Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : January 1852, Vol. XXVI, No. I

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H U N T’S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE.
E s t a b li s h e d J u l y , 1 8 3 9 ,

BY FREEMAN HUNT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.

VOLUME XXVI.

JANUARY,

18 5 2 .

NUMBER I.

C O N T E N T S OF NO. I., Y O L . X X V I .
ARTICLES.
A rt.
I.

II.

page.

THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. C h a p t e r I.— O r ig in o f N. E. fis h e r ie s —
Policy of French and English—Action o f our government to encourage our fisheries—Act
of 1789—Act of 1792—French claims—Act of 1812—Duties on fish in several tariffs—Duties
on salt 1790 to 1846—etc.—C h a p t e r II.—Treaties concerning fisheries—Treaty o f 1783—
Treaty o f 1815—Convention o f 1818—Sacrifice o f our rights by the cotton basis o f the trea­
ties o f 1783 and 1815 unsettled—Large part o f the fishing ground surrendered—Conces­
sions of 1845—A delusion, etc. By E. H a l e , Jr......................................................................

19

PROTECTION vs. FREE T R A D E : THE L A W OF PROGRESS IN THE RELATION
OF CAPITAL AND LABOR. By E. P. S m i t h , of Rochester, N. Y ................................... 31

III. MONEY OF PA PER ;

or,

INCONVERTIBLE PAPER-MONEY.

By Louis

C h i t t i ........

44

IV. COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES.—No. xxvm .—KEY
WEST, FLORIDA....................................................................................................................... 52

J O U R N A L OF M E R C A N T I L E L A W .
Action to recover excess o f duties—Of the right of shipping merchants to have invoice prices,
when stated in foreign currency, valued at a specific standard, & c................................................
Commercial cases in the Supreme Court o f Louisiana.........................................................................
Liability o f railroad corporations for personal injuries sustained by passengers.............................
Recent decisions o f the Cincinnati Chamber o f Commerce................................................................

60
66
68
68

C O M M E R C I A L C H R O N I C L E AND R E V I E W :
E M B R A C IN G A F I N A N C IA L A N D C O M M E R C IA L R E V I E W O F T H E U N IT E D 8 T A T E S , E T C ., I L L U S T R A ­
T E D W I T H T A B L E S , E T C ., A S F O L L O W S :

Opening of the new year—Commercial changes in the past—Unexpected supply o f gold—Effect
of exports o f domestic coin as compared with shipments of foreign—Total production o f do­
mestic gold from 1793 to the close o f 1851—The natural course of trade sure to be the most
prosperous—Commerce of the United States for year ending June 30th, 1851— Imports and ex­
ports compared—Increased exports of cotton—Comparative exports o f cotton and breadstuffs
for several years—Average price o f cotton exported since 1821—Course o f trade for the calen­
dar year just closing—State o f the money-market on the seaboard and in the interior—Deposits
and coinage for November at the Philadelphia and New Orleans mints—Imports at New
York for November—Imports at New York for eleven months—Imports o f dry goods
at New York for November—Imports of dry goods for eleven months—Comparative receipts
for duties for the month, and from January 1st—Exports from New York for November—Par­
ticulars of principal articles exported—Exports for eleven months—Official report of the Secre­
tary of the Treasury, etc., etc............................................................................................................ 69—75
V OL. X X V I.---- NO. I.




2

18

CONTENTS

O F N O . I ., V O L . X X V I .

COMMERCIAL

STATISTICS.

PAGE.
75
Commerce of Barcelona......... ................................................................................................... Exports of coffee from Rio de Janeiro.................................................................................................... 76
77
British exports to all parts o f the world................................................................................................. ^
78
Fur trade of the Hudson’s Bay Company.—The trade of the lakes..................................................... ™
Commerce of Cuba in 1850....................................................................................................................... 79
80
Southern and Western routes for products to New York.............................................
50 81
Import & export o f merchandise from 1820 to 1851.—Commerce of N. SouthWales in 1849 &• 1850
82
Import and export of specie from 1820 to 1851.......................................................................
83
The effect of the price of wheat on crime*—The cotton and American trades.................. .
The Amer’ n coast’g trade.—Statis. o f brewers & victualers in England.—The book trade of U. S.
S. 84
Official statistical returns of the trade of Russia.................................................................................... 85
Statistics of the press of the United States.—Dutch Commerce in 1850............................................ 87
88
British trade and shipping.........................................................................................................

J O U R N A L OF H A N K I N G , C U R R E N C Y ,

AND F I N A N C EE..

Debt and finances o f Kentucky in 1851-52...............................................................................
State debt of Georgia.—Debt and finances of Tennessee......................................................................
The prospective of gold .............................................................................................................
The explanations of bankrupts.................................................................................................
Rothschild, the banker, in trouble.— Hoarding o f gold......... ..............................................
United States’ Treasurer’s statement, November 28, 1851.....................................................
Ancient coins in the U. S. mint.— Imprisonment for debt in Rhode Island.......................................
The banking law of Vermont.—Of the redemption of bank-notes.......................................
Catechism of the bank law of Illinois......................................................................................

88
89
90
91
92
93
94
***
95
96

COMMERCI AL REGULATI ONS.
99
The half-pilotage law in Pennsylvania......................................................................................
100
Postage within the United States and to Canada................................................................................... 1”
0
103
Annual report o f the Baltimore Board of Trade....................................................................

NAUTI CAL I N T E L L I G E N C E .
104
Variation of the magnetic needle..............................................................................................
Rocks and shoals in the Pacific................................................ ............................................................... 106

RAI LROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATI STI CS.
English and American iron compared....................................................................................................
Railroad cars without dust.......................................................................................................................
What railroads must accomplish.—American vs. English railroads...................................................
New Hamburg tunnel on the Hudson River Railroad...........................................................
Increase of ocean steamship lines............................................................................................
Canal business at Toledo.—Steamers between Liverpool and South America..................

108
109
110
111
112
113

JOURNAL OF MI NI NG AND MANUFACTURES.
The culture of basket willow in the United States................................................................
Manufacture of beet-root sugar in Ireland.—Flax cotton...................................................................
Industrial and other statistics of Manchester.—Locomotive establishment in Virginia..................
New cloth measuring machine.—The uses of India rubber................................................................
Manufacture of glass pearls.—Economy of tobacco-smoking..............................................................
Statistics of the manufactures of the United States.............................................................................
Manufacture of cotton goods in the United States...............................................................................
Manufacture of woolen goods in the United States................................................................
Manufacture of pig iron in the United States.........................................................................
Manufacture of iron castings in the United States................................................................
Bread baked by steam in England...........................................................................................

114
116
117
118
118
119
120
121
122
123
124

ST A T I S T I C S OF POPULATI ON.
Census statistics of the United States.......................................................................................
Statement of the population of each State and territory from 1790 to 1850, inclusive.. . .

124
129

MERC ANT I L E MI SCEL LANI ES.
Sectarianism in business..........................................................................................................
Passages in the life of a Bremen merchant...........................................................................
Sketch of a Baltimore merchant.............................................................................................
Commercial honesty at a discount.—The effect o f war on Commerce.............................
Maxims for a young merchant.—Phillips’ Patent Fire Annihilator...................................
The tricks o f trade.—Commercial progress of the Americans............................................................
Success in mercantile life............................................................................................. ...........................
Origin o f the penny postage system in England.................................................................. .

131
132
133
134
136
137
138

THE BOOK TRADE.
Notices o f 38 new Books, or new Editions....................................................*...............................139-144




HUNT’ S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

COMMERCIAL REVIEW.
i____________________

J A N U A R Y ,

1852.

Art. I.— TIIE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
CHAPTER I.
O R IG IN O F N E W

ENGLAND

F IS H E R IE S — E A R L Y H I S T O R Y - P O L I C Y

O F O U R G O V E R N M E N T T O E N C O U R A G E O U R F I S H E R I E S — A C T OF
— A C T OF

1812—

D U T IE S

OF F R E N C H A N D E N G L IS H — A C T IO N

1789—

1792—F R E N C H C L A IM S
1790 T O 1846— E T C .

