Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : January 1843, Vol. VIII, No. I

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MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
J A N U A R Y ,

1 843.

15

MTU
A r t . I.— C O M M E R C E OF E G Y P T .*

'S mo X
Y'

T h e ancient mother o f religions, arts, and laws, Egypt, placetf&s ft is on
the confines o f Asia, A frica, and Europe, gains importance daily, as the
interests o f the three continents becom e m ore and more commingled. Its
physical isolation and compactness o f population, together with their im ­
memorial submissiveness, have given its present remarkable ruler pecu­
liar advantages in causing this garden and store-house to becom e what
“ it must from the necessity o f things be, the great bazaar o f the Old
W orld. It must be a centre o f influence, self-supported, or dependent
only on those com m ercial relations which time will gather round it.”
T h e area o f E gypt proper, from Syene, or Assonan, north, between
the western desert, and the two seas, is about equal to that o f “ the Middle
States” o f the Am erican Union ; but the cultivable land, i. e. the land wa­
tered naturally or artificially by the N ile, equalled, in 1835, only about
2,000,000 acres ; though this might be increased even to 3,500,000.
Beyond the reach o f these fertilizing waters, all is frightful sterility; pre­
senting upon a region o f moving sands and sun-burnt rocks, the pale and
yellow hues o f death, in glaring contrast with the greenness o f the busy
valley, and its blue, lifegiving stream. But there is some pasturage in
the mountains and on the skirts o f the sandy waste.
“ A perpetual struggle is carried on between the desert and cult1vation.
In many parts o f the Delta, the desert has invaded and mastered the soil.
In the neighborhood o f Abowzabel, in the district o f Essiout, and some
other parts o f Egypt, the desert has been vanquished by cultivation. In
fact, were there hands to plough, and water to irrigate, it is not easy to
calculate what an immense tract o f territory might be rescued from the
waste. The hot winds o f the desert, however, often destroy the hopes o f
the husbandman; their intensity and duration becom e objects, to him, o f the
greatest anxiety, for there are seasons in which the khamsine (which
takes its name from its ordinary duration o f fifty days) dries up whole dis­
* Prepared mostly from Bowring’s Report to the British Government, 1840.
YOL. VIII.— NO. I .
1




14

Commerce o f Egypt.

tricts, even after irrigation. Added to this, the prospect o f large and pro­
ductive harvests is sometimes suddenly cut o ff by the visitations o f locusts.”
T h e inundations o f the river, too, on which the country' depends, are very
various in character and consequences : when favorable to the upper re­
gions, they are excessive in the lo w e r; and when they suit the lower dis­
tricts, they sometimes leave the higher country almost dry.
“ One o f the greatest public works ever contemplated in Egypt, is the
barrage intended to regulate the waters o f the N ile, by a huge dam, with
sluices, near the fork o f the Delta. The original suggestion emanated
from the scientific men o f the French expedition, and Napoleon is reported
to have spoken in its favor. M. Linant, who has had the direction o f the
work, estimates that it will irrigate 3,800,000 feddans,* even in the lowest
inundations, and without the aid o f m achines; and that, with the aid o f
machines, a very large quantity in addition, up to a distance o f eight
leagues above the barrage, would be supplied with water. H e represents
that it will meliorate the canal navigation, improve both the Damietta and
Rosetta branches o f the Nile, give sufficient water to Mahmondich canal,
and allow the largest vessels to communicate from that canal to the N ile ;
and will enable canals o f three or four metres wide (nili) to supersede the
seffie o f eight metres, which now must be cleared every year. H e asserts
that it will, at a small charge, enable the government to make the canal o f
Suez navigable ; undoubtedly one o f the most important undertakings that
can be suggested for the improvement o f Egypt, and the com m ercial in­
terests o f mankind. It will give water to the Kalish o f Cairo all the year
round, in supplies as sufficient as are provided by the most favorable inun­
dations. H e objects to the present system o f irrigation, that the making
canals does not raise the level o f the water, while every year the canals
get more and more filled with mud ; and shows, that in the uncertainty o f
the inundations, no calculations can be made as to the probable agricul­
tural produce o f the country. H e estimates that the work would require
five years for its completion, and that the expense would be $7,758,164.
On this report orders were given for com m encing this stupendous w ork,
worthy the land o f the pyramids. But it seems to have been entered on
without due consideration, and, after a large expenditure, has been again
abandoned, or deferred. T w o millions o f stones, & c ., were collected,
covering no less than 2,000 acres o f good land, thus thrown out o f cultiva­
tion, and 12,000 workmen w ere employed. A railway has been formed,
connecting with the N ile the quarries o f the Mokattam mountains, behind
Cairo, (out o f which the stones o f the pyramids were hewn,) in order to
furnish stone for the w ork. Arrangements had been made for a vast sup­
ply o f forest timber from the woods in the neighborhood o f Scanderoon.”
Thus, some $850,000 w ere expended ; but the arrangements now pro­
ceed sluggishly, nineteen-twentieths o f the workmen have been dismissed,
and the works do not seem to be prosecuted with the vigor and unity o f
purpose which presided at first. Besides, so much efficiency has been dis­
covered in the steam engine for raising water, that it may be found better
to use it instead o f the dam.
“ The productive powers o f the soil o f E gypt are incalculable. W h ereever water is scattered, there springs up a rapid and beautiful vegetation ;
the seed is sown and watered, and scarcely any other care is required for
* A feddan is calculated by Mr. Lane to be somewhat less than an acre.




Commerce o f Egypt.

15

the ordinary fruits o f the earth. Even in spots adjacent to the desert,
and which seem to be taken possession o f by the sands, irrigation brings
rapidly forth a variety o f green herbs and plants. In two years an agree­
able garden may be created in the neighborhood o f Alexandria, which
is the least promising part o f Egypt. Many a spot there is where the tall
weeds grow coarsely hut splendidly, which would nourish the fairest fruits
and richest produce.”
In L ow er E gypt are some 50,000 watering machines, called sakiahs,
w orked by some 100,000 men, or 150,000 oxen ; besides innumerable in­
struments like a N ew England “ well-sweep,” called shadoofs.
The
viceroy stated that he had introduced 38,000 sakiahs. A s one o f them
costs 1,200 piastres,* and an ox 900, 50,000 sakiahs, & c ., represent a
capital o f 165,000,000 piastres ; and for theone hundred and eighty working
days in the year, the men at 1, and the oxen at 1| piastres per day, the
cost is 58,500,000 piastres. Calculating the interest on the first cost o f
the sakiahs and oxen, at the usual rate, 12 per cent per annum, we have
the enormous annual outlay o f 65,520,000 piastres, for irrigation alone, in
L ow er Egypt. M. Linant calculates that the dam above mentioned would
save this expense, besides much o f that o f canals, one o f which, (the small
canal o f Serdawi,) watering but 8,000 feddans, cost $500,000.
T h e population o f Egypt, under Amasis, (w ho united the twelve jarring
kingdoms Isaiah speaks of, chap, xix., verse 2 .) was seven to nine mil­
lions, and it is said to have then had twenty thousand cities ; now, it has
tw o to two and a half millions o f people, who, however, are very prolific,
as were the Egyptians anciently. Indeed, the houses swarm with children,
so that, as the laws o f health are becoming better known and practised, and
the drafts for foreign wars, which drained the country o f its most
vigorous and productive men, have at present ceased, the working popula
tion may be expected to increase very rapidly. Accurate statistics in the
East, are, o f course, at present, out o f the question; but it is estimated that
o f the people, 150 to 200,000 are Copts, 18 to 20,000 Turks, 7,000
Greeks, 6,000 Catholic Franks, 3,000 Jews, 2,000 Armenians, and the
rest are Arab fellahs and Bedawin.
Alm ost all the agricultural production o f the country is in the hands o f
the Mahometan fellahs, who are the most submissive, gay, and excitable of
beings. Under every political change, the fellah’s destiny has been un­
changed ; rarely accumulating wealth, the day’ s labor provides but for the
d a y ; a few ornaments, purchased or inherited, a mud hut, without floor or
window, and a few utensils o f the cheapest and commonest sort, are his
all. Idolizing the Nile, almost as o f yore, and considering no evil to be
compared to quitting the sight o f it, he soon pines to death elsewhere ; but,
careless o f the future, i f left in peace to cultivate his land and pour the
waters o f his beloved river over the rich soil on its banks, “ he would nei­
ther desire nor dream o f a happier condition ; he is contented, though a
perpetual laborer, to gather little o f the fruits o f his labor ; and o f his race
it may be said, as Am ron said o f the ancient Egyptians, ‘ T h ey are bees,
always toiling, always toiling for others, not themselves.’ H e will rather
die than revolt; impatience under any yoke is unknown to him ; resignation
is his primary virtue; his life, his faith, his law is submission. H e was
made for peace, not for war ; and though his patriotism is intense, there




* Twenty piastres go to the dollar.

16

Commerce o f Egypt.

is no mingling in it o f the love o f glory or the passion for conquest. His
nationality is in his local affections, and they are most intense. Could
prosperity be his, what songs, what music, what joys !”
The Christian Copts exercise all the functions o f scribes and account­
ants ; and as their influence is undoubtedly an increasing one, they will
probably occupy no small part o f the field in the future history o f Egypt.
T h ey are the surveyors, the scribes, the arithmeticians, the measurers,
the clerks ; in a word, the learned men o f the land ; but though better in­
structed than the Arabs, their reputation for probity and veracity, enslaved
as they are, is, o f course, very low. Their numbers do not appear to
increase.
The Turks, or Osmanlis, are everywhere the paramount rulers, and
still retain, so universal is the habit o f obedience among the natives, a
complete ascendancy, though it is not despotic, as form erly; and both their
numbers and influence are diminishing, as they do not breed well in
Egypt, and the immigration is small. In the capitals their number is con­
siderable : 5,000 at Cairo, 2,000 at Alexandria, 3,000 scattered in Upper
and Low er E g y p t; 2,000 Mamelukes are attached to Turkish families, as
servants and guards, and about 300 apostate Greeks are in the same situ­
ations. There are about 3,000 Georgian, Circassian, and Mingrelian, and
6,000 Greek slaves; but the Circassian war with Russia has diminished
the supplies o f youths to the south from the Caucasian districts.
The number o f the Bedawin cannot be got at, but as their means o f ex­
istence are limited, it is probably stationary. Neither in costume nor in
habits have they undergone any change from immemorial tim e; and they
keep aloof from all other races. Restrained by the strong hand o f Ma­
homet A li, who has completely subjected them, they are no longer preda­
tory, however ; and some, in the Fayoom , appear to be gradually adopting
a pastoral life. On the tracts, where the desert is contiguous to cultivable
land, many have spread their tents and devoted themselves to agriculture.
T h ey are somewhat thievish, but as they furnish a valuable contingent o f
irregular cavalry to the viceroy’s army, they are favorably regarded by
the authorities, though disliked by their neighbors; like as o f old, the nomade was “ an abomination” to the settled Egyptian. (Genesis, chapter
xlvi, verse 34.) W h ere waste land is brought into cultivation by them, or
by others, no land-tax at all is levied for a certain number o f years. Few
o f the Bedawin are stationary, except on the skirts o f the wilderness,
where they pass some months o f the year upon the green spots with their
flocks and herds. T h ey are seen in considerable numbers in the larger
towns, and are the principal proprietors o f the troops o f camels, which are
almost the only beasts o f burthen in Egypt. “ Physically, the Arabs are a
much nobler looking race ; they walk with a proud and bold step, simply
clad, and seemingly regardless o f the world and the world’ s luxuries.”
The Armenians are, as a body, generally instructed and influential, and
occupy many o f the most important posts o f government. Boghos Youksouff, the prime minister o f the viceroy, is an Armenian Christian. Their
great acquirements in languages fit them peculiarly for the important offi­
ces o f secretaries and dragomans, or interpreters. Many work in gold and
silver, or exercise various handicrafts. The Orthodox are far the most
numerous, and under their own patriarchs ; the Catholic Armenians, on
the other hand, recognize the Pope o f Rom e.
The negroes are almost wholly engaged in domestic servitude; few or




Commerce o f Egypt.

17

none are occupied in field labor. 6,000 houses in Cairo have black women
and Abyssinians for domestics, the average being two each. Besides
these 12,000 female, there are probably 2,000 male slaves, and 2,500 in
the army. There is an immense influx from Nubia o f free blacks ; they
are faithful domestic servants, employed for the most part as porters, doorkeepers, watchmen, & c. T h ey guarantee the good conduct o f one an­
other. Cairo has some 5,000 o f them. T h ey rarely marry Egyptian
women, but return home with their earnings, to-be succeeded by perpetual
swarms o f new emigrants. This trusty, amiable character, strikingly cor­
responds to that given o f the Ethiopians in Scripture, and to the epithet
“ blameless,” applied to them by the ancients. “ Their step is erect—
their mien noble— they have confidence-in themselves and their fellows—
in proportion as you advance into the interior, the bearing o f the Nubians
becom es bolder and prouder.”
Distinction o f color brings none o f rank
or position.
The Franks and Levantines, as Greeks, Maltese, & c ., in their multitu­
dinous varieties, are traders and shopkeepers. This motley population is
found in the principal cities o f Egypt, as elsewhere in the Levant. Some,
too, are employed as artisans and domestics, and multitudes are wanderers
less respectably occupied. Their number in Alexandria alone is 8 or

10,000 .
Thus, as all these various races and occupations keep themselves so
distinct, we perceive the shadow still left o f that iron system o f castes
which now prevails in India, as it anciently did in Egypt.
Form erly, the soil o f E gypt was vested in the sov ereig n ; and when
Mahomet A li came to power, he required all the titles to be deposited in
his fisc, and granted annuities to their owners. The holding may now be
considered as o f the value o f from three to four years’ purchase. The
Franks did not, till lately, hold much real estate, as it was believed to be
contrary to Mahometan law, and they paid no ta x ; but large portions o f
land and great numbers o f houses and warehouses have now passed in f e e
into the hands o f Frank settlers, and as the more easy and convenient
mode, the registration is in the name o f some Frank female. The exist­
ing legislation, however, demands great changes to encourage such settlers
to purchase and hold such property. Grants are often made by the v ice­
roy o f unoccupied land. Cases o f abandonment by the fellahs are frequent,
and the abandoned land is distributed to new applicants. The govern­
ment being thus invested with the proprietorship o f the soil, any quantity
o f land is ceded to applicants for cultivation on the payment o f the miri,
i. e. land-tax, the minimum o f which is 7 s. 9d. sterling per annum, the
maximum, 12s. 8d. the feddan, which is somewhat less than an acre.
W hen the Nile rises 23 to 24 coudees, some 2,000,000 feddans are culti­
vated, and pay ta x ; but sometimes the river does not rise more than 19
coudees.
In the distribution o f agricultural production, the government generally
takes the initiative by determining what quantity o f a particular article
shall be cultivated in a given district, and at a price fixed upon before the
delivery. W hen the holder o f lands has capital for seed, and can afford
to wait for the returns, this price will give 15 to 20 per cent on the outlay
o f capital; but when the fellah is poor, it scarcely allows him to exist. In
bad and sterile years the government advances the fellah seed, to be paid
for with interest at harvest. The excuses alleged for forcing a particular
1*




18

Commerce o f Egypt.

cultivation is, that the lazy habits o f the fellahs would induce them to
abandon cultivation altogether, or at all events only to produce the articles
necessary for their own consumption, and such as required the smallest
application o f labor, were not the despotic stimulant applied. The fellahs,
however, must be exceptions to the rest o f the human race, if the assured
rewards o f industry are not enough stimulus to a healthy productiveness.
But there is also, in the Mahometan religion itself, “ a great want o f en­
couragement to art, science, or industry. The book and the sword are
the only two objects which it presents as worthy the ambition or the rev­
erence o f its votaries. It does not give honor to labor.”
MEANS OP COMMUNICATION, ETC.

Six steampackets visit Alexandria m on th ly: three from Marseilles,
which touch at Malta and Syria, and bring letters from Constantinople ;
two from Trieste, which touch at Crete, (or did) ; and one from England,
which comes direct from Malta, and proceeds from Alexandria to Beyroot,
in Syria. B y a better combination than exists, letters might be received
from Europe regularly, every four or five days ; as it is, (in 1840,) 10
days scarcely ever elapse without the arrival o f a steamer.
There are 10 French steamers in the service which are dependent on
the post office administration. Syra is the point o f union where the dif­
ferent vessels from Marseilles, Constantinople, Athens, and Alexandria, ex­
change their correspondence and tranship their passengers. Each steamer
has engines o f one hundred and sixty horse power, and a crew o f forty-two
men. From Marseilles to Alexandria the passage is o f fourteen to fifteen
days, including the stoppages, and about the same to Constantinople.
T h e charge for passengers is five hundred and ninety-eight francs to the
former, and five hundred and ninety-one to the latter. Single letters are
charged two francs in addition to the inland postage. Letters between
London and Alexandria generally arrive in from seventeen to nineteen
days.
T h e Austrian steamers leave Trieste for Ancona, Corfu, Patras, and
Canea, on the 6th and 20th o f every month, and leave Alexandria on
every 5th and 20th. In consequence o f the embarrassments o f the quar­
antine regulations, the calling at Canea, in Crete, was about to be aban­
doned ; but since the island has reverted to the Porte, the quarantine may
have been annulled or altered.
A steamer also plies between Alexandria and Constantinople direct, de­
parting from each port every twenty days.
“ T he ordinary communication between Alexandria and Cairo is by the
Mahmoudich canal, which joins the N ile at Atfeh, where the goods and
passengers are disembarked and transferred to other boats on the r iv e r ;
for though there are sluices which would enable the same vessel to con ­
tinue its course by passing from the canal to the river, they are seldom
opened, and the transhipment almost always takes place at this spot, the
population o f which has o f late years greatly augm ented; the inhabitants
now, not being much less than 7,500, according to the statement made by
the British agent there. The price for a boat from Alexandria to Atfeh,
varies from forty to one hundred piastres. F rom Atfeh to Boulaq, the
port o f Cairo, from two hundred to one thousand piastres, according to the
demand for boats, and the character o f the boat en ga ged; the average
passage from Alexandria to Cairo, as the wind generally sets from north




Commerce o f Egypt.

19

to south, is about four days, but it is frequently much longer. The Arab
sailors, however, make more progress than might be expected. W hen
the wind is fair they crowd their sails, often exposing the passengers to
danger from the very sudden gusts which sometimes surprise them— as
they are almost equally at home in the water or out o f it, the risk they
run is very sm a ll; but the number o f persons is considerable who perish
in the N ile from the carelessness o^ th e Arab boatmen. W hen the wind
is contrary, they land and tow the vessel along the banks, and sometimes
they leap into the stream and tow the vessel as they sw jm ; but delays are
frequent. It is out o f the question to expect to make a passage without
being now and then on the sands ; on the whole, the management o f the
boats is very dextrous, and the conduct o f the boatmen prompt and cour­
ageous.” *
T h e Mahmoudich canal and the N ile are the most active, not to say the
only channels o f communication for the principal markets o f Egypt.
F rom the smallest cangias and daliaUehs to the largest maashes,— from
boats o f four or five tons to vessels o f one hundred and twenty tons bur­
then,— there is a perpetual activity on these two main arteries o f com ­
merce. Boulaq and Atfeh are the principal places o f shipment and land­
ing. T h e price o f transit is subject to many fluctuations, arising not only
from the ordinary influences o f supply and demand, but from the frequent
seizures o f boats for the service o f governm ent; but o f late it has had
a considerable tendency to advance. W hen the French held Egypt, there
were but seven hundred boats between Cairo and Syene, and nine hundred
on the Rosetta and Damietta branches. In 1833, the government had
eight hundred, and private owners, 2 ,5 0 0 ; and since then they have been
much increased in number. The largest boats, called maashes, are em ­
ployed only in the time o f the high inundations, and convey from Upper
Egypt, each, 1,000 to 1,200 ardebs (an ardeb is five bushels) o f wheat,
barley, or pulse. There are about one hundred and twenty large djerms
which navigate between Alexandria and Rosetta, and are also employed
in conveying merchandise from Damietta to the other side o f the Boghaz,
in order to be shipped on vessels lying out at sea. In the summer these
djerms g o as far as Cyprus and Syria, but are frequently lost.
Between Cairo and Suez, seventy-five to eighty miles, camels are ordi­
narily used, and pass in two, or, at most, three days. There arc now
three station-houses, the central one fitted as a h o te l; and relays o f horses
are provided. The journey has been made in twenty-two hours, and once
in thirteen. Travelling, here, as elsewhere throughout Egypt, is as safe

* By the improved arrangements, the line o f steam communication to Alexandria
[from England] is to be every fifteen days, instead o f once a month.

Besides the iron

steamer now plying between Atfeh and Cairo, and a large iron track-boat now on the
Mahmoudich canal, another steamer is to ply from Boulaq to Thebes, whence to Cosseir, on the Red Sea, about one hundred miles, a regular conveyance is to be established,
in addition to the one between Cairo and Suez. T he Suez and India steamers are to
touch regularly at Cosseir. A plan is also to be adopted for passing travellers through
in time o f plague. Every fifteen days a line o f large steamers, timed with those that
arrive there, is to start from Malta for Athens, Smyrna, the Dardanelles, Constantinople,
Sinope, Samsoun, and Trebisond, returning by the same route to Malta .—Newspapers

of 1841.




20

Commerce o f Egypt.

as in any European country. A project has been long entertained o f a
railroad across ; and there is a hard, stony, and level foundation through the
whole line, and no engineering difficulties except a few miles o f sand im­
mediately out o f Cairo, and also just before entering Suez. It was estima­
ted to cost, for a single track, 1,360 pounds sterling, but freights and travel
have not yet justified its erection, though several miles o f rail were im ­
ported for it. These were used, how efer, for a road to bring stone for the
dam before mentioned. The steamers from Suez to India consume 2,700
tons o f coal annually, which com es to Suez, through Cairo ; and the v ice­
roy has eagerly given indispensable aid, in every way, to the British com ­
munications across. This route to India, it may be remarked, offers vast
advantages over every other, on all accounts. Could the old port o f Pelusium, or some other on the Mediterranean, be found or made fit, a canal
(to which no invincible impediments are known) or road directly across
the isthmus might again revolutionize the com m erce o f the east and west,
as the passage round the Cape o f Good Hope to India consumes thrice the
time o f that by the Suez route.
The com m erce o f the R ed Sea, laying as it does under obstructing
monopolies, has not yet been fully developed ; all its ports are occupied
by the viceroy, and the coffee trade at Mocha has been much diminished
by being taken into the hands o f his governm ent; the prices allowed are
not remunerating, and its culture is being abandoned. The coffee trade
w ill probably fall into the hands o f the British at Aden, on the south coast,
unless the system is changed.
There is a daily post between Cairo and Alexandria, and vice versa,
which conveys letters in from thirty to thirty-six hours, but takes only the
despatches o f the government, and such as the government (which in that
respect is very liberal) takes charge o f for individuals. T h e merchants o f
Alexandria, however, have a post o f their own, which communicates three
times a week with Cairo, and which delivers the letters on the fourth day.
A line o f telegraphs, too, constantly communicates between the two cities,
several times a day if needed, and it is not often interrupted by fogs. A
regular post is established by the government for communication with all
the authorities from one end o f Egypt to another; but on especial occa ­
sions, messengers are despatched sometimes on dromedaries, which travel
at the rate o f seven or eight miles an hour, and sometimes letters are
sent by messengers on foot. A direct road, which is much wanted, could
be constructed with little difficulty over the level lands between Alexandria
and Cairo, which, in a straight line, are but about one hundred miles apart.
Weights, M easures, and Currency.— The weights and measures vary
in different parts o f the country, and some are quite primitive, as the fitr,
which is the length between the point o f the thumb and the fore-fin g er;
the sliibr, that between the point o f the thumb and the little finger. The
dirah beledi, or cubit o f the country, is about 22| inches, the Indian cubit,
25, and that o f Constantinople, 2 6 i. The fedd an is nearly an acre ; the
malakha varies from 2 to 6 miles. In measures o f grain, 4 rubahs equal
1 ouebeh; 6 o u e b e h s = l a r d e b = o English bushels; the kunkliah, or wheat
g r a in = £ grain English ; the khebbeh, b a rle y ,= 1 grain E n g lish ; the kirat,
3 g ra in s; the dram, 48 grains; the rottolo— 15 oz. 13 dr. avoirdupois;
the o k e = 2J lb s .; 100 r o t t o li= l canlar= 9& i lbs.
T h e coins which have been struck at Cairo are, the kirieh o f 9 piastres,
which weighs 4J carats, 3 fine gold, and l i a llo y ; the sadyeh, 4 piastres,




Commerce o f Egypt.

21

2 carats, fd s. find gold ; and gold pieces o f 2 0 ,1 0 , and 5 piastres; in sil­
ver there are piastres (20 to the dollar) and pieces o f 2 0 ,1 0 , and 5 paras;
40 paras go to the piastre; these smaller coins are much adulterated.
T h e coins are dated 1223, i. e. 18 0 8 -9 , the year o f the viceroy’s acces­
sion, and have the toughra, or cypher, o f the sultan.
Accounts are generally kept in piastres (khirsh, A rabic) and paras (fu d dah, A rabic,) but when the amount is large, the term kis (or p u rs e )= 5 0 0
piastres, or 5 pounds sterling, is employed. The other currency o f the
country is the Constantinople kirieh o f 20 piastres, which circulates at
1 7 i • and the following, which pass at their standard value, viz., Spanish
doubloons, Venetian sequins, Dutch ducats, Hungarian sequins, Spanish
dollars, Imperial dollars, sovereigns.
PRODUCTS AND MANUFACTURES.

The agricultural products o f Egypt, in the latitude o f Florida, are wheat,
dourah, rice, cotton, tobacco, various pulse, silk, sugar-cane, indigo, the
opium plant, olives, roses, dates, plums, oranges, apples, peaches, figs,
onions, melons o f all kinds, madder, gra pes; also, among trees, the acacia,
sycamore, acacia nilotria, etl, nebk, doum, date-palm, & c . Besides these,
the guava, teak, papaw, yam, and bamboo, have been naturalized in the
viceroy’s botanic garden on the island Rhoda, near Cairo, and produce
fruit. The writer has seen strawberries in the garden o f the governor o f
Rosetta. The arnotta, star-apple, custard-apple, india-rubber tree, turme­
ric, arrow-root, ginger, cedar, fustic, benzoin, and cajeput, have been ac­
climated, and grow freely. The allspice and sage-palm live, but do not
prosper. Coffee seed was sown in 1830, and several o f the plants pro­
duced fruit in 1837 ; but from the extraordinary care required in preserving
them, ultimate naturalization is very doubtful.
In 1834 the produce o f Egypt was, in thousands o f ardebs, wheat, 950,
beans, 800, lentils, 70, barley, 560, maize, 160, dourah, 850, chickpeas,
50, lupins, 35, helbeh, (a bitterish seed whose flour is mixed with dourah,)
110, in all 3,585,000 ardebs, each equal 14 Paris bushels, or 1,821 h ec­
tolitres ; Damietta rice, 18,000,000 Damietta okes, Rosetta rice, 23,870,000
lb s .; sugar, 32,000 c w t .; cotton, (Egyptian quality,) 6,000 cw l., foreign
quality, 200,000 c w t .; flax, 55,000 c w t .; indigo, 203,767 lb s .; saffron,
3,500 c w t .; tobacco, 100,000 c w t .; hennah, 3 0 ,0 0 0 ; silk, 65,000 okes,
i. e. 178,750 lbs., i f the oke be taken at 2:J lb s .; opium, 15,000 ok es;
linseed, 60,000 ardebs, or 300,000 bushels.
W heat.— The annual product is 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 bushels, and
its price varies from 25 cents to 190 cents per bushel; some twenty-five
bushels are grow n to the acre. T h e viceroy has exported in one year
5,000,000 bushels, and estimated that it would, on an average, be profit­
ably produced at 10 cents the bushel. In 1837, considerable grain was
imported, and the crop is reduced by cotton g ro w in g ; but when cotton falls
it is increased.
Dourah is produced in considerable quantities in Upper E g y p t; its or­
dinary price is 30 to 40 per cent less than that o f wheat. It is more com ­
monly the food o f the fellah than any other grain, and is cultivated with
much success.
R ice is principally grown in the lower lands o f the D elta ; the Rosetta
district formerly produced 110,000 ardebs, but lately it produced only a
tenth as much, though the product is on the increase.




22

Commerce o f Egypt.

Tobacco is grown to a considerable extent in Middle E g y p t; but the
quality is inferior, and it is used only for the consumption o f the country.
Syria supplies most o f that used by the opulent classes.
Cotton.*— O f all E gyp t’s products, this is incomparably the most impor­
tant, and its introduction is wholly due to the viceroy’ s enterprise. The
average crop, as regards the relations to foreign countries, fluctuates from
100,000 to 150,000 bales, o f about 200 cwt. each, per y e a r ; the price
varying from $ 8 to $ 2 0 per quintal. Y ears have been when only 50,000
bales were produced. “ Cotton is not willingly cultivated by the fellah,
and would probably be scarcely produced at all but through the despotic
interference o f the pacha. W h en the grow er is rich and influential
enough to protect himself against the exaction and the dishonesty o f the
collectors and other agents o f the government, cotton production, at the
price paid by the viceroy, is profitable ; but when the poor fellah is at the
m ercy o f the officers o f the state, his situation is frequently most deplora­
ble, and he is pillaged without m ercy ; often when the cotton he produces
is o f superior quality, he gets only the ordinary p r ic e ; he is cheated in
weight, and cheated by being kept out o f his money ; indeed, the func­
tionary too often dreams o f nothing but to extort from the suffering fellah
whatever he can get hold o f.”
The cotton culture, too, is disliked because
it furnishes but one crop, while many other fruits give two or three per
annum. The product is 100 to 200 lbs. the acre, on an average, though
700 or 800 might be obtained with proper attention to irrigation and culti­
vation ; 500 would be a fair average production at 200 piastres per cantar.
Bowring thinks the cultivator is not badly paid : much, however, depends
upon the cost o f irrigation, which is the principal expense.')'
* T he cotton plant, probably producing the famous byss o f the ancients, has been
found wild on the Blue Nile.
t “ Generally speaking, the soil o f Egypt is favorable to the cultivation o f cotton : a
strong soil, retaining its humidity, where the tree can becom e most robust, and in the
neighborhood o f the Nile, is preferred, not subject to the inundations, however.

Dikes

are used to preserve the plantations from the flooding. In winter they are watered every
fifteen days, in spring (when there are heavy dews) every twelve days, with the delou or
sh ad oof; the latter is a balanced pole with a palm-leaf vessel at the end, which is lowered
into the well and the water poured through a channel on to the field.

In Low er Egypt,

the soil is once ploughed ; in the Said, twice, if the land is light. Furrows are traced
at 50 inches apart, and ploughed to the depth o f 36 centimetres, about 12J inches. The
plough is generally, hut the hoe is sometimes, used.
auxiliaries.

T he ox, buffalo, and ass, are the

T he earth, after being ploughed, is broken and levelled by the hoe ; holes

are made 3 to 4 inches in diameter, in which the seed is placed, 2 to 4 grains in every
hole, at a depth o f 2 to 3 inches, the grains having been previously steeped twenty-four
hours in water.

T hey always sow in March or April.

T he distance o f the cotton-trees

one from another is about a metre, (over nine-tenths o f a yard.)
o f the towns, the spaces are planted with vegetables, & c.

is always to sow in straight lines, but he seldom succeeds.
plants grow up together without any disadvantage.

In the neighborhood

T he intention o f the fellah
Sometimes two or three

T he weeds which spring between

the trees after the inundation are removed by hand, and at the commencement o f winter
the plough is employed for it, in large plantations, and the hoe in small ones. This clear­
ing begins when the plant is 3 metres (about 2 f yards) high.
to the soil.

T he clearing is beneficial

On the second year the weeding is accomplished by the plough and hoe.




Commerce o f Egypt.

23

R aw Silk.— This is likely to becom e an article o f great importance.
The mulberry trees sprout in January, and are in full leaf the 10th or 18th
February. The eggs are hatched in the beginning o f March, or earlier,
i f not kept cold, and in ten days all the worms appear. T h ey are about
sixty days before they begin to sp in : their first step is twelve days, the
second, twelve to fifteen, the third, twelve to fifteen, and the fourth, fifteen.
T h ey are only subject to diseases from want o f care, epidemic diseases
being unknown among them. One ounce o f seed gives 7,200 cocoons,
each weighing from j to 1 drachm. The eggs are preserved in fresh
'places, generally in wells ; they are deposited by the moths on cloths, from
which they are easily rubbed off. Th ey often com e forth before the leaves
are ready ; the grub remains from fifteen to twenty days in the cocoon :
250 to 260 cocoons give 1 lb., o f 12 oz., o f silk. There are mulberry
plantations at W ady Somulat, (Tumulat,) in the province o f Sharkiyeh, (the
ancient “ land o f Goshen,” ) Mansourah, Menouf, Garbyelh, Kaloubeyeh,
Damietta, Rosetta, and Ghizeh ; 3,000 feddans in W a d y Tumulat, and
7,000 in the other districts, set with mulberry-trees, 300 trees occupying
a feddan. In 18 31 -2, the quantity o f silk produced was 6,708 okes, 406
drms., (between 18,000 and 19,000 lb s .) ; in 1833, it was 5,300 okes ; the
fellah was provided with the eggs, at 1J) piastres per drachm, and the v ice­
roy paid for the silk, 125 piastres for the first quality, 95 for the second,
and 85 for the third, delivered at Cairo. T h e cultivation o f the mulberry
is extending; and though Egypt now imports some raw silk, there is no
reason why it should not becom e a largely exporting country o f this valu­
able material.
Sugar.— This cultivation has o f late assumed considerable importance,
and will no doubt spread rapidly. On Rhoda island, Ibrahim Pacha’s plan­
tation occupies 272 feddans, and 750 harvesters were employed at 3 J cents
per day. The gathering and sugar making occupies two months ; the
produce is 2,750 lbs. per feddan, but with better machinery the overseer
T he growth o f the plant is from 1 to
year, less in the second or third.

metres (9-10ths to 1 4-10ths yards) the first

T he cotton-tree is pruned with a sort o f hook so

closely, that all the branches are lopped and used as firewood. T he fellahs in Upper
Egypt, who have no instrument, break them off, which does not injure the tree. The
pruning is less in the first year than in the second and third, and much strengthens the
tree.

Formerly there were trees half a century old, but after three years the produce

diminishes; and generally speaking, is 1 to

lbs. the first, and 1^ to 1^ the second

and third year. The harvest begins in July and ends in January ; or in December, if
the weather is wet. A laborer can gather 15 to 18 lbs. per day, and cultivates 4 feddans
with 1,000 trees, e a c h ; but for removing the cotton from the capsules the assistance o f
children is called in. T he cotton is separated by a simple machine, moved by the foot,
consisting o f two cylinders : a workman can separate from 12 to 15 lbs. per day.

W hen

the fellah is a small cultivator, he himself separates the co tton ; when a large one, he
employs laborers at 5 francs per 120 lbs.
its separation from the husks.

Nothing is done for cleansing the cotton after

It is put into bales in a dirty and peppery state ; some­

times, but rarely, a fellah pays attention to the cleanness o f his cotton. For packing,
only the pressure o f the foot was employed form erly; o f late the American press has
been introduced. O f them there are six at Boulaq, with three hands each, who pack 18
to 20 bales per day o f 100 kilograms.




T he bales are 1 metre high, and 1^ in diameter.”

24

Commerce o f Egypt.

thought he could obtain 3,000.* Its value is 95 to 100 piastres per 100
lb s .= 4 f- to 5 cents the pound. Another return gave for 152 feddans,
40,100 lbs. o f sugar, and 44,930 o f molasses, being about 2,600 lbs. o f su­
gar and 2,900 o f molasses to the feddan. A sugar refinery was establish­
ed at Reyrem oun, in 1 8 1 8 ; in 1831 it produced 11,000 quintals. T h ey
buy first quality raw sugar at 60 piastres per quintal; second quality, 58 ;
third quality, 34 to 40. T h e first quality refined, called moukarar, sold
at 300 piastres per quintal o f 100 rottoli ( o f 144 drachms e a c h ) = 2 6 f cts.
per l b . ; the second quality, called kasr, at half that price. In 1837, the
expense o f a feddan in Ibrahim’s plantation, was 2,202 piastres, 20 paras; *
and the sugar produced w as worth 5,429 piastres, 2 paras ; thus the net
proceeds were <£32 sterling per feddan.
R um .— Some attempts have been made to introduce its manufacture into
the sugar districts o f Ibrahim, and its quality is fair. H e lately sent an
intelligent Mahometan, Omer Effendi, to the W est Indies to examine into
the process, in order to introduce the best methods ; and he has made ar­
rangements with persons thoroughly masters o f the subject to quit the
British colonies, and establish themselves in Egypt, and there is little
doubt that the production will largely increase.
M olasses.— In 18 31 ,1 4,00 0 quintals were distilled. 1 quintal gives 10
okes o f rum o f 28 degrees. T h e cost is 11 piastres for manufacturing ;
15 piastres is the first cost o f the molasses. The rum is sold at 182 pias­
tres per quintal o f 36 okes ; the expenses o f management are 20 per cent.
Indigo might be cultivated to a large extent. The leaves are thrown
into earthen vessels, which are buried in pits and filled with water ; heat
i^applied, and the liquid is boiled away until the indigo becomes o f a fit
cOTsistence, when it is pressed into shape and dried. Many Armenians
have been invited from the East Indies to teach the fellahs the best mode
* “ T he sugar is thrice boiled ; the crushing wheels are moved by oxen, and fill four­
teen to sixteen vessels containing about four cantars altogether, in the twenty-four hours.
T he works proceed night and d a y ; and when the laborers are weary, and take their rest,
they are replaced by others.
manufactured on the spot.

Most o f the pans employed are o f coarse earthenware,

T he canes grow to a great height, and are large in diameter:

fifteen persons supply one mill, and when they have completed their work, they leave off
without any reference to the time they have been occupied.

Independently o f the men,

a considerable number o f boys and girls are employed, and their wages are from 10 to
25 paras per day,
to 3 i cents ; the government lets them buy bread at 1 j cents per
oke, instead o f its cost from the baker, which is 2J cen ts; and at this rate they are al­
lowed to purchase one oke per day, which is deducted from their wages, though they
would willingly buy more.

Many negro children were working among the laborers;

they get no other recompense than being allowed to carry away a certain quantity o f the
upper parts o f the cane, which they use for their cattle.
7 id. sterling, per pound.

T he finest lump sugar sells at

2 d. a day is the average price o f labor in these districts.

At

this very low rate o f wages, there was no difficulty in getting hands, though they were
not protected from conscription ; indeed, to avoid this, most o f the workmen on the
plantation had mutilated themselves o f an eye, or a right hand fore-finger, or the front
teeth, which would disable from musket exercise. T he cane is found to exhaust even the
rich soil o f Egypt, and it was necessary frequently to shift the place o f production. Cheap
river conveyance adds to the profit.
in Egypt are boundless.”




For sugar, cotton, rum, indigo, indeed, the facilities

Commerce o f Egypt.

