from Galatz and Ibraila 11s. 6d. a 12s.
for England; 51 to 5J francs for Marseilles; 66 a 68 karantans for
Trieste, and 5 a 5 | piastres for Constantinople.
From Sulina to United Kingdom 6s. 9d. was paid the day before yes­
terday for a vessel of 2,500 quarters.
Another change may come over the Danube trade when the Kustendge
Railroad be open, but this will require time.
It is supposed that this railroad o f Kustendge will carry off much
of the trade of the Danube, but it will not be in use for another
year.
A railroad is proposed for that river through Bulgaria to
Shumla and Varna; but foreign capitalists are shy o f placing their
funds in a country, the administration of which is so vicious and unenlight­
ened as that of Turkey. The only way for this government to continue to
exist, is by throwing open its ports and interior to foreign capital and
enterprise. '




174

Am erican Trade in the Black Sea.

The exchange and value o f foreign coins have again sunk— the pound
sterling from 170 to 152 piastres. It was even as low as 167 piastres.
The result is that all commerce suffers from the uncertainty o f the fluctations. Imagine a hundred barrels of rum sold for piastres, at the rate
o f 145 to the £1, on time, and before this expires, the same pound
costs 170 piastres. W hat merchant can keep his books in order under
such circumstances? How account to his shippers in the United States
for the advantage which his purchaser has been able to take of him in
paying for the rum? The Porte is strongly desirous of maintaining the
exchange at some fixed rate, but the bankers and exchange brokers are
too powerful to allow i t ;— besides this, the Porte is so poor and creditless
that it cannot raise funds in any European market, with which to com­
mand its own.
The question of the Suez Canal, is again on the tapis here. The works
have been stopped, until an entente can be come to in the Paris Congress
among the greater powers of Europe. M. Lesseps has again visited Con­
stantinople, supported, it is said, by the official interference o f the French
Ambassador. The final belief is, that the British Government will have
to abandon its opposition to a scheme, which, though it naturally exerts
its fears for India, would be of immense benefit to the commerce of the
Mediterranean. English and American commerce would be injured by such
a near route to India and China. There are many who deem the whole
affair as impracticable, but this is for the stockowners to thmk of.
A t the request of some merchants of Constantinople connected in trade
with the United States, I enclose a table o f the weights and measures of
this city and of some other parts of the Ottoman Empire.
You will be so good as to observe that the weights and measures o f
Constantinople are invariable in quantity, with the exception of the kilo,
which has a slight variation, according to the quality of the object.
Thus, an oke at Constantinople is invariably fixed at 400 drachms, a cantar (or kintal) at 44 okes, &c. There is a local regulation of the Otto­
man Government which controls the uniformity of its weights and measures,
and the trades people are obliged to have their scales o f measures and
weights verified b-y an official standard, kept for that purpose in the office
o f the prefect of the city, (shehr emini.) It is from this office that I
have been furnished with the table now enclosed.
Be pleased also to remark that, in making a comparison o f the weights
and measures o f Constantinople with those o f other parts o f Turkey, it
is shown that the liquid measures are the same here and elsewhere, and
this is also the case with all long or cloth measures, which never vary.
As to the dry measures, there is a notable difference between different
places. In the table enclosed it is shown that the kilo of Baltchik, Varna,
Samsoun, and Salonica is four times more than that of Constantinople,
and at Kastendja and Burges, in the Black sea, one kilo is equal to two
o f Constantinople, called stambulle. As to the weights o f Constantino­
ple, compared with those of other parts o f the empire, the cantar, which
governs the commercial transactions o f the empire, is the same every­
where, with the exception o f Smyrna. The oke is always calculated at
400 drachms, and the cantar at 44 okes, or 17,000 drachms, except at
Smyrna. The cause of this difference is, that at this capital, as elsewhere,
the oke of retail, called terazee, and of wholesale, is invariably of 400




Am erican Trade in the Black Sea.

175

drachms, whilst at Smyrna, as is shown in the table, the retail oke, or
tarazee, is calculated at 400 drachms, whilst the oke o f wholesale, of the
cantar, is there only 380 drachms ; consequently the cantar o f Constan­
tinople, composed o f 44 okes o f 400 drachms each, makes 17,600
drachms, whilst, on the other hand, the cantar of Smyrna, though com­
posed of 45 okes each, o f 380 drachms, forms only 17,100 drachms.
There is, consequently, an excess o f 500 drachms, or of l i oke, upon
each cantar of Smyrna— that is to say, a difference of 2.95 per cent.
Thus 100 cantars o f iron, wool, &c., purchased at Constantinople, pro­
duces at Smyrna 102.95 cantars. This, however, will depend upon the
use of correct and accurate scales at both places. But as this can scarce­
ly be expected, the difference is apt to amount to from 3 to 4,j per cent.,
and the consequence is, that merchants here generally estimate the dif­
ference at 4 per cent between these two places.
From the same cause wholesale sales made in okes (as is customary
with some articles of commerce) differ as much as 5 per cent between
Constantinople and Smyrna ; for the sales in okes at wholsale and retail
are here invariably upon the calculation o f 400 drachms, whilst, as is
shown in the table, wholesale transactions at Smyrna are made upon the
calculation of the cantar, (quintal,) o f 380 drachms to the oke only.
Consequently, 100 okes of coffee, of yellow berries, &c., purchased at
Constantinople, will produce in Smyrna 105 okes— that is to say, 20
drachms more per oke, which in 100 okes, makes 2,000 drachms, or 5
okes. I wish particularly to bring this difference in the weights, o f
Constantinople and Smyrna to the knowledge of the public.
*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

It is the case that this difference o f 4 to 5 per cent, between the weights
o f Smyrna and Constantinople, has been alluded to in a report from the
consulate o f the former place to the department, and justice to the
merchants of this capital, trading with the United States, requires that
it should be taken into consideration at the custom-houses of the United
States.
In conclusion, it may be remrked that, in Turkey, liquids, as well as solids,
are sold by weight, so that though measures are used, such as the oke for
wine, milk, oil, &c., they are nevertheless supposed to contain a given
number of drachms in weight. The oke and its component drachms is
the basis of all the weights and measures of Turkey, excepting, o f course,
those of long and land measurement.
A TABLE

O F W E IG H T S AN D

M E A S U R E S OF

C O N S T A N T IN O P L E A N D O F S O M E O T H E R P A R T S

OF

T U R K E Y , D E R IV E D F R O M O F F IC IA L R E L I A B L E S O U R C E S .
■W EIGHTS OF C O N S T A N T IN O P L E .

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

cantar or kintal is equal to 7£ batmans, or 44 okes, or 100 lodras, or 17,600 drachms.
batman is equal to 6 okes, or 2,400 drachms.
ko<i is equal to 14 ok^s, or 5,600 drachms.
oke is equal to 400 drachms, or 2.9430 American pounds, avoirdupois.
drachm is equal to 4 deugs.
deni; is f qual to 4 tcherkergeys.
tcherkergey is equal to 4 boydays.
lodri i-» equal to 176 drachms.
tchekee of stone is equal to 176 okes, or, vulgarly, 180 okes.
tchek *e
saffron is equal to 170 drachms of all drugs.
teffce of siik is equal to 610 drachms.




176

Am erican Trade in the Black Sea.

1
1
1
1

metical of attar of roses is equal to 1$ drachm of all essence and precious meta
tchekee o f wool is equal to 4 cantars, or 176 okes.
hyrat, or carat, of diamond or other jewels is equal to 1 tekeyerey, or 4 boydays.
boy day is equal to 16 hissehs, or parts.

1
1
1
1
1

kilo
kilo
kilo
kilo
kilo

1
1
1
1

madrey of wine is equal to 10 okes.
testee of oil is equal to 8 okes.
oke is equal to 400 drachms.
testee o f oil, elsewhere, is equal to 6 to 9 okes.

1
1
1
1
1

hallebec or arcliin is equal to 8 rules or 16 guirays, wholesale.
endazay is equal to 8 rules or 16 guirays.
ghiray of hallebec is equal to 1.67 y7 American inches.
ghiray of endazay is equal to 1.5869 American inches.
donum is equal to 40 square archines or 1.600 archines.

D R Y M E A S U R E O F C O N S T A N T IN O P L E .

of
of
of
of
of

walnuts is equal to 100 okes.
wheat, Indian com, or canary seed, is equal to 21 okes.
linseed is equal to 20 okes.
hemp seed is equal to 16 okes.
rice is equal to 10 okes.
L IQ U ID M E A S U R E S O F C O N S T A N T IN O P L E .

L O N G M E A S U R E S O F C O N S T A N T IN O P L E .

D R Y M EASURE

OF B A L T C H IC , Y A R N A , 8 A M S 0 U N , A N D

S A L O N IC A .

1 kilo is equal to 4 kilos of Constantinople ; ditto at Burges and Kustendyal.
1 kilo is equal to 2 kilos of Constantinople; ditto at Smyrna.
1 cantar or kintal of iron, wood, Ac., is equal to 100 lodras or 45 okes of 380 drachms
each, or to 17,100 drachms.
1 oke, at wholesale, is equal to 380 drachms.
1 oke (of opium) is equal to 250 drachms.
1 cantar is equal to 125 pounds American, avoirdupois.
1 chekee, of goat’s wool, is equal to 2 okes, weighed at Constantinople, to 1.360 okes.
W E IG H T S

AN D M EASURES CO M PARED W IT H

T H O S E O F T H E U N IT E D ST A T E S O F A M E R IC A .

W E IG H T S .

1 oke o f Constantinople is equal to 2 9430 pounds American.
1 cantar of Constantinople is equal to 129J pounds American.
1 oke o f Smyrna is equal to 2.7500 pounds American.
M EASURES.

1 hallebec or archin is equal to 26$ inches American.
1 endazee is equal to 2 5 f inches American.
1 a'chin, land measure, is equal to 29.4 inches American.
1 parmak, land measure, is equal to 1.225 inches American.
1 guiraz of hallebec is equal to 1.6797 inches American.
1 guiraz of endazee is equal to 1.5859 inches American.
1 archin, land measure, is equal to 24 parmaks.
1 donum of land is equal to 40 square archins, or 1.600 archins, or 3.920 feet, or
1.306$- yards.

A tariff of the dues to be imposed upon all vessels passing through the
6traits of the White and Black seas, (Bosphorus and Dardanelles,) for
the support of the stationary, revolving, colored, and reflecting lights, to
be established in the straits afforesaid :—
1st. All vessels entering the straits o f the White Sea, (Dardanelles,)
and anchoring in the port of the capital, will pay fifty (50) piastres in
the specie coinage of the present Sultan for every one hundred (100) tons.
2d. All vessels leaving the port of the capital, and without going out
of the straits o f the Black Sea, (Bosphorus,) anchoring at any o f its




Decim al System and Silver Coins o f the United States.

177

wharves, will pay 25 piastres in the same currency on every one hundred
(100) tons. In case of their leaving said straits, they will pay fifty (50)
piastres of said currency.
3d. All vessels leaving the port of the capital, and without going out
of the straits of the White Sea, proceed to the shores o f the Sea of Mar­
mora, or enter its harbors, will pay twenty-five (25) piastres of said cur­
rency on every one hundred (100) tons.
4th. All vessels leaving the aforementioned shores and harbors o f the
Sea of Marmora, and coming to the port of the capital, will pay twentyfive (25) piastres in said currency.
5th. Ail vessels leaving the port o f Constantinople, and proceeding
direct to the White Sea, (Mediterranean,) will pay fifty (50) piastres.
6th. All vessels arriving at the port of the capital from the Black Sea
will pay fifty (50) piastres of said currency.
7 th. On all vessels passing through the two straits, from the White to
the Black Sea, the dues collected at the two straits of one hundred (100)
piastres may, if so desired, be paid at one time; and in the same manner
those arriving from the Black on their way to the W hite Sea, the same
amount of dues will be levied on them on their return.
8th. All vessels o f one hundred tons, or o f less tonnage, visiting the
ports outside of the straits, or those between them, will pay, on each ar­
rival, for every ton, ten (10) piastres for every voyage.
9th. Steamers employed in towing from the port of Constantinople to
the Black Sea will pay monthly (50) piastres in said currency.
10th. All steamers making between the ports o f the two straits, in the
Bosphorus, to the islands, to Cadikieng, carrying passengers, will also
pay monthly twenty-five (25) piastres in said currency.
11th. The form to be observed on the receipt o f those dues, the desig­
nation o f the places for collecting them, and the receipts which will be
given on their payment, will all be regulated when the tariff is put into
execution.

Art. V -D E C IM A L SYSTEM AND SILVER COINS OF TIIE UNITED STATES.
T he process o f forming a national currency in the United States has
been very slowly developed since the federated States delegated to the
National Government the right to “ coin money and regulate the value
thereof.” The nation, at that time, was possessed o f but a small amount
of coin, and had no means o f obtaining it but by exchanging the pro­
ducts of its industry with those nations that had a superfluity. Until the
metals were so obtained, Congress could do little towards coining money.
Metallic money gradually accumulated, Congress making the foreign
coins a legal tender at stipulated prices, until the Spanish fractions of a
dollar became almost the sole currency. These were depreciated by use
until they became a great evil, and the more so that their denominations
— halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths— conflicted with the decimal
rule laid down for the national currency. The law of 1853 produced a
reform that has been very salutary, but it has not succeeded in placing
the currency on a strictly decimal basis. The annexed remarks by Col.
T o n . x i . i i .— n o . n.
12




178

Decim al System and Silver Coins o f the United States.

Frederick A . Sawyer, o f San Francisco, point out some changes that are
desirable to that end. He remarks:—
The decimal system of currency was adopted by a law passed in 1785
by the Continental Congress. But for reasons which we will endeavor to
explain, this wise law has been and is, at the present day, almost entirely
inoperative; and in those portions of the Union where it has been car­
ried into effect, as for example, New Orleans and other portions of the
Southwest and West, it has been accomplished at great inconvenience to
the people of those sections, from the neglect of Congress to sustain this
system by proper legislation.
The decimal system, as applied to currency, has been well defined to
be “ a system of monetary calculation, advancing to infinity from a fixed
standard of value, and performing its multiplications by an increasing
progression of tens, and its divisions by a decreasing progression which
is also decimal.”
Under the old confederation, Mr. Governeur Morris, to whom the mat­
ter had been referred, reported a decimal system of coinage for the adop­
tion of Congress, which was as follows :—
Ten Units to be equal to one Penny.
Ten Pence one Bill.
Ten Bills one Dollar, (about two-thirds of the Spanish Dollar.)
Ten Dollars one Crown.
This report contains this observation :— “ Although it is not absolutely
necessary, yet it is very desirable, that money should be increased in a
decimal ratio; because, by that means, all calculations of interest, ex­
change, insurance, and the like, are rendered much more simple and ac­
curate, and, o f course, much more within the power of the great mass o f
the people.”
This subject was discussed repeatedly in Congress, and in 1784 Mr.
Jefferson, on behalf of a committee appointed for the purpose, made a
report in which, whilst he agreed with Mr. Morris as to the expediency
of adopting the decimal system, he disagreed with him as to the unit o f
the new coins proposed, because of its want of correspondence in value
with any known coins. In lieu o f this he proposed the Spanish dollar
as being of convenient size, capable o f easy actual division, and familiar
to the minds o f the people ; besides the course of our commerce would
bring us more of this than o f any other foreign coin ; and furthermore,
the dollar was already more referred to as a measure o f value than any
other coin. Upon this basis he proposed to strike four coins:—
A golden piece o f the value of Ten Dollars.
A Dollar in silver.
A tenth of a Dollar, also in silver.
A hundredth of a Dollar in copper.
The report contains this language :— “ The most easy rate of multipli­
cation and division is that of ten. Every one knows the facility o f deci­
mal arithmetic. Every one remembers that, when learning money
arithmetic, he used to be puzzled with adding the farthings, taking out
the fours, and carrying them o n ; adding the pence, taking out the
twelves, and carrying them o n ; adding the shillings, taking out the
twenties, and carrying them on ; but when he came to the pounds,
where he had only tens to carry forward, it was easy and free from error.
The bulk of mankind are school boys through life. Certainly, in all




Decim al System and Silver Coins o f the United States.

179

cases where we are free to choose between easy and difficult inodes of
operation, it is most rational to choose the easy. The financier, (Mr.
Morris,) therefore, in his report, well proposes that our coins should be
in decimal proportions to one another.”
Congress, in 1785, adopted this report o f Mr. Jefferson, and in the fol­
lowing year made legal provisions for a coinage upon that basis. No
Mint, however, had yet been established, and therefore, unfortunately,
these coins were not made, for had they been, they would have perma­
nently and irrevocably established the decimal system; the variety of
coins might have been increased, but it would always have been in deci­
mal relation to those already established by this law.
Some years after, in the able report made by Mr. Jefferson, then Secre­
tary of State, (under the Constitution of 1787,) to Congress, in 1790, it
was observed :— “ The experiment made by Congress, in 1786, by declar­
ing that there should be one money of account and payment through the
United States, and that its parts and multiplies should be in a decimal
ratio, has obtained such general approbation, both at home and abroad,
that nothing seems wanting but the actual coinage to banish the discord­
ant pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings o f the. different States, and to
establish in their stead the new denominations.”
All this goes to show how well this matter was understood, even at
that early period, by our leading statesmen— a circumstance the more
creditable to them, as it was at a period anterior to the celebrated labors
of the French Academy, by order of the Convention, which resulted in
that perfect decimation of the coins, weights, and measures o f France,
which has been so much admired and so extensively imitated by other
countries.
On the 2d of April, 1792, a law of Congress was passed, establishing a
Mint and regulating the coinage ; but not in accordance with the views
of Mr. Morris, Mr. Jefferson, and the Congress o f 1785— for this law
authorized the mongrel coinage o f octaval and decimal divisions of
money, of half dollars and quarter dollars, dimes and half dimes, which,
from that day to this, have so effectually prevented the practical intro­
duction of the decimal system, and will continue to prevent it so long as
it is in force. It will be observed that, in Mr. Jefferson’s system, adopted
in 1785, there was no provision for half and quarter dollars, which be­
long to the octaval system, and must be excluded from any successful
decimal system, as antagonistic and at variance with it ; and whenever
the two systems shall be introduced into the same country by authority
o f law, one or the other must give way, as in the United States, where,
notwithstanding the continued coinage o f dimes and half dimes, the oetaval system which they were intended to supplant is in as full force and
vigor as it was a hundred years ago in Spain, or in the American Colo­
nies at the time o f the Revolution, and these dimes and half dimes either
lie as bullion in the Mint or in banking houses, or are circulated at a uni­
versal inconvenience.
In France, where the decimal system o f currency is perfect, not only in
theory, but in the coins that are uttered for the purpose of carrying out
that system, the basis or unit is a piece of one franc, which, though it is
not worth quite twenty cents of our money, yet, for the purposes o f illus­
tration, we will assume to be worth twenty cents, and the five franc piece
to be worth a dollar.




180

Decim al System and Silver Coins o f the United States.

In the coinage of France, the five franc piece, or as we have assumed
its value, the dollar piece, is never divided into halves or quarters ; that
is, there are no half dollar pieces or quarter dollar pieces. Their silver
coinage is francs, half francs, quarter francs, two franc, and five franc
pieces; that is, twenty cents, ten cents, five cents, forty cents, and dol­
lars ; so that this system multiplies and divides, in the strictest manner,
by tens.
In Spain, where the decimal system, as regards its silver coins, has
long prevailed, and where, as in the United States, the dollar is taken as
the basis or unit of calculation, the coinage consists entirely and exclu­
sively of five cent, ten cent, twenty cent, and one dollar pieces ; five, ten,
and twenty being aliquot decimal parts o f a dollar, or one hundred ; there
are no half dollars or quarter dollars, nor have any been coined for more
than fifty years past.
It is true that, in Spanish America, the old system still prevails of di­
viding the dollar into eight parts ; but, as has been said, in old Spain it
has been long abandoned, and the decimal system has not only been
adopted, but immediately on its adoption, the coinage o f the country was
changed so as to sustain and perpetuate that system ; we say perpetuate,
because this system, once introduced into a country, will never be aban­
doned so long as the natural indolence of man impels him to prefer an
easy rather than a difficult mode of arriving at a proposed end.
In Canada, it is understood, they are now engaged in introducing the
decimal system, with the Spanish dollar as its basis or unit, and their
silver coinage has been changed so as to consist exclusively of half
dimes, dimes, twenty cent pieces, and dollars; and no difficulty is ap­
prehended in introducing it all through the country at once, although
they have the prejudices of centuries in favor o f a different system to
contend against.
In England, in 1853, when it was proposed in Parliament to introduce
the decimal system which had been established in France in 1790, and
whose superiority to all others now in use is universally acknowledged,
they did not, for a moment, think of adopting that system as the univer­
sal mode of national computation, and leave it to be sustained by a coin­
age one-half decimal and one-half belonging to some other system— octaval, for example, as we have done in the United States; but it was
proposed to make such change in the old coins, and establish such new
ones, as would be in strict conformity with the new system and calcu­
lated to render it effective. For to adopt this system in theory, and even
direct the accounts of the Empire to be kept in it, as is the case in the
United States, without establishing a system of coins in conformity with
it, would not have introduced it among the people.
No decimal monetary system can practically be introduced into any
country, unless sustained by a coinage of deeimal divisions.
When you divide the dollars into halves and then subdivide the halves
into quarters, the next natural division is into eighths and sixteenths.
This is the octaval system, aud is antagonistic to the decimal system,
which must increase and decrease by tens.
Now, let us look at the case in the United States :— The decimal sys­
tem o f gold, silver, and copper coins was, as we have seen, adopted by
law from the beginning of the government; but the law of 1792, which
should have been in aid o f that system, but was really hostile to it, and




Decim al System and Silver Coins o f the United States.

181

the failure o f Congress to legislate further on the subject, and its directly
antagonistic legislation in relation to the Post-office Department, have
been so entirely in conflict with this system as to prevent its being gene­
rally and conveniently introduced throughout the country. For exam­
ple, in the first place, in the Post-office Department, where the people
had daily and hourly a necessity for small coins, from the foundation o f
the government until within a few years, when the present system of
stamps was introduced, the payments for postages were all required to
be in divisions o f money hostile and antagonistic to the decimal system,
viz.:— six-and-a quarter cents, twelve-and-a-half cents, and twenty-five
cents, which are aliquot parts o f a dollar divided into eight parts, not ten
parts, and which system had been borrowed in the time of the Colonies
from old Spain, but which Spain abandoned, as before' stated, about the
beginning of this century. So that, although the Government of the
United States continued, at its Mint, to coin dimes, yet they were but
little used, and then seldom circulated at their nominal value, passing,
on the contrary, much more frequently for fifteen cents and twelve-anda-half cents.
And why is it, it may be asked, that now that the price of postage on
letters is made to conform to the national division o f money, that still, in
a very large portion of the Union, the same difficulty exists in the free
and general circulation of dimes and half dimes at their nominal value ?
W hy is it that, if you enter a shop in New York, you find nothing for
sale for a dime, for two dimes, or for three dimes, but the price will be
universally twelve-and a half cents, twenty-five cents, or thirty-seven anda-lialf cents, as the case may be? The question, fortunately, is easily
answered, and the answer indicates the remedy. The reason is that,
whilst the Government o f the United States had established by law the
decimal system, it has always, under the directions of the law of 1792,
struck, and continues to the present day to strike, coins which belong to
the old Spanish division o f eight parts to a dollar, instead of ten ; that it
fills'the country with half and quarter dollars, both of which are incon­
sistent with the decimal system; and although the government coins no
twelve and-a-half or six-and-a-quarter cent pieces, yet the coinage and
circulating of half and quarter dollars, by forcing the division of the dol­
lar into eight parts, makes twelve-and-a-half and six-and-a-quarter cent
pieces so necessary, that portions o f Spanish America and all the W est
India Islands have been ransacked to find twelve-and-a-half and six-anda-quarter cent pieces to supply the pressing and we might say absolute
demand of the community, particularly in the Northern States.
The absurdity o f the present system of coinage cannot be better illus­
trated than by an enumeration of the various functions, as to value, which
the dime has to perform in a very large portion of the Union. You owe
a debt of twelve-and-a-half cents, you offer in payment a quarter dollar,
you receive a dime in change. In this case the dime passes for the eighth
part of a dollar, and in its various conflicts with the quarter and half dol­
lar it sometimes represents six-and-a-quarter cents, sometimes twelve-anda-half cents, and sometimes fifteen cents; and it occasionally has the
honor, in some rare instances, to represent itself truly, that is, to repre­
sent the tenth part of a dollar.
Now if Congress, in 1792, had authorized and directed a system of
coinage in conformity with the decimal system, already adopted by the
Continental Congress on the report of Mr. Jefferson, viz.:— five cent, ten




182

Decim al System and Silver Coins o f the United States.

cent, twenty cent, and dollar pieces, and no other silver coins, unless per­
haps a forty cent piece, which would have been analogous to the French
two franc piece, within six months from the opening of the Mint these
coins would have been universally circulated among the people, to the
exclusion o f the old Spanish division o f silver money, and the statute
books of Congress would not, for a period o f sixty years, have contained
an absurd law, establishing the rates o f postage in a currency borrowed
from abroad, and directly in conflict with that which the nation had pro­
posed to adopt.
The remedy is to cease the coinage of half and quarter dollars, and
coin, in addition to the half dime and dime that we already have, twenty
cent pieces and, perhaps, forty cent pieces. The twenty cent piece might
receive some national appellation, as in France they call the analogous
piece “ a franc,” or borrowing a name from the Latin, as we have already
borrowed mills, cents, and dimes, we might call it a “ quint” from its
being the fifth part o f a dollar, so that our copper and silver coins would
be respectively designated— Mills, Cents, Dimes, Quints, and Dollars;
however, that is a matter for after consideration and which would easily
regulate itself.
In one, or at most two years, after this system shall be adopted and
vigorously pursued, there will be a uniformity of circulation and compu­
tation, even in the smallest bargains, throughout the entire Union.
The easy introduction of a decimal system, whether it relates to coins,
weights, or measures, is fully proved by the history of that system in
France, where the various systems of monetary computation, and the
various and antagonistic systems of weights and measures which pre­
vailed in the different provinces comprising that country, and which had
been for ages the settled system of each particular province, and which
were surrounded by all the respect and veneration which long lapse of
time and custom give to such institutions, were easily and, after a short
time, gladly laid aside by a population of twenty-six millions of people,
for the decimal system framed by the Academy of France, by order of
the Convention ; which decimal system has remained unchanged amid
all the political revolutions with which that country has been afflicted,
to the present day, and no future advancement or degeneration of her
people can destroy or affect it.
W e will not dwell upon the national advantages of a uniform system
of currency and computation in matters of business; they are deemed in
other countries, particularly in France, where the experiment has been
fully tried, to be equal to, if not greater than, those which are derived
from a uniform system o f weights and measures ; and further, a uniform­
ity in monetary computation and circulation is of some value to any
country as strengthening the bonds of union and sympathy between its
different and remote parts; and nothing tending to this result should be
overlooked by a government like oiirs— a government threatened with
but one danger, the danger of want o f stability.
It is, therefore, to be hoped that Congress may authorize and direct
such a change in the ninth section o f the law o f 1792, in relation to the
coinage of the country, especially the silver coinage thereof, as will ena­
ble the people of the United States to enjoy the very great benefits
w h i c h were intended to be conferred upon them by the Continental Con­
gress of 1785, when it established the decimal system o f currency, com­
putation, and coinage.




2 he Indian Archipelago South o f the Equator.

183

Art. V I.— THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO SOUTn OF THE EQUATOR.
DUTCH EXCLUSIVENESS A N D RESTRICTIONS TO COMMERCE.

F e w parts of the world present a fairer field for American enterprise
than the islands of the Indian Archipelago, for not only are they exceed­
ingly rich in raw productions of the most valuable description, but the
natives being expensive in their tastes, and passionately addicted to com­
mercial pursuits, have always displayed the greatest desire to exchange
their produce for the manufactures of a more civilized country, whenever
an opportunity has been offered them o f so doing.
These luxuriant islands were resorted to by American ships many years
since, and a very lucrative trade carried on, their various productions
being always in demand in China, to the ports o f which the traffic then
existing was attracted. The Indian Archipelago is in the direct track of
our numerous East Indiamen, when prosecuting their voyages to and from
China by the Eastern Passage; and those tourists interested in the pros­
perity o f our mercantile marine, cannot but observe that these islands
are of valuable importance to the commercial world ; also that our access
to their many magnificent ports for commercial purposes would immeas­
urably benefit the multiplicity o f American merchantmen now out of
employment.
The narrow-minded policy of the Dutch Government, who have suc­
cessfully aspired to a tyrannical protectorate over this portion of the
Eastern W orld, is elucidated by their continued exercise o f a miserable
restraint over the productive and commercial capacity o f these islands.
Since our active connection with the archipelago in 1830, sufficient time
appears to have elapsed to suggest the exercise o f our national influence
in obtaining the much desired privilege o f trading at those ports from
which we are now excluded. The Emperor o f Japan, whose territory is
in the vicinity o f the Eastern Archipelago, has o f late been forcibly con­
vinced that a'n unlimited intercourse with the world was in the present
age imperative. Had the same measures been extended to the prevailing
powers of the neighboring islands in question, the interest o f the com­
mercial world would have been promoted to a greater extent, and a val­
uable consideration for the outlay o f an expedition would at once have
been realized.
The American trade formerly existing among these islands, although
remunerative, was conducted under great disadvantages, from the posses­
sion of no settlements where public influence could have been acquired.
In 1832, a government agent, attached to the United States ship Peacock,
was employed in visiting these islands, and the neighboring countries in
Asia, for the purpose of making arrangements by which our merchants
could carry on a traffic; and many of the most insignificant ports were
visited, also, by a small naval force, which then gave encouragement to
our traders. Since that period, however, no protection or inducement to
our commerce has been rendered in this part of the world.
When the treaty o f 1824, now existing, was confirmed, the English
Government abandoned their settlements and right to trade at any port
in the Archipelago south of the equator to the Dutch Government, whose
prevailing policy has since been to maintain exclusive relations, and by




181

The Indian Archipelago South o f the Equator.

prohibitory laws to restrict any other nation the privilege o f trading.
Since the year 1835, where American shipmasters have attempted an in­
dependent trade, their vessels in some instances have been confiscated.
The western division of the archipelago has greatly suffered from Dutch
monopoly, and in some instances the inhabitants exterminated, on account
of resistance made to the ty>annyr of their oppressors. The larger isl­
ands have never been completely subdued, though the Dutch, when at
the zenith of their power, were enabled with the aid o f their naval force
to effectually attempt to repress any attempt at independent commerce.
They have not hesitated to exert their influence in ruining the com­
mercial prosperity o f those countries over which by right they have no
control, and in which the bravery o f the natives has prevented them from
gaining a footing. Possessing an insignificant force, but superior to that
of any o f the native Slates, they have been forced to content themselves
with destroying the countries which they cannot conquer. This system
has most unaccountably been permitted without the slightest remonstrance
of our government, or that of any other.
Among the few independent native States political commotions often
occur, entailing great misery on themselves, and has a very injurious
effect. They have no disinterested arbitrating power to whom they can
appeal in cases of dispute; consequently decisions are arrived at by war.
W ere they to apply to the Dutch as arbitrators, their application would
result in the infliction o f ruinous commercial treaties.
The commercial spirit and desire for improvement manifested by na­
tives o f all denominations, aided by a w7ell established intercourse with
any foreign power, entertaining no illiberal desire to keep them in a
state of ignorance, would soon work an extraordinary and beneficial
change.
From the writer’s observation and experience, he has no doubt that,
under ordinary circumstances, the natives of the Indian Archipelago
would speedily attain a degree o f civilization which would prove their
natural intellectural powers to be at least equal to those individuals who
gratuitously endeavor to represent them in the character of an inferior
order of beings.
The pernicious influence exercised by that European power, which has
so long kept these numerous nations, belonging to one of the very finest
portions o f the globe, in a state o f moral and political degradation, ap­
pears to be gradually disappearing.
Since the establishment o f the British settlement o f Singapore, the
present freedom o f commerce enjoyed at that place has attracted a
greater part o f the native trade o f these islands, and the large traffic
formerly carried on by junks between Batavia and China has totally
ceased. The Dutch, to endeavor to regain this trade, established the free
port of Rhio, situated but a short distance from Singapore, but apparently
without success, the business o f Rhio remaining limited to its inter-colo­
nial trade with Batavia. It is sufficiently established that Rhio, as a free
port, requires other inducements than the abolishment of harbor dues to
attract the native trade.
A government monopoly in any branch of
commerce has proven inconsistent with free trade, and driven the natives
of these islands to Singapore, where a liberal competition for their pro­
duce always exists.
The Arroe Islands, in lat. 7° 06' S., and long. 234° 20' E., about 300




The Indian Archipelago South o f the Equator.

185

miles from the northeast coast of Australia, are a closely packed group,
and extend over a space o f 100 miles in length and between 40 and 50
miles in breadth. Not being supposed by the Dutch to possess spice
trees, they have been comparatively unmolested by them, and are in a
tolerable state o f cultivation, while the neighboring Island of Ceram,
with several others in the vicinity, in which the spirit o f the natives has
been broken by grievous oppression of the Dutch, are dependent on their
more fortunate neighbors for their supply of provisions. Ceram formerly
produced nutmegs and cloves spontaneously, until extirpated by their
present rulers, who have established settlements on each o f them.
The
Trepang, or sea slug, when cured, is an article o f great consumption in
China, where it is much used as a delicacy of the table; and pearl oys­
ters exist on the sand banks surrounding these islands.
The Dutch have seven settlements in the eastern part of the archipel­
ago-— Macassar on the south end, and Monado on the north end, of Cel­
ebes ; Ternate in the Moluccas : Amboyna and Banda in the spice islands ;
Bimah on the north coast o f Sumbawa; and Ccepang on the north coast
of Timor. The remainder of the Dutch settlements comprise the island
of Java; Palembang, Bencoolen, and Padang, in Sumatra; Banjar Massin, Sambas, and Pontinak, in Borneo; Khio, near Singapore, and Minto
on the island o f Banca.
These, with the Portuguese settlements o f Diety, on the northwest
coast of Timor, the Spanish settlements on the Philippines, and Singa­
pore, form the sum total of European settlements in the archipelago.
The island of Celebes is in the form o f five peninsulas, and has an extent
of sea coast equal to the whole Atlantic coast of the United States, on which
there are the Dutch ports of Macassar, Monido, and Ketna. Of these, Macas­
sar and Kema are free. The Bugis, a race whose native country is Celebes,
bear a strong personal resemblance to the Malays, but in honesty, energy
o f character, and general conduct, they are far superior. They are de­
servedly praised for their upright character in commercial transactions,
greater reliance being placed on their word by those who are acquainted
with the native character than on the most sacred oaths taken by the
natives o f Bengal and Coromandel. They are the chief and almost sole
carriers of the archipelago, collecting the produce o f the various islands,
and taking it to a market.
Amboyna is the capital o f the spice islands, which consist of Ceram,
Amblam, Bouro, and Banda; their principal products being spices, sago,
and indigo. These islands, with the Molucca group, have dwindled into
insignificance, owing to the rapacious protectorate power governing them.
The island of Sumbawa is 180 miles long and 50 miles wide. At the
eastern end of the island the Dutch have a small fortification, at the port
of Bimah. The principal exports of this island are teak timber and
horses.
Timor is 300 miles long by 45 miles wide, and is extremely fertile.
The Dutch exercise a feeble rule over the western extremity of this isl­
and, of which the productions are beeswax, sandal wood, gum benzoin,
ambergris, rice, and horses. An extensive trade with other eastern ports
has for many years existed at this island.
Flores is 200 miles long by 50 miles wide. The Dutch settlement on
this island is Fort Pota. The productions are cotton, rice, sulphur, salt­
peter, and sandal wood.




186

The Indian Archipelago South o f the Equator.

Gillolo, one o f the Melucca group, is, with the exception o f Celebes,
the largest island o f the archipelago, and contains an area of 6,600 square
miles. The Dutch settlements are the ports o f Ternate and Tidor. The
entire island is much under their influence; its productions are very
numerous, and a lucrative trade might he carried on but for the prevail­
ing restrictions.
Lombock is 53 miles long by 40 miles wide, and is well cultivated and
populous. This island has never been brought to Dutch subjection ; many
attempts have been made to force allegiance to the Governor-General of
Netherlands India, but without success.
The Serawitti group consist o f nine islands, and are mostly inhabited,
their productions being similar to the other islands, with the addition of
pearl and tortoise shell, the former being found in large quantities.
Banca is 120 miles long, and its whole productions consist of tin, ebony,
and beeswax. The government attention is devoted to the tin mines, the
ore o f which is obtained by washing the soil in the same manner as is
adopted by the gold miners o f California.
Billeton island produces a considerable amount o f tin, the mines having
been opened by the Dutch in 1850.
Madura is also controlled by the Dutch. This island is 90 ifiiles long
and 17 miles wide.
The island o f Borneo bears the same relation to Eastern India that the
continent of America bears to Europe, being a country in which the va­
rious tribes inhabiting the further East may find a refuge from religious
persecution, or escape the disadvantages of an over-population of the
mother country. The coasts of the island are inhabited by several na­
tions, totally unconnected with each other. The west coast is occupied
by Malays; the northwest coast by half-caste natives o f India; the north
part by Cochin-Chin ese; south coast by Bugese and Dyaks. If an opin­
ion may be formed o f the capabilities o f the unknown parts of Borneo,
from those of the western portion of the island, it would appear that no
country in the world can compete with it; since the districts occupied
by the Dutch and the Chinese, in addition to the possession o f a soil
which vies in richness with that o f any other island in the archipelago,
contain inexhaustible mines o f gold and diamonds, which are so easily
wrought that the inhabitants are enabled to procure considerable quan­
tities o f both with the most inefficient implements. The Chinese, being
much addicted to miijing speculations, established themselves in those
parts o f the island in which gold dust and diamonds were most readily
procured, which are the districts o f Montradok and Sambas.
The present state of the extensive Chinese colony o f Pontinak, on the
west coast of Borneo, affords another example of the Dutch system in
the archipelago. They here prohibit any foreign commercial intercourse.
W ere these obstacles removed, a trade exceeding a million of dollars
might be done with this port alone. Very slight exertions on the part of
the American government would be sufficient to effect this most desirable
object, for were the Dutch authorities at Batavia merely informed that
any further attempt on their part to prevent our commercial intercourse
with Pontinak would be resented as an act o f hostility, the iniquitous
system would be discontinued.
Among the numerous articles of commerce produced at the islands of
this archipelago may be enumerated beche de mer, buffalo horns and




Customs Reform in Belgium.

187

hides, pearl shell, dye woods, camphor, sandal wood, spices, and tortoise
shell. In all the countries belonging to this archipelago in which the
natives have a predilection for agricultural employment, the government
is found to be more substantial than in those States in which the natives
abandon themselves to marine adventure. The pirates formerly infesting
this neighborhood are from the islands of Lingin, Mindano, and Sumatra.
It is to be hoped some efforts may soon be directed towards the attain­
ment of ordinary trading privileges with this archipelago. The United
States, by extending its commerce in these rich and fertile countries,
would not only improve their own resources, but would also materially
assist the natives in their attempts to rise from their present miserable
condition.
t . d.