A C T OF

ON F IS H IN S E V E R A L T A R I F F S — D U T Y ON S A L T

N ew England has always been nearly the exclusive seat of the fishing
interest o f the country.— the tonnage engaged in it, at any time, from all
other parts o f the coast, being hardly worth mention. The reasons for this
are obvious— its nearer situation to the waters where the fish most resort,
and which have been famous for centuries as fishing grounds, not only for
this continent but for Europe, its earlier settlement, denser population, and
greater ability to engage in the pursuit.
It was very natural that the New England colonies should have been early
engaged in the Fisheries. Their soil was such as rather to repel than invite
their labors to agriculture; and it could not have held them in the primitve simplicity o f agriculturists, had it been fat with the later-known luxur­
iance of the champaign o f the Ohio and Missouri. They had a full infusion
of that spirit o f energetic adventure which was pushing forward the develop­
ment of modern civilization, and which has become more conspicuous with
the expansion o f the latter. It led them instinctively, and almost in the
outset, to that minute sub-division o f labor which is the grand engine in
developing at least the mechanical part o f our enlightenment. W hile a por­
tion turned to the soil, and another part busied themselves in fabrication, a
third cast their eyes upon the waters. There were treasures beyond the sea,
and treasures, also, within the sea; and they immediately bent their energies
to the conquest o f them. They saw7at their doors, and obstructing the light
o f their windows, forests that would furnish timber sufficient to build all the
ships that would be needed for ages— and what should deter them from en­
tering into competition with the ships o f the world in the world-’s ports f
W h a t should hinder them from bringing hither the wares o f Britain, the




20

The Fisheries o f the United States.

silks o f France, the straws o f Leghorn, the figs o f Smyrna, the teas o f C hina;
from gathering in the opulence o f the East, and the treasures o f the South.
N or did the reflection that they had nothing to give in exchange, at all dis­
turb their visions o f commercial affluence and grandeur. They designed
that the same energies which were to reach out to the wealth o f the world’s
extremities, should create the necessities o f exchange. They had an alche­
m y more potent than that o f the visionary philosophers o f the middle-ages,
and the power o f which they well understood. They knew how to convert
that which seemed worthless, into a thing o f use, o f comfort, even o f luxury;
and they feared not, therefore,that when they appeared in the world’s marts,
they would find themselves without trading capital.
One o f the first objects o f this maritime adventure, had been the Fishery
o f Newfoundland and the adjoining region. The French and English had
visited these grounds over half a century before the settlement of the English
colonies. The former, at this time, were enjoying nearly the monopoly o f a
lucrative business in those seas, and the provincialists were farther stimula­
ted by the ambition to meet their natural rival on this element, as they had
in the colonization o f the land, and contest with him the supremacy on the
American waters. Beside furnishing food to their own population, they
counted upon the Fishery as a chief source, whence was to be drawn the ne­
cessities for their cherished Commerce. Here, then, is their enterprise— this
rather desperate, than simply hazardous schem e; to wrest from Europe, with
all her power o f ships, men, and money, a business o f which she had the
present monopoly, which she found highly profitable, and which she had made
extraordinary efforts to secure and cherish; and then to offer in the flush o f
victory, to trade her the very food snatched from her mouth. This was the
identical spirit o f daring adventure, o f rough independence, o f manly selfreliance, or as some will have it, o f Yankee impudence, which, and which
alone, could have built up on a region like New England, a community
like that which New England is,— the richest, freest, most intelligent, and
happiest in the world.
The attention o f the New England people was first turned to the codfishery
o f Labrador in the year 1670, a half century after the settlement o f P ly ­
mouth. In 1675, they had engaged in the Fishery, six hundred and sixtyfive vessels, o f 25,650 tons, and carrying 4,405 seamen ; and the annual
produce was 350,000 to 400,000 cwt., valued at about $1,000,000. During
the French wars, o f course, the Fishery o f the colonies was totally interrup­
ted, or much embarrassed; and one principal stimulus o f the enthusaism
with which the colonists engaged in the various expeditions for the conquest
o f Canada, and the other French possessions, was the desire o f securing a
full and uninterrupted privilege in the fishing grounds, and of, perhaps, ex­
cluding their antagonist therefrom. The privilege, so far as regarded them­
selves, was enjoyed to the fullest extent, after the French colonies fell into
the hands o f the English, until it was again totally cut off by the war of
■the Revolution.
The treaty o f Ghent, guaranteeing to the United States a continued right
in the seas o f British America, they were revisitsd in 1783, by our Fisher­
men, and the pursuit went on, thenceforward, with some variations, but
without any thing for a long time to interrupt noticeably its progress in im ­
portance. In 1 7 86 -9 the American vessels in the Codfishery, averaged 539
in number, with a tonnage o f 19,185, and carrying 3,287 men. The aver­




The Fisheries o f the United States.

21

age catch was 250,650 quintals, (cwt.,) valued at $609,900. In 1789, there
were exported from the United States, 371,319 quintals.*
W e come now, to the action o f our government, since the establishment
o f independence, regarding the Fisheries. This action embraces its own in­
ternal measures, and treaties with foreign powers.— W e will first notice the
former.
In the year 1789, that of the large exports stated above, the sales in the
foreign markets were ruinously low, and the losses suffered were so heavy
as to affect the business quite seriously. In consequence o f this condition o f
things, the State o f Massachusetts, having surrended to the national govefnment its own power to adopt measures calculated to relieve the depressed
interest, petitioned Congress for the passage o f some act adapted to that ob­
ject. W hat made the aid asked for more desirable, if it did not render it
a thing o f imperative necessity, was the fact that both the British and French,
feeling the effects o f our competition on their fishing interests, with the mu­
tual injury inflicted by their own wars, struggling yet for the ascendancy,
and knowing the losses o f our fishermen, made efforts to induce them to re­
move to their colonies. American fishermen had always sufficient love o f
country, but under the circumstances existing, had no change occurred, or
nothing been attempted for their relief, it is very probable that a considerable
number o f them might have been induced to emigrate to the British and
French colonies. Not to have made any precautionary effort against such a
misfortune, would have been a very bad policy for a new nation to begin
with. Great Britain and France, both, at this time, encouraged their fish­
ermen by bounties, and by the prohibition o f the fish o f other nations from
their ports. Congress was not prepared to adopt similar measures, being
very justly rigidly cautious, amid the dispute as to the powers and objects
of the constitution, o f acts asserting generic principles, on which long trains
o f legislation might afterwards be depended; and being further unwilling,
however the constitutional question were regarded, to start the precedent
for a general system o f bounties to industrial pursuits.
But the necessity o f an important interest was apparent, and its demand
could not be overlooked. Whatever relief it obtained, in the way o f legis­
lation, must come from Congress ; and however men differed about abstrac­
tions, all saw, practically, that the government was intended to conserve all
interests, and not to sit by in regardless imbecility or impotent sympathy,
while they perished. In fespect to the fishing interest, it had indeed, been
declared in the constitutional convention, by Gouverneur Morris, one o f the
ablest o f the Revolutionary statesmen, and best acquainted with the econom­
ical affairs o f the country, that “ to preserve the navigation of the Mississippi,
and the Fisheries, were the two great objects o f the proposed union of the
thirteen States.” Beside the weight o f these considerations, the voice came
from Massachusetts, whose influence was then about culminating, fresh of'
* The French had engaged in the American Fisheries, in 1577, 150 vessels; in 1744, 564 vessels,.
27,500 seamen, and the catch was 1,441,500 quintals. In 1769, they had 259 vessels, o f 24,420 tons,,
9,722 seamen, catch 200,000 quintals, worth $861,723. In 1773, 264 vessels, o f 24.996 tons, catch
10,128 quintals. [?] In 1786, 7,000 seamen, 426,000 quintals; 1787,6,000 seamen, 128,000 quintals. The
French vessels made a miserable season’s work in 1773, or there is a great error in the statement—
probably the latter.
The English had in the Fisheries in 1577, 15 vessels; in 1615, 150 vessels ; in 1626, the same num berj in 1670, 80 vessels; in 1676, 102 vessels, 9,180 seamen, and the fish caught were valued at
$1,738,800. In 1731, the catch was 200,000 quintals, value $540,000. In 1773, there were 25,000 sea­
men employed and the catch was 486,561 quintals. In 1775, 400 vessels, o f 3,600 tons, 20,000 men,
and the catch was 600,000 quintals, value $2,250,000. In 1786, the catch was 470,000 quintals; in 1787,.
there were 14,000 seamen, and the catch was 732,000 quintals.




22

The Fisheries o f the United States.