25

o f preparation, and, in consequence, nine indigo-works have been estab­
lished, belonging to the government, each directed by a nazir, charged
with paying the workmen, and sending the indigo to a general depot at
Cairo, where it is sold for the Turkish and European markets. The quan­
tity varies from 41,250 to 220,000 lbs. per annum.
Opium.— Armenians were invited from Smyrna some years ago to cul­
tivate it. A t the end o f October, after the withdrawal o f the N ile waters,
the seed, mixed with a portion o f pulverized earth, is sown in a strong soil,
in furrows ; after fifteen days the plant springs up, and in two months has
the thickness o f a Turkish pipe, and a height o f four fe e t ; the stalk is
covered with long, oval leaves, and the fruit, which is greenish, resembles
a small orange. Every morning before sunrise, in its progress to maturity,
small incisions are made in the sides o f the fruit, from which a white liquor
distils almost immediately, which is collected in a v e sse l; it soon becomes
black and thickish, and is rolled into balls, which are covered with the
washed leaves o f the plant; in this state it is sold. W h en the seed is
sown in non-inundated ground, the sakiah or water-wheel is employed ; but
the produce is less and inferior. The opium seeds are crushed for lampoil, and the plant is used for fuel. In 1831, 39,875 lbs. were produced,
and sold at 110 piastres per o k e = $ 2 a pound.
Olive oil.— D r. Bowring remarks, “ There is not a large extraction o f
vegetable oils in E g y p t; olive plantations are extending considerably ;
the fruit is large but not sufficiently unctuous to be very productive. In
the Fayoum district, however, [lat. 29-i°] the olive answers well, and the
peasantry willingly engage in its cultivation. The last estimate I obtained
represented the produce to be 100 ardebs o f olives, each o f 100 okes, the
oke rendering 30 per cent o f oil. But since that period, large quantities
o f trees have been planted, and it is estimated that the increase in the
Fayoum is more than threefold. In both Upper and Low er Egypt, the
olive has been extensively introduced. Ibrahim has planted multitudes o f
trees, and they have succeeded tolerably well. The quality o f the fruit in
his plantations is good. I saw them prepared in different ways ; and the
steward expressed an opinion that, in a few years, oil might become an
important article o f produce ; its consumption for burning is very great,
not only on extraordinary occasions, when illuminations take place on the
most extensive scale, but for the ordinary purposes o f life.”
Natron.— The lakes which furnish the natrum, or mineral alkali, are S.
by E . o f Alexandria, about twelve hours from any inhabited spot. A suc­
cession o f experiments have led to the production o f a very pure material,
which is said to have many advantages over the best potashes. Carbonate
o f soda has been purified in the proportion o f ninety to seventeen o f the
old natron o f com m erce. About three hundred persons are employed,
and the carbonates o f soda yield ninety to ninety-five degrees o f alkali.
Rose-water.— Fayoum is the land o f rose-trees. In May, the soil is
twice turned up, divided into squares, and slips are then planted in holes
at a distance o f 2| feet. The slips are covered with earth, which is kept
constantly humid, till the trees appear above ground, when the irrigation
is lessened, and the trees reach their natural height o f about 2's feet. A t
the end o f Decem ber the shoots are cut at the surface o f the ground, irri­
gation being recom menced for thirty to forty days, being the time neces­
sary for the budding and blowing o f the flower. The roses are gathered
every morning before sunrise, while covered with d e w ; they are placed
V O L. V III.—

no




. i.

2

26

Commerce o f Egypt.

in an alembic ere they dry or heat, and the distillation lasts six hours.
T h e water is white when drawn from the alembic ; that offered for sale is
generally yellowed by a mixture o f water from roses which have been in­
fused. A feddan gives from 6 to 7 quintals o f roses. In 1832, 800 quin­
tals were collected ; reduced half by distillation, they gave 40,000 rottoli
(39,531^ lbs.) o f rose-water. A feddan planted with rose-trees, costs 60
piastres for culture and taxes, and gives 3 quintals, which give 300 rottoli,
which, at 3 piastres, produce 900 piastres net. But no person is allowed
to distil roses for his own account, and those who cultivate them are obli­
ged to sell them to the government. Its manufacture is now very small.
O f fine rose-water, a small quantity is made for the use o f the govern­
ment ; but that produced for sale is o f little value and o f indifferent char­
acter. The monopoly has nearly destroyed the culture. Otto o f roses is
not manufactured in the Fayoum, though, were the culture free, it could
compete in its produce o f this article, with any part o f the east. But now,
each person is interested in having as few rose-trees as possible.
D ates.— This is one o f the most productive and extensively cultivated
o f fruits. It is spread over all Egypt, is a great source o f revenue to
government, (2,000,000 trees, paying 1 piastre per tree,) and administers
by its fruit, trunk, branches, leaves, and fibres, to the comforts o f the na­
tives, far more than any other product o f the soil. A s a source o f landed
revenue it is highly lucrative. A proprietor planted 5,000 trees, which,
after eight years, had produced yearly fruit o f the average value o f from
$ 2 to $ 4 per tree.
Madder is produced in Middle Egypt, to some extent, for the consump­
tion o f the country, principally for dyeing the tarbouche, or skull-caps,
which are universally worn. Its culture was introduced in 1825. In
1833, 300 feddans in Upper Egypt, and 500 in the Delta and the Kelyoub,
w ere devoted to madder roots.
W ines.— Egypt was never celebrated for its wines, though it produced
the grape ; and wine-presses, & c ., are seen pictured on its ancient monu­
ments. Herodotus says, it produced no wine in his time. Ibrahim and
others have made attempts with the vine, and some tolerably good wine
has been made. T h e white wine resembles Marsala, though it is not equal
to it in quality ; the red is somewhat similar to the common wine o f Spain.
Trees.— E gyp t’s indigenous trees are few. 1. The acacia (lebbek) has
a fine fo lia g e ; the heart o f the trunk, which is black, is employed in
wheel-making and sakias : the white part o f the trunk easily decays. 2.
T h e sycamore (gimmis) is knotty, and not easily sp lit; it is much used in
the construction o f sakiahs, and is very durable. Its fruits grow from the
trunk, but do not ripen unless cut. 3. The acacia nilotria (saat) is used
for hedges and enclosures; also, for boat-building on the N ile, for sakiahs,
and for charcoal. Its gum is extracted in Upper E g y p t; and boats made
o f it com e down the Nile from Senaar, for sale. Its fruit, called karat, is
used for tanning, and it completely impregnates the leather in forty d a y s;
so tanned, the leather resists heat admirably, but not hum idity 4. The
etl is a tree o f light wood, which flourishes with so small a quantity
o f water, as to grow on the skirts o f the desert. Its appearance resem­
bles the cypress. 5. The nebk has a fruit resembling olives ; its wood is
o f various use. 6. T h e doum (hyphsene coriacea) is a dichotomous palm ;
the wood is used for sakiahs ; it is fibrous, and not easily split. 7. The
date-palm (phoenix dactilifera) is the most common and useful o f Egyptian




Commerce o f Egypt.

27

trees. It is easily propagated by the offshoots from the roots. O f its
leaves, brooms and brushes are m a de; the fruit is o f universal consump­
tion ; the trunk is used for house-building, and many other purposes; and,
o f the lif, by which the branches are bound together, all sorts o f cordage
is made, and it is an article o f great consum ption; that o f the Fayoum is
particularly fine. The government had fixed a price, for the delivery o f
the lif, o f 22 piastres per can tar; but as this would scarcely pay the cost
and trouble o f collecting, the peasants would not bring it in ; the govern,
ment then offered 35 piastres, and the fellahs now occupied themselves
diligently in its collection.
Onions.— The production and consumption is very large, far larger than
o f potatoes; which, indeed, do not succeed well in the rich, alluvial soil.
The ordinary price o f onions is about Is. the cwt., but, from the general
deficiency o f food, this was trebled in 1837. A n opulent family will use
nearly two tons a year.
Horticulture.— Much has been done for this ; many o f the gardens are
beautiful and r ic h ; the most striking are in care o f E uropeans; that o f
Ibrahim, in the island o f Rhoda, is the most attractive; it employs one
hundred and twenty people, averaging '2\d. per day, and covers forty
acres. Horticulture in Egypt is scarcely distinguisbable’from agriculture ;
but, though Ibrahim has been very willing gratuitously to distribute seeds,
plants, and trees from his own garden, the cases are rare in which any
attention has been paid to them by receivers. And it may here be re­
marked that there is even here resistance: a resistance, by the way, not
peculiar to Egypt, to the introduction o f improved modes and utensils.
T h e same old plough, the same rude tools are used now as were used a
hundred generations a g o ; and though in the model-farms established by
the government the bes( instruments are used, the influence o f these esta­
blishments has hitherto been small.
Saltpetre is made in abundance from the ruins o f the ancient tow n s;
water is impregnated with the rubbish, in which there is a large quantity o f
nitre, and being subject to evaporation by the sun’ s rays, the saltpetre is
deposited, and collected and sent to central magazines for the examination
o f its quality. The six saltpetre works, produced in 18 31 ,1 9,50 0 cantars ;
in 1833, 1 5 ,7 8 4 ; in 1837, 20 to 2 2 ,0 0 0 ; the establishments have been
augmented, and with those now in progress, will produce, say 40,000
cantars. T h e refining has been much improved, and the impurity in the
best is said not to he more than one-three-thousandth ; that for sale has 6
to 7 per c e n t ; the refining by solar heat, (invented by M. Baffi,) leaves
about 30 per cent, and the process is then carried farther by chem ical art.
A fter the nitre has been extracted, the ruins become saturated again in a
few years, and on passing through the pans, deposit almost as much as
before.
Gunpowder.— The manufactory is at the extremity o f Rhoda island, and
under charge o f a Frenchman, with ninety workmen, and ten mills, which
turn out fifty cwt. per day ; and during the Syrian war, eighty cantars per
day were produced.
Lime.— F or many years the stones o f some o f the finest temples have
been used, but this is now put a stop to, and the pits are furnished from
different lime quarries on the banks o f the N ile. The price o f lime de­
livered at Cairo, was 32s. per ton.
Salt.— T h e consumption is considerable, and strange means are used




23

Commerce o f Egypt.

to get it. A t Abydos the Arabs open the mummies, take out the inner
parts, which they put into water, and say they furnish excellent sa lt;
sometimes they get it from the sand in which the mummies lie. In some
spots, remote from the Nile, a sandstone impregnated with salt is found ;
and the stones are broken up and soaked in water, and the water evapora­
ted by the sun.
Earthenware.— The manufacture is considerable, principally at Keneh,
whence immense quantities o f bardaks and koolehs are sent down the
N ile. T h ey are very various in shape, and famous for their cooling pro­
perties. The consumption has ever been immense, as the vast mounds o f
earthenware shards testify. Rafts are often met on the N ile covered with
huge masses o f pottery. The potters’ wheel is o f the simplest construc­
tion, and has probably undergone no change from the patriarchal times.
Manufactures.— Their cost is not easy to estimate ; their management
is expensive and bad, as a thoughtful and provident spirit is lamentably
and universally wanting in Oriental countries. “ W hen it is necessary to
compete with the complicated machinery o f European industry, and to
call in the multitudinous auxiliaries which art, and science, and capital,
and free institutions, and active communications have brought to bear upon
manufacturing improvements, it is not to be wondered at, that Oriental
countries should be left in arrear, and be wholly unable to sustain
themselves against the rivalry o f so much intelligence, and activity, and
opulence.”
Indeed, the viceroy o f Egypt allowed that it was rather for
the purpose o f accustoming the people to manufacture, than for any profit
which he expected, that he continued his manufacturing operations. The
Arabs are clever and ready under the guidance o f superior knowledge,
but are far from being able to guide large concerns. “ Notwithstanding
the very cheap rates o f labor, on an average less than 21 d., say 4 i to 5
cents per day,— notwithstanding the low price o f the raw material, such is
the waste and mismanagement, such the want o f a directing and combin­
ing intellectual capacity, such the carelessness o f the operative, and such
the irregularities o f the whole system, that the productions, when com ple­
ted, are very expensive, and might, in almost every instance, have been
Dought in Europe for 20 or 30 per cent less than their cost in Egypt.
W ith a few exceptions,” adds Mr. Bowring, “ the progress made has been
sm a ll; the eminently costly attempts have added nothing to the resources
o f the country, while the same amount o f capital and labor, applied to agri­
cultural objects, would have deposited large returns o f profit; the loss,
however, falls wholly on the treasury, and not on the consum er.” —
“ Foreign manufactures com e into the country on the payment o f a nom­
inal 3 per cent, but really considerably less, and the goods manufactured
by the pacha must, o f course, be sold as low as those o f Europe
while
“ cotton manufactures, which are the principal articles produced in the
v iceroy ’ s factories, cost him more than the imported article, though it is
not easy to estimate the actual cost to him.”
Y et D r. B. allows that the
importation o f cotton cloths has been injured, that “ England sends them
less frequently, especially cloths o f low quality; and India muslins, for­
merly so much used, are now scarcely at all sent to Egypt since muslins
have been woven in the new factories.”
T h e views, therefore, o f an
agent, o f monopolizing England, as to foreig n manufactures, are, we sus­
pect, to be weighed with caution, before we decide with D r. B ., that
Egyptian manufactures have been “ eminently u n s u c c e s s f u l b u t we




Commerce o f Egypt.

29

have no other data o f information than he gives us, and these do not reach
the present time.
Colton fa ctories.— In 1829 there were at Kerum-fitch, in Cairo, besides
smiths, whitesmiths, turners in iron and wood, joiners, who mend machines,
and makers o f articles relating to machinery, 100 mule jennies, (10 for
coarse, and 90 for fine spinning,) 370 cards, and 300 looms for weaving
cotton cloth, muslins, and cambric. A t Malta, in Boulaq, were 28 spinning
jennies, 24 carding machines, 200 looms, also a bleaching and a printing
establishment, turning out 800 printed calicoes a month. “ Four others
have been established at Chalan, at Chebyn, at Mahal-el-Kebir, and at
Mansoura.”
A t Malta, also, was a manufacture o f printed head handker­
chiefs, using 400 pieces o f muslin a month. The cotton thread was ex­
ported to Trieste, Leghorn, and the Turkish ports. Besides these manu­
factories, there are workmen o f every profession to repair and put together
the machines, & c ., destined for the manufactures o f Upper and L ow er
Egypt, 28 forges, & c., & c., shops for engravers on wood and rollers, also
finishing presses, & c ., tin plate workers and plumbers, also a foundry.
Near Malta are two establishments with 90 spinning jennies, and 60
carding machines. A t Kalich-el-Kessah, near the citadel o f Cairo, is a
large establishment like that o f Malta, with a foundry, mechanics shops,
& c ., and 220 loom s; near by, 20 spinning jennies, 28 carding machines,
300 looms. A t Kelioub, the chief town o f the province o f Zelioubek, are
manufactured in a large establishment, spinning jennies, carding machines,
and looms ; a foundry is attached, and 70 spinning jennies are in use. A t
Chebin village, in Menouf province, are 70 spinning jennies, and 30 card­
ing machines. A t Mahaleh-el-Kebir, are 120 jennies, 60 cards, and 200
looms, also a machine shop, & c. A t Kephtah, in Gharbyeh province, are
76 jennies, and 50 cards, with their necessary accom panim ents; and at
Mit Ghaur, as many more, which were continually augmented in number.
A t Mansoura were 120 jennies, 80 cards, and 200 looms, a foundry, tur­
ner’ s shop, forges, and iron-workers, and a spinning-machine sh op ; also
at Damietta, the same number o f all. A t Damanhour are 100 jennies,
and 80 carding machines ; at Foua, 75 jennies and 40 cards, also a man­
ufactory o f caps. A t Rousti are 150 jennies and 80 cards. In Upper
Egypt are many factories; one at Benisouef had 120 jennies, and 70
cards ; another at Es-Siont, o f the same number. Besides these, cotton
factories were established at seven other towns. T here are in the cotton
factories, or were in 1829, 1,459 jennies in use, 145 for coarse, and
1,019 for fine spinning; the first gave 14,500 rottoli a day in summer,
and 10,150 in winter ; the last, 13,140 in summer, and 8,540 in winter.
The looms, to the number o f 1,215, gave in winter 3,645 pikes,* (beladi,)
and 6,075 in summer. There were 1,200 oxen, which gave the power,
and 31,000 workmen, in the factories, with 40,000 employed in raising
new buildings.
In 1839 the cotton factory at Keneh had 30 jennies, 120 looms, em­
ployed 1,000 workmen, and produced, per month, 1,300 pieces o f calico,
20 pikes long and l j- wide ; and 300 o f 32 pikes long and 2 wide, sell­
ing at 27 and 52 piastres per piece. The material is o f the finest quality,
and the sale very ready. The average wages was 5 cents per day, while
* A pike o f Egypt equals 6,770 ten-thousandths o f a metre.
130 yards.




2*

In Syria, 100 p ik es=

✓

30

Commerce o f Egypt.

field labor was 3| cents. The building cost $45,000. The looms are
peculiar : the workman is seated in a hole in the ground, and the warp is
suspended from a considerable height above him. The cloths thus manu­
factured are blue check garments, such as are used by the Arabs as a sort
o f toga, sometimes with and sometimes without a mixture o f silk. The
pieces are 6 pikes in length, 2 in width, and two pieces are woven to­
gether broadways to make a garm ent: price, 46 piastres. The English
have not succeeded in imitating them, and the native article is much
preferred.
T h e factories deteriorate as one advances into the interior. In that o f
Esneh, for instance, the whip is perpetually used, and the director said he
could do nothing without i t ; 500 are employed, o f whom 200 are Coptic
Christians.
The qualities o f cotton used in the viceroy’ s factories are 4 ; for the 1st
quality, the factories are charged 6,000 paras per can tar; and it must
yield, o f twist delivered in the hank, 1 1 3 i rottoli per cantar ; 5,000 paras
for the 2d quality, to yield 1 lO f rottoli; for the 3d, 4,000 paras, to yield
109 ; for the 4th, 3,000 paras, to yield 1 0 7 f ; thus, the waste may be seen.
30,000 cantars per annum o f cotton are consumed, and it is principally
spun in low numbers, from N o. 10 to 25 ; two-thirds o f it is woven in the
country, and one-third exported at 15 piastres per oke. T h e Arabs, i f
brought young to the fabrics, are generally found to be o f a quick intellect,
and easily learn any branch o f the trade they are put to.
Silk Factory.— This was established near Cairo, at B irk et-el-fyl; the
viceroy having procured some Armenians from Constantinople, capable o f
making silk, and gold and silk stuffs, such as are made there and in India.
It was successful, and had, in 1829, 160 looms for w eavin g.silk from
Beyroot thread o f gold and cotton, and used 60,000 okes o f silk, for goods
o f all kinds and prices. T h e work was paid by the piece, was well done,
the stuff carefully woven, the patterns tasteful, the colors generally bril­
liant, but not so fast as those o f India.
W oollen Factory.— In 1818, the viceroy erected an immense building at
Boulaq for woollen cloth s; and in 1829 there were 100 engines, with mules,
carding machines, & c ., 25 o f which were in use. The Egyptian w ool
is not fit for any fine cloth, the nitrous dust with which it is impregnated,
making it hard and dry. T h e sheep are shorn but once a year, and their
fleeces are not washed before shearing, which deteriorates the w o o l; du­
ring some time they are filled with a kind o f moth, which nothing can re­
m ove ; two-thirds o f the wool is wasted before it is fit to weave up ; yet it
appears that cloth woven from this w ool is very suitable to clothe the sol­
diers— and this is the chief object o f the factory— as the fabric is strong,
closely woven, and w ell made. The value is from 10 to 12 piastres, ac­
cording to quality. In 1839, there were 100 looms, producing 160 pieces
per month, at a cost o f 8 piastres, 7 paras, per pike. A t each loom one
man is employed in weaving, the other in mending the thread. There are
9 sets o f carding and spinning machines. T h e coarse cloths woven for
soldiers’ capotes at Damanhour, are finished at Boulaq. T h e Boulaq
cloths are used for the army.
Tarboushes.— T h e manufactory o f these red caps at Fouah, produces,
on an average, from ten to twelve dozen per day, though they can make
sixty dozen. T h ey are used only for the army. The quality is excellent,
equal to those o f Tunis, which fetch in market about 30 piastres each, say




Commerce o f Egypt.

31

a dollar and a half. T h e wool is brought to the factory from Alicante, at
25 and 30 piastres the olce. It is not washed ; eight ounces o f oil are
used per rottoli. The tarboushes are fulled for three days and nights in
hot water, and at the end soft soap is introduced. T h ey are dyed with
kerms, gall nuts, and alum, and cost 17 piastres each.
Carpets have been manufactured for account o f the viceroy from E n g­
lish patterns, and by people educated in England. T h e cost is consider­
ably above English prices ; but the viceroy thinks he can in a few years
produce them as cheap, which is disputed.
Iron foundries, <^c.— The foundry, building at Boulaq, cost 1,500,000
fr a n cs ; and the annual cost, exclusive o f interest, is 10,000 to 11,000
piastres. Besides the English superintendent and native comptroller, with
his two Coptic assistants, there are employed five Englishmen, three Mal­
tese, and forty A r a b s ; and they can cast 50 cwt. o f melted iron per day,
employing 50 cwt. o f coal. There is great waste o f metal from misman­
agement. The wages vary from 5 to 40 cents per day.
In the manufacture o f arms, at the citadel o f Cairo, the daily produc­
tion averages 24 to 25 muskets, with bayonets ; cannons, 3 to 4 per
month ; sabres, 20 per day ; knapsacks, 200 to 280 per day. W ith the
establishments o f Houd-el-Marsout, in the town o f Cairo, and o f Boulaq,
there can easily be produced 1,000 muskets per month, costing, on an
average, 125 p ia s tr e s = $ 6 i each. T h e Boulaq establishment is chiefly
for repairs. In case o f necessity, 3,000 muskets a month might be made.
In the Cairo arsenal, 9 brass cannon were founded and turned monthly.
Fisheries.— That o f L ake Karoun and o f the Canal Joseph, is farmed for
only $2,500 per annum ; but that o f Lake Menzaleh, produces to the state
more than $62,500.
The Revenues o f the viceroy, from all sources, are 900,000 purses,
equal to $22,500,000. In 1833, the revenue was very much less. T h e
viceroy stated, that he had expended $60,000,000 in attempts to introduce
European improvements. “ The profits, great as they are, which the gov­
ernment obtains as the general cultivator, the extensive merchant, and the
large manufacturer, after all the deductions are made which an irregular,
imperfect, complicated, untrustworthy, and costly machinery o f manage­
ment necessarily entail, are far less than would be deposited by the simpler
and safer process o f direct taxation.”
Egypt has no national d eb t; nor
are any o f the state funds devoted to religious establishments. H er ex­
port and import com m erce, is said to amount to 100,000,000 o f francs.
TRADE OF ALEXAND RIA.

“ T h e ports o f Damietta and Rosetta, would, by their position on the
two mouths o f the N ile, seem to offer great advantages to trade ; but the
badness o f their harbors and the facility now given by the Mahmoudich
canal to Alexandria, have caused a gradual declension o f their trade.
That which exists, is mainly with Syria, Cyprus, and Candia. English
vessels seldom enter ; though now and then, one from the Ionian islands,
enters Damietta.” In 1823, the exports o f Damietta amounted to $381,170,
and her imports to $867,000 ; in 1824, to $628,500, against $822,000 ;
in 1825, to $311,800 exports, against $246,000 imports. R ice is the
ch ief article o f export, but its cultivation is much on the decline.
T h e trade o f Cairo is much diminished ; though it still has 24 Turkish
foreign merchants, 15 European houses, 10 Catholic, and 6 Schismatic




32

Commerce o f Egypt.

Greeks. The nominal period o f credit, is four months ; though, as the
rate o f interest is high, 24 per cent and money scarce, it is frequently ex­
tended to six or eight. Acceptances for goods, payable at a given epoch,
are little in use. Diamonds are generally adopted as a security deposit.
T h e demand for articles o f luxury has much abated from poverty. O f
late, considerable exports o f diamonds and precious stones have gone from
Cairo to Calcutta, and other parts o f the East Indies.
Cairo has ceased to be a depot, as it form erly was, both for articles o f
export and import. Alexandria, from the greater facilities its position
gives, has supplanted it in importance, and it is now a great market only
for gums and some other secondary articles. Its stock o f manufactures,
are principally for the consumption o f the place ; the buyers for the in­
terior finding it more advantageous to supply themselves from the ware­
houses o f the importers at Alexandria.
Alexandria.— The inhabitants o f Alexandria, are calculated by the best
informed authorities, at about 60,000 ; o f whom 8,000 are military and
naval troops, and 3,000 artisans employed in the arsenal. The average
mortality, per year, is 7 r3Fths per cent. A very great proportion o f the
trade o f E gypt centres here, and to it, European exports are mostly con ­
fined.
F or late years we have no accurate statistics o f Egyptian exports and
im ports; but in 1823, the value o f imports from Europe was 2,888,552
Spanish dollars, 131,222 o f which was from England, 300,117 from the
Adriatic, 504,690 from T u rkey in Europe, but the largest amount, 769,801
dollars, was from Leghorn. The exports to Europe, & c ., in the same year,
w ere worth 5,518,870 Spanish dollars, o f which, 186,439 went to Britain,
593,286 to Marseilles, 736,721 to Syria, 949,520 to Leghorn ; but the
highest amount was 1,252,676 to Constantinople. The total amount o f
exports to the whole world, was 7,276,000 dollars, and o f imports,
3,282,450.
In 1824, the ex p orts= $ 1 0 ,6 3 6 ,5 2 9 , viz. : to France,
2 ,2 3 9 ,0 0 0 ; England, 1,945,000 ; Levant and Ionian isles, 1,9 1 1 ,0 0 0 ;
Tuscany, 1,178,000 ; Constantinople, 1,046,000 ; Austria, 1,006,000 ;
Syria, 762,000 ; Sardinia, 283,500 ; Barbary States, 130,000 ; Spain and
Portugal, 4 7 ,0 0 0 ; Holland, 4 5 ,3 0 0 ; Russia, 38,000. The imports in
1 8 2 4 = $ 5 ,0 4 3 ,0 0 0 , v iz .: from France, 1,5 83,00 0; Austria, 7 4 7 ,0 0 0 ;
Tuscany, 693,000 ; Syria, 5 2 2 ,0 0 0 ; Levant and Ionian isles, 4 1 4 ,0 0 0 ;
Constantinople, 346,000 ; Barbary States, 2 9 2 ,0 0 0 ; Sardinia, 47,500 ;
Russia, 36,800 ; Spain and Portugal, 2 ,5 0 0 ; Holland, 1,300. In 1826,
the ex p orts= $ 7 ,2 7 6 ,0 0 2 , viz. : to the Levant and Ionian isles ; 1,702,000 ;
Constantinople, 1 ,2 5 2 ,0 0 0 ;
Austria, 957,000 ; Tuscany, 949,000 ;
Syria, 662,000 ; England, 623,700 ; France, 593,000 ; Sardinia, 275,000 ;
BarbaryStates, 137,000 ; Spain and Portugal, 97,500 ; Russia, 14,000 ;
Holland, 11,300. The imports in 1 8 2 6 ,= $ 3 ,2 8 2 ,4 5 1 v i z . : from Tuscany,
7 5 9 ,0 0 0 ; England, 614,000 ; Levant and Ionian isles, 567,000; Austria,
456,000 ; France, 293,000 ; Constantinople, 212,000 ; Sardinia, 158,000 ;
Syria, 1 1 7 ,0 0 0 ; Barbary States, 5 1 ,0 0 0 ; Spain and Portugal, 14 ,0 0 0 ;
and from Russia, 7,800 dollars’ worth.
In 1831, the exports from A le x a n d ria = 4 1,251,443 piastres, to w it :
sundries, to the value o f 7,904,058 ; cotton wool, 15,031,254 ; drygoods,
6 ,4 4 4 ,2 3 5 ; rice, 2,215,902 ; gum, 2,194,023 ; linen, 1,587,775 ; skins,
9 6 0 ,2 3 8 ; incense, 8 1 1 ,9 1 1 ; flax, 631,162 ; cotton twist, 5 2 4 ,0 6 2 ; lin­
seed, 4 8 3 ,2 0 2 ; senneh, 4 4 3 ,4 5 1 ; corn, 4 3 2 ,4 3 2 ; elephants’ teeth,
4 2 9 ,5 2 5 ; saffron, 290,965 ; coffee, 2 5 6 ,0 3 0 ; mother o f pearl, 174,970 ;




Commerce o f Egypt.

33

tamarinds, 172,028 piastres’ worth. O f these exports, 13,730,663 pias­
tres’ worth went to T u rk e y ; 10,370,411 to A u stria; 5,573,656 to E n g­
land ; 4,798,119 to Tuscany ; 4,624,787 to France ; 1,182,646 to M alta;
524,866 to G reece.
In 1831, the imports to A lexa n dria = 3 9,20 0,49 9 piastres, to w it: sun­
dries, to the value o f 10,920,895 ; wood, from Turkey and Austria,
8,2 57,58 9; cotton goods, chiefly from Tuscany, (which sent half,) A us­
tria, England, and Turkey, 8,153,525 ; silk goods, mostly from Turkey,
3,264,448 ; iron, in bars, & c ., from England, (nearly half,) Malta, and
Austria, chiefly, 2,773,805 ; woollens, chiefly from Turkey, 912,000 ;
tarboushes, chiefly from Turkey, 827,696 ; cloths, chiefly from Austria
and France, 816,103 ; paper, 517,929 ; sugar, nearly all from France,
482,993 ; wines and spirits, half from France, 434,300 ; lead, 295,100 ;
glass, mostly from Austria, 226,353 ; cochineal, 153,881 ; nails, 141,325 ;
linens, 140,700 ; pitch, 93,569 ; spices, 56,300 piastres’ worth. O f these
imports, there came to the value o f 18,218,927 piastres from T u r k e y ;
7,105,825 from Austria ; 6,661,879 from Tuscany ; 3,172,381 from E n g­
land ; 2,225,544 from France ; 214,654 from Greece ; 157,440 from
Sardinia ; 109,640 from Sweden.
O f Cotton, Egypt exported in 1822, 541 b a le s ; 1823, 18,069 ; 1824,
148,276 ; 1825, 137,677 ; 1826,124,585 ; 1827,123,215 ; 1828, 94,427 ;
1829, 48,887 ; 1830, 45,729 ; 1831, 127,024 ; 1832, 111,953 ; 1883,
83,712 ; 1834, 33,251 ; 1835, 98,502 ; 1836, 114,051 ; and in 1837,
136,697 bales. O f which, 56,169 went to Trieste ; 42,495 to England ;
35,955 to Marseilles ; 725 to Leghorn ; 680 to Russia ; 660 to Genoa ;
and 3 to sundry other ports.
T h e mercantile shipping belonging to the port o f Alexandria, consisted,
in 1838, o f 16 vessels, o f from 100 to 300 tons, with crews o f 9 to 18
men. The viceroy also allotted a frigate and 5 disarmed ships o f 400 to
600 tons, with 18 to 20 transports o f smaller burden, for the accommoda­
tion o f the trade with Syria, Candia, and the neighboring ports. T h e ex­
port trade to Europe is almost exclusively in European bottoms.
In 1825, there arrived at the port, 710 vessels ; o f which, 258 were
Austrian, and 166 English ; and there departed, 812 s a il; o f which, 319
were Austrian, and 195 English. In 1826, 698 (352 Austrian, 117 E n g ­
lish, 79 French,) arrived ; and 678 left. In 1836," arrivals, 580, viz. :
154 Greek, 101 English, 92 Austrian, 78 French, 76 Syrian, 27 Russian,
20 Sardinian, 16 Tuscan, 9 Ionian, 6 Dutch, 1 Swedish ; departures, 441.
In 1837, arrivals, 523, v iz .: Greek 129, English 108, Austrian 86, Sy­
rian 78, French 75, Russian 21, Tuscan 14, Sardinian 11, Ionian 3 ; de­
partures, 379.
Tribunal o f Commerce.— One was established about 1828, for trying
commercial causes between foreigners and natives, in which the latter are
defendants ; it has 8 judges, v i z . : 2 Europeans, 2 Levantine Christians,
and 4 Mahometans. The natives are also obliged to have recourse to this
tribunal for the settlement o f their com m ercial differences ; but the Mekemeh is the superior court in civil causes.
Exchanges.— On London, in 1838, 74 to 75 piastres ; Marseilles, 5.10
to 5.15 ; Leghorn, 123 soldi per dr. ; Trieste, 122J to 123 ; Cairo, 1 per
cent.
M oney value.— Constantinople kircs, new, 18f| piastres, old, f f ; guin­
eas, 97J ; pillar dollars, 20 | f ; dollars, 20T\ ; Am erican dollars, 19 ; se­




34

Commerce o f Egypt.

quins, V enice, 4 6 f £ ; Dutch and Hungarian, 4 5 f f ; doubloons, 319 ; fivefrancs,
; napoleons, 7 7 ^ -.
T h e number o f merchants in Alexandria, is 72 ; o f whom, 11 are E n g­
lish, 14 French, and 13 G reek.
P rices o f Labor.— In L ow er Egypt, in 1838, masons earned 15 to 35
cents per day ; masons’ laborers, 7 1 to 1 2 | ; carpenters, 20 to 45 ; black­
smiths, 15 to 30 ; porters, 10 to 20 ; house servants, 10 to 15 ; gardeners,
15 to 20 ; agricultural laborers, 71 to 10.
D uties.— “ The capitulations with the Porte, which establish an import
and export duty o f 3 per cent on articles coming from or shipped to E u­
rope, are the groundwork o f the custom-house legislation in E g y p t; but
the provisions o f the capitulations had becom e, in most parts o f the Turk­
ish dominions, a dead letter, by the imposition o f inland duties, and the
sale o f privileges or teskeres ; and the period for the tariff itself (which
was the application o f the capitulations to the various articles o f com ­
m erce) has been for several years overrun.
The capitulations, however,
have continued for the most part in operation; the principal apparent de­
parture from them, being in the articles o f wines and spirits, a question
now long at issue between E gypt and F ran ce.”
“ Generally speaking,
there are few complaints o f the amount o f the duties in Egypt, or the man­
ner in which they are levied. British merchants pass their goods at their
own valuation, and it is very rarely that a question arises as to the sum o f
duty with which they ought to be ch a rg ed ; and I am assured that it is
seldom that a bale o f merchandise is opened, in order to verify the state­
ments o f any respectable European importer.”
D r. Bowring further rem arks: “ T he character o f English merchants
and English merchandise, throughout the east, is very high. ‘ A n Engglish w ord,’ represents a promise to be fulfilled ; and 1English manufac­
ture,’ is considered a warranty o f superiority. Indeed, English com m o­
dities sell generally in the Levant for something more than their average
comparative value.”
“ A s the garments o f the East, particularly those worn by women, are
generally costly, they are much less frequently renewed than in Europe ;
and the fluctuations o f fashion are small. Even among the opulent, the
wedding garments o f the bride are sometimes used for several generations.
There is, however, a general tendency in the Levant, to the employment
o f costumes less adorned and costly, than in former days. The beauty,
variety, and econom y o f the manufactures o f Europe, have gradually in­
truded upon the heavy oriental silks and cloth o f gold, the shawls o f Cashmere, the splendid robes o f Constantinople and Syria. A m ong men, the
introduction o f the Nizam dress has superseded, by garments of' European
cloth, the use o f the long flowing robes, which w ere generally made (the
inner robe always) o f the silks o f the East. The silk sash, which forms
a necessary part o f the Nizam costume, is the only portion o f it now fur­
nished by the oriental loom s.”
“ The fellahs are wretchedly clad, and
their gains, whether as cultivators or laborers, only just serve to provide
them with food and the meanest garments. N ow and then, women are
seen with ornaments o f the precious metals ; but, generally speaking, the
fellah population stands on the verge o f the extremest poverty.”
“ There is an increasing demand for the silk goods o f Switzerland, and
a decreasing demand for those o f France ; the articles principally sought
for are Gros de Naples, lustrings, & c . The sale o f cloth is lessened;




Commerce o f Egypt.

35

this is attributable to the diminished wealth and diminished numbers o f the
consumers. The principal demand is for white cottons, which com e from
E n g lan d ; the cost o f printed cotton being too great for the mass o f the
population. But though the sales o f certain articles have fallen off, the
facilities o f communication which the N ile offers, have led to a gradual
extension o f the markets for other articles, and to a supply o f European
goods in. the bazaars o f the principal towns.”
Trade between Egypt and British India.— “ Some years ago, Mahomet
A li made more than one attempt to create this trad e; but it was under­
taken on too large a scale, and the results left a very considerable loss.
Commercial relations can neither be violently forced, nor suddenly estab­
lished to the extent which had been contemplated by the expansive mind
o f the viceroy. It may be safely predicted, that much o f the European
trade which now circumnavigates A frica, will, in process o f time, take
the. more direct course through Egypt and the Red S e a ; but that trade
will be o f gradual growth, and its developement will much depend on the
facilities which are given to transit.
“ A s yet, the steam communications with India have not led to any con­
siderable increase o f com m erce, on or through the Red Sea. It is certain,
however, that com m erce will soon follow the track o f travellers, but its
extent will be greater or less according to the regulations o f the Egyptian
government. The more costly and least bulky articles will, in the pro­
gress o f time, naturally be conveyed by the most direct and rapid channel.
Already, articles o f jew ellery, precious stones, some rich shawls and bul­
lion, are conveyed from and to India by the English steamers.”
Trade with the B ed Sea.— “ The trade o f E gypt with the Red Sea has
been diminished, or rather almost destroyed, by the long enduring wars
which have raged in the Y em en and the Hedjaz, and by the monopolies
which have been created o f the produce o f Arabia. T h e principal ports
on the Arabian side are Jedda and Mocha. F rom Jedda, the holy city o f
M ecca is principally supplied, and its com m erce, on the whole, is increas­
ing. The trade o f Mocha has been on the decline both from the incon­
venience o f the port, and from the monopoly which has pressed on coffee,
its principal article o f export. The two principal ports on the west side
o f the R ed Sea, are Suez and Cosseir, which communicate with Cairo and
Keneh on the N ile. The importance o f both has been o f late years great­
ly augmented by the increase in the number o f travellers from and to the
East Indies, and a still larger increase may no doubt be calculated on.
Keneh has generally sent large quantities o f wheat to A ra b ia ; some­
times a million bushels per annum. Camels ordinarily perform the jour­
ney in three days from Cairo to Suez, and in four from Keneh to Cos­
seir. T h e roads are now so safe that there is no accumulation into cara­
vans, but goods are conveyed as they are ready with the utmost regularity
and security. There is, however, the yearly caravan o f pilgrims from
Cairo to M ecca ; and their transit through Egypt, in their w ay to and from
Arabia, will always create a considerable number o f com m ercial transac­
tions. A great proportion o f those who visit the holy cities carry on some
petty trade o f exchange, to which frequently they look, in order to pay the
cost o f the pilgrim age.”
T h e number o f pilgrims who pass up the Nile
to the holy cities is from 12,000 to 25,000.
Arabian exports.— “ Arabia offers few articles for ex p ort; coffee and
gums are the principal. Notwithstanding the high character o f Arabian




36

Progress o f Population and W ealth in the

horses, they are seldom bred for exportation. Though those o f the best
blood are fleet, they are m ore distinguished for endurance than for sp eed;
they are less remarkable for what they can do, than for what they can
sutfer. Races sometimes take place among the Arabs o f forty to fifty
miles, in which the struggle is rather as to the pow er o f bearing fatigue
than o f surpassing a rival in velocity.”
A frican trade.— The immemorial caravan-trade with the interior o f
A frica, and with the Barbary States, is also much associated with the pil­
grim age to M ecca, as they generally join the great caravan which leaves
Cairo once a year for the holy cities. The exports o f Dongola, Darfour,
Senaar, and African countries to the south o f the first cataract, are princi­
pally confined to negro slaves. “ A few elephants’ teeth, rhinoceros’ horns,
and ostrich feathers; some gums, sesame, aloes, tamarinds, natron, and a
small quantity o f gold ornaments (groups) and gold dust, are the principal
articles o f com m erce. The amount o f customs received, averages about
20,000 purses, or §500,000 per annum.”
“ It has long been a favorite object with the viceroy to extend the trade
with the regions to the south o f his territories ; and so great is their pro­
ductive power, that, under a proper system, that trade is no doubt suscep­
tible o f an enormous augmentation. It was, indeed, formerly, very con­
siderable. T h e very heavy duties exacted by the viceroy have led to its
abandonment by the Frank merchants. A n export impost o f 10 per cent,
was levied on the commodities at Fostat on a very high estimate o f value ;
so that the amount really paid, sometimes rose to 20 per cent on the in­
trinsic value o f the merchandise. T here is little doubt that a low duty on
manufactures exported to the south o f the cataracts, combined with en­
couragement given to the imports o f Central A frica, would create a con­
siderable trade, and might be made instrumental in suppressing the slavetrade, which is now carried on to so great an extent. The article o f gums
might be produced to a very large extent in Senaar. Cordofan alone
would give 8,000 loads per annum, o f 540 lbs. each. The price paid by
government per load, is only 110 piastres, while its value at Cairo is ordi­
narily 1,000 to 1,200.”