Art. VII.— CUSTOMS REFORM IN BELGIUM.
T h e progress o f economical ideas in most countries o f Europe is yearly
more marked. The old theories of the blessings of taxation, restraint, and
prohibition are fast passing away, and the oppressive monopolies that were
built up in accordance with these theories are crumbling away before the
spread of intelligence. The wars and apprehensions o f war during the
past few years had, however, been unfavorable to the modification of ex­
isting laws, and have checked, for a time, the reforms that were in pro­
gress. The restoration o f the sliding scale o f grain duties in France is a
notable example of this, and in other countries o f Western Europe there
are similar evidences o f the influence o f war fears upon the development
of peace interests. It is pretended sometimes that wav is a means of pro­
gress, and that guns, whether rifled or not, project ideas as well as balls.
The condition of war has, no doubt, its merits and advantages, as well as its
demerits and disadvantages, since the most civilized people make it their
glory to prosecute it. It is also possible, since the perfection of artillery,
that it is charged with liberal ideas, and perhaps even with paternal sen­
timents. The recent strife has, however, not yet demonstrated in how
far the theorists have deceived themselves in denouncing war enterprises
as injurious and unproductive, and in refusing to class cannon among
instruments of production. Meanwhile one fact is prominent, viz., that
the movement o f both business and ideas has been retarded under the
influence of the Italian war. In those countries which have maintained
the strictest neutrality, less business has been done, fewer enterprises
have been undertaken, and less intellectual activity has been apparent
than in times of peace. This has been the case in Belgium, where the
exports have indeed augmented 5 per cent in the first nine months of the
present year, but the imports have declined in the same ratio. This fact,
certainly, is satisfactory to one class of economists, since it, according to
their theory, showed a balance o f 10 per cent more favorable to Belgium.
The operations of the “ Associations for Customs Reform ” were, how­
ever, suspended in April last, when the Austrians made their irruption,
and the horizon has been hitherto too threatening to admit a hopeful
resumption of activity.
The cause o f commercial liberty has, however, made great progress in
Belgium; and if there had been a better assured security, instead of an




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Customs Reform in Belgium.

apparent retrogression to those barbarous epochs when war seemed to be
the normal state of society, and peace appeared only as an occasional
truce, customs reform would, no doubt, have been there long since ac­
complished. The “ reform association” has largely contributed to the
dissipation of prohibitionist prejudices, and it has obtained this result, in
Belgium, by discussing the question in the interests of the producer.
W hile invoking the interests of the consumer, it has applied itself to de­
monstrate to the projected interests that they are laboring under an
illusion ; that the protection costs them more than it profits them ; that
the manufacturers o f cottons, for example, who pay the protective duties
on coal, materials of construction, machines, threads, &c., receive no
equivalent for the protection those interests receive at their expense, and
cannot receive it. The protective laws have, in fact, only a very limited
sphere of action. They prevent, no doubt, to some extent, the competi­
tion of foreign goods in the home market; but their protective power
stops at the frontier. Beyond that they are powerless for good, but be­
come an inconvenience, an obstacle, and burden, as may be easily under­
stood. The manufacturer of Ghent who sends his calicoes to Holland,
encounters the full rivalry of foreign competition. He must struggle not
only against those o f Holland, but also against those o f England, Switzer­
land, Germany, and France, whose products are taxed the same as his
own. He can, in Holland, no louger profit by the protection conferred
on him in Belgium. He must, however, in Holland as in Belgium, con­
tinue to pay the protective duties on the materials he uses. Because he
is in Belgium not only protected, but he protects. He pays the protec­
tive duty on all those articles furnished to him, but those duties are not
repaid to him when he goes over the border to find a market in competi­
tion with those manufacturers who are not subject to such charges. He
appears, therefore, in the Holland market, at great disadvantage as com­
pared with his rivals, such as the Swiss and English, who are not taxed
at home. He enters the race with the chain and ball on his leg, while
they are untrammeled.
The home market o f Belgium is more or less contracted, and extensive
operations can b'e undertaken only to embrace the export trade. The
Belgic. manufacturers, therefore, easily understand that, if protective law's
give them some questionable advantage in the home market, at the ex­
pense of their fellow citizens, outside the frontier that advantage is lost,
and the law operates as a premium in favor of their competitors, equal to
the protective taxes paid in Belgium on the materials, and from which
the English and Swiss manufacturers are exempt.
For these reasons the more Belgian commerce has extended, the more
clearly have the manufacturers perceived that they have hitherto been
the dupes of the protective system. If they receive very doubtful bene­
fits in the home market, they suffer very manifest injury in the export
trade. They have, therefore, lent their aid to the efforts of the “ Cus­
toms Reform Association.” On the other hand the small traders, whose
markets are entirely local, are opposed to any reform as far as they un­
derstand the matter. There are also those engaged in some special
branches of production, who having succeeded in grafting protection upon
monopoly, resist any change.
This state of affairs is w'ell set forth in the “ administrative inquiry on
the revision of the customs tariff,” recently published by the government.




Customs Reform in Belgium.

189

This document embraces the report of the commission named to examine
the practicability o f reform proposed by the minister, with the concur­
rence of the Chambers of Commerce and the most important industries.
The conclusion is, that blind faith in the virtues of protection has disap­
peared, and everywhere the manufacturers have begun to question the
benefits they derive from protection, and to weigh against them the dis­
advantages that flow from it. A t Ghent, the great manufacturers assert
that for themselves they are not, on their own account, opposed to re­
form ; that they work with the most perfect modern machinery, and fear
neither Swiss nor English on equal term s; but they have the custom of
selling their old fashioned machines to inferior manufacturers, who work
only for the home market, and who could not sustain foreign competition
with that old machinery. It is, then, necessary to continue to protect the
old cotton machinery provisionally, while preparing for the henceforth
inevitable free trade.
“ It appears to be wise,” declares the Ghent Chamber of Commerce,
“ to prepare for the epoch when the national customs, whether revenue
or protective, will suffer the same fate. W e are at the door which con­
ducts to free trade, taken in its broadest acceptation. W e have all the
sentiment o f it.”
This for a protectionist Chamber of Commerce is not bad. But those
of Rouen, and Lille, and Ronbain, are not yet so far advanced. But the
“ men of Ghent” work daily more and more for exportation, and the re­
verse of the medal of protection becomes, therefore, to them daily more
distinct. The manufacturers o f France alone seem to have preserved the
protective faith in all its purity. They yet believe religiously that com­
mercial freedom is only a snare o f perfide Albion, or what with a similar
class in the United States is called “ British free trade.” They are per­
suaded very sincerely that Robert Peel and Mr. Cobden wished to take
them in (“ ont voulu nous mettre dedans” ) in feigning to break with the
old protectionist traditions which made the grandeur and prosperity of
England; that the moment will come when perfide Albion, after induc­
ing other nations to open their ports, will close her own hermetically;
that she will then sell everywhere without buying anywhere ; by which
she will be enabled to ruin all other people by monopolizing their cash.
W ith this class of people Mr. H. C. Carey’s books are in vogue, and they
buy the translation without duty.
There are, however, extenuating circumstances for this belief in Tournai. It is the chief seat o f the manufacture of the national cotton caps,
and the manufacturer complacently dozes over his merchandise. It is
not he who conceived the idea of working for exportation. One line day
the government, astonished at the resistance of the cap makers to all re­
form, sent a commissioner to examine their situation and to induce them
to make exports to America. The agent recounts his adventures as fol­
lows :—
“ The Tournai Chamber of Commerce,” said he, “ forewarned me of
ill success with the cap makers, in assuring me that none o f them were
in a position to export goods to a distance. Nevertheless, for the dis­
charge of my duty, I insisted that they should give me the address o f the
four principal ones. The flrst not having supplied me with a sample, I
bought one of him, in order to be able to show the best sample of this
branch of Belgian art. I then visited the second in importance, where I




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Customs Reform in Belgium.

found a good woman engaged, with the master of the concern, in cheap­
ening a pair o f short hose. I explained the object of my visit, and soon re­
tired fully persuaded that he scarcely knew what was meant by America.”
These are the persons among whom the sacred fire o f protection is pre­
served. Yet this worshiped flame burns with decreasing brilliancy.
Even the national night-cap makers have not entirely escaped the influ­
ence of free trade propagandism. If they love to obtain a good price for
their “ bonnets,” they love also, on the other hand, to buy cheaply the
yarn which is the material of their manufacture. It is on this weak side
that the association attacks them, in demonstrating that protection
causes the yarn to be dear and bad; and they have themselves as much
sagacity as suffices for the inference that the best , caps are not made of
the worst yarn. They can understand that, with yarn of a good quality
and cheap, they would be able to meet the Saxons and English in any
market of the world, in America as well as in the neighborhood. In
short, the inclination freely to examine the question o f protection has
glided even under the national cotton night-caps. This disposition to
reflect, always fatal to protection, was, alas! disturbed by political events
which turned public attention from this prolific agitation.
It is, however, the case that questions of reform, once started, will
“ walk alone ” by the force of circumstances. Like all false systems, that
o f protection produces troublesome results, and becomes a nuisance.
The effects of that nuisance do not become manifest all at once. They
appear only after a time, but in spite of all obstacles they do appear. In
Belgium they begin to perceive them very clearly. They see, for exam­
ple, the evil that the protection conferred upon iron causes to all other
industries o f which that is a material. They perceive, also, the conse­
quences, not less disastrous, of the exorbitant protection so long afforded
to coal. These two examples are the more prominent in that those en­
gaged in them have aggravated the evils o f protection by adding to them
those of monopoly. The iron masters continue to fix the price of iron in
Belgium. It results from this that Belgian iron is sold dearer in Bel­
gium than in Holland. It follows from this fact that the industries that
use much iron establish themselves in Holland rather than in Belgium.
Antwerp has started a line o f steamers to the Levant. But these Bel­
gian steamers are built in Holland, because protection has made iron too
dear in Belgium. The builders o f Amsterdam get the orders for Ant­
werp steamers, because they pay so much less for iron, and that iron is
furnished to them by the Belgian iron masters. These make the price
of iron in Belgium, but it is made for them by competition in Holland.
The law thus confers a premium upon the industry of Holland over that
o f Belgium. Similar results have attended the protection to coal and
the discriminating duties laid for the protection of the national marine
and Antwerp commerce.




191

Journal o f Mercantile Law.

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.
SALVAGE— VESSEL EMPLOYED

IN

SALVAGE

BUSINESS— EIGHTS

AND

DUTIES

OP

SALVOES— LIABILITY POE NEGLIGENCE— SAVING OP LIFE.

The case of the ship Mulhouse, before the District Court of the United States,
for the Southern District of Florida, Judge M arvin presiding, was recently

decided, involving numerous points of importance to shipowners and under­
writers.
This suit was instituted by several distinct sets of salvors, numbering in all
some one hundred and fifty or more persons, to recover salvage for their services
in saving a considerable portion of the cargo and materials of the ship Mulhouse,
Wilner, master, of and from New Orleans, and bound to Havre, in France.
The ship sailed from New Orleans, laden with 2,689 bales of cotton, and
$25,500 in silver coin, and on the 26th day of March last, stranded upon that
part of the Florida reef known as the “ Quicksands,” an exposed reef, situated
out of sight of land, and about thirty miles to the westward of this port. Be­
fore assistance could be obtained, ship bilged, filled with water, and adayortwo
after drove into deeper water, heeled over and sunk so low in the water as to
submerge her upper hatches, leaving her upper rail and bulkwark, as she lay
careened, out of water; all the rest of the ship was under water. The libellants
and petitioners saved from the wreck the crew, twenty-six passengers, the money,
and 2,102 bales of cotton. The more particular facts of the case are sufficiently
stated in the opinion of the Court, which we are obliged somewhat to condense.
Where a ship and cargo, accidentally stranded, are saved by lightening the
ship, by carrying out anchors, or by other common or continuous labor or ser­
vice, carried on with a view to saving both ship and cargo, the salvage expenses
are properly to be apportioned upon the ship, freight., and cargo, in proportion
to their respective values, as in a case of general average.
But where the ship is lost, and the voyage broken up, no such rule obtains;
but each article of the cargo is charged with its own particular expenses of sav­
ing. The interests of the parties are sundered by the destruction of the ship,
and the maxim “ Saute qui peut ” applies.
By the maritime law, salvors are bound to exercise the same degreeof diligence
in keeping the property in their custody, that a prudent man ordinarily exercises
in keeping his own property.
Embezzlement, or a fraudulent concealment of any of the goods saved, works
a forfeiture of the salvage of the guilty party. Slight negligence in taking care
of the property saved, diminishes the amount of salvage; gross negligence works
a total denial or forfeiture of salvage, in the same manner as embezzlement.
Salvors are bound to use every reasonable degree of diligence to prevent
plunderage by others.
The owner of a salvor vessel, himself being innocent, is entitled to compensa­
tion for the use of his vessel where a valuable salvage service has been rendered,
notwithstanding the negligence or misconduct of the crew.
The master and crew of a transient or trading vessel, which in the course of
her voyage accidently falls in with a vessel in distress or abandoned, and renders
salvage services, are not, while performing such services, acting within, but
beyond, the scope of their employment, as the agents or servants of the owner.
Consequently, he is not liable for loss or damage caused by their mis-feasance or
non-feasance while thus employed.
But the master and crew of a vessel employed in the business of performing
salvage services, as that business is conducted on the southern coast of Florida,
are to be considered as the agents and servants of the owner while engaged in
such business. He is, consequently, liable for loss or damage caused by their




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Journal o f Mercantile Law.

torts, frauds, colusions, negligences, or ignorance in saving, preserving, or account­
ing for the property, or in any other matter within the scope of their employ­
ment.
Salvage for saving life, unconnected with the saving of property, is not
allowed, except for saving the life of a slave.
I f life is saved in connection with property, it is proper for the court, reasonably,
to enhance the salvage on that account. If, in case of shipwreck, one set of sal­
vors saves life, but not property, and another saves property, each should be com­
pensated out of the property saved, according to the merit of its services.
The sum allowed for saving life is in the nature of a general average charge
upon all the property saved.
There is no implied obligation on the part of the owner of a transient or
trading vessel, which, in the course of her voyage, accidentally falls in with a
vessel in distress or abandoned, and renders salvage assistance, that his vessel is
seaworthy, or fit for that service. He is, therelore, entitled to salvage for the
service rendered, notwithstanding the unseaworthiness of his vessel, and is not
liable for loss or damage caused by such unseaworthiness, there being no fraudu­
lent misrepresentation or concealment on his part as to its condition.
But there is an implied undertaking on the part of the owner of a vessel
employed on the coast of Florida, in the business of saving shipwrecked property,
that his vessel is seaworthy and fit for the business she is engaged in He is,
therefore, liable for loss or damage caused by the leaky condition of his vessel,
and is also liable to have his salvage diminished or forfeited, on account of his
neglect to keep his vessel in good condition.
Salvage claimed for saving passengers, and refused to the owner of the wreck­
ing vessel, on account of its leaky condition ; refused to the crew, on account of
their being in such a state of intoxication as to be unfit for service, at a time
when their service was needed. Fifty dollars allowed to the master, and twenty
to the cook of a wrecking vessel, for saving the lives of twenty-six passengers.
The officers and crews of public vessels are entitled to salvage for their personal
services, in the same manner as other persons. But, as they risk no property,
and their time is paid for by the public, they ought to be satisfied with a less
rate of compensation than would be allowed to other persons for like services.
One hundred dollars allowed for saving the crew of this ship.
In a case of shipwreck and total loss of the ship, the court allowed salvage as
follows :•—5 per cent for saving specie ; 25 per cent for saving dry cotton ; 45
per cent for saving cotton submerged under water between decks ; and 55 per
cent for saving cotton out of the lower hold, by diving in from eight to sixteen
feet water. Shares forfeited for negligence.
s e a m e n ’s

w ages.

In the United States District Court—in Admiralty. Before Judge S p r a g u e .
Stephen Hodgkin and four others vs. schooner Highlander.
Libel for seamen’s wages, claimed to have been earned on a wrecking voyage
to the British provinces in the summer of 1859. The shipping articles showed
the wages to have been put down in decimals at 25 and 18 cents per month. It
was not denied, however, that the real contract was for 18 and 25 dollars per
month, and the libellants insisted that they saw only the figures 18 and 25 in the
articles when they signed, and supposed that they meant dollars and not cents.
The defence offered was, that the vessel had been chartered for the voyage to one
C h a r l e s S a n b o r n , under a contract to victual and man her at his own expense;
that the libellants had been distinctly informed, when they shipped,- that they
wrere to look to the charterer only for their pay ; that the wages in the articles
were nominal, and that this arrangement was assented to by the crew. Before
the filing of this libel, the libellants had attached the vessel in an action at com­
mon law. which they afterwards abandoned.
S p r a g u e , J.—The objection of the claimants that an attachment of the ves-




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

193

8 el at common law, made and abandoned before the filing of a libel in this court,
defeats the lien of seamen for wages, cannot be sustained. In the case of a com­
mon law lien which depends for its validity on possession of the thing, this
possession is lost when the oflicer takes the article into his own keeping; but a
maritime lien does not depend on possession. I hold, as I have held before, in
the case of the “ Paul Boggs,” decided some years since, that the lien is not im­
paired by a previous attachment in a State court. It has been also objected by
the claimants that the services for which two of-these libellants were employed,
viz.:—diving and wrecking, are not of a maritime character. I cannot adopt
this view. Though principally hired for their skill in the duties of a wrecker,
they werq also required to aid in the general management of the vessel, and I
am of opinion, that they, like the rest of the crew, are entitled to enforce their
claims for wages by a libel against the schooner in this court.
Under the general maritime law, there is no controversy that seamen are entitled
to adequate compensation for their services, and jrrima facie have a right to look
to the vessel for their wages. The entries of 25 cents, 18 cents, &e., in these arti­
cles are admitted in the answer to be nominal, and the defence to these men’s
claims is that they understood at the time they signed they were renouncing their
lien, and were to trust to the personal credit of the charterer S a n b o r n , and to
that alone. The question here is, whether the libellants are precluded from en­
forcing their lien on the vessel by a previous binding agreement to give up such
lien.
Agreements varying the rights of seamen under the general maritime law are
always scrutinized with great care by courts of admiralty. Seamen, as a class,
are ignorant, credulous, and reckless, and rely in great measure on their contracts
with their employers on the general known rights of sailors as expressed in the
shipping articles, which are invariably a printed document known by seamen to
contain certain well-understood stipulations, and any variation in which is looked
on with jealousy by the courts. Written clauses in these articles, varying the
common, well-settled rights of seamen, are in the majority of cases held wholly
inoperative. Even releases under seal, deeds, and other formal documents, which
would in general be held conclusive, have been rejected by the courts as ineffectual
against the claims of mariners.
Whenever an unusual clause is introduced into the shipping articles impairing
the rights of seamen, or imposing any additional duties or obligations on them,
two conditions will be required before the defence will prevail.
1st. That the seaman had the agreement so explained to him that he fully
understood its character and meaning.
2d. That a just and reasonable compensation was given him for the renuncia­
tion of the right, or for the new obligation assumed.
The agreement set up in defence in this case was not inserted in the articles,
but rests only on parol. Certainly the requirements will be not less rigorous in
the case of a parol agreement than when a written alteration of the article is
made.
Was there, then, a sufficient explanation made to these libellants of the extent
of the waiver which they are alleged to have made? and—
Was there an adequate consideration paid or promised them for this waiver?
It is true that the charterer S a n b o r n is not legally interested in the result of
this suit. In law, his interests are equally balanced ; but he can scarcely be con­
sidered an unbiased witness. Regarding him as such, however, he has not stated
that the waiver of their lien was a matter much or at all talked about, with the
crew before they shipped, or that he took pains to explain to them the extent of
their renunciation. He states only in effect that he told each seaman before he
shipped that he wa3 to sign for 25 cents “ to clear the vessel.” Nor does it
appear that he offered to pay them an adequate consideration for the waiver.
He says only that he gave the crew two dollars more than the ordinary wages ot
the port at the time, §16 for a foremast hand. I cannot regard this testimony
as sufficient in clearness and weight to warrant me in giving validity to an agree­
ment like the present. It does not appear in the testimony for the defence that
VOL.

X 1 .I I .----- N O .




II.

12

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

194

$ 1 8 w a s more than the ordinary wages of the port at the time.
Except S a n b o r n
himself, no witness was produced to testify that these wages were beyond the
usual rates for maritime services, such as these libellants performed. Nor is it
unreasonable to suppose, 1 think, even admitting that these wages were two dol­
lars higher than the ordinary wages at the time, that the peculiar character of
the voyage, the dangerous nature of the coast near which the vessel was to be
employed, and the uncertainty in the duration of the expedition, were ample
reasons for a small advance on the rates at which a crew for an ordinary voyage
could have been obtained.
On the question whether the seamen understood the nature of the alleged agree­
ment, the testimony was conflicting.
Ross, a witness for the libellants, expressly contradicts S a n b o r n in his testimony
as to the tenor of a conversation on the subject of the agreement with the crew.
S a n b o r n is also contradicted in several essential points by all the libellants.
Thus contradicted, and standing in a situation to be biased, and no evidence be­
ing before me that the alleged agreement was sufficiently explained to the crew,
I cannot hold that these libellants consented understandingly when they shipped,
to waive their ordinary lien on the vessel for their wages.
Judgment for libellants for the full amount of their claims and costs.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
CLOSE OF T H E D E C A D E — SCALE
M ENSE

OF P R O G R E S S IO N — C O M P A R A T IV E

IN C R E A S E O F E X P O R T S — D E V E L O P M E N T O F

E XPO RTS OF T H R E E

C A P IT A L — U N I T E D

STATES

N A T IO N 8 — I M ­

FOR FO RTY Y E A R S—

O F 1819 — U N I T E D S T A T E S B A N K — T A R I F F P O L I C Y —
1836—-E X P L O S IO N — D E A T H O F T H E 4t M O N S T E R ” — C L 0 8 R
S T A T E S — I M P R O V E M E N T — F A M IN E OF 1846— W A R — R E V O ­

T R A D E — T O N N A G E — R A IL R O A D S — D IS A S T E R S
R E V O L U T IO N — B A N K W A R — S P E C U L A T IO N OF
OF F O U R T H D E C A D E — F A I L U R E S O F N IN E

L U T IO N — G O L D D I S C O V E R IE S — R E T U R N O F C O N F ID E N C E — P R O G R E S S — O V E R -A C T I O N — P A N IC — I N V E S T ­
M ENTS

OF

C A P IT A L — A C C U M U L A T IO N OF C A P I T A L — S T R O N G

P O S I T IO N — G O L D Y I E L D — G R E A T P R O S ­

P E C T S F O R T H E F U T U R E — P R I C E OF M O N E Y — D IV ID E N D S A N D R A T E S
A S S A Y -O F F I C E — M IN T — A G G R E G A T E

S R E C IE

O F B IL L S — S P E C IE

E X P O R T A T I O N — D R A IN ON

TH E

EXPO RTS—

BANKS — AMOUNT

IN

B A N K S , N IN E C I T I E S — D E C R E A S E OF R E S E R V E — I N C R E A S E OF C IR C U L A T IO N — I M P O R T S OF P A S T Y E A R
— F A I L U R E S — A N N U A L R E P O R T — P R O P O R T I O N — T R A D E OF P A S T Y E A R — T O T A L IN S T A T E M E N T .

T he sixth decade of the nineteenth century will close with the present year,
and the world, commercially, will have presented great progress as compared
with the opening of the century, but more especially since the peace of Paris in
1815 has the development been regular. If we compare the returns of the na­
tional trade at the close of each decade, we shall have figures as follows:—
E X P O R T S IN O F F I C IA L V A L U E S IN D O L L A R S .

United States.

Great Britain.

France.

Total.

1 8 1 9 ...................................

$ 6 4 ,9 7 4 ,3 8 2

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

$ 3 3 ,0 9 5 ,8 8 5

$ 3 2 4 ,1 2 7 ,2 7 2

1 8 2 9 ...................................

7 2 ,3 6 8 ,6 7 1

1 7 9 ,2 1 3 ,1 1 5

1 2 1 ,5 6 3 ,7 3 0

3 7 3 ,1 3 5 ,5 1 6

1 8 3 9 ...................................

1 2 1 ,0 2 8 ,4 1 6

2 6 6 ,1 6 7 ,9 0 0

1 8 8 ,1 0 1 ,2 4 7

5 7 5 ,3 9 7 ,5 6 3

1 8 4 9 ...................................

1 4 5 ,7 5 5 ,8 2 0

3 1 7 ,9 8 0 ,1 2 5

2 0 7 ,2 8 1 ,1 0 8

6 7 1 ,0 1 7 ,0 5 3

1 8 5 9 ...................................

3 5 5 ,8 9 4 ,3 8 5

6 5 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

4 8 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

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

In the forty years embraced in this table the general policy of all three nations
has been to remove restriction and reduce duties to promote internal intercourse.
The results, particularly for the last ten years, are startling. The sum of the
exports of the three nations has nearly doubled, while it had doubled only in the
previous thirty years. In this enormous development the United States has
furnished raw produce, food, cotton, and gold ; France has furnished food, wines,
and manufactures, and Great Britain manufactures almost exclusively. The
progress of the United States has been as follows :—




195

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
U N IT E D ST A T E S IM P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S , CUSTOMS A N D T O N N A G E .

Exports.

$ 6 2 ,5 8 5 ,7 2 4

$ 6 4 ,9 7 4 ,3 8 2

1 ,2 9 8 ,9 5 8

$ 1 3 ,0 0 4 ,4 4 7

1 8 2 9 ...............

7 4 ,4 9 2 ,6 2 7

7 2 ,3 5 8 ,6 7 1

1 ,2 6 0 ,7 9 8

2 2 ,6 8 1 ,9 6 6

28

1 2 1 ,0 2 8 ,4 1 6

2 ,0 9 6 ,8 8 0

2 3 .1 3 7 ,9 2 5

1 ,9 2 0

1 8 3 9 ......................

1 6 2 ,0 9 2 ,1 3 2

Tonnage.

Customs.

Miles
railroad.

Imports.
1 8 1 9 ...............

N one.

1 8 4 9 ......................

1 4 7 ,8 5 7 ,4 3 9

1 4 5 ,7 5 5 ,8 2 0

3 ,3 3 4 ,0 1 5

2 8 ,3 4 6 ,7 3 8

6 ,3 5 0

1 8 5 9 ......................

3 3 8 ,7 6 8 ,1 3 0

3 5 6 ,7 8 9 ,4 6 2

5 ,1 4 9 ,8 0 8

4 9 ,5 6 5 ,3 2 4

2 9 ,4 0 1

This is a suggestive table. The year 1819 was one of growing distress conse­
quent upon the large importations that had succeeded the war, and the injudi­
cious action of the then new National United States Bank, which was staggering
to insolvency. The crisis passed in 1821. The decade was marked by the dis­
astrous and world-wide revulsion of 1825, and the adoption of the United States
tariff system, which changed New England interests from commercial to manu­
facturing investments. That decade closed with the revolution in France, the
war in Poland, the separation of Belgium from Holland, and with the modifica­
tion of the tariff system in the United States. The war between the United
States Bank and the federal government had begun to develop that paper infla­
tion, which, as a part of the great speculations all over the world, emanating
from London, exploded in 1837. The year 1839 was of a spasmodic recovery
of imports, caused by the last throes of the “ old monster,” which expired in
October of that year. The fifth decade began amid general depression, the dis­
credit of the federal government, and the dishonor of nine States of the Union,
which had repudiated their debts. The downward course was however spent,
and reconstruction had commenced ; credit improved, and the famine of 1846-47
gave a new spur to American industry, which neither the Mexican war nor the
revolutions in Europe could check in face of the gold discoveries of 1849. If
the decade closed amidst the greatest fears in Europe in respect to political and
financial discredit, the gloom was soon cleared by the restoration of authority
in France and the resumption of commercial activity and confidence. If the
Russian war threw a shadow for a moment across commercial enterprise, it was
accompanied by such a state of the crops in Europe as gave great animation to
American trade. The Australian and Californian excitement involved severe
losses to many shippers, but the spur given to the production of wealth was such
as to make those losses comparatively small. The vast sums that were in the
course of the decade invested in railroads afford a surprising evidence of the growth
of capital. More than $850,000,000 has been disbursed in the course of the last
decade in the construction of 23,000 miles of railroad in different parts of the
Union. In the same period more than 2,500,000 immigrants arrived in the
Union with their capital to settle. If', therefore, the close of the decade brought
with it a colapse in the paper certificates representing the large sums that had
been expended, the whole country was not the less well provided with industrious
producers and means p f transportation, far in excess of what it had at any former
time possessed. It is to be remarked that money, or the rent of capital, not­
withstanding the vast expenditures that have been incurred, was cheaper in the
last two years of the decade than ever before. The new decade opens with rea­
sonable hopes of continued general peace, capital cheap and abundant, prices
relatively low, larger tracts of land within reach of markets, by means of rail­
roads, and greater numbers of people actively producing. The promise is, there­




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

196

fore, of a season of extraordinary prosperity for commercial enterprise. Not
only are the countries of Europe and N orth America in a position to push in­
dustrial development, but the train is laid for immense changes in South America,
Africa, and Asia. The vast resources of those continents are to be developed in
an especial manner, and the wealth they possess is to be brought into the circu­
lation of the commercial world.
The gold and silver discoveries seem also to promise greater abundance of the
metals than ever. The check which enterprise received from the panic of 1857,
seems only to have caused a pause, and a concentration of means, while affairs
receive an impulse in a new direction. As we remarked in our last, money seems
to have become gradually dearer throughout the whole of the last year, and since
then it has become more stringent by reason of the usual closing of accounts
with the year, and the operations of the loans that had been put upon the mar­
ket in the shape of treasury notes and for State stocks. On the 7th January
proposals were opened for $416,600 New York Central Park loan, redeemable
August, 1887, bearing C per cent. The bids reached $860,700, at a range of par
a 1.57. The award was made at 100.56 a 101.57. All the loans with the pay­
ment of dividends caused some calling in of “ call ” loans that affected the rates of
money, which comparatively were as follows :—
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.

1 st, 1 8 6 8 .
1 s t ...............

■On call.O th er.
S tock s.
a
H
t a 44
Ha 4 4 4 a 5

8

1 st, 1 8 5 9 .

4

1 s t ...............

6

a 44
a 6

,----------In d orsed - — »
GO d ays. 4 a 0 m os.
6
a 6
44 a 6
4 4 a 54

6

a 6

a 5

4

a 6

6

a 6

64 a
6
a

6

a 7

5

a 6

6

a 7

7

Mar.

1 s t ...............

4

a 6

44 a 6

1 s t ...............

4

a 5

6

a 6

5

a 64

May

1 s t ................

5

a

6

6

a 7

6

a 64

Jun.

1 s t ...........

6

a 7

7

a 8

64 a 7

7

a

July

1 s t ...........

6

a

6

64 a 7

7

6

a 7

7

a 7
a

a 74
a 8

7

a

6

Aug. 1 s t ...........
Sep. 1 s t ...........
Oct. 1 s t ...........
Nov. 1 s t ...........
Dec. 1 s t . . . . . . '
Dec. nth........
Jan. 1 s t , 1 8 6 0 .
Jan. 1 5 t h _____

64 a 6
64 a 7
5
5
64
6
7

a 64

a

54

a6
a 64
a 14

7

4

Apr.

6

SiBg]le
nam es.
5
a

8
8
a7
6
a7
6
a7
6
6
a7
64 i a 7
7

a

74

4 4 a 54

64 a 64
6
a 64
64 a 6

8

a 7-&-

7

a 7

7 a 74
7 a8
74 a 8
7 a 84

64 a 7
a 7£
6

a 7

7
7

a 74
a 74

84 a 9

a 84
a 84
9 a 94

74

74

6

7
7

a 14
a 7

64 a 7
a 9
7

8

a 9

8

a 9

8

a 9

8 a S4
8 a9
8 4 a 94
8 a9
8 a9
74
9

a 8
a 10

O th e r
good.

N o t w e ll
know n.
8 a 10

7 a
7 a

8

8 a 10

7

a

8

8a

8 a

9

9 a 10

7 a

8

9 a 10

8 a

9

9 a

10
10

8

9 a
10 a 1 2
11 a 1 3

11 a
10 a

14
12

12 a 1 5
9 a 10
9 a 10
9 a 10
10 a 11

10

9 a 10
1 0 a 12

10 a

12

1 2 a 15
12 a 15

12 a 16
12 a 18
1 2 a 18
12 a 18
12 a 18
1 2 a 18
1 5 a 20

The first week of the year opened with a rapid rise in the rate of money. The
prolonged disorganization of Congress caused some uneasiness, checking loans.
There are large amounts due by the government, and the continued collection of
money without a law to disburse it is not favorable, and the amount in treasury
rapidly increased with large imports of goods. The paper connected with the
Southern trade, which has heretofore stood highest, passed less readily. There
was some changing of loans that forced stocks on the market at the moment
when the payments on the new treasury loans were required, and the bank re­
turns for the 7th January showed an unexpected decline of $1,900,000 in specie
for the week—a fact which suggested fears of hoarding from political apprehen
sions. All these causes checked the disposition to lend, and the bank loans fell
$2,000,000 in two weeks, marked by the rise of interest in the table. In the
following week therejwas an improved feeling. The banks recovered some of their
specie, and the rate fell to 6 per cent on call, notwithstanding the announcement of




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

197

several failures in New York and Boston. An element in the future course of
the market is the amount of railroad bonds falling due in the current year.
From the list in “ Stow’s Railway Annual!' it appears that forty-eight railroads
have bonds maturing this year to the amount of $21,282,876. The leading
items are as follows :—
Amount.

Per cent.

Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis... . Income.........................................
10
Hudson River................................ Second mortgage..........................
7
Illinois Central...............................Free la n d .....................................
7
8
Michigan Central............................Unsecured....................................
Michigan Southern.........................First mortgage............................
7
Mansfield and Sandusky.............. First mortgage.............................
7
Phila., Wilmington,<t Baltimore..Mortgage......................................
6
Philadelphia and Reading............Convertible and unconvertible.. 5 A 6
Vermont Valley,........................... First mortgage............................
7
Thirty nine other roads....................................................................................
Total

$ 1,000,000

2,000,000
3.000. 000
1 ,894,000

. .

1 000

7 00 .00 0
688 ,92 9
3 ,384,400
7 00 .00 0
7,421,547
$ 2 1 ,2 8 2 ,8 7 6

This amount will mostly be met by extension. The Beading Boad propose to
issue a new set of coupons to 1886—say twenty-six years, and to pay 10 per
cent bonus in cash to the holders. The Hudson Biver Boad propose a renewal
only to 1884—the company to pay $30,000 per annum into a sinking fund, to be
used in the purchase of the bonds. The Illinois Central receive the freeland
bonds in payment of 10 per cent installment called on the stock, making 70 per
cent in all. There are also a number of State debts that mature this year. Vir­
ginia 6’s, $314,316 ; Pennsylvania 5’s, $2,398,455 ; Ohio 6’s, $6,413,535 ; North
Carolina 6’s, $500,000 ; New York 6’s, $550,000.
The remittances of dividends to Europe did not much affect the rates of bills,
which have declined before the considerable supply from the South and the pinch
in the money market as follows :—
K A T E S O F B IL L S I N N E W Y O R K .

London ...........
P aris................
A n tw e r p ........ . .
Amsterdam. . . ,
Frankfort . . . . ,
Bremen............ .
Berlin, Ac....... .
Hamburg........ .

November 1.
10}
9} a

•12}
5 .1 3 } a 5 . 12}
42
42 a
42}
79}
73}
37

December 1.
a
10}

9}
5 .1 2 }
5 .1 2 }
41}
42
79}
73}
36}

a 5 .13}
a 5 .1 3 }
a
42
a
42}
a
79}
a 73}
a
37

January 15.

January 1.

9
5 .1 8 }
5 .1 7 }
41}
41}
79
73}
36}

a
9f
a 5 .1 7 }
a 6 .1 6 }
a 41}
a 41}
a 79}
a 73}
a
36}

8}
5 .2 1 }
5.20
41}
41}
78}
72}
36}

a
6}
a 5 .1 8 }
a 5 .1 7 }
a 41}
a
41}
78}
a
73}
a
36}
a

With the decline in bills the exports of specie have subsided, and have become
small as compared with the same period last year :—
G O L D R E C E I V E D F R O M C A L IF O R N IA A N D E X P O R T E D F R O M N E W Y O R K W E E K L Y , W I T H T H E
A M O U N T O F S P E C IE IN S U B -T R E A S U R Y , A N D T H E T O T A L IN T H E C IT Y .

■1858.-------- , ,- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1859.
Received.

8 ..
1 5 ..
2 3..
30..
5 ..
13.,
2 0 ..
2 7 ..

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




Specie in
Total
Exported.
Received.
Exported. sub-treasury. in the city.
$2,3 98 ,6 8 4
$ 1,052,658 $ 4,202,151 $ 3 2 ,60 1 ,9 6 9
1,045,490 $ 1,3 7 6 ,3 0 0
218,049 4,312,987
3 3,693,699
1,244,368
567 ,39 8 4,8 5 1.66 6
3 4,3 23 ,7 6 6
57,075- 1,210,713
4 67 ,69 4 7 ,230,004 3 4,9 8 5 ,2 9 4
2,928,271
8,1 0 3,54 6
606,969
34,095,987
48,8 50
1,3 1 9,92 3
3 6 1 ,55 0
8 ,040,900 33,4 80 ,0 0 0
641 ,68 8
1 ,013,780 6 ,770,555 3 3,1 1 5 ,5 1 0
128 ,11 4
3 5 8 ,35 4
7,1 9 3,82 9
1,287,967
3 3,6 6 4 ,0 0 0

...........

000

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

198

■1858.-------- , ,- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1859.
Mar. 5.
12.
19.
26.
Apr. 2.
9.
16.
23.
30.
May 7.
14.
21.
28.
June 6.

1,279,134
11,000
1,403,949
...................
. ............. ..

....
....

1,325,198
41,208
1,550,000
....

1,626,171
...................

....

1,575,995

12.

19.
25.
July 2.
9.
16.
23.
80.
Aug. 6.
13.
20.
27.
Sept. 3.
10.
17.
24.
Oct. 1.
8.
15.
22.
29.
Nov. 6.
12.
19.
26.
Dec. 3.
10.
17.
24.
31.

Received.
...................

....

1,446,175
...................

....

1,799,502
........

....

1,500,000
.............
...................

....

1,163,818
....

1,531,514
....

1,434,674
..................

1,796,139
........

1,570,924
...................

1,322,005
.. ......

1,352,101
1,672,656
...................
...................

1,816,532
.. ......

1,643,140
.. ......
,.......

1,494,379

Exported.

Received.

297,898
225,274
933,130
116,114
88,120
115,790 1,032,314
250,246 ...................
203,163 1,404,210
15,850
136,873 1,723,352
106,110
720,710 1,480,115
632,862
400,300 1,938,669
61,425
16,616 1,513,975
68,318
276,487
317,110 2,041,237
564,030
637,240 1,736,861
1,028,270
803,318 2,145,000
786,841
440,729 1,860,274
844,781
187,941 2,126,332
562,087 *962,030
227,980 2,046,006
1,361,110
474,945 2,042,363
1,126,404
675,817 +2,350,670
886,234 1,888,670
401,866
593,310 1,871,554
184,452
142,130 1,568,107
13,832
1,064,038 1,721,342
133,802
825,000 1,869,429
150,000
731,516
30,662 1,408,234

Exported.

Specie in
sub-treasury.

Total
in the city.

1,427,556
307,106
870,578
208,965
1,343,069
576,107
1,637,104
1,496,889
1,680,743
2,169,197
1,926,491
2,223578
5,126,643
2,325,972
1,877,294
1,669,263
1,620,731
1,861,163
1,398,885
2,495,127
2,030,220
2,344,040
1,284,855
1,505,389
1,594,933
1,584,879
609,649
2,363,385
1,760,331
2,727,194
1,414.690
727,981
1,430,883
1,109,603
2,059,492
1,519,673
1,068,407
1,300,991
none.
940,201
675,697
673,223
152,512
343,863

7,215,928
8,677,857
9,046,759
8,041,268
7,686,700
7,232,451
7,079,111
6,894,810
6,568,681
6,481,913
6,020,400
5,488,205
4,752,084
4,327,155
3,684,754
3,604,800
4,493,200
4,086-,751
4,278,400
4,282,600
5,114,600
5,116,800
5,341,000
5,347,389
4,960,400
4,869,8C0
4,877,200
4,919,788
5,067,200
5,190,600
5,230,400
4,719,100
4,648,500
4,703,300
4,850,700
4,608,687
5,094,642
5,699,397
5,877,600
6,840,432
6,099,000
6,015,500
6,108,000
7,031,300

33,915,893
34,207,411
34,089,942
84,227,800
32,918,800
32,981,118
32,557,778
32,972,965
32,897,686
32,568,545
31,191,731
31,578,209
29,171,906
28,055,464
25,816,954
26,790,017
26,253,081
27,028,416
26,773,049
27,506,279
26,361,512
25,881,300
25,424,877
26,085,269
26,363,848
25,597,866
26,355,494
26,687,036
21,579,880
25,851,036
24,489,500
24,214,200
24,299,793
25,610,397
26,099,675
24,836,930
25,281,598
25,442,768
24,709,524
25.887,090
25,849,535
26,436,339
25,738,797
26,660,520

Total year.. 36,518,396 26,001,431 42,785,670 69,944,681
IfiSft
JA

f

Rftfl

f

Exported.

Received.

Specie in
Exported, sub-treasury.

Total
in the city.

....

Received.
. ......

....

$1,376,300

$1,052,558
218,049

1,788,666

$85,080 $7,736,965 $25,600,699
88,482 7,729,646 26,470,512

Total.........

1,376,300

1,270,607

1,788,666

173,562

Jan. 7.
14.

With the falling off of the shipments the deposits in the New York Assayoffice have increased, and the amounts payable in coin have become larger. The
operations of the Assay-office for the year have been as follows
* From New Orleans.




t $500,000 silver from Mexico.

199

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
NEW YO RK ASSAY-OFFICE.
D E P O S IT S .