Revolutionary leadership; and every member o f the new organization, in
spite o f the swelling jealousy o f State-rights, was willing to give something in
acknowledgement o f her noble bearing, as the leader o f the confederacy
throughout the war. A n act was accordingly passed, July 4, 1789, being
one o f the earliest acts o f the first Congress, which, in lieu o f a drawback
asked for on articles used in the Fisheries, gave an allowance o f five cents on
every quintal o f dried, and five cents on every barrel o f pickled fish expor­
ted from the United States.
Failing in their object, and fearing the ultimate total annihilation o f their
own Fisheries, by the navy o f England together with the rivalry o f her col­
onies, the French government at the opening o f the century, in order to raise up
a new rival to her enemy, admitted our fish into its ports under advantages
denied those coming from other places. One reflection in regard to this pol­
icy. Had the old monarchy acted with the same wisdom in its dealings gen­
erally, with this country, after our Revolution, it might have occasioned a
more auspicious train o f affairs for France. W h ile it professed warm friend­
ship toward the American nation, it manifested toward us an extreme of
jealousy and a narrow spirit, equal in degree to the hatred borne to its an­
cient enemy herself. O f course, the government o f France, being less liberal
than that o f England, had never approved the principle on which the Rev­
olution was effected; and it was, therefore, naturally very anxious to banish
the theories, which, by the connection with America, were being rapidly
transfused into its own people ; and for that purpose endeavored as far as
possible, to limit the intercourse and cool down the mutual sympathies of
the two people. Had France acted throughout as wisely as England, who, in
spite o f her resentments, sought, immediately after the war, to re-establish the
former commercial and social intercourse, the result must have been moment
ous, regarding the comparative standing o f the two powers. It is not im­
possible that the effect might have been, even with the preservation o f our
neutrality, to unseat Great Britain from her commercial supremacy, and to
give France the ascendancy on the seas, and the uncontrolled dictatorship of
European fortunes.*
In 1792, an act was passed by Congress, giving more substantial encouragemen to the Fisheries. The allowance in lieu o f the drawback on salt
was discontinued, and it was provided that the collectors o f the several dis­
tricts should pay to the owners and crew o f every vessel employed in the
Fishery, provided she had been engaged fishing four months in the year, as
follows :— for vessels o f 20 tons and not over 30, $1 50 per ton ; above 30
tons, $2 50 per ton, O f this amount, three-eighths to belong to the owner,
and five-eighths to the fishermen employed, to be shared in proportion to the
fish they had severally taken. N ot above $170 was to be paid to any one
vessel, for a single season. For boats and vessels o f five to twenty tons, em­
ployed four months, provided they had landed twelve quintals, (after being
dried) for every ton, $1 00 per ton was to be paid. The same year the al­
lowance was increased 20 per cent to vessels engaged in the bank and other
* The policy of the French government has always been exceedingly liberal in the encouragement
o f the fisheries o f that country. The object has been, both to extend and protect the fisheries on
their own account, and to strengthen its commercial and naval marine, in which it has been so much
the desire o f the French statesmen to wrest the palm from their great rival. For many years the
French government has paid a bounty to its seamen in the codflshery, at a rate per quintal larger than
the whole average price at which American codfish have been sold. Of course, the effect has been
to nearly exclude American fish from France and her colonies, In a report recently made to the Na­
tional Assembly, on the subject of the French Fisheries, it was proposed to continue the bounty at
20 francs (about $3 75) per quintal, for the trans-atlantic countries.




The Fisheries o f the United States.

23

codfisheries. A n act was also passed, granting a bounty o f 12 cents per
barrel on pickled fish (chiefly mackerel) exported, and another addition o f
3 3 i per cent made to the allowance on cod. These additional grants were
continued only so long as the salt duty remained at certain rates, the effect
o f which on the Fisheries they were designed to obviate. The main act
continues, by renewals, at different times, and with various modifications,
— chiefly to accommodate it to the varying rate o f the salt duty,— in
force to this day.
The average amount paid under these acts, to the vessels in the codfishery, was for the ten years from 1800 to 1810, 8119,842. The number o f
seamen in the codfishery in 1800, was 3,481, and the average number
during the ten years, was 4,000 to 5,000 men.
Like other interests o f the country, the fishing business derived consid­
erable benefit for some years, from the wars and agitated condition o f Europe,
during the time o f the French Bepublic and the career o f Napoleon ; but
the same circumstances were to it, also, as t o . them, the occasion o f serious
embarras-ment, and several times involved the shippers o f fish to Europe,
and with them, the fishermen partially, in heavy and unexpected losses. A l­
though the measures and practices o f the English were outrageously op­
pressive to our Commerce, the greatest losses were suffered from the French,
through their depredations prior to 1800, and in conseqence o f the confis­
cation o f all American vessels in France, by the Emperor Napoleon, when
finding all the seductions offered to the United States, failed to secure their
alliance with him against England, he resolved to fo rce them from their neu­
trality. Many engaged in the fishing business were broken down by these
losses, and a large number of others were involved in their sufferings. The
vessels loaded with fish taken in the French and Mediterranean ports, form
an item in the several French claims, o f which so much has been heard for
some years past. A part o f the claim o f those interested in these vessels,
has been, after Ion g delay, as fairly settled as could be expected; others have
been extinguished with a very reduced equivalent, and some have received
as yet, no satisfaction at all.
The war o f 1 8 12 -15, o f course, was another complete interruption to the
osecution of the codfishery, almost entirely suspending even that on our
own coast. During the war, Congress passed an act, placing the allowan­
ces on a new footing, as an equivalent, principally, for the double duty im­
posed on salt. It provided, that from January 1, 1815, there should be paid
for all codfishing vessels, four months out, if above 20 tons, and not over 30,
$2 40 per to n ; distributed in proportion as before; for vessels o f 5 to 20
tons, $1 60 per ton, on terms as before, the allowance for any one vessel
for a single season, not to exceed 8272. The act to continue in force during
the war, and one year thereafter. It was renewed by act o f February, 1816,
without limitation of time.
On the close o f the war, the American fishermen returned to the busi­
ness, with greater energy than ever. The war had served to clear the mar­
kets at home, and joined with other causes, to raise the prices abroad. U n­
der the stimulus o f the increased bounty o f the government, with the rea­
dy sales and considerable profits o f the few succeeding years, the fishing
tonnage rapidly increased. But difficulties soon arose regarding the con­
struction o f the treaty o f 1783 ; the British colonial authorities forbade our
vessels to approach within 60 miles o f the shore, at any place, and seized and
condemned some o f them for infringement o f this regulation. The dispute




24

The Fisheries o f the United States.

being adjusted by a convention, in 1818, nothing farther o f serious moment
occured to interrupt the progress o f the Fisheries. The profits, however, did
not long remain so high as in the period immediately following the war.
The maximum number o f vessels engaged in the codfishery was rea ched in
1829 ; and that in the mackerel fishery in 1836. Since those periods, the
amount in each fishery, has fluctuated considerably, owing to various causes,
although the average for any series o f years, is very nearly the same. B e­
side the special enactments for the benefit o f the Fisheries, some consider­
ation has generally been paid to their encouragement, in the various modifi­
cations o f the tariff. In fact, the almost prohibitory duty on cod and other
dried and smoked fish, and the considerable duty on other kinds, retained
through several alterations o f the general rates, must be regarded as de­
signed far more for protection, than for the object o f revenue. Under sev­
eral o f the late acts regulating the duties, the following were the rates fixed
on foreign fish imported into the United States :—

Dried, smoked, &c. (chiefly cod.)
.Pickled-Mackerel &c

“

Tariff of

Tariff o f

Tariff o f

1828.

1812-1.

1842.

$1
1
2
1

Salm oD........

A ll other kinds. . . .

$1
1
2
1

00
50
00
00

00
50
00
00

$1
1
2
1

Tariff o f

1816.

00
50
00
00

20 per cent
20
“
20
20
“

The duty on salt, which has formed the basis o f the bounties, has been in
the several tariffs, as follows —
1190.....................
1198 and 1800 . .
1812.....................
1816-18...............
1824.....................

12 cents
20 “
40
“
20 “
20 “

per bushel.
“ 66 lbs.
“ 66 “
“ 56 “
“ 56 “

20 cents per
10 “ “
8 “ “
20 per cent

1 8 2 8 ...
1 8 3 2 ...
1 8 4 2 ...
1 8 4 6 ...

56
56
56
ad

lbs. (or \ cwt.)

«
u

u
«

valorem.

A number o f efforts have been made, at different times, to abolish the
salt duty, and with it the allowance or bounty. Some have chosen to con­
sider these measures an especial grievance, not to be tolerated by men lov­
ing justice and equal rights. But they have never yet brought any one
Congress into their way o f thinking. One very determined and persever­
ing attempt was made, about the time of Mr. Van Buren’s administration,
by a very determined and persevering man, in most things— Hon. Thomas
H . Benton.
But although Mr. Benton declared, with his usual vehemence,
that he would stick by his object until he had accomplished it, he has o f late
years found a sufficiency of other matters to absorb his attention and his
energies : and the salt duty and bounties remain undisturbed. Should the
nation soon relapse into a political quiet, embarrassing to presidential aspir­
ants, for the lack o f stimulus-enkindling matters, we may expect to see
some genius in the budding hours or second stage of his statesmanship, en­
deavoring to develop a magnificent next degree, by the furious concentration
o f all his powers for the destruction o f those twin abominations, the Salt, Duty
and Fishing Bounty.
CHAPTER II.
T R E A T IE S

C O N C E R N IN G F I S H E R I E S — T R E A T Y O F

3783—

OF T H E

OF

1815—

BY TH E

— LARGE

F IS H IN G G R O U N D S U R R E N D E R E D — C O N C E S S IO N

P A R T OF T H E

L A T T E R — B A S IS

TREATY

R IF IC E OF O U R R IG H T S

T R E A T IE S

1818—SAC­
’83 A N D 1815 U N S E T T L E D
OF 1845 A D E L U S I O N , E T C .
C O N V E N T IO N OF

OF

The Fisheries have been several times the subject o f negotiation with
Great Britain. The first instance, was in the formation o f the treaty by which
the Revolutionary W a r was concluded.




The Fisheries o f the United States.