A r t . II.— PR O G R E SS OF P O P U L A T IO N A N D W E A L T H I N T H E U N IT E D
S T A T E S , IN F I F T Y Y E A R S .
AS EXHIBITED B T THE DECENNIAL CENSUS TAKEN IN THAT PERIOD.

C H A P T E R IX .
THE PROBABILITIES OF LIFE .---- THE DEAF AND DUMB, THE BLIND, AND THE
INSANE.

O n these interesting topics our information is far more meagre than

could be wished, but it has been gradually enlarging since 1790. The
census o f that year, indeed, afforded none, except the single fact o f the
number o f white males above and below sixteen. T h e enumerations o f
1800 and 1810 gave the numbers both o f white males and females at five
periods o f life ; but, like the first, made no discrimination o f the sex or
age o f the colored race. That o f 1820 gave the numbers both o f the
free colored and slaves, o f both sexes, at four periods o f life ; and those
o f 1830 and 1840 have extended the discriminations o f the whites to thir­




37

United Stales, in Fifty Years.

teen periods, and those o f the colored race to six periods. The two last
have also numbered the deaf and dumb at three periods o f life, and the
blind o f both r a c e s; but the census o f 1840 has added the number o f in­
sane, and has confined the discriminations o f the deaf and dumb, accord­
ing to age, to the whites.
The following tables show, as far as materials thus scanty and irregular
permit, the comparative probabilities o f life, between the sexes o f each
race, at different ages, saving the slight disturbances from migration, by
which the white males gain, and the colored males lo s e :—
I .— The proportion o f white Males and Females, at different ages, according to the
enumerations o f 1800, 1810, and 1820.
1810.

1800.
AGES.

i . Whites under

2.
3.

4.
5.

1820.

11800. 1810. 1820.

Males Fern's, Males, Fern's, Males, Fern's, Prop'n o f Males to
per ct. per ct. per ct. per ct. per ct. per ct. Females as 100 to
34.66
16.01
17.84
19.58
11.91

10,
10 and under 16,
16
26,
26
“ '
45,
45 and upwards,

100.

34.37
15.34
19.03
19.51
11.75
100.

34.14
15.60
19.55
18.93
11.78

34.64
15.67
18.33
19.15
12.21

100.

100.

33.67
15.33
19.43
19.18
12.39
100.

33.12 94.9 94.8 95.3
15.65 94.3 95.8 98.9
20.21 102.1 102.6 100.7
19.05 95.5 95.1 96.1
11.97 94.5 92.8 93.5
100. '

II .— The proportion o f white Males and Females, at different ages, according to the
enumerations o f 1830 and 1840.
1840.

1830.
AGES.

1. W hites under 5 ,...........
2.
5 and under 1 0 ,..........
tt
3. 10
1 5 ............
it
4 . 15
2 0 ,...........
tt
5. 20
3 0 ,...........
tt
6. 30
4 0 ............
u
7. 4 0
5 0 ,..........
it
8. 5 0
6 0 ,...........
tt
9 . 60
7 0 ,...........
(t
10. 70
8 0 ,...........
tt
1 1 . 80
9 0 ,...........
tt
12. 9 0
100,.........
1 3 . 1 00
'

1830.

1840.

Males, Females, Males, Females, Prop'tion o f Males
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. to Females as 100 to
1 8 .1 7
1 4 .6 0
1 2 .5 1
1 0 .7 0
1 7 .8 6
1 1 .0 9
6 .8 6
4 .2 8
2 .5 2
1 .0 8
.29
.0 4

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

1 7 .5 3
1 4 .1 3
1 2 .1 3
1 0 .4 3
1 8 .2 4
1 1 .9 5
7 .4 0
4 .3 4
2 .4 0
1.11
.30
.0 4

1 7 .3 4
1 4 .2 2
1 2 .0 6
11.4 1
1 8 .0 6
1 1 .2 3
7 .2 3
4 .3 9
2 .5 0
1 .1 6
.3 5
.0 5

9 4 .7
96.
9 5 .4
104.
96.
9 3 .7
9 6 .8
9 7 .5
9 7 .2
1 0 9 .5
1 1 0 .3
1 1 2 .2
7 9.1

1 00 .

1 00 .

1 00 .

9 4 .7
9 6 .4
9 5 .1
1 0 4 .8
9 4 .8
8 9 .8
9 3 .6
9 6 .9
9 9 .5
1 0 0 .1
110.
1 2 8 .9
6 6 .2

100.

Whilst, o f the children born alive, the males com m only exceed the fe­
males by about the twentieth part, the preceding tables show that the
mortality o f the males somewhat exceeds that o f females in the middle pe­
riods o f life, so as to more than counterbalance the original preponderance ;
owing, no doubt, to the greater casualties to which the male sex is exposed,
and, probably, somewhat to their more frequent use o f spirituous liquors
in excess.
A t the two last periods o f life in the three first enumerations, viz., from
Y O L. V III.---- NO. I .




3

38

Progress o f Population and Wealth in the

twenty-six to forty-five, and above forty-five, the males gain upon the fe­
males until they pass beyond their original excess. This is the effect, not
o f a greater mortality o f the females, but o f a greater accession o f males
by immigration, as will more clearly appear by the fuller details o f the two
last enumerations.
A ccording to these, the males gain upon the females from the age o f
twenty to forty, after which the proportion o f females gradually increases
until the period from seventy to eighty, when it preponderates, and the ex­
cess still increases until the age o f one hundred, after which the number o f
males is greatest. In these enumerations, it will be seen that the propor­
tion o f males was smaller in the first class, (those under five,) than at any
o f the twelve succeeding periods, except the class between thirty and forty
in the 5th census, that between thirty and fifty in the 6th census, and the
class over one hundred in both. N ow , as most o f those who have migra­
ted to this country within ten years preceding a census would be above
thirty at the time it was taken, and a majority are also known to be males,
this partial and small increase in the proportion o f males may be attribu­
ted, in part, to immigration, and in part, perhaps, to the greater mortality
o f women at this period o f life ; but to whatever cause we ascribe it, the
census conclusively shows in the subsequent periods a diminished mor­
tality o f females, with the single exception o f the small number who live
above a century.
F rom this exception, conflicting as it does with the excess and increasing
excess o f females shown in the periods o f life immediately preceding, we
are not warranted in deducing any general rule on the comparative proba­
bilities o f life between the sexes, unless we knew the circumstances, or, at
least, the place o f birth, o f these rare instances o f lon gevity; for i f the
greater part, or even a considerable part o f them were o f foreign birth,
and from countries o f greater average salubrity than the United States, that
fact, from the known disproportion o f male immigrants, would tend to in­
crease the proportion o f males in the advanced stages o f life ; and whilst
such increase would not be manifested in classes that consisted o f thousands,
(as do all those under 100,) it might have so much effect in the few hun­
dreds above that age as to produce the excess o f males that we see, and
thus explain the seeming anomaly.
In comparing the chances o f longevity in this country with those o f other
countries, w e must take into account our more rapid increase o f numbers.
Thus, to ascertain what proportion o f our population attain the age o f 100,
w e must compare the number o f those who have attained it, not with the
present population, but with that which existed 100 years since, and this,
at a moderate estimate o f the intermediate increase, was less than onesixteenth o f our present numbers ; whereas, in most densely peopled coun­
tries, the increase, in the same period, may not have been from one-eighth
to one-fourth as great.* T o make, then, the comparison fairly, we mul­
tiply the number o f persons in this country o f the age supposed in the
same proportion. In like manner, to compute the chances o f here attain­
ing the age o f fifty, we must compare the number who have now reached

* In England, the population in 1730 was 5,687,993, and in 1831 was 14,174,204,
less than 2J times as g reat; and from 1700 to 1800 the numbers had not even doubled.
In every other part o f Europe, except Russia, the increase is yet more slow.




39

United States, in F ifty Years.

that age with the population at the first census, when it was less than onefourth o f its present amount.
A s the census has, since 1830, made quinquennial classes o f the whites
o f both sexes under twenty, and decennial for all above that age and
under 100, it had afforded the means o f estimating, with great accuracy,
the probability o f life o f each sex at different periods by comparing the
numbers o f the several classes in the preceding census, with those o f the
classes ten years older in the succeeding census, if it were not for the in­
terference o f two causes, whose quantities we have no means o f precisely
ascertaining. These are the diminution o f males from boyhood to middle
age, by roaming and going to sea, and the increase o f both males and fe­
males, but in unequal quantities, by immigration ; o f which disturbing
influences the census affords us the most satisfactory evidence. Thus,
the class o f females between fifteen and twenty, in the census o f 1840,
which corresponds to the class between five and ten, in the census o f
1830, instead o f exhibiting a decrease, by reason o f the deaths in the in­
tervening period o f ten years, shows an increase o f 41,427, equivalent to
51 per c e n t ; which effect must necessarily have been produced by ac­
cessions from abroad, supposing the ages o f the females to be accurately
noted.* Thus, too, whilst the females o f this class show an increase o f
51 per cent, a similar comparison o f the males between five and ten, in
1830, with those between fifteen and twenty, in 1840, exhibits a decrease
o f 3 i per c e n t ; which seems to indicate that, although immigration has
considerably swelled their numbers in ten years, it has done so to a less
extent than with females, principally by the number o f boys who have
gone abroad, and in some degree by the greater mortality which is mani­
fested by the general tenor o f the census.
It is proper to add that the same sources o f error which have been men­
tioned, must affect any estimates that can be made o f the probabilities o f
life in the United States, and that, therefore, the tables that have been
given must be regarded as only approximating to the truth.
Let us now advert to the colored race in reference to this subject.
T h e following tables compare the decrease o f life between the free
and slave portions o f the colored population, and between the males and
females o f each, according to the three last enumerations, when the dis­
criminations were first made :—
I .— The proportion o f colored Males and Females, according to the census o f 1820.
FREE COLORED.
AGES.

Under............1 4 ,...................
14 a n d u n d e r 2 6 ,..................
26
“
4 5 ....................
45 and u p w a r d s , ........................

SLAVES.

FREE COL.

SLAVES.

Males, Females, Males, 1Females, Fraction o f Males
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. to Females as 100 to
42.27
21.30
20.80
15.63
100.

38.
23.89
22.50
15.61
100.

43.63
25.77
20.78
9.82
100.

43.24
26.98
20.36
9.42
100.

96.3
120.1
115.9
107.1

94.3
99.6
95.4
91.3

107.2

95.1

* A s it seems scarcely credible that the number, at any period o f life, should have
gained by immigration in any given time equal to the loss sustained in the same time by
death, it is rational to suppose that some error has crept into this part o f the census.
Can it be that many o f this class o f females, who work from home, are counted twice ?
or, must we suppose that many, who have passed twenty, have reduced their age within
more desirable limits ?




40

Progress o f Population and Wealth in the

II.— The proportion o f colored Males and Females, according to the census o f 1830.
FREE COLORED.
AGES.

Under.............. 10,.................
10 and under 2 4 ,................
24
“
36,................
36
“
55,................
55
“
100,................
100 and upwards,................

SLAVES.

FREE COL.

SLAVES.

Males, Females, Males, Females, Prop'tion o f Males
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. to Females as 100 to
31.72
28.07
18.02
14.51
7.50
.18
100.

28.49
28.97
19.59
14.64
8.08
.23
100.

34.90
30.86
18.32
11.74
4.10
.07
100.

34.90
30.99
18.65
11.23
4.16
.07
100.

97.4
111.7
117.7
109.3
115.6
143.5

98.3
98.8
100.1
94.1
99.7
90.4

108.3

98.4

III.— The proportion o f colored Males and Females, according to the census o f 1840.
FREE COLORED.
AGES.

Under. ............10,.................
10 and under 24,................
24
“
36,................
36
“
55,................
55
“
100,................
100 and upwards,................

SLAVES.

FREE COL.

SLAVES.

Males, Females, Males, Females, Frop'tion o f Males
per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. to Females as J00 to
30.20
28.32
18.93
15.16
7.24
.15
100.

27.57
28.31
20.86
15.21
7.87
.18
100.

33.91
31.38
18.88
11.66
4.11
.06
100.

33.97
31.44
19.32
11.22
4.
.05
100.

97.8
107.2
118.
107.5
116.5
126.2

99.7
99.7
101.9
95.8
96.9
77.

107.2

99.3

These tables seem to indicate a much greater mortality among the
males than the females o f the free colored population ; as though, in the
class under the age o f puberty, the males exceed the females about 2 or 3
per cent, yet, in all the subsequent periods o f life, the females have the
preponderance, and after the age o f fifty-five the disproportion greatly
increases. Part o f this excess, indeed, is to be ascribed to the roving
habits o f the males ; yet, as this cause operates chiefly with the young and
middle aged, the increasing excess o f females after fifty-five can be at­
tributed only to their greater longevity.
T h e period between thirty-six and fifty-five, in the two last enumera­
tions, presents an exception to the supposed greater mortality, as the ex­
cess o f females which, between the ages o f twenty-four and thirty-six, had
been as much as eighteen per cent, had, in the period from thirty-six to
fifty-five, declined from eight to ten per cent.
This single instance o f a decrease in the proportion o f females might
be caused either, 1st. by a greater number o f males emancipated than o f
females between thirty-six and fifty-five, 2d. by the return o f a part o f
those males who had gone abroad before the age o f thirty-six, or, lastly, by
a greater mortality o f females at this period o f life. T here seems to be
no ground for presuming the existence o f the first cause ; but the census,
both in 1830 and 1840, affords some evidence o f both the others. Thus,
i f the free colored males between thirty-six and fifty-five be compared
with those between twenty-four and thirty-six, the former will be found to
be only twenty per cent le s s; whereas, if the male slaves at the same pe­
riods o f life be compared, the diminution is from thirty-five to forty per




United. States, in F ifty Years.

41

cent. This difference between the two portions o f the colored race, so
greatly exceeding any supposable difference o f mortality, must be refer­
red to a return o f a part o f the free colored who had roamed abroad. W e
are also warranted in attributing a part o f the difference to the greater
mortality o f women about this period o f life, because we perceive the
same falling off in the proportion o f females between the ages o f thirty-six
and fifty-five in the class o f slaves, in which none o f the males who leave
the country ever return to i t ; and because, also, w e have some evidence
o f a falling o ff in the proportion o f white females about the same time o f
life.
In the slave portion o f the colored population, there seems to be but lit­
tle difference in the chances o f life between the sexes. From the age o f
ten to twenty-four, the males retain the small excess o f from one to two
per cent, which they had under ten years o f age. From twenty-four to
thirty-six, the number o f females slightly preponderates. F rom thirty-six
to fifty-five, the males gain on the females ; from fifty-five to one hundred,
the females gain on the m a les; and after one hundred, the males regain
and exceed their original preponderance.
W e are the more warranted in referring these alternations to general
causes, as they are found in both the last enumerations. The gain o f the
females between the ages o f twenty-four and thirty-six, may be referred to
the greater casualties to which the male sex is exposed, and to the greater
number o f runaways o f that sex. T h e loss o f the females from thirty-six
to fifty-five, is probably to be ascribed to that greater mortality o f the sex
which has been observed in the other classes at this period o f life. The
gain o f the females from fifty-five to one hundred may be confidently at­
tributed to their greater longevity, after they have passed the age o f fifty ;
and i f the excess o f males above one hundred, which is shown by the cen­
sus, may seem to contradict this supposition, the fact admits o f a similar
explanation to that given for the excess o f white males o f this extreme
age. Most o f the male slaves over one hundred may have'been Africans
by birth, and have thus had constitutions more favorable to long life than
the average o f the native slaves, much the largest part o f whom live in the
least healthy parts o f the United States. This supposition derives some
probability from the fact that in the free colored class, which is known to
consist almost entirely o f natives, the females above one hundred exhibit
a continuance o f the same progressive excess which they had exhibited in
the periods o f life immediately preceding.
There is a manifest difference in mortality and longevity between the
two portions o f the colored race, in favor o f the free colored class. B y
the census o f 1820, o f those under thirty-six, the proportional numbers o f
the two classes are nearly the same ; but o f those over that age, the free
colored are fifteen per cent o f their whole number, while the slaves are
but ten per cent. B y the two last enumerations, the centesimal propor­
tions o f each class from twenty-four to thirty-six are nearly eq u a l; but
after thirty-six, the proportion o f the free colored increase in an augment­
ed ratio.
A part o f this excess is attributable to emancipation, which commonly
takes place in middle life, whether it be effected by the favor o f the master,
or by the purchase o f his freedom by the slave h im self; but the change in
the relative numbers o f the two portions in after life, shows that those who
are free are more long-lived than the slaves.
3*




42

Progress o f Population and W ealth in the

T h e causes o f this difference may arise from several circumstances.
O f the colored population, a much larger proportion o f the free than o f
the slaves is probably descended from the white, as well as the African
race ; and it is possible that this mixed breed may possess some advan­
tages o f temperament, as they certainly do o f appearance, which is favor­
able to longevity. Or, it m a y b e, that the small number who attain old
age may have been better provided with the comforts o f life, and have
taken better care o f their health than the slaves are able to do. Or, lastly,
since many o f the free colored consist o f those who have been emanci­
pated for their merits or services, or have purchased their freedom by the
earnings o f a long course o f industry, sobriety, and frugality, it may hap­
pen that the excess o f the long-lived is derived from this description o f
persons, who would, from the regularity and good conduct implied by their
change o f condition, be most likely to attain long life.
A s the enumerations, both o f 1830 and 1840, have adopted different
discriminations o f age for the whites and the colored race between the
ages o f ten and one hundred, we cannot accurately compare the chances
o f life between the two races for the intermediate periods. But by the
census o f 1820, the discriminations o f the colored classes coincided with
those o f the whites by that and the two preceding enumerations in two
particulars, to w it : as to those who were between the ages o f twenty-six
and forty-five, and those who were above forty-five. L et us, then, com ­
pare the two races at these periods o f life.
B y the enumerations o f 1800, 1810, and 1820, the white males between
twenty-six and forty-five w ere 19.58, 19.15, and 19.18 per cent o f the
whole number, making an average o f 19.30 per c e n t ; and the white fe­
males were 19.51, 18.93, and 19.05, making an average o f 19.16 per
cent.
B y the census o f 1820, the males o f the free colored class were 20.80
per cent, those o f the slaves were 20.78, and both together, equal to 20.79
per cent o f the whole colored population ;* and the females o f the free
colored were 22.50, those o f the slaves, 20.36, and both together, equal
to 20.40 per cent o f the whole. A t this period o f life, then, the centesi­
mal proportion o f the whites o f each sex was about one and a half per
cent less than that o f the colored race.
I f those over forty-five be similarly compared, the centesimal propor­
tion will be as follows :—
1st. O f the M ales—
per cent.
W hites, in 1800, 1810, and 1820, 11.91, 12.21, 12.39, average
12.17
F ree colored and slaves, in 1 8 20........................................
“
10.55
D ifference. . 1 . 6 2
2 nd. O f the Females—
p ercen t.
W hites, in 1800, 1810, and 1820, 11.75, 11.78, 11.97, average
11.83
F ree colored and slaves, in 1 8 20........................................
“
10.30
D iffe re n ce .. 1.53
* By uniting the two classes o f the colored race, the comparison is not disturbed by
emancipation, by which the numbers o f one class is increased and the other diminished,
to the same absolute extent, indeed, but in very different proportions.




Uniled States, in F ifty Years.

43

This relative gain o f the whites after forty-five may seem at first to in­
dicate greater mortality in the colored race in the later periods o f life.
But when it is recollected that the whites gain largely by those who mi­
grate to this country, (sometimes, as we shall see, more than ten per cent,)
and that the colored race, on the contrary, lose somewhat by emigration,
the influence o f these two causes might be expected to make a greater dif­
ference than has been mentioned, if they were not counteracted by the
greater tenacity o f life o f persons o f the colored race when they have
passed middle age.
Such a comparison between the two races at a later period o f life as we
are able to make under the enumerations o f 1830 and 1840, affords evi­
dence o f the same fact. Thus, by taking the proportional mean between
the whites over fifty, and those over sixty, we obtain the probable number
over fifty-five, which we may then compare with the numbers o f the color­
ed race o f that age, according to actual enumeration. T h e number o f
white males over fifty-five, by computation, was, in 1830, 5.6 8 per cent o f
the whole number ; and in 1840, 5.62 per cent. T h e number o f white
females in 1830, 5.84 per c e n t ; and in 1840, 5.86 per cent. The com ­
parison, therefore, between the whites and the colored race past forty-five,
will be as follows :—
M ales—
per cent.
Whites, 5.68, 5.62 per cent......................................................average. .5 .6 5
Free colored and slaves, 4.72, 4 .5 9 ........................................
“
. .4 .6 5
D iffe re n ce ..1 .
Females—
per cent.
Whites, 5.84, 5.86 per cen t......................................................average. .5 .8 5
F ree colored and slaves, 4.81, 4 .6 1 ........................................
“
. .4.71
D ifference. .1 .1 4
B y which it appears, that the small proportionate excess o f the whites
over forty-five, was, at a period o f life ten years later, diminished about
one half o f one per cent. W e unfortunately have no means o f comparing
the two races at any intermediate period between fifty-five and one hun­
dred, by which we should be able to see whether, as the influence o f im ­
migration declined, (but a very small number o f European emigrants to this
country being past middle age,) the proportion o f the colored race continued
to increase. But a comparison o f their respective numbers, years o f age,
and upwards 100, would lead us to expect that result. Thus :—
In 1830, the whites over 100 were, males 301
“
“
“
“
females 238
------- 539, equal to 1 in 19,529
a
“
free colored*
males 269
<(
<t
a
females 386
------- 655,
“
1 in
487
«
“
slaves
“
males 748
•
«
«
If
females 676
------- 1,424,
“
1 in 1,410
u

* The free colored and the slaves are here separated, as emancipation scarcely ever
takes place at this advanced age.




44

Progress o f Population and Wealth in the

A ccording to which, the chances o f attaining this extraordinary longev­
ity were more than thirteen times as great with the slaves, and forty times
as great with the free colored as the whites.
In 1840, the whites over 100 were, males 476
c(
(6
a
a
females 315
------u
“
free colored
males 286
u
u
a
a
females 361
------a
“
slaves
“
males 753
a
it
it
it
females 580

791, equal to 1 in 17,938

647,

“

1 in

597

1,333,

“

1 in

1,866

W hich shows a less, but still extraordinary disproportion in favor o f the
colored r a c e ; the proportionate number o f the slaves to that o f the whites
being more than as nine to one, and o f the free colored to the whites as
thirty to one.
It is proper to remark, that the ages o f the colored part o f the popula­
tion are, for the most part, conjectural, their births being rarely recorded
even in family registers ; and consequently, that the uncertainty is great­
est in the most advanced stages o f life. There is, moreover, a very pre­
valent disposition among the slaves who are past middle age to over-state
their ages, either by way o f furnishing an excuse for a relaxation o f labor,
or o f presenting stronger claims to kindness and charity.
O n the other hand, the temperate mode o f living, the steady but mode­
rate labor to which most o f the slaves are habituated ; their freedom from
cares about the future, and, as a consequence o f these incidents to their
condition their comparative exemption from some o f the maladies which
greatly abridge life with the whites, as diseases o f the stomach, o f the
liver, and the lungs, obviously tend to increase the proportion o f those who
attain extraordinary longevity. It has also been supposed by some that
m ore than a fair quota o f the superannuated few are native Africans, who
would thus seem to have better constitutions than the average o f their race
born in the United States. And lastly, it is possible that an undue propor­
tion o f the long-lived may be o f the mixed breed, and that such may be
m ore tenacious o f life than either the white or the negro race. Should
this prove to be the fact, it may aid us, as has been already mentioned, in
accounting for the greater longevity o f the free colored than o f the slaves.
It is only by a careful attention to the individual cases o f longevity, that
these questions in the statistics o f life can be solved.
T h e following diagram presents to the eye the proportions in which the
whites, free colored persons, and slaves, are respectively distributed, ac­
cording to age ; and it would accurately show the mortality o f each class
but for emigration, by which the number o f whites is increased and that o f
the colored classes is diminished ; and for emancipation, by which one o f
these classes gains and the other loses. The horizontal lines indicate the
number o f persons living at and above the ages annexed to them ; th§
outer curve marking the numbers o f the free colored, the middle line
those o f the whites, and the inner line those o f the slaves.




45

United States, in F ifty Years.

The comparative decrease of life o f the White, Free Colored, and Slave population in
the United States: the black lines showing the proportion o f persons living at Salem,
the ages respectively annexed. The outer curve marks the lines of the Free Colored,
the middle that o f the Whites, and the inner that of the Slaves.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

The diagram following shows the proportion o f living males, at different
ages, in England and Connecticut,* in conformity with the follow ing com ­
parison o f the distribution o f life in the two countries, as exhibited by the
census o f Great Britain, in 1821, and by that o f the United States, in 1840.
A c c o r d i n g to th e se , o f e v e r y 1 0 ,0 0 0 m a le s th e r e w ill b e liv in g :—

In England.
Under 10
10
20
30

In Connecticut.

years
to 20
to 30
to 40

40 to
50 to
60 to
70 to
80 to
90 to

o f age,
2 ,8 8 1 ................. ...............
............ ... 2,157
................. ...............
........... ... 1,990
................. ...............
............ ... 1,156
.........
...............
------- 4,783 ................. ...............
50 ........... ...
940
................. ...............
60 ............ ...
666
.................. ...............
70 ................ ✓ 448
..................................
------- 2,054 ..................................
222
..................................
80 ................
90 ...............
56
.................. ...............
100, & c.
4
...............
------- 282 .................. ...............
10,000

2,458
2,292
1,760
1,285
........ 5,337
900
615
386
........ 1,901
228
69
7
304
10,000

•

* This state is selected because it is one o f the few which do not gain by immigration.




46

Progress o f Population and Wealth in the

The comparative decrease o f life in England and Connecticut: the Hack lines show the
proportion o f 10,000 persons living at and above the ages respectively annexed.
Those o f England are bounded by the inner curved line, and those o f Connecticut by
the outer.

B y which we perceive that under ten years o f age, the number in E n g­
land is greatest by about fourteen per c e n t ; from ten to forty, the num­
ber in Connecticut exceeds about twelve per c e n t ; from forty to seventy,
the excess is again in favor o f England by five per c e n t ; and after seventy,
Connecticut again exceeds by about seven per cent. It is not easy to say
in what degrees these diversities, thus varying and alternating, are influ­
enced by a difference o f the natural increase o f emigration and o f mortal­
ity in the two countries. It must be admitted that there are few parts o f
the United States which would compare as advantageously with England
in the probabilities o f life as Connecticut.




47

United States, in F ifty Years ,

The number o f D eaf and Dumb and Blind, ire
white and colored population o f the
United States, ore ZAe ls£ o f August , 1830.

W HITES.

Und.
14.

M aine,....................
N ew Hampshire,...
Vermont,................
Massachusetts,......
Rhode Island,........
Connecticut,...........
N ew Y o rk ,............
N ew Jersey,...........
Pennsylvania,.......
Delaware,...............
M aryland,..............
Dist. o f Columbia,.
Virginia,.................
North C arolina,....
South Carolina,....
G eorgia,.................
F lorida,..................
A labam a,...............
Mississippi,.............
Louisiana,..............
Tennessee,.............
Arkansas,...............
K en tu cky,.............
M issouri,................
O h io ,......................
Indiana,..................
Illinois,....................
Michigan,...............

64
32
39
56
6
43
277
64
224
6
50
4
132
70
60
50
2
45
12
15
59
6
100
12
148
49
23
4

DEAF AND DU M B.

14 to
25 Z d\Total
25. upw'as,
60
55
59
62
22
152
310
71
279
15
31
5
118
81
52
51
25
10
15
59
2
113
5
160
59
27
7

T otal,............ 1,652 1,905

56
48
55
138
28
99
255
72
255
14
54
3
169
79
62
44
3
19
7
19
54
2
90
10
118
33
16

B L IN D .

14.

180
135
153
256
56
294
842
207
758
35
135
12
419
230
174
145
5
89
29
49
172
10
303
27
426
141
66
15

159
105
51
218
56
188
642
205
475
18
147
11
355
223
102
150
3
68
25
36
176
8
169
27
232
85
35
5

1,806 5,363

3,974

4

Und.
4
5
3
2
2
4
17
5
12
... .
40
1
51
31
9
26
1
9
2
7
13
4
16
2
5
1

14 to i 25 ^
Total
25. upw’s

l
3
2
4

i

1

3

2
2\ ....
14
2
12
5i
30
2,
41
27
27
21'
2
7
8:
5
9
25
1

12
8
15
4
26
3
38
25
33
12
3
7
2
9
6
5
5
4

2

5
9
5
9
4
6
43
15
39
9
96
6
130
83
69
59
6
23
12
21
28
4
46
8

B L IN D .

l
5
8

7
82
22
28
11
124
16
438
161
136
123
16
48
31
77
37
2
83
10
6

3

....

2

4

....
2?2

246

224

CO

T O R IE S.

COLORED PERSONS.

DEAF AND DUMB

S T A T E S AND T E R R I-

1,470

The white population at that time being 10,537,373, and the colored
2,328,642, the number o f whites, deaf and dumb, according to the pre­
ceding table (5,36 3) was equivalent to 1 in 1,964, and o f colored persons
(74 3) was 1 in 3,134. O f the blind, the number o f whites (3,97 4) was 1
in 2,651, and o f colored persons, 1 in 1,584. This shows an excess o f
whites, deaf and dumb, in a somewhat greater proportion than three to
two, and an excess o f blind in the colored race in about the same ratio.




48

Progress o f Population and W ealth in the

The number o f D eaf and Dumb, Blind, and Insane, o f the whites and colored popula­
tion o f the United States, on the l s i o f August, 1840.
COLORED PERSONS.

W HITES.
DEAF AND DU M B .

S T A T E S A ND T E R R I­
T O R IE S .

Under
14.

M aine,...................
N ew Hampshire,.
Vermont,...............
Massachusetts,....
Rhode Island,.......
Connecticut,.........
N ew Y o rk ,...........
N ew Jersey,.........
Pennsylvania,........
Delaware,..............
M aryland,.............
Dist. o f Columbia,
Virginia, ................
North Carolina,....
South Carolina,....
Georgia,.................
Florida,..................
Alabama,...............
Mississippi,............
Louisiana,.............
A rkansas,.............
Tennessee,............
K entucky,.............
M issouri,...............
O h io,......................
Indiana,.................
Illinois,..................
M ichigan,.............
W iscon sin,......;...
I o w a ,.....................
T otal,............

471
43
27
56
15
GO
269
33
225
18
43
1
133
82
40
78
6
72
25
14
18
102
120
48
167
112
54
7
1
3
1,919

INSANE

14 to 25 and
Total.
25.
upw's.
13
41
19
63
25
141
362
29
225
15
59
5
111
80
41
62
4
53
16
17
11
93
128
32
198
91
48
9
4
2

102
97
89
164
34
108
408
102
331
12
79
2
209
118
59
53
4
48
23
11
11
96
152
46
194
94
53
15

222
181
135
283
74
309
1,039
164
781
45
181

5

453
280
140
193
14
173
64
42
40
291
400
126
559
297
155
31
5
10

2,057

2,709

6,685

8

BLIN D.

180
153
101
308
63
143
875
126
540
15
171
6
426
223
133
136
9
113
43
37
26
255
236
82
372
135
86
25
9
3

DEAF

AND

AND

IDIOTS.

DU M B.

537
486
398
1,071
203
498
2,146
369
1,946
52
400
14
1,048
580
376
294
10
232
116
55
45
699
795
202
1,195
487
213
39
8
7

5,030 14,521

BLIN D.

13
9
2
17
3
8
68

15
51
8
68

4
150
74
78
64
2
53
28
17
2
67
77
27
33
15
24
2

AND
IDIOTS.

10
3
2
22
1
13
91
26
96
18
101
9
466
167
156
151
10
96
69
36
8

99
141
42
33
19
10
4

94
19
13
200
13
44
194
53
187
28
150
7
384
221
137
134
12
125
82
45
21
152
180
68

165
66

4

3

79
26
3
4

979

1,902

2,935

A ccordin g to the preceding table—
The deaf and dumb o f the whites was . . . . . . 1 in 2,123
“
“ o f the colored
.............. 1 in 2,933
T h e number o f the blind was—
“
o f the whites
1 in 2,821
“
o f the colored
1 in 1,509
T h e number o f the insane was—
“
o f the whites
1 in 977
“
o f the colored
1 in 978
This census, like the preceding, shows a greater proportion o f whites
among the deaf and dumb, and o f the colored race among the blind ; but
in both descriptions, their relative proportions were changed in favor o f
the whiles. Thus, in the deaf and dumb, the ratio o f the whites had di­
minished from Tg\j to -jy V w h ils t that o f the colored population had inincreased from gyVy to
> ar)d ifl the blind, the ratio o f the whites had
decreased from yeVr to t i V t » but that o f the colored classes had slightly
increased, that is, from TJTT to y f e f .
These opposite changes in the two
races are probably not greater than can be accounted for by the extraordi­




The N avy and the Late Treaty.

49

nary loss which the colored population has sustained from emigration in
the last ten years, (as is shown by the census,) and also by the unusual in­
flux o f Europeans in the same time, since persons falling under either
class o f disability, would be rarely found among emigrants.
It deserves to be remarked, as favoring some o f the conjectural views
that have been hazarded in comparing the two races, that o f the three priva­
tions here considered, the only one that is always congenital is far less fre­
quent with the colored than the white population ■ whereas, the greater
proportionate number o f blind in the former class may be reasonably re­
ferred to the severer labor and greater exposure to which they are occa­
sionally subject; to their greater improvidence, and greater want o f medi­
cal assistance.
O f the insane and idiotic, the proportions in the two races would seem
to be identical; somewhat more than one in a thousand in both being visi­
ted by the greatest o f all human maladies. The census distinguishes be­
tween those patients o f this description who were at public and at private
charge, as follows :— •
A t public charge, w h it e s ..........................
“
c o l o r e d .............................
A t private charge, w h it e s ..........................
“
c o l o r e d .............................

4,393
833
------- 5,166
10,188
2,102
------- 12,290

Showing, that in both classes o f the population, the proportion at public
charge is the same, and that it is about forty per cent o f the number at
private charge.

A

kt.

III.—THE NAVY AND THE LATE TREATY.

W e took occasion a few months ago, to call the attention o f the mer­
cantile community to the proposed reduction o f the navy. W e maintained,
— and we hrve reason to believe that the stand we took was supported by
those to whom we addressed ourselves,— that the mutilation o f our mari­
time service would be the ruin o f our commercial strength. W e called
attention to the fact, that after twenty years had demonstrated that as our
navy had grown, our com m erce had grown ; that, as our right arm o f de­
fence had extended itself across the ocean, our traders had extended
themselves under its protection ; that in proportion as our power had been
made respectable in foreign ports, our goods had found access within for­
eign custom-houses. W e called attention to the fact, that, without the
slightest note o f premonition, without the hearing o f the parties interested
either in committee or before the house, the attempt was made at the open­
ing o f the present congress to cut down the naval appropriations and to
emasculate the naval service. The attempt was in part successful. W e
protested against the measure at its inception, on grounds both personal
and national. W e protested against it, because we knew that the weakV OL. V III.—

no




i.

4

50

The N avy and the Late Treaty.

ening o f our force on the high seas would leave our merchantmen exposed
to the invasions o f barbarian jealousy, and the machinations o f European
spite. W e protested against it, because by the ostentation o f our maritime
imbecility, we would provoke insults whose reparation would cost a hun­
dred times as much as would be saved by the profligate econom y which
invited them. W e make use o f the opportunity which is given us by the
opening o f the present session, to consider the change in our foreign po­
licy since we last wrote, in conjunction with the fresh information which
the reports o f the various departments afford us both in regard to our naval
strength and our commercial necessities.
W e stated in the article to which we have just alluded, that we consid­
ered the position o f our foreign affairs to be by no means so secure as to
warrant the disbandment o f our maritime police. T h e late treaty between
the United States and Great Britain, has gone but a little way to weaken
our opinion. W hen Lord Ashburton was still in Washington, when the
negotiation was still in progress, when the desire o f the contracting par­
ties for an honorable and complete peace was expressed, with the full so­
lemnity o f official sanction, we had every reason to hope for a speedy and
ahsolute determination o f every point at issue. Satisfactory as was the
treaty in the single feature it embraced, it affords no guarantee for the
conduct o f the cabinets o f either St. James or Washington, on points
which, to the shipping interest, are the most material. It did, no doubt,
all that could be done under the peculiar circumstances with which the
negotiation was surrounded ; but it has left untouched, questions for which
we called most to have decided. The shipper does not know whether to­
morrow his crew may not be snatched from him in a distant sea to make
up the complement o f a British man-of-war. The merchant may expect
to hear, as he has already too often heard, o f the detention o f his vessel
in the suspected latitudes, in order that her papers may be searched and
her property adjudicated. T h e common carrier is still exposed to the cap­
ture and dispersion o f his cargo in a foreign port, within whose inhospita­
ble harbor the stress o f the weather may have driven him, should he hap­
pen to cover by his flag slaves, whom the policy o f another country con ­
siders freemen. The questions most concerning the mercantile interest,
are still unsettled and we must continue to look to the arms o f the govern­
ment for remedies against the contingency o f aggression, which it has not
been in the power o f its diplomacy to anticipate.
There are seas in which our com m erce must continue t<4 be exposed
to vexations, whose occurrence have already frustrated many a voyage,
and from whose repetition the late negotiations have failed to secure
us. The coasting trade along the shores o f the southern states, the
packet business o f the ports between the Potomac and the Mississippi, are
liable, every day, to the recurrence o f the injury which was inflicted in the
case o f the Creole. If a single slave be on board the ship, the master will
be prevented from taking refuge, in case o f distress, in an English har­
bor, lest his cargo be overhauled and his property confiscated.
Even
should there be not a single repetition o f the Creole outrage, the check
which it has thrown upon the enterprise o f the country and shippers, has
damaged, in a great degree, the welfare o f that branch o f the mercantile
interest. N o underwriter will be content with the ordinary premium on a
vessel which should pretend to carry slaves between N ew Y ork and N ew
Orleans. W e question, indeed, whether the fact o f having slaves aboard,




The N avy and the Late Treaty.