------- -------- F o r e i g n . ---------------------------»
G o ld .
S ilv e r.

Coin.
Bullion.
Coin.
Bullion.
,,.,
January.. $4,000 $18,000 $28,380
February.
6,000
10,000
57,700 $9,000
March. . .
8,000
3,000
82,000
8,000
April . . .
8,000
10,000
31,000 28,000
M a y ----6,000
10,000
29,000
2,000
June........ 20,000
20,000
25,500
8,500
J uly........
12,000
8,000
33,400
6,400
August... 16,000
8,000
30,800 10,000
Septemb’r 20,000
22,000
3,000
18,000
October. .
6,000
6,000
3,000
61,200
November 10,000
12,000
36,600
3,000
December. 10,000
25,000
1,000
9,000

,---------------------U n it e d S t a t e s .----------G o ld .
S ilv e r .

Bullion.
Coin. Bullion.
Coin.
. . . . $365,000 $2,500 $4,120
669,000
2,300
6,000
___
4,500
851,000
3,500
___
___
328,000
1,000
4,000
7,000
162,000
600
___
185,000
2,000
4,000
___
137,600
1,000
___
3,100
201,000
___
___
3,200
160,000
___
___
48,000
8,200
___
193,000
___
372,000
1,000
6,400
500 11,000
___ 1,075,000

T otal.. 125,000 $147,000 $481,580 $79,900

___ $4,005,600 $14,400 $99,320

PATMENT8 BY ASSAY OFFICE.

Bars.
$387,000
750,000
255,000
336,000
156,000
140,000
155,000
165,000
175,000
180,000
272,000

January .........
February .........
March
April.
May..
June..
July .
August............
September___
October...........
N ovem ber.. . .
December........
Total year

C oin .

8 0 0 ,0 0 0

$252,000
10,000
290,000
74,000
59,600
120,000
46,500
104,000
75,000
98,000
169,000
332,000

$3,971,000

$1,629,100

The deposits for November and December were large, and a considerable por­
tion was ordered into coin. The mint operations proceeded as follows :—
U N IT E D S T A T E S M I N T , P H I L A D E L P H IA .

/----------D e p o s it s .----------- 1
G o ld .
S ilv e r.

January .............................
February ....................... -----March...............................
A pril...............................
May..................................
J u n e ...............................
July.................................
A u gust...........................
Septem ber................... .
O ctober...........................____
November......................
Decem ber .........................

80,1 55

111.650
151,784

Total year ...............

G o ld .

— C o in a g e .— ------ -------—\
S ilv e r .
C e n ts.

$51 ,63 5
77,6 50
107 ,64 0
100,015
86,710
64,230
67,770
64,900
118,610
43,336
78,431
59,633

$ 5 9 ,8 2 5
147,983
119,519
4 2 ,5 2 0
76,6 40
1 80 ,06 0
117,788
92,151
122 ,S04
194,661
128,278
173,459

$ 5 6 ,00 0
127 ,00 0
108,000
128 ,50 0
104,000
90,000
4 3 ,0 0 0
54,4 87
54,909
122,000
83,000
72,650

$ 3 5 ,0 0 0
2 7 ,0 0 0
27,0 00
2 9 ,0 0 0
25,000
36,000
30,0 00
2 5 ,0 0 0
36,000
30,000
33,009
22,000

9 1 0 ,5 6 0

1,455,678

1,043,646

345 ,00 0

The specie exports from Boston for the entire year, with those from N ew Y o r k ,
have been as follows, comparatively :—

1846.

1857.

1[858.

1859.

Boston.............................
New York......................

$2,2 27 ,0 5 9
37,2 18 ,7 6 6

$9,712,759
44,3 60 ,1 7 4

$ 2,7 08 ,3 5 3
26,001,431

$ 6,0 49 ,4 2 0
69,944,681

T o ta l.......................
A rriv a ls.........................

$39,44 5 ,8 2 5
40,9 04 ,7 4 0

$54 ,07 2 ,9 3 3
43,6 09 ,3 0 0

$ 2 8 ,7 0 9 ,7 8 4
3 5,518,396

$75,994,101
42,7 35 ,6 7 0

Excess receipts . . .

$ 1,458,915

$10 ,46 3 ,6 3 3




........
$ 6 ,8 08 ,6 1 2

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

200

The exports have this year exceeded the receipts from California, it appears,
633,000,000—a figure which could not but have its effect upon the bank re­
serves. Indeed, the returns of the banks of most commercial cities show a considerable decrease of specie for the 1st of January, as compared with previous
years, as follows :—
S P E C IE IN C IT Y B A N K S .

Bank of England.................
Bank of France....................
Banks in Boston .................
Banks in New York...........
Banks in Philadelphia....... ................
Banks in Baltimore............................
Banks in New Orleans....... ................
Banks in St. Louis.............. ...............
Banks in Pittsburg..............
Total.............................

Jan., 1858.

3,770,701
2,178,854
10,505,183
1,673,628

Jan., 1859.
$91,578,167
106,472,948
8,548,934
27,129,725
6,274,515
2,717,199
16,258,971
1,697,945
1,337,489

Jan., 1860.
$ 82 ,180,207
103,943,389
4,674,271
19,629,220
4,450,261
2,360,868
12,115,425
678,677
1,091,145

$ 2 6 2 ,0 1 5 ,7 93

$ 23 1 ,1 2 3 ,4 6 3

The panic of 1857 produced a great depletion of coin in all the banks January,
1858. In the course of that year the accumulation was very rapid, and the
price of money fell to a low point. Since then the current of specie has been
outward, and money has been rising in value. The bank returns at the same
time indicate that the diminished specie basis in the United States has been ac­
companied by an increase of paper credits. The circulation of the country banks
of Massachusetts has increased during the year from §9,960,523 to §14,512,175
at the close. This larger circulation has been absorbed in the increased manu­
facturing activity of that section ; and the same cause will, doubtless, for the
coming year, induce a continued absorption of money as well here as abroad,
since the assurance of continued peace may impel re-employment of funds in the
large enterprises of commerce.
The course of events at the West where large circulations of inconvertible
paper, to which we have before alluded, exist at a time when the current of ex­
change was naturally to the East, caused a high rate in exchange. The appa­
rent rate at Chicago and St. Louis was 2 per cent, for most of the year—a figure
which represented rather the depreciation of the paper money than the real rate
of exchange. In the last ten years, until the difficulties with an inconvertible
currency commenced, exchange at St. Louis on New York was rarely over \ per
cent, and then for a very temporary cause. The whole exchange business of
that region is now inflicted with the charge for depreciated paper. The exports
of Chicago for the past year were valued at §24,280,890, and for Illinois they
were not less than $50,000,000. The banks bought the exchange against these
chipments for their own paper, and then charged 2 per cent under color of ex­
change. This 2 per cent amounted to $1,000,000 tax on the trade of the State
to support an irredeemable paper currency—the presence of which drew every
coin out of the State. The whole region of the upper valley of the Mississippi
is similarly affected. The Illinois circulation, January 7th, was $8,851,127, that
of Wisconsin $4,408,121, and of Missouri $8,000,000, unsecured, making more
than $20,000,000 floating at 2 per cent discount. The accounts from abroad
are now of considerable deficiency in the grain crop of England, computed by
the Mark Lane Express at 3,194,285 quarters, or 25,000,000 bushels ; at the same




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

201

time the potato crop is damaged to the extent of one-half at least, by which the
consumption of grain may be augmented. Should this state of affairs lead to a
demand for grain, corn particularly, it would greatly assist those realizations
from the West which are now so pressed. The trade tables, appended hereto as
usual, indicate a large business for the past year at the port of New York, and
as a general thing that trade has been healthy. There have been failures during
the year, but many of them have their causes in the panic of 1857, and like
the dying echoes of an explosion, reverberate more faintly in the distance.
The mercantile agency of the city of New York, which was started in 1841,
and which is now conducted by Messrs. Dun, Boyd & Co., successors to B.
Douglas & Co., have published their annual return of failures in the United
States and British Provinces. The aggregate results are for three years com­
paratively as follows :—

1857. Number
failures.

Ordinary failures..........
Swindling......................
Honest, paying nothing
May pay in fu ll...........
Total in failures. .

Amount.

1858 .------------ , , ------------ 1859.------------ ,

,-----------Number
failures.

Am ount

Number
failures.

Amount.

3,703 $192,306,500
317
4,985,500
499
20,166,000
418
74,293,000

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

2,707 $44,470,000
401
5,650,000
675
7,932,000
130
6,242,000

4,937 $291,750,000

4,225 $95,749,662

8,913 $64,294,000

The number of firms doing business and on the books of the agency was, in
1857, 204,001, and in 1859, 229,734. Messrs. Dun & Boyd remark that the ag­
gregate losses by the failures in the three years reach 8468,35 5,371, of which nearly
60 per cent is an absolute loss. The amount is surprising, but if we turn back
to the returns of the bankrupt courts in 1841, we find that the amount of lia'
bilities settled by the bankrupt law was about the same as the above, and the
assets were very small. The average liabilities of the 13,075 persons who have
failed in the last three years is 836,000. The number of persons doing business
on the books of the agency is for the year 229,734. If the liabilities of these
persons average as much as those who have failed, the amount reaches the enor­
mous sum of eight thousand two hundred and eighty millions of dollars, or dou­
ble the national debt of Great Britain. It is probable, however, that those who
have failed are those who are the largest debtors. If the average is taken at the
average amount that the bankrupts will pay, the amount is three thousand four
hundred and fifty millions of dollars. The banks of the Union report loans of
$657,000,000 outstanding. These, at an average of four months, would give
two thousand six hundred and twenty-eight millions discounted in the year— a
sum which represents only the mass of indebtedness which runs through the
banks. The amount of liabilities of the bankrupts for the past year would, at
that rate, reach less than 2 per cent of the entire debts. On the general state of
the business the Messrs. Dun & Boyd remark as follows
It is evident that the effects of the disasters of 1857 still remain, and that they
exhibit themselves in the heavy suspended indebtedness of the West remaining
uncanceled. A t the time of the crisis it was very generally believed by both
creditor and debtor that the latter possessed the ability to pay in full, or very
nearly so ; and a very general spirit of accommodation, that, under the circum­
stances, was most praiseworthy, existed, and was proffered and accepted. Circumstances, however, have shown that this hope was a fallacious one, and that a




202

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

spirit of speculation which prevailed generally had driven capital from its legiti­
mate channels, and that a large proportion of the traders at the West had made
investments in real estate, which the inflated times of 1856 seemed to promise
safe, but which were in fact injudicious, unsound, and have largely contributed
to the depressed condition which that portion of our country now exhibits. Our
merchants, understanding that the prospects are not brightening, are now push­
ing their claims, and assignments follow—the assets in most cases exhibiting
themselves in lands as stated, which have been bought at an over-value, and
which, in the end, will net but a small percentage on the debt involved.
Our observation of the cause and effect of a crisis shows that heretofore it
has taken fully four or five years for the country to recover itself, and we are not
disposed to look for much enlargement of business the coming year.
The effects of disease are not readily overcome. They linger long after the
cause is removed, and the relapse is to be feared and guarded against. From a
diseased condition we must recover slowly, and the more gradual the improve­
ment the more healthful and permanent the cure. In this view the dullness of
trade the past fall has acted favorably. Some merchants, who had recently or­
dered largely in view of a promising spring trade in 1860, exercised a wise pre­
caution, and in very many cases countermanded their orders ; and this very want
of business has, in this way. proved a check on our onward movement, which
now promises to be a regular one.
The grocery interest administers directly to the necessities and actual wants
of the country, and is in a sound condition. We are pleased to say that, from
our observation, it is conducted on healthy and mercantile principles.
The sugar interests, embracing the yield both of Louisiana and Cuba, have
varied, and at one period of the year were looked upon with uneasiness and ap­
prehension, especially in connection with Cuba. Our knowledge of her wealth
induced us to proclaim the truth, which events have proven, that she is abund­
antly able to carry her crop without depending on foreign aid.
The sugar refining interests of this country were not remunerative until the
last quarter of the year. They have sustained themselves, and are now in a pros­
perous condition.
The importations from China have not been in excess, and the stock of both
teas and piece goods is comparatively small. Teas, it is understood, have paid
a small profit to the importers. The jobbers (we speak generally) have done
better.
T obacco.
The crops are good, but the quality throughout is inferior, and
fine qualities will sustain good prices. The main profit of the tobacco interest
has resulted to the grower, inasmuch as the leaf opened at high prices. The
market has been constantly receding, and the manufacturers have reaped no
profit. Jobbers and dealers in the manufactured article were cautious and sup­
plied themselves as their wants dictated, and though they have not made money,
they have kept themselves, as a general thing, in a safe condition.
Imported wines and liquors have been profitable, from the fact of a compara­
tively small importation. The production of wine growing countries in Europe
has not been much beyond the home want, and the export to this country has
been comparatively light. There is, however, a very large consumption of what
passes for foreign production of the grape used in this country, which is, in fact,
made up here. There is no prospect of a diminution in price of the pure article.
The distillers of domestic liquors have not done a satisfactory business.
The foreign hardware importing and jobbing trade has been remunerative.
The American manufacturing hardware and jobbing interest has been so success­
ful in its competition with the foreign, as to have caused a material reduction in
prices.
The hide and leather interests have not been good the past year, but their
capital and worth have sustained them throughout, and their prospects are now
encouraging, from the fact that prices are believed to have touched their lowest
point.
The shoe interest, it is understood, has not been remunerative to the manu­




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

203

facturer, while the credit jobber has realized a moderate business. The depres­
sion of the manufacturing interest resulted mainly to the advantage of the cash
dealer.
The dry goods interest is a very important branch of trade, as connected with
our foreign and domestic commerce, embracing not only articles of necessity, but
also those of taste and luxury, and has been more closely allied to the agency
than any other.
The two staples of cotton and wool have maintained full and satisfactory pri­
ces throughout the year. Although there has been a yearly increase in the pro­
duction, consumption has been fully adequate, and the supply is not in excess.
Our domestic manufactures of both cotton and wool have been entirely satis­
factory. There is no surplusage of stock, nor contraction of work at the facto­
ries. The importations for the spring sales were generally remunerative. The
fall importations have, to a considerable degree, disappointed the importers and
jobbers, from the fact that the great West, which is a large consumer, is still
embarrassed.
The jobbing interests of New York and other cities of the Union we judge to
be, generally speaking, in safe and conservative hands, and the trade has done a
fair business. Notwithstanding the city retail interests suffered materially
last fall, the indications are fair for the jobber the coming year. This depression
in the retail trade is the natural result of a general domestic economy, consequent
upon the crisis of 1857, and accounts for the light sales of fabrics of necessity.
Fears are entertained that there will be more or less embarrassment in this line.
The population develops the fact that there are approximately 6,000,000 of
house-holders in the United States, and estimating a contraction in economy of
the small sum of $50 each, makes in the aggregate a domestic saving of
$300,000,000. These figures, based on a very low estimate, show how a com­
paratively small economy affects trade and protects a nation against bankruptcy.
In the numerous other branches of trade, which our limits will not permit us
to follow out in detail, there has been a generally fair business.
Following our usual custom at the close of each year, we present to you< our
table of statistics, embodying such information as will aid you in your calcula­
tions for the future.
The statistics we offer you show that in 1857 there were in the United States
and British North America 204,061 trading firms, and in 1859, 229,734. The
excess of 1859 over 1857 is accounted for by the fact that in making our table
of statistics for 1857 we counted out a large number of firms who had suspended,
but who have since resumed business, which we now embrace, together with
many small trades not before appearing on our books. The increase of popula­
tion has also had an effect, and the healthy condition and good credit of the South
have caused many new7 trading establishments at different points throughout that
section.
The aggregate of the past three years show’s a bankrupt debt in the United
States and British North America of the enormous sum of $468,355,571, of
which amount $262,908,508 will prove an absolute loss to the creditor. This is
irrespective of the immense losses by railroad and other public corporate compa­
nies. These astounding figures we would be inclined to discredit but for the
proofs furnished by our records.
It will be seen, by reference to our table, that in 1857 the failures in the city
of New York were about eighteen-and a-half per cent of the entire number. In
1858 a little over nine per cent, and in 1859 rising seven per cent; thus proving
that the effects of the crisis were more immediately felt in the cities of the Union,
for the percentage of twenty-one cities shows about the same ratio. The failures
of the past two years have been mostly confined to the country, and the number
may appear large, but the amount involved is comparatively small.
The statistical table is as follows ; for the figures of 1858 and 1857, we refer
to page 204, vol. xl., of the Merchants' Magazine:—




<fc CO.’ S S T A T IS T IC A L T A B L E O F J A N U A R Y ,

* Includes Brooklyn and Williamsburg?

i

Commercial Chronicle and Review,




Ordinary failures.
No. Liabilities.
233
506,000
6
84,000
13
211,000
7
348,000
11
117,000
12
182,000
4
75,000
4
42*000
189 2,080,000
97 2,940,000
137 1,659,000
73 1,632,000
14
117,000
249 2,344,000
64 2,113,000
168 2,245,000
59 1,386,000
24
920,000
149
703,000
18
662,000
14
228,000
22
920,000
33
605,000
16
192,000
8
292,000
14
768,000
61
357,000
16
704,000
45
325,000
21
580,000
102 1,150,000

1860.

Not classed
How many have Swindling and
dishonest, but will
abscondLikely
arranged with
creditors, and at ing debtors. pay little or nothing. to pay in full.
what average. No. Liabilities. No. Liabilities. bio. Liabilities.
6S av. 43 cts. 22 $428,000 81 $1,084,000 13 $3,140,000
4
3 av. 51 cts.
1
8,000
23,000 . .
66,000
3
43,000
7
1
10,000
7 av. 31 cts.
3
40,000 , .
1
15,000
3
2
26,000
32,000
1
12,000
9 av. 40 cts.
4
47,000
1
15,000
11 av. 85 cts. . .
8
49,000
1
3
40,000
8,000
323,000 14
215,000
115 av. 35 cts. 28
21LOOO 51
8
444,000 17 1,197,000
1
178,000
68 av. 40 cts.
143,000 . .
125,000 11
20 av. 36 cts. 12
395,000
422,000
5
140,000 18
63 av. 47 cts.
9
5
21,000
1
5 av. 34 cts. . ,
59,000
215,000 63
528,000 17
259,000
25 av. 51 cts. 27
7
106,000
5
351,000
7
81,000
27 av. 43 cts. 19
178,000 34
349,000 , .
6
5
31,000
2
148,000
8 av. 33 cts.
123,000
4
73,000
156,000
2
90,000
6
11 av. 32 cts.
252,000 50
115,000 22
198,000
19 av. 40 cts. 20
2
54,000
5
1
18,000
14 av. 34 cts.
75,000
...........
,,
8
44,000 . .
5
6 av. 68 cts.
4
65,000 11
359,000
184,000
172,000 28
17 av. 30 cts. 18
277,000 . .
27,000
2
2
2 av. 43 cts.
27,000 . .
......
..
2
67,000 , .
6
101,000 28
443,000
2
80,000
..
.....
.,
9
13 av. 80 cts.
140,000
2
207,000
10
51,000 38
115,000
2
13,000
..
. .... ..
......
..
26
224,000 . . .
...........
..

204

DUN, BO YD

Number of
stores, &c, as
per our
Failures in 1859.
States.
records. No. Liabilities.
N e w Y o k e — New York C it y * .. . .
209 $13,218,000
115,000
Albany............................................
11
Buffalo.............................................____
820
24
330,000
Oswego...........................................
11
403,000
Rochester.......................................
17
187,000
Syracuse.........................................
244,000
17
Troy................................................ ____
496
7
124,000
8
___
397
90j000
282
Balance of the S ta te...............
2,829^000
M a s s a c h u s e t t s — Boston..................
123
4,769,000
160
Balance of the S ta te ...............
1,927,000
P e n n s y l v a n i a — Philadelphia......... ___
8,261 105
2,589,000
Pittsburg........................................
20
197,000
17,196 366
Balance o f the S ta te ............... ___
3,346,000
I l l i n o i s — Chicago.............................
83
2,651,000
Balance of the State................ ___
10,859 221
2,772,000
O h i o — Ciucinnati.............................
72
1,688,000
Cleveland...................................... ___
36
871
1,239,000
Balance of the State................. ___
1,268,000
16,197 246
L o u is ia n a — New Orleans ............. ___
809,000
2,910
27
Balance of the S ta te............. ___
272,000
2,169
17
M is s o u r i — St. Louis........................ . . . .
42
1,528,000
1,685
Balance of the S ta te............... ___
1,054,000
1,989
79
R h o d e I s l a n d — Providence.. . . . . ___
1,056
246,000
20
918
359,000
Balance o f the S tate............... ___
10
8,148
1,392,000
M a r y l a n d — Baltimore................... ___
60
857,000
Balance of the S ta te............... ___
2,967
61
M i c h i g a n — D etroit.......................... ___
803
1',051,000
27
604,000
Balance o f the S ta te............... ___
4,304
95
I o w a — D ubuque............................. ___
365
21
580,000
4,763 127
1,374,000
Balance of the S ta te ............... ___

V ERM O N T.........................................................................

G e o r g i a ...................................................................
D e l a w a r e a n d D i s t r ic t o f C o l u m b i a . .
A r k a n s a s ................................................................
A l a b a m a ................................................ . '...............
M i s s i s s i p p i .............................................................
T e n n e s s e e ..............................................................
F l o r i d a ...................................................................
T e x a s ........................................................................

1,097
6,011
839
2,491
2,976
8,060
1,480
9,718
596
4,109
3,473
4,714
4,907
5,192
2,861
2,189
5,630
3,208
1,638
3,002
2,664
4,519
934
2,615

20
42
16
28
75
135
28
125
22
102
78
55
50
61
25
36
70
31
28
46
39
81
15
31

309,000
611,000
327,000
469,000
1,867,000
‘ 859,000
411,000
928,000
603,000
1,051,000
849,000
463,000
379,000
*1,169,000
307,000
536,000
734,000
195,000
428,000
607,000
394,000
714,000
115,000
577,000

9
15
11
14
54
88
14
82
10
76
49
34
45
46
20
29
53
31
23
23
24
51
9
14

92,000
378,000
167,000
204,000
1,440,000
573,000
247,000
714,000
182,000
835,000
485,000
299.000
298,000
1,005,000
245,000
886,000
531,000
195,000
333,000
288,000
258,000
459,000
74,000
236,000

229,734 3,913 864,294,000 2,707 44,470,000
851,000
43
942,000
885
29
722,000
6,342 186
1,082,000 115
453,000
42
921,000
29
C a n a d a E a st —Montreal.
1,189
392,000
45
522,000
28
2,674
490,000
606,000
29
Balance British N. American Prov.
2,312
34

C a n a d a W e st—




5 av. 40 cts.
10 av. 38 cts.
8 av. 36 cts.
8 av. 43
4 av. 51
SO av. 43
5 av. 34

cts.
cts.
cts.
cts.

12 av. 33 cts.

350

$4,073,000

230 $2,908,000

243,136 4,263 168,367,000 2,937 47,378,000

79,000
114,000
16,000
118,000
295,000
102,000
21,000
27,000
368,000
156,000
107,000
17,000
81,000
70,000
8,000
25,000
85,000

5
12
10
3
3
6

95,000
210,000
100,000
22,000
26,000
250,000

,,

9 av. 48 cts.
2 av. 35 cts.
6 av. 45 cts.

Toronto.

13,402

4
10
1
7
11
17
4
9
9
20
7
3
5
4
1
2
8

15
26
4
6

av.
av.
av.
av.

46
38
38
61

cts.
cts.
cts.
cts.

7
17
3
7
10
30
8
34
3
6
20
14

138,000
119,000
44,000
47,000
132,000
184,000
30,000
187,000
53,000
60,000
242,000
101,000

11
4
3
9

84,000
54,000
60,000

..

,, , . .
..

11
3
17
3
11

..
..
1
,.
..
..
2
..
.,
..
2
4

..
..
..
2
...... , .
...... . .
........ . .
109,000 . .
........

18,000
85,000
15,000
91,000

2
10

..

100,000

113,000

15,000
46,000

66,000

18,000
148,000

••

401 5,650,000 675 $7,932,000 130 $6,242,000
53,000
38,000
7
7
156,000 10
127,000
15
77,000 46
7
214,000
215,000
8
39,000
3
6
74,000
56,000 11
3
96,000 ••
2
20,000
33

$230,000

74

$593,000

13

$342,000

434 5,880,000 749 $8,525,000 143 $6,584,000

Commercial Chronicle and Review,

K e n t u c k y — L o u i s v il l e .....................................
B a la n c e o f th e S t a t e ..............................
S o u t h C a r o l i n a — C h a r le s t o n . . . . . . . .
B a la n c e o f th e S t a t e ..............................
T e r r it o r i e s — C a l i f o r n i a A M in n e s o t a
I n d i a n a ................ ....................................................
V i r g i n i a — R i c h m o n d ................ ....................
B a la n c e o f t h e S t a t e ..............................
W is c o n s in — M i l w a u k e e ................................
B a la n c e o f th e S t a t e ........................
N o r t h C a r o l i n a ................................................
N e w J e r s e y ...........................................................
C o n n e c t ic u t ...........................................................
M a i n e ........................................................................
N e w H a m p s h i r e ................................................ '

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

206

The imports for the year 1859 have been the largest amount ever before re­
ceived at this port in one year, exceeding the aggregate of 1857 by nearly
$15,000,000. Of that excess the largest proportion is dry goods. The increase
in free goods has also been considerable. The aggregates are as follows
F O R E IG N

IM P O R T S

AT N EW

YORK.

Y e a rs .
1 8 5 0 .................

D u t ia b le .
$ 1 1 0 ,9 3 3 ,7 6 3

F re e goods.
$ 8 ,6 4 5 ,2 4 0

S p e c ie .
$ 1 6 ,1 2 7 ,9 3 9

1 8 5 1 .................

1 1 9 ,5 9 2 ,2 6 4

9 ,7 1 9 ,7 7 1

2 ,0 4 9 ,5 4 3

1 3 1 ,3 6 1 ,5 7 8

1 8 5 2 .................

1 1 5 ,3 3 6 , 0 5 2

1 2 ,1 0 5 ,3 4 2

2 ,4 0 8 ,2 2 5

1 2 9 ,8 4 9 ,6 1 9

1 8 5 3 .................

1 7 9 ,6 1 2 ,4 1 2

1 9 4 ,0 9 7 ,6 5 2

1 6 3 ,4 9 4 ,9 8 4

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

2 ,4 2 9 ,0 8 3

1 8 5 4 .................

2 ,1 0 7 ,6 7 2

1 8 1 ,3 7 1 ,4 7 2

1 8 5 5 .................

1 4 2 ,9 0 0 ,6 6 1

1 4 ,1 0 3 ,9 4 6

8 5 5 ,6 3 1

1 6 7 ,8 6 0 ,2 3 8

1 8 5 6 . . ............

1 9 3 ,8 3 9 , 6 4 6

1 7 ,9 0 2 ,5 7 8

1 ,8 1 4 ,4 2 5

2 1 3 ,5 5 6 ,6 4 9

1 8 5 7 .................

1 9 6 ,2 7 9 , 3 6 2

2 1 ,4 4 0 ,7 3 4

1 2 ,8 9 8 ,0 3 3

2 3 0 ,6 1 8 ,1 2 9

1 8 5 8 .................

1 2 8 ,5 7 8 ,2 5 6

2 2 ,0 2 4 ,6 9 1

2 ,2 6 4 ,1 2 0

1 5 2 ,8 6 7 ,0 6 7

1 8 5 9 .................

2 1 3 ,6 4 0 ,3 6 3

2 8 ,7 0 8 ,7 3 2

2 ,8 1 6 ,4 2 1

2 4 5 ,1 6 5 ,5 1 6

T o t a l.
$ 1 3 5 ,7 0 6 ,9 4 2

The imports of specie were in 1857 much larger than usual, owing not only to
the return shipments caused by the beginning of the revulsion, but also to the
previous receipts of foreign coin designed for reshipment to the West Indies>
followed by the high price of sugar. Both this year and last those causes have
ceased to operate. Under the head of dutiable, we have included above both
the dutiable entered directly for consumption and the goods thrown into bonded
warehouse. In the extended tables given below, these items are given separately
although brought together in the total. The following tables give the monthly
returns of the exports under each head :—
F O R E IG N IM P O R T S E N T E R E D

AT N EW

ENTERED

January........................... ...............
February ....................... ...............
M arch .............................. ...............
A p ril ................................. ...............
M ay......................... ...............
June..........................................
J u ly ................ ; . . . ...............
August.................... ...............
September..................... ...............
October ........................... .....................
November..................... ...............
December ..................... ...............
Total ..................

YORK

FOR

D D R IX G

TH E

YEARS

1 8 5 6 -7 -8 -9 .

C O N S U M P T IO N .

1856.

1857.

1858.

1859.

$12,556,638
12,521,622
15,781,297
14,530,636
12,392,421
12,518,271
19,288,885
18,375,986
10,934,435
9,932,001
9,730,429
7,930,499

$15,300,034
18,508,939
12,350,457
11,155,530
6,451,191
2,471,723
26,042,740
14,401,018
8,841,367
2.791,905
2,792,185
2,829,924

$4,170,017
6,840,256
7.245,526
6,837,546
6,574,612
6,652,563
14,053,659
15,067,732
11,180,523
9,234,470
7,850,323
9,775,511

$15,556,727
15,231,446
15,314,023
15,595,141
15,222,311
14,909,315
21,681,460
18,416,207
12,470,440
9,345,609
9,978,720
13,043,310

$156,493,120 $122,937,013 $102,942,737 $176,765,309

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

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING,

January........................... .....................
February........................ .....................
M arch .............................. ...............
A pril ................................. ...............
...............
May................
J u n e ....................... ...............
J u ly ......................... ...............
August..................... ...............
Septem ber............. ...............
October................... ...............
November............... ...............
December................ ...............

$1,625,254
1,486,259
2,222,655
3,181,498
3,733,350
3,936,633
4,907,675
4,136,716
3,264,622
2,836,781
3,318,842
2,696,241

$1,969,266
3,543,996
5,384,835
8,168,142
10,508,421
11,540,136
6,796,835
3,516,039
5,428,203
7,856,424
5,821,588
3,308,464

$1,909,448
1,330,623
1,812,230
2,148,241
2,626,978
2,409,733
2,949,166
2,146,021
2,900,710
2,157,678
1,725,318
1,520,373

$1,201,701
1,264,502
2,804,412
3,754,895
4,746,614
5,401,263
3,943,374
2,964,044
2,177,968
2,194,252
2,794,108
3,534,920

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

$37,346,526

$73,342,349

$25,635,519

$36,875,054

'




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

207

FEEE GOODS.

1856.

1857.

J a n u a r y ...........................
F e b r u a r y ........................
M a r c h .............................
A p r i l ................................
M a y ...................................
J u n e ...................................
J u l y ...................................

1858. '

$ 8 5 0 ,9 2 3

A u g u s t ...........................
S e p t e m b e r .....................
O c t o b e r ...........................
N o v e m b e r ......................
D e c e m b e r .......................

S P E C IE A N D

January..................
February.................... .............
March.........................
A p ril.........................
M a y...........................
J une...........................
J u ly ...........................
August.......................
September.................
October.....................
November................. .............
December................. ............

321,750
246,S76

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

$1,814,425

72,247

$ 2 ,6 1 8 ,2 2 0

2 ,4 4 7 ,8 3 9

1 ,7 9 8 ,1 0 5

2 ,2 6 9 .2 2 3

2 ,8 3 8 ,3 7 9

2 ,3 9 4 ,7 4 3

2 ,6 2 0 ,6 5 4

9 5 6 ,4 2 8

2 ,6 5 8 ,3 8 1

2 ,8 0 2 ,5 4 2

1 ,6 4 7 ,8 1 0

1 ,9 2 8 ,5 7 3

9 5 7 ,3 6 6

9 5 3 ,0 1 4

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

2 ,4 5 5 ,3 3 3

1 ,5 1 )6 ,0 2 7
2 ,3 4 2 ,7 4 1

2 ,9 2 0 ,9 2 1

2 ,0 5 2 ,1 2 2

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

1859.

$ 1 ,7 1 6 ,6 8 2

1 ,4 3 6 ,1 4 7

1 ,7 7 2 ,5 0 5

1 ,2 5 3 ,8 2 9

1 ,8 1 0 ,6 2 6

1 ,7 8 2 ,3 4 5

2 ,0 6 1 ,4 6 8

1 ,4 4 7 ,4 3 3

1 ,7 7 6 ,3 8 4

1 ,4 2 5 ,5 2 0

1 ,9 5 5 ,0 8 7

2 ,3 7 7 ,3 0 0

1 ,9 8 6 ,6 0 8

2 ,1 4 5 ,5 3 4

$ 2 1 ,4 4 0 ,7 3 4

$ 2 2 ,0 2 4 , 6 9 1

$ 2 8 ,7 0 3 ,7 3 2

B U LLIO N .

$886,509
1,023,718
1,061,833
939,218
1,070,833
369,901
505,298
17,319
885,285
2,509,193
3,027,803
681,123
$12,898,033.

$309,572
240,059
277,203
524,857
324.540
102,132
36,895
67,682
138,233
89,368
90,446
63,133

$71,303
92,209
81,666
272,441
122,436
495,392
175,139
348,419
184,558
630,646
167,087
184,638

$2,264,120

$2,816,421

$8,105,719
9,209,043
11,729,702
11,169,026
11,454,703
10,116,442
18,505,747
19,624,176
15,473,295
13,542,984
10,591,606
13,344,625

$19,447,962
18,848,870
20,820,4 56
22,425,619
23,552,645
24,069,821
27,286,120
24,649,591
16,643,535
13,617,946
14,895,002
18,908,398

T O TA L IM PO R TS.

January.................. ...........
February.................
March......................
A p ril ..................................
May.........................
June........................ ...........
July ......................... ...........
August .................... .........
S e p t e m b e r ...................... ...........
O ctober..................... ...........
November..................
December...............................

$15,578,064
20,057,835
17,961,657
25,716,332
23,919,665
15,309,362
13,825,592
12,015,244

T o t a l .............................................$ 2 1 3 , 5 5 6 , 6 4 9

$19,006,732
25,524,492
21,135,504
21,218,318
18,705,255
15,339,126
35,800,206
19,9S6,493
16,847,360
14,439,867
13,417,960
9,196,811

$ 2 3 0 ,6 1 8 ,1 2 9

$ 1 5 2 ,8 6 7 ,0 6 7

$ 2 4 5 ,1 6 5 ,5 1 6

■WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.

January..................... ..............
February..................................
March.......................... ...........
A pril........................... .............
M ay........................... ............
Ju n e........................................
July........................... .............
August........................ .............
September.................. .............
October....................... ...........
November................. .............
Decem ber................. .............
Total................... ...........




$2,345,618
2,047,067
1,852,396
1,467,676
1,548,329
1,656,871
2,187,337
2,534,732
3,457,706
3,273,983
1,725,544
1,626,650

$2,672,755
2,501,696
2,639,223
2,287,315
2,262,173
781,099
10,470,820
5,624,147
2,882,046
1,750,392
3,152,316
3,584,908

$4,504,591
4,733,706
4,444,415
3,203,539
2,690,838
2,300,140
3,164,538
3,116,013
2,905,062
2,462,425
2,124,655
1,789,620

$2,083,270
2,167,898
1,718;281
1,543,551
1,628,434
2.369,281
2,596,063
3,296,084
2,893,741
2,749,892
1,970,134
1,840,754

$25,722,818

$40,609,890

$37,499,542

$26,857,089

208

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

The warehouse operation was thus quite the reverse of last year, since then the
withdrawals exceeded the entries by nearly 812,000,000, while this year they are
less than the entries by $10,000,000.
The imports of foreign dry goods at the port of New York, for the year 1859,
is more than double those of last year, and more than for any previous year :—
IMPORTS OF D R Y GOODS AT N E W YORK.

1856.

1857.

1858.

1859.

Manufactures o f w ool................ $27,257,287 $27,489,564 $19,385,084 $37,329,049
Manufactures of cotton............... 17,926,293 18,905,535 11,057,769
24,781,164
Manufactures of silk................... 80,938,865 28,537,260 19,558,274
33,682,648
Manufactures o f flax...................
9,484,401
7,950,864
6,798,307
11,110,931
Miscellaneous................................
7,756,067
7,650,906
4,199,290
6,248,832
Total......................................$93,362,893 $90,534,129 $60,005,224 $113,152,624

The decline in dry goods is marked under each general head; but in those
goods, as in general merchandise, this shows a marked recovery in the month of
December.
We recapitulate the comparative totals of the imports of dry goods and general
merchandise for the convenience of reference :—

1856.

„

1857.

1858.

1859.

■

Dry goods................................ ..
$90,534,129 $60,005,224 $113,152,624
General merchandise.............. . . 118,379,331 127,185,967 90,448,438 129,196,471
217,720,096 150,453,662

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

242,349,113

Wc annex a comparative summary o f the receipts of some leading articles o f
foreign merchandise during the past year.

The sugar imports have: continued

la r g e : —
IM P O R T S O F

A FEW

Books........................................
Buttons,....................................
Cheese..........................................................
Chinaware................................
Cigars.......................................
Coal..........................................
Coffee............. ... .........................
Earthenware............................
Furs..........................................
Glass, plate............... ... ............
India-rubber.............................
In digo......................................
Leather and dressed skins . .
Undressed skins.....................
Liquors— Brandy...................
Metals— Copper and ore . . .
Sheathing copper...............
Iron, bars.............................
Iron, pig...............................
Iron, railroad.....................
Iron, sheet...........................
Lead......................................
S p elter................................
Steel.....................................
Tin and tinplates................
Zinc.......................................




L E A D IN G A R T IC L E S O F G E N E R A L M E R C H A N D IS E .

1856.

1857.

1858.

1859.

$614,068
742,002
102,677
636,443
2,264,699
540,803
7,395,809
1,220,487
2,270,781
837,940
648,619
322,949
2,224,387
5,505,407
2,078,887
256,658
573,394
3,628,256
663,600
2,608,742
751,863
2,116,110
370,293
1,791,408
4,792,015
881,434

$663,447
846,456
120,479
689,682
2,610,679
460,399
7,722,162
1,178,924
1,869,923
481,751
609,840
457,125
2,052,299
6,590,173
1,812,201
426,474 )
248,376 )
3,354,101
501,096
3,070,762
706,872
2,035,464
380,434
1,694,950
4,669,951
341,648

$630,789
413,368
96,166
349,707
1,863,736
738,696
7,823,192
798,839
1,750,029
422,923
687,200
346,169
2,402,991
6,304,391
885,011

$777,470
464,649
101,796
609,730
2.320,408
533,613
8,689,520
1,355,861
2,378,174
592,111
707,517
690,823
3,879,143
8,914,682
2,683,089

507,407

968,496

1,529,237
356,807
370,092
293,008
1,492,124
690,149
1,033,955
3,667,093
481,507

3,122,572
607,180
1,642,015
509.688
1,551,996
357,867
1,798,932
4,899,905
391,655

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

1856.
Molaasea..................................
R a g s ........................................
S a lt ..........................................
Saltpeter.................................
S u g a r ......................................
T e a ..........................................
W atches..................................
W in e s......................................
W ool and waste.....................

1857.

1,606,338
824,082
487,480
68,244
17,711,162
5,898,900
3,506,432
1,686,266
643,365

6,197,047
882,181
318,880
162,658
20,698,865
5,399,964
2,954,702
2,011,691
1,775,673

209

1858.

1859.

1,379,946
649,744
873,885

1,902,994
1,057,602
821,051
72,600
18,700,529
7,540,351
2,697,037
1,757.021
3,050,672

17,667,676
6,002,032
1,676,019
821,506
1,113,024

The cash duties received at the port for the year are only 30 per cent more
than for the past year, arising from the fact that then more goods were put on
the market than arrived, while this year the reverse was the case. The duties
have been more than in 1857.
at

:NEW YORK.

1857.
J a n u a r y ....................

GO
O

CASH DUTIES RECEIVED

1858.
43

$ 1 ,6 4 1 ,4 7 4

59

$ 3 ,4 7 8 ,4 7 1

38

F e b r u a r y .................. ...................................

5 ,1 1 7 ,2 4 9

85

2 ,0 6 3 ,7 8 4

86

3 ,7 5 2 ,1 8 4

98

2 ,2 1 3 ,4 5 2

15

3 ,3 2 8 ,6 8 8
3 ,1 6 4 ,0 1 1

93

M a r c h ........................ ....................................

05

1 ,7 3 6 ,5 1 0

41

3 ,2 1 2 ,0 6 0

49

1 ,9 0 7 ,2 8 9

71

1 ,7 4 8 ,2 2 7

54

4 ,0 1 4 ,5 2 0

39

J u n e ........................... ....................................