25

A t the time the peace negotiation was agreed upon, Congress, tired o f the
war, and knowing the people to be nearly exhausted, yet resolved to make
no peace without a guaranty o f our rights to our ancient fishing grounds.
The New England people, with one voice, declared they would never lay down
their arms, though their condition were ten times worse, without this righ t;
and Samuel Adams, echoing their voice, declared there should he “ N o Peace
without the Fisheries.” Their long and undisturbed resort to those waters,
their heavy expenditures and great efforts in the establishment o f English
supremacy over the Canadas and the region adjacent, joined to almost a
necessity for their use, and the right o f all nations in the seas, they felt, gave
them indisputable claim to frequent the fishing grounds still. The matter
was long and warmly debated by the Peace Commissioners o f the two par­
ties, and after using every argument without impression, Mr. John Adams,
who well understood the sentiment o f New England, declared vehemently,
and invoking Alm ighty God, that he would never put his name to a treaty
that did not recognize the right. The British Commissioners at length find­
ing the American envoys inflexible, declared their willingness to grant the
Americans a privilege in the Fisheries, but objected to the use o f the word
“ r ig h t" But Mr. Adams again vehemently replying, “ The right— the right
— or no treaty,” the point was finally, with great reluctance yielded. It has
been said, that the commissioners in their anxiety to effect a treaty contain­
ing the acknowledgement o f this claim, took the responsibility o f violating
their instructions on other points. H ow that may be, we do not know, and
it matters little, as nobody has charged them with sacrificing anything, the
retention o f which would have been an equivalent for the loss o f the Fish­
eries.
The stipulations o f the treaty o f 1183, in’ regard to the Fisheries, were,
that the citizens o f the United States should have the right “ to take fish o f
every kind on the Grand Bank, and on all the other banks o f Newfoundland;
also in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at all other places in the sea, where
the inhabitants o f both countries used at any time heretofore to fish; and
also that the inhabitants o f the United States shall have liberty to take fish
of every kind on such part o f the coast o f Newfoundland as British fishermen
shall use, (but not to dry or cure the same on that island;) and also on the
coasts, bays, and creeks, o f all other o f his Britannic Majesty’s dominions in
Am erica; and that the American fishermen shall have liberty to dry and
cure fish in any o f the unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks o f Nova Scotia,
Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled ;
but as soon as the same or either o f them shall be settled, it shall not be law­
ful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement, without a
previous agreement for that purpose, with the inhabitants, proprietors, or
possessors o f the ground.”
Under this guaranty o f the right, our fishermen returned to their old
haunts in 1783, and terminated the respite from their attacks which the
confusion o f 1775-83, and the necessity o f looking to the preservation o f
nearer interests, had given to the icthyological inhabitants o f the Northern
waters.
The second case o f negotiation worthy o f mention, was at the conclusion
o f the second war with England. W hen the Peace Commissioners of 1815
were sent to Europe, they were instructed, in anticipation o f a renewal o f
the English pretension to an exclusive right in the fishing-grounds, to aban­
don the negotiation rather than to yield any o f the right conceded by the




26

The Fisheries o f the United States.

treaty o f 1Y83. The British Commissioners declared it as the view o f their
government that the war then existing, had abrogated the concession made
in 1783, and insisted on a new arrangement, restricting the grant within
much smaller limits. The principle, if acknowledged in any shape, would
have been fatal, as it would have reduced our title from that o f a right to a
•
p rivilege, which the first Commissioners had peremptorily refused to consi­
der it, and would have given ample room for further restriction, at will, and
final reclamation o f the whole grant, leaving us no other course but quiet
acquiescence. The Commissioners promptly and decidedly took the high
ground which could alone secure our claims, that we held our right in the
fisheries by the same tenure by which we held our independence as a nation ;
that England could no more withdraw one than the oth er; that the treaty
o f 1783 did not convey anything, in this matter, from England to the United
States, but merely acknowledged a right residing in the latter ; and that,
apart from this, no nation has a right to appropriate all the wealth o f the
seas, or all the use o f them to its own advantage. The efforts and arguments
o f the American Commissioners prevailed, and the right was left standing
on the basis o f ’ 83.
But now, what we had maintained through two wars, and had had con­
firmed to us by two Treaties o f Peace, at their conclusion, was to be sacri­
ficed, in part, by a convention, in the midst of a profound peace— a Congress
simply to arrange difficulties experienced in putting former treaties in prac­
tice— in which neither was to gain any advantage o f the other; but which
b y an adjustment mutually convenient and fair, was to conserve harmony in
the relations o f the two countries, so that even the talk o f disturbance might not
afterward occur— at least, might find no reason for indulgence. A m ong the
difficulties which led to this convention, not the least important were those
regarding the fisheries. For several years, the British authorities, with a
high hand had, interfered with our rights; our vessels had been forbidden to
approach within sixty miles o f any coast o f British America, had been seized
and condemned for so doing ; and other like outrages perpetrated.
The convention for adjusting the several matters in issue, met in 1818.
The ministers on the part o f the United States were Albert Gallatin and
Richard Rush. A n arrangement was effected by this convention in regard
to the fisheries, which was thought to adjust happily all points o f dispute,
and to secure important concessions in addition to what was before possessed.
The terms were— that the inhabitants o f the United States should for ever
possess the right, in common with the subjects o f his Britannic Majesty to
take fish o f every kind, on that part o f the southern coast o f Newfoundland,
between Cape Ray and the Ramean Islands, and between Cape Ray and
the Magdalen Islands, and also on the coasts, bays, harbors and creeks, from
Mount Joly on the south coast of Labrador, to and through the Straits o f
Bellisle, thence North indefinitely along the coast, without prejudice, how­
ever to any o f the exclusive rights of the Hudson Bay Company. Also, to
cure and dry fish in any o f the unsettled bays, harbors, and. creeks o f the
parts described, but not in any settled, without agreement with the propri­
etors or inhabitants. O f all other places, the United States give up all right
ever claimed or enjoyed to “ take or cure fish on or within three marine
miles o f any o f the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbors,” belonging to Great
Britain; their vessels to be allowed to enter them for shelter, or repairs of
damages, or purchase o f wood and obtaining water, “ and for no other pur­
poses whatever.”




The Fisheries o f the United States.

27

The American negotiators seem to have been o f opinion, that in this treaty
they had obtained an arrangement exceedingly advantageous to the Amer­
ic a n fishermen ; and there seems also, to have been too much disposition to
accept on trust, the assurance o f those distinguished statesmen, that they
had effected every thing desirable ; for all which due credit was given to their
abilities, to the sudden spasm o f liberality, and to the standing fears o f John
Bull. But comparing the treaty with that o f 1783, we cannot perceive in
what there is anything to suggest gratulation to the fishermen o f the Uni­
ted States. They should have known to be sure, if any, whether their rights
and interests were sacrificed. But the truth is this— the fishermen, the only
class sufficiently interested, directly, to examine the matter, were contented
with the fact, that they were to be allowed quietly to fish in places from
which they had o f late been driven, and for visiting which they had in some
cases lost their vessels ; and were disposed to consider this an important point
gained, without stopping to reflect that this was but at best, a second gift o f
what had been once given and never reclaimed, and that Great Britain had
been hired to abstain from an act o f nullification— nullification o f contract
under her own bond and seal, which she could neither have justified nor
maintained in the face o f the world. The Commissioners could not claim,
certainly, that the new treaty, in reality, added anything to the surface o f
waters we were entitled to use before ; the only gain, then, they must have
supposed to be in a more explict definition of the respective localities to be vis­
ited and to be free from the intrusion o f the Americans, obviating so the
chances o f misapprehension and collision. W e consider the treaty poorly
justified in any lig h t; and despite the statesmanship o f the two eminent
men responsible for its paternity, regard it as one o f the worst abortions o f
American diplomacy. The first grand error is, the surrender of the great
principle by which our rights in the fisheries had been made permanent and
invulnerable. The right had originally been claimed as part and substanee
o f our independence, and refusing to receive an acknowledgement o f inde­
pendence detached from the questioned right, the grant o f both placed
them both on the same footing, forever beyond the control of England. On
this broad and immovable basis, the Commissioners o f 1815 presented the
right, when the British envoys claimed that the war had made void former
treaty concessions; and the recession of the latter from their assumption,
was an acknowledgement o f the validity o f the claim in its whole fo r m and
extent. Thus, except by actual conquest or purchase, our rights in the
fisheries were forever placed beyond limitation. W e could gain additional
privileges, but could lose none— could have no modification o f what we
possessed. But when Messrs. Gallatin and Rush agreed to subject our rights
to a re-modification— to yield points, and receive equivalents; or even if it
were no more than to receive from England a new definition o f our title, the
whole grand conservator o f our right was destroyed. The contract o f 1818,
unlike that o f 1783, could he nullified. W ar, every real or pretended
breach o f faith on the part o f the United States, in fact the inclination o f
the British government, were either o f them sufficient, at any time, to set it
aside. If the j treaty were declared void, o f course, all the (so considered)
privileges given by it, were reclaimed by England; and as the least evil, the
way was open for other conventions, no matter of how peaceful origin, which
might arise from the demand o f England herself, and in which, according
to her power and covetousness, and our own circumstances, she might grad­
ually force other sacrifices, until we had purchased her regard to her own