51

without the insurer’s knowledge, would not be sufficient to vitiate the po­
licy in case o f a loss through refusal to lake refuge in a British port. W e
have received due notice from the British government o f its intention to
carry out, on every suitable occasion, the precedent established with the
C re o le ; and the captain whose crew or cargo may be composed in part o f
slaves, will prefer to meet the chances o f shipwreck, rather than experi­
ence the inhospitality o f Jamaica or the Bahama islands.
It is not so much the single outrage, or the probability o f its repetition,
that suggests an enlargement o f our navy, as the danger under which we
rest o f having on each new opportunity, fresh though similar injuries
sprung upon us. It is true that slavery is recognised by the constitution
as a legitimate portion o f the institutions o f the southern states ; is essen­
tial to the production o f their crops and to the prosperity o f their people.
It is true that the convenience and necessities o f the planter demand the
free transportation o f slaves from point to point. It is true that the attack
upon the Creole has hazarded the transportation o f slaves by sea, and
forced upon the planter other methods o f conveyance, far more costly, and
far more oppressive. Considerable, however, as are the positive injuries
that have resulted from the blow, they are but little in comparison with the
moral degradation which accompanied it. W e submitted with scarcely a
struggle, we have vainly asked for reparation ; and after the lapse o f more
than a year, we are informed by Lord Ashburton, in a tone in singular
contrast to his usual mildness, that we can neither hope for apology or re­
paration. “ Great Britain,” is the sum o f his final answer to Mr. W eb ­
ster, in the Creole correspondence, “ Great Britain is strong, and you are
weak ; Great Britain has the means o f attack, and you have not the means
o f defence ; Great Britain has attacked you, and you may expect Great
Britain will attack you, as long as your imbecility is as great as your ob­
noxiousness.”
If it was only to a narrow strip o f sea that the danger applied, we might
be able to overlook the offence itself on its minuteness. But Cape Florida
cannot be doubled, or the W est India archipelago cannot be pierced, with­
out exposing the mariner to those very hazards which encountered theCreole.
The banks o f the Bahamas, studded as they are with numerous islands,
whose shores present at one time the most treacherous shoals, at another,
the most perilous rocks, are spread along the mouth o f the G ulf o f Mexico
in the main high road o f the western ocean ; and yet, no matter how great
may be the-danger o f shipwreck, the captain will be deterred from putting
into "the shelter o f an English port, (and there are none others on the banks,)
without the hazard o f a repetition o f the Creole insult.
Through the
channels o f the W est Indies, nearly one-third o f our com m erce must pass ;
and when the table which we here present is considered, it will be seen
that at least one-half our shipping is exposed to the impositions we have
already experienced. W e do not complain o f the silence o f the treaty on
the point so at issue ; it was probably on our part unavoidable ; but we do
most earnestly contend, that the shipping and commercial interests should
be protected by an adequate navy against the aggressions which the ex­
hibition o f our weakness has invited.




52

The N avy and the Late Treaty.

Statistical View o f the Commerce and Navigation o f the United States in the South­
western Section o f the Atlantic Ocean, in the year ending September 30, 1841.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.

IM PORTS AND E X P O R T S .

AM ERICAN TO N N A G E .

Value of
Imports.

Value of
Exports.

Entered Cleared Entered Cleared
the
from the
from the
the
U. States. U. States. U. States. U. States.

Dollars.

Dollars.

Swedish W . Indies
19,760
Danish W . Indies,.
1,075,530
Dutch VV. Indies,..
500,197
Dutch Guiana,.......
35,793
British W . Indies,.
855,122
British Honduras,.
232,244
British G uiana,__
18,228
French VV. Indies,.
198,216
French Guiana,.
55,416
Miquelon & French
........
Fisheries,........
Hayti,.................
1,809,684
Cuba,.................
4,507,027
Other Spanish W .
1 2,560,020
Indies,.................
M ex ico,..................
3,284,957
Venezuela,.............
2,012,004
New Grenada,......
144,117
Central America,..
186,911
Brazil,.....................
6,312,653
Argentine Republic1,612,513
Cisplatine Republic345,234
C h ili,......................
1,231,980
P eru ,......................
524,376
27,269
Patagonia,.............
S. America gener.,
W . Indiesgenerally
Atlantic Ocean,....

Tons.

Tons.

1,082
23,667
12,588
4,730
68,442
4,355
2,755
12,732
1,713

3,455
29,464
6,666
5,496
91,587
6,409
8.827
22,154
1,657

1,155,557
5,739,082

35,899
199,685

26,904
194,001

168,891
852,495
532,893
37,900
3,231,994
193,246
382,601
422,522
44,041

FOREIGN TO N N A G E .

Tons.

Tons.

39,369
1,030
13,174
3,394

95
427
720
117
18,632
1,010
1,613
467

748
11,920

763
14,168

2,957
939

2,257

749,932

51,074

30,129

443

730

2,036,620
762,502
110,435
149,913
3,517,273
661,946
156,224
1,102,988

17,981
14,964
287
2,223
41,684
13.726
4,427
3,072
129

14,018
9,530
533
1,178
47,634
6,564
10,107
5,962

5,040
1,658
722
145
4,503
2,319
540
300

4,935
1,284
722
145
3,101

78,981
264,235

736
88
4,485

399
11,435
13,920

27,598,351 24,153,928

502,530] 548,025

991

1,252

89,201

51,192

“ It is believed,” says the Secretary o f the N avy, in the report which
has just appeared, “ that there is not in the world a greater amount o f com ­
mercial and agricultural interest belonging to any one country, so much at
the m ercy o f the most inconsiderable maritime force as is that o f the G ulf
o f M exico.”
Through the narrow frith which is bound in by the coasts
o f Florida and the shoals o f the Bahama islands, one third o f our com m erce
is filtered ; and yet, so careless have we been both o f our national honor
and our commercial strength, that a single steamship could block up the
channel and destroy every merchantman on its waters. W e have been
obliged by the authorities o f the neighboring islands to bend our knee in
their presence. “ The Bahama islands,” was the language o f Mr. W eb­
ster in treating o f this branch o f the subject under negotiation, “ approach
the coast o f Florida within a few leagues, and, with the coast, form a long
and narrow channel filled with innumerable small islands and beds o f sand ;
and the navigation is difficult and dangerous, not only on these accounts,
but from the violence o f the winds, and the variable nature o f the currents.
Accidents are o f course frequent, and necessity often compels vessels o f
the United States, in attempting to double Cape Florida, to lake shelter in




53

The N avy and the Late Treaty.

the ports o f these islands.”
In cases similar to the Creole, he proceeds
to state, “ complaints have been made o f the officious interference o f the
colonial authorities with the vessels.”
Against the recurrence o f similar
injuries, the treaty gives us no guarantee; for the loss suffered by the
Creole, it gives us no satisfaction ; and we call upon government to afford
ps that protection which will save our name from disgrace and our property
'from ruin.
If the defenceless situation o f our interests within the mouth o f the
G ulf o f M exico, and among the W est India islands, attracts our anxious
consideration, such is much more the case with our trade on the African
coast. There is no provision at present made for a single national vessel
on the shores o f the whole o f that great territory; and though there is a
probability that, in conformity with the late treaty, a force o f eighty guns
will be sent to the suspected latitudes, that force will be chiefly and legiti­
mately occupied with the chasing o f occasional slavers. W e subjoin a
table which exhibits our trade around the African promontory ; and we
would demand the most grave attention to the increasing hazards o f a traffic
which bids fair, could it be extricated from the perils o f barbarian aggres­
sion, to equal in value the remaining branches o f our commercial opera­
tions :—
Statistical view o f the Commerce and Navigation of the United States in the South­
eastern Seas, in the year ending September 30, 1841.
IM PO R TS A N D E X P O R T S .
PORTS.

1. Dutch East Indies,.
2. Cape o f Good Hope
4. Brit. African ports,
5. French African p’s,
6 . China,......................
7. Asia, generally,......
8. Africa, generally,...
9. South Seas,............
10. Sandwich Islands,.
11. British East Indies,
T otal,................

Valve of
Imports.

Value of
Exports.

AM E R IC A N T O N N A G E .

FOREIGN TO N N A G E .

Entered Cleared Entered Cleared
from the
the
the
from the
U. States. U. States. U. States. U. States_

Dollars.
266,425
17,155
86,706

Dollars.
403,026
51,324
176,341

Tons.
507
219
1,850
324

Tons.
5,324
958
3,457
189

3,095,388
167,318
408,955
38,440
47,630
1,236,641

1,200,816
759,028
636,768
494,565
963,201

11,986
2,279
5,841
32,347
693
6,408

4,876
4,468
7,382
55,504
1,250
12,647

5,364,658

5,685,069

62,454

98,055

Tons.

Tons.

203

152
346
117
262

868

514

1,071

1,391

T h e sloop o f war Vandalia, Commander Ramsey, detached from the
home squadron, which, when complete, is itself wholly inadequate to the
triple office o f protecting our coasts, o f surveying our frontier, and o f aweing the English on the Bahama islands and the savages on the Mexican
shores, has been for the last six months, the sole guardian o f our interests
on the seas which roll between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
Within that period, we have suffered those injuries which, among barbarians,
are always distributed among the weak. Our ships have been searched,
and their property confiscated by our more civilized com petitors; while by
the natives they have been destroyed and their crews murdered. W e put
aside the question o f the right o f search, as treated o f when we last con4*




54

The N avy and the Late Treaty.

sidered this subject, but we would ask the consideration o f the mercantile
community more carefully to the unchastised insults we have sustained
from the savages o f the African coasts. “ Several o f our vessels,” is the
narration o f the Secretary o f the Navy, “ have been captured by the na­
tives, and their crews barbarously murdered.”
W e assert, that when the
outrages are generally known, which were committed on the schooner
Mary Carver, Captain Farwell, in the district o f Beribee, together with
the similar outrages on the merchant service in the last few months, by
which vessels, temporarily ashore, have been burnt and their crews put to
the most cruel deaths, the prejudices in the miud o f seafaring men against
the African trade will be insuperable. W e require a permanent squadron
on the African seas. A sudden jet o f strength, which should punish even
most signally the offending tribes, will not be sufficient; for, among the
wild and disorganized nations who inhabit those inhospitable coasts, the
punishment can never be connected with the crim e. The moment one
force is withdrawn, some new barbarian monarch will swing into the throne
o f his executed predecessor, and rally his tribe to assist in the conflagration
o f another ship or the torture o f another crew . W e may continue to pun­
ish for each offence, but the idea o f punishment will never be linked with
the idea o f retribution ; and our only alternative will be, to secure the safety
o f our trade by the presence o f a standing squadron.
The right o f impressment, which forms the last subject o f consideration,
is no doubt only exercised in extremities. It has slumbered since the last
war ; but it must be remembered that, with extreme remedies as with large
serpents, slumber is both the consequence of, and the preparation for, vio­
lent action. A s soon as the monthly meal is gorged, the monster drops
into a lethargy from which he only awakes when it becomes necessary to
swallow another victim. W e have no guarantee against the impressment
o f our whole merchant service to-morrow, should the necessities o f Great
Britain require it. A t present she is coiled up in sleep, digesting the food
which she has swallowed in the hurried meals o f her European victories
and her Asiatic conquests; but let her be pierced in her folds by the jea ­
lousy o f either o f her ancient rivals, or let the cravings o f appetite goad
her on once more, and she will be ready in a moment to pounce upon and
devour the neutrals who may be standing in her road. It is to her for­
bearance in the exercise o f the claim, that we are to attribute the suspen­
sion o f impressment, and not to her renunciation o f its principle. Hold­
ing, as the British courts do, that a citizen can never expatriate himself,
we cannot conceive in what way the British queen can relinquish the right
which her ancestors have uniformly exercised, o f recalling, when requisite,
her truant subjects. The royal hunter has but to whistle, and the whole
pack is bound to appear. The privilege o f impressment has been recog­
nized by repeated decisions o f English jurisprudence, by repeated edicts
o f English royalty it has been enumerated ; and we are to thank its present
withdrawal to the peace o f Europe, and not to the magnanimity o f Great
Britain.
In the calm o f present tranquillity, we are forgetting the annoyances
and losses to which the exercise o f impressment exposed us during the
wars o f the French revolution. “ The injuries o f impressment,” wrote
Mr. W ebster, in his very able letter to Lord Ashburton on the subject,
“ are by no means confined to its immediate subjects, or the individuals on
whom it is practised. Vessels suffer from the weakening o f their cre w s;




The N avy and the Late Treaty.

55

and voyages are often delayed, and not unfrequently broken up, by sub­
traction o f the necessary hands by impressment. And, what is o f still
greater and more general moment, the fear o f impressment has been found
to create great difficulty in obtaining sailors for the Am erican merchant
service, in times o f European war. Seafaring men, otherwise inclined to
enter into that service, are, as experience has shown, deterred by ihe fear
o f finding themselves ere long in compulsory discipline in the British ships
o f war. Many instances have occurred, fully established in proof, in which
raw seamen, natives o f the United States, fresh from the fields o f agricul­
ture, entering for the first time on ship-board, have been impressed before
they made the land, placed on the decks o f British men-of-war, and com ­
pelled to serve for years before they could obtain their release, or revisit
their country and their homes.”
W e may be looking too exclusively on the gloom y side o f the picture ;
but we do say, that unless by a formidable navy we frighten our great mari­
time rival from an exertion o f the obnoxious right, our com m erce will
either be degraded by an exacted tribute, or be shattered by a vindictive
war. All that the Ashburton correspondence expresses is, that in a gen­
eral peace impressment will not be exercised ; and what, therefore, it dis­
tinctly implies is, that in a general war it will be employed.
W e confess
that a general war does not appear to be so improbable as the more san­
guine observers o f the prominent reforms o f the age may believe. W hile,
on the one hand, there is a more wide dissemination o f the wiser maxims
o f government, it strikes us that national jealousies are increased, as com ­
mercial dealings are multiplied. The spirit o f trade is, by nature, a spirit
o f peace ; but as it is trained and nurtured by the governments o f the day,
it is becoming a spirit o f warfare. The ports o f every commercial peo­
ple are bristled with the guns o f prohibitive and retaliatory tariffs, because
every distinct trading-nation o f the old and new world has chosen to con ­
sider and treat its sister-nations as enemies. Orders in council, and B er­
lin decrees, the causes o f the war o f 1812, have ceased ; but their places
have been supplied by countervailing duties, and vindictive duties, and pro­
hibiting duties, as hostile as their predecessors. T he mutual rivalry which
has prompted the exclusive legislation o f Great Britain, France, Russia,
the German confederacy, and the United States, will be ready, at the least
provocation, to appeal to means o f determination more bloody, though not
more impolitic, than that which is at present in action.
The chance o f a general European war is by no means so remote as to
induce us to cast aside that ordinary prudence which would prevent the
loss to which, under present circumstances, it would subject us. Peace,
no doubt, exists between the courts o f England and France ; but it is a
peace as treacherous as the characteristics o f the French and English peo­
ple are hostile. The huge army, and the vast resources o f Russia, no
doubt are at present hemmed in within the banks o f the reservoir which
she has constructed for their nursery ; but it must be remembered that her
present quiet is an earnest o f nothing else but o f her future activity. The
fingers o f England and Russia, struggling as they now are which shall
grasp within their crowded hands the largest portion o f Asiatic territory,
will soon meet within the centre o f that defenceless continen t; and when
the conqueror o f Russia must encounter the conqueror o f the Carnatic in
the plains o f Middle Asia, a battle will commence which will roll back its
waves upon the European shores. Great Britain would much rather fight




56

The N avy and the Late Treaty.

Chinese than Cossacks ; but it is probable that the Cossack will march into
the camp o f his eastern allies, and that the ponderous power o f Russia will
endeavor to rescue China from the grasp o f her great aggressor. W e believe that the geographical jealousy o f Russia, and the maternal jealousy
o f France, w ill, before a great while, force England into a struggle which
her prudence may induce her to defer, but which her pride will not allow
her to decline. In such a war, the United States will stand as they stood
in the war o f the French revolution. Unflinching neutrality is our maxim,
but honorable neutrality can only be maintained by maritime strength.
Denmark attempted it, but Copenhagen was bombarded by Nelson. Spain
attempted it, but Madrid was seized by Napoleon. W e attempted it our­
selves ; and had it not been for the extraordinary rapidity with which we
bundled up an army from raw recruits, and huddled together a navy from
old men, swept from the merchant service, and young men, hurried from
their schools, we would have met with the same fate as Spain and D en­
mark. Such a risk we can never again afford to run, and yet it is such a
risk we are provoking. T h e whole carrying trade o f the world will be
thrown into our hands, at a period when our hands will be unable to hold
it. It is remarked with great truth, by the Secretary o f the N avy in his
late report, that to build ships in em ergency is to build ships for an enemy ;
for, unless a full complement o f experienced officers be at hand to man
them, they will be torn from us and their guns turned against our own
ports. W e will be placed as neutrals on the edge o f a contest from whose
eddies we will not be strong enough to preserve ourselves. W e will be
neutrals till we find we are not able to protect our neutrality ; and when
we are sucked into the whirlpool as parties, we will discover that the un­
disciplined officers o f huge but impromptu fleets will be unable to extract
us from that ruin whose contingency the uniform sanction o f an adequate
navy would have prevented.
T o congress we commend these views as declaratory o f the sense o f the
mercantile community. The Secretary o f the Navy has done what he
could do ; we call upon the legislature to perfect such measures as will
restore the confidence which the late innovations have shattered. By
every consideration o f honor and interest,— we quote from the report o f
the Secretary at the opening o f the present session, a report which is
among the wisest, as it is among the ablest, o f the state-papers o f the age,—
w e are forbidden “ to fall so far in the rear o f other nations, and o f the age
in which we live, as to surrender our due share o f the dominion o f the
seas. A com m erce, such as ours, demands the protection o f an adequate
naval force ; our people, scattered all over the world, have a right to re­
quire the occasional presence o f our flag, to give assurance to all nations
that their country has both the will and the power to protect them. Our
position among nations is such, as to leave us without excuse if we
voluntarily strip ourselves o f a power which all other nations are anxious
to grasp. Our forms o f government and municipal institutions suggest
that a naval force is our safest, and, perhaps, our only defence ; and as an
additional recommendation, o f no small weight, the expenditure which this
defence requires is to be made chiefly among our own people, encourag­
ing their enterprise, invigorating their industry, and calling out the abun­
dant and now almost hidden resources o f our country.”




Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon L ee.

A
SKETCH

rt.

IV.— M E R C A N T IL E

OF TH E

57

B IO G R A P H Y .

L IF E A N D C H A R A C TE R OF

THE LATE

GIDEON L E E .

A mong the many distinguished sons o f N ew England, she has none
worthier to present to the rising generation, as a model o f imitation, than
he whose name furnishes the subject o f this biographical notice— none who
has attained to eminence with a more spotless character for integrity and
uprightness, nor who discharged, iii all the various duties o f life, more
faithfully the high requirements o f a good citizen. Self-educated, and
emphatically self-made, he lose to influence and distinction by the prac­
tice o f those virtues which, in all time, must secure the respect and con­
fidence o f the good. He rose from poverty and obscurity to occupy, and
worthily to fill, the most honorable stations in the gift o f his fellow-citizens ;
and if a long life o f great public and private usefulness, distinguished for
honesty, industry, sobriety, benevolence, andr beyond this, an enthusiasm
in the cause o f educition— o f the moral and intellectual culture o f the
people— entitle him to be ranked as a patriot, that title is his.
T o estimate truly the merit o f such men, we must trace them through
the struggles o f early life— watch them in the dawnings ot success, and
afterward in the full career o f prosperity. Few men can bear prosperity ;
and fewer still enlarge their sympathies in behalf o f the human family,
when in possession o f the means, whatever may have been their intentions
in the acquisition o f them.
It is, therefore, pleasant to contemplate characters that, having passed
through ail the vicissitudes and gradations o f fortune and station, still con­
tinue true to themselves. Th ey are the green spots in life ; are honor­
able to humanity, and fraught with wholesome example to their succes­
sors ; o f a high elevation in that class, was the subject o f this sketch.
G ideon L ee was born in the town o f Amherst, in the state o f Massa­
chusetts, on the 27th o f April, 1773. He lost his father when quite a
child, and was left to the care o f his mother, o f whom he always spoke in
terms o f the warmest affection. While yet in infancy, he went to reside
with an uncle, a farmer, in whose service he discharged the humble duties
o f looking after the cattle, and was employed in such other occupations as
were suitable to his strength and age.
Suffering taught him reflection :— “ I remember,” said he in after life,
“ when I was a lad living with my uncle, it was my business to feed and
milk the cows. And many a time, long before light in the morning, I
was started off, in the cold and -mow, without shoes, to my work, and
used to think it a luxury to warm my frozen feet on the spot just before
occupied by the animal I had roused. It taught me to reflect, and to con ­
sider possibilities; and I remember asking myself, is it not possible for
me to better my condition ?”
After remaining some time under the care, and in the employment o f
his uncle, he was apprenticed to the tanning and shoemaking,—
it being the practice then to conduct both branches by the same person—
working at the former in the summer, and at the latter during the winter
months. His genius, however, seemed better adapted to the tanning, for
which department o f the business he always letained a strong partiality.
Up to this period his opportunities for acquiring knowledge were extremely
limited: a few weeks schooling during the winter, and such books as ac­
cidentally fell in his way, were all the means vouchsafed to him. After




53

Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon Lee.

learning his trade, or trades, he commenced business on his own account, in
the town o f Worthington, Mass., and by his industry and strict attention to
it, soon won the regard and confidence o f his neighbors. He was enabled
to obtain credit for the purchase o f leather, which he manufactured into
shoes, always paying promptly for it at the period he had agreed. The
first hundred dollars he earned, and that he could honestly call his own,
he appropriated to educating himself at the Westfield Academy ; and
when that sum was exhausted, he again betook himself to his labor. His
diligence and application were remarkable, usually working sixteen
hours out o f the twenty-four. A n anecdote, which he used to relate o f
himself at this period, is worthy o f being told, as illustrating two traits in
Mr. L e e ’ s character, which adhered to him through life ; his great in­
dustry, and his resolution. H e had “ made a bargain with himself,” as
he expressed it, to “ labor each day a certain number o f hours, and no­
thing but sickness or inability should make him break the contract. It
was known to my young friends in the neighborhood, and on some con ­
vivial occasion, a quilting frolic, I believe, they came to my shop and com ­
pelled me to leave my work and go with them ; there being girls also in
the deputation, my gallantry could not resist. I lost tny night’s rest in
consequence, for the morning sun found me at work, redeeming the lost
tim e.”
After gratifying his frien d s by spending the evening in their so­
ciety, he returned to the shop to gratify himself, by not violating his faith.
T h e great points in Mr. L ee’s character developed themselves early.
T h ey were a strong love for, and veneration of, truth— a high sense o f
honor, an independent and laborious mind as well as body, a heart that
embraced in its charities the physical and moral welfare o f his fellows,
punctuality in the discharge o f all his duties, a love o f order and o f sys­
tem, and an indomitable perseverance in accomplishing whatever measure
he undertook, first carefully investigating and discerning its propriety or
usefulness ; these characteristics distinguished his whole course through
life.
After prosecuting his business for some time in the manner detailed, he
formed a partnership with a Mr. Hubbard ; subsequently they were burn­
ed out, and he lost what little property he had accumulated. H e then dis­
solved with his partner, and removed to the city of N ew Y ork . But be­
fore establishing himself permanently there, he made a voyage to St.
Marys, Georgia, taking with him some small ventures o f leather, and ac­
companying a party who went out for the purpose o f cutting live-oak tim­
ber for the United States navy.
W hile there he was seized with the fever o f the country, from the ef­
fects o f which he never entirely recovered. It undermined his health,
and so shattered his constitution, that, during the whole o f his subsequent
life, he constantly maintained a vigilant guard on his living, regulating his
food, apparel, and exercise with the greatest exactness, and watching the
thermometer o f his feelings and the weather, with as much care as the
mariner does his compass. T h e adventure to St. Marys not proving a
profitable one, he determined, after remaining there one winter, to return
to N ew Y ork. The vessel in which he took passage for home was
wrecked o ff Cape Fear, and he barely saved himself with the few clothes
he had on. Accompanied by a faithful friend named Smith, who had
nursed him while sick at St. Marys, he had no other means o f getting to
the north than to trudge it on foot. The journey was a most tedious




Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon Lee.

59

and dismal one ; several days o f it were through the pine barrens o f
North Carolina, not meeting with a house in a day’s travel. Smith was a
brother Yankee, and bore the hardships with great courage and good
humor. Mr. L ee used to relate an anecdote o f him, illustrating this lat­
ter trait, as well as the dismal character o f the country through which
they were travelling. “ One day,” said he, “ we had been trudging
along, nothing to be seen but the pitch pine forests, before and behind,
and on both sides o f u s ; shoes worn out, and our feet bleeding, m yself
before, and Smith following after ; neither o f us had exchanged a word for
some time, when Smith suddenly spoke out in his nasal twang— ‘ Mr.
L e e !’ ‘ W ell, Smith, well, what is it V ‘ I wish I could hear it thunder !’
* Hear it thunder! why do you wish so V ‘ Because they say thunder is
G od’s voice, and if I could only hear it thunder I should know I was on
G od’s earth; as it is now, I don’ t know where I am .’ ”
H e suffered much on this pedestrian journey ; and before reaching N ew
Y ork, his money, the little that he had, was exhausted. The indepen­
dence, and sturdiness o f his character manifested itself on an occasion to­
ward the latter part o f his travel, when wanting a supper and night’s
lodging, and no money to pay for them. H e knocked at the door o f a
farmer, and after explaining his circumstances, he proposed to chop
enough wood to pay for his meal and lodging ; which, being assented to by
the farmer, he went to work and earned what his pride forbade him to ac­
cept as a charity.
In the year 1807, Mr. L ee married the daughter o f Major Samuel
Buffington, o f Worthington, Mass., a distinguished soldier o f the Revolu­
tion, and shortly after established himself in the city o f N ew York, in the
business in which he ultimately became so successful and eminent. He
commenced in a little wooden shantee, in Ferry st., still standing, which he
called “ Fort L ee
where, as he expressed it, he “ entrenched himself.”
The custom among the leather dealers at that day was, to sell on book ac­
count, and have annual settlements ; he adopted a different plan, and in­
stead o f selling on account, he sold at lower prices, and took notes payable
in bank.
This was an innovation on an ancient custom, that was looked
on with disfavor by his neighbors— a revolution that they stoutly resisted.
But, aided by being appointed agent for an extensive tanning establish­
ment, styled the “ Hampshire Leather Manufactory,” he overcame all op­
position, and laid the foundation, in the city o f New Y ork, for a branch o f
domestic industry which speedily rivalled the other Atlantic cities. His
punctuality in the payments, and the industry and fidelity with which he
discharged the duties o f the agency, won the confidence o f the gentlemen
who were the managers o f the company, and contributed to give him a
credit and standing which otherwise might have taken years to obtain.
His prudence and econom y enabled him to accumulate means for enlarg­
ing his business; and, but for feeble health, the future to him was a bright
path o f success.
In the year 1818, Mr. L ee experienced a severe domestic affliction, in
the death o f his wife. She was a woman o f most exemplary character, o f
great prudence, intelligence, and judgment, and in all matters o f impor­
tance, shared in his counsels and confidence.
,In the fall o f 1822, he was elected to the state legislature, where he
distinguished himself by his close application to the business o f the house,
being seldom out o f his place while it was in session. On the adjourn­




60

Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon L ee.

ment o f the legislature, Mr. L ee immediately returned to his business,
and devoted himself to it with his usual assiduity ; his advent into political
life producing no other effect upon his habits and mode o f living, than for
the time interrupting them. On retiring from the legislature, in the spring
o f 1823, Mr. L ee was married to Isabella Williamson, daughter o f the
Rev. David Williamson, a clergyman o f the Church o f Scotland.
In 1825, he was drawn into notoriety by his proceedings, in conjunction
with his partner, Shepherd Knapp, and the late Elisha W . King, in pro­
curing an injunction against the Tradesmens’ Bank. The popular feeling
ran high for the moment, and Mr. L ee and his coadjutors asked a suspen­
sion o f public opinion for a few days ; but the rapid events o f those few
days furnished, without a solution from them, a history o f the facts. The
celebrated “ conspiracy trials” revealed the true situation o f the bank,
(which was only saved from total ruin by the course pursued,) and also
exposed the rottenness o f many olher institutions which had crumbled to
pieces in the general wreck.
His resolution and firmness on that occasion
merited and received the applause o f his fellow -citizens; and it was an act
that he looked back upon, in after life, with sentiments o f satisfaction and
pride.
In 1833, Mr. L ee was elected mayor o f the city, having previously
served several years in the capacity o f alderman. W hile discharging the
duties o f the mayoralty, he withdrew entirely from active participation in
managing the business o f his house, and devoted all his time and abilities
to the public service. It is not our intention to speak o f those services ;
they are on record. It was a maxim with him, that “ whatever was worth
doing at nil, was worth doing w ell.”
W e notice, however, in the annual
communications which it was his duty to make to the common council,
that he never failed calling their attention to the subject o f education ; it
was a theme on which he never tired. His courage and energy in sup­
pressing the “ Election Riots,” in the spring o f 1834, at which time an at­
tack was made on the state arsenal, is still fresh in our mem ory. In the
fall o f 1834, Mr. L ee found it necessary to return to his business, having
previously declined a re-election to the mayoralty ; and from this period,
he contemplated retiring from mercantile pursuits ; accordingly, he set to
work winding up the affairs o f his house. It was not, however, until the
fall o f 1836, that he felt himself in a situation to retire from its manage­
ment. H e then again entered into public life, and represented the city o f
N ew Y ork in the Twenty-fourth C ongress; and was there distinguished,
as he had been in every other station, for his business habits, for close at­
tention to the interests o f his constituents, and, we might also say, for
making short speeches. H e found influence and consideration with the
house, rather by the frankness, honesty, and modesty o f his deportment,
than by windy speeches, intended for far different audiences. His politi­
cal life may be said to have ended with the termination o f the session, with
an exception. H e was, in 1840, chosen an elector to the electoral college,
for President and V ice President o f the United States.
Shortly after his return from congress, he removed- to the village o f
Geneva, in Ontario county, where he had purchased a beautiful estate ;
and, in improving and adorning it, and in the education o f his children, he
contemplated spending the remainder o f his days. H e carried with him
into retirement the same active mind and habits, changing only the scene
and sphere o f their action. Indeed, stimulated with the belief that he had




Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon L ee.

61

regained permanently his health, he imprudently overtasked b oth ; and had
but barely commenced, as he expressed it, “ winding up his end o f life,”
in the manner he had so long and so ardently desired, when death removed
him from his labors. H e was seized with bilious fever, accompanied by
neuralgia, early in the month o f July, 1841 ; and on the 21st o f August
succeeding, was gathered to his fathers, in the sixty-fourth year o f his age,
and in nearly as many o f usefulness ; leaving to his family an ample for­
tune, the honest fruits o f an industrious and well spent life.
In narrating the principal events in Mr. L e e ’s life, we have aimed at
brevity and conciseness, in order to bring it within the limits assigned to
biographical notices in this Magazine. But there is a moral to be drawn
from the history o f such a character, and it is a useful one. Mr. L ee had
obtained a reputation at home, and a name, not unfrequently pronounced
with respect, abroad. W h y was it so ? Thousands, b om to poverty, have
died in the possession o f great wealth ; thousands, that have first seen the
light in obscurity and wretchedness, have risen to eminence and high dis­
tinction ; thousands, whose early years have been locked up in intellectual
darkness, have attained to the highest rank in literature and the sciences.
These instances are o f frequent occurrence, particularly in our own coun­
try ; yet they do not occur often enough. The instances, after all, are too
unfrequent. W hen we look around us and sec the countless opportunities
which everywhere offer themselves to the enterprising, the industrious,
the frugal, our surprise is excited, not that a few succeed, but that more
do not. W hat is there, then, in the history o f Mr. L ee, that entitles him
to distinction, and from whose life and example, a useful moral may be
drawn ? Much— very much. It was his misfortune (if, indeed, it be one,)
to be born poor ; it was his merit, by industry and perseverance, to acquire
wealth. It was his misfortune to be deprived o f an education when y o u n g ;
it was his merit to force it in maturer age. It was his misfortune to be
without friends in his early struggle, to aid him by their means or coun sel;
it was his merit to win them in troops, by conduct that challenged all scru­

tiny-

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

.

.....

Mr. Lee*$ag
tri/ep-epubtican J he tv'mietl lall/meti,to's&nd on as high a
platform aS he'-dld!himself. -This*led hmr to fe&e, early in life, so lively an
interest in the cause p>£.pqpul»r cd,ucajtioni ..T h e common school system,
which denies its blessjjrtgs to nojaejIjv^sCaiwayS'.an object o f deep solicitude
to him. “ Education, give* the'people education, if you wish to give them
m orals; it is impossible to acqrshiejtbefn w i t h o u t w a s a frequent exclama­
tion o f his. W h en in the boa’rd b£ -.aldermen, he took a leading part in
procuring the enactment o f the law, by which the tax is levied for the sup­
port o f the com m on school society. His course on that question, and the
exertions he made, were always agreeable subjects o f reflection to him.
Decision and energy, in carrying out his plans, peculiarly marked his
character; no labor, no pains, were spared ; but all movements resulted
from reflection and discussion. His rule was, never to undertake any
measure o f importance until he had deliberately weighed and canvassed
it, either with others or with h im self; and having resolved, the rest was
action— no looking%ack, no vascillation. “ I have but one life to live,”
he would exclaim ; “ time is one o f the few things that cannot be pur­
chased. I may have com e to a wrong conclusion, but I cannot go back
n o w ; I have resolved, and I must advance.”
His mind, however, was
ever open to conviction ; rarely to persuasion, where it ran counter to his
t o l . v m .— no . i.
.
5




62

Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon L ee.

judgment. A s an instance o f his decision, when he commenced business
in N ew Y ork, on his return from the south, his health impaired and fee­
ble, yet still compelled to labor by the strong law o f necessity— “ I remem­
ber,” said he, “ one day, while lifting and piling up leather, my strength
failed me, and I fell on the floor. I wept. My spirits were so broken by
the thought that I must die in the day-spring o f life, and leave my family
unprovided for’; it seemed to be so cruel a fate. I got home and sent for
m y physician. H e was a man o f sound sense, and knew me well. I asked
him if he thought I could recover ? ‘ W h y, yes, if you choose.’ ‘ W ell,
I do choose.’ ‘ Then send that library o f yours to the auction, that will
stop your reading ; eat a fresh beefsteak every day, and with it, drink a
glass o f brown stout; buy yourself a horse.’ ‘ W h y, doctor, I am unable
to incur the expense.’
‘ Then die ; for die you will, if you don’t do so .’
I sent ev ery book in m y possession, except the Bible, immediately to the
auction. I bought an old horse, and lived as he had directed. I did not
suffer m yself for years to look into a book, nor did I omit to take my exer­
cise each day. I gradually got better, hut I had a long and tedious time
o f it.” The truth was, the doctor discovered that, what with his thirst for
knowledge, and his laborious application to his business, it was impossible
for him to get up.
N o man more thoroughly despised trickery in trade, and he used to re­
mark— “ no trade can be sound that is not beneficial to both parties; to the
buyer as well as to the seller. A man may obtain a temporary advantage
by selling an article for more than it is w orth ; but the very effect, o f such
operations must recoil on him, in the shape o f bad debts and increased
risks.”
A person with whom he had some transactions, once boasted to
him that he had, on one occasion, obtained an advantage over such a
neighbor, and upon another occasion, over another n eigh bor; “ and to­
day,” said he, “ I have obtained one over y o u .”
“ W e ll,” said Mr. Lee,
“ that may be ; but if you will promise never to enter m y office again, I
will give you that bundle o f goat-skins.”
The man made the promise, and
took them. Fifteen y eq rs afterwards, he walked into Mr. L e e ’ s office.
A t the instant, ori sefeihg hlrh, he exclaimed;: “ You. have violated your
w o rd ; pay me for'the'goat-skins;!’ ? “ Oh'!-” said "the man, “ I am quite
poor, and have been very unfortupate si nee f saw y ou .”
“ Y es,” said
Mr. L ee, “ and you always'will, b e ’poor ;. that miserable desire for over­
reaching others, must ever keep you so '* '
Mr. L ee, for many years, resided‘a t-h ij countryseat in Bloomingdale.
In the rage for speculations in rea l estatel, he was importuned to sell his
place ; he named a price for it to a friend, who immediately purchased i t ;
the sum was not the half o f what he readily could have obtained. He was
much annoyed by the remarks o f gentlemen, who spoke to him on the
subject. “ I asked,” said he, “ for it, what it has cost m e ; it is all that
the place is intrinsically worth, and I am satisfied. I have acquired what
property I possess, in fair legitimate trade ; I have no desire hereafter to
he reproached with having participated in the speculations now going on.
Some one must lose money by them ; it shall never be said any o f it went
into my pocket.
In ten years time, and perhaps less!J it will fall back to
the price I have obtained for it.”
In the year 1834, the memorable panic year, a report was put in circu ­
lation that his house had failed. In allusion to the report, he remarked :
“ I commenced business, when poor, on credit. I thrived by c r e d it; and




Sketch o f the L ife and Character o f the Late Gideon L ee.

63

1 hold it to be my duty to sacrifice my property down to twenty shillings
in the pound, before that credit shall be dishonored. I have carried the
lapstone, and I can do it again ; but I will never suffer a promise o f mine
to be broken, while I have a shilling left that I can call m y ow n.”
Mr. L ee’s devotion to business did not spring from the love o f wealth ;
he had no ambition to be called a rich man. H e set a proper and just
estimate on the value o f money, and desired it as a means, not as an end.
His purse, even when he could but ill afford it, was ever open to the well
authenticated calls o f charity ; and to institutions intended to advance the
progress o f mind or morals o f the people, he never turned a deaf ear.
Few men in the community have extended to young men so liberal and
sustaining a hand, or who have established so many in business— no
petty jealousies in his trade— frequently remarking, “ the more that can
be supported by it, the better.”
He took great interest in collecting sta­
tistics, in bringing to bear upon his business the “ science o f trade,” the
experiments and investigations o f philosophy. Political econom y was his
favorite study, and in all his operations he took large and comprehensive
views, and in his deductions and conclusions looked rather to principles,
the condition o f the nation, its measure o f value, its consumption and pro­
ductive abilities ; and by his circulars and lectures, disseminating the
fruits o f his experience, his studies and speculations.
Whatever he
deemed worthy o f reading, was well read ; his books are filled with an­
notations and marginal rem arks; and he possessed that happy faculty o f
abstracting his mind from every other consideration, and bending all its
energies to the subject which for the time engaged his attention. H e
seemed to have acquired a complete mastery in this particular, and with­
out the least apparent effort, couid change it from one subject to another
with the utmost facility. His perseverance in accomplishing whatever he
undertook to perform, was most rem arkable: no labor o f detail or tedi­
ousness o f research balked or stopped him, and he rarely failed in arriv­
ing at the result he wished. Much o f his success flowed from the perti­
nacity with which he prosecuted his plans ; his order, system, division o f
time, and allotment o f labor and exercise. Each day’ s work, as far as
practicable, was planned the preceding one. In fact, he made “ life a bu­
siness,” every hour having its appropriate duties; and he so lived that
each night found him with the business o f the day finished. His corres­
pondents were punctually answered, his papers regularly filed, and his ac­
counts (even with the day laborers on his estate) posted up to the evening
preceding his last illness, every article in its proper place, and a place for
everything. Without this system and regularity, indeed, he could have
accomplished hut a tithe o f his projects.
Another feature which marked Mr. L e e ’s character, was punctuality in
his attendance at the time and place. F or many years he rarely failed
arriving at his office at the appointed instant, and departing from it also at
the appointed instant; and in his engagements with others, they never
found him either absent or behind the time. An hour lost was prodigality.
In his dying charge to his sons, he enjoined them always to “ fill up the
measure o f tim e.”
“ B e,” said he, “ always employed profitably in doing
good, in building up ; aim to promote the good o f yourselves and o f so­
ciety ; no one can do much good without doing some harm, but you will
do less harm by striving to do good ; be industrious, be honest.” These
were the last intelligible words he uttered, and were as characteristic as
they w ere worthy o f him.