6 7 7 ,8 1 1

29

1 ,6 8 5 ,6 6 3

02

3 ,3 1 4 ,4 2 9

56

J u l y .............................. ...................................

6 ,9 8 7 ,0 1 9

61

33

4 ,8 5 1 ,2 4 6

89
43

A p r i l ...........................
M a y ......... ................... ....................................

26

40

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

01

4 ,2 4 3 ,0 1 0

S e p t e m b e r ................ ....................................

2 ,2 4 9 ,9 8 2

89

2 ,6 7 2 ,9 3 5

63

2 ,9 0 8 ,5 0 9

O c t o b e r ..................... ....................................

8 6 7 ,5 3 4

99

2 ,0 5 4 ,8 3 4

43

2 ,3 1 8 ,7 5 0

82

N o v e m b e r ............... ....................................

1 ,1 2 1 , 7 9 2

70

1 ,7 0 6 ,5 2 9

47

2 ,1 5 7 , 1 5 4

48

D e c e m b e r ................. ....................................

1 ,1 7 2 ,3 9 2

98

2 ,0 2 0 ,8 9 5

62

2 ,8 4 3 ,3 8 8

39

88

$ 2 6 ,4 7 6 ,7 3 1

06

$ 3 8 ,8 3 4 ,2 4 2

96

A u g u s t .....................

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

95

Turning now to the exports from New York to foreign port3, we find, for De­
cember, an increase of 50 per cent over last year, and, including specie, an in­
crease of 60 per cent during the year. W e annex a quarterly statement showing
the course of this trade for the year compared with the previous three years :—
EXPORTS

FROM

SEW

YORK

fO

F O R E I G N P O R T S , E X C L U S IV E

1856.

1857.

O F S P E C IE .

1858.

1859.

First quarter......................
$19,820,683 $19,838,847 $14,044,177 $18,725,642
Second quarter...............................
20,250,346 18,822,867 17,599,202 17,883,621
Third quarter................................. 20,567,594 15,803,531 14,003,473 17,637,253
Fourth quarter ............................ 23,028,907 18,898,910 13,991,361 18,733,806
Total.........................................$83,667,530 $73,364,155 $59,638,212 $67,980,321

This shows a decline of §5,000,000 for 1859, as compared with 1857, and an
increase of §8,300,000, as compared with last year. The exports of specie, not
included in the above, show a very large increase.
We now annex our usual detailed statement showing the exports of domestic
produce, foreign dutiable and free goods, and specie during each month of the
last four years
VOL. x u i . — NO. II.




14

210

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

EXPORTS FROM

NEW

YORK

TO

F O R E IG N

P O R T S D U R IN G T H E Y E A R S

D O M E S TIC

1856-7-8-9.

PRODUCE.

January-...............
F eb ru a ry.............
March.....................
April......................
May.. . ...................
June .....................
Ju ly.......................
A ugust..................
September............
October.................
November.............
D ecem ber.............

1 8S 6.
$5,257,686
5,408,990
8,044,122
5,229,436
5,563,205
8,273,454
6,901,272
5,612,828
7,045,202
6,129,837
7,541,695
8,246,568

1857.
$4,543,842
5,399,202
7,904,481
5,162,160
6,046,643
6,395,312
4,273,696
4,289,479
4,218,954
6,491,529
5,245,599
2,832,338

1858.
$4,208,306
3,709,870
4,603,371
5,513,117
4,262,789
6,382,939
4,771.962
4,660,272
3,521,992
5,233,363
3 481,654
3,700,068

1859.
$3,762,182
3,283,592
5,377,840
5,950,921
5,180,652
4,880,395
4,938,065
5,150,710
4,946,612
4,752,779
6,323,611
6,382,172

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

$79,254,195

$61,803,235

$53,949,703

$59,929,631

F O R E IG N

January.................
February...............
M arch...................
A p r il.................... .
M ay........................
June.......................
Ju ly.......................
August..................
September............
October.................
November.............
December..............
Total...............

D U T IA B L E .

$212,239
143,944
468,280
202,027
247,079
450,482
108,617
211,933
609,752
130,677
202,093
467,601

$188,408
363,878
628,080
314,343
294,839
512,349
682,059
654,088
566,106
806,049
1,194,855
1,226,590

$290,308
326,845
649,899
432,393
229,990
350,990
277,419
224,488
204,390
359,185
254,310
487,231

$232,365
263,851
297,382
382,289
426,002
187,522
■ 232,527
790,646
635,132
482,440
639,538
481,263

$4,354,624

$7,331,144

$4,087,398

$5,050,909

F O R E IG N

FREE.

January.................
February...............
M arch...................
A p r il....................
Ma y .......................
Jun e.......................
July........................
August...................
September.............
October..................
November..............
December..............

$41,305
53,275
190,842
68,263
68,194
148,206
22,423
88,242
67.325
71,931
65,662
183,143

$151,920
175,706
483,330
185,642
169,451
732,128
407,697
893,882
417,570
212,443
3S6.528
603,479

$191,125
136,862
27,590
154,416
113,799
158,769
70,463
102,674
169,863
161,063
129,671
184,816

$119,489
188,210
200,779
441,489
308,096
126,265
380,782
374,707
188,072
252,878
177,288
241,836

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

$1,058,811

$4,229,776

$1,601,111

$2,999,888

SPECIE AND BULLION.

January.................
February...............
March..................... .
A p r il.....................
May........................ .
June-.....................
July.......................
A u g u st.................
September............
October.................
November.............
D ecem ber.............
T o ta l.............




*

$104,834
1,204,343
2,584,396
3,261,504
3,812,865
4,800,328
5,278,126
3,202,053
3,738,547
4,996,660
2,955,839
1,779,181

$1,307,946
1,831,726
2,174,965
8,354,805
5,789,266
7,939,354
3,628,377
6,271,717
990,476
297,259
3,239,231
7,635,062

$4,745,611
3,746,920
836,194
646,285
1,790,775
594,174
2,801,496
2,201,802
3,239,591
3,028,405
471,970
1,898,208

$2,305,688
2,371,427
3,343,677
6,259,167
11,421,032
7,469,981
10,051,019
6,409,783
8,267,681
5,344,159
4,883,123
2,062,129

$37,218,766

$44,360,174

$26,001,431

$69,715,866

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

211

TOTAL E XPO RTS.

1857.

1858.

1859.

$6,192,116
7,770,512
11,190,856
9,026,960
12,300,199
14,579,143
8,891,829
11,609,166
6,193,106
7,807,280
10,065,713
12,097,459

$9,435,850
7,920,497
6,017,054
6,746,211
6,397,353
7,486,872
7,921,340
7,189,186
7,135,836
8.782,016
4,337,605
6,270,323

$6,419,696
6,107,060
9,219,678
13,033,866
17,335,782
12,691,153
15,602,393
12,725,846
14,037,497
10,832,256
10,523,660
9,167,400

i $117,724,329

$85,639,643

$137,696,187

1856.
January...............
February............
M arch.................
A pril...................
W ay.............. ..
J u n e...................
July.....................
August................
September..........
October...............
November...........
December...........

6,810,552

13,172,470
11,360,826
10,755,189
10,676,393

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

We also present our annual comparative statement of the wholesale prices at
this port of the leading articles of foreign and domestic produce, which will be
found very interesting. There are few, even of those who are engaged in the
trade, who can remember the changes in price from year to year, and this table,
if preserved, will be found very useful for reference :—
COMPARATIVE PRICES AT NEW YORK ON JANUARY
Ashes, pots............ 100 lbs.
Pearls................................
Breadstuff's—
Wheat flour, State...bbl.
Wheat, best extra Gen..
Rye flour, extra Gen.. . .
Corn meal, J e rse y .........
Wheat, white Gen.bush.
White Michigan..............
White O h i o ...................
White Southern.............
Red W estern.................
Rye, N orthern...............
Oats, S ta te .....................
Corn, old Western..........
Corn, new Southern.. . .
Cotton, mid. upland.. . .lb.
Mid. New Orleans.........
Fish, dry c o d .................qtl.
Fruit, bunch raisin9... .b o x
Currants.......................lb.
Hay, shipping... . .100 lbs.
Hemp, r’gh American. ..ton
Hops....................... per lb.
Iron, Scotch p i g ...........ton
English bars....................
Laths......................... per M.
Lead, Spanish................ ton
Galena..............................
Leather—
Hemlock, sole, light, .lb.
Oak,
“
Lime—
Com. Rockland.........bbl.
Liquor8—
Brandy, new cognac..gal.
Domestic whisky..........




3d.

185fi.

1857.

1858.

1859.

$7 00
8 00

$7 75
8 00

$ 5 75

$5 624
6 00

8
11
6
4
2
2
2
2
1
1

31 i
00
37 J
00
20
12$
12 4

16
90
31
46
94
90
®i
94

4 12 4
2 874
20
95
170 00
10
32 00
62 50
1 45
6 374
6 874
234
31
1 00
4 75
854

6
8
5
8
1
1
1
1
1

25
60
00
25
80
75
75
78
58
92
48
68
67

13 4

134
3 50
3 80
21
90
208 00
10
30 00
63 00
1 S1J
6 00
6 75

5 75

4
7
4
3
1
1
1
1
1

25
50
00
25
30
20
15
25
10
73
43
65

62

H

9
3 25
1 95
9
65
100 00
10
26 00
62 50
1 25
4 75
none.

4 80
7 75
3 75
3 40
1 40
1 25
1 30
1 45
1 20
78
53
78
75
12
124
4 00
2 05
74
80
125 00
15
25 00
55 00
2 12 4
5 60
6 85

18g6.
$5 1 2 4
5 374
4 30
7 60
4 00
3 90
l 50
1 50
1 45
1 45
1 30
92
464
90

88
11
Hf
4 50
2 52
6
1 00
145 00
16
24 50
53 00
2 00
5 65
6 774

82
88

28

24
30

30
30

90

85

75

75

5 00
25

4 25
22

224

3 00
244

3 00
26

212

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

Molasses— N. Orleans.. .gal.
Naval Stores—
Crude turpentine... .bbl.
Spirits
“
....g a l.
Common rosin, N. C...bbl.
Oils, crude whale.........gal.
“
sperm ...............
Linseed.............................
Provisions—
Pork, old mess.......... bbl.
Pork, old prime..............
Beef, city mes9...............
Beef, repacked Chicago.
Beef hams, extra............
Hams, p ick le d ...........lb.
Shoulders, pickled........
Lard..................................
Butter, Ohio.....................
Butter, State...................
Butter, Orange County..
Cheese..............................
Rice, g o o d .........100 lbs.
Salt—
Liverpool, ground.. . sack
Liverpool, fine, Ashton’s.
Seeds, clover................... lb.
Sugar—
Cuba, good..................lb.
Tallow...................... per lb.
Whalebone, polar...............

1856.
49

1857.
80

1858.
35

1S 59.
37

1860.
53

8 00
41
1 60
80
1 80
88

4 00
48
1 60
78
1 30
80

2 87*
38
1 30
60
1 00
55

3 68f
49
1 65
55
1 36
65

8 43f
44*
1 65
52
1 40
57

n f
20
23
27
11
5 60

50
60
25
25
50
10*
7*
12*
21
24
27
10*
4 314

92*
1 65
13

80
1 55
12*

16
14
13
14
15

75
50
50
50
00
10

n

19
16
12
12
19

8
13
50

9*
11*
65

35

38

15
13
10
12
15

40
00
00
50
60
8f
6*
9*
16
20
24
8
3 25
80
1 30
9*

17
13
9
9
15

00
00
00
50
00
9*
6*
H i
18
20
25
9
3 50
90
1 38
9*

16
11
9
9
14

37*
75
00
60
50
9*
6*
10*
16
20
24
11
4 20
1 15
1 95
8*

7
10
1 10

7
10
95

7f
10*
90

27

36

40

Wool—
Common fleece............ lb.

The decline in prices for 1858 as compared with 1857 extends to nearly every
article upon the list, and is very strongly marked. For January, 1859, a recovery
presents itself in many articles, but not equal to the prices of former years.

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
BANK CLEARING-HOUSE OF NEW YORK.

The Clearing-house system of New York is one of the most remarkable im­
provements in the adjustment of accounts, in facilitating the ultimate settlement
of balances, resulting as it were from the business of the whole continent. The
plan grew out of its own necessity, and was put into operation October, 1853,
under the direction of L e w is L y m a n , Esq. Its operation since then has been as
follows for the years ending October 1 :—
Total exchanges.

Balances.

1854
................................................................................ $5,750,455,987 $297,411,493
1855
.............................................................................. 5,407,912,098 289,894,733
1856
.............................................................................. 6,906,213,328 331,714,489
1857
.............................................................................. 8,333,226,718 365,313,901
1858
.............................................................................. 4,756,694,385 814,238,908
Sixmos, to April, 1859.. $3,179,880,871 $185,100,081
Six mos. to Oct., 1859.. 3,268,125,085 178,884,601
------------------ -------------------- $6,448,005,956 $363,984,682
Total Bix years
A v e r a g e .........




37,557,478,743 1,965,357.6:5
6,259,579,790 327,559,602

Journal o j Banking , Currency, and Finance.

213

The fluctuation in the amount of clearings shows the effect of the “ panic ” to
a remarkable extent. The amount of paper credits to be exchanged increased
very rapidly until the close of 1857, and the Clearing house year ended in the
midst of the panic, almost at the date of the suspension. The following shows
a decline of one-half in the clearings, but singularly but little decline in the
“ balances.” In the past year a marked recovery has taken place. The follow­
ing is a description of the mode of transacting the business, prepared by L e w is
L y m a n , Esq., for the information of the banks of a neighboring city on their
adoption of the same system of clearing :—
A t the hour of 10 A . M. all the bank members of the association, forty eight
in number, are represented at the Clearing house by two clerks—one a settling
clerk, the other a specie clerk or porter. The settling clerks bring with them
their statement, which shows first the amount of the receipts of the bank which
they represent up to the close of the business of the previous day: secondly, the
amount which has been added from the morning remittance ; and lastly the total
amount which they bring to the Clearing-house for exchange—being the amount
of the first two items united. They also bring a ticket which informs us of the
amount sent in by the bank which they represent, and which amount we credit
them with. Their statement has, as you will see, a column in which the amounts
to be received are to be entered. The specie clerk or porter of each bank brings
with him a statement of the amount which the bank he represents sends in
against each of the other banks ; and he also brings the money, made up in par­
cels, with a slip upon the top stating the amount of each item of exchange, and
the total or footing of the whole sum to be delivered to each bank. His state­
ment has a bank column headed “ received by.” A t 10 o’clock all the clerks are
called to their places, the settling clerks upon the inside of the counter, which is
built in the form of an oval, and the porters upon the outside, all the banks being
arranged numerically, in the order of age, upon the counter, and each assigned a
space which is divided off, and separates them from each other. The porters bring
their money so arranged that the top exchange is the one for the bank next
them on the right, and the last exchange the one for the bank next to their posi­
tion on the left. A t a signal from the manager each porter at the hour of ten pre­
cisely moves to the right, delivering to the first bank next on his right the ex­
change which he has for them, and receiving the receipts of their settling clerk
for it, who is careful to see that the exchange he receives agrees with the amount
stated on the statement of the porter of the bank from whom he receives i t ; and
thus the porters proceed until they have made the circuit of the room, and de­
livered to each bank the exchange they brought against them, and received their
receipts therefor, which brings them back to the point of starting (their own
desk) with all their exchanges delivered and receipted for. This is done by us
in five minutes. The exchanges for each bank are thus brought into the hands
of their settling clerk, who proceeds to enter them to the credit of each bank,
after which he calls them back with his porter, and then foots his receipts, as­
certaining the amount which he has received, and the result of the exchange,
which either makes his bank debtor to or creditor with the Clearing-house. The
porter then returns home with his receipts, carrying the information of the result
of the exchange to his principal, who know by I0J o’clock A . M. their position
for the day, either as debtor or creditor bank. The settling clerk then prepares
a ticket for the Clearing house, which states the amount he brought, and his
balance either as a debtor or a creditor. From these tickets and those before
named as being brought by the settling clerks when they come to the Clearing­
house, the entries upon the Clearing-house proof are made, and at 101 o’clock
A. M. the result announced. Among so many clerks it of course seldom hap­
pens that a proof is made at the first announcement, some errors being almost
sure to be made. For the detection of these errors the small check tickets are
used. You will notice that the proof is based upon the settling clerks’ state­
ments, and that it is assumed that the amounts stated upon them are correct.




Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

214

You will also perceive that two amounts upon the statement of each settling
clerk must be found upon the statement of every other bank belonging to the
association, so that in order to assure their agreement it is required of each set­
tling clerk that he shall make out a set of tickets from his statement, stating the
amount which by it he has sent against every other bank. After delivering these
tickets he proceeds to check those which he has received, and by them reconciles
the entry which he had made ; and if the prool is not thus made, the difference
must be in footing, which is found by directing the clerks to exchange state­
ments, and to examine each other’s footings. This of course detects the errors.
A system of fines is connected with the system, forty-five minutes being allowed
for a proof, all errors found after that time being lined and reported to their
banks. This insures care upon their part, and we usually make the proof within
the time allowed. Connected with the Clearing-house is a bank selected for a
deposit bank—the Bank of America acting for the association in that capacity.
In this bank any bank deposits such an amount of coin as it may see fit, taking
from them a certificate of deposit in amounts of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and
$10,000, certifying that they have received and hold such amounts as a special
deposit, payable to the order of any of the associated banks, and that they hold
such amounts in trust as a special deposit. The Bank of America now holds in
this way $6,500,000. These certificates are used in the settlement of balances.
A t one o’clock all the banks which are debtor come to the Clearing-house and
pay in these certificates, and in bills and change, sums less than $500, the bal­
ance against them. A t 1£, the debtor banks having paid their balances and
taken a receipt for them, the creditor banks, by their porters, receive the bal­
ances due them, giving a receipt therefor, and at two o’clock the settlement is
made. This is a brief description of the business of each day. The direct results
of the above are as follows, viz. :—
The bringing of forty-eight balances into one, and the settlement of such
balances ; the saving of a vast number of entries and postings, and of much time
and labor for cashiers, tellers, and porters ; the perfect independence of all banks
of each other, and the facilities afforded by the accounts of the Clearing-house
for estimating the standing and management of all other banks belonging to the
association ; the transportation of specie in the payment of balances, and many
other benefits of the same character. The indirect benefits are fully equal to the
direct ; but as they will suggest themselves to you I will not speak of them. It
is sufficient to say that the system is perfectly satisfactory to the banks of this
city, and that it tends to promote sound banking, and that its success here has
been perfect; and is as satisfactory to the banks as to the public.
STATISTICS OF WASHINGTON.

We are again indebted, says the National Intelligencer, to our venerable friend,
J ohn S e s s f o r d , for h is annual statement of the progress of improvement in the
city of Washington :—
E X H I B I T O F IM P R O V E M E N T S I N

• Wards.

First.......................... ............
Secon d..................... ............
Third....................... .............
F ou rth ...................
Fifth........................
Sixth.......................
Seventh................. .

W A S H IN G T O N

C IT Y I N

TH E Y E A R

Total
Total built Shops, Addiin the year. «fcc. tions. dwellings.
63
6
6
1,566
4
68
5
1,762
6
3
1,421
63
1,794
4
7
1,043
1
787
1,396
i
•

.
.

338

26

16

9,769

census.

9.918
11,993
10,066
13,070
6,780
5,115
9,073
65,955

An increase on former assessment of . . .

On the above assessment is a tax of 60 cents on each $100.




1859.

Supposed
Assessment.
$ 5,5 61 ,5 7 2
6,8 9 7,64 8
5,579,501
9 ,021,862
3,547,349
1,471,941
2 ,413,112
$ 3 4 ,4 9 2 ,9 8 0
$ 1 1 ,4 1 4 ,8 1 4

Journal o j Banking, Currency, and Finance.
CITY
NEW

YORK

Jan. 8
15
22
29
Feb. 5
12
19
26
Mar. 5
12
19
26
Apr. 2
9
16
23
30
May 7
14
21
28
June 4
11
18
25
July 2
9
16
23
30
Aug. 6
13
20
27
Sept. 3
10
17
24
Oct. 1
8
15
22
29
Nov. 5
12
19
26
Dec. 3
10
17
24
31
Jan. 7
14
21

BANK

Loans.

Specie.

128,538,642
129,349,245
129,540,050
129,663,249
130,442,176
129,106,318
127,476,495
125,866,083
125,221,627
126,205,261
127,587,943
127,751,225
128,702,192
129,865,752
129,968,924
129,192,807
128,706,705
129,519,905
129,680,408
128,701,553
127,137,660
125,006,766
122,958,928
121,800,195
121,744,449
122,401,773
121,614,633
120,405,658
119,934,160
119,347,412
118,938,069
117,757,141
117,990,199
117,541,070
118,184,258
118,421,430
119,366,352
119,387,320
118,208,752
117,211,627
117,289,067
117,317,499
118,414,428
120,118,037
121,206,352
121,520,636
121,423,163
122,137,034
122,925,408
122,908,577
124,958,512
125,516,046
124,597,663
123,582,414
123,845,931

28,899,818
29,380,712
29,472,056
27,725,290
25,991,441
25,419,088
26.344.955
26,470,171
26,769,965
25,530,054
25,043,183
25,182,627
25,732,161
25.748.667
25,478,108
26,068,155
26,329,805
26,086,632
25,171,335
26,090,008
24,319,822
23,728,311
22,132,275
23,192.217
21,759,881
22,491,665
22,494,649
23.323.679
21,196,912
20,764,564
20,083,877
20,744,532
21,403,448
20,728,066
21,478,299
21,767,248
21.512.680
20,660,436
19,259,126
19,493,144
19,651,293
20,907,097
21,248,975
20,228,342
20.186.956
19,743,371
18,831,924
20.046.667
19,750,535
20,420,839
19,630,797
19,629,220
17,863,734
18,740,866
19,233,494

boston

ban k s

8 ..
10 . .

BANK

60,069,424
60,310,965




Specie.

8,548,934
8,295,392

RETURNS.

I860, $69,333,632; 1859,168,050,755.)

Circulation.

7,980,292
7,586,163
7,457,245
7.483.642
7,950,855
7,872,441
7,766,858
7,736,982
8,071,693
8, 100,021
7,996,713
7,998,098
8.221,753
8,449,401
8.293,459
8,289,112
8,300,672
8,804,032
8,490,933
8,352,723
8,232.653
8.427.642
8,391,116
8,281,111
8.216,043
8,365,790
8.553.061
8,201,675
8,170,626
8,214,959
8,623,050
8,4)9,606
8,317,669
8,234,279
8,373,318
8.513.062
8,444,766
8,357,206
8,337,702
8,585,739
8,463,816
8,411,218
8,276,404
8,627,421
8,443,555
8,283,520
8,271,278
8,398,819
8,481,486
8,893,026
8,321,374
8,386,977
8.539.063
8,090,548
7,880,865

.— ( c a p i t a l , j a n .,

Loans.

Jan.

WEEKLY

R E T U R N S .— (C A P I T A L , J A N .,

215

Deposits.

113,800,885
116,054,328
116,016,828
113.012.564
114,678,173
109,907,424
108.937.564
109,000,892
108,646,823
107,458,392
108,353,336
106,581,128
110,176,088
111,692,609
111,695.711
112,627,270
113,217,504
115,686,810
118,141,178
1 12,731,646
107,064,005
103,207,002
99,042,966
99,170,835
97,353,393
98,920,313
98,090,655
97,257,070
94,416,054
91,707,877
91,891,234
88,975,864
91,248,799
89,471,646
93,250,438
92,732,824
94,002,721
93.460,300
91,823,441
92,560,175
91,921,699
93,544,951
95,245,331
96,900,567
97,657,512
96,913,346
97,080,059
100,449,079
99.524.708
98,996,569
99,149,872
100,937,404
97.493.709
99,247,743
99,644,128

Average
clearings.

Actual
deposits.

20,974,263
20,598,005
20,950,428
19,174,629
22,712,917
20,560,606
19,911,207
19,785,055
22,626,795
21,270,283
21,911,543
20,237,879
22,438,950
23,549,945
23,607,914
23,671,453
23.655.166
26,714,767
24,445,039
24,177,516
21,501,650
20.628.166
20,159,422
20,042,356
19,160,278
20.787.701
21,077,643
19,121,169
19,114,111
17,232,982
19,366,379
17,443,211
18,038,889
17,679,829
20,094,729
20,095,939
20,855,322
20.729.701
21,011,336
23,048,968
21,830,679
21,977,883
22,162,150
23,226,669
22,977,321
22,239,807
23,517,886
24,190,359
22,953,281
21,710,094
21,871,115
22,553,920
22,684,854
23,363,980
22,813,547

92,826,622
95,456,323
95,066,400
93,837,935
91,965,256
89,346,818
89,026,357
88,215,837
86,800,028
86,188,109
86,441,793
86,343,249
87,737.138
88,142,544
88,087,797
88,955,814
89,562,388
88,872,043
88,696,639
88,554,130
85,562,355
82,678,836
78,883,536
79,127,979
77,193,115
78,182,612
77,013,012
78,136,911
75,301,943
74.474.895
72.524.855
71,532,353
73,209,910
71,781,817
73,155,709
72.636.895
73,147,399
72,730,599
70,812,105
69,501,807
70,091,020
71,567,068
73,083,181
73,673,898
76,680,191
74,673,539
73,562,173
76,258,722
76,571,427
77,286,475
77,278,757
78,283,484
74.808.855
75,883,763
76,830,581

1859. $35,125,433; 1860, $35,931,700.)

Circulation.

6,543,134
7,016,104

Deposits.

22,357,838
21,615,468

Due
to banks.

Due
from banka.

10,789,135
11,263,766

7,083,737
7,137,234

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

216

Loans.

17 . .

24 ..
S I ..

1 ..

Feb.

14 ..
21 ..
28 . .
Mar. 1 . .
14 ..
21 . .
28 . .
Apr. 4 . .
11 . .
18 . .
25 . .
May 2
9 ..
16 ..
23 . .
SO . .
June 6 . .
13 . .
20 ..
27 . .
July 4 . .
11 .
18 . .
25 . .
Aug., 1 . .
8 ..
15 . .
22 . .
29 . .
Sept. 5 . .
12 . .
19 . .
26 . .
Oct. 3 . .
10 . .
17 . .
24 . .
31 . .
Nov. 7 . .
14 . .
21 . .
28 . .
Dec. 5 . .
12 . .
19 . .
26 ..,
Jan. 2 ...

60,106,798
59,400,354
58,992,556
59,120,142
59,087,249
59,099,993
58,636,328
58,892,981
58,436,379
58,152,742
57,672,804
58,031,003
68,320,346
58,496,225
58,160,215
68,178,264
58,211,765
58,445,596
57,996,456
57,318,243
57,430,695
57,972,199
58,203,731
58,474,300
59,037,935
68,802,700
58,773,537
58,214,940
57,972,321
58,122,483
58,123,231
58,016,685
58,089,045
58,567,981
58,765,279
68,S51,495
58,580,748
58,735,636
58,881,297
68,752,928
58.433,628
58,321,767
59,036,007
69,338,369
59,488,359
59,220,885
69,528,260
59,701,811
69,829,222
59,576,273
59,807,566

Specie.

Circulation.

7,931,712
7,383,391
7,088,736
6,814,589
6,671,619
6,679,740
6,410,563
6,386,580
6,265,661
6,238,518
6,370,283
6,401.822
6,488,147
6,496,137
6,726,647
6,910,187
6,907,557
6,851,787
6,700,975
6,874,399
6,788,884
6,672,767
6,453,596
6,180,858
5,493,396
5,234,600
4,645,866
4,662,014
4,667,352
4,926,056
4,769,101
4,922,414
5,094,717
5,115,478
5,129,751
5,342,342
5,164,191
6,195,497
5,451,900
5,542,585
5,648,712
5,762,822
5,447,489
5,245,205
5,045,858
4,855,433
4,715,576
4,703,134
4,771,791
4,713,510
4,674,271

6,793,723
6,609,374
6,224,137
6,514,576
6,332,342
6,275,458
6,283,959
6,578,472
6,372,298
6,227,150
6,108,505
6,386,853
7,358,859
6,985,273
6,812,855
6,658,260
7,241,597
7,064,757
7,013,197
6,664,483
7,009,878
6,863,659
7,082,781
6,552,901
6,935,803
7,371,600
6,890,858
6,987,221
6.387,768
6,678,754
6.570,163
6,444,603
6,259,360
6,495,950
6,612,539
6,650,383
6,548,230
6,694,038
7,420,173
7,133,034
6,991,668
6,632,123
6,983,075
6,885,008
6,816,774
6,802,704
6,773,030
6,761,934
6,605,936
6,477,422
6,479,483

Deposits.

P H I L A D E L P H IA . B A N K S .- - ( c a p i t a l , JAN.,

Date.

Jan.

3 ...
1 0 ...
1 7 ...
24 ..
3 1 ...
F eb. 7 . . .
1 4 ...
2 1 ..,




Loans>.

26,451,057
26,395,860
26,365,385
26,283,118
26,320,089
26,472,569
26,527,304
26,574,418

Due
to banks.

21,127,712 11,139,700
20,727,905 10,430,454
20,598,451
9,657,823
20,845,520
9,506,146
19,983,531
9,391,733
20,082,960
9,318,961
19,469,489
9,184,941
19,935,649
8,477,968
19,202,029
8,456,312
7,945,389
19,809,807
19,908,785
7,767,582
20,899,191
7,665,274
21,422,531
8,410,087
21,666,840
8,663,857
21.663,615
8,237,561
21,990,246
7,850,530
21,852,338
7,998,226
21,466,499
7,704,870
7,542,472
20,845,917
20,769,103
7,289,128
20,718,977
7,090,735
6,865,611
20,118,426
20,229,249
7,134,285
7,099,339
19,878,006
7,076,162
20,017,147
7,307,000
18,846,900
18,422,769
6,854,245
6,838,207
18,201,927
18,033,821
6,511,893
6,580,316
17,957,506
6,570,922
17,417,279
17,602,981
6,857,698
6,892,813
17,569,101
6.921,705
18,159,586
7,009,345
18,190,067
6,946,411
18,459,463
18,527,936
6,979,094
19,165,983
7,000,547
19,635,881
7,018,707
7,202,078
19,653,268
6,961,026
19,379,720
19,652,388
6,964,995
6,575,609
20,344,878
19,587,724
6,845,183
19.555,848
6,908,100
18,821,988
7,195,212
18,971,401
7,209,628
18,709,672
7,198,798
18,518,118
7,188,482
7,218,032
18,088,099
7,545,222
18,449,305

Due
from banks.

7,111,264
7,037,715
6',547,510
7,057,113
6,763,270
6,699,735
6,815,160
6,673,623
6,330,719
6,817,368
6,864,684
7,524,274
8,509,638
8,343,446
7,834,888
7,346,135
8,077,777
7,805,577
7,565,826
7,549,033
7,852,924
7,778,657
7,460,245
6,663,773
7,283,020
7,300,400
6,731,181
7,110,420
6,331,385
6,359.393
5,764,922
6,090,950
5,749,899
6,153,490
6,237,555
6,296,528
6,724,476
7,237,090
7,975,757
7,828,215
7,416,931
7,157,049
7,650,086
7,144,018
7,110,251
7,247,335
7,440,865
6,923,466
6,463,715
6,339,159
6,848,374

1860, $1 1,647,836.)

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits.

Due banks.

6,063,356
6,067,222
6,050,743
6,099,317
6,138,245
5,97<9,439
5,991,541
6,017,663

2, 741,754
2,;854,398
2,i830,384
2;769,145
2,'709,311
2;786,453
2,1804,032
2,'782,792

17,049,005
17,138,607
17,323,908
17,498,219
17,557,809
17,007,167
16,384,087
16,129,610

3,424,569
3,297,816
3,258,315
3,093,921
3,159,539
3,307,371
3,695,963
3,964,000

Journal o j Banking, Currency, and Finance.
Loans.

2 8 ....
Mar.

1 ....

14___
21___
28___
Apr. 4 . . . .
1 1 ....
18 ___
25___
May 2 . . .
9 ___
16___
2 3 ___
30___
June 6 ___
13___
20___
2 7 ....
July 4 . . . .
11___
18___
25___
Aug. 1 ----8 ___
15___
22. ...
29 ___
Sept. 5 . . . .
12___
19___
26___
Oct. 3 . . . .
10___
1 7 ....
24___
81___
Nov. 7 ___
14___
21___
28___
Dec. 5 . . . .
12___
19 ___
2 6 ___
Jan. 2 . . . .

NEW

Jan.

3 ..

1 0 ..
1 7 ..
2 4 ..
3 1 ..
Feb. 5 . .

1 2 ..
1 9 ..
2 7 ..

Mar. 1 2 ..
1 9 ..
2 6 ..

Apr. 2 ..
9 ..
1 6 ..

Specie.

26,509,977
26,719,383
26,685,873
26,856,891
26,967,429
27,737,429
27,884,568
28,808,106
27,817,918
27,747,339
27,693,408
27,435,268
26,837,976
26,406,458
26,177,875
25,920,993
25,715,316
25,406,842
25,416,440
25,248,246
25,200,073
25,106,124
25,007,875
24,746,238
24,497,730
24,325,308
24,363,912
24,640,746
24,686,821
24,916,413
25,125,114
25,479,419
25,687,358
25,816,137
25,634,207
25,566,036
25,658,286
25,621,723
25,401,032
25,077,432
24 963,565
24,911,159
25,088,585
25,226,089
25,386,387
ORLEANS

Short loans.
20,5 37 ,5 6 7
20,4 53 ,4 1 7
2 0,9 04 ,8 4 0
21,4 42 ,1 6 7
21,837,791
21,8 09 ,6 2 8
22,594,245
22,6 77 ,3 9 0
23,1 26 ,6 2 5
2 2,944,605
2 2,633,181
2 2,4 2 0 ,4 4 4
22,4 65 ,7 3 0
21.655,921
2 1,132,186




Circulation.

Deposits.

2,778,252
16,012,765
16,372,368
2,901,337
16,703,049
2,900,832
2,923,551
16,899,846
17,476,060
3,029,255
3,425,196
17,154,770
17,002,878
3,580,447
17,829,494
3,364,531
3,179,236
17,804,212
17,781,229
3,081,102
3,152,725
17,441,125
17,603,264
3.090,007
3,014,659
17,182,349
16,454,661
2,975,736
16,386.995
2,992,198
2,918,426
16,207,149
15,705,980
2,835,643
2,729,953
16,114,269
15,533,496
2,808,208
2,940,108
14,295,683
15.011,670
2,873,947
14,862,920
2,808,592
2,775,043
14,854,543
2,809,456
14,623,439
2,736,302
14,249,758
2,724,061
14,096,270
2,655,866
14,292,308
14,901.572
2,702,837
14,909.709
2,785,146
2,766,370
15,056,018
15,243,099
2,730,835
2,742.444
15,550,755
2,910,908
15,459,055
2,873,402
15,332,414
2,809,752
15,093,336
2,788,375
15,284,824
15,480,452
2,737,150
15,212,918
2,724,358
2,654,119
14,978,280
14,816,675
2,679,562
2,648.226
14,852,018
2,673,655
14,691,519
14.731,338
2,641,550
14,608,348
2,630,064
2,856,601
14,982.919
(C A P I T A L , J A N ., 1860, $18,917,600.)

5,982,260
5,926,714
6,046,248
6,136,539
6,296,429
6,363,043
6,144,905
6,404,375
6,6S9,591
6,680,813
6,349,390
6,286,620
5,922,147
5,521,759
5,415,587
5,521,188
5,301,167
5,066,847
4,897,863
4,696,111
4,824,864
4,697,604
4,942,313
4,880,630
4,996,541
5,079,162
5,235,976
5,435,090
5,431.509
6,500,992
5,437,722
5,323,153
5,233,622
5,217,766
5,023,745
5,030,242
5,017,936
4,978,574
4,755,889
4,512,824
4,564,453
4,652,205
4,634,999
4,548,528
4,450,261
B A N K S .—

Specie.
16,013,189
1 6,294,474
1 6,343,810
1 6,279,655
16,1 01 ,1 5 8
16,365,053
16,700,188
16,949,263
16,806,998
16,8 28 ,1 4 0
17,013,593
16,837,405
16,179,137
16,260,790
15,975,547

Circulation.
9 ,551,324
1 0,383,734
10,819,419
1 1,224,464
11,616,119
1 1,9 13 ,0 0 9
12,1 48 ,1 7 4
12,241,954
12,522,244
12,581,934
12,777,999
12,681,931
13,054,416
12,985,616
12,777,079

Deposits.
22,643,428
2 1,756,592
22,1 94 ,9 5 7
22,549,305
2 2,554,889
2 2,743,175
23,830,045
23,620,711
23,203,848
23,5 01 ,7 8 4
2 2 ,3 64 ,4 3 0
2 2,589,661
22,4 65 ,7 3 0
2 2 ,0 6 6 ,1 6 4
22,3 56 ,8 3 3

Exchange.
9,8 8 2,60 2
9,866,131
9,6 6 6,07 0
9,492,871
9 ,508,708
9,747,755
9 ,686,145
9 ,474,473
9 ,217,655
9,0 4 6,37 2
8,563,771
8 ,770,788
9,0 5 9,38 2
9,493,761
9,949,531

217
banks.
4,086,651
3,854,990
3,841,605
3,929,010
4,109,455
4,329,343
4,668,136
4,519,146
4,439,457
4,217,834
4,160,780
3,930,536
3,462,753
S,403,572
3,367,146
3,177,859
3,198,968

Due

2,855,312
2,912,575
2,803,179
2,605,878
2,789,268
2,621,820
2,721,907
2,802,876
3,003,258
2,843,855
2,861,091
2,913,027
2,780,398
2,732,862
2,763,141
8,023,755
2,923,502
2,800,883
2,742,790
2,778,891
2,663,857
2,468,914
2,398,251
2,444,092
2,481,528
2,577,813
2,619,192
Distant
balances.
2 ,331,233
2,540,578
2,3 8 0,70 7
2,0 5 7,21 7
1 ,861,866
2,0 0 0,05 6
1 ,879,644
2 ,174,619
2 ,320,031
1,959,638
2 ,432,776
2,4 2 0,72 5
2 ,545,873
2 ,582,084
2,243,528

Journal o j Banking, Currency, and Finance,

218

2 3 ..
3 0 ..
May 7 . .
1 4 ..
21..
2 8 ..
June 4 . .
11..
1 8 ..
2 5 ..
July 2 . .
9 ..
I K ..
2 3 ..
3 0 ..
Aug. 6 . .
1 3 ..
20..
2 7 ..
Sept . 3 . .
10..
1 7 ..
2 4 ..
Oct. 1 . .
8 ..
1 5 ..
22..
2 9 ..
Nov. 5 . .
12..
1 9 ..
2 6 ..
Dec. 3 . .
10..
1 7 ..
2 4 ..
3 1 ..

Short loans.
2 'i,‘2 S7,9U3
19,926,487
19,443,947
18,948,824
18,925,857
1 8,594,556
18,350.758
17,889,718
17,525,037
17,262,214
17,198,658
1 7 ,1 38 ,6 4 9
1 6,763,853
1 6,690,806
l 17,020 ,10 0
17,696,593
18.032,892
18,850,144
19,505,226
19 827,317
2 0,629,817
21,1 44 ,1 7 4
2 2,228,245
2 2,797,076
23,189.871
23,553,087
2 4,228,872
2 4,495,812
24,650,793
25,164,116
2 4,887,928
25.045,141
25.5 49 ,7 4 9
2 5,381,591
25,568.691
25,608,485
25,905,628

Specie.
15,705.599
15,650,786
15,539,286
15.534,148
15,203,875
14,784.944
14,587,357
14,240,114
1 4,151,040
13,597,084
13,624.959
13,475,341
13,666,522
13,744,709
18,763,222
13,504,546
13,124,146
13,214,396
12,924.929
13,154.963
12,749,427
12,824,667
12,601.590
12,767,785
12,815,675
12,715,871
12,663.741
12,710,629
12,309,920
12.226,357
12,076,239
12,438,190
11,930.240
11,578,011
11,'813,740
11,603.027
12,115,425

P IT T S B U R G

Loans.

Jau.