28

The Fisheries o f the United States.

faith, by tossing over the last bit o f our mutilated right. Thus cheaply was
the indestructible basis o f two treaties sold out.
Next, John Bull takes care, in redescribing our privileges, to lop away cer­
tain portions, sundry odd corners, and ungraceful appendages. H e prob­
ably argued, and the American Commissioners either thought so too, or con­
ceiving a clear definition to be worth a substantial consideration, deemed a
fair attorney fee. quite due Mr. Bull’s luminous expose o f American rights,
that it would much improve the fo rm of the American district, to amputate
these ugly-shaped limbs. Observe the difference between our relation’s pro­
cesses of defining and KE-defining. The treaty of 1783 allows the Amer­
icans to fish in, beside sundry named places, “ all other places in the sea,
where the inhabitants o f both countries used at any time heretofore to fish ; ”
and beside the wdiole coast o f Newfoundland, “ on the coast, bays, and creeks
o f all other o f his Britannic Majesty's dominions in A m e r i c a They are
allowed to “ dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbors, and
creeks o f Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador.” That is the defi­
nition exacted by John Adams and his associates, and while no one could
at all complain that it was not sufficiently broad and comprehensive, we do
not see that language could well be more clear and distinct. The re-defini­
tion, is in this manner of curtailment; that the Americans are to have the
right to take fish on a part of the southern coast of Newfoundland, and on
a part o f the coast o f Labrador, and also to take and cure fish in the un­
settled bays, creeks, or harbors o f the parts described. O f all other places,
the United States give up all right ever claimed or enjoyed to take or cure
fish within three marine miles o f any o f the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbors,
o f his Britannic Majesty in America. W h at was thus given up, paid away
for a clear definition, and a promise to stop breaking an old promise, em­
braced all the “ coasts, bays, creeks, and harbors,” o f the province o f Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick, o f the islands o f Cape Breton, St. Johns, Anti­
costi, and o f the numerous other islands o f the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and
the Northern side of Newfoundland, <fcc., &c. For this consideration, together
with that o f the basis o f our title to all the rest, Mr. Bull put his second
promise on the dishonored back of the first; in other words, having become
veraciously insolvent, he compromised with his creditor, and gave a per centage o f fresh promise in lieu of the entire faith just broken. Jonathan ac­
cepts the fractional performance o f the contract, and acknowledges Mr. Bull
out o f his debt, and free to go into business again.
But this is not all. Mr. Bull has put into the protocol, a slight proviso,
seemingly of little moment, and innocent o f all look o f design, which may
acquire some important signification. All that the Americans are to enjoy,
in the waters specified, is to be enjoyed “ however without prejudice to any
o f the exclusive rights o f the Hudson Bay Company.” W h at protection
does the great Hudson Bay Company need against the American fishermen ?
Or, at any rate, what more protection did they need in 1818, than in 1783,
when no such protective feature was inserted in the treaty ? H ad the fish­
ermen encroached on them between the two periods, so mnch affecting their
income, and endangering their existence, as to require that the two govern­
ments should put this double wall o f partition between assailant and assailed ?
But what was the Hudson Bay Company ? W as it any known, fixed, recog­
nized object, o f palpable outline, and assigned location ? N o— but a thing
as regarded us, most dimensively indefinite— a radical ambiguity, snugly in­
terpolated in this document o f definition, and liable, at some future occasion,




The Fisheries o f the United States.

29

to expand into a big Unfixity, enveloping in a baffling fog, all the clear de­
scriptions among which it was lodged. N o doubt the Hudson Bay Com­
pany had rights, and that these rights were as properly objects o f gov­
ernment care, to England, as those o f other associations, and o f indi­
viduals less able to defend them.
But we had engaged to respect an
unfinished charter— a progressive catalogue o f privileges, of which the
whole creative power was in the hands o f England! It was not their
present only, but their fu tu re right, that our Commissioners guarantied;
and that future would be, what England chose to shape it. Nothing in the
name or proposed objects o f the company limited it to any particular location
or business, and should England at any time have transferred to it, her right
in the Fisheries, the rights o f our citizens held “ in common with British
subjects,” must have been sacrificed to the “ exclusive ” privilege o f the H ud­
son Bay Company.
Is all this amount o f sacrifice offset by nothing in the nature o f gain ?
There is, indeed, one single instance of a seeming concession from the
party which is otherwise exclusively the receiver. And what is this new
privilege whose transfer is to compensate for the surrender o f rights, alike
invaluable and inpregnable ? A n appearance only !— the transfer under cov­
enant seal and interchanged signature o f a Shadow 1 A Privilege, not
worth the paper on which it is written. W e are allowed, in good stiff dip­
lomatic terms, to cure fish on sundry unsettled parts o f the Island o f New­
foundland ; the same privilege having before existed in regard to the rest o f
the coasts, and having never been used. W ere our Commissioners duped ?
Did they not know the practical value o f the pretended concession ? I f they
did not, it is a lamentable instance o f the ignorance o f the interests o f even
their own country, under which the best statesmen may suffer. But the sec­
tion of cross-conveyance is well adjusted to the other parts o f the treaty,
among which it rests without in the least disturbing the harmony o f the pa­
per as a document o f unmixed capitulation. Indeed this remarkable treaty
as a whole, is the finest piece o f dove-tailed ingenuity, that European diplo­
macy has ever executed for the security o f American rights. Surely if there
was ever need o f a “ protective principle ” to encourage the development o f
native skill, it was urgently demanded in behalf o f American diplomacy, at
the time Messrs. Gallatin and Rush repaired to the Convention o f 1818.
Unhappily the subject had been overlooked in the tariffs enacted previously
to that time.*
Another occasion for expressing our thanks to English liberality occurred
in 1845, when our fishermen were admitted into the Bay o f Eundy. This
astonishing instance o f magnanimity to a rival, called forth the kindliest
smiles of acknowledgment from the American press, generally; and some
of our politicians, including the most rabid haters o f Britain, were fraternally
animated by the belief that, by such an act, John Bull had locked and
double-bolted the gates o f Janus, just threatened to swing open. The ac­
tual reason for self-gratulation and for thanks, was o f much the same char­
• A writer in the Journal o f Commerce recently suggested that as a compensation for farther mod­
ifications of our commercial system in favor o f England, she might be induced ta>grant us the priv­
ilege of drying fish on the coasts of her American possessions ! This is a proposition to re-enact the
Convention of 1818—we are to pay England to re-grant or rc-define privileges we already have! But
it luckily happens that the subtracting element, so material a part of England’s Re-defining system,
could not materially injure us, if confined to this matter alone, as the privilege possessed and re-asked,
is one of no value,—the reason being, simply, that if our fishermen were to stop to cure their fish on
the British American coasts, the delay would occasion more expense than to bring them home.




30

The Fisheries o f the United States.

acter, but still less in degree than in the case o f the clear definitions o f 1818.
The grant o f 1818 existed in a previous treaty— that o f 1845 was embod­
ied in two treaties then on record, and neither set aside. The right to fish
in the Bay o f Fundy, notwithstanding it was never improved or insisted
upon, was as clearly given in the treaty o f 1818, as in that o f 1783. The
palpable meaning o f the clause giving up, as to other places than those named,
all right before claimed or enjoyed, “ to take or cure fish on or w hin
three marine miles o f any o f the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbors ” o f the
British possessions, is, that the Americans shall not fish within three miles
o f any shore in these parts; the words bay, creek, or harbor, being substi­
tuted for the inland shores o f the same, which are not confounded with the
word coasts, meaning the shore o f the sea. In a bay o f over six miles in
width the Americans had still as much right to fish, as in any other part of
the sea; and if, by a monstrously perverted understanding of the word
“ bay,” the Americans were to be excluded from coming within three miles
o f the mouth or outlet o f any arm o f the sea, then they could be excluded
from any body o f water, however large, lying partially within the embrace
o f the land. If the Americans could rightfully be excluded, under the
treaty o f 1818, from the Bay o f Fundy, they could with the same justice
and propriety be driven from the Gulf o f St. Lawrence, the grant o f a few
coasts, bays, creeks, Ac., on one or two of its sides, giving them no permis­
sion to range the whole of that land-begirted sea. In accepting the bounty
o f 1845 as a real transfer o f privilege, we acknowledged as valid a pervert­
ed construction o f the clear definitions o f 1818, and gave up our just right
in whatever other bays or harbors this perverted construction may have been
applied to.
Certainly our diplomatic efforts connected with the Fisheries, since the
war o f 1812, have been singularly unfortunate. H ad our commercial inter­
est, generally, been no better taken care of, it would have illy withstood the
competition o f the powerful rival interests o f Britain and France. Every
attempt to better our privileges has resulted in a sacrifice o f a part o f them.
Once we have lost a moiety as the price o f a clear definition, and again we
have lost another part in a supposed enlargement o f them. A few more
conventions, protocols, and concessions like those o f 1818 and 1845, will
effectually adjust all points o f difference, by leaving us nothing needing pro­
tection, or requiring description.