64

The Home League to the People o f the United States.

O f one who thus lived, it will create no surprise to he informed that he
was prepared to die. Death did not find, him a reluctant or unwilling
voyager to his dark domains. A t his beckoning, he laid down his plans
and cares with cheerfulness and pious resignation to the divine will, and
sank with calm dignity to his last repose, with a grateful heart for all the
blessings and mercies he had experienced. “ Mountains,” said he, with
expressive energy, “ Mountains o f m ercy have been piled on m e.”
And
in reply to the question, “ are you willing to go ?” “ Y es said he, yes ; I
should like to stay with you a little longer, to finish some work begun ;
but if it is the pleasure o f God that I should die now, I am ready to g o .”
H e died full o f faith and hope, in the promises o f his Redeem er.
T h e lamp o f life o f such men cannot be extinguished without casting
around a gloom ; their absence from society creates a void that must be
ever felt. Th ey may leave no blazing reputation to dazzle or astonish,
but they leave one that distributes its warning and invigorating influences
wherever virtue has a friend, or philanthropy an advocate.
L.

To Freeman Hunt, Esq., Editor o f the Merchants' Magazine.

S ir :— The following Address is first presented to you for publication,
with the hope that the extensive circulation which your Magazine has, will
present it to a class o f readers who take a deep interest in the subjects o f
which it treats. It was prepared under the direction o f the H ome L eague,
lately convened in this city ;* and having received the sanction o f their
Central Committee, is now submitted for consideration. Under the influ­
ence o f free discussion, permitted, and even invited by you, it is likely to
be placed alongside articles diametrically opposed to the principles avow­
ed by the writer, and the Association to which he is attached. So much
the better; the public will be more able to decide upon their respective
merits. Magna est veritas et prevalabit.
Yours, respectfully,
C. C. H .
A r t . V.— H O M E L E A G U E T O T H E PEOPLE OF T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .

F ellow -citizens :— W hen a country gifted as ours has been by the be­
neficent bounties o f Providence, possessing every advantage o f soil, cli­
mate, free institutions, and the blessings o f profound peace, finds itself ar­
rested in its onward career, its com m erce languishing, its agricultural pro­
ducts a burden, its internal improvements suspended, its manufacturing
and laboring classes without adequate employment, and the credit o f the
general government, as well as that o f many o f the states, crippled or re­
pudiated, it is certainly the duty, as well as the privilege o f an Association,
* The Annual Convention o f the H ome L eague took place in this city, agreeably to
the notice given in a former Magazine, on the 13th October last. T he election o f offi­
cers was as follows :— President, Gen. James Tallmadge, N ew Y ork ; First Vice Presi­
dent, Governor Mahlon Dickerson, N ew Jersey; Second, James Brewster, Connecti­
cut ; Third, Dr. J. W . Thompson, Delaware ; Fourth, Harmer Denny, Pennsylvania.
Recording Secretary, L. D. Chapin ; Corresponding do., T . B. W akeman ; Treasurer,
W m . G. Lam bert; o f N ew Y ork. Central Committee or Council, Joseph Blunt, C.
C. Haven, A . Chandler, J. D. P. Ogden, John Campbell, o f N ew Y ork city ; Samuel
Oakley, Brooklyn, N . Y . ; Joseph Burden, Troy, N. Y . ; Charles S. Morgan, Vir.
ginia ; John S. Riddle, Philadelphia, P a .; Joseph Grinnell, Allen Putnam, o f Massachu­
setts; W m . B. Kenny, N ew Jersey.




The Home League to the People o f the United States.

65

constituted as the Hom e League is, to present their views to the public
with the hope o f remedying some o f the existing evils. W ere our labors
merely confined to sectional views, to the advancement o f one portion o f
national interests in preference o f any other, we might be suspected o f
narrow and selfish motives ; but our principles and proceedings are known
to be the reverse o f these. Several conventions have been held in this
city, composed o f delegates from every section o f the country interested
in the protection o f Am erican labor, and the advancement o f our home
concerns. In all their discussions, animated by a spirit o f patriotic inves­
tigation, impartial but not neutral, they have endeavored to enlighten the
public mind with arguments based on facts, statistically deduced, rather
than by abstract theories. T h e information sought for by some o f the re­
presentatives in congress, but refused, through the influence o f party vas­
salage, has been obtained by us and placed before^'ne people. This in­
formation, it is believed, was eminently serviceable in the formation o f the
tariff now in operation; and were that measure allowed to exert its bene­
ficial influence, undisturbed by sectional and party warfare, we should
scarcely deem it necessary, at this time, to continue our labors.
But our country is lamentably divided by local preferences, produced,
in some measure, by seemingly antagonistic interests. T h e machinations
o f political aspirants, aided by foreign and sectional influences, have a
constant tendency to paralyze the free action o f the people, and to subvert
the public good. T h e abstruse dogmas o f political econom y, under the
specious name o f free trade, are artfully combined with party-creeds and
official promises, so as to seduce our countrymen to throw away their
elective franchise for that which profiteth them nothing. Thus our na­
tional interests are prostituted, and one would almost suppose we were
scarcely able to walk without the aid o f party leading-strings or foreign
crutches. T o be really free, sovereign, and independent, to esteem na­
tional defence as much a right as that o f individuals, to have a home and
a policy o f our own, deserving o f our regard and protection, is rather
deemed transcendental. W e find popular leaders, and many o f the public
presses, daily warring against the protecting policy as an infringement on
the constitution, and inconsistent with their enlightened notions o f changing
the selfish nature o f man, and o f revolutionizing the world by a universal
non-resisting free trade. That which is known to be an imposture, pro­
fessed, but never practised by England and now, virtually repudiated by
her, as well as abandoned by France, Russia, Germany, and nearly all the
independent sovereignties in Europe, is adhered to by us as the “ world’s
last hope.”
W e become vain o f wearing the cast o ff livery o f foreign
states, and the enemies o f popular government exult in scorn to see how
easily we are cajoled by them. T o combat this fatal delusion, and to ex­
hibit the history, principles, and policy o f protection, as connected with our
home interests, we shall now proceed to fulfil the duties assigned us by the
members o f the Home League.
A m ong the resolutions which were passed at our late Anniversary were
the following, to which we respectfully request your attention:—
Resolved, That our first duty as American citizens is a preference to the country which
is the land o f our birth or the home o f our choice ; and that we are bound steadfastly to
maintain those principles which will advance its prosperity. One o f these principles, we
believe to be, that o f fostering all the industrial pursuits and useful arts that may tend to
our support and independence as a nation. This Convention, therefore, openly takes




G6

The Home League to the People o f the United Slates.

the ground that all the revenue necessary for an economical and liberal administration
o f the government should be levied by discriminating duties for the protection of Amer­
ican industry, the encouragement o f the useful arts, and the support o f our national in­
dependence.
Resolved, That any policy by which adequate protection to American interests is to
be subverted, would be a violation o f the privileges now accorded to the industrious and
enterprising citizens whose capital and labor are involved in the mutual interests o f agri­
culture, manufactures, and mechanical pursuits; and would, moreover, be an infraction
o f that trust reposed in our government, which is so essential to bind the people and the
states to the Union.
Resolved, That this Convention, in common with the free industrial classes through­
out the country, approve the general principle o f protection for the sake o f protection,
not incidental, nor horizontal, and least o f all, accidental; but a liberal, well-digested,
and whatever its imperfections, most acceptable tariff’, being now passed, without com­
promise, by the independent votes o f the friends o f home industry, it will be our deter­
mined and most zealous
to guard it from repeal, or the insidious attacks o f hireling
presses in foreign interes"and from being sacrificed by sectional or political enemies, or
“ base, revolting” friends.
Resolved, That as the example o f the United States in offering reciprocal treaties,
upon free trade principles, has been counteracted by a narrow system o f foreign policy,
favoring some portion o f our home products to the great disparagement o f others, and
has been decidedly prejudicial to the general interests o f the country, it is due to our na­
tional honor and welfare to be just in regard to our own states as well as friendly to for­
eign nations; and without abandoning a liberal spirit-of international trade, we ought to
maintain our own essential rights, and foster the growth and independence o f our own
country, in preference to any other.
Resolved, That the protection and promotion o f the arts o f peace constitute an inte­
gral part o f the strength and sovereignty o f a nation, and deserve, as a defence, the pa­
tronage o f government as much as navies or standing armies. It is the decided opinion,
therefore, o f this Convention, that our country requires the formation o f a H ome D epart ­
ment devoted to the industrial interest o f the country, including those o f agriculture,
commerce, manufactures, mining, the fisheries, and internal improvements, which, in
connection with commissioners o f the customs, should steadily furnish reports to con­
gress and the country at large, by which our legislators may be enlightened and our citi­
zens generally be benefitted.
Resolved, That the members o f this Convention, representing the united Home League
o f the whole country, disclaim, as they have ever done, a blind allegiance to any party;
but, uniting with the independent and true friends o f home interests o f all parlies, they
seek to advance the general welfare o f the whole country by the diffusion o f patriotic
sentiments and the practice o f inalienable American principles.
Resolved, That a great change in public opinion having been brought about by the
statistical fact3 and arguments published by the Home League Association, we now urge
on the Central Committee the continuance o f such publications. W e wish farmers, es­
pecially, to see the value o f our home market for those agricultural products they cannot
send abroad without paying from 100 to 1,000 per cent more duties than are levied on
imports taken in exchange for them, and we want our citizens generally to understand
the fact, that protection is not for the benefit o f monopolists at home, but to defend us
against those abroad; for, with our home market secure against excessive imports o f
such goods as we can and ou£ht to manufacture, every such article, amply protected ,
will become cheaper by the effect o f home competition, and thus put an end to smug­
gling, as well as foreign rivalship.
Resolved, That a union o f education and labor, is as advantageous to a young nation
desirows to introduce the useful arts, as schooling and learning a trade is among the en­
terprising young men o f an industrious community. The expense o f introducing skill
and costly experiments to obtain perfection in any mechanical and manufacturing pur­
suits, should be indemnified by those who are benefitted by i t ; and if our country is en­
riched by successful appropriations o f individual capitalists for these objects, it is for its
interest to protect them, or, at least, to pay the cost o f learning the trades which enter­
prise and ingenuity have introduced.
Resolved, therefore, That protection is right in principle as well as practice. Every'
nation that adopts this policy advances in civilization and independence ; all who neglect
and abandon it, either remain poor and ignorant, or retrograde into barbarity.
Resolved, That we recommend to all our fellow-citizens who wish to see our own la­
boring men well-educated, well-clothed, and well-fed, to give preference to fabrics made




The Horae League to the People o f the United States.

67

at home by our own freemen, rather than to use imported luxuries for the maintenance
o f unfotrunate foreign serfs.
Resolved, That the interests o f agriculture and manufactures are one and indivisible,
as demonstrated alike by the experience o f our own and the history o f other countries ;
that the importance o f the home market, created by manufacturing, is strikingly exem­
plified by the fact, that the prices o f land, o f bread-stuffs, and provisions, were doubled
during the operation o f the tariff policy ; and although the exportation o f the two latter
has been diminished by foreign restrictions, the home consumption has vastly increased.
Resolved, That while the immense contractions o f our currency within the last few
years, inevitably causing a reduction o f the prices o f all products, has necessarily reduced
the money prices o f labor, we rejoice to believe and know that, as soon as the new tariff
shall have had time to exert its fair and full effect in giving activity to business and
steady employment to industry, the general condition o f the laboring classes will be sen­
sibly and permanently improved, and the actual reward o f labor increased, whatever its
money price shall be.
Resolved, That it is hereby recommended to the friends o f the protection o f home la­
bor throughout the Union, to press the importance o f this subject upon the attention o f
the laboring men o f the country in every practicable manner, and to require o f the can­
didates for congress especially, express and unequivocal avowals o f their soundness on
this question, and their determination to consider it secondary to no other interest, but
to uphold faithfully the principle and policy o f protection.

Such, fellow-citizens, are some o f the leading principles and condensed
arguments o f the Association, which now authorises us to address you.
Before presenting our views in connection with them more fully, we deem
it o f some importance to give a brief statement o f the origin and progress
o f what is called the protective policy in the United States.
Its history may be told in few words. There has been nothing constant
in it, but ch a n g e; nothing settled, but to keep it the bleeding victim o f
party warfare. Although entitled to boast o f being first among our legis­
lative enactments, the favored offspring o f the Fathers o f the Constitution,
its claim to legitimacy has been, o f late, boldly questioned.
T o repudiate
it, has been the settled policy o f those who first warmly espoused its
adoption. T h e extremes o f the Union have changed sides in regard to
it. Its first friends were from the south ; its earliest enemies, those at the
north ; who, at last, convinced o f its advantages, now faithfully advocate
its permanency. The middle states, alone, have been its constant support­
ers. The west, generally, is in its fav or; but her representatives have
not uniformly voted for it, without some political compromise. Whilst,
however, it has thus been always clearly espoused by a majority o f the
stales, and been sanctioned by the delegated sovereignty o f the people, as
expressed by all their presidents, from the days o f W ashington to the
present time, (except the elder Adams, and he, we believe, was not oppo­
sed to it,) yet such has been the effects o f party manceuvreing and political
log-rolling, that either by direct attacks or cunning abstractions, its ener­
gies have been crippled, and its very existence now remains an accident.
A tariff, it is true, has at length been passed, which acknowledges the prin­
ciples o f discriminative protection incidental to obtaining a revenue, but
nothing is more certain than that nothing is yet decided as to its being
continued ; and under the influence o f political inebriety, and vacillating
legislation, no dependence can be placed upon it. W e consider, therefore,
the protective policy as completely unsettled now, as it ever has been.
Its enemies still keep possession o f the field, and are recruiting new levies
to repair their late defeat; and unless greater confidence can in som ew ay
be continued, by which capitalists can have faith in the government or se­
curity for their investments, the whole*fabric o f our domestic industry and
internal improvements must be levelled in the dust.




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The Home League to the People o f the United States.

The temporary repudiation o f the existing tariff, we regard as nothing.
Friends and foes have been disappointed in their predictions o f what it
would produce. Those who expected a miraculous change by its enact­
ment, as immediate and palpable as that o f converting water into wine,
have been sadly out o f time in their calculations. I f the seed, however,
is not childishly pulled out o f the ground ere its fibres are allowed to ger­
minate, abundant advantages will it produce in good season for every in­
terest in the land. Its nature is essentially life-giving and conservative,
and its influence will be home-felt. It recognises, in its features, a favor­
ing o f the whole commonwealth,-instead o f a sectional or foreign prefer­
ence ; and, with a fe w alterations, may be made a standard measure by
which to shape our national improvements, and secure, by a permanent
revenue, adequate protection.
But permanency, we apprehend, is not the leading interest with those
who control popular governments ; and we fear the present, as well as
any other tariff, that is fairly protective o f the whole interests o f the coun­
try, will be short-lived. A decided choice and action on the part o f the
people, will alone secure a protective government ; and without such a
government the states will be like icebergs, terrible in conflict, and if di­
vided, lost in a “ sea o f troubles.”
The election and preservation o f a
protective government, we look upon as the test question o f the Union.
T o conjecture what may be the future history o f the protective system,
would, under existing circumstances, be deemed idle or superfluous. N ew
formations are now going on in the organic relations and commercial po­
licy o f the old world, the effects o f which must be sensibly felt on our
shores. W a r, with its volcanic eruptions, no longer disturbs and terrifies
the nations, but peace is found to have its miseries which neither human wis­
dom nor fortitude can avert. Alm ost everything abroad seems to be going
into a state o f liquidation. There are premonitions in the decline and fall
o f states which it would be unwise in us not to be prepared for. In every
way we must be affected by them ; and whether the starving many, or the
privileged few, are in the ascendancy; whether the stringent remedies, used
to uphold their tottering existence, are to be relaxed or more rigorously
enforced, this country must participate deeply in the result. There has
not yet been time to form any conclusions upon the influence which our
new treaty with England, and the existing tariff, will have ; but we doubt
not they will be beneficial.
A more serious consideration is demanded in relation to our Home con ­
nexions. The great question, whether f r e e Am erican industry shall stand
or fall, is a far more exciting and momentous subject o f discussion. It
cannot be expected that the two extremes o f northern and southern dispu­
tants about Protection, who consider their interests to be wide as the poles
asunder, can easily agree on any policy, although that policy should be
ultimately and mutually advantageous. The one great obstacle which
kindles irreconcileable hostility, and which, the more it is attempted to be
suppressed, grows into more frightful dimensions, is sure to prevent even
a compromise again on the subject o f a tariff. The banner o f free trade is
already hoisted by its uncompromising advocates at the south to obtain its
sectional preferences, and the advocates and defenders o f free labor in
the northern, middle, and western states, seeking to protect themselves in
their constitutional privileges, will not be fettered by any servile exactions.
The issue is a momentous one. *Those who have the Union to defend,




The Home League to the People o f the United States.

69

and will defend it so long as they can enjoy its advantages, will not, we
think, be unwilling to have the question o f protection to free labor, or the
security o f a reciprocal com m erce, decided by the great western states,
the agricultural yeomanry o f the land, who are most interested in the
matter. T o them, then, we appeal confidently, solemnly to understand
and settle this subject amicably and forever. Protection to their interests
involves all that the manufacturing and free working citizens o f the north
and middle states ask for. Hom e industry and home consumption, steady
and thriving occupations for our laboring classes o f both sexes, the pro­
motion o f internal and foreign com m erce, the advancement o f all our na­
tional improvements, consistent with the security o f a sound credit, en­
couragement to the fisheries and mining interests, and the creation o f a
currency for exchanges equal to specie in security, but with less risk and
expense ; these are some o f the objects which the friends o f Am erican in­
dustry, the advocates o f protection for the whole Union, have steadfastly
and zealously asked for.
W e will now proceed, with as much brevity as possible, to discuss the
principles on which our advocacy o f these measures are founded.
And first o f all, we wish the public to understand our position. E n ­
tirely free from vassalage to any party, composed as the Hom e League is
and has been o f independent men o f all parties, acting in favor o f our
home interests, we are not willing to be charged with being the exclusive
advocates o f rich monopolists merely.
W e are thoroughly and consci­
entiously convinced, by the most faithful investigation which our minds
are able to give the subject, that the protective policy and an acknow­
ledged P rotective G overnment , will conduce more to the advantage and
growth o f our common country, in all its interests, than any other course
which can be devised. In asking protection for the free laborers o f the
northern and middle states, for the enterprising manufacturers o f L ow ell
or Pittsburgh, who have risked their capital in introducing the costly im­
provements and machinery o f Europe, to establish our own independence
and industry, we do not petition for a privilege militating with the general
rights o f the community. T o monopoly o f any sort, and the influence
which monopolists, foreign or domestic, strive to maintain in our country,
we oppose uncompromising hostility. W e wish for home competition,
and our home markets to ourselves, and such connexions only with other
nations as will enable us to exchange what surplus products w e have for a
fair equivalent, on the principle o f true reciprocity, value for value ; but not
to be compelled to take what we do not want, or what would injure the
growth o f any o f our essential interests, when no foreign nation will offer
us any such gratuitous preference.
Again, we reject with scorn the silly notions which some impute to us,
o f seeking to introduce the culture o f articles unsuited to our soil and cli­
mate ; such as tea, coffee, spices, and the like luxuries, because we ask
the fostering aid o f government to establish and improve the arts o f weav­
ing, spinning, machine-making, mining, ship-building, & c ., by which other
governments protect the interests o f their subjects. W e insist that labor
is the great common staple o f the whole country deserving and needing
protection— that f r e e labor, especially, requires defence against the en­
croachments o f foreign pauper labor, and the sectional preference given to
the products o f slave labor, as long as no market is secured for the pro­
ducts o f the free farmers and manufacturers o f the north and west. W e
believe that a discriminating and impartial protection o f the most promts­




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The Home League to the P eople o f the United States.

ing pursuits o f industry, for all classes o f our citizens, according to their
respective advantages o f soil, climate, and faculties, is the first duty o f
popular government, whereby the greatest amount o f wealth and comfort
will be obtained for the whole community. W e think that such protec­
tion should be ample, positive, and not vascillating ; not incidental, but spe­
cial ; adequate to the security and growth o f whatever interest is intended
to be protected. Any shifting, half-way, pretended protective policy, is no
policy at all. It is a fraud on the patriotic believer in the good faith o f our
governm ent; and the effect o f it, as already practised, is to be seen in the
halting confidence placed by our capitalists in the continuance o f the pres­
ent tariff. N o new mills are set in motion, and many that were suspend­
ed still remain so. That protection which is merely for the sake o f reve­
nue, is as uncertain as the revenue itself, a mere m ockery o f the term. T o
the committee, who have given the subject impartial and faithful investiga­
tion, no fallacy seems so absurd as that o f refusing to discriminate decided­
ly what objects are worthy o f protection in this country, except that o f re­
fusing to protect those so discriminated. A n y trifling legislation o f this
sort, whether by excessive, transient, or half-way duties, under the mask
o f friendly interest for those who ask for favors in good faith or not at all,
is a reproach upon any government. Those who are stretched on this
rack cannot fail to consider extinction o f existence as a greater boon than
such doubtful protection.
That the free trade doctrine o f open ports, and an unrestricted inter­
course with communities composed o f moneyed monopolists and a depen­
dent pauper population, would necessarily place our few capitalists, and
free, well-conditioned, laboring classes in a direct losing competition with
their foreign rivals, cannot be doubted. Let us suppose, for the sake o f
seeing our exact situation in such an event, that the tariff w ere entirely
repealed; an event which seems to be desired by some, and which would
not be much worse than any temporising incidental protection. The fa­
cilities o f improved navigation would immediately bring us into juxtaposi­
tion with our competitors in all employments. Our wheat, flour, provis­
ions, and other products o f our soil and industry would not, to be sure, be
admitted into England or other European countries, where they are pro­
hibited, or not wanted ; but their manufactures, the products o f their la­
borers, their capitalists, would have free scope in our markets. And, un­
der these circumstances, what would be the condition o f the Am erican la­
borer in his own country ? Is he a manufacturer ? Unless labor declin­
ed to the prices given abroad, and capital was to be obtained at English
rates o f interest, ruin must inevitably ensue, deluged as our markets would
be with foreign fabrics. Is he a farmer ? W hat new outlet could he have
for his produce, to take the place o f that steady consumption received from
the hitherto protected, but now ruined manufacturers and laborers, who
would be compelled, perhaps, to be his rivals instead o f consumers ? Is
he a mechanic, or relying in any way upon his daily labor for the comforts
o f an independent support 1 Either foreign laborers would supersede him,
or a reduction in the prices o f his own labor, down to the standard which
would be necessary to enable the manufacturers here to employ him,
would take place ; and thus, instead o f any one growing rich by the ex­
periment on this side the Atlantic, we should all have to strip ourselves o f
our abounding comforts, and becom e losing partners with the poor de­
pressed operatives o f foreign countries, or be compelled to work like serfs
to maintain moneyed aristocracies and governments loaded with debt.




The Home League to the People o f the United States.

71

Our few capitalists who, by their superior enterprise and improvements,
might be tempted to continue their works in operation, would have co n ­
stantly to contend with the failing circumstances o f foreign English man­
ufacturers, broken down by the loss o f their European markets, for, as
long as they were selling out their goods here at a sacrifice, no Am erican
manufacturer nor joint stock company, ever so well endowed, could
realize any profit. L et any one now say that we should be gainers by
any change o f condition like this. A re the free citizens o f this country
prepared to enter into partnership with a people so embarrassed ? W ould
the country be benefited by having London docks transferred to N ew
Y ork harbor, or the shops o f Sheffield, Birmingham, and Manchester
opened in our cities, or half a million o f paupers hired by our citizens to
displace as many o f our own free industrious workmen ? Such, however,
would he the result o f open ports; and such the effects o f foreign influence
on our Home interests, deprived o f protection.
A n y one may see the effect o f this leveling free trade system in the
present condition o f our com m erce and navigation, brought about by our
unfortunate treaties, falsely called reciprocal. W h o now monopolizes the
freighting business which once supported our enterprising ship owners ?
Danes, Swedes, Papenburgers, Hamburgers, and others, now take and
bring a great deal o f what w e were once the carriers of, on such terms
as they can get, and which their destitution o f our accustomed comforts com ­
pels them to covet. L ook into our sea-ports and see the fleets o f splendid
packets and carrying-ships, moored without em ploy, matted and disman­
tled as during the war or embargo. Listen to the clamors o f our seamen,
depi’ived o f their once liberal wages, whilst not a freight is to be obtained
that will remunerate an American ship owner, for the cost o f carrying it.
This is the free trade policy. This it is, to embrace a community o f in­
terests with the reduced dependants o f impoverished and enslaved foreign
states.
Let us now take a hasty glance at the reverse o f this picture. W hilst
our foreign com m erce, which has ever been the pet interest o f the whole
country, costing us untold millions to establish it by diplomacy and to de­
fend it with our navy, in order to create occupations for our foreign carry­
ing-trade, finds itself prostrated by the effect o f that policy which mer­
chants engaged in foreign com m erce generally uphold, the rapid increase
o f our coasting-trade, under the influence o f what may be called our navi­
gation law, proves fully the advantage o f protection. Indeed, were it not
for this trade and the internal communications on our lakes and rivers, by
steam and canal navigation, this country might almost as well be without
its shipping interest. Their relative position is striking enough at present.
Depressed as business has been o f late, com m erce within our own borders
still goes on to an immense extent. It is not unusual to hear o f vessels
making voyages o f fifteen to twenty days, from Buffalo to Chicago, and
back, and realizing more than European freights by th em ; in some in­
stances, as high as $6 ,000 to $10,000. In the Express o f this city, we
see one vessel reported last month, as making over $1,500 in less than
five days, from Syracuse. This branch, too, o f our national thrift, is sure
to increase as long as it is protected ; but if the free trade notions o f open
ports, and free navigation for foreigners as well as ourselves, in our own
waters, were to prevail, how long would it be before every coaster and
steamboat would have to compete with such craft as now lays up our for­
eign marine ?




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The Home League to the People o f the United States.

The shipping interest, and every thing connected with our com m erce on
the ocean, is one o f great importance ; but it is in a most unprotected state,
and what is worse, there does not appear to be any immediate effectual
mode for protecting it. Existing treaties must be fulfilled, and prevailing
prejudices, among commercial men, are not easily abandoned. F or many
years they have had the carrying-trade almost to the exclusion o f every
other flag, and, o f course, were stout declaimers in favor o f free trade,
when free to themselves only ; but now, things are changed ; their foreign
competitors are in the field, ravenous for a share o f the spoils, and will
avail themselves o f the advantages which peace and free intercourse will
now give them. Our ship-owners and seamen must now look at home for
employ, or submit to the reduced wages and rates o f freight which other
carriers take. W e see no other alternative.
Daily encroachments are made by England, under the sanction o f treaty
stipulations accorded to her, to circumvent our direct trade from the Atlan­
tic sea-ports, by preferences to her colonial subjects, especially in Canada.
Our western states are offered direct bribes, to abandon the sending their
produce down our rivers, railroads, and can als; sure to find as good
prices on the lakes connecting them, with British merchants privileged
by their government to enter goods in England on better terms than those
accorded to Am erican shippers from our own ports. W itness the effect
o f a late regulation o f their protective government once professing free
trade so stoutly. T h e last steamer brings the follow in g :—
“ The Board o f Trade has decided, that hams, smoked and dried in Canada, from, salted pork, imported fr o m the United States, are admissible at
the duty o f 3s. 6d. per cwt. On hams, imported direct from the United
States, the duty is 14s. per cw t.”
The warehousing system recently got up in our sea-ports, and now
pressed so vehemently before congress, we consider unfriendly to the
protected interests generally, and not likely to benefit our shipping in­
terest as anticipated.
If all foreign vessels are allowed to bring all sorts
o f foreign goods and pile them up in our warehouses ad libitum, without
paying duties, but ready to be re-exported in foreign vessels, or to take
precedence in our own market whenever there is an opening, thus keep­
ing our own manufactures in perpetual abeyance, and interfering with our
own shipping interest, we do not see the advantage that our country would
derive by the operation. I f we must give up the sound policy o f collecting
the revenue by cash payments on arrival, which is the most annoying angle
o f our defence in the eyes o f our hostile rivals, let us, at least, do it with
som e deference to our own in terest; let our shipping interest be preferred
b y a discrimination which they so much need. Instead o f allowing all im­
ports the benefit o f the warehousing system on credit, let it be allowed only
to goods imported in American vessels, and we should like it the better if
restricted also to goods on A m erican account. Let all other imports
have the advantage of, and be subjected to, the warehousing scheme, but
be liable to cash duties on arrival, as at present.
W e do not desire to be brought into closer alliance, and more unrestrict­
ed intercourse with those who have too much advantage over us at present.
I f the warehousing system would achieve one half the blessings its friends
count upon, we should gladly yield to its trial, although convinced o f its
general im policy. But we are satisfied it is a delusion; one o f those
foreign schemes applicable to England, perhaps, in her present state, but
ill suited and injurious to our growing republic. A s members o f the Home




The Home League to the People o f the United States.

73

League, advocating the policy o f protection for all our home interests, we
should deplore the abandonment o f the present system o f cash duties, as
inconsistent with a wise and liberal econom y. But if the warehousing
plan is to be introduced, we trust it will be placed on a footing in con ­
nexion with our coastwise regulations, protective to our own navigation,
and not on the plan o f what are called reciprocal treaties, yielding our
own rights to foreigners by sacrifices o f our own offering.
In proceeding further to discuss the policy o f protection, it is due to the
agricultural interest not to omit the claims which our farmers and northern
producers have, upon a fair share o f discrimination, in their favor. T o
them, the security o f the home market for consumption is not only all-im­
portant, but a steady outlet for their surplus products should be secured.
T h e sectional preference now existing in favor o f the products o f the
south, cannot fail to be considered by the free and hardy yeom anry o f the
northern and western states, as partial to those who live under a milder
sky, and have certain chartered privileges o f which they are naturally te­
nacious. Our free workingmen cannot fail to view the advantage .derived
by slave labor, in any other light than a grievous monopoly. H ow ever
constitutional it may be, they will so consider i t ; and unless the protect­
ing arm o f government is allowed to be extended for their relief, without
exciting the invidious reproaches o f our southern brethren, it should not be
expected that they will be contented. If, as has been stated, labor is the
great com m on staple o f the country, which is everywhere entitled to pro­
tection, free labor is pre-eminently so, as constituting the vital element o f
our free institutions. The free farmer asks for a market for his wheat at
a price equivalent to supporting him as a freeman, without seeking relief
from poor laws, or employing slaves to till his lands. The free mechanic,
also, who helps to sustain the farmer by consuming his produce, demands
the right o f making and selling his shoes, shovels, or other articles he is
most expert in making, without being interfered with by the import o f for­
eign fabrics, paid for by the exports o f cotton. H e wishes to work and
maintain himself and fam ily; but in an open market this is impossible, with­
out com ing down to the level o f slave or pauper labor. Here, then, we
see that free trade and free labor are incompatible, without reducing the
freeman to the bare rates o f subsistence accorded to the slave or serf.
N ow , neither the farmer nor mechanic are contented to be disfranchised
and debarred the privileges o f freemen, whilst a portion o f their own
countrymen, possessing a sure market for the products o f their slaves, deny
them the right o f living by free labor, unless reduced to the degradation
o f working for the same miserable subsistence allowed to slaves. E ven
viewed constitutionally, the owner o f a thousand slaves, chattels o f indus­
try, or labor-saving machines, as they are called at the south, has surely no
m ore right to be protected than the free farmer with a thousand cattle, or
the free manufacturer with a thousand looms, chattels o f industry. A ll are
alike objects o f protection ; and whether planter, farmer, or manufacturer,
are entitled to equal privileges. A n y attempt to reduce the wages o f the
freeman to the servile standard, or to measure his rights by those o f the
slave, is preposterous, and not to be tolerated.
But it is not our object, in thus placing this most delicate question in a
bolder view than usual, to deny any right o f security or protection tojh a t
portion o f our fellow-citizens who are supported by the peculiar privileges
constitutionally enjoyed by them. But it is to combat their denial o f simiV O L. V III.—

no

. i.




6

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The Home League to the People o f the United States.

lar protection to those, whose industry, skill, and enterprise, require it at
the north, and in the middle and western states. Protection is due to all—
w e mean adequate, positive protection, whether it is by a favoring climate,
or a peculiar chartered grant, or a discriminating tariff. W herever labor,
the great element o f our growth and independence as a nation requires se­
curity and encouragement, there, the protecting hand o f government
should be stretched out with wise beneficence. Let this principle be
adopted and steadily adhered to, and there will be an end to any invidious
interference o f one portion o f our citizens with the rights and privileges o f
the other. W e urgently entreat our southern friends seriously to take this
view o f the subject, so momentous in its consequences, and not to counte­
nance their governors and statesmen in using such terms as robber and
pirate, towards the free farmer and manufacturer who asks only for a fair
share o f the protective fabric o f government which he helps build up and
support. W e entreat them to weigh well and not slightingly, the value o f
our glorious Union, worthy in itself o f all protection, but whose very exist­
ence depends upon the maintenance o f free labor, free discussion, and free
principles. It will be well if these considerations are received calmly, im ­
partially, and with patriotic feelings. In such a light only, are they now
presented.
Before closing our remarks in favor o f the principles and policy o f pro­
tection, we must be permitted to say a few words in favor o f establishing a
home department o f the government, which, in connexion with the com ­
missioners o f the custom-house, we deem to be highly expedient. In the
present changing and unsettled condition o f all commercial states, seeking
in every way to prefer their own interests, there is no way to guard our
essential privileges and to maintain our independence, but by exercising
the keenest vigilance, and understanding what is for our own benefit. Our
general policy is essentially pacific. And whilst we admit the propriety
o f maintaining special departments for war and state concerns, we see no
reason why the paramount relations o f trade, agriculture, internal improve­
ments, and domestic industry, should be left unprovided with an efficient
and permanent bureau o f superintendence devoted to our home interests.
W e trust the^government will, therefore, speedily be provided with an
agency for this purpose. Such an establishment could not be considered
as a useless expense. It would more than repay the cost, in seeking out
and defending new channels for the enterprise and industry o f our citizens,
and in protecting us from hasty and vacillating legislation, subversive o f
all permanent prosperity. In the language o f the present Secretary o f the
N avy, we assert that, “ the wealth o f a nation does not consist in the quan­
tity o f gold it may have in its treasury; the econom y o f a nation is not
shown, only in the smallness o f its expenditures. It is rich, only in pro­
portion as its people are rich ; and it is econom ical, only so far as it ap­
plies the public money to uses more valuable to the people who pay it, than
the money itself. This is but another name for national th rift; but is the
only sense in which national econom y is o f any value.”
A home depart ­
ment , acting upon these principles, and a protective government , wisely
discriminating in the choice o f pursuits for the exercise o f the industry, in­
telligence, and enterprise o f the people, furnishing steady occupation and
security to all, would soon render the United States rich, powerful, and in­
dependent. Our union would thus be preserved; the high destiny we as­
pire to, be attained; and our country would long enjoy the proud distinction
o f being free, sovereign, and independent.




R ise and Fall o f the Great Lakes.

75

A r t . V I.— R IS E A N D F A L L OF T H E G R E A T L A K E S.

T he sudden depression o f these extensive bodies o f water to such a de­
gree as to affect injuriously the great com m erce which, within a few years,
has grown upon them, has attracted the attention and employed the pens
o f not a few o f our writers for periodicals. Its cause has been sought in
a great variety o f facts, partly imaginary and partly r e a l; so that the the­
ories o f different writers have varied according to the varying fertility o f
imagination o f their authors.
One thing is plain. If all the evaporation from these lakes, and the
country having its drainage into them, were again returned to them in
showers, they would neither rise nor fall to any considerable extent. They
would receive back, at short intervals, all the moisture taken up from them ;
and no rise or depression could possibly be extended to a series o f several
years. W h ence, then, do they receive their accumulation o f waters ? It
must com e from beyond their own basin, and it must be brought over and
within its outer margin as vapor ; which, being there condensed into rain,
falls into it. It cannot come from the Atlantic, for, in that direction, a
range o f high mountains intervenes, to intercept the ocean vapors in their
course toward the lakes. It cannot come from the north, for in that direc­
tion, and at no great distance, is also a range o f mountains, which cannot
fail to intercept the vapors that might otherwise reach the lake-valley from
Hudson’s bay. From the northwest and west, coming as the wind does
from a wide extent o f land o f great elevation and low temperature, it can­
not be reasonably expected to arrive laden with much vapor. There re­
main, then, but two courses to which we can look for the increase o f the
waters o f these inland seas, to w it: the northeast, and the southwest. It
would be natural to expect the greatest accession from the G ulf o f St.
Law rence, because it is a part o f the same valley, and therefore its vapor
could be carried into the interior with least obstruction ; but when w e bear
in mind that the St. Law rence river is flanked on each side by mountain
ranges o f considerable extent and elevation, which are calcinated to impede
and attract the aqueous vapor driven along their sides, we^mnnot suppose
that much o f it will reach the upper lakes, lying nearly six hundred feet
above. A residence o f eleven years on the border o f Lake Erie has fully
satisfied the writer, that but a small amount o f water is brought by north­
east winds from the G ulf o f St. Lawrence as far inland as that lake. These
winds, instead o f bringing an accession o f water to the lakes, in passing
over them on their way to the region lying westward, carry o ff their evap­
oration to the basin o f the Mississippi. The western margin o f the lakebasin opposes no barrier to the passage over it o f aqueous vapor. Its ele­
vation at one point (near Chicago) is but some twenty feet above the sur­
face o f the water, and is nowhere high enough to arrest or impede the pas­
sage o f clouds over it. Its distance, in some places but a few miles, in
but few points reaches one hundred miles. The wind has been known to
blow from the northeast for five or six days in succession without bringing
ra in ; but on its shifting to any point from west to north, showers, some­
times for several days, and very copious, are brought back by it. These
showers we attribute to the vapors that have been carried west o f us, and
that are brought back and condensed by the cold winds o f the west. It is
plain, that when easterly winds prevail, the evaporation o f the great lakes




76

R ise and F all o f the Great Lakes.

must be carried beyond the western margin o f their drainage; and that so
much thereof as is not brought back again by westerly winds before it is
condensed into rain, must be entirely lost to the lake-valley. H ence, the
years or succession o f years in which easterly winds are most prevalent,
will be nearly identical with those which exhibit the greatest depression o f
the lakes. T h e unusual prevalence o f easterly winds for several years past
is, it is believed, a fact notorious to the observing residents o f the St. L aw ­
rence basin. W e have said that accessions o f water to our valley are not
to be expected from the n orth ; but it does not follow that the winds from
that point may not carry away what properly belongs to us. The remarks
made in regard to the westerly margin o f the lake-basin, will apply with
equal force to its southern outline. From Chatauque county, in the State
o f N ew Y ork, (where the dividing ridge between the St. Law rence and
Mississippi valleys is but seven miles from Lake E rie,) to Fort W ayn e, at
the head o f Maumee river, one hundred miles from the same lake, there is
a gradual subsidence in height from seven hundred feet, at the former
place, to less than two hundred feet at the latter. From Fort W a yn e
westward, this dividing highland rises one hundred and fifty feet, and then
gradually subsides to the neighborhood o f the south end o f Lake Michigan,
where, as before stated, it is but some twenty feet above the level o f the
lake. Thus it is shown, that there is scarcely any barrier on the south to
prevent the north winds from carrying the vapors o f the lakes from their
own basin into that o f the Mississippi. This is true, in a remarkable de­
gree, o f the great Lake Michigan, the southern margin o f whose basin is
but a few miles distant, and rises but just above the surface o f its waters.
The prevalence, then, o f easterly, northerly, and westerly winds may de­
press, but cannot elevate, the lakes; we have, then, only to look to the
south and southwest for a source o f supply capable o f keeping up, and rais­
ing above their ordinary height, these great inland seas. N or shall we
look in vain. T h e same trade-wind that piles up the waters in the G ulf
o f M exico, so as to produce that remarkable oceanic current called the
Gulf-stream, diverted from its western course by the highlands o f Central
Am erica and M exico, is forced northward and northeastward, bearing on
its wings the ^ i d exhalations o f the tropical waters o f the G ulf o f Mexi­
co, over and beyond the level countries o f the central Mississippi valley
into the basin o f the lakes. These warm vapors are all condensed, either
on their passage or after entering the lake-basin, by the cold winds which
are ever ready to break in upon them from the high regions o f the west
and northwest. From the gulf to the lowest summits, separating the val­
ley o f the lakes from that o f the Mississippi, the rise does not exceed six
hundred feet, although the distance is near one thousand miles. The coun­
try between is nearly a perfect inclined plane, rising from the gulf, on an
average o f nine inches to the mile. This very gradual elevation, it is ob­
vious, opposes the least possible obstruction to the passage o f aerial vapors.
These are borne along by the constant pressure o f the trade-wind from the
south, until they reach, and pass over, the outer margin o f the lake-valley.
This southerly wind would, from its cause being permanent, be unceasing
in its flow, were it not occasionally turned aside by stronger currents from
the northwest and northeast. It not only warms and waters the great val­
ley o f the Mississippi, and thereby redeems it from what it would otherwise
be— a great interior desert— but it irrigates and vivifies with its heat the
borders o f the great lakes, and keeps filled, with some slight variations al-




R ise and Fall o f the Great Lakes.