Deposits.
Exchange.
21,792,705 10,055,454
9,537,886
21,315,664
21,396,145
9,271,213
8 ,439,088
20,569,681
19,890,960 7,428,213
19,445,178
7,190,460
18,683.911
6,614,289
18,159,432
6,481,915
17,804,674
6,076,239
17.139,130 6,853,472
16,891,446
5,550,384
16,643,664 4,839,808
16,330,871
4,043,047
15,933,313
3,657,302
15,940,824 3,197,339
16,377,209
2,787,895
15,856,742
2,647,128
15,483,806
2,581,960
15,314,628
2,411,899
15,394,654
2,445.097
15,260,331
2,003.175
15,402,592
1,862,657
15,596,759
2,001,524
2,175,945
16,224,953
2,587,384
16,325,445
16,627,959
2,840,507
17,088,401
3,246,394
17,821,585
3,960,983
17,688,094 4,578,944
5,112,580
18,481,201
5,402,418
18,049,797
18,432,608
5 ,542,706
18,744 364 6 ,119,918
6.775,797
18,781,197
6,933,473
19 413.197
7 ,020,754
18,776,308
19,777,806
7,196,067

B A N K S .— (C A P I T A L ,

10..
6 ,970,837

7 ..

1 4 . . .............
2 1 . . ............
28. .
Mar. 7 . .
1 4 . . ............
2 1 .. .............
2 8 . . ..........
Apr. 4. . .............
n . . .............
1 8 . . ............
2 5 ..
May 2 . . ............
9 . . .............
1 6 . . ............
2 3 ..




7,0 2 7,68 0
6,953,599

6,9S2,847
7 ,069.162
6 ,991,949
7 ,213,664
7,2 1 2,51 3
7,1 9 7,06 8
7,3 2 7,11 4
7,276,965
7,235,561

Distant
balances.
2,449,421
2,100,219
2,029,992
2,127,956
2,062,447
2,089,701
2,040,656
1,928,315
1,770,409
1,774,067
1,705,849
1,743,348
1,642,797
1,728,875
1.694,469
1,976,150
1,852,705
1,803,945
1,788,802
1,772,558
1,619,886
1,516,252
1,525,035
1,562,634
1,717,069
1,678,519
1,163,523
1,787,709
1,877,009
1,730,362
1,711,169
1,861,996
1,796,962
1,929,893
1,917,874
1,787,202
1,402,875

$4,160,200.)

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits.

1,287,552
1,294,567
1,308,325
1,307,145
1,260,532
1,219,551
1,223,396
1,213,552
1 ,133,754
1,100,171
1,156,682
1 ,112,770
1.113,769
1,128,686
1,191,797
1,155,780
1,182,273
1,141,556
1,089,513
1,053,799

2,042,348
2 ,023,948
1,961,493
1,965,723
1,904,978
1,958,098
1,919,658
1,937,498
1,867,848
2,0 2 9,46 8
1,961.843
1,954,903
2,080,363
2,035,188
2,089,498
2,084,153
2 ,000,344
2,010,948
2 ,101,348
2,024,673

1,767,594
1,804,149
1,7S1,474
1,739,046
1,748,144
1,724,773
1 ,699,020
1,683,030
1,637,796
1,638,243
1,625,949
1,602,283
1,704,191
1,747,237
1,751,230
1,782,131
1,856,843
1,899,305
1,865,657
1,774,093

3 ..
1 7 ..
2 4 . . ..............
3 1 ..

Feb.

Circulation.
1 ‘2„666,1 16
12,578,1 1 1
12,711,640
12,513,001
12,326,726
12.082,821
11,994,591
11,825,081
11,708,131
11,501,679
11,284,564
11,061,704
10,743,414
10,507,084
10,338,819
10,091,089
9,951,954
9,823,059
9,788,919
9,805.674
9,567.333
9,442,349
9.8 0 6,19 *
9,298,719
9,376,94 9
9,401,424
9,454,114
9,442,739
9,676,084
9,707,137
9 ,787,424
9,237,325
10,382,059
10,347,209
10,693,429
11,159,479
11,579,313

Due banks
162,902
216,097
179,451
241,121
215,608
202,505
164,859
134,859
175 ,64 0
160,996
220 ,82 2
215,029
180,567
2 3 7 ,29 0
196,288
262 ,92 2
274,549
291,061
212 ,68 2
228,187

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Noy.

s o ...........
6 ...........
13...........
18...........
25...........
4 ...........
11..........
18...........
25...........
S I...........
7 ...........
15...........
22...........
29...........
5 ...........
12..........
19______
26 ...........
3 ...........
10...........
17...........
24...........
.31 ........

7,006,116

6,829,277
6,809,909
6,767,148
6,745,807
6.696,995
6,705,683
6,749,855

12.........
19..........
26...........

7,325,245

7.........
21.........
28...........
5 ...........

Specie.
1,036,945
1,063,567
990,307
997,486
1,014,657
1,018,685
1,026,986
1,052,191
1,119,255
1,091,462
1,079,179
1,095,789
1,076,376
1,099,419
1,055,124
1,073,545
1,055,006
1,042,775
1,073,083
1,069,448
1,115,186
1,115,426
1,165,458
1,115,226
1,073,171
1,097,597
1,093,318
1,105,126
1,111.682
1,093,334
1,091,145

6,890,266

6,686,696
6,747,778
6,717,718
6,795,301
6,748,821
6,771,160
6,784,440
6,975,611
7,211,068

14..........

Dec.

Loans.
7,082,987

Circulation.
1,952,238
1,930,468
1,878,298
1,888,478
1,863,653
1,874,093
1,824,928
1,868,923
1,868,243
1,835,833
1,780,298
1,776,633
1,805,178
1,735,836
1,752,748
1,753,783
1,816,468
1,781,793
1,808,398
1,796,613
1,299,808
1,786,943
1,773,728
1,731,738
1,748,963
1,797,393
1,855,898
2,058,328
2,213,013
2,279,573
2,308,413

219

Deposits. Due banka.
1,699,393
1,666,775
266,305
1,577,358
220,362
1,578,395
1,636,933
1,694,895
1,718,566
225,404
1,734,554
266,888
1,750,313
232,171
257,160
1,741,588
239,571
1,695,557
248,565
1,646,966
1,645,959
222,021
200,076
1,657,486
205,270
1,580,176
190,068
1,570,561
1,570,561
181,605
182,642
1,596,295
176,755
1,604,173
1,597,692
160,198
187,125
1,570,568
191,939
1,625,076
1,557,269
223,635
184,249
1,704,208
1,634,232
203,154
259,356
1,634,123
1,690,844
253,958
1,566,818
288,223
260,950
1,636,322
302,028
1,590,236
264,598
1,615,292

8 T . L O U IS B A N K S .

Exchange.
Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

J u ly

8 ........................... .
15.............................
2 2 .............................
2 9 ............................
5 .............................
12.............................
19............................. .................
26........................... .................
5 ........................... ..................
12...........................
19........................... .................
26........................... .................
2 ...........................
9 ...........................
16...........................
23........................... .................
30........................... .................
7 ........................... .................
14........................... . .............
21........................... .................
28........................... .................
4 ...........................
11........................... .................
18........................... .................
2 5 . . . .................. .................
2 ........................... .................
9 ............................. .................
16............................. ...............
23........................... ..................
3 0 ........................... ..................




3,540,103
3,549,330
3,545,202
3,296,937
3,422,612

8,425,470
8,410,135
3,435,940
3,475,945
8,691,958
3,615,197
3,685,371
3,710,240
3,465,823
3,331,027
3,418,224
3,419,031
3,492,105
3,358,648

Circulation.
2,030,608
1,992,670
2,116,870
2,185,385
2,032.235
1,865,125
1,932,210
1,819,745
1,808,100
1,733,620
1.673,475
1,596,806
1,566,380
1,516,840
1,492,065
1,439,085
1,332,355
1,360,835
1,359,241
1,333,815
1,274,605
1,267,675
1,218,755
1,163,440
1,134,650
1,028,760
1.035,845
1,042,310
975,220
942,460

Specie.
1,705,262
1,578,800
1,584,541
1,640,541
1,599,203
1,682,084
1,678,054
1,636,054
1,575,362
1,569,742
1,605,802
1,642,589
1,542,211
1,531,199
1,525,315
1,434,491
1,435,568
1,549,133
1,574,657
1,542,616
1,373,194
1,367,181
1,358,047
1,441,301
1,419,965
1,358,069
1,339,076
1,325,552
1,275,820
1,229,777

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

220

Exchange.

6 ..
1 3 ..
2 0 ..
2 7 ...
Sept. 3 ..
10..
17..
2 4 ..
Oct.
I..
8. .
1 5 ..,
2 2 ..
2 9 ..
Nov.
5 ..,
1 2 ...
19. ..
2 6 ...
Dec.
2 ...
10. .
1 7 ...
2 4 ...
8 1 ...
Aug.

P R O V ID E N C E

basks.— ( c a p i t a l ,

Loans.

Jan. 1 7 ....
Feb. 7 . . . .
2 1 ....
Mar. 6 . . . .
2 1 ....
Apr. 4 . . . .
.
May 9
June 6 . . . .
July 4 . . . .
Aug. 4.. . .
Sept. 6 . . . .
Oct. 5 ....
Nov. 7.......
Dec. 5____
Jan. 2.......

18,037,795
18,298,481
18,533,944
18,321,546
18,333,574
18,483,550
18,260,520
18,597,814
19,124,155
18,972,736
18,900,466
19,019,691
19,322,775
19,087,114
19,144,354

Circulation.
919,415
816,895
778,365
114,060
684,745
682,065
648,890
695,805
550,810
553,390
521,535
651,850
541,315
537,720
487,619
534,850
483,675
491,895
513,990
553,760
540,365
517,060
85,636,269.)

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposits.

537,884
451,771
412,571
375,757
377.945
387,317
399,294
378,196
336,398
315,810
321,487
312,658
334,249
328,581
315,917

2,003,313
1,189,673
1,927,359
1,967,389
1,943,450
1,938,448
1,920,391
1,009,163
1,407,141
2,018,775
1,901,198
1,914,490
2,098,610
2,074,873
2,011,337

2,513,422
2,446,451
2,411,858
2,324,691
2,288,175
2,374,941
2,394,688
2.421,901
2,399,843
2,331,568
2,394,917
2,602,946
2,732,380
2,585,793
2,635,487

Specie.
1,120,829
1,002,615
986,150
1,013,160
894,998
865,943
867,943
180,425
820,674
847,601
913,356
177,028
820,053
856,334
820,513
837,062
730,655
683,496
709,871
681,824
711,088
678,677
Dueoth.b’ka.
1,307,647
1,135,309
968,154
918,410
255,892
972,491
803,729
946,691
1,076,323
1,559,874
965,545
807,827
1,043,439
990,100
938,598

NATIONAL BANK OF AUSTRIA— DEBT,

The following are the leading items of the Austrian National Bank since the
peace :—
Silver.

May
June
July
Aug.
Oct.

1
1
1
1
3

.............florins
..........
.......................
.......................
.......................

101,871,034
90,015,624
79,785,997
76,709,748
79,090,168

Note circulation.

376,559,891
429,291,582
453,752,407
466,369,040
472,191,762

Loans.

79,206,749
76,106,721
72,938,014
82,703,368
40,191,147

Loans to State.

r. 2,467,855
71,769,340
69,950,595
63,559.960
59,389,085

The quantity of silver on hand seems to hold its own, but at the expense of a
larger circulation of paper and diminished discounts. The national debt of Aus­
tria was, January 1, 1858, as follows
General funded d e b t.................................................................florins
General floating debt............................................................................

2,078,434.205
313,106,964

T o ta l debt . . . .
H eld by sinking fund

2,391,541,169
184,439,539

Total net debt................................................

This is about equal to 1,103 millions of dollars.




2,207,901,630

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

221

BR ITISH SHILLING IN CANADA.

The people of Canada at this moment are encountering a difficulty with the
coinage of the mother country similar to that which several times presented it­
self in the United States, in regard to the Spanish coin before the reform of the
silver currency by Mr. H u n t e r ’ s bill in 1853. They have valued the English
shilling too high iu trade, and the country has become flooded with them. The
Toronto Globe remarks :— •
We presume that the business community are quite ready to pass a resolution
that the British shilling is a nuisance—existing, increasing, and which ought to
be abated. The custom of trade is to take the coin at the nominal rate of 25
cents, while its actual value is only 24 cents and a fraction of about a third.
The effect of this is to bring shillings into Canada in overwhelming quantities.
An emigrant will only get $4 86 for a sovereign, but for 20s. in silver will re­
ceive $5, and those who know the fact naturally bring silver instead of gold, in
spite of the greater bulk. Besides the constant growth of the circulation, at a
loss to the country, there is the additional disadvantage that the banks and
public offices do not accept the current rate, but, on the contrary, refuse to re­
ceive the coin for more than 24 cents. The quantity in circulation continually
grows larger. The Toronto Board of Trade took the initiative by recommend­
ing that after the 1st of August the shilling be taken at 24 cents, and no more.
We believe that the general adoption of this rule will rid us of the difficulty,
though it will cause some slight loss to persons who hold the silver at the mo­
ment. The effect would be to check the importation of the coin, and to favor
its export. There would be a profit of one-third of a cent on each shilling ; and
though this is trifling, it would ultimately effect the desired object.
The old Spanish pistereens, worth about 17 cents, were formerly taken at 20
cents, and so filled the channels of circulation as to drive out all other coins.
The resolution to receive them only at 16 cents caused them to disappear. They
went back to Cuba, where they were most of them called in. The old Spanish
quarters next attracted attention, and the refusal of the post-office and the banks
to take them for more than 23 cents, (they were worth 23J,) caused them to be­
come scarce. The California excitement, however, by carrying off the silver
change, raised the value, and the public were glad to get them again. Finally
the law of 1853, by depreciating the United States small coin about 6 per cent,
finished the matter, and it is very rare now to see any of the old Spanish frac­
tions.
DEBT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,

The New York State Controller, in his report, gives the amount of the State
debt, October, 1859, as follows :—
State debt.

General fund d e b t ............................................
Canaldebt No. 1................................................
“
“
“ 2................................................
“
“
« S................................................
“
“
“ 4................................................
Contingent d e b t ................................................
T o t a l......................................................

$6,505,654
11,665,098
12,000,000
642,585
2,500,000
570,000

Annual interest.

37
99
00
49
00
00

$354,606 10
614,263 04
710,000 00
34,629 28
150,000 00
.................

$33,883,338 85

$1,863,498 42

The revenues of the State canals were as follows :—•
Gros9 canal revenue, 1859.....................................................................
Expenses, repairs, Ac.............................................................................
Surplus revenue




$1,859,897 68
897,878 96
$962,000 67

222

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

The condition of the State Treasury is as follows :—
STATE OF TH E

TREASURY.

Balance in the treasury on the 80th September, 1858.....................
Amount received into the treasury on account of the several funds
during the year ending 30th September, 1859..............................
Amount of warrants drawn on the treasury remaining unpaid on
the 30th September, 1859 ...............................................................

$565,959 42
6,479,278 74
424 44

Total............................................................................................
$7,045,662 60
Amount o f warrants drawn on the treasury on
account of the several funds, during the year
ending 30th September, 1859 .........................
$6,358,789 45
Amount o f warrants drawn on the treasury, re­
maining unpaid on the 30th September, 1858
654 18
--------------------------------------------6,359,44363
Balance in the treasury on 80th September, 1859...................

$686,218 97

The amount of assessed valuation in the State is as follows :—
V A L U A T IO N S O F R E A L

AND PERSONAL

ESTATE.

Keal estate (assessed)..........................................................................
Personal estate (assessed).....................................................................

$1,098,666,251
315,108,117

Corrected aggregate valuations...............................................

$1,416,290,337

The amount'of taxes is as follows :—
H “ hi tax f°r support of government, and £ mill tax for the com­
pletion of the canals, i s ...................................
f mill school tax is............................................
Town tax is...............................................................................................
County tax is............................................................................................
Total taxation..;............................................................................

$2,458,613
1,053,873
2,361,603
10,479,210

92
04
47
95

$16,353,301 38

The rate of tax on $1 valuation is 11 54-100 mills.
Governor M organ, in his message, remarks upon the assessments as follows :—
The State assessors, appointed under the act of April 14, 1859, have obtained
much information, acting upon which the Board of Equalization, constituted by
that act, have made many changes in the valuation of real estate in the several
counties, retaining, as the law obliged them to do, the same aggregate valuation
for the entire State. It appears that the law of 1850, requiring assessors to
attach an affidavit to their valuation, led to an immediate increase of over three
hundred million dollars in the valuation of real estate. There was a subsequent
steady increase of over three hundred millions more in real estate down to 1856
since which, time there has been a decrease of more than a hundred millions.
This is believed to be owing to the practice adopted by some counties of
systematically undervaluing the property, an example which the other counties
are continually imitating, so as to counteract the injustice which would otherwise
be done them. Another year it is probable that the aggregate valuation of the
State will be increased. The State assessors, however, have no control over
personal property, a very large portion of which now escapes taxation.
CITIES OF OHIO.

The Toledo papers give the following comparative value of real estates in five
cities :—
T o le d o ..........................................................................
Columbus-...................................................................
Cleveland.....................................................................
D ayton.........................................................................
Cincinnati.....................................................................




1859.

1853.

$3,229,030
4,527,284
14,157,491
5,741,804
62,869,120

$1,647,590
6,934,117
16,696,202
5,309,928
56,275,420

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

22 B

VALUATION OF VIRGINIA.

The Auditor of the State of Virginia has made the following report in rela­
tion to the assessed taxable value of the State :—
W E A L T H O F V I R G IN IA .

Total value of lands as assessed for taxation..........................................
Total value of lots assessed for taxation................................................

$315,416,221
59,563,667
$374,989,888

Total value o f 511,154 slaves, estimated at $612 63, which is the
average value in Georgia by official reports........................................
Total assessed value of personal property, except slaves, and such as
is exempt from taxation.........................................................................
Total value of dividends, interest, &c., which is ta x ed .........................
Total value of property embraced in business, for which a license is
required.................................................................... , .............................
Estimated value of property exempt from taxation.............................
Value of investments in internal improvement companies, which are
otherwise taxed........................................................................................

313,148,275
128,560,907
26,855,137
127,411,720
31,000,000
47,000,000
$1,043,965,928

But as property is assessed for taxation at least 20 per cent below
its fair value, the Auditor adds to the assessed price of lands and
personal property....................................................................................

99,710,159

Making a total value of .................................................................

$1,143,676,087

BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.

The continued multiplication of counterfeit bank-notes is a proof that the
work of art displayed on their face is no protection from the skill of the fraudulant, but, on the other hand.it is rather an aid. In this connection the Phila.
delphia Press remarks upon the advantages possessed by the Bank of England
notes
Notes which are now very rarely imitated, are distinguished in their execution
by the utmost simplicity of design and work. Had the bank directors belonged
to the Society of Friends, by whom vain adornment is repudiated, they could
scarcely have agreed upon a more simple and plain bank-note. Yet, with all
this simplicity and plainness, a forgery of it is seldom made, and, when made, is
readily detected. The protection lies in the simplicity. Instead of being covered
with many and beautiful decorations and drawings, including gems of landscape
by Darley, or portraits of individuals, or reminiscences of Grecian mythology,
the note of the Bank of England is little more than a promise to pay, duly dated
and numbered, with signature of cashier, or one of his assistants, on the right
side, and the signature of an entering clerk on the left.
The chief peculiarity is a different ink employed on the mechanical numbering
of each note, and a mathematical exactness and harmony on the whole engraving.
There are a few secret marks—five in all—consisting of dots placed with appa­
rent carelessness on various parts of the note, which bank clerks and other initi­
ated persons can immediately ascertain.
Above all, the paper, with its peculiar water-mark, is difficult to be made.
To imitate it would be as felonious as to forge the hand-writings on the note
itself. This paper is made by a process known only to a few confidential per­
sons in the bank, and even were the mystery laid open, would require, such a
costly plan of intricate machinery, that persons possessed of the pecuniary means
to establish it for this purpose, would be so far above the usual inducements to
crime, that they would scarcely be induced to run the risk. This paper possesses
such remarkable toughness, that if a Bank of England note be twisted, with a
weight of two hundred and twenty-four pounds suspended to it, the twist will
sustain it without yielding or breaking.




224

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.
PENNSYLVANIA FINANCES,

The official report of the Auditor of the State of Pennsylvania gives the
revenue and expenditure of that State for the year ending November 30,1859.
The leading sources of revenue, as compared with former years, give very inte­
resting results. In the number for March, 1849, the financial condition of the
State was elaborately treated by the present editor. That article contained a
table of the revenues and expenses from 1843. If we bring down the leading
items the table becomes more interesting :—
R E V E N U E O F P E N N S Y L V A N IA .

1841
Real estate t a x .................
Canal tolls.........................
Tax on stocks &bank divi,
Licenses.............................
Tax and interest on loan9.
Collateral inheritance___
Other ................................

1 8 48 .

1857.

1858.

1859.

$558,911 $1,850,129 $1,554,667 $1,610,229 $1,388,502
1,019,401 1,550,555 1,308,698
sold....................
65,040
258,407
555,483
669,147 666,802
118,951
169,778
349,870
410,496 437,881
...........
113,431
204,765
559,406
785,158
22,377
66,359
139,606
132,101 124,946
221,342
334,117
577,598
758,399 423,061

Total reven ue...........$2,009,022 $3,831,776 $4,690,587 $4,139,778 $3,826,350
Total expenses........... 3,583,324 3,935,376 5,407,276 3,775,817 3,879,054

The expenditures include the payments to the sinking fund, which really is
not an outlay. The balance on hand November 30, 1859, was $880,855. The
sales of the public works makes a great difference in the State account. They
uniformly absorbed more than they yielded. The revenues show a continued
improvement, owing to the natural increase of the capitals on which they are
levied. The most interesting of these is, perhaps, the tax on “ collateral inheri­
tances.” This tax is, we think, peculiar to Pennsylvania, and its progress indi­
cates the growing wealth of the State, since so much larger an amount passes
annually into the hands of collateral heirs. The general state of the finances is
very satisfactory.
FINANCES OF KENTUCKY.

Governor M a g o f f i n , in his late message to the Legislature of Kentucky,
represents that State to be in a highly prosperous condition. Its taxable property
is $493,409,303, and exceeds that of the previous year by the sum of $28,480,550.
The balance in the treasury in October was $136,463, nearly all of which be­
longed to the sinking fund. This fund, which is devoted to the payment of the
principal and interest of the State debt, amounts to $758,283. The debt itself
is $5,479,244. To offset this the stocks in various works of internal improve­
ments and in banks owned by the State, together with the balance in the treasury
belonging to the sinking fund, are estimated at $7,751,577. The banks of the
State, the Governor thinks, are well managed, and he deems it a matter of just
pride that in the revulsion of 1857 none of them suspended specie payments, and
that they charged for eastern exchange only from one to two per cent, when those
of adjacent States were asking from three to ten per cent. He would deplore,
however, the granting of any more bank charters, and would certainly withhold
from them his official sanction. He suggests the appointment of supervisors by
the Legislature, which shall briug these institutions more within the control of
the people. Of the charitable institutions of the State for the deaf and dumb,




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

225

the blind, and the insane, he gives a most encouraging account, and he recom­
mends that in addition to these another should be established for idiots. Fifteen
to twenty per cent of the idiots of the institute, he asserts, are the fruits of
marriages between cousins, and such marriages, therefore, he recommends should
be interdicted by law.
GRAND TAX LIST OF THE STATE OF OHIO FOR TWO YEARS.

The following official document shows the progress of wealth and taxes in
Ohio:—
1 8 58 .
Number of a cre s................................................
Value o f lands....................................................
Value of to w n s.........................................
Value of chattels................................................
Total taxable valuation

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

1859.

25,298,968.00
$437,183,182 00
153,102,815 00
250,514,084 00

26,320,842.00
$438,439,600 00
155,674,404 00
251,785,947 00

$840,800,031 00

$845,899,951 00

STATE TAXES.

For sinking fu n d .......................
General revenue fund............
State common school fund...
District school library..........
Total State taxes..

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

$1,047,902
587,206
1,259,092
83,y20

00
89
50
70

$2,978,122 15

$1,055,119
590,870
1,267,433
84,494

78
39
44
99

$2,997,918 60

C O U N TY T A X E S .

For county expenses........
Bridge purposes...........
Poor purposes.............
Building purposes . . . .
Road purposes.............
Railroad purposes........
County school purposes

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

Total county ta x e s ................. ..............
OTHEB

$1,130,939
361,988
222,471
320,954
350,435
462,430

20
66
94
57
08
35

$2,849,119 80

$1,305,095
398,403
277,323
274,664
402,293
493,359

09
37
12
16
60
80

$3,151,139 74

LOCAL TAXES.

For township expenses.......................................
Special school and school-house...................
Other special purposes..................................
City, town, and borough purposes.................

$248,051
1,438,810
216,425
1,417,391

32
88
06
07

$309,635
1,440,249
245,860
1,471,958

07
7S
57
06

Total taxes levied by city, town, town­
ship, and district assessment...........
Grand total, county and other local taxes . . .
Delinquencies and forfeitures............................
Total of all taxes except State..........................
Total taxes on the grand list.............................

$3,356,678
$6,205,898
572,630
6,778,528
9,756,650

33
13
02
15
30

$3,467,703
$6,618,843
428,576
7,047,419
10,045,338

43
17
15
62
22

THE TUSCAN COINAGE.

A corespondent of the Times writing from Tuscany remarks upon the coinage
of that country :—I hear from very good reliable sources that the Tuscan govern­
ment had sent to the French mint an order for coining the new decimal coinage,
which is presently to become the currency in Tuscany, and connect this country
in its monetary arrangements with France, Piedmont, Switzerland, and Belgium.
The Hotel de la Monnaie had accepted the order, but was prevented by Count
W a l e w s k i from executing it.
The order has, therefore, been forwarded to the
Royal Mint in London, which accepted and is now executing it, without any
scruple of its own or any hinderance from her Majesty’s government.
V OL. XLII.---- N O. I I .
15




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

226

STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
THE CALCUTTA TRADE.

The Boston Courier remarks:—The Calcutta trade is one of the most im*
portant branches of our foreign commerce, and a few facts in relation to the ex­
tent of the business, and the rapidity with which it has increased, must be in­
teresting to the general reader. Boston is emphatically the head quarters of this
trade, and the gentlemen engaged in it are numbered among our most intelligent
and enterprising merchants. For three years past the business has been quite
unremunerative, and cargo after cargo has been landed and disposed of at less
than cost. This, however, is a state of things that cannot always last. A
favorable change must soon take place, and from present indications it is not un­
reasonable to look for that change the coming year.
Previous to 1857 the trade was successful and prosperous, and quite an
attractive business to young merchants of our city. In this year the imports were
beyond all precedent, and largely exceeded the increasing wants of consumers.
The business was evidently overdone, and with even a prosperous business year
the first cost of the goods could scarcely be realized, as the demand at Calcutta
forced up prices there to an unusually high figure. But the panic came with its
crushing influence, depressing all branches of our manufactures, and causing a
rapid decline in the value of all kinds of merchandise. It was an unfortunate
year for the Calcutta trade, and but few of the young houses had strength enough
to live through it. It was only the old and experienced in the trade who where
able to sustain themselves, and the business is now principally in their hands.
From the statistics of the trade we learn that for the year ending August 31,
1 8 4 1 , the total exports from Calcutta to the United States comprised about
17,000 tons of goods, in twenty-one vessels. The following imports into the
United States for the past four years, ending December 31, show how rapidly
the business has increased. The imports were as follows:—
1856.
Into Boston....................................tons
New Y o r k ....................................
Philadelphia......................
Baltimore......................................
New Bedford................................
Charleston....................................
New Orleans................................

1857.

1858.

1859.

110,113
20,813
1,709
••••
....
....
...

147,131
37,055
1,191
....
1,224
1,230
1,386

8fi,013
25,801
4,007
1,237
....
....
....

141,825
26,234
7,997
....
....
1,405
1,535

132,635

189,267

117,058

179,086

Linseed is the largest article of import, and has increased more rapidly than
any other. In 1841 the shipments to the United States were only 27,000 bags,
but in 1857 the imports were 871,000 bags. Since 1850 the increase in the impoit of linseed has been twenty-five per cent each year, and if it continues to
increase in the same ratio for ten years to come, it would reach almost a fabu­
lous figure in 1870. The entire import into the country for four years past lias
been as follows :—




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
1859..............................bags
1858......................................

758,228 11857......................................
498,250 I 1856......................................

227
871,663
505,000

The above includes several cargoes of Bombay seed. This gives us an average
importation of seed for the past four years of 650,000 bags per year. The con­
sumption of the country the past year has been 756,969 bags. This is equal to
5,500,000 gallons of linseed oil and 50,000 tons of linseed cake. The crushers
of the country are now nearly all fully employed, the demand for oil is better
than for a year or two, and there is every indication of a large consumption the
coming year.
Saltpeter is the next most important article of import. As supplies of this
article are almost exclusively obtained from India, the unsettled state of Euro­
pean affairs has made it one of the mo3t fluctuating on the list. During the
Russian war what most people would call a handsome fortune has been made on
a moderate import in a single vessel, but with the cessation of hostilities the
price as rapidly declined. This is not owing to any increased consumption for
war purposes, but to the difficulties with which the article is obtained. Statis­
tics of the trade show that in years of peace the consumption of the article is
greatest. During the past year the declaration of war between France and
Austria caused the price of this article to advance to 11J cents per pound, but
soon after peace was proclaimed it went down as low as 7 cents. This, on an
import of 2,000 bags, would make a difference of about $17,000—quite a change
in the value of the article in the short space of two months. The import into
the country during the past eight years has been as follows :—
1859..............
1858..............
1857..............
1856.............

103,5941 1855....................... ..............
90,178 1854.........................
149,228 1853....................... .
97,356 l 1852....................... .

131763

The consumption by our powder manufacturers the past year has amounted
to almost 100,000 bags, while in 1858 the amount consumed was 70,000 bags.
The import of gunny cloth has rapidly increased the past few years, reaching
in 1859 about 75,000 bales, while the exports from Calcutta for the year 1850
amounted to only 20,800 bales. This article is almost exclusively used as cot­
ton bagging, and it is quite evident that, no matter how large our cotton crop
may be, abundant supplies of bagging will be forthcoming from India to cover
it. The quantity consumed in 1859 amounted to 70,886 bales, against 41,666
bales in 1858.
In years of active export movements in breadstuff's, gunny bags are quite an
important article, but for two years past have attracted very little attention.
The imports into the country in 1859 amounted to 14,919 bales, against 16,121
bales in 1858. The consumption and export of the year has exceeded our im­
ports upwards of 5,000 bales, amounting to 20,200 bales, against 12,900 last
year. When the corn crop of the West begins to move in the spring, we would
not be surprised to see a speculative movement in gunny bags.
Hides and goat skins are also imported largely from Calcutta, besides indigo,
lac dye, and other articles used by our manufacturers. The following statement
embraces the principal articles imported into the country the past three years,
not previously referred to :—




228

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

Buffalo hides . . .
Cow bides...........
Goat skins...........
Jute.....................
Shellac................
Lac d y e ..............
Indigo..................
Ginger..................
G in ger...............
Hemp..................
Castor o i l ...........
Castor o il...........
Cutch...................
Twine..................

185 9 .
214,792
526,639
1,725,466
22,128
8,186
1,660
2,041
4,87 8
9,033
1,367
9,471

1858.
203,307
291,600
1,172,410
28,047
4,513
2,160
919
6,440
13,336
2,462
5,260

1857.
276,662
549,698
1,822,254
49,024
6,783
1,423
2,123
8,684
4,180
7,293
9,112

14,919
4,544

7,786
9,533

10,566
4,086

....

V E SSE L S SURVEYED IN NEW YORK.

Governor M o r g a n , in bis message, remarks upon
Warden’s Office of New York as follows :—

th e

survey of vessels in the

The number of vessels surveyed by the Wardens appointed under the “ act to
reorganize the Warden’s Office of the port of New York,” passed April 14,
1857, was, during the first eleven months of the year 1859, three thousand two
hundred and sixty eight, against two thousand three hundred and thirty-eight
surveyed during the same time of 1858. The number of surveys made during
the eleven months of 1859 was ten thousand three hundred and thirty-seven ;
during the entire year of 1858, seven thousand and twenty-two. The gross re­
ceipts of the office during the eleven months of 1859 were thirty thousand two
hundred and thirty-four dollars and seven cents, and the expenses four thousand
two hundred and seventy-three dollars and sixteen cents. During the year 1858
the gross receipts were twenty-four thousand five hundred and seventeen dollars
and eighty-three cents, and the expenses five thousand three hundred and thirtyone dollars and seventy cents. The increase is probably due to the natural
revival of business from the commercial depression of 1857 and 1858 ; to the
decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the constitutionality of the law, and
to the increasing confidence of the public in its wisdom and propriety.
The gross amount of fees received by the harbor masters of the port of New
York during the eleven months from January 1 to November 30, 1859, was
thirty-one thousand two hundred and fiity dollars and forty-five cents. The num­
ber of vessels that arrived during that period was eleven thousand eight hundred
and forty-six, of which seven thousand five hundred were under a coasting license,
and therefore paid no fees. The law relating to harbor regulations requires
amendment. The piers and wharves of New York andBrooklyn are now divided
into eleven districts, each assigned to one harbor master, who has entire control
over his district, and acts upon his own construction of the law. There should
be established an officer corresponding to the captain of the port of most European
cities, who should have a central office, where a list of all vacant berths should
be kept, and who should establish a general and uniform system of regulations.
The harbor masters should be under his supervision.
TRADE OF PARANA.

The following is a state of the trade of that republic for several years :—
Import.

1852 .........................................
1853 ..........................................
1864............................................
1855............................................
1856............................................




640,000
407,000
860,000
600,000
686,000

Export.

479,U00
699,000
776,000
1,000,000
1,144,000

Together.

1,019,000
1,106,000
1,636,000
1,600,000
1,830,000

Duties.

162,000
93,000
163,000
180,000
200,000

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

229

GRAIN AT CHICAGO.

The port of Chicago is the great grain center of the West, and the receipts
and shipments at that point form an index of the crop movements of a most
interesting character. The Chicago Press gives the following summary, remark­
ing, “ by the tables which follow, it will be found that the total receipts of flour
(reduced to bushels) and grain amount to 20,008,223 bushels—a falling off of
over 3,000,000 bushels from the imports of 1858. The receipts of wheat alone
show a decrease of over one-and-a-half million bushels ; but, of wheat and flour
together, there is only a falling off of 491,095 bushels. The decrease in corn
amounts to nearly 3,000,000 bushels, and oats about 400,000 bushels.” There
is, however, an increase in the receipts of rye and barley :—
TOTAL EECEIPTS OF FLOUR AND GRAIN FOR FOUR TEARS.

1857.

1858.

1859.

W heat.................
Corn.....................
Oats.....................
Bye .....................
B a ile y .................

8,764,760
11,888,398
2,219,897
85,707
128,457

10,554,761
7,409,130
1,706,245
37,911
127,689

9,761,326
8,260,033
2,295,322
70,031
411,421

8,184,446
5,410,003
1,813,048
228,179
662,187

T o ta l...........
Hour into wheat

23,050,219
1,624,005

19,886,536
1,969,670

20,798,133
2,624,575

16,298,168
3,710,060

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

24,674,824

21,856,206

23,422,703

20,708,223

1856.

The following table shows the total exports o f flour and grain in 1859 :—
S H IP M E N T S OF A L L K IN D S O F

1856.

G R A IN

FOR

TH E

PAST FOUR T E A R S .

1857.

1858.

1859.

W heat.................
Corn.....................
Oats.....................
Rye......................
Barley..................

8,337,420
11,129,668
1,014,547
509
19,051

9,485,052
6,814,615
416,778
17,693

8,727,838
7,493,212
1,498,134
7,569
127,008

7,267,553
4,127,654
1,174,171
131,449
478,162

T o ta l..........
Hour into wheat

20,501,276
1,081,945

16,734,488
1,298,240

17,853,761
2,181,405

13,178,995
3,484,800

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

21,583,221

18,032,678

20,035,166

16,663,795

ONONDAGA SALT SPRINGS.

Governor M o r g a n , in his message, remarks :—The amount of salt manufactured
on the Onondaga salt springs reservation, during the year ending September 30,
1859, is within a fraction of seven million bushels, the duty upon which is seventy
thousand dollars. The expenditures have been about forty-five thousand dollars,
leaving a profit of about twenty-five thousand dollars, of which fifteen thousand
have been expended in improvements designed to increase the facilities for manu­
facturing. The present supplies of brine, and facilities for raising and distribut­
ing the same, are adequate to the production of ten million bushels a year, an
amount which will probably be attained within a few years. The very general
use of coal has put an end to the apprehensions once felt that the high price of
fuel would necessarily diminish the amount of salt manufactured.




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

230

COMMERCE OF NEW ORLEANS.

The New Orleans Price Current has the following interesting returns of the
monthly commerce of that port. It is the first time w!e think that the trade of
that important point has been given to the public monthly :—
STATEMENT OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS, MONTHLY.
IMPORTS.

July.

Entered for consumption..
Entered for warehouse . .
Free merchandise.............
Specie and bullion............
T o ta l.........................
Total, 1858...............

October.

November.

$320,485
161,486
116,499
733,200

$491,772 $969,641
Sis'629 805,803
79,042
613,796
118,214
26,431

August.

September.

$1,164,240
353.682
104,772
127,905

$1,218,170
406,057
638,748
192,372

1,820,670
464,262

1,002,457 1,916,671
1,727,439 1,344,147

1,760,695
1,317,024

2,455,847
1,359,601

EXPORTS.

Domestic merchandise . . . *4,101,962$1,666,532 $3,443,475
$7,645,936 $10,775,889
Foreign, dutiable..............
27,884
15,200
44,083
11,027
19,286
Foreign, free.....................
229
.........
1,137
20,995
20
Specie and bullion...........
11,000
11,000
106,400
68,420
11,118
T o t a l......................... 4,141,065 1,682,732 3,595,055
Withdrawn fr’m w’rehouse
65,200
65,275
75,099

7,746,381
107,167

10,805,708
99,379

The month of August, when the crop of cotton is mostly exhausted, is that of
the smallest business ; but as the new crop comes forward the figures take rapidly
larger proportions. The exports of produce this year in November and Octo­
ber are $18,521,275. Last year for the three months ending with December
they were $28,800,000. This year the figure will be exceeded by a large amount.
The exports of cotton from New Orleans, September 1 to December 17, are this
year 515,731 bales against 448,309, an increase of 67,422 bales, or an increase
of $3,371,100 in value. A remarkable feature in the return is the large increase
in imports of merchandise into that port from foreign countries. These for the
three months ending with November are this year $6,121,513, against $4,020,572
same period last year, an increase of more than 50 per cent, and it exceeds, in
the same ratio, the large importations of the year 1857. Not only are the im­
ports for consumption much larger, but the warehouse system there has received
a great development. If we compare the experts of domestic produce from New
York for the same months, we have results as follows :—
September.

New York...........................
New Orleans.....................

$4,946,612
3,443,475

October.

$4,762,779
7,645,936

November.

Total.

$5,323,011
10,775,389

$15,022,402
21,864,760

There is a large excess at New Orleans even for the three months in which the
trade of that port is the lowest.
TRADE OF SHANGHAE.

The following is an official summary of the trade of Shaughae for the year
1858 :—
General imports
Treasure............
Total




,------------ Import trade,-------------,
Taels.
Dollars.

,------------Export trade.------------>
Taels.
Dollars.

19,017,049
3,912,780

28,145,232
5,790,914

30,623.759
9,624,310

45,823,163
14,243,978

22,929,829

33,936,146

40,248,069

59,567,141

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

2 3 1

ESTIMATED QUANTITY AND VALUE OF OPIUM IMPORTED,

Value.

Q u antity.'

25,122 chests Malwa..................................................
7,238
“
Patna....................................................

12,058,560
3,763,760

17,846,668
.5,670,364

Total opiu m ....................................................

15,822,320

28,417,030

The foregoing summary is condensed from the official Custom-house returns of
the trade of Shanghae during the year 1858, and is of pecular interest at this
time, when we have news of the ratification of our new treaty with the Chinese
Empire.
The trade of Shanghae doubled in the two years ending with 1856. The lead­
ing items of the trade have become silk for export and opium for import— treasure
ranking next. The drain of silver became very important in Europe in 1857 to
meet the wants of the trade. Of the exports in 1856, silk counted for $20,245,624
for 90,059 bales sent to all the world, of this quantity, the value sent to the
United States was $732,600, embracing $498,288 of sewing silk, at 250 per picul.
The tonnage of Shanghae was as follows
Tonnage inwards.
Ycssels.
Tons.

British......................................................
American...........................................
Su ndry..............................................
Total............................................

Tonnage outwards.
Vessels.
Tons,

290

120,205
56,280
66,139

174
56
148

77,496
38,270
39,029

754

242,624

878

154,795

97
367

ANNUAL R EV IEW OF THE ALBANY LUMBER TRADE.