Protection vs. Free Trade.

31

Art. II.— PROTECTION vs. FREE-TRADE.
THE LAW OF PROGRESS IN THE RELATIONS OF CAPITAL AND LABOR.
F reem an H unt, Esq., Conductor o f the Merchants’ Magazine, etc.

The papers on both sides, in the discussion between R . S. and myself have
been printed under the running title “ P r o t e c t i o n v s . F r e e T r a d e .” Such
is not, however, the issue that has been made on my part. I undertook, in­
deed, to show that, for the solution o f this question, it was indispensable to
ascertain whether Carey, or Malthus and Ricardo are correct in their oppos­
ing views, as to the course o f cultivation o f the earth; and to determine
whether it be true that population increases, or tends to increase, faster
than the means of subsistence, as Malthus believes, or whether increasing
density o f population brings with it facilities for obtaining food, or increas­
ing in a more rapid ratio than the consumers, according to Carey. For the
purpose o f proving this I was obliged to sketch the opposing theories upon
which the school o f protection— which follows Adam Smith in regarding do­
mestic commerce as the primary interest o f a nation— and the Manchester
school— which, following the modern English economists, is mainly solicitous
to encourage foreign trade— respectively base themselves. I am quite aware
that I did not, as I could not do this without exposing my own opinions.
But all this is merely introductory to a discussion o f the protective policy,
which I have, it is true, signified a readiness to enter upon, if invited, but
have not commenced. This much it seems proper to premise lest your
readers should infer that I conceive myself to be doing what I have not as
yet undertaken.
Several o f the principles which I stated are so repugnant to the notions
of R. S. that he could hardly treat them as entitled to a decent show o f con­
sideration. I attempted therefore, to produce evidence in support o f them,
not in “ statistics for very short periods,” but in statistics for the respectable
periods of fifty, and a hundred and fifty years, derived from the most emi­
nent free-trade authorities o f Great Britain and France. W h en I dealt with
statistics for the short period o f ten years, it was because they were selected
and quoted by R. S. himself. These I think show that with increasing ca­
pital production is so much cheapened in its labor cost, that while wages
and profits both rise commodities fall in their money price.
In respect to manufactured fabrics, the Lowell statistics to which we were
referred by R. S., furnished the means o f experiencing how it comes that a
piece o f cotton cloth can be sold for a less sum o f money than ten years be­
fore, yet that less money pays higher cash wages to labor, and higher profits
to capital. Prof. Gordon, o f the University o f Glasgow, says, in the Art
Journal, for October, “ A n experienced operative o f the manufacturing dis­
tricts working the modern looms, produces 26 pieces o f printing cloth, 25
inches wide, 29 yards long and 11 picks per j inch in a week o f sixty hours.
The cost o f weaving each piece is 5|d.— less than 6d. I f the same cloth
were woven on the old loom, one operative would produce only four pieces,
and at a cost o f 2s. 9d. each ; or the weaver’s wages in 1800 were as much
as the entire value o f the cloth in the Manchester market at present.”
i According to this statement the entire cost o f the wages paid in 1800 has dis­
appeared from the cloth described, in 1850. But wages have not been reduced
to nothing. On the contrary, they are higher, estimated in money and by the
hour, and still higher estimated in cotton cloth. Mr. Porter, in his Pro-




\

32

'

Protection vs. Free Trade.

gress o f the Nation, states that, “ the number o f yards o f cotton cloth export­
ed in 1834 were greater by 125 per cent than in -1820, while the increpse
in the declared value is no more than 7 per cent. The average price per
yard, which in 1820 was 12Jd., had fallen in 1834 to 6 j'Td. The quantity
o f twist exported increased in-the same period in the proportion o f 10 to 3,
while the increase in its declared value was only in the proportion of 13 to
7. The average price o f twist in 1820 was 2s. 5|d. per pound ; in 1834 it
was Is. 4Jd. The diminution o f value in the twist appears to amount to
4 5 f per cent, and in cloth to 511 per cent.” Progress o f the Nation, vol. 1,
page 209. The money price o f labor remaining the same, its command over
cotton cloth, or wages estimated in cotton, had more than doubled. I f we
compare the official and declared valued o f all the British and Irish pro­
ducts and manufactures exported from Great Britain in the years instanced
by Mr. Porter, and the proportion per cent that the declared or real value
bore to the official values, we shall be able to see in what degree the effec­
tiveness o f labor had increased in the production o f all those commodities
which Great Britain exports.
Year.

Official value.

1820.....................
1834.....................

£37,820,293
73,495,536

Declared value.

£35,569,077
41,286,594

Per cent, de’ed value.

94
56.4

This exhibits an average reduction in cost upon all the articles o f export
o f forty per cent. W e extend the comparison to the present period, taking
the average of the last five years for the purpose o f excluding temporary va­
riations in the market, as follows :
Year.

1846
1847
1848
1849
1850

Official value.

Declared value. P’r cent o f de’ed value.

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

£132,288,345
126,130,986
132,617,604
164,539,504
175,416,709

£57,786,875
68,842,377
52,849,445
63,596,025
71,359,184

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

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

£730,973,140

£304,433,906

41.63887

The rates at which all articles o f export and import are officially valued,
having been fixed long before the earliest period in the above tables, and re­
maining unchanged, the first column is only valuable as a means o f deter­
mining the quantity o f the exports. The proportions between quantity and
cost, as the latter is shown by the declared value, at different periods, o f course
exhibit the relative efficiency o f labor acting in combination with the capital
employed by it in the work o f production. Whatever may be the respec­
tive share o f labor and capital in the progress they achieve, it is plain that
the reduction in the cost o f commodities is equivalent to an advance in the
rate o f wages. If, as shown by the above tables, $41 63 would purchase
during the last five years as much o f all the articles for the supply of human
wants and comforts, which make up the multiform exportation o f Great Bri­
tain, as $94 would have done thirty years ago, it is evidence the real wages,
that is, the amount of supplies at the command o f the laborer, have more
than doubled, provided wages estimated in money have not receded. It
shows also that wages absorb more than twice as large a proportion o f the
product resulting from the joint action o f labor and capital as before, and
that consequently the proportion going to profits has diminished. But the
captialist takes his diminished proportion from an increased total produc­
tion. To the owner o f a mill it is a matter o f indifference whether he re­
ceives in return for the use o f his buildings, machinery, <fcc., sixty-six per cent




Protection vs. Free Trade.

S3

of one million yards o f cloth, or thirty-three per cent o f two millions. R. S.,
and those who think with him, will not admit the supposition that the total
product is not increased by at least a sufficient per ceutage to j: ay the in­
creased proportion going to labor without impairing the remainder belong­
ing to profits. To establish this would be to prove that in the progress o f
society labor is devouring capital. They maintain the reverse. According
to their theory capital is more and more obtaining the mastery, and labor be­
coming more and more its slave. Their system is one o f antagonism and dis­
cord. They have failed to see that the interests o f the laborer, the capital­
ist, and the consumer, who pays both by the purchase o f their products, are
in perfect harm ony; and such is the teaching o f their great master. “ W ith
a permanently high price o f corn,” says Mr. Ricardo, and McCulloch quotes
the passage to assent and approve, “ caused by increased labor on the land, wa­
ges would be high, and as commodities would not rise on account o f the rise
of wages, profits would necessarily fall. I f goods worth £ 1 ,000 require at one
time labor which cost £8 0 0 , and at another time the price o f the same
quantity o f labor is raised to £ 9 0 0 , profits will fall from £ 2 0 0 to £ 1 0 0 .
Profits would not fall in one trade only, but in all. H igh wages equally af­
fect the profits o f the farmer, the manufacturer and the merchant. There is
no other way o f keeping profits up hut by keeping wages down." ( On P r o ­
tection to Agriculture, page 43.)
If the theory o f R. S. is correct— if capital has been gaining power at the
expense o f labor, and that in virtue o f a permanent law which must continue
to operate in the future as in the past, then it is clear that a duplication o f
real wages must have been and must ever be accompanied by more than a du­
plication o f profits. I f it were not, profits would recede relatively to wages,
and our case would be made out. I f it were, then the increase o f wages,
and the still greater increase o f profits, must be attended by a diminution o f
the share o f the products going to rent, which is equally fatal to the Mal­
thusian hypothesis. The conclusion is to be avoided only by supposing the
increase o f production sufficiently large to cover a duplication and more
than a duplication o f rent, after satisfying the double demand o f labor, and
the more than double demand o f capital. A ll this, too, be it remembered,
with a reduction in the cost o f commodities to the consumer o f more than
fifty per cent.
I have referred to rent only, because I am not aware what are the views
entertained by R. S. in reference to its entering into the price o f commodi­
ties. I quoted in a previous article, two passages from the same work o f
Malthus, for the purpose o f showing his admissions that the wages o f labor
must increase in proportion to rent, and that rent has in fact in England di­
minished in the proportion which it bears to the whole value o f the produce,
at the same time that, “ though the landlord has a less share o f the pro­
duce, yet this less share, from the very great increase o f the produce, yields
a larger quantity.” W e shall have occasion to use this statement, which
Mr. Malthus made upon the authority o f the returns collected by the Board
of Agriculture, for another purpose; at present it is cited only as evidence
that in his belief wages must obtain an increasing and not a diminishing p ro­
portion o f the products o f the soil.
It may be worth while here to cite a passage in which McCulloch gives
the theory o f his school in relation to the effect o f rent and wages, in de­
termining price.
“ It is utterly impossible to g o on increasing the price o f that raw produce,
VOL.

xxvx.— n o . i.