77

most to the brim, these immense reservoirs o f the north. The deflection
o f the trade-wind, here spoken of, from its western course to a northerly
direction up the North Am erican valley, may to some appear a mere the­
ory ; but the writer believes, that from the time o f the publication o f the
travels o f Count Y olney, who advanced this theory, to the present day, the
observations o f the residents o f the western country have tested and con­
firmed its truth. Here, then, we have a cause, and that amply sufficient to
account for the rise, through a series o f years, o f the great lakes. T h e
prevalence, much greater in some years than in others, and often for a suc­
cession o f years, o f southerly winds, is attested by all the old and observing
inhabitants o f the west with whom we have conversed. It is believed, too,
that a very low stage o f water, o f long continuance, in the streams o f the
Mississippi valley, always coincides with, or precedes but a year or so, a
decided decadence o f the lakes. T h e Board o f Public W orks o f the State
o f Ohio, in their report o f D ec. 30, 1839, express the opinion, that the
quantity o f water which had fallen the two preceding years “ did not ex­
ceed one-third o f the minimum quantity usually obtained for a series o f
years.”
This remark applied to the Licking-summit reservoir, and the
surrounding country. The waters o f the lakes becam e stationary, or, as
some say, began to fall, in the summer o f 1839, since which time they
have constantly receded.
Great diversity o f opinion has existed as to the amount o f difference be­
tween their extreme stages. In this, it is believed, each lake differs from
the others. Ontario, if we can rely on the testimony o f experienced engi­
neers, has varied not less than eight feet. W e believe, that five feet will
em brace the whole rise and fall o f L ake Erie. I f we suppose the greater
lakes above to witness changes as considerable, we are strongly impressed
with the magnitude o f the causes necessary to produce an effect so striking
and wonderful.
W hat effect on the com m erce o f our great mediterranean waters, a con ­
tinued depression o f their surface might occasion, would afford a subject o f
speculation more curious, perhaps, than useful. Captain Jonathan Carver,
one o f the first Englishmen that navigated the upper lakes, states in his book
o f travels, that a small vessel o f about forty tons, in whjch he took pas­
sage, at the head o f Lake Michigan, for Detroit, was unable to pass over
the St. Clair flats, for want o f water ; and that the usual way o f doing bu­
siness at that time, (about eighty years ago,) between those flats and D e­
troit, was by small boats. It is likely that this vessel drew as much as six
feet water ; the models o f those days having much«less beam in proportion
to their depth, than the greatly improved style o f construction o f the pre­
sent time.
It seems probable, that to obviate the difficulty o f shoal water
on St. Clair flats, and in most o f our lake harbors, which will be increas­
ing every year by gradual deposits at their entrance, iron steamers, and
iron sailing-vessels o f light draught, will be substituted for the heavy, and,
comparatively, clumsy structures now in use. T h e time may not be so
distant as most people imagine, when iron steamers will leave our wharves,
laden with the interior riches o f the great country in our rear ; and, without
discharging cargo, or breaking bulk on their way, terminate their voyages
at N ew Y ork and Quebec.
6*




73

Monthly Commercial Chronicle.

MONTHLY
F

or

COMMERCIAL

CHRONICLE.

reasons hinted at in our last number, there has been, during the month which has

since elapsed, a continued plenteousness o f money at lowr rates.

It is easily procured at

6 per cent interest on leading paper, and 4 and 5 per cent for temporary loans, or placed

at call with well-known and substantial firms.

The demand for money has fallen off in

some degree, in consequence o f the closing o f the inland navigation having stopped the
passage o f produce to market, and the onerous nature o f the existing tariff, obstructing
the movements o f commercial houses.

T he requirements o f the new tariff, more par­

ticularly in relation to the payment o f cash duties, are more ruinously oppressive than
any pre-existing commercial regulations.

In this country capital is scarce in almost all

occupations, and in commercial pursuits in particular.

T he number o f commercial

houses possessed o f capital, beyond what they can profitably employ in their own imme­
diate business, is exceedingly limited ; and such being the case, it is incumbent upon the
government, if it undertake to interfere at all in commercial matters, so to regulate its
fiscal concerns as to give to individual capital and enterprise its fullest play, and to en­
croach in the smallest possible degree upon the movements of trade.

T he government

itself being needy, and with expenditures largely in excess o f its revenue, cannot be ex­
pected to loan capital to any class o f citizens, either in the shape o f direct loans, or by
giving credit for taxes d u e ; nor should it, on the other hand, compel merchants, with
small means, to advance to the treasury the taxes imposed upon consumable goods before
those goods are purchased for consumption.
late law.

This latter, however, is the effect o f the

Firms o f limited taeans, on the receipt o f a consignment from abroad, are

obliged to raise a sum in cash equivalent to the face o f the invoice, in order to effect the
entry. This cannot be readily done, and, consequently, the whole imports concentrate
in the hands o f those wealthy firms who can command the means ; thereby promoting
a monopoly, circumscribing the amount o f business done, and diminishing the call for
money for commercial purposes. Hence the increased amount o f money seeking tem­
porary employment or investment in the soundest stocks. In stock investments there
has been considerable more spirit evinced during the past few weeks, and prices have
improved ; more particularly for N ew Y ork state and city.

T he following is a table of

the rates o f the leading stocks in the N ew Y ork market at different periods:—
P r ic e s

$

stock.

of

e a d in g

o f I n . R ed eem .

terest.
54
6
6

it

7
6

54
5
5
6
6

5
6

5
6
6
6




abl%.
1844
1844
1862
1848
1860
1861
1855
1856-60
1860
1865
25 y’ rs.
1861
1870
1860

S

tate

S tocks

in th e

N

ew

Y

1841.

Aug. 30.
100 a

HE1
O
O .

United States,.
ti
N . Y . State,...
“
“
“
Pennsylvania,.
O h io,................
Kentucky,........
Alabam a,.........
Arkansas,........
Indiana,...........
Illinois,.............
Maryland,........
M ichigan,........

L

ork

M

1842.

Mar . i . Af i. 15.
96 a 97 90 a 95
97 a 99 95 a 97

Aug.. i.
96
98
1 00
1004

1 00 a 1 0 0 4 79 a 80 82 a 84

91 a 92
8 6 a 87
79 a 80
94 a 95
84 a 85

71 a
68 a
44 a
67 a
67 a
50 a
59 a 63 35 a
55 a 554 19 a
55 a 554 18 a
65 a

70

arket.

73 77 a 80

72 75 a
48 31 a
68 50 a
68 68 a
55 35 a
a
45
2 0 15 a
19 15 a
40 a
15 a

77
33
55
70
40
30
17
ffi
45
30

91
824
80
33
744
774
50
20
21

174

a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a

97

Dec. 15.
97
99

a

99

100
a 1 00
1 0 0 4 1 0 0 a 101
1 0 0 4 103J a 104

93
84
82
37
76
784
60
45
234
18

964 a
a
854 a
394 a
72 a
784 a
65 a
274 a
204 a
184 a
88

99
90
86

724
784
80
32
2i4

79

Monthly Commercial Chronicle.

This shows a marked improvement; but the rise in prices, by giving an opportunity
to realize, increases the number o f sellers, and therefore reacts upon the price. This
will be met, after the 1st o f January, by an increased supply o f money seeking for in­
vestment, being the dividends o f states, banks, and corporations, then payable.

Some

causes o f discredit have attached to several o f the states. Ohio has issued, in compliance
with a former law, $ 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 o f stock at 6 per cent, to discharge a claim upon her for
borrowed money from the Franklin Bank and the Bank o f Chillicothe.

T he interest

upon the debt o f that state, due January 1st, has been paid ; and it is hoped that, here­
after, there will be less difficulty in meeting its payments.

T he property o f the State o f

Pennsylvania has been offered at auction but not sold, because o f its worthless charac­
ter.

There are now six delinquent states, owing debts as follows :—

Debt.

Debt.

Interest.

Pennsylvania,.... $38,000,000 $1,800,000
Arkansas,...........
3,500,000
210,000
Indiana,.............. 15,000,000
750,000
Illinois,.................. 19,000,000 1,140,000

M ichigan,.......... $5,000,000
Mississippi,........
5,500,000

Interest.
$300,000
330,000

Total delin.,.. $86,000,000 $4,530,000

This, with the customary dividends o f banks and companies that have failed, make a
sum o f near $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 ,0 0 0 taken out o f the pockets o f stockholders, but saved to the pro­
ducing classes through the discredit o f the means by which it was extracted from them.
T he great feature o f the age, both here and in England, seems to be a distrust o f the
means through which capital has heretofore been employed, more particularly banks.
In England money is exceedingly abundant, say 2 and 3 per cent, at our latest dates;
and yet the joint stock banks gave evident symptoms o f falling into the same ruin which
has overtaken analogous institutions on this side o f the Atlantic.

In the United States

a vast change is now going on in the manner o f doing business, consequent upon the
discredit attached to banks or irresponsible associations o f men, for taking in and loaning
money.

This is more immediately discernible in the fact that the deposites with known

private houses o f good standing are on the increase, as well as the applications to them
for money. T he advantages o f this over the former method o f making large deposites
in banks, depending upon them altogether for loans, are many and obvious.

Banks, in

former years, were approached by an applicant “ cap in hand,” with a degree o f respect
and awe that he would have been ashamed to have evinced for an individual. After an
anxious application to a board o f directors he frequently received a surly denial, and was
obliged to make the best o f i t ; when, had the secret history been known, it would have
appeared that his paper was refused because certain directors, A , B, or C, absorbed the
funds o f the bank for their own uses, on paper less sound than that rejected.

T he op­

erations o f private houses are conducted at far less expense, their funds are always at
the command o f the best customer, and their terms are restricted by an increasing ac­
tivity o f competition.

A n advantage which they enjoy above the banks is, that they are

personally known to all their customers.

T hey know their wants, their business, and

their standing. T hey know precisely the nature o f the transaction for which the money
is required, and govern themselves accordingly. Their ability to do business on better
terms and cheaper rates is seen in the simple fact, that for months exchange between
this city and Philadelphia has been so regulated in their hands as to vary scarcely onesixteenth per cent, while, under the rule o f the United States Bank, it was uniformly
one-fourth. W e mention these facts because they are growing features in the markets.
It is an undoubted fact, that the whole country is far more rich in real wealth now
than ever before, and also that that wealth is becoming active.

A s that activity in­

creases, the business and profits o f private houses improve, while those o f banks do not
feel the same influence.

T he whole resolves itself into this : that mercantile banking is

concentrating in the hands o f private houses o f known integrity, wealth, and business
habits, because o f the superior facility they afford over associations o f irresponsible men,




80

Monthly Commercial Chronicle.

doing business in palaces at enormous expense. T he next few months will produce a
great change in the face o f affairs. Business has got into a healthy current, and gathers
force as it rolls onw ard; and will soon give evidence o f the immense real wealth on
which it moves. T he sound banks o f N ew Orleans have resumed their payments in
specie, and the remainder have gone into liquidation, leaving nine banks out o f sixteen
formerly in operation. In our last, we gave a table o f the banks o f Ohio which go into
liquidation on the 1st o f January. There now remains but the Alabama banks in a state
o f suspension, and it is supposed that the present legislature will compel a speedy re­
sumption. T he flow o f specie from this city to the south has ceased for the present, by
reason o f the rise o f bills removing the inducement to import coin.
The present prohibitive tariff was adopted chiefly with the view o f giving protection to
American manufactures, either by excluding altogether those o f foreign production, or of
enhancing the prices here to the consumer for the benefit o f the home manufacturer.
T he example and policy o f England in her protective system has been the plea not only
for the United States, but for all other countries, to imitate the measures o f the English
government. In order to understand how far a low tariff here has operated to induce
imports, we have compiled from English official tables the following, showing the de­
clared value o f the whole exports o f British manufacture, and the proportion sent to the
United States during a period o f a descending scale o f duties under the compromise a c t:—
E

xpo rts from

G

reat

B r it a in ,

s h o w in o

U n it e d S t a t e s

1811.

1814.

th e

P r o p o r t io n

a t d if f e r e n t

1816.

P

sent

in

E

ach

Y

ear

to th e

e r io d s .

1817.

1819.

1840.

A pparel,............ £789,148 £782,258 £1,292,379 £950,951 £1,332,427 £1,208,687
“
to U. S.
106,282
254,269
75,265
180,019
109,341
127,911
273,122
422,222
Beer,..................
206,935
186,321
270,915
384,324
10,117
18,691
10,540
20,528
11,070
“
to U. S.
1 1 ,0 2 2
Brass manuf'ac.,
884,149
961,823 1,072,344 1,166,277 1,280,506 1,450,464
129,226
107,473
“
to U. S.
158,456
87,840
270,028
115,782
542,609
576,519
231,344
220,746
332,861
Coal, & c .,.........
431,545
27,949
40,013
“
to U. S.
14,455
20,298
17,080
29,252
Cotton manuf.,. 12,451,060 14,127,352 17,183,167 12,727,989 16,378,445 16,302,220
898,469
to U. S. 1,385,957 1,394,057 2,115,061
594,822 1,144,749
Cotton twist,.... 4,704,024 5,211,015 6,120,366 6,955,942 6,858,193 7,101,308
tt
7,760
13,361
6,255
6,693
14,753
13,359
to U. S.
496,963
493,382
837,774
771,173
573,184
Earthenware,...
563,238
(i
179,933
198,901
400,164
221,661
495,512
212,632
to U. S.
481,696
357,315
404,474
436,604
536,601
G lass,..
467,307
23,192
95,536
96,115
51,989
83,080
63,614
to U. S.
Hardware.......... 1,466,362 1,485,233 2,271.313 1,460,807 1,828,521 1,349,137
u
647,216 1,318,412
849,640
334,065
711,305
574,876
to U. S.
Iron & Steel,... 1,405,035 1,406,872 2,342,674 2,009,259 2,719,824 2,524,859
«
412,515
322,156
912,387
489,309
801,198
355,534
to U. S.
322,546
255,818
382,995
320,912
279,524
248,302
Leather
tt
25,554
10,794
38,851
13,875
22,864
17,994
to U. S.
3,306,088
2,443,343
3,326,325
2,127,445
3,414,967
2,167,024
Linen,..
tt
975,586
830,820 1,047,744 1,687,877
584,597 1,264,008
to U. S.
683,285
593,064
302,092
493,468
127,064
211,982
M achinery,......
it
24,081
7,185
13,150
28,699
13,862
8,828
to U. S.
338,889
274,305
204,427
192,269
258,076
179,283
Plated w a re ,....
tt
162,872
74,686
88,964
34,021
71,986
67,797
to U. S.
917,822
868,118
792,648
637,198
503,673
737,404
Silk goods.........
tt
524,301
109,629
410,093
274,159
200,306
251,278
to U. S.
213,479
173,923
193,621
218,907
152,127
184,176
S alt,....
tt
67,512
89,828
58,321
77,161
65,561
52,387
to U. S.
372,026
360,816
387,951
371,848
282,176
337,056
T in ware...........
tt
245,954
197,834
168,988
167,169
138,984
136,959
to U. S.
452,957
333,098
423,320
358,690
246,204
238,544
W oollen yarn, .
tt
36,293
8,107
25,553
17,659
24,476
28,096
to U. S.
W oollen goods. 6,294,522 5,736,871 7,639,354 4,665,977 7,271,645 5,327,853
tt
2,265,407 1,726,934 3,173,645 1,045,279 2,142,352 1,069,721
to U. S. _____________________________________________________________
T °Coumnesal1 | 3 9 >6 6 7 >3 4 7 41,649,191 53,293,979 42,070,744 53,233,580 51,406,430
Tot. toU.States, £ 1 , 579,699 £6,844,989 12,425,605 £4,695,225 £8,839,204 £5.283,020




Monthly Commercial Chronicle.

81

This table presents the fact that the United States, notwithstanding an increase o f
nearly 40 per cent in its wealth and population during the period embraced in this table,
have greatly fallen off in their importance as a market for British manufactures. In
1831, 25 per cent o f all the exports o f Great Britain was sent to the United States.
This proportion did not vary materially during the five subsequent years o f paper pros­
perity in both countries.

T he whole exports o f British produce increased in those years

33 per cent, and those to the United States preserved the same proportion to the aggre­
gate amount as at the commencement o f that period. W hen, in 1837, the revulsion
overtook banking, which was the instrument by which large sales o f goods were made
on credit at high paper prices, the whole exports o f Great Britain fell off £11,000,000,
o f which near £8,000,000 was in the United States trade; showing that the other markets for British produce were not affected by the revulsion which overtook the paper sys­
tems o f the United States and England.

In 1840, the exports to the United States were

one-tenth only o f the whole exports instead o f one-fourth.

It must be borne in mind

that, during this whole period, the tariff had been constantly decreasing; until in 1840,
when the tariff had nearly reached its lowest grade, the importations were the least.
T he year 1839 was one o f extended banking movement and increased imports in the
United States, ending in revulsion and bankruptcy.

In that year the imports from Eng­

land increased £4,200,000, being nearly half the whole increase o f exports in that year
from Great Britain.

In 1840, a corresponding diminution took place.

T he following

table will show the articles in which these fluctuations mostly occurred:—
D

ec re a se in t h e

1837,

P r in c ip a l A

and th e

r t ic l e s o f

P r o p o r t io n

Decrease

of th a t

E
D

x p o r t from

Increase
of
Exports.

Articles.
Exports.
Cotton goods,...
Earthenware,...
G lass,................
Hardware,.........
Iron,...................
L inen,...............
Plated w are,....
Silk goods,........
T in w are,.........
W oollen goods,

£880,947
264,590
132,127
922,176

Total, 10 art.,

£4,636,164

G

e crease in t h e

Decrease to
U. States.
£1,216,592
315,589
72,923
984,347
556,853
712,291
128,851
240,142
76,966
2,103,924

£182,185
20,237
134,462
125,174
27,135
2,311,501
£182,185

£5,408,476

reat

U

B r it a in

n it e d

in t h e

S tates T

Decrease
to other
Countries.

Y

ear

rade.

Increase
to other
Countries.
£335,645
50,999

£59,204
62,171
739,038
692,054
5,611
14,695
49,831
207,577
£272,392

£1,944,703

T he articles which present the greatest reduction are cotton and woollen goods, being
precisely those on which the greatest decrease o f duties took place in the United States.
W e may now take the average exports o f cottons and woollens from Great Britain to the
United States for the three years during the highest tariff in the United States, and the
three last years embraced in the above table, also the quantities and average cost per
yard, with the average duty on cottons and woollens, as follow s:—
A

verage

I m ports

Quantity.
Cotton, yards,......................... 48,412,875
W oollens, pieces,..................
702,853
“
yards, ..................
2,412,775
A

verage

Cotton, yards,......................... 35,934,056
W oollens, pieces,..................
522,024
“
yards,.................... 2,797,527




Value.
$8,090,260
8,403,005
1,123,920

I m ports

Quantity.

1831-2-3.

Cost, per yd. Duty , per ct.
17 cts.
$12,00 per p.
46 cts.

94
50
35

1838-9-40.

Value.
$7,082,635
7,077,115
955,585

Cost, per yd. Duty , per ct.
19 cts.
$13,50 per p.
34 cts.

54
38
29

82

Monthly Commercial Chronicle.

This presents a great reduction in quantities and values imported, with an average re­
duction in import duties o f 19 per cent.

These facts clearly point to some agency more’

powerful than the tariff in regulating the amount o f imports.

T hey demonstrate that the

previous expansion o f prices consequent upon the former tariff, acting upon a fluctuating
currency, had induced imports to a far greater extent than could be paid for with the
legitimate proceeds o f industry; and, with the decrease o f the means o f consuming on
credit, those imports fell off far below their former level, because the excess consumed
in one year on credit must be deducted from the actual means o f payment when that
credit no longer exists.
Those means o f credit, as we have remarked on former occasions, will not, at least
for some years, again influence trade in an important degree.

The wealth o f the coun­

try depends upon its actual productions and its com m erce; on the amount o f the surplus
which exists for sale abroad, as well as upon the facilities which exist for exchanging
that surplus with the products o f foreign nations.

It is an indisputable fact, that the sur­

plus products o f this country are now larger than ever before, and it is matter o f first
necessity that it should be disposed o f to the best advantage ; that is, that it should be
exchanged for as much o f the proceeds o f foreign labor as can be procured for it. T he
lower that the money value o f foreign labor is, the more o f its proceeds will the Ameri­
can farmer get for his produce.

In a steady and low currency, the imports o f the sur­

plus o f foreign countries will be nearly equivalent to the export o f the surplus o f this.
If, during the operation o f this currency, a tariff- is interposed prohibitive in its nature,
the interchange is stopped, and export as well as import is checked.

In a paper and

expansive currency, the imports o f the surplus o f foreign countries will exceed the ex­
ports o f the surplus o f this to the extent to which credits are granted to consumers.

If

a tariff is imposed, the artificial and progressive rise in prices attendant on the continued
increase in the volume o f the currency, nullifies its operation as far as to check imports.
It swells immensely the government revenue, and increases the debt o f the consumers.
W e have seen that under the lowest range o f the tariff the imports were the least, and
were the highest under the highest duties, because a vacillating currency alternately
raised and depressed prices. T he future holds out no prospect o f a return to a paper
system, consequently the full force o f the present tariff, unless repealed, will be felt by
the commercial and agricultural interests ; whereas, were the duties reduced to a proper
revenue grade, it is fair to infer that the commerce o f the country would increase im­
mensely and rapidly, on a basis infinitely to the advantage o f the manufacturers o f this
country, as well as o f the commercial and agricultural interests.

T he idea that a Na­

tional bank, fiscal agent, or exchequer scheme, is necessary to bring about a restoration
o f business, is fast fading from the public mind.

T he exchequer scheme proposed by

the President professes, as the message states, only “ to pay the debts o f the government
in government paper

that is to say, it is a borrowing plan only.

It proposes simply to

retain in the Treasury $5,000,000 in specie out o f the receipts, and to pay out instead
to the government creditors $15,000,000 o f paper m oney to be used as a currency, re­
deemable at the place o f issue.

This is the “ chief purpose ” o f the plan.

It is not easy

to conceive how the mere addition o f $ 1 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 to the circulating medium o f a coun­
try producing annually $ 1 , 0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 o f wealth, can essentially benefit its trade.
These notes could by no means answer so good a purpose for exchange as the existing
Treasury notes.

These notes are endorsed and remitted in all directions, and are prompt­

ly available as a remittance at all commercial points, besides enjoying the advantage o f
drawing an interest o f 6 per cent, making them desirable as a means o f investment;
which preserves their market value at those periods o f the year, say midsummer and
midwinter, when exchange transactions are exceedingly limited.

Hence, even if they

answered quite as good a purpose as a medium o f currency, “ to come in assistance o f




Monthly Commercial Chronicle.

83

the exchanges,” the mere substitution o f one description o f paper for another would not
alter the state o f affairs generally.
The finances o f the general government, according to the report o f the Secretary of
the Treasury, require some more extensive measures o f relief than a mere issue. o f
$10,000,000 o f paper on credit o f the government. It appears that the expenditures o f
the government for the year 1842 are $34,503,160, o f which about 9,000,000 have been
paid on account o f the government debt, leaving about $23,000,000 for the ordinary
expenses o f the Treasury. Against this expenditure the regular revenue, exclusive of
m oney borrowed, has been, from customs $18,260,830, and from lands $1,457,638,
making $19,718,468; showing a deficiency o f revenue equal to $3,784,692.

Since the

30th o f June, 1842, the customs have been collected in cash on all imports; hence, for
the last six months o f the year, the whole duties derived from the imports have been re­
ceived into the Treasury, besides $3,400,000 o f bonds given for the imports o f last year.
This, deducted from the whole receipts, gives $14,860,830 as the actual customs o f the
present year. O f this amount, $7,900,000 W'as received during the first six months.
T he estimate o f the Secretary for the customs o f the year 1842 was $15,600,000, being
$800,000 in excess o f the actual receipts.

In consequence o f this state o f the revenue

the Department has been obliged, it appears, to increase its loans, which has been done
to the extent o f the deficiency.

It thus appears that the high duties levied have produced

the effect o f decreasing the revenues, they being less than the estimate o f the Secretary,
under the supposition that the low rates o f the compromise act would be continued
throughout the year. This is a strong proof that the duties are prohibitive in their na­
ture, and therefore alike ruinous to commerce and to revenue. In the present position
o f the government credit, both at home and abroad, where it has becom e a matter of
ridicule, it is o f first necessity that prompt and active measures should be adopted to place
the revenues o f the government on such a footing as to ensure the prompt fulfilment of
its obligations.

This is a consideration paramount to all others.

It is in vain for the

several states to look to the federal government either for protection or support, when
that government is itself so restricted in its means as to be nearly without credit.
T he late news from England is o f an important character, inasmuch as it confirms the
cessation o f hostilities in the east, on such terms as to open to British commerce and en­
terprise the broad fields o f trade presented in the populous and wealthy empire o f China.
By the treaty, five ports are opened to English merchants, whose interests will be pro­
tected by a consular resident at each port.

This is an immense advantage, and promises

to give to English enterprise a direction which will produce the greatest results.

In a

table embraced in an article on British commerce in another part o f this number, it is
shown that the English exports to China had, under the old system, grown up to
$6,000,000 in 1838, but was nearly destroyed by the breaking out o f the war.

Under

the new and liberal footing on which that trade is based, scarcely any limits can be
placed to the advantages which may be reaped from it. T he prospect o f this had pro­
duced great animation in England, and given great activity to those goods calculated for
the China market, as well as a corresponding panic and fall in those o f Chinese produc­
tion, which had been held high in expectation o f a continuance o f the war.




Bank Statistics.

84

B A N K

S T A T I S T I C S .

B A N K C IR C U L A T IO N IN T H E U N IT E D K IN G D O M .
following is a statement o f the circulation o f the Banks o f England, Scotland, and
Ireland, in different years :—
T

he

Bank of
England.

Tear.

Private and
Joint Stock bks.,
England.

Banks in
Scotland and
Ireland.

Total.

£18,376,000
£11,658,494
£8,337,889
1836.
£38,372,383
9,935,701
19.253.000
36,584,825
7,396,174
1837.
19.782.000
11,174,749
7,172,391
38,129,140
1838.
18.014.000
10,868,785
37,097,930
8,214,645
1839.
9,797,017
17.561.000
7,840,571
1840.
35,198,588
17.928.000
9,059,553
7,893,629
34,881,182
1841.
7,973,718
20.351.000
7,139,202
1842.
35,463,920
From this table it appears, that while the decrease in the total circulation o f the United
Kingdom, from 1836 to 1842, has been £2,908,463, the decrease in the country circula­
tion has been £4,883,463, and the increase in the notes o f the Bank o f England,
£1,975,000. T he quantity o f bullion in the Bank o f England is greater than at any
former period since the middle o f 1838, amounting to near £10,000,000.

C O N T IN E N T A L M O N E Y .
“ T he first emission,” says the Newburyport Herald, “ o f the old continental paper
currency, was made May 10, 1775;” and according to an estimate o f the Treasury De­
partment, in 1790, the issues o f the principal amount o f this currency were made as
fo llo w s:—

Tear.
1776 ..............................
1777 ..............................
1778 ..............................
1779 ..............................
1780 .................................
1781 ..................................

Old Emission.
$20,064,464
56,426,333
66,965,269
149,703,856
82,908,320
11,408,095

New Emission.
........
........
........
........
$891,836
1,179,249

T otal,................
$387,476,337
$2,071,085
T he issue o f this currency was, in effect, a forced loan. T he colonial congress
issued it for the purpose o f enabling the colonies to carry on the revolutionary war.
“ Till the issues o f these bills exceeded nine millions,” says Mr. Jefferson, “ they passed
at their nominal value ; but the depreciation after that was very great.” The progress
o f depreciation may be seen by the following table :—
January, 1777,...................
4
“
1778,................... ..................
“
1779,................... ..................
7, 8 , 9
“
1780,.................. .................. 40 to 45
“
“
1781,.................... .................. 1 0 0 to 1 2 0
May,
1781,.................... .................. 200 to 500
After M ay, 1781, the continental bills ceased pretty much to circulate as money, but
were bought afterwards on speculation at various prices, from $3 60 for $ 1 , up to $1,000
for $ 1 . On the 11th o f January, 1776, five months after the first issue, congress resolv­
ed that “ whoever should refuse to receive in payment continental bills, should be de­
clared and treated as an enemy to his country, and be precluded from intercourse with
its inhabitants,” that is, outlawed ; which is the severest penalty (except o f life and limb)
known to our laws. “ This principle,” %ays a writer, “ was continued in practice for five
successive years, and appeared in all shapes and form s; i. e., in tender-acts; in limitation
o f prices; in awful and threatening declarations; in penal laws, with dreadful and ruin­
ous punishments; and in every other way that could be devised; and all executed with
a relentless severity by the highest authorities then in being, v iz : by congress, by assem­
blies and conventions o f the states, by committees o f inspection, (whose powers in those
days were nearly sovereign,) and even by military force.”




Commercial Statistics.

85

/

C O M M E R C I A L

S T A T I S T I C S .

IM P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S OF T H E S T A T E S A N D T E R R IT O R IE S OF T H E
U N IT E D S T A T E S F O R T H E L A S T T W E N T Y -O N E Y E A R S .

W e have compiled with great care and labor, from official documents, the following
tables, showing the commercial movement in the import and export trade o f each state
and territory o f the United States for the last twenty-one years, commencing on the 1st
o f October, 1820, and ending on the 30th o f September, 1841.

It is the first table of

the kind, we believe, for so long a period, that has ever been published.

W e intend

hereafter to prepare, for each succeeding number o f the Merchants’ Magazine, tables
illustrative o f the progress o f American commerce, thus presenting a connected statisti­
cal view o f the commerce and navigation o f the Union for a series o f years; so that the
Magazine will be not only the repository o f the statistics o f the present, but a chronicle
o f the past.

T he convenience o f these tables, as matter for reference, will be apparent

to all who can appreciate the importance o f statistical science.
I

m ports and

E

xpo rts of th e

S tates
last

§ £ A T E S AND

T

From Oct. 1, 1820, to
Sept. 30, 1821.

and

T

e r r it o r ie s of th e

w e n t y -one

Y

U

n it e d

S

ta te s fo r th e

ears.

From. Oct. 1, 1821, to
Sept. 30, 1822.

From Oct. 1, 1822, to
Sept. 30, 1823.

fE R R IT O R IE S .
V A L . OF IMP

V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF JMP V A L . OF E X P

V A L . OF IM P

V A L . OF E X P .

$980,294 $1,041,448
$943,775 $1,036,642
$891,644
Maine...........
$895,501
350,021
260,765
330,052
199,599
371,770
New Hamp.,
237,705
4,826,732 12,484,771 18,337,32C 12,598,525 17,607,160 13,683,239
Massachus.,.
263,330
257,694
60,897
62,242
Vermont,....
15,987
236,140
996,928
1,884,144
862,303
1,032,968
1,412,953
933,114
Rhode Isl’d ,.
507,094
485,312 29,421,349
Connecticut,.
312,090
376,187
482,061
5,933 19,038,990
N ew Y ork ,. 23,629,246 13,162,547 35,445,628 17,100,482
33,711
103,190
83,581 13,696,770
17,606
N ew Jersey,.
26,064
9,047,802
60,124 9,617,192
7,391,767 11,874,170
Pennsylvania 8,158,922
168,592 4,946,179
216,969
Delaware,....
80,997
85,445
53,817
4,070,842
3,850,394 4,792,486 4,536,796
275,083
Maryland,....
6,030,228
470,613
1,043,430
898,092
681,810
D. ofColum .,
398,984
801,295
Virginia,......
864,162 3,217,389
183,958 4,006,788
1,078,490
3,079,210
258,761
585,951
200,673
400,944
2,419,101
482,417
N. Carolina,.
7,260,320
670,705
S. Carolina,.
3,007,113
7,200,511 22,883,586
6,898,814
5,484,869 4,283,125 4,293,666
G eorgia,......
989,591
1,002,684 6,014,310
7,978,645
Louisiana,...
7,272,172 3,817,238
7,779,072
125,770
3,379,717
36,421
161
Alabama,__
209,748
108,960
202,387
190
105
12
2,159
18,377
694
1 ,0 1 0
M ichigan,....
29,0TO
53,290
4,808
6,877
1,777
1,510
Florida,.........
13,270
T otal,..

d olsJ

62,585,724 64,974,382 83,241,541

V O L . V I I . ----- N O .




I.

7

72,160,281 77,579,267 74,699,030

Commercial Statistics.

86

I mports and E xports or the S tates and T erritories, E tc.— Continued.

From Oct. 1, 1823, to
Sept. 30, 1824.

S T A T E S AND

From Oct. 1, 1824, to
Sept. 30, 1825.

From Oct. 1, 1825, to
Sept. 30, 1826.

T E R R IT O R IE S .
V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P .

M aine,..........
$900,195
$768,643
N ew Hamp.,
185,383
245,513
Massaehus.,. 15,378,758 10,434,328
V erm on t,....
208,258
161,854
Rhode Isl’ d ,.
1,388,336
872,899
Connecticut,.
575,852
581,510
N ew Y ork ,. 36,113,723 22,897,134
N ew Jersev,.
637,518
28,989
Pennsylvania 11,865,531
9,364,893
Delaware,....
18,964
12,080
M aryland,...
4,551,642 4,863,233
D. ot'Colum.,
379,958
722,405
Virginia,......
3,277,564
639,787
N . Carolina,.
465,836
588,733
S. Carolina,.
2,166,185
8,034,082
Georgia,.......
551,888 4,623,982
Louisiana,...
4,539,769
7,928,820
A labam a,__
91,604
460,727
M ichigan,....
Florida,.........
T otal,.,

d o ls.

1 ,8 8 6

6,986

$1,031,127
198,680
11,432,987
396,166
678,467
689,270
35,259,261
47,213
11,269,981
31,656
4,501,304
758,367
4,129,520
553,390
11,056,742
4,222,833
12,582,924
692,635

$1,245,235
348,609
17,063,482
228,650
1,185,934
736,194
38,115,630
48,004
13,551,779
10,009
4,928,569
269,630
635,438
367,545
1,534,483
330,993
4,167,521
179,554

5,695
3,218

2,865

10,628
16,590

$1,052,575
167,075
10,098,862
884,202
781,540
708,893
21,947,791
37,965
8,331,722
35,195
4,010,748
624,231
4,596,732
581,740
7,554,036
4,368,504
10,284,380
1,527,111
1,810
209

80,549,007 75,986,657 96,340,075 99,535,388 84,974,477 77,595,322

I m ports

S T A T E S AND

216

$1,169,940
331,244
15,845,141
109,021
907,906
707,478
49,639,174
27,688
15,041,797
18,693
4,751,815
277,297
553,562
311,308
1,892,297
343,356
4,290,034
113,411

and

E

xpo rts of th e

From Oct. 1, 1826, to
Sept. 30, 1827.

S

tates and

T

e r r it o r ie s ,

From Oct. 1, 1827, to
Sept. 30, 1828.

E

tc.

— Continued.

From Oct. 1, 1828, to
Sept. 30, 1829.

V A L . O F IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P . V A L . OF E X P .

M aine,..........
N ew Hamp.,
Vermont, ....
Massaehus.,.
Rhode Isl’ d ,.
Connecticut,.
N ew Y ork,.
N ew Jersey,.
Pennsylvania
Delaware,....
Maryland,....
D. o f Colum.,
Virginia,......
N . Carolina,.
S. Carolina,.
Georgia,........
Louisiana,....
A labam a,....
M ichigan,...
Florida........

$1,333,390 $1,070,134 $1,246,809 $1,019,517
$742,781
$737,832
302,211
177,398
299,849
124,433
179,889
105,740
1.259,441
239,610
205,392
144,078
177,539
808,079
13,370,564 10,424,383 15,070,444 9,025,785 12,520,744 8,254,937
1,241,828
722,166
390,381
804,187
1,128,226
423,811
309,538
630,004
521,545
457,970
590,275
485,174
38,719,644 23,834,137 41,927,792 22,777,649 34,743,307 20,119,011
8 ,0 2 2
338,497
25,627
706,872
1,892
786,247
11,212,935
7,575,833 12,884,408
6,051,480 10,100,152
4,089,935
6,993
9,406
29,395
24,179
7,195
15,260
4,405,708 4,516,406
5,629,694 4,334,422
4,804,135 4,804,465
327,623
1,182,142
707,443
205,921
181,665
928,097
395,352
431,765 4,657,938
375,238
3,340,185
3,787,431
276,791
449,237
268,615
523,747
283,347
564,506
1,434,106
8,322,561
1,242,048
6,550,712
1,139,618 8,175,586
312,609
4,261,555
380,293 4,981,376
308,669
3,104,425
293
2,004
4,531,645 11,728,997
6,217,881 11,947,400
6,857,209 12,386,060
201,909
1,376,364
171,909
1,182,559
233,720
1,693,958
3,774
1,320
3,440
2,957
257,99i
57,486
168,292
60,321
153,642
56,086

T o ta l,., d o e s

79,494,068 82,324,827 88,509,824 72,264,686 74,492,527 72,358,671




87

Commercial Statistics.
I mports and E xports of the S tates and T erritories , E tc.— Continued.

From Oct. 1, 1829, to
Sept. 30, 1830.

S T A T E S AND

From Oct. 1, 1830, to
Sept. 30, 1831.

From Oct. 1, 1831, to
Sept. 30, 183*2.