The lumber trade for the year 1859 was not distinguished by any very marked
features. In the early part of the season prices ruled at an advance from those
of 1858, under the apprehension of a scarcity, from the want of snow for stock­
ing the mills during the previous winter. As the season advanced, however,
large quantities from Canada West, Michigan, &e., which had been destined for
Chicago and other western ports, but which, on account of the limited demand,
could not be sold there at any price, were sent East for a market. This soon
brought down prices to lower figures than had been reached for several years,
which induced a brisk demand in the latter part of the season, and reduced the
heavy stock which had accumulated during the dull summer months to a reason­
able amount, which will probably be exhausted before the opening of canal
navigation.
This extra amount, not calculated upon by the dealers, caused the receipts of
the season, of sawed lumber, to exceed those of 1858 by about 25,000,000 feet.
The following table exhibits the receipts at Albany during the years named :—
Boards and
scantling, feet.
1 8 5 0 ...........................
1 8 5 1 ........................ ..
1 8 5 2 ...........................
1 8 5 3 ...........................
1 8 5 4 ...........................
1 8 5 5 ...........................
1 8 5 6 ...........................
1 8 5 7 ...........................
1 8 5 8 ...........................
1 8 5 9 ...........................

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

260,238,003
317 ,13 5 ,6 2 0

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

311,571,151
2 15 ,92 1 ,6 5 2

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

180,09 7 ,6 2 9
267,406,411
291,771,762

Shingles, M.

34,026
34,136
31,636
27,586
24,003
57,2 10
36,899
71,0 04
31,823
4 8,7 56

Timber,
cubic feet.
28,8 32

110,200
2 9 1 ,7 1 4
19,916
28,909
24,104
14,533
8 5 ,1 0 4
119,497
70,381

The value of these receipts for 1859 is estimated at $5,528,070.




Staves,

pounds.
15U ,615,280
1 1 5 ,08 7 ,2 9 0
107,96 1 ,2 8 9
1 18 ,66 8 ,7 6 0
135,805,091
140,255,285
102.64 8 ,4 9 2
153.264,629
135,011,817
1 14 ,57 0 ,5 0 3

232

Postal Department.

POSTAL DEPARTMENT.
STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES POST-OFFICE FOR 1858.

The report of the Hon. J. H o l t , Postmaster-General of the "United States,
is more interesting than usual, in consequence of the condition of the depart­
ment, growing out of the heavy deficit, and the omission of the last Congress to
pass the necessary appropriation bill. The statistics for the year 1858 by the
Hon. J. N. B r o w n , who died in March last, will be found on page 114, vol.
xl. For the past year the number of post-offices has been as follows :—
NUMBER OF TOST-OFFICES.

Whole number of post offices in the United States on June 30, 1858 .......
Number that were established during the year ending June 30,1859 1,455
Number that were discontinued...........................................................
893

27,917

Net increase of offices during the year.............................................................

562

Whole number of post-offices on the 30th June, 1859 .................................

28,539

The revenue of the department has been as follows :—
Gross revenue for year...............................................................................
Expeuses of transportation, Ac..............................................................

$7,968,484
11,458,083

Total expenses....................................................................................
A dd outstanding liabilities of last year.......................... ..............

$3,489,599
4,296,009
$7,785,608

Total deficit
POSTAGE

ST A M P S A N D

STAM PED

E N V E L O P S.

The number of postage stamps supplied to postmasters during the year ending
June 30,1859, was as follows :—
1 cent.................................
3 cent.................................
6 cent.................................

44,432,300 10 cen t..............................
142,087,800 12 cent..............................
486,560

3,765,560
1,429,700

Whole number.

Value.

192,201,920
80,280,300

$6,279,405 00
982,128 34

Total............................................................................................
Total value of postage stamps and stamped envelops issued dur­
ing the year ending June 30, 1858..................................................

$6,261,533 34

Postage stam ps.....................................................
Stamped envelops................................................

Increase during 1859 ...........................................................................

6,962,787 28
$298,746 06

TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS.

On the 30th of June last there were in operation 8,723 mail routes. The
number of contractors was 7,353.
The length of these routes is estimated at 260,052 miles, divided as follows,
viz.:—
Railroad........................... miles
Steamboat..................................

26,010 I Coach............................... ,mile3
19,209 j Inferior modes...........................

63,041
151,792

The total annual transportation of mails was 82,308,402 miles, costing
$9 ,468,757, and divided as follows :—
Miles.

Railroad................................................
Steamboat,............................................
Coach......................................................
Inferior modes.......................................




27,268,384
4,569,962
23,448,398
27,021,658

Whole amount. Averago.

$3,243,974
1,157,843
3,134,094
1,982,846

11.9 c. a mile.
25£
“
“
13.36 “
“
7.1 5 “
“

Postal Department.

233

Compared with the service reported June 30, 1858, there is a decrease of
551 miles in the length of the mail routes: an addition of 3,542,911 miles to the
annual transportation, being about 4.4 per cent, and of $1,673,339 to the cost,
or about 21.46 per cent.
The aggregate length of railroad routes has been increased 1,579 miles, and
the annual transportation thereon 1,504,932 miles, 5.84 per cent, at a cost of
§415,673, or 14.69 per cent.
The length of steamboat routes is greater by 2,166 miles, and the annual
transportation by 352 miles; the cost is §76,073 less, being a reduction of 6.16
per cent.
The addition to coach routes is 9,341 miles in length, 3,892,664 miles in annual
transportation, or 19.9 per cent, and §1,224,250 in cost, or 64.1 per cent.
The length of inferior routes is diminished 13,637 miles, and the annual trans­
portation 1,855,037 miles; the additional cost is $109,849 ; being 6.42 per cent
less in transportation and 6 per cent additional in cost.
Appended to this report is a table (marked —) showing in detail the mail ser­
vice of every grade as existing in each separate State and Territory on the 30th
of June last.
The letting's of new contracts for the term commencing 1st July last embraced
five States—Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
The following table shows the new service as in operation the 30th of Septem­
ber :—
Milos in
length.

Conveyance.

Railroad................................................................
Steamboat...........................................................
C oach ........................................................................
Inferior m odes........................................................
T otal........................................................

4 230
3,257
3,010
29,120
39,617

Miles o f annual
transportation.

Cost.

4,830,607
705,918
1,224,536
5,232,934

$615,964
156,558
97,155
331,824

10,993,995 « 1,201,501

Compared with the service on the 30th of June last, in the same States, the
length of the routes, by railroad and inferior modes, is increased 974 miles, and
by steamboat and coach is diminished 6,242 miles ; the annual transportation is
diminished 943,574 miles, and the the cost §2,942, divided as follows, to w it:—
Miles in
length.

Annual
transportation.

Cost.

238,796
888,642
1,104,373
788,237

$19,206
17,348
88,516
83,716

route agents, at a compensation o f....................................................
express agents, at a compensation o f ..............................................
local agents, at a compensation o f ....................................................
mail messengers, at a compensation o f ............................................

$368,657
30,700
29,818
196,999

T o ta l....................................................................................................
This amount added to the cost of service as in operation on 30th June

$626,174
9,468,757

Makes the total on 30th June last..................... ......................................
The reductions in the cost of the service from the 30th of June to the
30th September were................................................................................

$10,094,931

R ailroad......................................................
Steam boat..................................................
C oa ch ...........................................................
Inferior modes.............................................

191
2,906
3,336
783

On the 30th June last there were in the service—
475
31
42
1,549

Making the total amount on 30th September




657,521
$9,437,410

Postal Department.

234

INTERNATIONAL POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS.
ADDITIONAL

ARTICLES

TO THE

ARTICLES

AGREED

UPON

BETWEEN

THE

POST-

OFFICE OF THE UNITED KINGDOMS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND THE
POST-OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

In pursuance of the power granted by article twenty one of the convention of
December 15, 1848, between the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Iieland
and the United States of America to the two post-offices to settle the matters
of detail, which are to be arranged by mutual consent, for insuring the execution
of the stipulations contained in the said convention, the undersigned, duly
authorized for that purpose by their respective offices, have agreed upon the
following articles:—
A r t i c l e 1. There shall be established new offices of exchange on the part of
the United States at Detroit and Chicago, and on the part of the United King­
doms at Dublin, Cork, and Galway, for the exchange of United States and
European mails by means of British, United States, and Canadian mail packets.
A rt . 2. The office of Portland, which has hitherto exchanged mails with the
offices of Liverpool and London only, shall henceforth be an office of exchange
with the offices of Dublin, Cork, and Galway also.
A rt . 3. In addition to the exchange mails already provided for between the
United States office at Portland and the British offices of London and Liverpool,
(by virtue of the additional articles signed at Washington on the 11th January,
and in London on the 2d February, 1859,) there shall be established an exchange
of mails between the British office of Cork and the United States office of Port­
land by means of the Canadian mail packets plying direct between Liverpool
and Portland during the winter, and also an exchange of mails between the office
of Portland on the one side and the offices of London, Liverpool, and Cork on
the other side by means of the Canadian mail packets plying between Liverpool
and Biver du Loup in summer.
A rt. 4. The description of letters, &e., which shall be comprised in the mails
forwarded from the respective United States exchanging offices to the several
British exchanging offices, and vice versa from the British exchanging offices to
the United States exchanging offices, shall be arranged by correspondence between
the British and the United States post-offices.
A rt . 5. The present articles shall be considered as additional to those agreed
upon between the two offices for carrying into execution the convention ol De­
cember 15th. 1848, signed at Washington on the 14th May, 1849.
Done in duplicate, and signed in London on the twenty-fifth day of November,
one thousand-eight hundred and fifty-nine, and at Washington on the fourteenth
day of December, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
H OK ATIO K IN G .
E O W L A N D H ILL.

POSTAL CONTRACT WITH BELGIUM.
W ashington, December 23, 1859.

A postal contract has been executed between the Postmaster-General and the
Minister of Belgium, establishing a regular exchange of correspondence in closed
mails between the United States and Belgium, to be conveyed via England, once
a week or oftener, and in coincidence as far as possible with the regular sailing
of the Anglo-American steamers.
The single rate for letters and samples of merchandise originating in the Uni­
ted States and destined for Belgium, or vice versa, is fixed at 27 cents, of which
prepayment is optional in either country. There are also provisions for printed
matter. The transmission of closed mails under this convention is to commence
on the 21st of January next.
Provision is also made for the direct exchange of mails between the two
countries by means of any direct lines of mail steamers which may hereafter be
established between the United States and Belgium, at the combined single rate
of 15 cents for each letter or packet not exceeding half an ounce in weight; and
prepayment being optional.




Commercial Regulations.

235

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
COLORED GLASS.
T reasu ry D epartm ent , December 3, 1859.

—I have examined your report and that of the appraisers, together with
the papers submitted by the importer, Mr. E. F. K o r t u m , on his appeal from
your assessment of duties at the rate of 24 per cent, under the classification in
schedule C of “ glass, colored, stained, or painted,” on certain glass imported in
long round pieces of different colors, and intended for the manufacture of “ but­
tons ” and “ imitation precious stones.” The importer claims entry free of duty
under the classification in schedule i of “ glass when old and fit only to be re­
manufactured.” As remarked in a previous decision respecting “ old copper”
and “ old brass,” in regard to which there is a similar provision in schedule I,
the phrase “ old and fit only to be remanufactured ” has reference to old material,
vessels, or other manufactures, so worn, impaired, or broken, as to be fit only to
be reworked or manufactured anew. The glass in question is new, and does not,
in the opinion of the Department, come within that classification. Your de­
cision in assessing duty at the rate of 24 per cent, under the classification in
schedule C of “ glass, colored, stained, or painted,” is affirmed. I am, very re­
spectfully,
S ir

H O W E L L COBB, Secretary of tho Treasury.
A u g u s t u s S c h e l l , Esq., Collector, &c., New York.

MILL STONES WOT BURR.
T

reasury

D

epartm en t,

December 14,1859.

:— I have carefully examined your report of the 3d ultimo and accompany­
ing papers on the appeal of Messrs. G r a v e l y & P r i n g l e from your assessment
of duty on six pairs of “ rice mill stones” at the rate of 15 per cent, as unenu­
merated in the tariff of 1857, the importers claiming to enter them free of duty
under the classification in schedule I of “ burr stones, wrought or unwrought,
but unmanufactured,” or at a duty of 8 per cent under the classification of “ polish­
ing stones ” in schedule G. The articles in question do not belong to that
description of merchandise known in commerce under the designation of “ burr
stones,” and this fact is admitted by the importers. They cannot, therefore, be
admitted free of duty under that classification ; nor subjected to duty at the rate
of 8 per cent as “ polishing stones,” under schedule G of the tariff, as they are
not used as “ polishing stones,” nor known in commerce under that name. They
are to be regarded, in the opinion of this Department, as unenumerated, and as
such liable, under the provisions of the first section of the tariff act of 3d March,
1857, to a duty of 15 per cent; and they cannot be classed, under the pro­
visions of the 20th section of the tariff act of 1842, with any enumerated article
that would subject them to a different rate of duty. Your decision assessing a
duty of 15 per cent is affirmed. I am, very respectfully,
S ir

H O W E LL COBB, Secretary of the Treasury.
W m. F . Coloock, Esq., Collector, &c., Charleston, S. C.

WCT GALLS.
T rea su ry D epartm ent , December 19, 1859.

S ir :—The Department has had under consideration your report of the 23d
ultimo on the appeal of Messrs. D u l l e s & C o p e from your decision assessing
duty at the rate of 4 per cent on “ nut galls,” under schedule H of the tariff of
1857, the importers claiming to enter them free of duty under schedule I. “ Nut
galls ” were specially named in schedule H of the tariff of 1846, and they still




Commercial Regulations.

236

remain in that schedule, unless they have been transferred to some other schedule
by the tariff act of the 3d March, 1857. There is no provision of that act
transferring by name “ nut galls ” to any other schedule, nor is there any general
provision which could be held so to transfer them. The provisions under which
it is presumed these articles are sought to be admitted free of duty are the
classifications in schedule I, “ articles in a crude state, used in dyeing or tanning,
not otherwise provided for,” and “ berries, nuts, flowers, plants, and vegetables,
used exclusively in dyeing or in composing dyes, but no article shall be classed
as such that has undergone any manufacture.” They cannot come within the
first named classification because they were “ otherwise provided for,” being ex­
pressly named in schedule H ; nor within the last, not being used exclusively in
dyeing or composing dyes, but for medicinal and manufacturing purposes also.
Your assessment of duty at the rate of 4 per cent, under schedule II, is affirmed.
I am, very respectfully,
HOW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury.
J. B . B a k e e , Esq., Collector, &c., Philadelphia, Pa.

WEIGHTS OF VARIOUS KINDS OF PRODUCE P E R BUSHEL,
ACCORDING TO CUSTOM ESTABLISHED IN THE CINCINNATI MARKET.

Apples (dried)................................lbs.
Barley.................
Barley malt (inc. weight of bags). . .
B eans...............................................
B ran.......................................................
Corn........................................................
C o a l......................................................
Hominy.............................................
Oats.........................................................
Onions....................................................
Peaches (dried )....................................

25 Rye malt (inc. weight of bags)., .lbs.
48 Seed, clover..........................................
34
“ tim othy............................
60
“
flax..............................................
“
h e m p ..........................................
20
“
canary ...............
66
80
“
millet...........................................
60
“
Hungarian grass.......................
“
ra p e ............................................
33
16
“
blue grass...................................
33 W h e a t...................................................

40
82
45
66
42
60

50
50
50
10
60

By the law of this State, CO pounds is a bushel of clover seed, and 32 pounds
a bushel of oats, in cases where no contracts have been made between the parties.
In buying and selling in this market the customary weights given here are the
universal rule.
CUBAN CLEARANCES,

His Excellency, the Spanish Minister in Washington, has transferred to this
Consulate the communication received from his Excellency the Captain General
of the Islaud of Cuba, in reference to the modification granted by said superior
authority to the royal order of the 1st of July, (published lately,) and which
regulations are the following :—
1st. On and after the 1st of December it shall duly take effect in all the cus­
tom-houses of the Island of Cuba, the royal order of 1st of July.
2d. No alterations shall be made to the manuer or form that the mail steamers
are cleared at present, and consequently they shall not be liable to the prescrip­
tions specified in the said royal order.
3d. Fishing smacks or boats that enter or sail daily from the neighboring coast
shall not be liable to present their consular certificate as described in the same
royal order.
H. C. M. Y . Consul,
A . FE R AU D O , Acting Consul.

N ew O r l e a n s , 17th December, 1859.




N autical Intelligence.

2S7

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
THE WRECK REGISTER OF ENGLAND FOR 1858.
Annually the Board of Trade in England presents to Parliament a wreck regis­
ter and chart, the register giving ample details of all the shipwrecks occurring on
the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, and the chart indicating the locality of
each disaster.
To every maritime nation the information furnished by this register and chart
is at once of deep interest and great value, and from our intimate commercial
relations with England this information is of special value and interest to our
people.
From a very thorough review of the register and chart, for 1858, in the Jour­
nal of the National Life-Boat Institution, we learn the following details :—
There were 1,555 lives rescued last year, on the British coast, by “ lile boats,
other boats and ships, and by the rocket and mortar apparatusand that out
of 1,895 lives in actual peril from shipwreck, only 340 were lost. During the
past seven years, including 1858, the average number of lives lost was 745.
Even in September of this year, 1859, more than this average number had un­
happily been reached.
The following statement shows clearly the number and character of the ship­
wrecks, that have occurred in the seas on the coasts of the British isles, during
the past seven years :—
Wrecks and casualties in 1 852........... .
it

«

it

U

it

it

it

ft

u
<1

((
«
Total.................... .

1 853.............
1 854.............
1855.............
1 856..............
1 85 7 .............
1 858.............

Wrecks.
958
759
893
894
837
766
869

Collisions.
57
73
94
247
316
277
301

Total
wrecks.
1,015
832
987
1,141
1,153
1,143
1,170

1,365

7,441

Total lives
lost
920
689
1,549
469
521
532
340
5,020

The register tells us that there are now 149 life-boats on the coast, 82 of
which are under the management of the National Life-Boat Institution, and 67
belong to the local authorities. Each boat of that institution has a paid cox­
swain and volunteer crew attached to her, who are promptly paid after being
afloat in the boats. We also observe that there are 216 mortar and rocket
stations on the coast. These are chiefly under the control of the Board of Trade,
and worked by the coast guard. We find that the result of these combined and
active exertions during the past year in saving life is thus succinctly given: —
Persons.

By life b o a ts .......................................................................................
By luggers, coastguard boats, small craft, and ships’ own b oa ts..
By ships andsteam vessels..................................................................
From shore by ropes, rockets, mortar apparatus, A c.....................
Individual exertion of ameritorious character.................................

209
719
894
216
26

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

1,555

An anDalysis of the tonnage of the wrecks on our shores during the past
year is thus given :—




Nautical Intelligence.

238

Vessels.
Vessels under
101
SOI

“

50 tons........
100 “ ___
300 “ . . . .
600 “ ........

352
467
96

Vessels.
601 and under 900 tons . . .
901
“
1,200 “ . . .

Total. .

23
5
..

1,170

The exact site of each disaster is given in the register; and to prevent the
possibility of error on this point, the wreck chart which accompanies it clearly
and distinctly points out the locality of the wreck. The following is a SumEast Coast— Dungeness to Pentland Frith........................................
West Coast—Land’s End to Greenock..............................................
South Coast—Land’s Endto Dungeness ..........................................
Irish Coast.............................................................................................
Scilly Islands....................... , ..............................................................
Lundy Island..........................................................................................
Isle of Man....................... .,....................................................................
Northern Isles, Orkney, &c.

514
304
89
168
14
15
6
60

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

1,170

On the coast of Scotland there is a sad want of life-boats. It is along this
coast a large portion of our trade with the Baltic, Greenland, Archangle, Davis’
Straits, and much of that of the Canadian and United States trade is carried
on. In addition to this traffic the Scotch coast is remarkable for its great her­
ring fishery. Peterhead has its 250 fishing boats, Frazerburgh and Duckie more
than 400 sail; while further up north, off the coast of Caithness, more than
1,200 fishing boats, manned by 6,000 persons, nightly pursue their calling during
the season, exposed to the proverbial suddenness of a north-east gale. About
two years ago, during a fearful gale of wind, of a fleet of such boats, five were
lost, from which 42 men were drowned, leaving 27 widows and 79 orphans unpro­
vided for. Since then calamities to Scotch fishermen nearly equal in magnitude
have occurred. Within the last three months the National Life-Boat Institution
has made an urgent appeal to the Scotch people generally for assistance to
station additional life boats on their coast; but we lament to say that appeal
has met with little response from them. The number of causalties in each
month of 1858 is thu3 given in the register for that year :—
Vessels.

January..........................................
February........................................
March................................................
April................................................
M ay............ ..
J u n e.......................

124
116
148
115
43
30

Vessels.

July...................................................
August.............................................
September.......................................
October............................................
Novem ber..........................................
December............................................

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

61
33
91
148
120
136
1,170

Representing 205,243 tons, and employing 8,979 hands, of whom 340 perished.
The cargoes of these wrecks are thus defined :— In ballast, colliers, 151 vessels;
coal laden, 377 ; oil, 18 : grain and provisions, 101 ; general cargo, 110 ; iron
and other ores, 101; manure and kelp, 18 ; passengers, 14 ; potatoes and fruit,
12 ; salt, 27 ; sugar, coffee, spices, tea, molasses, 7 ; stone, slate, lime, or bricks,
75 ; timber or bark, 66 ; various, or unknown, 36. Total— 1,170 vessels.
It is supposed thi3 aggregate loss of ships and cargoes represents at least
£1,500,000. Unquestionably the first step towards effectually checking this
truly distressing waste of life and property is to institute immediate inquiry as




Nautical Intelligence.

239

to the cause of loss in every case of shipwreck. We are glad to find that this
step is iu numerous instances now prosecuted with much advantage by the
Board of Trade, and we augur still very beneficial results therefrom. We fur­
ther find that 172 vessels were lost from stress of weather ; 58 from defects in
ships or equipments, including charts and compasses; and 69 from various other
causes more or less avoidable, We thus see that 127 vessels were absolutely
lost in one year from causes which were clearly controllable by man, and which
were, we fear, the product in some instances of his willful negligence. It is not
long ago that the master of a ship was tried and convicted in the Old Bailey for
scuttling his own vessel off the Downs. Who can tell how many more vessels
have been willfully destroyed, in addition to those which have been lost through
gross and culpable neglect ? For it must be remembered that, in consequence of the
almost universal custom of insurance, the shipowner has often no pecuniary inter­
est in the safely of his vessel, and may even be benefited by her loss. It cannot be
wondered at. therefore, if here and there an unprincipled man should lend him­
self to the commission of a fraud for his own advantage. Every English vessel
should be thoroughly examined before she leaves port, in order that it might be
satisfactorily shown lhat she was seaworthy and well manned, and that means,
both simple and efficacious, were on board for the rescue of the crew in case of
an accident. On this latter point it is much to be lamented that the law of the
land does not afford that protection to its merchant seamen which they surely
have a rightful claim to, by requiring all owners of vessels to provide the cheap
and simple appliance of a life-belt for the use of each seaman in this employ, as
by such provision alone undoubtedly many lives would be annually saved from
our merchant craft.
Ten thousand nine hundred and two persons have been saved from shipwreck
by life-boats and other means since the establishment of the National Life-Boat
Institution ; £28,061 have been expended by life-boat establishments, and
£11,651, besides gold and silver medals for saving life, have been voted. The
committee of the institution make, therefore, a confident appeal to the generos­
ity of the public, on whose support the continued efficiency and extension ot the
society depend. Many new life-boats are yet needed on the coasts. The cost of
several recently placed, as well as of the carriages and boat houses required for
them, has in some cases been defrayed in full by charitable persons, admirers of
the institution, or anxious to afford substantial testimony of their persona!
gratitude for rescue I'rom shipwreck by means of life-boats.
Only the other day Lord Bury and his fellow passengers, returning in the Asia
from the United States, presented £21, the profits of an amateur magazine they
had started to relieve the tedium of the voyage, to the National Life-Boat In­
stitution A prettier or more graceful thank-offering for a “ good deliverance”
from ocean’s perils could not well be conceived.
Recently the journeymen sawyers and boat builders in the employ of Messrs.
Forrest, of Limehouse, subscribed £30 for the same purpose. Equally as
touching and appreciated was the gift to the society of Is. 6d. in stamps from
a sailor’s orphan. It only remains for us to appeal to the public at large for the
continuous pecuniary support to an institution at once noble, patriotic, and
merciful in its design, and which is so constantly affording practical illustration
of its useful character and successful working.




Journal o f Insurance.

240

JOURNAL OF INSURANCE.
NEW ENGLAND MUTUAL L IF E INSURANCE COMPANY.

The foliowing is the sixteenth annual report of the New England Mutual Life
Insurance Company of Boston :—
REPORT OP THE DIRECTORS TO THE MEMBERS, AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, DECEMBER

12, 1859.
The members of the company will see by the subjoined statement that the past
year has been one of increased activity, the number and amount of insurances
having exceeded those of any former year, the number of policies issued having
been one thousand and seven, making the aggregate number of our subsisting
policies thirty-eight hundred and forty-four ; and the aggregate amount insured
over twelve-and-a-half million of dollars ; the amount of premiums received on
new policies having been one-third as much as has been received during the year
on those still subsisting of prior date.
The number of losses has been considerably below the proportion shown by
approved tables of vital statistics, the whole amount being one hundred and
twelve thousand dollars, about four-fifths of which has been payable to sur­
viving families and friends, and near one-fifth to creditors of the persons insured.
Of the one thousand and seven policies issued during the year, those for the
whole life are a fraction under four-fifths, showing the great preponderance of
new policies of that description, and the proportion of such still subsisting
prior insurances is much greater, since those for terms of years drop out faster,
aud accordingly a very large part of our members have been long in the compa­
ny, and many of these are familiar with its affairs, and able, and it is believed
willing, to answer for it.
It appears from all our annual reports, as was to be expected, that the com­
pany consists mainly of such as join us in the most active period of life, from
twenty-five to forty-five years of age. The proportion of such is a fraction short
of three-fourths, and if we include the ages twenty to twenty-five it exceeds
four-fifths.
By inspecting the descriptions of members insured during the year, we find
that about half of them are of the mercantile classes ; about one-eighth are
mechanics, machinists, and manufacturers ; a smaller proportion belong to the
legal, clerical, and medical classes, and that of teachers; and about one-twenti­
eth part are agents, superintendents, or officers of corporations— constituting,
altogether, nearly three-fourths of the new members.
A considerable number of agents have been appointed in new localities, during
the year, which has contributed to the increased amount of business.
The additional net accumulations during the year has been two hundred and
eighty-three thousand dollars, making the whole net accumulated funds thirteen
hundred and forty two thousand dollars, after providing for the remainder of the
distribution not yet called for, and for other ascertained liabilities ; and our in­
vestments are deemed to be such as will bear scrutiny and not fall short of the
value at which they have been stated.
The company’s building is occupied at reasonable rents excepting a part of
the fifth floor, the rent of which, when it shall be occupied, will not be a very
considerable amount.
Such are some of the outlines of the condition of our company, which, with
the particulars in the subjoined statement, the directors are persuaded will not
be regarded by the members as unsatisfactory.




Journal o f Insurance.

241

8,177 policies outstanding November 30, 1868 ..................................
1,007
“
issued s in c e .....................................................................

30, 1859.
$10,410,101 00
3,363,700 00

.............................................................................................
terminated........................................................................

$13,763,801 00
1,074,275 00

STATEMENT OF THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY FOE THE YE AR ENDING NOVEMBER

4,184
340

“
“

8,844

“

outstanding November 30, 1859..................................'

$12,689,526 00

Twenty-six policies have terminated during the year, by death of the insured ;
of which number, twenty, amounting to $39,100,00, were for the benefit of sur­
viving families, and the remaining, amounting to $23,190 00, were for the bene­
fit of creditors.
Of the 1,007 policies issued, 786, amounting to $2,488,500 00, were for life;
and 221, amounting to $865,200 00, were for terms of years.
The ages of new members are as follows :—
Under 20 years...............................
20 to 25
“
25 to 30
“
80 to 35
“
35 to 40
“

22
105
185
201
191

The classes o f new members are as fol
Merchants, traders, and brokers..
414
Clerks........................................
110
Mechanics.....................................
Lawyers....................................
49
Manufacturers...........................
42
Agents and superintendents..........
32
Farm ers.....................................
27
Clergymen.......................................
Master mariners and mariners.. .
20
Bank, insurance, &railroad officers
19
Engineers and machinists........
19

40 to 45 y e a r s ..............................
45 to 50 “
50 to 65 “
55 to 60 “
60 and o v e r ....................................
lows :—
Students..........................................
Teachers..........................................
88
Females............................................
Physicians......................................
Government officers.......................
Editors..............................................
Hotel k eepers................................
26
G entlem
en ....................................
Professors........................................
Expressmen and conductors.........
Miscellaneous..................................

151
73

46
22
li
18
]8

16
13
8
7

7
4
4
5
61

The residences of new members are as follows :—
New England States.....................
Middle States.................................
Western States...............................
Southern States.............................

625
256
82
32

California.............
England...............
South Am erica.. .
Sandwich Islands

EXHIBIT OF THE BUSINESS AND PR O PE R T Y OF THE COMPANY NOVEMBER

Premiums received on 1,007 new policies.............................................
“
on old policies..........................................................
Received for additional premium...........................................................

7
3
1
1
30, 1859.
$93,192 12
278,652 79
2,312 69

Deduct amount of premium returned

$374,157 60
17,644 03

Add amount received for interest and dividends

$356,518 57
75,706 13
$432,219 70

Losses paid since November 30,1858
Losses still unpaid................................

$93,290 00
19,000 00
------------- $112,290 00
Amount paid during the year for salaries, commis­
sions to agents, advertising, printing, doctors’ fees,
and all other incidental expenses............................
36,933 08
$149,223 08
Net accumulation for the y e a r ...............................................................
Add accumulation to November 30, 1858............................................
VOL. X L II.---- NO. II.




16

$282,996 62
1,059,859 21
$1,342,855 88

Journal o f Insurance.

242

The property of the company consists of—
Loans on m ortgage....................................................
Beal estate in Boston................................................
Premium notes secured by collateral on policies..
Bank stocks.................................................................
Loans to and stocks of cities....................................
Loans secured by collateral......................................
Railroad stocks............................................................
Boston Gas Light Com pany....................................
Manufacturing stocks..................................................
Railroad bonds.............................................................
Cash in Merchants’ Bank*..........................................

$480,595
143,580
270,211
135,525
132,535
38.397
25,002
18,500
10,000
19,950
46,886

84
22
50
35
00
91
00
00
00
00
46

—

$1,416,134 28

The company owe as follows :—
Balance of distribution account................................
Balance of loss account.............................................. .

$54,278 45
19,000 00
—

$73,278 45
$1,342,855 83

All of which is respectfully submitted by the directors,
W IL L A R D P H ILLIPS,
CHARLES P . CURTIS,
THOM AS A . D E X T E R ,
M A R SH A LL P. W IL D E R ,
A. W . TH AXTER,

SE W E L L T A P P A N ,
CHARLES H UBBARD,
W ill. B. R EYN O LD S,
GEO. II. EOLGEE,
P A T R IC K T. JACKSON.

INSURANCE IN VIRGINIA,
Gov. W i s e , in his annual message, remarks as follows :—
No considerable amount of taxation is now raised from the tax on insurance
offices. I cannot enter into details here on this subject, but refer to my previous
messages in February, 1858, and in December, 1857. If a border war continues,
as in J efferson County lately,the necessity of insurance against fire by the State may
be made too manifest. And this source of revenue is much more fruitful and
more easily regulated than that of oysters. Proper bills, efficiently executed, on
these two subjects, would yield a revenue equal to 7 per cent on ten millions of
dollars ; and if passed and put into operation, would make our present public
debt a light burden, and the completion of all our public works sure very soon.
Our bonds would immediately command a high premium in the market. I beg
the earnest attention of the General Assembly to this subject.
MARINE LOSSES FOR 1859.
The following is a monthly summary of the marine losses for the year 1859,
distinguishing cargo values :—
January...............................................
February ............................................
March..................................................
A p r il..................................................
M a y ....................................................
J u n e .................................................. ■
J u ly ....................................................
August................................................
September...........................................
O ctober..............................................
N ovem ber..........................................
December.......................................... .
Total, 1859 ...............................

Vessels and freight
$1,362,700
1,230,600
699,400
642,400
1,165,300
1,413,400
1,975,100
2,170,150
1,023,400
1,791,700
3,203,100
1,223,900
$17,901,150

Cargoes,
$1,419,400
1,246,700
1,159,000
599,560
1,393,900
1,042,500
2,252,600
1,044,150
1.242,900
2,059,600
5,368,160
749,950

Total.
$2,782,100
2,477 300
1,858,400
1,241,960
2,559,200
2,455,900
4,227,700
3,214,300
2,266,300
3,851,300
8,571,260
1,973,850

$19,578,420

$37,479,570

* A. deposit of $45,000 is under an agreement for a loan, and accordingly interest is allowed by
the borrower.




Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.

248

JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART.
HISTORY OF TH E “ HOT B L A ST ” IN IRON MAKING.

The use of the “ hot blast” in smelling iron, says the Scientific American, has
proved to be one of the most original and valuable inventions on record. It is
now employed in all countries, and its importance is felt and acknowledged
everywhere. In our last volume, we presented an illustrated history of the ap­
paratus for heating the blast, and it has afforded us pleasure to have received
several letters expressing sincere satisfaction regarding the publication of that
information. Vie now present something more relating to this invention, from
the inventor himself, who is still living, which makes the matter doubly inter­
esting. Our information was obtained from a paper read before the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers (England) by Mr. Neilson, and lately published in the
London Mechanics’ Magazine.
Six or seven years before the invention of the hot blast was brought out, Mr.
N eilson had read an essay before the Glasglow Philosophical Society, on tho
best mode of taking out the moisture from the atmospheric air, in summer time,
previous to its entrance into the tweers of iron furnaces, as it was found that
the manufacture of iron was much impaired in summer, both in quality andl
quantity, and he had become satisfied that this was owing to the greater amount
of moisture in the air at that season. His first proposed method was to pass
the air through two long tunnels containing calcined lime, and thus dry it thor­
oughly (by the lime absorbing the moisture) on its passage to the cylinder of
the blowing engine; but this plan was not put on trial. About this time his
advice was asked by a friend—Mr. J ames E w ing , of the Muirkirk Iron Works—
in regard to a blast furnace situated half a mile from the blowing engine, which
did not obtain a sufficient supply of air at that distance, and, of course, did not
make so much iron as two furnaces close to the blowing engine. It then oc­
curred to him that, as air increased in volume according to its temperature, if it
were passed through a red hot vessel before entering the distant furnaee, its vol­
ume would be increased, and it might be enabled to do more duty in the furnace.
Being at that time engaged as engineer in the Glasglow Gas Works, he made an
experiment upon the illuminating power of gas supplied by heated air, brought
up by a tube close to the burner, and he found that, by this means, the combus­
tion of the gas was rendered more perfect and intense, so that the illuminating
power of the particles of carbon in the gas was greatly augmented. He then
tried a similar experiment with a blacksmith’s fire by blowing heated air into it,
by which the fire was rendered most brilliant and the heat exceedingly intense
in comparison with another fire supplied with cold air in the usual manner.
Having obtained such remarkable results on a small scale, it occurred to him
that a similar increase in the intensity of heat could be obtained on a large scale
in large blast furnaces; but being a gas-maker, he could not persuade iron-mas­
ters to allow him to make the necessary experiments. A t that time there was
great need of improvement in the working of iron furnaces, as many of them




244

Journal o f M ining , Manufactures, and A rt.

were standing idle for want of the blast, because they were unable to supply the
necessary heat lor smelting the iron, and unless £6 ($29 10) per ton could be
obtained, no profit was realized. A strong prejudice then existed against med­
dling with the furnaces—a sort of superstitious dread of change prevailed, ow­
ing to the great ignorance of furnace managers with respect to the real action
going on in the furuace. Mr. N eilson at length succeeded, however, in induc­
ing Mr. C h arles M acintosh , of Glasgow, and Mr. C olin D unlop, of the Clyde
Iron Works, to allow him to make an experiment. This was done, and although
the air was only raised 50°, it showed a marked difference in the scoria—more
iron was obtained from the same quantity of ore than before. This only made
him anxious to try his1plan on a more enlarged and perfect scale, but he was
still retarded by the iron-masters, they objecting to any alteration in the fur­
nace. In one instance, when he succeeded so far as to be allowed to heat the
blast, he wanted to make a bend in the pipe to bring the air more closely to the
sides of the heated metal and increase the area of heating surface, to elevate the
temperature ; but his request was refused, and it was asserted that if the pipe
were bent the furnace would cease working. These prejudices proved serious
obstacles to early success; and it was two or three years after this before he
was allowed to put a bend in the main heating pipe. But after years of perse­
verance he was at length enabled to work out the plan into a definite shape, at
the Clyde Iron Works of Mr. C. D unlop, near Bntkerglen, in Scotland.
The invention of the hot blast in smelting iron consists solely in heating the
blast between the engine-blower and the furnace, and it is not -associated with
any particular construction of the intermediate heating apparatus. This was
the cause of the Success which had attended the invention ; and in this respect
it had much similarity to that of his countryman, J ames W att , who, in connec­
tion with the steam engine, invented the plan of condensing the steam in a sepa­
rate vessel from the cylinder, and was successful in maintaining his invention by
not limiting it to any particular construction of condenser. Mr. N eilson was
glad to say that the English iron masters had stood by him in the attempts
made, in the early times of the hot blast, to deprive him of the benefits of his
invention, and to them he was indebted for the successful issue of the severe
contest he had then gone through.
Such is the substance of Mr. N eilson ’ s paper. His invention is in very
general use in this country, and it has been the means of enabling us to smelt
ores which, otherwise, would now have been lying in the earth as useless as the
sand by the sea shore. In Scotland it has been the means of enabling iron
manufacturers to produce pig iron, with a profit, for £2 16s. instead of £ 6 —
the former being less than one-half the price of what it was forty years ago.
Mr. N eilson was not an iron manufacturer, hence he had great difficulties to
overcome in introducing his invention; and had he taken out an American
patent, it certainly would have been forfeited by our law, which would have
been a case of great hard.-hip and injustice. It seems that his own countrymen
tried to rob him of the benefits of his invention, but he triumphed over them
through the sturdy support cf English iron-masters, and he is now, in his old
age, enjoying his otium cum dignilale.




Journal o f M ining , Manufactures, and A rt.

245

COAL OIL MANUFACTURE.

An approximative estimate of the quantity of illuminating coal oil manu­
factured daily in the United States, has been given as follows during the month
ending December 31, 1859, exhibiting the following figures :—
Name or place of works.
Gallons.
Downer, Boston, Massachusetts... 1,500
Glendon, Boston, Massachusetts.. 1,000
East Cambridge, Massachusetts . .
800
Page A Co., Massachusetts............
COO
Suffolk, Massachusetts...................
300
Portland, Maine..............................
500
New B edford..................................
300
Hartford, Connecticut....................
200
Kerosene,New Y ork...................... 2,600
Columbia, New York......................
800
Carbon, New York..........................
300
N. Y. C. O. Co., New York............
400
Empire State, New York...............
200
500
Several others in New Y ork .........
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...........
BOO
Pittsburg, (four firm s)................... 2,000
Great Western, O hio.....................
500
Newark Region, O h io ...................
2,500

Name or place o f works.

Gallons.

200

Wheeling, Virginia........................
K. C. C. M. & O. M. Co., Kanawha,
Virginia........................................
G. R. C. & O. Co., Kanawha, V a...

300
300

G r e e r , K a n a w h a , V i r g i n i a ................

200

Staunton, Kanawha, Virginia.....................
Atlantic, Kanawha, Virginia.........
...
M a y s v i l l e C o ., K e n t u c k y .....................