3

34

Protection vs. Free Trade.

which forms the principal part o f the subsistence o f the laborer, by taking
inferior soils into cultivation without also increasing his wages. A rise in
wages is seldom or never exactly coincident with a rise in the price o f necessaries, but they can never be very far separated. The price o f the necessa­
ries o f life is in fact the cost o f producing labor. The laborer cannot work
if he is not supplied with the means o f subsistence. A nd although a period
o f varying extent, according to the circumstances o f the country at the time,
must always elapse, when necessaries are rising in price before wages can
be proportionably augmented, there can be no question but that in the end
such an augmentation will be brought about. N ow as rent is nothing but
the excess, or the value o f the excess, o f the produce obtained from the best
above that obtained from the very worst soils in cultivation, it is plain it
does not enter into the cost o f production, and can have no influence what­
ever on prices.' Still better to elucidate this fundamental principle, let us
suppose that an individual has two loaves on his table ; one raised on very
fertile land, the other on the very worst land in cultivation: in the latter
there will be no rent, and it will be wholly divided between wages and pro­
fits. W e have already shown that it is the cost o f producing this loaf which
will regulate the price o f all other loaves; and although it will be true that
the rent which the loaf raised on the best land will afford, will be equal to
all the difference between the expense o f growing the corn o f which it is
made, and the corn raised on the worst land o f which the standard loaf is
made, yet it is only in consequence o f this difference that any rent whatever
is paid. Twenty different loaves, all selling for the same price may yield
different portions o f ren t; but it is one only, that which yields no rent,
which regulates the value o f the rent, and which is to be considered as the
standard. It is demonstrable, therefore, that rent does not enter into price—
wages and profits make up the whole value o f every commodity. And,
therefore, when wages rise profits must f a l l ; and when wages f a l l profits
must rise. But we have shown that there is never any falling off, but a constant
increase in the productiveness o f the labor employed in manufacturing and
preparing raw produce. And such being the case, it is demonstrably cer­
tain that the subsistence o f the laborer could never be increased in price,
and consequently that no additions could ever be made to his necessary
wages, were it not for the diminished power o f agricultural labor, originating
in the inevitable necessity under which we are placed o f resorting to poorer
soils to obtain raw produce as society advances. The continually decreas­
ing fertility o f the soil is, therefore, at bottom the great and permanent
cause o f a fall o f profits. Profits would never fall if wages were not increas­
ed ; and, supposing taxation to continue invariable, wages would never be in­
creased were it not f o r the decreasing fertility o f the soil, and the consequent
increase o f the labor necessary to obtain corn and other raw products.”
It would be very difficult to find a passage which more thoroughly ex­
poses the difference between the British system o f political economy and
the American, than the preceding. It teaches that wages rise because labor
becomes more inefficient— that more is given because less is received— that
capital pays a larger dividend to labor because the fund from which it has
to pay it is diminished. Our system, on the contrary, teaches that labor is
more highly paid, both as to proportion and as to absolute amount, when it
contributes, and where it contributes, and because it contributes, most to
swell the gross quantity o f the products out o f which, or from the value
of which, wages must be derived— when and where, and because it is most




Protection vs. Free Trade.

35

productive. It is not allowed to monopolize all the gain resulting from its
superior efficiency, though it obtains the larger share. Part is retained by
the capital, through the increased aid o f which it was enabled to effect en­
larged and improved results ; part goes to the consumer by the fall o f price.
It would seem not hard to determine which is most consonant with reason
and facts; nor would it seem presumptuous to say, that the British the­
ory is crammed with absurdities. It may be objected to the argument
founded upon the diminished proportion which the declared or real value
of exports from Great Britain bears to their official value or quantity, that
it is limited to manufactured commodities, and that the advance in real
wages resulting from the diminution in their cost may be counteracted by
the rise in the price of agricultural products. The statistics which we cited
in the November number o f this Magazine from the Annuaire de L 'E co­
nomic Politique, o f the agricultural production o f France for a period o f one
hundred and fifty years, and o f its distribution, showing as they do a vast
increase both in the nominal or money wages, the real wages, or the abso­
lute quantity o f grain they would command, and the proportion which they
bore to the entire crop, might suffice for an answer. I f a further one were
required for the purpose o f showing that the experience o f England agreed
with that o f France, it might be found in the statement of Mr. Malthus before
referred to. It was, that “ the average proportion which rent bears to the va­
lue o f the produce seems not to exceed one-fifth, whereas formerly when
there was less capital employed and less value produced, the proportion
amounted to one-fourth, one-third, or even two-fifths.” In the same para­
graph he says that “ though the landlord has a less share o f the whole pro­
duce, yet this less share, from the very great increase o f the produce, yields
a larger quantity.” O f course the whole produce in the period to which he
refers, must have more than doubled, in order that one-fifth now, should be
greater than two-fifths formerly. If its amount at the earlier period be re­
presented by 100, two-fifths o f which, or 40, was retained for rent, it left 60
to be divided between wages and profits. It has now become 200 plus an
indefinite quantity, which we may represent by x one-fifth, or 40 + J goes to
rent, and the remainderlGO+-J*, is left for wages and profits— that is to say,
two and two-thirds times as much as before, besides the indefinite addi­
tion fx .
Thus much for the degree in which the agricultural laborers shared in the
produce of their own toil. But what we want to learn is, the cost o f that
produce to others. If the increased quantity has been raised by the same
or a less amount o f labor, then it is obvious that its real cost has decreased.
Upon this point there is no room for doubt. The number o f agricultural
laborers in Great Britain has been constantly decreasing in the proportion
which it bore to the whole population and to the crop. Thus Mr. Porter
informs us— (Progress o f the Nation, vol. 1, page 148)— that “ the total
number of families in Great Britain has increased, between 1811 and 1831,
from 2,544,215 to 3,414,175, or at the rate of thirty-four per cent; the
number o f families employed in agriculture has increased only from 896,998
to 961,134, or at the rate o f 7 } per cent.” It was shown by the census of
1841 that the number o f persons employed in agricultural labor was less ab­
solutely and o f course still less proportionally, than in 1831. W e are not yet
furnished with the information upon this point obtained by the census of
1851, but there can be no doubt that the same decrease in the proportion of
agricultural laborers has continued down to the present period. This fact is




3G

•

Protection vs. Free Trade.

conclusive as to the diminution o f the labor cost o f agricultural products. It
further testimony is wanted, it is furnished in that unexceptionable freetrade authority, the Edinburgh Review, for July,
“ During the ten years o f the present century, between 1811 and 1820,
the wheat grown on our own soil sufficed for feeding 13,035,039 persons,
allowing the yearly consumption o f each to be eight bushels. The average
price o f wheat during those ten years was 88s. 8d. per quarter, and the mean
number o f the population o f Great Britain was 13,494,317. During the
next space o f ten years the mean number o f mouths having increased to
15,465,474 we fed from our own soil 1,894,843 more than in the previous
ten years. Y et what had been the average price for the whole period ? It
had fallen to 58s. 5d,, or to 21s. 7(7. per quarter below that at which it had,
in 1815, been declared possible to keep our land in cultivation : and which
it was sought to maintain as a minimum by excluding all foreign imports,
when the price should fall below 80s. per quarter. In the following decennium, with prices still further depressed to the average o f 56s. 9d., our farmers
provided wheat for 1,697,706 o f the mouths which in the same period had
been added to our numbers, or, for 16,628,188 o f the 17,535,826 souls then
inhabiting Great Britain.”
Mr. Porter, after giving the imports o f wheat'for a long series o f years, to
show “ in how small a degree this country has hitherto been dependent upon
foreigners in ordinary seasons for a due supply o f our staple article o f food,”
and “ how exceedingly great the increase o f agricultural production must
have been to have thus effectively kept in a state o f independence a popula­
tion which has advanced with so great a degree o f rapidity,” says, “ the one
article o f wheat has been selected because it is that which is most generally
consumed in England; but the position advanced would be found to hold
good were we to go through the whole list o f the consumable products o f
the earth''
It would be easy to bring any quantity o f testimony upon the point un­
der consideration, for the free-traders o f England are laboriously engaged in
proving that the farmers o f the kingdom can produce food at much lower
prices than any named in our quotations, (for we have stopped short of
the epoch o f the repeal o f the corn laws,) and yet maintain a fair rate o f
profit.
It may be noticed that Mr. Malthus, in the quotation we have given, does
not state the dates within which the proportion o f rent to the whole produce
has thus decreased, while its absolute amount has augmented. Mr. Porter,
however, informs us that “ the revenue drawn in the form o f rent from the
ownership o f the soil has been at least doubled in every part o f England
since 1790, and it is more than probable that it has advanced 150 per cent
throughout the kingdom.”
R. S. states that “ in 1830 and 1831 it was proved before a committee of
the House o f Lords, that rents had risen in England fo u r hundred per cent
within the period o f half a century.” Whatever the advance o f rents be taken
to be within this period, it has been shown, by the testimony o f the most dis­
tinguished followers o f Ricardo, that the production o f food advanced yet more
rapidly. Between 1804, the earliest period, we have any very reliable sta­
tistics on the subject, and 1841, the population o f the United Kingdom ad­
vanced from 15,441,000 to 26,831,105, or 58 per cent. I f we suppose the
same rate o f progress to have existed in the ten years preceding 1801 as
since, the increase o f the population between 1790 and 1841 will amount