T E R R IT O R IE S .
V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P . V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P . V A L . OF E X P .
1

$670,522
$805,573 $1,123,362
$981,443
M ain e,.........
$572,666
$941,407
96,184
146,205
1 1 1 ,2 2 2
115,582
N ew Hamp.,
130,828
115,171
V erm ont,__
658,256
166,206
925,127
214,672
349,820
140,059
7,733,763 18,118,900 11,993,768
Massachus.,. 10,453,544
7,213,194 14,269,056
Rhode Isl’d ,.
367,465
488,756
278,950
562,161
657,969
534,459
Connecticut,.
389,511
482,883
430,466
269,583
405,066
437,715
N ew Y ork ,. 35,624,070 19,697,983 57,077,417 25,535,144 53,214,404 26,000,945
11,430
N ew Jersey,.
8,324
70,460
61,794
13,444
5,513,713 10,678,358 3,516,066
Pennsylvania
8,702,122
4,291,793 12,124,083
Delaware,....
21,656
34,514
23,653
16,242
26,574
52,358
Maryland,....
3,791,482
4,523,866
4,826,577
4,308,647 4,629,303 4,499,918
D. o f Colum.,
168,550
753,973
193,555
1,220,975
188,047
1,154,474
Virginia,......
488,622 4,150,475
405,739
4,791,644
553,639
4,510,650
N. Carolina,.
221,992
399,333
196,356
342,041
341,140
215,184
7,752,731
S. Carolina,.
1,054,619
7,627,031
1,238,163
6,575,202
1,213,725
Georgia,.......
282,436
5,336,626
399,940
3,959,813
253,417
5,515,883
Alabam a,__
144,823 2,294,594
224,435 2,413,894
306,845 2,736,387
Louisiana,....
7,599,083 15,488,692 9,766,693 16,761,989
8,871,653 16,530,930
162
14,727
12,392
617
58,394
21,315
1,588
27,299
M ichigan,....
12,392
9^234
22',648
Florida,.......
32,689
7,570
115,710
30,495
107,789
65,716
T o ta l,.. d o l s

70,876,921) 73,849,508 103,191,124 81,310,583 101,029,266 87,176,943

I m p o r t s a n d E x p o r t s o f t h e S t a t e s a n d T e r r i t o r i e s , E t c .—

ST A T E S AND

From Oct. 1, 1832, to
Sept. 30, 1833.

From Oct. 1, 1833, to
Sept. 30, 1834.

T E R R IT O R IE S .

Continued.

From Oct. 1, 1834, to
Sept. 30, 1835.

V A L . OF IM P . V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P .J v A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P . V A L . OF E X P .

M aine,.........
N ew Hamp.,
Verm ont,___
Massachus.,.
Rhode Isl’d ,.
Connecticut,.
N ew Y ork ,.
N ew Jersey,
Pennsylvania
Delaware,....
M aryland,...
D. o f Colum.,
Virginia,.......
N. Carolina,.
S. Carolina,.
Georgia,........
A labam a,....
Louisiana,__
T enn essee,..
Ohio,............
Florida,.......
M ichigan,...
Total,

. . dols

$1,380,308 $1,019,831
167,754
155,258
523,260
377,399
19,940,911
9,683,122
1,042,286
485,481
352,014
427,603
55,918,449 25,395,117
170
32,753
10,451,250
4,078,951
9,043
45,911
5,437,057
4,062,467
150,046
1,002,816
690,391
4,467,587
198,758
433,035
1,517,705
8,434,325
318,990
6,270,040
265,918
4,527,961
9,590,505 18,941,373
8,35'
85,386
63,87C
108,118,311

225,544
64,805
9,054

$1,060,121
118,695
322,806
17,672,129
427,024
385,720
73,188,594
4,492
10,479,268
185,943
4,647,483
196,254
837,325
222,472
1,787,267
546,802
395,361
13,781,809

$834,167
$883,389 $1,059,367
80,870
71,514
81,681
334,372
217,853
328,151
10,148,820 19,800,373 10,043,790
501,626
597,713
296,003
422,416
439,502
512,970
25,512,014 88,191,305 30,345,264
8,131
18,932
74,04-1
3,789,746 12,389,937
3,739,275
51,945
10,611
88,826
4,168,245
5,647,153
3,925,234
820,394
111,195
517,639
5,483,098
691,255
6,064,063
471,406
241,981
319,327
11,207,778
1,891,805 11,338,016
7,567,327
393,049
8,890,674
5,670,777
525,955
7,574,692
26,557,524 17,519,814 36,270,823
13,796
19,767
241,451
9,808
97,202
135,798
228,825
98,173
61,710
106,202
36,021
130,629
64,830

90,140,431 126,521,332 104,336,971 149,895,745 121,693,577

Missouri imported, in 1833, to the amount o f $5 ,881, which is included in the total
o f imports.




88

Commercial Statistics.
I mports and E xports of the S tates and T erritories, E tc .— Continued.
j From

S T A T E S AND

Oct. 1, 1835, to
Sept. 30, 1836.

From Oct. 1, 1836, to
Sept. 30, 1837.

V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IMP

M aine,..........
N ew Hamp.,
V erm ont,....
Massachus.,.
Rhode Isl’d ,.
Connecticut,.
N ew Y ork,..
N ew Jersey,.
Pennsylvania
Delaware,....
Maryland,....
D. o f Colum.,
Virginia,......
N . Carolina,.
S. Carolina,.
Georgia,.......
A labam a,....
Mississippi,..
Tennessee,..
Louisiana,....
Ohio,.............
K entucky,...
Florida,.........
M ichigan,....
M issouri,__

From Oct. 1, 1837, to
Sept. 30, 1838.

V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P .

$955,952
$850,986
$801,404
$899,142
$935,532
81,834
34,641
15,520
169,985
74,670
342,449
138,693
188,165
132,650
258,417
9,728,190 13,300,925
10,380,346 19,984,668
9,104,862
488,258
228,420
523,610
651,613
291,257
532,590
438,199
318,849
343,331
543,610
28,920,638 79,301,722 27,338,419 68,453,206 23,008,471
69,152
44,217
62,809
1,700
28,010
3,841,599
3,971,555 11,680,111
9,360,731
3,477,151
40,333
66,841
74,981
1,348
36,844
3,789,917
3,675,475
7,857,033
5,701,869
4,524,575
469,209
326,874
102,225
122,748
373,113
3,702,714
6,192,040
813,862
577,142
3,986,228
271,623
551,795
429,851
290,405
545,233
13,684,376 2,510,860 11,220,161 2,318,791 11,042,070
8,935,041
10,722,200
774,349
776,068
8,803,839
9,658,808
11,184,166
609,385
524,548
9,688,244
304,831
27,401
527
37,179,828 14,020,012 35,338,697
9,496,808 31,502,248
17,747
132,844
12,895
3,718
139,827
17,782
8,932
121,745
71,662
305,514
102,677
168,690
122,532
502,287
61,231
490,784
69,790
256,662
125,660
3,227
15,921

$930,086
64,354
456,846
25,681,462
555,199
468,163
118,253,416
24,263
15,068,233
107,063
7,131,867
111,419
1,106,814
197,116
2,806,361
573,222
651,618
5,650
36,015
15,117,649
10,960

T o ta l,., d o l s . 189,980,035 128,663,040 140,989,217 117,419,376 113,717,404 108,486,616
I m p o r t s a n d E x p o r t s o f t h e S t a t e s a n d T e r r i t o r i e s , E t c .—

ST A T E S AND

From Oct. 1, 1838, to
Sept. 30, 1839.

From Oct. l, 1839, to
Sept. 30, 1840.

Continued.

From Oct. 1, 1840, to
Sept. 30, 1841.

V A L . OF IM P . V A L . O F E X P . V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF E X P . V A L . OF IM P. V A L . OF EXP*

M aine,.........
$982,724
$895,485
$628,762 $1,018,269
$700,961 $1,091,565
N ew Hamp.,
51,407
81,944
114,647
20,979
73,701
10,348
V erm ont,....
193,886
413,513
305,150
246,739
404,617
277,987
Massachus.,. 19,385,223 9,276,085 16,513,858 10,186,261 20,318,003 11,487,343
185,234
Rhode Isl’d ,.
612,057
206,989
339,592
274,534
278,465
Connecticut,.
583,226
518,210
446,191
277,072
295,989
599,348
N ew Y o rk ,.. 99,882,438 33,268,099 60,440,750 34,264,080 75,713,426 33,139,838
16,076
N ew Jersey,.
4,182
98,079
19,209
19,166
2,315
5,299,415
6,820,145 10,346,698
Pennsylvania 15,050,715
8,464,882
5,152,501
8,680
802
37,001
Delaware,....
3,276
38,585
4,576,561
5,768,768
4,910,746
Maryland,....
6,995,285
6,101,313 4,947,166
503,717
119,852
753,923
D. o f Colum.,
77,263
769,331
132,511
5,187,196
4,778,220
545,085
913,462
377,239
5,630,286
Virginia,......
427,926
252,532
387,484
220,366
N. Carolina,.
229,233
383,056
1,557,431
8,043,284
S. Carolina,.
3,086,077 10,385,426 2,058,870 10,036,769
5,970,443
491,428
6,862,959
Georgia,.......
3,696,513
449,007
413,987
574,651 12,854,694
Alabam a,—
530,819 10,988,271
895,201 10,338,159
Mississippi,..
Louisiana,.... 12,064,942 33,181,167 10,673,190 34,236,936 10,256,350 34,387,483
Ohio,.............
95,854
4,915
991,954
11,318
19,280
793,114
3,723
2,241
K en tu cky,...
10,480
28,938
T ennessee,..
7,523
146
88,529
133,305
138,610
162,229
137,800
M ichigan,....
176,221
334,806
33,875
190,728
1,858,850
Florida,.........
279,283
10,600
145,181
36,629
M issouri,.....
46,964
T ota l,., d o e s . 162,092,132 121,028,416 107,141,519 132,085,946 127,946,177 121,851,808




89

Commercial Statistics.
R E C A P IT U L A T IO N .

A Table, showing the total value o f Imports and Exports, in dollars, o f the United,
States in each Commercial year, commencing on the ] st day o f October, and ending
on the 30 th o f September, for a period o f Twenty-one years; and exhibiting, also,
the excess o f Imports and Exports in each year for the same period.
Years.
1891...........................
1822 ...........................
1823
................
1824
................
1825
................
1826
................
1827 ..........................
1828 ..........................
1829
................
1830
................
1831
................
1832
................
1833
................
1834
................
1835
................
1836
................
1837
................
1838
................
1839
................
1840
................
1841
................

Value o f
Imports.

Value o f
Exports.

$62,858,794
83,241,541
77,579,267
80,549,007
96,340,075
84,974,477
79,494,068
88,509,824
74,492,527
70,876,920
103,191,124
101,029,266
108,118,311
126,521,332
149,895,742
189,980,035
140,989,217
113,717,404
162,092,132
107,141,519
127,946,177

$64,974,382
72,160,281
74,699,030
75,986,657
99,535,388
77,595,322
82,324,827
72,264,686
72,315,671
73,849,508
81,310,583
87,176,943
90,140,433
104,336,973
121,693,577
128,663,040
117,419,376
108,486,616
121,028,416
132,085,946
121,851,808

Excess o f
Exports.

Excess of
Imports.

$2,388,658
$11,081,260
2,880,237
4,562,350
3,195,313
7,379,155
2,830,759
16,245,138
2,176,856
2,972,588
21,880,541
13,852,323
17,977,878
22,184,359
28,202,165
61,316,995
23,569,741
5,230,788
41,063,716
24,944,427
6,094,369

F O R E IG N W H E A T A N D F LO U R IM P O R T E D IN T O E N G L A N D .
T he following table, showing the quantity o f wheat and flour imported into England
from abroad in different years, and also the annual average price, is derived from the
Boston Emancipator:—
Y ea rs—
F r o m J u ly

15.

1 8 2 8 .........
1 8 2 9 .........
1 8 3 0 .........
1 8 3 1 .........
1 8 3 2 .........
1 8 3 3 .........
1 8 3 4 .........
1 8 3 5 .........
1 8 3 6 .........

E n tered fo r
H o m e C ons u m p tio n .

7 6 0 ,4 7 9
1 ,4 4 2 ,7 0 1
1 ,7 2 7 ,8 4 7
1 ,5 0 6 ,7 4 0
3 7 6 ,7 5 5
8 4 ,0 3 6
6 4 ,9 7 4
2 8 ,5 5 4
30407

—

R e m a in i n g
in
W a reh ou se.

P r ic e .
s.
d.

3 2 ,2 1 7
2 4 7 ,7 5 2
1 5 4 ,3 6 7
9 0 1 ,4 4 5
7 0 2 ,2 9 3
8 2 2 ,8 5 2
7 7 4 ,1 8 5
6 8 1 ,1 5 8
631^443

60
5
66
3
3
64
66
4
58
8
5 2 11
46
2
39
4
6
48

Y ea rs
F r o m J u ly

E n tered fo r
H om e C ons u m p tio n .

R e m a in in g
in
W a reh ou se.

P r ic e .
s.
d.

1 8 3 7 .........

2 4 4 ,2 7 2

6 1 4 ,6 7 1

55 10

15.

A ver.,.

6 2 6 ,6 4 6

5 5 9 ,2 3 8

5 5 10

1 8 3 8 .........
1 8 3 9 .........
1 8 4 0 .........
1 8 4 1 .........

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

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

64
70
66
64

7
8
4

A v e r., .

2 ,4 0 2 ,3 6 0

1 1 3 ,6 0 6

66

6

4

W E ST E R N LAKE TR AD E.
T he following interesting statement is from the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. T he
first part o f the statement shows the total quantities o f the principal articles unladed at
Buffalo during the single month o f October last; the whole number o f arrivals during
that month being 304, and the departures 34 4:—
Flour,....................
Seed,.....................
B eef,.....................
Fish,...................... ...............
T allow ,.................
Ashes,....................
W hiskey,.............. ...............




W heat,................
Corn,.................... ...........
“

641

“

821

C heese,...............
u
L e a d ,.................
W o o l,.................

7*

“

384,082
29,652
7,991
2,487
2,621
2,223
380

00

!Statistics o f Coinage.

S T A T I S T I C S

OF

C O I N A G E .

T h e tabular statements o f the coinage o f different countries, which follow, are derived
from the valuable “ Manual o f Gold and Silver Coins o f all Nations,” prepared by Jacob

R . Eckfeldt and William E. Dubois, Esqs., Assayers o f the Mint o f the United States;
a work which should be in the possession o f every banker, broker, and political econo­

mist in the country.
1 . U N IT E D S T A T E S .

Years.
1793
1801
1811
1821

to
to
to
to

Gold.

1800.....................................
1810.....................................
1820.....................................
1830.....................................
1831.....................................
1832.....................................
1833.....................................
1834.....................................
1835.....................................
1836.....................................
1837.....................................
1838......................................
1839.....................................
1840.....................................
.....................................
1841
T otal,...................

Silver.

Total.

$1,440,445
3,569,165
5,970,811
16,781,047
3,175,600
2,579,000
2,759,000
3,415,002
3,443,003
3,606,100
2,096,010
2,333,243
2,189,296
1,726,703
1,132,750

$2,454,745
6,819,910
9,137,321
18,684,137
3,889,870
3,377,435
3,737,550
7,369,272
5,629,178
7,741,800
3,244,315
4,142,838
3,545,181
3,402,005
2,224,348

$56,217,185

$85,399,905

3,250,745
3,166,510
1,903,090
798,435
978,550
3,954,270
2,186,175
4,135,700
1,148,305
1,355,885
1,675,302

$29,182,720

The mint at Philadelphia was the only one in operation until 1838. From that year to
1841, both inclusive, the amount o f coinage at the mint and its branches was as follows :—

Total.

MINTS.
Mint at Philadelphia,.......................
Branch mint at N ew Orleans,.......
Branch mint at Charlotte, N. C.,..
Branch mint at Dahlonega, Geo.,..

Gold.

Silver.

$4,581,175
326,190
507,025
517,990

$5,848,489
1,533,503

$10,429,664
1,859,693
507,025
517,990

Total, 1838-41.......

$5,932,380

$7,381,992

$13,314,372

T he whole amount o f coinage in pieces , from 1793 to 1841, at the mint and branches,
has been as follows :—
GOLD.

E ag les,....................................... .............
H alf eagles,............................................
Quarter eagles,.......................................

Pieces.

Value.

291,009
4,700,257
1,108,538

$2,910,090
23,501,285
2,771,345

S IL V E R .

Dollars,.....................................................
H alf dollars,............................................
Quarter dollars,......................................
Dimes,......................................................
H alf dimes,..............................................

1,674,822
97,895,662
8,200,502
23,765,325
23,357,478

1,674,822
48,947,831
2,050,125 50
2,376,532 50
1,167,873 90

T otal,....................

160,993,593

$85,399,904 90

T he amount o f copper coinage in the same period, was 89,439,030 cents, and
7,440,713 half cents, altogether o f the value o f $931,503 8 6 ; which was all coined at
Philadelphia.
N o eagles were coined from 1805 to 1837 inclusive.
1817.

N o half eagles in 1816 and

N o quarter eagles before 1796, nor in 1800-1, nor from 1809 to 1823, except in




91

Statistics o f Coinage.

1821, nor in 1828 and 1841. N o dollars from 1806 to 1838, except 1,000 in 1836. N o
half dollars from 1797 to 1800, nor in 1815. N o quarter dollars before 1796, none from
1798 to 1803, none from 1808 to 1814, and none in 1817, 1824, 1826, 1829, and 1830.
N o dimes before 1796, none in 1799, 1806, 1808, 1812, 1813, 1815 to 1819, 1824, and
1826. N o half dimes in 1798, 1799, 1804, and 1806 to 1828. N o cents, except a few
specimen pieces, in 1815 and 1823.

N o half cents in 1798, 1801, 1812 to 1824, 1827,

1830, and 1832, and none since 1836.
2. M E XIC O .

Years.
T en years, 1801-10.................. ..........
“
1811 2 0 ................... ..........
“
1821 30.................. ..........
1831
1832 33.
1834
.................. ..........
1835
................... ...........
1836
.................. ..........
1837
.................. ...........

Total.

Gold.

Silver.

$ 1 1 , 0 2 0 ,0 0 0
6,030,000
3,680,000

$216,220,000
106,130,000
96,080,000
11,720,000

2 1 0 ,0 0 0

11,830,000
11,650,000
11,480,000
11,230,000

350,000
570,000
380,000

$227,240,000
112,160,000
99,760,000

12,040,000
1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

12,050,000
11,610,000

For a long term o f years, previous to the revolution, the annual coinage averaged
nearly 23 millions o f dollars.

From the era just named, which had its commencement

in 1810, the sum has been greatly reduced. Indeed, although the independence o f the
nation has long been fully established, yet the ever disturbed state o f political affairs
produces an effect upon the mints and mines, quite as depressive as was the war o f the
revolution. The annual coinage o f late years is about 12 millions o f dollars.
There are, at present, seven mints in operation. A s there is a characteristic differ,
ence in the value o f their coins, it will be interesting to know in what proportion they
severally contribute to the annual sum o f Mexican coinage.

The returns o f 1836 and

1837 are here given.
1836.

M IN T S .

M exico,............
Zacatecas,.......
Guanajuato,....
P otosi,..............
D urango,.........
Guadalajara,...
Chihuahua, ....

1837.

Gold.

Silver.

$ 2 0 ,0 0 0
None.
171,000
None.
359,000
23,000
None.

$734,000
5,460,000
2,341,000
1,099,000
1,063,000
561,000
224,000

Total.
$754,000
5,460,000
2,512,000
1,099,000
1,422,000
584.000
224.000

Gold.

Silver.

$ 1 0 ,0 0 0
None.
151,000
None.
207,000
13,000
None.

$516,000
5,238,000
2,857,000
1 , 1 1 1 ,0 0 0
721,000
567,000
225,000

Total.
$526,000
5,238,000
3,008,000
1 , 1 1 1 ,0 0 0
928,000
580,000
225,000

It appears, then, that they rank in the following order : 1. Zacatecas, 2. Guanajuato,
3. Durango, 4. Potosi, 5. M exico, 6 . Guadalajara, 7. Chihuahua.*
3. P E R U *

Years.
T en years,
“
“
Four years,

18 0 1 -1 0 .............................
1811-20..............................
1 8 2 1 -3 0 .............................
1831-34..............................
1 8 3 5 -3 6 .............................
1837
.............................
1838
..............................
1839
..............................
1840
..............................
1841
..............................

Gold.

Silver.

Total.

$3,216,400
5,593,700
1,294,700
401,700

$42,500,000
54,655,000
15,435,700
11,400

$45,716,400
60,248,700
16,730,400
413,100

1 2 0 ,0 0 0

2,564,000

2,684,000

2,406,200
3,104,000
2,788,800

2,406,200
3,104,000
2,788,800

N one.
N one.
None.

* Compiled from the “ Tables o f Revenue,” & c., and a recent letter from Mr. P ick­
ett, U. S. Charge dTAffaires at Lima.




92

Statistics o f Coinage.

T he foregoing returns for 1839 to 1841 do not include the coinage at the mints o f
Cuzco and Arequipa.

A t the former, the annual amount is supposed to be about one

million o f dollars— one-third o f which is gold ; at the latter, the amount in 1838 was
near one million, but does not now reach $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 annually.
T he largest annual coinage in Peru, in the past century, was, o f gold, in 1758,
$1,170,000; o f silver, in 1794, $5,304,000.
4. C H IL I*

Years.
T en years, 1811-20................. ...........
“
1821-30................. ...........
1831
..................
1832
................. ...........
1833
.................. ............
1834
.................
1835
.................
1836
................. ............

Gold.

Silver.

Total.

$6,171,800
1,694,000

$3,527,000
350,295
47,850
37,950
84,150
44,550
3,300
N o returns.

$9,698,800
2,044,295
47,850
230,390
502,486
566,790
3,300
472,464

192,440
418,336

472,464

The largest amount o f gold coined, for many years, was in 1810— $8 65,0 00; o f silver, in 1817, $535,000.
5. B O L IV IA .

Years.

Gold.

T en years, 1801-10................. ............
“
1811 2 0 ................. ............
“
1821 30................. ............
1831
................. ............
1832
................. ............
1833
................. ............
1834
................. ............
1835
................. ............
1836
................. ............
1837
................. ............

$5,096,000
125,936
703,120
122,944
148,512
99,824
80,240
184,144
8 8 ,0 0 0

198,000

Silver.
$30,772,500
20,542,500
15,006,750
1,815
1,815
1,897
1,898
1,897
1,947,000
2,070,000

Total.
$35,868,500
20,668,436
15,709,870
124,759
150,327
101,721
82,138
186,041
2,035,000
2,268,000

T he largest gold coinage for many years past, was in 1805— $ 7 85,0 00; o f silver, in
1796, $4,274,000.
6 . G R E A T B R IT A IN .

T he gold coinage, for some years previous to the monetary law o f 181G, was nearly
in a state o f suspension; in the three years o f 1809, 1810, and 1811, the amount was
about £300,000, annually, and in 1813, £520,000. In the three years following, there
was no gold coined. There was no silver coinage, except bank tokens, from 1788 to
1815.

T he following tables commence with the year 1816, and extend to 1840 inclu­

sive :—■

Years.
Five years,
“
“
“

1816-20.......................
1821 2 5 .......................
1826-30.......................
1831-35.......................
.......................
1836
1837
.......................
1838
.......................
1839
.......................
1840
.......................
T otal,.......... . ...

Gold.

Silver.

£8,090,800
24,283,300
14,252,300
6,737,500
1,787,800
1,253,100
2,855,400

£6,932,800
1,450,000
766,300
613,400
497,700
75,250
173,850
390,450
207,700

£15,023,600
25,733,300
15,018,600
7,350,900
2,285,500
1,328,350
3,029,250
894,750
207,700

Total.

£59,764,500

£11,107,450

£70,871,950

* T he statements for Chili and Bolivia are compiled from the British “ Tables o f
Revenue,” & c.




93

Statistics o f Coinage.

T he copper coinage from 1816 to 1836 was £180,107.
T he largest annual amount o f gold coinage was in 1821, when it reached the pro.
digious sum o f £9,520,758, equal to $46,270,000.

In 1819, there was only the sum

o f £3,574. N o gold was coined in 1816 and 1840.
T he largest amount in silver was in 1817— £2,436,298, equal to $10,622,000.
the three years o f 1830, 1832, and 1833, the annual sum was only about £1 50.

In
T he

variation in the yearly amount o f labor is probably as great as at any mint in the world.
T he following table shows the total amount o f coinage, in pieces, from 1816 to
1840*

Value.

Pieces .

GOLD.

Double sovereigns,.........................
Sovereigns,.....................................
H alf sovereigns,............................

16,119
55,468,389
8,527,681

£32,238
55,468,389
4,263,840

1,849,905
31,438,434
101,645,280
58,324,595
10,371,058

462,476
3,929,804
5,082,264
1,458,115
172,850
2,190

S IL V E R .

Crowns,...........................................
H alf Crowns,.................................
Shillings,.........................................
Sixpences,.......................................
F ourpences,...................................
Three, two, and one penny,........

7. F R A N C E .
T he coinage o f gold from
1726 to 1780, was........
“
“
1781-85, estimated!.................
“
“
1 7 8 6 -9 4 ......................................

957,200,000 livres.
85,000,000 “
738,257,000 “

T otal,................

1,780,457,000

“

T he coinage o f silver from 1726 to 1791, was 1,966,402,000 livres.t
There was coined in 30 and 15 sous pieces, (1791,) 25,000,000 francs.
T he decimal coinage previous to 1803 is not ascertained.

Gold.
Type o f Napoleon, 18 03-14,............. fr. 528,024,440
“
Louis X V III, 1814-24...........
389,333,060
“
Charles X , 1824-30................
52,918,920
“
Louis Philippe 1,1 8 3 0 -4 0 ,..
177,367,740
Total,.

1,147,644,160

A M O U N T OF COINAGE IN PIECES, FR O M

Silver.

Total.

fr. 887,830,055 fr. 1,415,854,495
614,830,110
1,004,163,170
632,511,321
685,430,241
1,229,440,566 1,406,808,306
3,364,612,052
1803

TO

4,512,256,212

1840.$

Value.

GOLD.

fr. 204,431,440
943,212,720

Forty francs,....
Twenty francs,,
S IL V E R .

3,231,045.450
57,057,608
50,359,424
22,534,088
3,615,482

Five francs,......
T w o francs,.....
One franc,.........
H alf franc,.......
Quarter franc,..
Total,,

4,512,256,212

* Statements from the British mint, part o f which were procured by Mr. Stevenson,
United States minister plenipotentiary,
t Neckar, Finances o f France, 1785.
t Moniteur, April, 1829.
§ These statements are from the mint o f Paris, procured by General Cass, United
States minister plenipotentiary.




94

Statistics o f Coinage.
AM O U N T OF COINAGE A T TH E RESPECTIVE M IN T S ,

Paris,.................................. ........
Bayonne,............................ ........
Bordeaux,..................................
La R ochelle,..................... .......
L ille,................................... .........
L im o g e s,........................... .........
L yon s,................................
Marseilles,..................................
N antes,.............................. ........
Perpignan,.................................
R o u e n ,.............................. .......
Strasbourg,........................
T oulouse,..........................
G&nes,............................... ........
G e n e v a ,............................
R o m e ,................................ .......
Turin,.................................
Utrecht,.............................. ........

1803

TO

1840.

Gold.

Silver.

Total.

fr. 1,022,920,060
5,047,500
3,001,540
597,240
92,018,120
554,260

fr. 1,287,795,645
93,613,345
120,554,841
78,911,522
648,414,360
107,172,166
152,765,875
98,821,853
63,645,791
81,630,569
404,528,280
87,993,097
133,255,485
87,099
167,993
341,125
2,639,557
2,273,449

fr. 2,310,715,705
98,660,845
123,556,381
79,508,762
740,432,480
107,726,426
152,765,875
98,902,913
64,356,831
89,044,069
412,468,940
87,993,097
134,600,925
315,239
167,993
725,625
6,236,997
4,077,109

M IN T S .

81,060
711,040
7,413,500
7,940,660

228,140
384,500
1,803,660

T otal,....... .........
1,147,644,160
3,364,612,052
4,512,256,212
O f the foregoing mints, only those o f Paris, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyons, Marseilles, Rouen,
and Strasbourg, are now in operation. Those o f Geneva, Rome, Turin, and Utrecht,
were under the empire o f Napoleon. They have long since passed out o f French ju­
risdiction.
8 . A U S T R IA .

Years.
T en years,
“
“
“

Gold.

Total.

Silver.

48,710,569
7,681,761
16,708,101
6,760,328
5,967,885
7,213,263
4,181,536
4,382,364

fl. 245,823,760
104,066,665
44,730,490
62,246,736
4,801,214
3,319,913
3,068,102
3,264,164
3,909,313
3,088,554
2,785,702

fl. 263,663,048
114,726,581
69,411,473
110,957,305
12,482,975
20,028,014
9,828,430
9,232,049
11,122,576
7,270,090
7,168,066

154,785,994

481,104,613

635,890,607

1793-1802.... .......
1803-12 .... .......
1813 22 ....
1823 32 .... .......
1833
.......
.......
1834
.......
1835
1836
.......
.........
1837
.......
1838
........
1839

fl. 17,839,288
10,659,916

T otal,...... .........

1823 T O 1837, B O TH IN CLUSIVE.
g o l d — Sovereigns and halves,.............................................................. fl. 30,974,673 Value.
Ducats, doubles and quadruples.............................................
56,067,234
“
s i l v e r — Rixdollars,..................................................................................
27,189,714
“
H a lf dollars, or florins,.............................................................
None.
20 kreutzer pieces,....................................................................
50,581,999
“
10 kreutzer
“
974,650
“
5 kreutzer
“
.....................................................................
746,678
“
3 kreutzer
“
.....................................................................
1,109,931
“
A M O U N T OF COINAGE IN PIECES, FR O M

T he copper coinage, from 1793 to 1818, amounted to 180,918,286 florins.
been coined since l 8 l 8 .
9. PR U SSIA .
c o in a g e o f

tw e n ty

y e a r s

,

1821

to

1840,

both

in c l u d e d

None has

.*

Double, single, and half Frederickd’ors, in g o ld ,..........................thal. 12,034,406 Value.
Silver thaler pieces,..............................................................................
28,303,346
“
T w o thaler, or 3J florin p ie ce s,........................................................
1,950,090
“
One-sixth thaler pieces,.......................................................................
4,854,105
“
Billon pieces,...................................................................
3,147,152
“
T he amount o f copper coined was 752,273 thalers.
* From the mint at B erlin; procured by Mr. W heaton, U. S. minister plenipotentiary.




95

Statistics o f Coinage.
10. S P A IN .
COINAGE OF T W E N T Y Y E A R S A T TH E M IN T O F M A D R ID ,

1822

TO

Value in rs. vellon.

gold.

Pistoles, or \ doubloons,..................

1841,

BO TH IN C L U D E D .*

Value in dollars.

69,338,560

3,466,928

11,603,660
1,190,360
26,978,516
735,706
149,448

580,183
59,518
1,348,926
36,785
7,472

S IL V E R .

Dollars, o f 20 rs. vellon,..................
H alf dollars,.......................................
Pistareens, o f 4 rs.,...........................
H alf pistareens,..................................
R eals,...................................................

T he annual coinage is o f very irregular amount; in 1835 it was about $1,136,000,
and in 1841 only $134,000.
T he coinage o f the mint at Seville is not ascertained.

A summary statement o f the Average Annual Amount o f Coinage of Gold and Silver,
o f late years, in various countries ; and the Amount in proportion to their Population.
A N N U A L COINAGE.

In their own
terms.

COUNTRIES.

United States,...........
M exico,.....................
C olom bia,.................
P eru ,..........................
C hili,..........................
Bolivia,......................
Brazil,........................
G . Britain & Ireland,
British India,.............
France,......................
Sweden,t ..................
Denmark,t ................
Saxony,.....................
Prussia,.....................
Austria,.....................
Spain, fj ......................

In U. S. dolls.
4,300,000
1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

.
mlr. 6 8 ,0 0 0
£1,500,000
rs. 30,000,000
fr. 135,000,000
rxd. 650,000
rgd. 240,000
th. 470,000
th. 2,500,000
fl. 1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
rls. 8 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

3,000,000
400,000
1,500,000
60,000
7,300,000
13,300,000
25,600,000
690,000
128,000
340,000
1,800,000
6 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
400,000

Present
population.
17,000,000
7,700,000
3,200,000
1,700,000
1.500.000
1.500.000
5,000,000
25,000,000
113,000,000
33,500,000
3,000,000
2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
1,700,000
13,000,000
34,000,000
1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0

XT. S . cents,
per head.
25.3
155.8
62.5
176.5
26.7
100
1 .2

29.2
1 1 .8

76.4
23
6.4
20

13.8
17.6
3.3

P R O P O R T IO N OF COINAGE IN L A R G E A N D S M A LL' PIECES.

A ll the gold coins, and the large silver coins, may be considered as international cur­
rency, being liable to be carried beyond the limits o f its country; while small silver coin
remains at home, to supply the daily traffic.

It is interesting to inquire in what propor­

tion these two grand divisions o f money, large and small, are coined in various nations
o f late years.

T he following will be found near the truth:—
CO UN TRIES.

United States,......
Great Britain,......
F ra n ce ,................
Prussia,................
Austria,............... *§

Considered as
small coin.
Under a half dollar,.
All the silver,||.........
Under five francs,...
Under a thaler,.........
Under a rixdollar,..

Proportion in value, of
small coin to large.
..........
..........
.........
..........
.... . . . .

1 to 1 0 .6
1 to 6 .6

1 to 41
1 to 5.3
1 to 2 .1

* From the mint at M adrid; procured by Mr. Vail, U. S. charg6 d’affaires,
t Exclusive o f Norway.
} T he coinage at Altona not included.
§ The coinage at Seville assumed as half that o f Madrid.
H The half crown is a large coin, but being legally overvalued (with the other silver
coins) to keep it in the country, is properly placed in the table.




96

Commercial Regulations.

COMMERCIAL

REGULATIONS.

T A R IF F OF G E R M A N C O M M E R C IA L U N IO N .
T

follow in g are the heads in w h ich the present differs from the form er scale o f
d u tie s :—
he

Articles.

By the 14 dol­
lar standard,
the dollar diBy the
vided into 30 24^ guilder
and 24 parts, standard.

Quantity.

Import. Export. Import. Export
COTTON GOODS.

Cotton wool, and woollen mixed yarns, are
classified under N o. 2 B o f the former ta­
riff, and are therefore taxed..........................
Warps, whether prepared or n ot,....................
Piece goods and stocking wares, worked or
embroidered with woollen, are classed with
other cotton piece goods, and pay.............

rxd. gr.
1 centner.
1 centner.

8

1 centner.

1 centner.

fi■kr.

0
..
0 . .

14 0
5 15

.
..

50

0

..

87 30

..

2

0

..

3 30

..

Free.

..

1 45

..

5 15
7 0

..
. .

3

CHEM ICALS.

Chlorate o f lime, instead o f being classed in
Class A , is bracketed with white lead, & c.,
and the duty thereon reduced to..................
IR O N .

R aw iron, passing over the Prussian western
provinces, as also from Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden, Electoral Hesse, and Luxem­
burg,............. ...................................................
Wrought iron, in lumps and cakes, are class­
ed under N o. 6 B, and pay..........................
Wrought iron manufactured from the finer
sorts, and which are meant for machines
and wagons, such as curved iron axle, & c.,
which are to be classed under N o. 6 C, and
p a y ..........................................................................

W hite plates, iron plates, and wire,................

Free.
1 centner.

1

0

1 centner.
1 centner.

3
4

0 . .
0 . .

1 centner.

4 15

..

GLA SS A N D G LA SS W A R E S .

Hollow glass with borders only, with uncut
stoppers, bottoms, and brims,......

..

7 524

••

1 ship’s last,"

37J cent­
WOOD AND W OODEN W A R E S .
Building and useable wood, by water-car-* ners; or by
riage, & c., by land, or shipment,................ rafts, 75 cu­
bic feet. .
Oak, elm, ash, maple, cherry, pear, apple,
plum, cornel, and walnut,............................
Beech, fir, pine, larch, poplar, and other white 1 ship’s last,
or by rafts,
woods, saws, staves, bars, fascines, palings,
and trellis w ood ,............................................. 90 cub. feet.
Sawed staves and cask-wood, and all other
useful wood coming under enumeration
ship’s last.
N o. 1 ,...............................................................
Or under N o. 2 ,...................................................

■ ..

..

0

..

1 45

-..

•0 10

..

0 35

..

1 10
0 20

..
..

2 20
1 10

..
..

0

.'.

0 17*

..

1

L IM E AND G Y P S U M .

B u rn t,.........................................................................

W hen brought over the Saxon frontier at
Zittau, lime only pays half the usual duty.




4 sheffels, or
1 ton.

5

Commercial Regulations .
T

a r if f of

G

erman

C o m m e r c ia l U n io n —

97
Continued.

By the 14 dol­
lar standard,
the dollar diBy the
vided into 30 24£ guilder
Quantity, and 24 parts, standard.

Articles.

Import. Export. Import. Export.
L E A T H E R AND L E A T H E R W A R E S .

Brussels and Danish glove-leather, cordovan,
morocco, and all colored or lackered leath­
er,......................................................................

rxd. gr-

fl. hr.

1 centner.

8

0

..

14

1 centner.

15

0

..

26 15

1 centner.

8

0

..

14

1 centner.

5

0

..

1 centner.

8

0

..

14

1 centner.

11

0

..

19 15

1 centner.

0

i
3

•.

6 ’ 5
0

.’ .’
..

0

TOBACCO.

Cigars and snuff,..................................................
SU G A R .

R aw sugar, and sugar powder,.........................
R aw sugar for inland refineries, under special
stipulations and control,.................................
Mem .— These imposts are only to be ta­
ken up to September 1, 1844.

0

8 45

S IL K AND S IL K W A R E S .

Black and white silk, or floret silk,—
1. Untwisted,..................................................
2. Twist, as thread, from raw silk, such as
sewing silk, fringe, & . C . , ......................................

0

STONE COAL.

Brought into the Prussian frontiers from the
Elbe or W eser,..............................................
S T R A W , R E E D , AN D B ASS GOODS.

Mats and foot covers from bass, straw, & c .,.
U n d y ed ,...............................................................
D y e d ,....................................................................

1 centner.

••

3

0 17J
5 15

W O O L A ND W O O LLEN GOODS.

Unfulled woollens, as well o f wool as mixed
with cotton, when printed with patterns,
embroidered or sew n,...................................

1 centner.

50

0

..

87 30

T he London Times, in speaking o f the new tariff o f the German Commercial Union,
says:— “ This paper, which has been so long expected, and upon the contents o f which
so many dreary forebodings have been uttered by our manufacturers, has at last come to
hand, and we are happy to say that the prognostications o f evil so widely disseminated
have proved almost entirely without foundation.

Indeed, we had hardly expected to

have found the document so harmless to British interests and commerce.
** The most important articles o f British export are, with one exception, (that o f fig­
ured goods o f mixed cotton and wool, such as mousseline de laine,) left in almost the
!%ne situation in which they were placed by the last tariff; nor have our imports o f iron
been more affected, though it is quite evident that strenuous efforts have been made by
various o f the German states producing that article to procure the imposition of a heav­
ier duty upon English iron o f all sorts; and, indeed, almost one-half o f this state paper
is taken up with protocols and arguments for and against increasing the duties upon the
two articles o f cotton and iron.