400

Union Co., K entucky.....................
600
Ashland, K en tu ck y.....................................
Covington, K entucky.. . . » ........................
Breckinridge, Kentucky................
250
Newport, Kentucky .....................
300
Eureka, Cincinnati, Ohio.................
600
Rosecrans & Co., Cincinnati..........
300
Phoenix, Cincinnati..........................
200
St. Louis, Missouri..........................
200
Otherwise.......................................... 3,500
22,750

Total number o f gallons daily

We will not assert that the estimate is quite correct—-some establishments are
probably over, others underrated ; yet we believe that the sum total is a pretty
close approximation-to the actual quantity of burning coal oils now made daily
in this country. The produce of the oil springs has been omitted, as a reliable
statement about their produce could not be procured. We will now draw a
few general conclusions. It is presumed there have been sold by the several
manufacturers of coal oil lamps and burners from 250,000 to 300,000 dozen burn­
ers and lamps, of which about 150,000 dozens are in use, the balance being in
the hands of dealers. A coal oil lamp will consume, about four gallons of oil
during the year. The amount of oil burned by the above 1,800,000 lamps is
consequently 7,200,000 gallons per year, or about 20,000 gallons every day.
This shows that the amount of oil manufactured is in advance of the amount
consumed.
In order to make 22,750 gallons of burning oil it will require 75,000 gallons
of crude coal oil, to make which requires 60,000 bushels of cannel coal.
It will cost, to build crude oil and refining works, to make the named quantity
of oil each day, $3,000,000; but the actual outlay for the oil-works at present
at work does not fall short of $8,000,000.
The value of chemicals used in the purification of coal oil will amount to over
$2,000 per day.
The number of barrels used to hold coal oil will be between 500 and 600, rep­
resenting the vafhe of $1,000 and the labor of 400 men.
The value of the burning coal oil itself will amount to over $16,000 per day,
or more than $5,000,000 a year.
All of this does not include heavy oil and paraffine, the sale of which is limited
and uncertain. The number of workmen employed in the several .coal oil-works in this country




/

246

Journal o f M ining , Manufactures, and A rt.

will reach 2,000; that of the miners engaged in mining canuel, 700 or more.
Besides this, there are a large force of men employed in making lamps, burners,
wicks, chemicals, &c.
If we take into mind that, two years ago, there were only two or three oilworks in this country, the above statements form a strong illustration of the
impetuous energy with which the American mind takes up any branch of industry
that promises to pay well. As far as coal oil is concerned, the rapidity with
which the manufacture of this beau tiful illuminator has been propagated amounts
(like the cultivation of the morus mullicaulis, some years ago) to a mania.

TH E IRON ELEPHANT.

The locomotive steam-engine has been called the iron horse. The hydraulic
/• crane ought to be called the iron elephant. A huge iron crane stands upon the
quay at Newcastle, England, within a few feet of the edge. A very thick chain,
hangipg over the water, may be taken to represent the elephant’s trunk. A t the
foot of the crane is a small horizontal dial with two fingers. A man or a boy turns
one of the fingers to the right—the chain descends into the hold of a ship lying at
anchor beneath. Another touch, the chain is still. Move one of the lingers to
the left, and you see rising from the ship’s hold a burden of many tons weight,
which the chain raises from the ship above the level of the quay. Another
touch of the finger, and the crane comes around, and chain and heavy load de­
scribe part of a circle, until the load is over its destined resting place. Touch
the finger again, all is stationary. Another slight movement, and the load is
deposited.
A child can direct and control the movements. Every movement of the crane
follows the dial with unerring precision. If an error occurs it is due to the
head that directs, not to the power that works. That power is “ drops of water.”
You hear no noise except the chain running down. There is no haste, no extra
effort, no uncertainty. All is impassibility and smoothness which begets com­
placency in the looker-on. The iron elephant would lift a pin or a baby more
safely or more delicately than could a lady. In the London docks you may see
him lift a bullock, or a tiger, or a bundle of them—or a few tons of iron or wood,
or of any other thing, and apparently with the same ease with which he lifts a
baby. This machine is the invention of Sir W m. (i. A kmstkong, the inventor
of the rifled cannon.
SUBMARINE GOLD MINING.

Who shall say where gold will next be sought. In rivers, in dirt, in streams,
in images, in tombs, it has already been found and taken, and now we are told
that men are preparing to dive for it into the submerged old home of the West
India buccaneers. The old city of Port Royal was buried by the earthquake of
1692 beneath the surface of' the sea, and with it, as tradition says, untold sums
of gold and silver. It has more than once been proposed to search for it, and
now divers have lent a new impulse to the scheme by finding the very spot where
it would be necessary to begin the hunt for the lost ingots.




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MINING AND STAMPING COPPER.
The product of copper mines is divided into masses, barrel work, aud stamp
work. Masses are the large pieces of almost pure copper, generally having
some little spur or other vain stone attached. Barrel work is smaller pieces,
which are brought to the surface, aud the little rock which adheres knocked off
with a hammer. Sometimes the masses are first calcined, or roasted, pilled up
and barred like limestone. This softens the rock, and it is more readily knocked
off. Stamp work is that portion of vein stone which contains no masses, but
is filled with small particles of copper, sometimes so small that after being oxi­
dized by exposure they can hardly be seen. One of the processes of stamping
now in use is as follows :—
The stone is broken up into small pieces and placed under the stamps, which
are heavy metal weights raised by power and dropping upon the stone, which is
placed in a chamber in which water constantly flows. It exudes from an aper­
ture in the lower part of the chamber, looking much like the sand which is
used in cutting glass. It is thrown into a large hopper, into which also water
flows, and through the bottom of the hopper falls upon an inclined plane, and
is washed gently down upon the “ table.” This table is a platform of boards
made water-tight, about six feet long, four feet wide, and having sides a few
inches high—one end a few inches under the inclined plane and raised a few
inches above a level, while the other end is open, aud projects over a waste trench.
The table is suspended by chains, two on each side, and thus hangs poised. A
revolving shaft under the inclined plane, has projections which strike that end of
the table, and knocks it towards the waste trench about four inches, and thus
throws the suspending chains from a perpendicular, and goes back irom its own
gravity—by which an oscillatory abrupt motion is given to it.
One of the operatives stands on a cross-piece above the table, armed with a
small wooden hoe, and as the water and sand drip down from the inclined plane
of the table—jets of water also flow upon the table, and as the quick rocking
motion is given, he works it up rapidly, and the sand and extraneous matter are
carried by the water down the table into the waste trench, and the copper from
its greater weight is left behind. It is washed in this way until sufficiently
cleansed, when it comes out in various degrees of fineness from dust and scales.
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AMONG THE SPINDLES,
It will be remembered, that at the Paris exhibition of 1855, Chevalier Bonelli, director of the Sardinian telegraph, exhibited an electric loom of his in­
vention. A t a meeting of the Acadamie des Sciences, a few months ago, a
commission was named to examine, and report to the academy, upon some
improvements upon this loom, made by M. F roiient . These improvements bear
about the same relation to the construction of textile fabrics, which photography
bears to the production of pictures, or likenesses of visible objects ; for, while
in the last mentioned art, the object is made to impress itself by means of the
sun’s rays reflected from it upon a chemically prepared surface ; so, in the first
mentioned art, the pattern of the designer is made to impress itself, by means of
its electric capabilities, upon the fabric in course of construction.
In order to the complete understanding of these improvements, it is necessary




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s

to have some idea of the jacquard apparatus in ordinary use for weaving figured
silks or muslins ; but as a full explanation of this ingenious piece of mechanism
would occupy more space than our limits permit, and would, moreover, require
several explanatory diagrams, we shall have to trouble those of our readers, un­
informed on the subject, to consult one of the many encyclopedias in which it is
explained.
The invention of M. F komknt “ consists chiefly in replacing the jacquard
cards by a thin sheet of tin, on which the design to be represented on the fabric
is figured with varnish or isolating ink. The beat up of the batten brings a
metallic comb, formed of small separate teeth, into contact with the design,
when some of the teeth touch the varnish of the design, and others touch the
metal; and those teeth in contact with the metal, alone give passage to the dectric fluid supplied by a Busen pile, and convey it to the small electro-magnets
with which they are connected by iiieans of a thin copper wire. These electro­
magnets act upon an equal number of small iron rods,’to keep them out of the
way of the wires of the jacquard, while those teeth which come in contact with
the varnish of the pattern, are allowed to project against the wires of the
jacquard, to act upon them in the same manner as the cards now used.”
We are here presented with a beautiful example of the steps by which inven­
tions are perfected— the inventions of previous generations are used by the
inventors of to-day, in the same manner as previously solved problems are used
■by mathematicians, viz.: as L iemmas to aid in the construction and elucidation of
further problems. By means of this beautiful arrangement, new patterns may
be applied with the utmost facility and ease, and with infinitely Jess labor than
by means of the perforated cards. It is stated that during a visit of the Em­
peror and Empress to the Ateliers of M. F koment, for the purpose of inspect­
ing the new loom, the inventor, without interrupting the progress of the work,
replaced the design, in course of execution, by a band of tin, on which he had
written the words, N apoleon III., which words were seen to appear ou the fabric
as it came from the loom.
EXTRACTING SILV E R FROM LEAD ORE,

There are many lead ores which do not contain more than three or four ounces
of silver to the ton, while about eight-and-a-half ounces to the ton is considered
the least quantity that will pay for its recovery by the ordinary process.
Formerly, therefore, such lead ores as contained less than eight ounces of silver
to the ton were neglected by silver refiners, and the silver was of course lost to
the world. A method, however, has been invented by which the cost of extrac­
tion is reduced to one-third what it has previously been, thereby rendering
economically possible the extraction of the silver when present in no larger
quantity than three ounces to the ton. This plan consists, practically, in raising
the “ poor ” lead by means of successive crystalizatlons, until it is some ten times
richer in silver than at first.
After melting completely an alloy of lead and silver, if it be allowed to cool
very slowly— being continually stirred, meanwhile, with a rake—there will be
observed, at a certain period a continually increasing number of imperfect little
crystals, which may be taken out with a drainer, exactly in the same way that




Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.

249

the crystals of sea salt deposited during the concentration of brine may be re­
moved, or those of sulphate of soda as its agitated solution cools. On submit­
ting to analysis, the metallic crystals thus separated, and also the liquid metal
deprived of them, the crystals are found to be almost pure lead, while the liquid
metal is rich in silver, when compared with the original alloy. The more the
crystalline particles are drained from the metallic bath, the richer does the mother
liquid become in silver. The lead separated in crystals is at once sent into the
market without further process than casting into pigs ; and the “ rich ” lead is
then submitted to the process of cupellation, for the extraction of its silver.
Thus, as only one-tenth of the original quantity of lead is submitted to oxydation, there is only one-tenth the cost and one-tenth the loss in this operation. Of
course the crystallization process costs something, and there is some loss of sil­
ver in the lead crystallized out.
BREAD-MAKING IN SPAIN,

Finding myself, says a late traveler in Spain, about two leagues from Seville,
in the picturesque village of Alcade de Ouaradaira, but commonly called Alcala
de los Panaderes— or bakers—as almost all the bread consumed in Seville is
made there, I determined to learn how it was made. No traveler w’ho ever
visited the south of Spain ever fails to remark, “ How delicious the bread is!”
It is white as snow, close as cake, aud yet very light; the flavor is most deli­
cious, for the wheat is good and pure, and the bread is well kneaded.
As practical demonstration is better than hearsay or theory, I would not con­
tent myself with the description of the process of bread-making, but went to the
house of a baker, whose pretty wife and daughter I had often stopped to look
at, as they were sorting the wheat, seated on very low stools in the porch of the
house. It was a pretty picture : their dark, sparkling .eyes, rosy cheeks, and
snowy teeth ; their hair always beautifully dressed, and always ornamental with
natural flowers from their little garden in the back ground ; their bright colored
neckerchiefs rolled in at the top, showing the neck ; their cotton gowns with
short sleeves; their hands scrupulously clean, and so small, that many an aristo­
cratic dame might have envied them ; surrounded by panniers filled with wheat,
which they took out, a handful at a time, sorting it most expeditiously, and
throwing every defective grain in another basket.
When this is done the wheat is ground between two large circular stones, in
the way it was ground in Egypt two thousand years ago, the rotary motion be­
ing given by a blindfolded mule, which paces round and round with untiring
patience, a bell being attached to his neck, which, as long as he is in movement,
tinkles on ; and when he stops he is urged to his duty by the shout of “ tirre
mula," from some one within hearing. When ground, the wheat is sifted
through three sieves, the last being so fine that only the pure flour can pass
through i t ; it is a pale apricot color.
The bread is made of an evening ; and after sunset I returned to the bakers
and watched his pretty wife first weigh the flour, and then mix it with sufficient
water, mixed with a little salt, to make it into dough. A very small quantity of
leaven is added. The scriptures say, “ A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ;
but in England, to avoid the trouble of kneading, they put as much leaven, or
yeast, in one batch of household bread, as in Spain would last them a week for
the six or eight donkey loads of bread they send every night from their oven.
When the dough was made it was put in sacks, and carried on the donkeys’
backs to the oven in the center of the village, so as to bake it immediately after
it is kneaded. On arriving there, the dough was divided into portions weighing
three pounds each. Two long, narrow wooden tables on trestles were then placed
down the room, and to my surprise, about twenty men came in and ranged them­
selves on one side of the tables. A lump of dough was handed to the nearest,




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Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.

which he commenced kneading and knocking about, and then passed it to his
neighbor, who did the same, and so on successively, till all had kneaded it, when
it was as soft as new putty, and ready for the oven. Of course, as soon as the
first baker hands the loaf to his neighbor, another is given to him, and so on till
all is done. The baker's wi fe and daughters shape them for the oven. Some of the
loaves are divided into many smaller ones, and immediately baked. The ovens
are very large and not heated by fires under them ; but a quantity of twigs of
the herbs of the sweet marjoram and thyme, which covers the hills in great pro­
fusion, are put in the oven and ignited. They heat the oven to any extent re­
quired ; and as the bread gets baked, the oven gets gradually colder, so the
bread is never burned.
They knead the bread in Spain with such force, that the palm of the hand
and the second joints of the bakers’ fingers are covered with corns; and it so
affects the chest, that they cannot work for more than two hours at a time.
They can be heard from some distance, as they give a kind of guttural sound—
ha 1ha 1—as they work, which, they say, eases the chest. Our sailors have the
same fancy when hoisting a sail.
I have kept a small loaf of Spanish bread for several months in a dry place,
and then immersed it in boiling water, and rebaked it, and I can assure my readers
that it was neither musty nor sour.
TEM PERIN G AXES.

Great care and skill are indispensable in the operation of tempering axes. If
the temper is left too high or too low—it the steel is over-heated or plunged into
the pickle at the wrong time—the axe is ruined. The process is briefly this :—
The steel and hole bit of the axe are brought to a red heat, and plunged into
cold water, or a composition or pickle, various reeeipes for which are cherished
as valuable secrets by different manufacturers. This leaves the temperature ex­
tremely high ; and steel in this state is frequently hard enough to scratch glass,
and almost as brittle as that material. It is necessary to “ draw ” the temper
thus obtained, that the cutting-edge may have the toughness requisite to enable
it to stand the strain to which it is subjected in chopping. The steel is therefore
held over a dull fire of coals, the varying degrees of hardness being indicated by
the changes in the colors which spring to the surface of it. These changes are
very curious, and, if suffered to exhaust themselves, seem to follow the order of
the colors in the solar spectrum, though commencing at neither extreme. First
is observed a light straw color; next gradually deeper shades of that color;
then pink, or a reddish-yellow tint is observed, which deepens, and at last be­
comes violet; blue follows, and indicates the lowest degree of hardness—next
above no temper at all. The temper of axes is arrested in the deeper shades of
reddish-yellow, sometimes not till blue appears— by plunging once more into cold
water.
FALSE

IAMOND.

In 1837 several men of, science at Paris were consulted respecting a stone of
fine water, cut like the regent diamond, which had been offered to dealers as a
diamond. Its characteristics proved it to be a topaz. The owner of it after­
wards carried it to Vienna, where it was also shown to be a topaz by its refrac­
tion, hardness, &c. The owner asked some millions for his gem, and jewelers
offered him but 250 francs, regarding it only as a matter of curiosity, it is to
be hoped that it will not come again into market as a diamond.




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Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

251

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
RAILROAD TOLLS AND TONNAGE.

The question of tolling freight on railroads is thus dealt with by the Governor
in his message :—
FREIGHT ON RAILROADS.

Prior to the year 1844 there were great differences in the position of the rail­
roads with reference to the transportation of merchandise. While some of them
were allowed to carry it during the entire year without limitation, others were
permitted to do so only when the canals were closed, and on payment of tolls,
while one, at least, was absolutely forbidden to carry freight at all. In 1844,
however, an approach to a more uniform system was made by giving to all roads
that did not previously possess it, the right to transport freight during the suspen­
sion of canal navigation, and by requiring all the railroads along the line of the
Erie and Oswego canals to pay the same rates per mile on freight transported
over them as it would have paid if carried on the canals. In 1847 all railroads
along the central line were permitted to carry freight the entire year and required
to pay tolls. In 1850 the same provisions were, by the general railroad act,
made applicable to all railroads running parallel to and within thirty miles of
any canal. In 1851 all tolls were abolished upon freight carried over railroads,
under the expectation that the revenues from the enlarged canals would prove
adequate to the payment of the interest upon the canal debt.
During the time that tolls were imposed upon the railroads, the amount re­
ceived from them by the State steadily increased from ton thousand four hundred
and fifty eight dollars and forty-four cents, in 1845, to one hundred and^ixty-three
thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven dollars and twenty cents,' in 1851. On
the through freight carried the whole length of the line of the Central Railroad
in 1857, the tolls, at two mill rates, would have been four hundred and twelve
thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars and fifty-seven cents, and in 1858 four
hundred and forty thousand four hundred and ninety-five dollars and twenty-eight
cents. On the through freights, carried over the New York and Erie Railroad
in 1857, the tolls at the same rate would have been about three hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.

-

DECREASE IN TOLLS.

Since 1851 the tolls received from the canals have steadily decreased from
three million seven hundred and three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
dollars and thirty-one cents, the amount in 1851, to one million eight hun­
dred and twelve thousand two hundred and eighty dollars and eighty cents,
the amount in 1859, though the tonnage has remained about the same, having
been three million five hundred and eighty-two thousand seven hundred and
thirty-three tons in 1851, and three million six hundred and sixty-five thousand
one hundred and ninety two in 1859. The loss in tolls has been caused by the
diversion from the canals to the railroads of a large portion of those classes of
freight which formerly paid high tolls, ar d which the heavy reductions in canal
tolls failed to retain, while the tonnage of the canals has been maintained by the
increase in those classes of heavy freight which the railroads cannot profitably
transport-. Examination shows that the tonnage of the railroads is largely in
excess on all classes of freight, except the products of the forest and vegetable
food, and that even in the latter class the railroads are gaining rapidly.
RECOMMENDS A TAX ON RAILROAD TONNAGE.

If, therefore, the constantly increasing amount of freight carried over the rail­
roads has occasioned a corresponding diminution of our canal revenues until the
interest on the canal debt, formerly paid from these revenues, has now to be
drawn by direct taxation from the people, is there notan imperative necessity for




'

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

252

protective legislation ? I cannot doubt either the wisdom or the justice of re­
imposing, for a few years, a moderate toll per ton during the season of naviga­
tion upon all freight passing over railroads competing with the canals or of requir­
ing these roads to pay an aggregate equivalent in money, annually, into the
treasury. When the canals shall have been completed the railroads should be
relieved from a burthen temporarily imposed, so that commerce may have the
advantage of the quickest and cheapest means of transit for merchandise and
produce to and from the vast and bountiful West.
T E S T OF THE GREAT EA STERN.

The London Mechanics’ Magazine remarks :—The Admiralty give us two
formulae by which they test the relative merits of steamships; the former involv­
ing the speed, midship section, and indicated power; the latter involving the
weight instead of the midship section. To apply these tests to the Great Eastern
we require, of course, to have her indicated power, midship section, and weight,
and these we are able to supply with a sufficiently near approximation to the
truth for our present purpose. Before leaving the ship we -ascertained that the
total indicated power, developed when the engines did their best, was about 7,200
horse power. We have further found by approximate calculations, that with the
draught of water with which the ship left Portland (25 feet aft, 21 feet forward,
mean 23 feet.) her midship section must have been about 1,600 square feet.
Further her weight must have been at least between 17,000 tons and 18,000 tons
— say 17,500 tons. W e know' that this must be near the weight, and at any rate
cannot be in excess of it, because the mere iron in the hull weighs 8,000 tons,
the engines and boilers about 2,000 tons, (reckoning the weight three-fourtli3 of
a ton per nominal horse-power,) and there were 6,000 tons of coals on board, in
all 16,000 tons. To this we add 1,500 tons only for the weight of woodwork,
masts, spars, and rigging, paddle-wheels and screw, water in boilers, and every­
thing else on board, which certainly cannot weigh less than that amount. Taking,
then, these quantities-—the speed fifteen knots, the midship section 1,600 square
feet, the displacement 17,500 tons—and substituting them in the two Admiralty
formuhe successively, we get for the Great Eastern’s characteristic numbers 750
and 316 respectively. Now, none of the Admiralty vessels reach such numbers
as these. We have the Agamemnon giving 664, the Miranda 680, the Tribune
686, the Algiers 687, the Simoon 688, the Desperate 697, the St. Jean D’Acre
701. The Princess Boyal nearly 725, and the Cruiser nearly 728, by the first
formula; and we have the St. Jean D ’Acre giving 201, the Tribune 292, the
Princess Boyal 203, the Cruiser 220, the Desperate 224, the Simoon 240, and
the Miranda, no less than 247 by the second formula; but the very best of these
fall, as will be seen, considerably short of the Great Eastern’s numbers in both
cases.
V ESSEL S PASSED THROUGH THE WELLAND CANAL DURING 1859.

The following is a tabular statement of the number of vessels passed through
the canal in 1859 ; and although a falling off of 1,137 since the previous year
(1858) is shown, we think when the stringency of the money market is taken
into account, and the comparatively meagre demand for breadstuffs in Europe,
the Canadians can have but little reason to complain. It must also be borne
in mind that the vessels are now of a much larger class than those formerly en-




Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

253

gaged in this trade, and therefore it may be presumed that the amount of freight
passing either way this year has not been very much under that of last year.
However, we cannot now decide the matter, and therefore furnish the list:—(— Down.—'i
.— Up.— . ,—Down.—n,
.— UpAin’n. Brit. Arn’n. Brit.
A i r ' d . Brit. A m ’n. Brit.
A p ril............
49
30 September.. . .
51
72 113
62
81 103
85 108
40 129
. . 109
64r
70 November . . . . . 114
Ju n e.............
35 171
71 105
73
66
J u ly .............
65 D ecem ber.. . .
6
6
77
7
7
August......... ___
69
74
63
80
Total, 1859 ............................................................................................................. 2,589
Total, 1858 ............................................................................................................. 3,726
In favor of 1858 .................................................................................................... 1,137
RAILROADS IN VIRGINIA.

The advanced sheets of the report on the railroads of Virginia for 1859 show
in operation, including 287 miles of the Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad located in
the State, 1,438 miles of main line of railroad. Across the State, east and west
from Portsmouth, via Bichmond, Staunton, and Covington, to the mouth of the
Big Sandy, on the Ohio Biver, the railroad distance is 532 miles, of which dis­
tance 297 miles completed are operated by three companies owning connected
roads. We annex the following recapitulation of the tabular statements :—
Amount o f dividend bonds due to the State....................................
Payments made by State on ordinary Btock....................................
Payments on account of preferred stock..........................................
Payments on account o f loans...........................................................
Guarantied by the State.....................................................................

$319,702
18,478,325
1,241,000
2,874,831
300,000

00
54
00
33
00

Total amount of State interest...........................................................
Capital stock authorized.....................................................................
Capital stock paid in by others than the State ............................
Capital stock paid by State...............................................................
Total amount paid in............................................................................

$18,213,860
81,807,018
9,130.445
14,779,824
23,909,770

87
79
84
74
58

AMOUNT OF FUNDED AND FLOATING DEBT.

Funded debt..........................................................................................
Floating d e b t........................................................................................

$14,308,788 42
8,346,965 65

Total................................................................................................
Construction and equipments ...........................................................
Earnings for the year...........................................................................
Expenses for the year.........................................................................
Net earnings for the y e a r ...................................................................

$17,655,749 03
44,11 1,989 76
2,818,248 82
1,256,107 88
1,502,141 08

RAILROAD ACCIDENTS IN 1859.

The number of railroad accidents in the United States during 1859, which
were attended with injury to persons and loss of life, were 76 ; persons killed,
129 ; persons wounded, 411. This does not include accidents caused by care­
lessness of travelers themselves, or deaths or injuries resulting from the reck­
less conduct of persons crossing railway tracks where trains are running. The
following table shows the number of persons killed and injured during the last
seven years
Accidents-.
1 85 2 . . .
1854 ____
1 855 . . . .
1856 ____

138
183
142
143

Total . .




Killed.
234
196
116
195

Injured.
496
589
639
629

1857 .
1858 .
1859 .

..
..

Accidents.
126
82
79

Killed.
130
119
229

—

—

903

1,109

3,611

—

Injured.
530

417
411

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Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.
MARINE ENGINES.

The London Times remarks :—The comparative merits of double-clyindered
engines and those of the ordinary construction have been considered for some
time to constitute a question which would have an influence greater than any
other on the progress of ocean steam navigation, from its bearing on the con­
sumption of fuel. The Liverpool Pacific Steam Navigation Company have
been the most active in testing the point, and they seem at length to have at­
tained an amount of experience to warrant highly sanguine anticipations from
the new system. Their mail steamship Bogota, 1,250 tons, first left Liverpool,
with the ordinary side lever engines, for Madeira, en route for the Pacific, in
April, 1852, and traversed a distance of 1,417 nautical miles in 6 days 30 min­
utes on a consumption of 274J tons of coal, giving an average of 9f knots on
a consumption of 38 cwt. per hour. This vessel was brought home and had a
spar deck added, by which the tonnage was increased to 1,656 tons. She was
refitted with the double cylinder engines by R andolph , E lder & Co., of Glas­
gow, the patentees, and left again direct for St. Yiocent in September last,
and under great disadvantages, as regards wind and weather, traversed a dis­
tance of 2,417 nautical miles in 9 days 21 hours on a consumption of 232 tons
of coal, and giving an average speed of 10.2 knots on a consumption of 19 cwt.
per hour. The average indicated horse power being 950, gives an average of
2i lb. of coal per horse power.
RAILWAY TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS.
BOEING BT MACHINERY.

A recent number of the London Mining Journal has the following account of
the great Alpine Railway Tunnel :—The resolution of the problem of tunneling by
machinery, so important to the future of mining, is being worked out, with con­
tinued success, in the boring of the Alps for the tunnel of the railway that is to
connect Prance and Sardinia. The tunnel is between Modane in the Sardinian
territories and Bordoneche in France, and is upwards of eight miles long. From
the enormous height of the mountain no air-shaft was possible for this length,
and consequently the tunnel had to be carried out by drivings at each end only.
Under the old system the want of air would have rendered this impossible ; and
even if it were possible it would have taken forty years to complete. By the
method adopted all difficulties of ventilation are removed, and the work will be
finished in six years from its commencement.
The holes in the end are bored by machinery, and charged and blasted by
manual labor. Upon the latter part of the operation, therefore, there is no
economy ; but the machine bores the holes in l-12th Uie time that would be re­
quired by manual labor. But even this does not represent the entire economy
of time, for in an end where only two men could work, and consequently only
one hole be perforated at a time, by ordinary means, six effective holes can be
simultaneously bored by the machine ; thus seventy-two holes are bored in the
time taken before to complete one.
Of course it is not to bo expected that holes bored by a machine should be
quite equal in effect to those pitched and bored by a skillful miner ; but this is,
in some degree, compensated by the simultaneous firing of several holes, for




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

255

which this machine affords such facilities, and which is known to be so effective ;
besides, such minor considerations sink into insignificance compared with the
power of boring seventy-two holes to one.
The time and labor required to charge the holes remain, as we have said, un­
altered, as also those of removing the stuff. But allowing for these, it is esti­
mated that altogether there is a saving of five-sixths, or that the same amount
of work can be done in one-sixth of the time.
The power used for working the borers employed consists of condensed air,
compressed to six atmospheres by water power. The use of this motive power
is the great feature of the success of the operation, for after working the boring
machine the air escapes into the tunnel, and expanding to its natural volume,
not merely supplies the necessary air for ventilation, but creates a strong and
continuous outward current, carrying away all the impurities of combustion and
respiration. And this compressed air not merely affords a perfect ventilation ;
it also keeps the atmosphere at a very low temperature, arising from the wellknown principles that a large amount of heat is absorbed by any gas or fluid by
expansion. So much is this the case in the tunnel, that when the air is first dis­
charged from the machine it absolutely freezes any water with which it comes in
contact.
The average progress of the tunnel is about ten feet per day on each side
through hard rock. The economy is not great, if anything, as yet, for the en­
tire affair being new and experimental, has entailed many expenses. But when
we consider the enormous economy of machinery over manual labor, wherever
the former is possible, we cannot suppose that this will ultimately prove an ex­
ception to the rule, when the practical details and difficulties have been once
worked out.
The importance of the possible application of such a machine to mining pur­
poses, even if there be no economy in it, we need not point out to our readers*
Time is often worth anything to the miner, for in his pursuit, alone among all
others, money cannot expedite a piece of work beyond a point. Fancy driving
a cross-cut through stiff ground at the rate of 50 fathoms per month, or sinking
a new perpendicular engine shaft at a proportionate rate. There are times
when such results would be worth any money, and we really believe that, judging
from the experience of the Alpine tunnel, there is nothing visionary in consid­
ering such a result possible in the future. We certainly are not inclined to think
that driving levels or carrying on other works on the course of the lode can
ever be effected by machinery, for the direction, &c., require to be so suddenly
varied that the continued changes would more than destroy the saving of time.
But in the case of cross-cuts or perpendicular shafts, which have to be driven or
sunk straight from point to point, we are confident that the present century
will see the successful application of mechanical contrivances.
We should be glad to see some of the teeming ingenuity of our mechanics ap­
plied to work out this point in a practical and sensible manner. It is one that
will probably involve many difficulties, which can only be surmounted by con­
tinued perseverance; and no one must be disheartened by first failures. The
primary problem of the motive-power seems to be solved, for compressed air
has the great mining desideratum of affording a supply of pure and cool air—
an article decidedly in request in our deep mines.




Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

256

STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c.
GROWTH OF COTTON IN INDIA.

Prom papers recently received by the government, from India, we learn that
the culture of cotton in Scinde has lately been making rapid progress. Wherever,
within this district, the land is sufficiently supplied with water, and not too salt,
the crops appear to have been such, during the last two years, as to afford a
strong and steady encouragement to the Dative growers. In the most northern,
or Shikarpoor, collectorate, where, in 1857-58, the area under cotton was re­
turned at 29,559 beegahs, (the beegah containing 2,500 square yards, or a little
more than half an acre,) it had risen in the season 1858-59 to 30,863 beegahs.
In the Hydrabad collectorate we observe a similar increase from 22,000 to up­
wards of 30,000 beegahs. And in the frontier district (the head quarters of
which are at Jacobabad) there was an increase from 3,200 to 5.800 beegahs.
The rest of the country, lying nearest to the coast, and included in the collecto­
rate of Kurrachec, exhibits, on the other hand, an extraordinary fluctuation
during the last three seasons. In 1856-57 the Dumber of beegahs under cotton
was only 1.406. In 1857-58 this rose to 5,150 ; but in 1858-59 it fell again to
3,503. However, the net result is an apparent extension of the cotton culture
in all Scinde, in one year, from an area of 25,000 to one of 35,000 acres, or there­
abouts. We may add, that the culture seems to be entirely in the hands of the
natives, uncontrolled by the government; that the description produced is the
common Scindee, or country cotton ; and that the cleaning is done by hand, with
machines of native make. Aud when it is remembered that this is the part of
our Indian possessions most readily accessible by sea ; that it is traversed through
its whole length by the Indus, and has an area about equal to that of Great
Britain ; and that the greater part of it is alluvial, these facts cannot be deemed
otherwise than worthy of observation in connexion with future cotton prospectsWOOL.

The history of the growth of wool is very curious. Fifty years ago not a
pound of fine wool was raised in the United States, in Great Britain, or in any
other country except Spain. In the latter country, the flocks were owned ex­
clusively by the nobility or by the crown. In 1794, a small flock was sent to the
Elector of Saxony as a present from the King of Spain, whence the entire pro­
duct of Saxony wool, now of such immense value. In 1809, during the second
invasion of Spain by the French, some of the valuable crown flocks were sold
to raise money, The American Consul at Lisbon, Mr. J a r v is , purchased
fourteen hundred head, and sent them to this country. A portion of the pure
unmixed Merino blood of these flocks is to be found in Vermont at this time.
In 1824 and 1825 quite a speculation in Saxony sheep prevailed—large numbers
were, imported into Boston. A Saxony ram would bring as high as $500 ; large
sums were made and lost during the excitement. Such was the origin of the
immense flocks of fine-wooled sheep in the United States.)




Statistics o j A griculture, etc.

257

TOBACCO CROP OF KENTUCKY,

An official report to the Legislature of Kentucky gives the weight of tobacco
raised iu 1859, according to the county assessors. The quantity, as compared
with that reported by the United States censuses of 1840 and 1850, is as fol­
lows :—
,------------- K e n t u c k y c r o p . ------------- ,

1 84 0 .........................................
1849 ..........................................
1 869 .........................................

rounds.
6 3 ,4 3 6 ,9 0 9
6 5 ,5 0 1 ,1 9 6
9 5,4 9 3 ,5 4 3

Hogsheads.
3 9 ,6 8 2
4 1 ,1 1 2
7 0 ,7 3 6

R e c e i v e d a t E x p ’ r t o f l f r 'm

New Orleans.
4 3 ,8 2 7
52,3 25
75,925

N. Orleans.
40,4 36
52,876
7 9 ,9 1 4

It appears that the receipts of tobacco at New Orleans from all sources of the
Mississippi Valley exceeded, in 1859, the Kentucky crop only 5,189 hhds., while
at the previous dates the excess was much greater :—The total receipts at New Orleans for a period of ten years, ending Sep­
tember 1, 1859, foot u p ..................................................................................
Total exports for the same period,coastwise and to all foreign ports.__
Excess of imports............................................................................

665,495
648 ,83 3

16,662

Taking, says the report, the crop of Kentucky for the year 1859, as returned
to the State Auditor by the county assessors, and the crop of 1849, as returned
by the marshals for the United States census of 1850, and striking the meau as
showing the annual product of this State, we have 55,924 hhds. as our yearly
crop, which, multiplied by 10, gives 559,240 hhds. as the aggregate product of
this State for the period of ten years ending with 1859 :—
Total exports for ten years................................................................................
Total product of Kentucky for ten y e a rs .......................................................

648,833
559,240

Difference.....................................................................................................
The stock of tobacco on hand in New Orleans at the close of the commer­
cial year 1858-59, w a s ..................................................................................
The stock on hand at the close of 1849-50, w a s ..........................................

89,593

E x cess on hand in 1 8 5 8 -5 9 ...................................................................................

8,527

23,369
14,842

W i t h one sta tem en t m ore we w ill close th ese ta b le s — in te re stin g a lik e to th e
p rod u cer and th e d ealer :—
1859.

Value.

Value at New Orleans of the total import o f
the year 1858-59............................................
Divided thus:—
Leaf, 62,925 hhds. at $110 per h h d .........
Strips, 11,000 hhds. at 200 per h h d .........
Stems, 2,000 hhds. at
20 per h h d .........

Value.
$3,9 03 ,4 5 0

6 ,9 2 1,75 0
2,2 00,000
40,0 00

4 4,3 35

8,000

3 ,103,450
8 00,000

$ 9,1 6 1 ,7 5 0

52,335

$ 3 ,9 0 3 ,4 5 0

6 ,2 0 7 ,0 8 0

Difference..

$ 2,9 5 4 ,6 7 0
in

$6 50 per 100 pounds.




IS149.---------— ,

Hogsheads.

$ 9,1 6 1 ,7 5 0

Value at the point of production of the total
crop of Kentucky for the year 1859...........

V O L . X I,II.----- N O . I I .

V -

17

K e n tu ck y

is

at

th e

a vera g e

of

Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

258

CULTURE OF COTTON,

The Granda Rural Gentleman has the following interesting remarks upon the
change in the cotton culture :—
What number of bales of cotton would satisfy the planters of Mississippi re­
quires a better calculator than we are, or hope to be. No doubt exists on our
mind that could we direct how the whole country could make fifteen bales, though
only fourteen could be housed, the desire would be to make sixteen. When we
traveled the road from Vicksburg to Jackson, in July, 1830, we heard of one
planter making eight bales per band, yet one of his nearest neighbors declared
he did not believe it. We removed from Carolina to Hinds in the fall of 1830,
and learned that a planter on Big Black, near us, had made eight bales; his
neighbors said it was impossible. Thirty years ago, say twenty-live years ago,
we doubt if two crops in this country, Hinds, could be found yielding an aver­
age crop of eight bales. This year we can liud ten and twleve bale crops, not
satisfied yet. We doubt the propriety of throwing out any hints whereby the
crop can be increased, because it tends to destroy more land, and make us more
dependent. That the interior counties can make more cotton, with more ease
to negroes, we have no doubt, but involving more labor to gather. The whole
secret is, and what we have said for the e many years— to rely less upon the hoe,
have more team, and rely upon the plow. We have made fifty bushels of corn
per acre, the hoe never entering the field, the turning plow excluded, after the
laud was planted.
This, the many will not believe, because their preconceived opinions are in
favor of the hoe. Plow deep, make good ridges, plant cotton thin, and earth
with some implement from the start, thin out by hand or hoe, and keep the sur­
face clean with cultivators or sweeps, stir the earth late, and keep cotton in growth
preventing shedding. This will give more time to attend to manuring, taking
care of stock, providing pasture lands, and laying down meadows. We have
heard of one doctor who has done thus and nearly doubles his neighbors, and
upon land not. any better. Cotton or corn will not be injured from stirring the
surface even every day. We have grown some few stalks yearly in our garden
without a plow, and hoed perhaps ten to twenty times the year. A friend
assured us he had picked from one stalk so cultivated five pounds of cotton ; had
weighed it and was positive.
A t six feet by two, 3,600 stalks, 18,000 pounds ; five by three, 2.900 stalks,
14,500 pounds ; four by four, 2,700 stalks. 13,500 pounds. We have picked one
hundred bolls from a stalk, admit one pound of cotton, and upon ordinary land,
four by one-and-a-half 7,200 stalks or 7,200 pounds. D a v i d D i c k s o n , of Georgia,
writes us, he sends for us to exhibit a stalk with over 500 bolls. “ We make
too much now,” says a friend. Well let us adopt the better cultivation and plant
less in cotton and more in grain and grass.

CROPS OF JAVA, YEAR ENDING WITH JUN E.

The following is a comparative statement of the crops of Java for ten years :—
-

1858.-

Government. Private.

Coffee
Sugar. . .
T e a .........
Cinnamon
P ep per. .
In d igo.. .
Cochineal
Tobacco .

picul
........
.lbs.

.picul




981,082
888,046
,0
1,892,697
221,803
0 1 ,0 1 1 0
67,895
676.416
28,000
800

81,559
290,587

■1859.—
Total.

........

1,062,641
1,128,683
.

1,260
........
...........
452,000
43,000
3,100

1,128,416
71,000
3,900

...........

Government.

814,572
901.976
1,841,182
1
12,500
611,088
20,000
10,000

Private.

78,113
271,620
...........

Total.

892,685
1,173,596

.........................
428,200 1,089,288
50,250
70,250
16,332
26,332

Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

259

IM PO RTS OF CASHMERE GOATS.

The Savannah Republican remarks :— An importation of these valuable ani­
mals has been made by the Hon. W . H. S t i l e s , and after a tedious voyage has
arrived safely at his place up the river, having been accompanied by a Greek,
who is still with them as an attendant, all the way from Smyrna. This is the
second importation of the pure breed of Cashmere goats ever made into this
, country; the first having been made by Mr. D a v i s , who sold them to Mr.
R i c h a r d P e t e r s , of Atlanta, from which importation all the crosses and half
breeds in this country have sprung. Mr. S t i l e s has eight of them, and they are
no less curious than valuable, something of the size and shape of our native
breed. They differ widely in their hair, which grows so luxuriously as to give
them the appearance of a sheep with an immense fleece on it. The experiment
having been thoroughly tried as to their thriving in our climate, and resulting
satisfactorily, there can be no doubt of the value they will be to our country _
The uses to which the hair is put are numerous. Camlet and worsted goods and
ladies’ fabrics, as challies, mouslin de laines, gentlemens’ clothing for summer
wear, hosiery, &c., promising a beauty, strength, durability, luster, and perma­
nency of color far superior to the wool of the sheep or the alpaca.
These goats are found in the Himalaya Mountains, and have to be brought
about a thousand miles before they reach a shipping port. They are not sheared
like the sheep, but the fleece is pulled off twice every year. An ordinary fleece
weighs between three and four pounds; the New York price is $8 50 per pound
— making Sol a year for each goat; while there is no cost in feeding them, for
they are as frugal and hearty as the common goat.
Their great value in this country is the splendid cross with our common goat,
the half breed being nearly as valuable every way as the full breed, and their re­
markable fecundity soon repays a very heavy interest on the investment, while
the expenses of keeping them is a mere trifle, as they live on briars and foliage
not touched by other animals. There is a great demand for them, and the prices
they bring are fabulous; one buck sold as high as $1,500; and one of Mr.
P e t e r s ' s stock was sent to the Illinois State Pair for exhibition, and so pleased
the president that he offered the weight of the animal in silver in exchange for
him.
OHIO AGRICULTURE FOR 1 8 5 9 .