Fortunately, however, some o f the most important and

influential states o f the union saw the mischief that would be inflicted upon the general
well-being o f German commerce by an increased tax, which would tend to cripple their
own trade to a degree hardly to be foreseen; and the consequence was, that, with the
exception o f the increase upon printed goods manufactured o f a mixture of cotton and
wool, the tariff is really very little altered.
V O L. V III.— NO. I.




8

Commercial Regulations.

98

“ W ith these exceptions, the whole o f which are charged as above, the alterations in
the present tariff are utterly insignificant, the most important being that upon mousseline de laine, figured, and upon which the duty is heavy ; plain articles o f that descrip­
tion, without pattern, would appear to remain precisely as heretofore.”

N E W S A R D IN IA N T A R IF F .
T he following are some o f the most important items in the new Sardinian tariff, which
is to come into effect on the 1st o f January. The denomination “ £ ” means “ Lire
nuove,” which are the same as francs, and the fractional parts are centimes. T o show
the great liberality o f the measure, we have added the rates under the present scale o f
duty:—

Articles.
R aw sugar,.......................................................
Amm onia,........................................................
S oap,................................................................
Nitric acid,.......................................................
Sulphuric acid ,................................................
Potash, soda, &.c.,..........................................
Copperas,........................................................
Zinc, sulphate o f,............................................
Litharge,..........................................................
Gum lac,..........................................................
D yew oods,.......................................................

New Duty.
£ c.
35

Old Duty.
£ c.

4

0 per quintal.
ft
0
“
0
it
0
ti
0
“
0
it
0
it
0
it
0
ti
0

1

5

20

30
25
9
5
16
10
6

45
32
50
80
80
20
20
20
12
10

$VJ

..

(

Quercitron bark,............................................
G lu e ,................................................................
Fish glu e,........................................................
Furs,..................................................................
Harness, plain,................................................
“
ornamented,...................................
Saddles, e a ch ,................................................
Gloves, per pair,.............................................
S h oes,..............................................................
B oots,...............................................................
Gaiters, leather,..............................................
H em p,..............................................................
Oilcloth,...........................................................
Hosiery, embroidered,..................................
Thread buttons, white or dyed,..................
Thread lace, 1st quality,..............................
“
2 d quality,..............................
Cotton twist, unbleached,—

3

It

10

tt

0
0
50 0
12
0
1 20
2 50
20
0

0 25
1 50
5 0
2

]

0
0

6
20

tt
tt

65
24

ti

2

“

5
30

tt
It

1

tt

5
18

tt
tt

6
2
2

tt

0 80
5 0 killograms.
“
2 50

16

0
0

“
tt

0 90
0 70

Double-twisted, whatever number,.............
Bleached or dyed, any number,..................
Cotton cloths,—
Unbleached,....................................................
B leached,........................................................
Colored or dyed,............................................
Printed,............................................................
Embroidered with thread, cotton, or wool,
Embroidered with silk, silver, or gold,........
Cotton hosiery,—
Plain, or embroidered with silk, cotton, or
w o o l,............................................................

1 20
1 80

tt

0

tt

2 50
3 0
4 0
5 0

tt

2

it
tt

It
tt
tt

;

(

tt

0 )
ft
0
tt
0
tt
0
“
0
tt
0
tt
0
“
0
tt
0
ft
0
tt
0
“
0
tt
0
“
0
0 killograms.

7
5 50
32 0
16 0

tt

Below N o. 4 0 ,................................................
A bove N o. 4 0 ,................................................




4

tt

20

0 per quintal.
“
0
tt
0
tt
0
it
0
“
0
tt
0
tt
0
“
0
tt
0

tt

“
tt

i .0 *
1 50 >
3 0
4 0
4 0
4 0
5 0
5 50

12

0

tt

8
20

5

0

tt

8

0
0

0

“
tt

tt
tt
tt
tt
tt
tt

U

99

Commercial Regulations .
S a r d in ia n T

a r if f

Articles.

— Continued.

New Duty.
£ c.

Buttons, white or dyed,.................................
Woollen stuffs,—

2 50

Old Duty.
£ c.
“

5 50 killograms.

44

0
5 0
Plain, or mixed with cotton or w o o l,......... S 2
) and 2 0 p. cent on val.
0 killograms. C 2 0
0 )
Embroidered with thread, wool, cotton, silk, 1 5
< and
to
>
gold, or silver,..............................................
it
J
30 0 >
t 12 0
a
Hosiery, plain and embroidered,..................
5 0
7 0

Carpets, (Turkey excepted,).........................
Silks,—
Stuffs, all o f silk, or mixed with other ma­
terial,........................................................
Hosiery, silk or m ixed,.................................
“
o f waste silk, plain or m ix e d ,.. .
Ribands, plain or m ixed,..............................
Lace, blonde,................ ..................................
Paper duties, reduced about 30 per cent.
Umbrellas and parasols, silk, each .............
Umbrellas and parasols, cotton, each.........
Carriages, with springs, on value,...............
Copper,—
Copper ore,.....................................................
In pigs or pieces,............................................
In sheets,........................................................
W orked with iron,.........................................
W orked without iron,...................................
Copper wire,....................................................
Brass,—
In bars or pieces,............................................
In plates,............... ...........................................
Z in c,.................................................................
In sheets,....................................................

3

0

20
20
12
20
20

0
0
0
0
0

u

20

0

u

30
30

0

it

(1
it
it

2
0
1 50
10 per cent.
0 10 per quintal.
ll
8
0
il
16 0
u
30 0
“
40 0
it
40 0
8

16
8

16

0
0
0
0

it
it
it

“

0

20

0

30
30

0
0

4
3

0
0

44

(t

cc
u

44
it
44
44
it

15 per cent.
1

16
40
40
50
50
16
40
12
20

0 per quintal.
a
0
41
0
44
0
44
0
44
0
0
0
0
0

44
44
44
44

T A R IF F OF C O L O N IA L DU TIE S,

To take effect from and after 1st July, 1842, and to continue in operation until the 30 th
June, 1843, agreeably to Ordinance No. 7, 1842.
I t is ordered and enacted, that there shall be raised, levied, and collected, a tax or
duty o f two dollars and fifty cents upon every one hundred dollars value o f all and every
description o f goods or commodities whatsoever, imported into British Guiana, being o f
the origin or manufacture o f Great Britain and Ireland, the duty now leviable under the
provisions o f Ordinance No. 3, anno 1841, being included herein; and there shall also
be levied and paid upon all articles, goods, wares, and merchandise, to be imported into
British Guiana, not being o f the origin, growth, or manufacture o f Great Britain and
Ireland, and hereinafter enumerated, the following
SPECIFIC DUTIES.

W heat flour, per barrel, 1961bs., paying crown duty,................................................ $ 2 00
W heat flour, per barrel, 196lbs., not paying crown duty,.......................................
2 00
Rye flour, per barrel, I9 6 lb s.,........................................................................................
0 50
Corn and pulse, per bushel,............................................................................................
0 30
Corn meal, per lOOlbs.,....................................................................................................
0 60
R ice, per lOOlbs.,..............................................................................................................
1 00
Oats, per bushel,................................................................................................................
0 20
Bread, as pilot, navy biscuit, and crackers, and allother kinds, per lOOlbs.,.........
0 50




100

Commercial Regulations.
S p e c if ic D

u t ie s —

C o n tin u e d .

Dry fish, per quintal,........................................................................................................ $ 1 00
Salmon, per barrel, 2001bs.,...........................................................................................
2 00
Pickled mackerel, per barrel, 2001bs.,.........................................................................
1 50
0 75
Pickled fish o f all other sorts, per barrel, 2001bs.,.....................................................
Barrels o f beef and pork, 2001bs.,................................................................................
3 00
Candles, tallow, per lb.,..................................................................................................
0 05
0 08
Candles, spermaceti, wax, or composition, per lb .,...... *............................................
Soap, per lb .,.....................................................................................................................
0 01
Butter, per lb.,...................................................................................................................
0 02
Lard, per lb.,.....................................................................................................................
0 01
T obacco, in packages not less than 8001bs., per lOOJbs.,.....................................
15 00
T obacco, in packages less than 8001bs., manufactured or otherwise, per lOOJbs., 20 00
Cigars, per 1,000,..............................................................................................................
2 00
Tea, per lb.,.......................................................................................................................
0 25
Pepper, sago, tapiaco, per 1001bs.,................................................................................
5 00
Cocoa, per 1001 bs.,...........................................................................................................
5 00
Chocolate, per 1001bs.,...................................................................................................... 10 00
Sugar,................... ........................................................................ ................................. .................
Pitch, tar, and rosin, per barrel,.....................................................................................
1 00
Crude turpentine, per barrel,..........................................................................................
0 50
Spirits turpentine, per gallon,.........................................................................................
0 J5
Spermaceti oil, per gallon,..............................................................................................
0 20
Other description o f oils, per gallon,............................................................................
0 10
White pine lumber, per 1,000 feet, board measure,..................................................
2 00
Pitch pine lumber, per 1,000 feet, board measure,....................................................
3 00
Red oak staves, per 1,000,......................................................................................
1 50
W hite oak staves and heading, per 1,000,..................................................................
2 00
Clap-boards, per 1,000,...................................................................................................
1 50
Shingles, o f all kinds, per 1,000,..................................................................................
0 50
House frames, white pine, per running foot, per story,.............................................
0 10
“
pitch pine,
“
“
“
............................................
0 20
Horses, per head,...............................................................................................................
7 00
Mules,
“
5 00
Potatoes, per bushel o f 64 lbs.,.....................................................................................
0 08
Bottled wine o f all descriptions, per dozen,................................................................
1 00
W ine in wood o f all kinds, per pipe o f 110 gallons,................................................ 33 00
Cattle, (neat,)....................................................................................................................
4 00
It is provided, that such tax on cattle shall cease to be levied whenever the market
price o f beef in Georgetown shall exceed 17 cents per pound.

Spirituous liquors, li­

queurs and cordials, per gallon, proof 24, or weaker, 67 cents, and a farther sum o f 4
cents for every degree o f stronger proof.
There shall be levied and collected upon every 100 weight o f foreign sugar, refined in
bond and imported into British Guiana, a duty o f five dollars; upon every 100 weight
o f other foreign refined sugar, a duty o f ten dollars; upon bastard sugars a duty, per 1 00
weight, o f four dollars.
British spirits imported into this colony after the publication o f this Ordinance, to pay
a rate o f duty o f 67 cents per gallon, proof 24, or w eaker; and a farther sum o f four cents
for every degree o f stronger proof.
And in addition to the above rates o f duty upon the importation o f the several articles
enumerated in the above schedule, there shall also be raised, levied, and paid upon the
said several articles an ad valorem duty o f two dollars and one half dollar, being the duty
upon every one hundred dollars leviable and payable thereon under the provisions of the
Ordinance No. 3, anno 1841; and there shall be also levied and paid on all other arti­
cles not enumerated in the above schedule, save and except as aforesaid, and except
specie, which is hereby specially exempted, an ad valorem duty of five dollars upon every
hundred dollars o f the value thereof, over and above the 2 £ per cent leviable thereon,
under the said Ordinance No. 3.




Statistics o f Population .

S T A T I S T I C S

OF

101

P O P U L A T I O N .

N O T E S ON T H E C E N SU S — T H E N E W S P A P E R PRESS.
A

recent

number

sus o f 1840.

of

the Cincinnati Chronicle has some interesting notes on the cen­

“ In France,” says the editor o f the Gazette, “ under the old constitution,

they had what was called the Tiers Etat, or parliament, which, in finance and power,
In this country, and, indeed, in Europe also, the Press

was a large part o f the realm.”

has become the Tiers Etat; which, though not vested by the constitution with the forms
o f power, holds very much the substance. The following is the number o f the different
classes o f newspapers and periodicals in the United States, arranged according to rank:—
§
N ew Y o rk ,...
Pennsylvania,.
Ohio,...............
Massachusetts
Indiana,..........
Virginia,.........
Illinois,...........
Tennessee,....
M aryland,......
Connecticut,..
Kentucky, ....
M a in e,............
N ew Jersey,..
G eorgia,.........
L o u is ia n a ,___

M issouri,........

"3
3
34

12
9

10
4
3

2
7

2
5

3

1
5

11
6

1

e
198
165
107
67
69
35
38
38
28
27
26
33
31
24

13

10
7
14
4

12
2
6
7
4

£
57
42
23
14
3
5
9

10
7

7

11
8

3

5

1

4

5

6

21

2

3

24

5

1
2

Vermont,........
JN. Hampshire,
Mississippi,....
Michigan,......
N. Carolina,...
S. Carolina,...
Alabama,.......
Rhode Island,.
Arkansas,......
Delaware,......
D. o f Columbia
Florida,..........
W isconsin,....
I o w a ,..............

2
6
3
3

i

1
2

i

i

...

12

2
1

4

3

4
3
3

2
2

5

6

3

1
2

i

10
6

3

3

6

24

2

10
6
4
—

T otal,.......

I
£
26
27
28
26
26

—

—

135 1,141

—

125

227

T he number o f daily papers in the United States is larger than one would imagine ;
and the number o f what are called periodicals, is much larger than can be profitably
supported.
It seems there are but five states in the Union which have not daily papers; there are
but four which have not periodicals.
In the following table will be found the proportion between the newspapers o f the
United States and the white people. Had the blacks been included, it would have made
a change in the proportions o f the slave states.

T he table, however, developes some

instructive facts:—
Louisiana,...........
Mississippi,.........
Rhode Island,....
M ichigan,...........
Massachusetts,....
Connecticut,.......
Maryland,...........
N ew Y ork,.........
Pennsylvania,....
N ew Hampshire,
Arkansas,...........
V erm on t,............
Indiana,..............
Illinois,................

1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

in 4,773
in 5,821
in 6 ,0 0 0
in 6,400
in 7,019
in 7,049
7,775
in 8^271
in 8,528
in 8,623
in 8,700
in 8,853
in 9,023
in 9,153

N ew Jersey,..............
Missouri, ...................
Delaware,.............. .
Georgia,......................
O hio,...........................
Tennessee,................
M ain e,.......................
South Carolina,........
Kentucky,...................
Virginia,.............. ..
North Carolina,.......
Slave States,.............
Free States,..............

T he above proportions are worth looking at.
drawn:—




8*

1 in 9,325

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

1
1
1
1
1

..
..
..
..

1
1
1
1

1 in 9,285
in 9,370
in 10,270
in 10,700
in 11,537
12,060
in 12,230
in 12,700
in 12,980
in 14,125
in 17,500
in 10,787
in 8,285

T he following conclusions may be

Statistics o f Population.

102
1.

Three o f the oldest and most influential states o f the American Union, viz., Vir­

ginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, have the smallest proportional number o f
newspapers (as they have also the fewest persons who know how to read) to the white
population; but if the blacks be included, they fall far behindhand.
\ 2. W here newspapers most prevail, as in Massachusetts, N ew Y ork, & c., there also
are most schools, most enterprise, most wealth, and most progress.

T he conclusion is,

not that newspapers occasion these results, but that the press and intelligence go togeth­
er : mutual helps to each other.
The proportional number o f papers appears large in Louisiana and Mississippi, but
this is caused by two evident facts.

Each o f them has large commercial towns, and each

has more blacks than whites; the proportion being taken only in respect to the latter.
The subject is important in more respects than one. If the press be thus numerous and
powerful, how is a nation to be purified in its morals unless the press be purified ?

That

which is seen, read, heard every day, like the air we breathe, will communicate strength
or weakness, healing or disease.

C H A N G E S IN T H E P O P U L A T IO N OF C IT IE S.
N E W Y O R K -----P H IL A D E L P H IA ------BO STO N ------ B A L T IM O R E ------N E W O R L E A N S ------C H A R L E S T O N -----CIN C IN N A TI.

I n 1790, when the first census was taken, Philadelphia was the largest city in Amer­
ica , its population being over 42,0 00 , while N ew Y ork had but 33,000.

Boston was

then larger than Charleston, and Charleston larger than Baltimore, the latter city then
having but 13,000 inhabitants.
In 1800, Philadelphia was even more in advance o f N ew Y ork than ten years before,
having now a population o f over 70,000, and N ew Y ork only 60,000. Baltimore had
nearly doubled her census, and was now a larger place than Boston or Charleston, hav­
ing a population o f 26,614.
In 1810, Philadelphia was ahead o f N ew Y ork by only about 300 inhabitants, the for­
mer numbering 96,664 persons, the latter 96,373.
36.000, and Philadelphia only 26,000.
Charleston 6,000.
only 2,500.

N ew Y ork, however, had increased

Baltimore had increased 20,000, Boston 7,000,

The population o f N ew Orleans was only 17,000, and o f Cincinnati

In 1820, N ew Y ork had overreached Philadelphia by more than 15,000 inhabitants.
Philadelphia had increased only about 11,000, while N ew Y ork had progressed over
27.000, and returned a census o f 123,706.

Baltimore had increased 16,000, Boston

11.000, N ew Orleans 10,000, Cincinnati 7,000, while Charleston had decreased over 200.
In 1830, New Y ork showed an increase o f nearly 80,000, having a population o f
203.000,

Philadelphia had increased 59,000, and exhibited a census o f 167,000; Bal­

timore had increased 18,000, and now numbered over 80,000; Boston had increased
18.000, and returned a census o f over 61,000; Charleston had increased nearly 6,000,
and had a population o f over 30,000; N ew Orleans had increased over 19,000, and
showed over 46,000 inhabitants; and Cincinnati had increased over 16,000, and now
numbered about 25,000.

A t the last census these cities stood thus:—

Population.
N ew Y ork ,...................... ..........
Philadelphia,................... ..........
Baltimore,........................ ..........
New Orleans,.................. ..........
Boston,.............................. ...........
Cincinnati,....................... ..........
Charleston,........................ .........




312,710
228,691
102,313
102,193
93,383
46,338
29,261

Increase.

Decrease.

109,701
61,573
21,698
56,000
32,000
21,507
1,028

103

Statistics o f Population.

Philadelphia, which was the most populous in 1790, now ranks the second ; N ew
Y ork, which then ranked second, now stands first; Baltimore, which then stood fifth, is
now the third city.
17,000,

N ew Orleans, which, twenty years after, had only a population o f

and was but the sixth city in point o f size, is now the fourth ; Boston, then the

third, is now the fifth; Charleston, then the fourth, is now the ninth; while Cincinnati,
then altogether unsettled, now ranks as the sixth city in the Union.
These statistics show singular changes and astonishing progress.

One city, in fifty

years, increasing nearly 280,000, and another city, in the same time, increasing but little
over 1 2 ,0 0 0 ; while a spot in the western wilderness, then untenanted save by a log
cabin, and worth, on sale, about forty dollars, now contains a larger population, by sev­
eral thousands, than inhabited at that time any city in the Union.

He who lives fifty

years hence, shall see far greater changes than these; and even then our country will
be, comparatively speaking, but in the morning o f her days. Greece had been settled a
thousand years before its golden age ; and England had passed through the revolution o f
ten centuries, from the mission o f St. Augustine in 596, to the Augustin era o f English
learning in the age o f Queen Elizabeth.

P O P U L A T IO N OF L O N G IS L A N D .
The census o f 1840 shows that the population o f Long Island (which contains an
area o f about 1,400 square miles) had increased nearly sixty per cent in ten years, or
more than twice the average per cent increase o f the whole state. The following has
been the population o f the island at each census taken during the present century:—
1800..........................................
42,365 1 1830.........................................
69,593
1810..........................................
48,752 j 1835.......................................... 95,461
1820..........................................
56,978 1840......................................... 110,406
1825..........................................
58,705 |
Increase in 50 years, 160 per cent.
P

ro o ress

o r P o p u l a t io n

Year.

Kings.

1800............
1810...........
1820............
1825...........

5,740
8,303
11,182
14,679

in th e

Queens. Suffolk.
16,891
19,336
21,519
20,331

19,734
21,113
24,272
23,695

S e v e r a l C o u n t ie s

Year.
1830...........
1835............
1840............

on th e

Kings.
20,537
32,057
47,613

I sland.

Queens. Suffolk.
22,276
25,130
30,324

26,780
28,274
32,469

T he construction o f the Long Island Railroad will doubtless greatly increase the pros­
perity o f the island. Its population now is greater than either o f the States o f Rhode
Island, Delaware, or Arkansas.

E M IG R A T IO N .
The emigration for the last twelve years from the United Kingdom to Canada and the
United States, has been as follows —

Year.

Canada. U. States.

1829.........................
1839.........................
1831........................
1832
.............
1833
.............
1834
.............
1835
..............
1836
..............
1837
.............

15,945
28 000
50,254
51,746
21,752
30,935
12,527
27,722
21,901

Year.

Canada. U. States.

11,501 1833..
3,266
13,059
21,433 1839..
7,439
24,376
22,607 1840..
41,500
22,234
28,283 1841..
28,086
32,509
16,100
26,540
T otal,......
347,632
321,807
16,749
59,075
A ver,.......
28,700
26,800
34,000
It will be observed that, for some years past, a much larger proportion of the emigrants
have come to the United States than formerly. O f those who landed in Canada in 1841,
about 3,500 proceeded to the states. T he average length o f passages to Quebec in the
same year was forty-seven days.




104

The Book Trade.

THE

B OOK

T R A D E .

1. — Poems. By A l f r e d T e n n y s o n . 2 vols. 18 mo. pp. 233 and 231. B oston: W il­
liam D. Ticknor. 1842.
It is rather difficult to appreciate the beauty o f one o f these lays unless it be read twice.
On reading it the first time, the oddities o f the style shut out the exquisite sympathetic
melodies which, on a second perusal, lull the reader into a sweet ecstacy, carrying him
away in close union with the hero that happens to be the subject o f the song.
Tennyson must be a strange existence.

Alfred

W e are told by a friend that he lives in a dusky

garret-room in an obscure street o f London, and there puts to paper these creations of
his genius. About ten years ago, many o f these same poems were published in England ;
but, meeting with a hard fate from the penny-critics, their author called in all the copies
that had been sold, and made o f them a burnt-offering to the muse.

T he manuscript was

suffered to lie quietly in his desk, until a young American literatus induced the author
to permit them to be published in this country.

W e cannot describe Tennyson’s mind

in better language than his own, when he said o f the poet’s mind that
“ Clear and bright it should be ever,
Flowing like a crystal river;
Bright as light, and clear as wind.”
He lives in the nearest sympathy with nature. In her smallest operations, he spies
out the unseen all-enlivening spirit that animates her bod ies: the hum o f the yellowbanded bees— the solemn oak-tree, that sigheth with an ancient melody o f inward ago­
ny— the bleating lamb— the flowers that blow— the click o f the latch, when the milk­
maid opens the door in early morning— all such sounds occur in most melodious harmony.
2.

— Rambles in Yucatan: or, Notes o f Travel through the Peninsula; including a
Visit to the remarkable Ruins o f Chi-Chen, Kabah, Zayi, and Uxmal. With nu­
merous illustrations. By B. M. N o r m a n . 1 vol. 8 vo. pp. 304. N ew Y o r k : J. &
H. G. Langley. 1842.
In the volume before us we have the most interesting details o f farther researches in

reference to the gigantic monumental remains o f ancient cities, in a region never be­
fore visited by any modern traveller.

W ith a spirit o f indomitable energy, the author

penetrated into the heart o f the country; and, as a reward for his labor and industry, he
has been enabled to announce to the wmrld facts entirely new in regard to the ruins o f
Chi-Chen, Kabah, and Zayi.

Endowed with happy descriptive powers, Mr. Norman has

not only portrayed for the mental eye very interesting accounts o f the most remarkable
ruins o f ancient cities, temples, pyramids, and idols, but he has ornamented his book with
nearly fifty splendid embellishments for the gratification o f the visual eye.

T o the lover

o f light reading, the picturesque and pleasing style o f the author’s personal narrative o f
adventures cannot but be acceptable. Equally interesting to every class o f readers must
be his descriptions o f the manners and customs o f the people, as well as the account o f
their recent political history.

W h o were the people by whom these ancient monuments

o f civilization were erected?

This is a question that arises spontaneously in the mind

o f every one.

Even at the period o f the Spanish discovery, many o f these tribes were

found to be polished and cultivated, and living in large and flourishing cities.

But, even

then, the Spaniards were told by these people that they had been preceded by a much
more highly cultivated r a ce ; and these, like the Romans, had been overrun by savage
hordes, who subsequently adopted the arts and manners o f the conquered.

Hence, some

o f these antiquities may be coeval with the earliest civilization, as that o f Egypt, Baby­
lon, Nineveh, or Thebes.

The beautiful style o f dress in which the book has been pre­

sented to the public, justly claims our admiration.




105

The Book Trade.

3. _Braude's Encyclopedia : a Dictionary o f Science, Literature, and A rt; comprising
the History, Description, and Scientific Principles o f every Brunch of Human Know­
ledge; with the Derivation and Definition of all the Terms in General Use. General Editor, W . T . B r a n d e , F. R. S. L. &, E., o f Her Majesty’s M int; Professor o f
Chemistry in the Royal Institution ; Professor o f Chemistry and Materia M edica to the
Apothecaries’ Company, & c. & c. & c. Assisted b y J o s e p h C a u v i n , Esq. N ew Y ork :
JSarper &, Brothers. 1842.
A more learned, comprehensive, and useful work than this has seldom, if ever, issued
from the press.

It embraces the whole field o f human knowledge, and combines with

the convenience, precision, and cheapness o f the Dictionary, the fullness o f information,
excepting minor details, to be found in the most voluminous Encyclopgedias. It is not a
compilation from previous productions, but an original work, written with the utmost
care, giving the latest information on every subject; and in the preparation o f which, in
order to secure more perfect accuracy, particular departments were assigned to individ­
uals specially conversant with them.

Some o f the most eminent scholars and men o f

science in Great Britain were contributors— as McCulloch in Political Economy, Statis­
tics, and Com m erce; Loudon in Gardeningand Agriculture; Lindley in Botany; Lardner in the Application o f Steam, & c . ; Owen in Zoology, Anatomy, and Physiology;
Galloway in Mathematics, & .c.; Gwilt in Architecture, Music, and the Fine A rts; and
others, no less distinguished in their respective branches. T he result o f such a combi­
nation o f talent and learning has been a most complete work, alike useful to all classes
o f readers. A s a book o f reference, it is invaluable. It is a work o f 1350 pages, royal
octavo, printed in double columns, and the publishers issue it in semi-monthly numbers
at twenty-five cents each, or three dollars for the complete work— about one-fourth the
price o f the English edition, and in no respect inferior to it.

This is unprecedentedly

cheap.
4.

— History o f Europe, from the Commencement o f the French Revolution, in 1789, to
the Restoration of the Bourbons, in 1815. By A r c h i b a l d A l i s o n , F. R. S. E. N ew
Y o r k : Harper & Brothers.

1842.

This celebrated work, the first volume o f which was published, we believe, in 1832,
and has been but very recently completed in ten large octavo volumes, has been read in
Europe with a constantly growing interest, and we notice, with great satisfaction, its re­
publication in this country.

It is, beyond a doubt, the most brilliant, profound, and, in

all respects, able historical work o f the present century; while no period, perhaps, in the
annals o f the world is so full o f wonderful events, or so worthy o f being studied, as the
one o f which it treats. Mr. Alison combines in himself all the qualities o f a great his­
torian— acuteness, elaborate research, a noble independence, a genius at once brilliant
and profound, and an eloquence that gives the highest charm to his narrative. W e are
pleased to see a work o f so much interest published in so cheap and convenient a form.
The publishers announce that it will be issued in numbers o f 144 pages, at twenty-five
cents each, one number every two weeks, and that the cost o f the entire work will be
but four dollars.
5.

T he English edition is advertised at .£10, or nearly fifty dollars.

— Hutton's Book of Nature Laid Open. Revised and Improved, by Rev. J. L.
D.D., author o f several works on General Literature. 18 mo. 1842.

Blake,

T he design o f this little work is, to lead the youthful intellect to the contemplation o f
the works o f the Creator; and it appears to have been the object o f Dr. Blake, in the
arrangement o f these pages, to present familiar and comprehensive delineations o f na­
ture, thus showing to the reader the self-evident proposition, that in every object in the
natural world, there are ample traces o f the wisdom, power, and benevolence o f the
Creator; convincing proofs that even the silent weed and the meanest insect offer incon­
trovertible evidences o f their Maker.

Questions are added at the bottom o f the pages,

and the work, although prepared expressly for young persons, will be found interesting
to more advanced minds.




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6.

— The Condition and Fate o f England. By the author o f “ The Glory and Shame
o f England.” 2 vols. 12 mo. pp. 278 and 307. N ew Y o rk : J. & H. G. Langley.
1842.
T h e faults o f this work are so apparent that they may be easily detected. Abating a

little for the spirit o f exaggeration so conspicuous in the volumes before us, and more,
perhaps, for the one-sided, ultra-Americanism which pervades the work, we confess, the
penny-a-line critics to the contrary notwithstanding, that it has afforded us much valua­
ble information touching the social condition o f the operatives o f England, and excited
our deepest sympathies in their behalf.

The author may have portrayed the dark side

o f their condition in too strong a light, but he has certainly fortified the views taken with
an array o f evidence, from British authorities, that we cannot well resist or discredit.
T he work is divided into eleven parts, or “ books.”

T he first embraces a view o f the

power and magnificence o f the British empire, with illustrations o f the spirit o f the feu­
dal and o f the modern age ; the second, the general condition o f the British people in past
ages, their burdens and sufferings; the third, the present condition o f the British peo­
ple, and the burdens which oppress them ; the fourth, a continuation o f the same subject,
with a short reply to “ T he Fame and Glory o f England V indicated;” the fifth furnishes
some glances at the sufferings and crime, the ignorance and degradation, caused by the
oppressive burdens laid upon the British nation; the sixth, a continuation o f the fifth;
the seventh, include her woes and struggles under English oppression; the eighth, the
feelings and determination ot the people ; the ninth, the feelings, & c., o f the aristocracy >
the tenth, the progress o f the democratic principle ; the eleventh, the issue.

Mr. Lester

writes with great force and spirit, and has made, on the whole, a work that will be read,
we hope, by every American, with deep interest.
7.

— Fables o f La Fontaine. Translated from the French, by
2 vols. 18ino. Boston : Tappan & Dennet. 1842.

E

leazer

W

r ig h t ,

Jun.

T he present English version o f the incomparable fables o f La Fontaine, by our coun­
tryman Wright, has received the consenting praise o f the reviewers on both sides o f the
Atlantic. T he first edition was published about two years ago, in a beautifully illustrated
and elegantly printed octavo volum e; and we are glad to perceive that a more eco­
nomical form has been called for by the “ people and their children.”

The present edi­

tion, embellished with vignettes engraved by Hartwell, from designs in the larger work,
is now offered to the public on a smaller page, at one-tenth o f the price o f the first oc­
tavo edition.— “ La Fontaine selected the most excellent o f the apologues which he found
afloat in the world, and, clothing them in his own graceful style, wrought them into a
sort o f system or code o f morals.

His success has been complete.

He teaches not only

in all the schools o f his own country, but throughout the world, wherever the French
language is an object o f study. In the accomplishment o f his task, his felicity o f style,
his judiciousness o f selection and arrangement, his delicacy and pointedness o f satire,
and his bland, republican view o f mankind, leave little to be desired but a laithful trans­
fusion o f his work into our vernacular English.”
8.

— Thiilia, a Tale o f the Antarctic.
Samuel Colman. i842.

By J. C.

P

alm er,

U. S. Navy.

N ew Y ork :

T he first thing that strikes us in taking up this book, is the beauty o f its external ap­
pearance.

In all that relates to mechanical execution, it has scarcely ever, if ever, been

exceeded by anything that has come from the American press; and we assure our read­
ers that we are not indebted to the printer or the binder for its chief attractions. T he
poetry is such as we should be quite willing to have read on the other side o f the Atlan­
tic ; and the narrative, explanatory o f the incidents referred to in the poem, is not only a
beautiful piece o f composition, but is exceedingly interesting as a matter o f history.

It

speaks well for our navy, that a work o f so much merit should have been produced by
one o f its officers.




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9.

107

— Critical and Miscellaneous Essays o f T. Babington Macaulay,
pp. 426. Philadelphia : Carey & Hart. 1843.

vol. 4.

Macaulay is unquestionably the most brilliant and popular reviewer o f the day.

12 mo.
As

an essay writer, with all the classical elegance o f our minister plenipotentiary to Eng­
land, he possesses far greater power o f utterance, and more originality o f thought.
Brought up under the tuition o f Brougham, he seems to have acquired most o f the attri­
butes o f that great and liberal mind without parting with any o f the native or intuitive
genius o f his own nicely developed intellect.

T he volume before us embraces some o f

the latest productions o f his pen, which have appeared in the Edinburgh Review since
January, 1841, v iz .: “ Comic Dramatists o f the Restoration,” “ T he Late Lord Holland,”
“ Warren Hastings,” “ Frederick the Great.”

Appended to the present volume, are his

splendid “ Lays o f Ancient R om e,” “ full o f the old Roman spirit, and stirring the heart
like a trumpet by their fire and strength.” W e consider Macaulay as among the finest
models o f English scholarship o f the present age.
— Education— Part 1. History o f Education, Ancient and Modern.— Part II. A
Plan o f Culture and Instruction, based on Christian Principles, and designed to aid
in the Right Education o f Youth, Physically, Intellectually, and Morally. By H . J.

10.

S m i t h , A.M ., Professor o f Modern Languages in Pennsylvania College, and Professor
o f German Language and Literature in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa.
N ew Y ork : Harper & Brothers. 1842.

Mankind are what they are by education— that is, their principles, character, and hab­
its are chiefly formed by the instruction they receive in early life, the circumstances in
which they are placed, and the examples then set before them. It is in this broad sense
that education is considered in this very able treatise. The child is a subject for educa­
tion from its birth— its physical nature is to be strengthened by right treatment, its senses
trained, correct impressions m ad e; and as the higher faculties are developed, new and
more serious demands are made upon parental attention. Parents are therefore the most
efficient, as well as earliest, educators o f their offspring; and their duty in this particular
is very powerfully enforced in this volume.

A plan o f scholastic instruction is also given,

and we do not know o f a more valuable book for parents or teachers.

It is published in

the Family Library, and forms the 156th number o f that popular selection.
11. — The Salem Belle; a Tale o f 1692. Boston: Tappan & Dennet. 1842.
Interwoven in a rather attractive and exciting tale, we have recorded the events con­
nected with the Salem witchcraft delusion that prevailed near the close o f the seven­
teenth century.

T he elements o f delusion always exist in the human mind.

Sometimes

they slumber for years, and then break forth with volcanic energy, spreading ruin and
desolation in their path. “ Even now, the distant roar o f these terrible agents comes
with confused and omenous sound on the ear. W hat form o f mischief they will assume,
is among the mysteries o f the future; that desolation will follow in their train, no one
can doubt; that they will purify the moral atmosphere, and throw up mighty land-marks
as guides to future ages, is equally certain.

The evil or good which shall be the final

result, depends, under Providence, on the measures o f wisdom we may gather from the
lessons o f the past.”

It appears to be the design o f these pages to hold up the beacons

o f the past, and, in this connection, to illustrate the sound condition, the habits, manners,
and general state o f N ew England in those early days o f its history.
12. — Self.Culture. By W i l l i a m E. C i i a n n i n g , D.D. W ith a Biographical Sketch o f
the Author. Boston : James Munroe & Co. 1842.
This essay was delivered in Boston in September, 1838, as introductory to the Frank­
lin Lectures.

Like everything from the pen o f the lamented Channing, it is replete with

pure and elevated views, enforced with all the eloquence o f truth, and that deep and allpervading tone o f humanity which is infused into every page and paragraph o f this in­
comparable writer and truly Christian philosopher.




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108

— Perambulations o f Cosmopolite; or, Travels and Labors o f Lorenzo Dow in Europe and America, including a Brief Account o f his early Life and Christian Cor­
respondence, as contained in his Journal. T o which is added, His Chain, Journey

13.

from Babylon to Jerusalem, Dialogue between Singular and Curious, Hints on the
Fulfilment o f Prophecy, etc. By O r r i n S c o f i e l d . 8 v o . pp. 508. N ew Y o rk : Geo.
W . W ood & Co., 45 Gold-street. 1842.
This is a singular book, by a man o f eccentric genius, who acquired a distinguished
rank among the characters o f his time.

A s a philanthropist and Christian, he is said to

have sought the best interests o f mankind, and pursued the course which, in his opinion,
would best promote that object.

Though eccentric in his manners, he was proverbially

strict in accomplishing every enterprise he undertook, whatever sacrifice it might cost.
Unawed by power, and unbiased by creeds, he followed out principles peculiar to him­
self, which excited much interest among his contemporaries, some o f whom charged him
with enthusiam, and others with insanity; but, though he had to encounter the tide o f
opposition from various sources, he never murmured a reproach, but pursued a steady
and onward course, without yielding to the frowns or flatteries o f men, or surrendering
any imbibed doctrine in his creed without what he considered the most conclusive evi­
dence o f the error.

His “ Analects upon the Rights o f Man,” in this volume, evince

his entire freedom from bigotry, and ardent devotion to that liberty o f conscience which
discards all pretensions to human infallibility, and claims the right o f private judgment in
all that concerns the human in its relation to the Divine.
— Lives o f the Presidents o f the United States; with Biographical Notices of the *
Signers o f the Declaration o f Independence, Sketches o f the most. Remarkable Events
in the History o f the Country. By R o b e r t W . L i n c o l n . 8 vo. pp. 578. N ew Y o rk :

14.

E. Kearney.

1842.

T he author o f the “ Lives o f the Presidents” very naturally acknowledges the difficulty
o f preserving that strict impartiality which the nature o f such a work requires.

It seems,

however, to have been his aim (and he has, we think, in a good degree accomplished it)
to view near events with the eye o f a distant spectator, and to anticipate the dispassion­
ate judgment which posterity will pass upon the great men who have administered our
government.

The materials for the biographer are scattered in various directions, and

the sources not always pure; but Mr. Lincoln appears to have resorted only to those
least exposed to suspicion.

T he present edition embraces sketches o f Harrison and T y ­

ler, and furnishes the only complete biography extant o f all the Presidents o f the United
States.
15. — The Little Gift, comprising Selections from the Child’s Gem.
Edited by a L a d y . N ew Y o r k : S. Colman. 1842.

Second Series.

A pretty Lilliputian quarto o f 120 pages, filled with a variety o f pleasant tales and
sketches, admirably adapted to the tastes and capacities o f little children.
16.

— Poems fo r the Little Folks.

N ew Y o r k : Samuel Colman.

1842.

Similar in form to the “ Little Gift,” and, like that, a very pretty and appropriate pres­
ent for the important personages named in the title-page.
17. — The A ge o f Gold, and other Poems.
William D. Ticknor. 1843.

By

18. — The Deserted Bride, and other Poems.
N ew Y ork : D. Appleton & Co. 1843.

G

eorge

By

G

L

12mo. pp. 160.

unt.

eorge

P.

M

o r r is .

8

19. — The True Lover's Fortune; or, the Beggar o f the Point des Arts.
from the German. 8 vo. pp. 91. Boston : James Munroe & Co. 1843.
20. — Pleasant Memories o f Pleasant Lands.
368. Boston : James Munroe & Co. 1842.

By Mrs. L. H.

S ig o u r n e y .

Boston:

vo.

pp.

172.

Translated
12mo. pp.

21. — The Career o f Puffer Hopkins. By C o r n e l i u s M a t t h e w s , author o f the “ Motley
Book,” “ Behemoth,” “ Wakondah,” etc. Illustrated by H. & E. Bowne, Esq. 8 vo.
pp. 319. N ew Y o r k : D. Appleton & Co.