The report of the Ohio Statistical Commissioner remarks upon the general
agriculture of that State for the past year that, in regard to the application of
arts, culture and extent of land sown, Ohio has continued to progress during the
last year, though by no means as rapidly as in some years previously. On the
1st of June last there was a much greater extent of land sown and in culture
than at any former period. The results would probably have been unprecedented
crops, but for the frost of June 4th and 5th. The effects of this have been con­
sidered as very disastrous. As to its final results on crops, there is one
uniform testimony, that it was most disastrous to three fourths in the State.
In 1851 I stated the crops to be below an average, and the same thing is un­
doubtedly true of this year. In order to show how accurate the deductions made




Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

260

from this testimony is, I make the following brief table of my estimates and the
actual results :—
Estimates.

Results.

W heat...............................................................bushels
Oats................................................................................
Corn................................................................................

18,000,000
5,000,000
55,000,000

17,655,483
8,026,251
60,863,682

Aggregate grain..............................................

78,000,000

76,745,316

In regard to corn, I remarked that the summary of reports gave two-thirds an
average, which would be near 60,000,000, but as the falling off tvas chiefly in
the large corn-growing counties, the actual loss would probably be greater. So
it was. The diminution from the year previous was no less than 32,000,000
bushels.
In regard to oats, I estimated the loss on that crop (taking 20,000,000 as an
average) at 15,000,000 bushels. In fact, however, the crop was 8,000,000, and
the loss but 12,000,000 bushels. In the aggregate bushels of the grain crop, my
estimates were very nearly correct. The general result of the crops of 1868 was
that they did not reach two thirds ol the year previous, and that the three crops
of wheat, corn, and oats fell 50,000,000 bushels short, which was fairly worth
$

22 , 000 , 000.

In regard to the aggregate crop of 1859, it is better than in 1858, but is still
short of a full crop. The main loss fell on wheat and hay. Oats and potatoes
are a full crop. Corn is a fair one. That the crops of 1859 were not full in
the aggregate either in Ohio or adjoining States, is proved by an unfailing test.
On the 1st of January, 1860, the prices of all agricultural products were, on the
whole, higher in Cincinnati than on the 1st of January, 1859, and much higher
than in January, 1858. This took place, too, when the foreign demand is not
great, and the autumn had been exceedingly favorable for bringing forward the
crops.

PATEN T-OFFICE.

The Agricultural Bureau is in receipt of specimens of the algaroba, or St.
John’s bread tree, and a letter from E r n e s t V o l g a , United States Consul at
Barcelona, Spain, descriptive of the same. It is a very useful tree in Spain,
nearly related to the sweet locust, or honey locust of the Southern States. Its
pods, however, are larger and sweeter, and contain more than sixty per cent of
sugar. They are broken to pieces, when horses, mules, and other cattle are fed
on them. There is no better and cheaper food for them, and the tree may be
planted on the most sterile, reeky, or sandy land. It is remarked, however, that
this tree does not prosper where it is not exposed to the exhalation of the sea.
All along the coast of Catalonia and Valencia it is never found beyond the first
ridge of hills. The shore of our Southern States would be best adapted to make
the experiment of acclimatizing this very useful tree.




261

Statistics o f Population, etc.

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, &c.
POPULATION OF OHIO.

C. D. M a n s f i e l d , Commissioner of Statistics for the State of Ohio, in his
annual report, remarks upon the population of the State as follows:— From
1856 to the present time, the annual increase has probably been 55,000 per
annum, which would make the population, January, 1860, just 2,500,000. It
may be less, for the migration from the State has been very large during the
last six years, and that element is very difficult to determine. The chief increase
of population now is in the towns, but there is a cause of greatly increased
population in the future, which is just becoming apparent. This is the develop­
ment of the iron and coal mines. In the last ten years this has been quite
rapid. One-third of Ohio is underlaid with coal and iron, and there is no State
in the Union (not excepting Pennsylvania) where fuel, for either families or
manufactures, can be obtained permanently at a cheaper rate than in Ohio. In
the Miami country, coal of excellent quality was had in December, 1859, at the
distance of 100 miles from the mines, at 10 cents per bushel, or $2 80 per ton.
The mining country is now increasing in population at the rate of 5 per cent
per annum, which is likely to be increased rather than diminished.
In the year 1858-59, ending July, the number of equalizations was greatly
more than in the previous years, brought out probably by the excitement of the
Congressional elections. This, however, proves no more than the large number
of European immigrants who arrived in the State in the year 1854, five years
previously.
The number of new structures remains about the same— varying little from
10,000 per annum. It was thought to be much greater in 1852-3-4. Deduct­
ing the barns and additions, which are enumerated in the country, there will re­
main 7,000 per annum as actually new buildings, and at the ascertained ratio of
population to new buildings, the result will be an increase of 50,000 per anuum.
These facts are given only as data for a fair estimate of population. Before an
actual count there are always great mistakes made, especially by sanguine per­
sons. The movements incident to population are as follows :—
MARRIAGES.

The marriages for three successive years, making allowance for counties not
reported, (only one in 1859,) were—

1857.
22,490

1858.

1859.

22,434

20,505

The diminution which has taken place in some counties may be seen by the re­
turns from Hamilton and Cuyahoga :—
1857 .........................................................................
1858 .........................................................................
1859 ........................................................................

Hamilton.

Cuyahoga.

2,710
2,606
2,432

881
828
784

This diminution corresponds with the diminution in structures and town
growth.




262

Statistics o f Population , etc.
WILLS AND ADMINISTRATIONS.

The numbers of these in 1859 were—
W ills.
2 ,0 1 3

Administrations.
2 ,6 0 2
NATURALIZATIONS.

The naturalizations of the last two years were—
1858.
4 ,6 0 1

1859.
8 ,9 3 3

It will be seen that the naturalizations were nearly doubled in 1859.
nationalities were as follows :—
1858.
642
595
2 ,8 1 3
431

England, Scotland, and Wales.
Ireland.........................................
Germany......................................
A ll other......................................

Their

1859.
798
1 ,8 8 1
4 ,7 2 0
637

CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT.

The statistics presented this result
Against
person.
807
657

1 8 5 8 .,
1 8 5 9 .,

Decrease............................................

Against
property.
987
966

150

Ind’mts.
Total.
8 ,5 5 3
3 ,4 9 3

Against
statute.
1 ,7 5 9
1 ,6 4 6

21

60

144

There is some discrepancy in details, from the want of discrimination, in a
few cases, as to the offence. There are only three counties wanting. The D um ­
ber of convictions were—
1 8 58.
1 ,2 3 4

1859.
1 ,4 9 5

This view of crime is not complete without taking into view the police of­
fences of the cities. The following are the reports of the mayors of—
Cincinnati.
6 ,8 4 4

Cleveland.
1 ,4 7 8

Columbus.
246

Police offences.
8 ,5 6 7

SUICIDES, MURDERS, AND CASUALTIES.

The reports for the last two years (estimating eleven counties not returned in
1859) were as follows :—
1859.
50
68
275

Murders..........................................
Suicides........................................
Casualties......................................
Total.................................

393

185 8 .
60
70
310
440

THE SCHOOLS.

The following gives the number of enrolled pupils since 1850
1 8 6 0 ..
1 8 5 1 ..
1 8 5 2 ..
1 8 5 3 ..
1 8 5 4 ..
1855..
1 8 5 6 ..
1 8 5 7 ..
1 8 5 3 ..




No. counties
registered.
79
81
70
70
75
80
84
88
88

/----------- Number o f pupils enrolled.----------- »
Males.
Fem ales.
Aggregates.
2 3 6 ,8 2 7
1 8 4 ,9 0 6
4 2 1 ,7 3 3
2 0 7 ,4 2 6
2 3 8 ,5 7 1
4 4 5 ,9 9 7
2 4 0 ,1 5 2
4 3 7 ,7 1 2
1 9 7 ,5 6 0
2 4 4 ,0 8 9
3 5 7 ,5 4 7
2 9 7 ,9 6 6
3 2 0 ,3 8 6
3 2 8 ,6 2 8

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

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

263

Statistics o f Population , etc.

Exclusive of common schools, there are within the limits of the State, colle­
giate. corporate, private, and parochial education as follows :—
Colleges and Universities....................................................................................
Instructors.............................................................................................................
Pupils in college classes......................................................................................
Pupils in preparatory classes.............................................................................
Aggregate of pupils............................................................................................

22
129
1,164
2,105
3,873

Academies and seminaries, including colleges for females...........................
Instructors.............................................................................................................
Pupils.....................................................................................................................

90
404
8,221

Private and parochial schools.............................................................................
Teachers.................................................................................................................
Pupils......... .........................................................................................................

I ll
315
16,065

Aggregate.............................................................................................................
Colleges, academies, die......................................................................................
Instructors.............................................................................................................
Pupils.....................................................................................................................

.......
238
848
28,159

BIRTHS AND DEATHS.

An accurate registry of births and deaths, as well as marriages, is a great
philosophical desideratum, but has been very imperfectly supported in the Uni­
ted States. In Europe the matter has long been carefully attended to, in con­
sequence mostly of the requirement of the Catholic Church that each infant
shall be baptized within eight days after its birth, and the belief is universal
with the people that the neglect of baptism endangers the loss of the soul. The
results for fifty-seven years, ending with 1767, were 246,022 marriages, 1,074,367
births, and 1,087,995 deaths. This gives four births to each marriage.
These statistics of human life have terrible histories attached to them. The
following relates only to the proportion of male and female children born in
Paris and its faubourgs, between 1745 and 1767, being twenty-two years :—
Y ears.
1 7 4 5 ...............................
1 7 4 6 .............................
1 7 4 7 .............................
1 7 4 8 .............................
1 7 4 9 .............................
1 7 5 0 ............................
1 7 5 1 .............................
1 7 5 2 .............................
1 7 5 3 .............................
1 7 5 4 .............................
1 7 5 5 .............................

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

Males.
9 ,4 5 4
9 ,3 9 4
9 ,1 9 9
9 .8 1 9
9 ,9 0 5
1 0 ,2 2 8
9 ,5 0 7

Fem ales.
9 ,3 8 6
8 ,9 8 4
9 ,0 5 2
8 ,7 1 0
9 ,3 3 9
9 .3 2 4
9 ,4 1 6
9 ,9 1 9
9 ,5 0 0
9 ,4 0 2
9 ,6 8 7

Y ears.
17 5 ^ .....................
1 7 5 7 .....................
1 7 5 8 .....................
1 7 5 9 .....................
1 7 6 0 .....................
1 7 6 1 .....................
1 7 6 2 ...................
1 7 6 3 ............... .
1 7 6 4 .....................
1 7 6 5 .....................
1 7 6 6 .....................

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

Males.
1 0 ,1 6 9
9 .9 3 1

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

9 ,7 9 8
9 .2 1 4
9 .4 1 4
9 ,0 4 7
8 ,9 4 5
9 ,7 4 5
9 ,8 7 2
9 ,5 4 2

Fem ales.
9 ,8 3 7
9 ,4 3 8
9 ,4 7 1
9 .2 6 0
8 ,7 8 7
8 ,9 6 0
8 .7 6 2
8 .5 2 4
9 ,6 5 9
9 ,5 6 7
9 ,2 3 1

...........

2 1 1 ,9 7 6

2 0 3 ,2 0 5

This table shows that in Paris and its faubourgs, duriDg the twenty-two years,
there were twenty-seven male children born to every twenty-six female. In
some of the rural districts the proportion is as 17 to 16. In our country it will
probably be found to be as 21 to 20. How wonderful, benignant, and irresist­
ible is this great law of nature ! When human society comes to be organized
and governed as the All-Wise intended it should be, then this great law of pro­
portion will adjust to healthy activity every part of the vast system.
In such a state the waste of male life from dangerous labors will be but one-




264

Statistics o f Population , etc.

twentieth more than that of female. Look at the abnormal condition of the world
now. Has the Creator made provision for such an extra supply of men. that
50,000 Austrians and 40,000 Frenchmen may be killed in a day, and not destroy
the ordained proportions and harmonies of male and female life? Has nature
made any provision for our thus slaughtering one another, and slaughtering only
one sex? No wonder that women in those countries are turned out into the
fields and workshops to do men’s labor. Thousands are driven to unnatural
toil, and tens of thousands to crime. “ War is hell,” said Napoleon I., and so
say the laws of God. When will the human race learn that the only way to
attain the highest prosperity and happiness is to keep inviolate the laws of na­
ture ?
In 1855, the number of marriages in France was 283,840, and the births and
deaths were as follows :—•
B irth s.

Deaths.

Male.................................................................
Female.............................................................

462,246
437,313

485.963
450,870

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

899,559

936,833

This gives an excess of 37,274 deaths. In 1854, the year of dearth, the ex­
cess of deaths was 69,318. This was partly due to cholera, but it had not pre­
viously occurred for half a century.
EMIGRANTS IN 1S59.

The number of alien passengers who arrived at the port of New York during
the year 1859, and for whom commutation money has been paid, was seventyseven thousand six hundred and fifty, against seventy-eight thousand five hun­
dred and sixty-two in 1858. The commissioners of emigration have refunded to
the several counties, on account of advances by them, twenty-three thousand five
hundred and thirty-five dollars and seventy-five cents, which leaves a balance due
the counties of forty-five thousand eight hundred and fifteen dollars and seventythree cents. This amount the commissioners hope to pay in full within a few
weeks. The number of emigrants remaining in the institutions on Ward's Is­
land is seven hundred and thirty-seven, against one thousand one hundred and
nineteen last year. The expenses of these institutions were fifty-three thousand
Bix hundred and forty-eight dollars and forty cents in 1859, and seventy-eight
thousand five hundred and eighty-six dollars and thirty-eight cents in 1858. The
aggregate expenditures of the commissioners, exclusive of the amount refunded
to counties, were one hundred and sixty-three thousand two hundred and fortyfour dollars and twelve cents in 1859, and two hundred thousand nine hundred
and seventy-five dollars and nine cents in 1858.
THE NUMBER OF SLAVES IN GEORGIA.

The report of the Controller of Georgia shows an increase of 11,140 slaves in
that State during the past year. The total number of slaves in 1858 was
431.125, and in 1859 443,364. The average value of slave® in 1858 was
$526 39, and in 1859 $612 63, an increase in average value of $86 24. The
aggregate value of slaves in 1858 was $227.46S,927, and in 1859 $271,620,105.
Thus it will be seen that while the increase in number of saves is 11,240, the
increased value is $54,151,478. This large increase is accounted for by pre­
suming that the usual drafts have been made upon the negro population of V ir­
ginia and other border slave-holding States. The natural increase could not
have reached these figures.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

265

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
FURS.

The Philadelphia Enquirer makes the following remarks upon the original
use of furs, their history and value :—
In ancient times (and even now among barbarians) furs were merely used for
warmth, but in the refined nations of modern days, they are worn for the com­
bined purposes of comfort and elegance. The use of furs was almost coeval with
the creation of man, for we read in the book of Genesis, that before Adam and
Eve w'ere driven from the Garden of Eden, they were furnished with “ coats of
skins.” And subsequently, in Genesis, Exodus, and Judith, fur garments and
hangings of tents are alluded to. So by Homer and Virgil, and in the second
and third centuries of the Christain era, fur dresses were highly esteemed by the
Romans. In the middle ages, too, the skins of ermines, the most costly of all
furs, were worn almost exclusively by kings and judges in Europe—while in Asia,
they were always regarded as articles of great value. Marco Polo, who was in
Tartary, A . D., 1252, tells us, that the tents of the khan were lined with sables
and ermine, which were brought from the “ land of darkness,” meaning, no
doubt, the northern regions. Near in value to the ermine is the rich, dark, and
glossy Russian sable. So great has been the demand for this fur of late years,
that the frozen North of this continent, and the dreary wastes of Siberia, have
been traversed far and wide by trappers and hunters, spurred on by the rich re­
ward that repaid their arduous and perilous labor. Next to the sable in popu­
larity and costliness, ranks the martin or American sable—a fur rich and high
priced, yet so fashionable as to be almost universally sought for. Indeed, in no
department of dress do the ladies display greater extravagance, and for nothing
will they more freely expend a round sum of money than for a magnificent set of
furs. But the real sables are rare, for, according to our latest Russian statistics,
only twenty-thousand skins of the beautiful little animal were produced during
an entire year in the Czar’s empire. The prices paid for them are almost fab­
ulous—a fine set being worth two thousand dollars. "We have, however, seen
American sables that appeared to us quite as handsome. These, likewise, are
rich and rare—a set of superior Hudson’s Bay being valued at $700. Mink is
a very favorite and handsome fur— but with the exception of sable and martin,
“ fitch ” is perhaps the handsomest in appearance. The very finest sets cost
$50 or a $100, and it may be remarked that the darker the shade on the back,
and the thicker the hair, the more costly is the fitch. The ermine is a small
weasel, perfectly white in the winter, with the exception of a very pale and
delicate yellow tinge in places. The fur is short, soft, and thick, and articles
made of the skins, are always adorned with the neat, black, and tapering tails of
the little animals. The ermine is imitated with rabbit skins—but “ mock ermine”
is a wretched and vulgar looking article, and can be distinguished from the gen­
uine in a moment, even by an unpracticed eye. It is strange, yet true, that the
ermine-weasels of Siberia turn brown in the summer. There is another beauti­
ful fur, much worn in Europe, called the chinchilla, from South America. It is
soft, rich, and graceful, and the bluer the color the better the fur. This is one
of the few skins that cannot be imitated. The grey squirrel of this country fur­
nishes an exceedingly neat material for dress, and there are few winter sets of
furs that are more becoming than the “ squirrel back.” The entire skins (grey
and white) have a marked and particular appearance. There is no article in
which so much deception is practiced as in furs, and it is almost impossible for
any to be infallible judges except dealers of many years’ experience. We advise
purchasers to buy only when they are sure of the integrity of the merchant.
Cheap furs are the commonest of all things, when the first gloss is worn off,
which speedily happens. Having purchased these spoils of the forest, an i in-




266

Mercantile Miscellanies.

portant question arises— how best to preserve them from moth ? Champhor
and tobacco have been recommended, but in vain, and the only true remedy is,
to take furs out of their summer boxes every two or three weeks, and beat them
thoroughly with a small stick. The dust which has settled in the hair during
the winter’s wear is the very thing in which moths delight, and this castigation
not only cleans the fur, but destroys all the lurking larvae, of which no fur can
be thoroughly destitute after four or five months’ hard service. Then lay them
down in camphor, cedar, or any other strong perfume. Furs are fast becoming
an important article of our commerce. The value of those exported from the
United States in 1857, was one million one hundred and sixteen thousand and
forty-one dollars.
ECONOMY.

The Philadelphia Ledger of a late date, gave the following very pertinent
views upon this subject, now so much hackneyed, and yet so little understood :—
If all a man’s property, and all those subject to his rule, lived under his roof,
then the proper and judicious management of his house, the order and regula­
tions which governed it. would be most literally and etymologically expressed
by the word “ economy,” which means essentially household management or law.
Extend the idea of the term house to all the sources of wealth which a man has
stored up, either in himself, his family, or the labors of those employed by him,
the system or laws by which he manages the whole so as to produce the greatest
return of whatever sort of wealth he seeks, that is his system of economy. P o­
litical economy is, then, in truth, as Wayland and others have defined it, “ Ike
science o f wealth," the system or rules by which what we have is so mangaed,
so as to make it produce something of greater value. A nation is conceived of
as one great family or household, and those laws by which the accumulations of
property are encouraged, regulated, and protected, are its system of politi­
cal economy. It is difficult to conceive of a country where the opportunities for
economy, both personal and political are so great, or their effects are so manifest, or
where the mistakes made are at times so obvious and disastrous. Economy and
penuriousness, for instance, are often confounded, both individually and nation­
ally, yet they are essentially opposite. Penuriousness consists in saving expense,
where a more liberal system would be wise and proper. Penuriousness might
cut short the millions expended in our common schools, but economy each year
dictates the expenditure of larger and larger sums in this direction, and even to
the endowment of higher institutions of learning. Penuriousness is essentially
sporadic; it pinches wherever it can get a chance, and against all system. But
the very essence of economy is that it is systematic, that it lops off expenditure,
for instance, only where it can be done without injury, upon an established rule.
Economy is often thought to be opposed to large expenditure. This, too, is
often a mistake. Napoleon I. was one of the. most economical of rulers France
ever had, yet one of the most expensive. He laid out millions in constructing
roads, improving harbors, encouraging productive industry. He never laid out
a dollar without seeing how he was to make it reproduce itself. His costliest
wars were all calculated, and the expense made to fall, not on himself, but those
against whom he fought. Economy, then, whether personal or political, is the
application of laws and systems to the accumulation of wealth in some form
or other. But what is wealth ? Money is the least part of it. Even that
which can be bought and sold, or even prized by money, is but a small part of
wealth, All objects of human desire are wealth—just so far as they can be ap­
propriated. Land is wealth, just so far as it can be made to produce food or
any object of desire. Houses, just in proportion to their comfort, appearance,
convenience, or power of producing objects of desire. Health, happiness, peace,
and the power of drawing these at will trom all surrounding circumstances, by
the aid of knowledge or friendly social relations, or weight of personal character
and reputation—.these things are wealth. Those systems and laws by which the
greatest amount of these are produced with the least cost, are the truest systems




Mercantile Miscellanies.

267

of economy. A man or a nation may have any amount of income conceivable,
but if their exports are in excess, there is bad economy. Or if it could obtain
as great an object of desire at a less price, and pays more, all the difference is
loss. He who obtains the greatest results with the least expenditure is the most
economical. The whole of this may well illustrate the non-intercourse doctrines,
and show how impossible it is they should ever be carried out.
THE SUFFERINGS OF INDOLENCE,

There is, perhaps, no other cause so equally powerful in the production of dis­
ease as indolence, and want of employment, both for mind and body. Our ner­
vous, fanciful, hypochondriacal bipeds—male and female alike—generally have
not, or at least say they have not, anything, or next to nothing, to do. They
accordingly trifle away each successive day as best they can, a prey to ennui,
(that dreadful word 1) low spirits, and all sorts of imaginary feelings and ailments,
which, I am sorry to add, too often end in real and permanent maladies, both
severe and ultimately fatal. This numerously-abouDding class of dispepties tell
you, with the most solemn and melancholy face, of symptons which probably
never were heard of before. The word neuralgia constantly occurs. They have
neuralgia all over them! Neuralgia, tic-douloureux, influenza, and a whole host
of high, mysteriously sounding words flow from their lips ; and, to judge from
the pitiful recital of ills which their “ flesh is heir to,” they experience in their
own persons a mixtu re of every possible form of disease with which poor human­
ity has ever been afflicted, from the time of Adam downwards! When one of
this numerous class happens to hear of an invalid suffering from—no matter
what—disease, he or she is sure to sympathize thus :—“ Ah ! it’s just what I have
suffered from myself 1”
A SLAVE LANDING IN CUBA.

A correspondent of the New York Herald thus describes a landing of slaves
in the island of Cuba :—
On the 17th, the American man-of-war Mohawk anchored off Stone K ey. T w o
days before she arrived a slaver landed her cargo twelve miles from said K ey.
This slaver, the owners o f which belong to Havana, was expected to arrive,
and the place where she was to land her cargo being known, a vast amount o f
persons, such as generally assemble on such occasions, being composed of traders
haviug six or eight retainers each, gamblers and kidnappers, were in waiting.
On one o f the plantations near the coast there were as many as five hundred
horsemen, all o f them armed to the teeth ; in fact, it looked much more like a
warlike camp, than a plantation. There were seen the rich trader that had
come to buy from fifty to a hundred bozales, to pay cash d ow n ; the guajiro
(countrymen,) who came with the idea o f buying five or six to help him culti­
vate his hacienda ; the gambler, who would at any moment turn trader or kid­
napper, according as he was treated by fortune ; and the kidnappers, who came
with no other view but that ol stealing bozales ; all of these while awaiting the
arrival o f the slaver to commence operations, passed the time in gambling.
The vessel did not keep them long w a itin g; she soon appeared in the horizon,
and rapidly nearing the shore, cast her anchor as close to land as the depth o f
the water would allow. The owners then went on beard to arrange matters for
the discharge, but this did not take place until one o ’clock at night. Then the
boat loads o f Africans were brought nigh unto shore, and they were made to
wade to dry land, where they were received inside o f a circle o f armed men in
pay o f the owners. After having been all landed, the owners divided the cargo
in shares, and each with his respective part marched off to a more secure place,
refusing the brilliant offers o f purchase made.

Out of the 576 that were taken in at the coast only thirteen died.




268

Mercantile Miscellanies.
CONSUMPTION OF TOBACCO IN THE WORLD,

The D e a n C a e l i s l e has recently delivered a lecture in England upon the
subject of tobacco, from which we gather some interesting statistical informa­
tion concerning the use of the weed in that and other countries :—
In 1856, thirty-three millions of pounds of tobacco were consumed in Eng­
land. at an expense of eight millions of money; five million two hundred and
twenty thousand pounds of which went in duty to government, to say nothing
of vast quantities smuggled into the country. There is a steady increase upon
this consumption, far exceeding the contemporaneous increase of population.
In 1821 the average was 11.70 oz. per head per annum ; in 1851 it had risen to
16.36, and in 1853 to 19 oz., or at least at the rate of one-fourth increase in ten
years. Wo hear of 20 000 hhds. of tobacco in the bonding houses in London
at one time. There are twelve city brokers in London expressly devoted to
tobacco sales ; 90 manufacturers, 1,569 tobacco shops in London, 7,380 work­
men engaged in the different branches of the business, and no less than 252,048
tobacco shops in the United Kingdom. And if we turn to the continent the
consumption and expenditure assume proportions perfectly gigantic. In France
much more is consumed in proportion to the population than in England. The
Emperor clears 100,000,000 francs annually by the government monoply. In
the city of Hamburg 40,000 cigars are consumed daily, although the population
is not- much over 150,000 ; 10,000 persons, many of them women and children,
are engaged in their manufacture ; 150,000.000 of cigars are supplied annually;
a printing press is entirely occupied in printing lables for the boxes of cigars,
etc. ; and the business represents £4,000.000. In Denmark the annual consump­
tion reaches the enormous average of 70 ounces per head of the whole popula­
tion ; and in Belgium even more—to 73 ounces, or three pounds and 3-5ths of a
pound per head. In America the average is vastly higher. It is calculated that
the entire world of smokers, snuffers, and chewers consume 2,000,000 of tons of
tobacco annually, or 4,480.000,000 of pounds weight—as much in tonnage as
the corn consumed by 10,000,000 Englishmen, and actually a cost sufficient to
pay for all the bread corn eaten in Great Britain. Five million and a half of
acres are occupied in its growth, chiefly cultivated by slave labor, the product of
which, at two pence per pound, would yield £37,000,000 sterling. The time
would fail to tell of the vast amount of smoking in Turkey and Persia—in India
all classes and both sexes indulge in this practice; the Siamese both chew and
smoke—in Burmah all ages practice it—children of three years old and of both
sexes— Chiija equally contributes to the general mania— and the advocates of
the habit boast that about one-fourth of the human race are their clients, or
that there certainly are one hundred millions of smokers.
IMPORTANCE OF PUBLICITY.

Notoriety or publicity is an indispensable element of success to the merchant,
mechanic, or manufacturer, who would give a speedy and wide distribution to
the commodities and productions which he seeks to exchange for money. He
may have capital, skill, convenient position, punctuality, industry, and honesty—
every possible fitness for his business—and all is nothing, if he have not suffi­
cient notoriety. This notoriety, let it cost more or less, he must purchase or
provide for as carefully as he purchases or manufactures his stock of goods. And
it must in extent bear a certain relation to the business he would do ; it must
be both positive and comparative. People must not only know him and his
business, because otherwise they will not find him; but they must know him,
because otherwise they will find and trade with those who are better known. To
do a successful and profitable business, a merchant must advertise—no matter
what goods he sells.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

269

HOW MANY MORE HOUSES W ILL NEW YORK CONTAIN ?

As the Commissioners of the Central Park have announced the opening of
about four miles of finished carriage drives, it would appear to be an appropri­
ate period to lay before the public the position of that part of the city that is
not now covered with houses.
It has been ascertained by a careful computation recently made that there are
now within the city limits houses already occupied more than sufficient to fill
every vacant lot below Fiftieth street. In other words, that the city may now
be considered as densely built up as far as Fiftieth street. The population they
contain is mostly found around the settlements known as Bioomingdale, Yorkville, Harlem, Manhattanville, Carmansville, Washington Heights, Fort Wash­
ington, Tubby Hook, and Kingsbridge, and thus forms a series of neueli for the
extension of the city, and of points from which the value of land will radiate.
From Fiftieth to Fifty ninth street, the street that forms the southern bound­
ary of the Central Park, the width from the East River to the Hudson River is
twelve blocks.
These consist of 3 blocks of 600 feet each, say........................................feet
“
3
“
900
“
..............................................
“
6
“
800
“
...............................................

1,800
2,700
4,800
9,300

Or, on one side of the street, 372 lots of 25 feet each ; double this for both
sides of the block, and we have 744 lots on each street from Fiftieth to Fiftyninth street.
9 streets, o f 744 lots each, from river to river give.................................. lots
6,696
By measuring both sides of the Central Park, from 59th to 110th street, we find—
4 blocks of 600 feet each............................................................................. feet
2,400
2
“
900
“
....................................................................................
1,800
4
“
800
“
....................................................................................
3,200
7,400
Or, on one side, 296 lots of 25 feet width, and on both sides 592 lots on
each street, say from 59th to 110th street, 57 streets, of 592 lots each,
from bulkhead lines on each river................................................................
From 110th to 130th street averages the same width as the first section
mentioned above, say 9,300 feet, or 372 lots on one side, and on both
sides o f the block 744 lots. This section, 20 streets in length, gives...
From 130th tol55th street the island narrows rapidly. The reare 2 blocks
of 900 feet each, say 1,800 feet, and 6 blocks of 800 feet each, say 4,800
feet— 6,060 feet; which, being divided into lots, gives 264 lots on one
side, and on both sides of the block double this, 582 lots. The section
is 25 streets in length, and gives...................................................................
As no street, other than the Kingsbridge road, and no avenue, other than
10th avenue, is laid down on the map, or located by law above 155th
street, we can arrive at the area only by approximation, which will be
very favorable to the householder, as, owing to the hilly nature of that
narrow part of our city, it will be impossible to apply the present rect­
angular system to it, and by any future plan fully 20 per cent o f lot
space must remain unoccupied to a very distant day.
The average width of the island for this section is 4.5U0 fe e t; deduct for
roads and avenues running north and south 30n feet, or 3 roads of 100
feet each, we have then 4,200 feet fur the average width for building
lots, or 168 lots for one side of an estimated block, and the two sides
336 lots. The length of this section is 65 blocks. We then have for
the wholesection north of 155th street.........................................................

30,192
14,880

13,200

21,840
86,808

Thus ODly 86,808 building lots now remain vacant in the city limits of 13
miles by
miles.
In this calculation no allowance has been made for public squares ; on the
contrary, the following squares in this section now actually in existence are




Mercantile Miscellanies.

270

eounted in as building lots, viz.:—Bloomingdale square, Hamilton square, Man­
hattan square, and Mount Morris square.
From the above-mentioned 86,808 building lots we must also deduct something
for churches, public institutions of charity, school houses, lumber yards, coal
yards, public squares, manufacturing establishments, &c., &c., and 7,000 lots
would certainly not be too many for these purposes, so that the number of lots
that can be used as domicils must fall under 80,000. We have doubled in pop­
ulation in the past fifteen years.
There are somewhat over 100,000 registered voters in this city. The usual
calculation is eight souls for a voter, which number consists of women, minors,
aliens, and strangers sojourning for business and pleasure. As the number of
aliens in this city is larger than in that of any other city, owing to this being the
principal port of arrival, and to the desire of our importing merchants, who are
nearly universally foreigners, to escape jury duty, it is quite probable that at
this date we have a population of 1,000,000.
The city has increased in wealth during the past twenty years in a greater
ratio than in population. This is evidenced by the thousand costly mansions
that crowd between Bleeeker—the then upward line of fashion -and Fiftieth
street, and by the hundreds of carriages which crowd_the streets where there was
one formerly. Fifteen years ago any old resident could stand at the corner of
Chambers street and Broadway, and name the owner of every buggy, carriage, or
landau that drove past. This is a reminder that in the above calculation another
want must be provided for. We must have stable lots to accommodate the four
and six horses and four carriages required by each wealthy family, and a want
which Central Park, when it is opened, will certainly largely increase.
COTTON SEEKING THE NORTHW ESTERN ROUTE VIA THE LAKES.

It is but a few years since the Mississippi Biver, via New Orleans, was the
only outlet for the great staple of the South. Within a short time, however,
railroad facilities have increased so rapidly that competition for the trade has
sprung up. and now the western roads, as well as the canal and roads of New
Tork State, begin to be benefited by it. Heretofore the cotton used at the
York Mills in this State, near Utica, and other points, found its way from
Memphis, via New Orleans and New York, and thence by canal or railroad.
Now it can be brought via Cairo, Chicago, and our own city, at less rates. The
Illinois Central Road is now doing a large business in this trafic for the North.
It is stated that forty-one cars loaded at Cairo with cotton in a single day last
week, and 2,000 bales were sent over the whole line of road during October, for
the factories of Western New York. The record of transactions in cotton is
not currently given at St. Louis or Cincinnati, and still more important is the
existing neglect to note the direction shipments take from Memphis, which is
the great cotton mart for the production of Tennessee and Arkansas. During
the year ending August 31st, there was received at Cincinnati, 49,946 bales of
cotton— the highest quantity in any previous year, being 20,000 bales in 1856.
Of the first named quantity 8,700 bales were shipped up the Ohio River, and
35,400 bales were sent by canals and railways northward. What amount came
over the Illinois railroads to the lake ports, Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, and
Cleveland, we have no means of knowing. A considerable quantity is sent for­
ward from these points into Canada to supply the manufactories there, and the
New England factories and those of New York State. When the insurance
and dispatch arc taken into consideration, this route will be found cheaper than
via New Orleans.




The Book Trade.

271

THE BOOK TRADE.
1. — Re-Statements of Christian Doctrine, in twenty-five Sermons. By H e n r y
B e l l o w s , Minister of All Soul’s Church, New York. 12mo., pp. 434. New
York : D. Appleton & Co.
Dr. Bellows, the author of this volume of sermons is well know as one of our
most accomplished and scholastic clergyman. The sermons here collected possess
their original form, with all their local allusions retained as evidence of their
genuineness, and although including points largely in dispute, are not in a sec­
tarian way. nor designed to unsettle existing convictions, or to disturb conclu­
sions already arrived at. They are intended mainly for the benefit of that large
class who find themselves incapable of receiving ordinary statements of Chris­
tian doctrine, and are yet unwilling to give up their faith in the Gospel. Dr.
Bellows evidently inclines to believe the imperfections, the inexperience, the
weakness and faults of human character, those who love human nature best, are
readiest to see and feel; hence this effort in behalf of that class to keep the un­
derstanding in due subordination to the still higher faculties of the soul.
2. — Evenings at the Microscope; or, Researches among the minuter Organs and
Forms ol Animal Life. By P h i l i p H e n r y G o s s e , F. R. S. 12mo., pp.
476. New York : D. Appleton & Co.
The myriad wonders of creation which, altogether unseen by the unassisted
eye, are made cognizable to sight by the aid of the microscope, are truly aston­
ishing. To assist the student of zoology in his researches is the aim of this
volume ; for which purpose pictorial illustrations are given, the product of the
author’s own pencil, the greater majority having been drawn on the wood direct
from the microscope, at the same time as the respective descriptions were written.
Also, a considerable amount of information is given, which will greatly assist
the novice in microscopic manipulation, such as the selecting, and securing, and
preparing objects for examination, as well as the power to observe to the fullest
extent, and discriminate what he has under his eye. In short, it is a record of
the personal experience of the author in microscopic science, and abounds in in­
struction and entertainment in addition to its merits as a scientific manual.
3.

— New Miscellanies.
By C h a r l e s K
pp. 375. Boston : Ticknor & Fields.

in g sl e y ,

Rector of Eversley.

12mo.,

The contents of this volume are taken, for the most part, from Frazer’s Mag­
azine and the North British Review, where they were originally published for
Mr. Kingsley, of whom, as the author of “ Alton Locke” and “ Hypatia,”
nothing need be said in making his name familiar with many of our readers.
We have read nothing in a long time more enticing than his paper on “ Chalk
Stream Studies,” as well as “ Thoughts in a Gravel P i t a l s o his “ Thoughts
on Shelley and Byron,” and on Pope and Alexander Smith, will be fresh and
novel to every reader.
4. — My Christmas Present; a Holiday Token for Boys and Girls. Boston:
Abel Tompkins.
Is a very pretty small 12mo., containing nineteen short essays on pleasing
subjects by some of our most elegant female writers. “ The Young Mechanic,”
“ Ann High,” “ Giving to the Poor,” and some others, full well indicate the
seasonableness of the book at any time ; and the beautiful dress with which the
publishers have clothed it indicates a correct estimate of that outer adorning
which should belong to pearls of great price. Lizzette, The Family Pets. The
Little Orphans, and The Young Mechanic, are appropriate embellishments in
fine mezzotint. The more of such nooks the better.




272

The Booh Trade.

6.— Theological Views, comprising the substance of Teachings during a Minis­
try of thirty-five years in New Orleans. By T h e o d o r e C l a p p . 12mo., pp.
355. Boston : Abel Tompkins.
This volume, the production of a Universali3t divine, has for its object the
establishment of certain points of doctrine, which, by different denominations,
are held at variance, such as the “ Teachings of the Scriptures concerning pun­
ishment,” “ Examination of the Doctrine of future Retribution,” “ Objections
to the Miracles of the New Testament answered,” “ Teachings of Jesus and
his Apostles concerning the Resurrection and a future State,” “ Christian Mir­
acles,” &c., &c. The author, though zealous, seems perfectly fair in his deduc­
tions, seemingly intent to interpret the Scriptures aright, and to explain them
with that ennobling faith which teaches the eternal progression and everlasting
happiness of entire humanity.
6. — The Physiology of Common Life. By G f. o r g e H e n r y
“ Seaside Studies,” “ Life of Goethe,” &c. In two volumes.
pp. 368. New Y ork : D. Appleton & Co.

author of
Vol. I., 12mo.,

L ew es,

The learned author treats, in their natural order, of the air we breathe, and
the water we drink, in their relation to health ; the soil we cultivate, and the
plant we rear, as the source from which the chief substances of all life are ob­
tained ; the bread we eat, and the beverage we infuse ; the sweets we extract,
the liquor we ferment, and the narcotics we indulge in ; what we breathe for,
and why we digest; the body we cherish, and finally the circulation of matter,
as exhibiting in one view the end, purpose, and method of all changes in the
natural body. The author exhibits the present condition of chemical knowl­
edge upon subjects to which his W'ork is devoted, and mingles with his scientific
investigations important statistical data. It is a most valuable and interesting
work, and should have a wide and general circulation.
7.

— Self Help ! with Illustrations of Character and Conduct.
12mo., pp. 400. Boston : Ticknor & Fields.

By

S am uel

S m il e s .

The author of this work, having been invited by an association composed of
men desirous of improving their knowledge to lecture to them on different sub­
jects, accepted their invitation, and from the lectures delivered, and from notes
and memoranda of his reading and observation, the present volume has been
made up and published, with the hope that the lessons of industry, persever­
ance, and self-culture which it contains will be found both useful end instruct­
ive. Among the topics to which the attention of the reader is directed are the
importance of self help, individual and material; who are the leaders of indus­
try and men of business habits; the use and abuse of money; the true gentle­
man, and others. In the chapter on business habits, the author enumerates the
combination of mental ability and literary pursuits with the successful chnduct
of business affairs, showing the fallacy of the opinion that a man of business is
a persou “ with no ideas but those of custom and interest on the narrowest
scale.”
8. —Hesper, the Home Spirit, and The Harvest of Love, a Story for the Home
Circle, are both comprised in the “ Home Circle Library,” now being pub­
lished by Mr. Abel Tompkins, Boston, and both are very readable books.