Protection vs. Free Trade.

to
or
to
as

87

73 per cent. The rent has advanced, according to Porter, 150 per cent,
twice as fast, and inasmuch as the produce has augmented, according
Malthus, twice as much as the rent, it has increased four times as rapidly
the consumers.
I have the means at hand, in the statistics o f McQueen and others, of show­
ing the facts I desire to establish, in a much more lucid, accurate and con­
vincing form ; but I prefer to restrict myself to the testimony o f men in high
standing in the school o f Ricardo and Malthus, and who cannot be impeach­
ed for the slightest leaning towards the protective system. Relying solely
upon such hostile evidence, I think it has been made apparent that capital in
land follows the same laws as that in moveable property, and that with its
growth and progress, the gross return, to the activity o f labor and capital
in combination, is so greatly increased as—
1st. To give a larger proportionate share, and p f course a greater absolute
amount to the laborer.
2d. To give a greater absolute amount, though a less proportionate share,
to the capitalist.
3d. To leave a surplus o f advantage which accrues to the benefit o f the
entire body o f consumers in the diminished cost o f products.
The course o f this world is so ordered that no man can monopolize the
benefits o f the enhanced efficiency o f his capital or his labor, but is obliged
to share them with all his brethren. It is so, because capital o f all kinds
increases faster than population— the mass o f things to be sold, faster than
the purchasers— the sum total o f food, materials and tools, faster than the
laborers who are to use them.
Few have reflected how very trifling an annual increase o f capital is requi­
site to keep it in advance o f population. A n advance each year upon the
last, o f 2.81 per cent will double population in twenty-five years, and this is
a rate so rapid as to have been taken by Malthus as the limit o f physical ca­
pacity. Capital increasing in the same way, at three per cent, or less than
one-fifth o f one per cent more than population, will double in 22.916 years ;
and in twenty-five years will amount to 9.48 per cent more than double the
original amount. I f at the expiration o f this period the increase were to be
divided, there would be sufficient to give to each of the original members o f
society, or his representative, 4.73 per cent in addition to his original stock,
and to provide each o f the new members, equal in number, with the same
amount o f property, as the old ones w ould possess in their improved condi­
tion. I f capital increased at the annual rate o f five per cent, it would amount
in twenty-five years to 3.38 times its original sum— and upon a new divi­
sion would give to each member o f the doubled society §169 in value in
place o f the §100 which the original half o f their number had at the com ­
mencement. I f the process continues a second period o f twenty-five years,
population will have quadrupled, and the original $100 o f capital will have
swelled to §1,146 74, giving to each person, on a new division, §28 68. I f
the people o f Great Britain and Ireland increased only 73 per cent between
1790 and 1840, an increase o f their capital, each year upon the preceding
o f but 21 per cent, would be sufficient to give to each person in 1840 twice
as much as was possessed by the individual in 1790. A n increase at the
rate o f three per cent would give to each one an average o f §253 40, where
each o f his predecessors had but §10 0— and at the rate o f four per cent,
would give §410 70.
W o think it sufficiently appears from the facts, that capital in the shape




38

Protection vs. Free Trade.

o f food and raw material follows the same laws in its distribution as that o f
other descriptions ; and this is conclusive as to the law o f its production, or
rather growth. For wealth o f every kind is distributed not through the
process o f division, and the assignment and location o f parts in different
quarters and to different claimants by an independent agent or exterior force,
but it distributes itself under the action o f its internal law o f growth, as the
trunk o f a tree throws out its branches, and these again twigs and buds and
leaves. The difficulty with the Ricardo and Malthus school o f economists
is, that instead o f observing the facts and endeavoring to deduce a theory
from them, they have invented an hypothesis to which they are determined
that facts shall be made to conform. It is the old error o f the middle age
scholastics from which it has been supposed that Bacon had redeemed the
human intellect. Its followers are so given over to a strong delusion, that
they answer the characteristic description o f Shakspeare, o f which, we have
during the past year had so many brilliant examples—
“ And, like a scurvy politician, seem to see
The thing which is not.”

R. S. asks, “ I f food tends to increase more rapidly than population, how is
it that capital has accumulated unequally in the hands o f a few, and that
number rapidly decreasing in all countries ? ”
W e have shown by unim­
peachable authorities o f this very sect, that the number is not decreasing,
but increasing, even in countries that have been under the sway o f a system
o f policy based upon this very idea, recognizing such progressive inequality
as the inevitable law o f humanity, and admirably calculated to maintain and
aggravate it— “ adapted,” as the London Times said, on the 24th o f Septem­
ber last— “ to the supposition o f a vast difference o f classes— a lower class,
redundant, necessitous, ignorant and manageable; an upper class, wealthy,
exclusive, united and pow erful; and a middle class, struggling to emerge
from the lower and attach itself to the upper.” “ I f food tends to increase
more rapidly than population,” asks R. S., “ what gives capital a continually
increasing power over the wages o f labor ? ” It has been shown that labor
is more and more emancipating itself with the progress o f population and
capital. The questions both concede that if the assumed facts for which
they require an explanation, do not exist, then food does tend to increase
more rapidly than its consumers.
The contrary hypothesis, as we have seen, rests upon the notion o f “ the
inevitable necessity under which we are placed, o f “ resorting to poorer soils
to obtain raw produce as society advances." It certainly was a plausible fig­
ment o f the imagination, that men in the first instance appropriate the most
fertile soils, and only take the inferior grades into cultivation as they are
driven to it by necessity; for forty years the assertion that they did so, stood
uncontradicted. Mr. Carey, in the Past, Present and Future, was the first
to question it. H e established historically that men in every nation with
the progress o f whose settlement we are acquainted, had planted themselves
on the poorest soils, the hill-tops and uplands, at the sources o f the streams,
and had proceeded downwards, as their numbers grew, and they acquired
capital in food, materials and tools, and increasing power o f combination to
the cultivation o f the bottom lands, which yield the largest return to labor.
His historical sketch of the progress o f cultivation in various countries is so
interesting and instructive, that I should be very glad, did my limits allow,
to make copious extracts. Those, however, who desire to investigate the
subject, ought to possess and study the book. My object is confined to




Protection vs. Free Trade.

39

showing that it is well deserving o f study, and that there are no antecedent
improbabilities o f the truth o f Mr. Carey’s discovery, to justify any inquirer in
declining the investigation. R. S. has himself conceded enough not only to
negative such an improbability, but to force us to anticipate precisely what
Mr. Carey has proved. The following passage from his article in the June
number o f this Magazine, is remarkable in several aspects.
“ Mr. Carey says, ‘ In the infancy o f civilization man is poor, and works
with poor machinery, and must take high and poor soils requiring little
clearing and no drainage, and it is only as, population and wealth increase
that the richer soils are brought into cultivation.’
“ In this proposition o f Mr. Carey’s there is a clear admission o f the princi­
ple contended for, that mankind will at all times cultivate the most availa­
ble soils, those that will produce the largest returns for the labor and capital
ready at the time to be invested. It is not until labor is changed by com­
petition, and the profits o f capital reduced by the increasing price o f food,
that society can be forced into the expenses o f clearing and draining, which
in some instances costs more than the land was originally worth.”
N ow this is such support as Malthus and Ricardo, if they were alive,
would emphatically decline. They assert broadly that the best soils are first
appropriated, and base their entire doctrine o f rent, with all its startling conse­
quences, upon “ the inevitable necessity o f resorting to poorer soils as society
advances; ” “ the constantly increasing fertility o f the soil," which Mr.
McCulloch assures us, is the cause o f the increasing price o f food and of in­
creasing wages. The concession that men will at all times cultivate the
most available soils, and that it is not until a late period that they can be
forced into the expenses o f clearing and draining, completely oversets the the­
ory. It is manifestly the soils which require clearing, because they bear
heavy trees, that will bear the heaviest crops, and it is the light and sandy
soils through which the water will sink, or the rocky hillsides from which it
runs off, that require no draining.
In the long settled countries o f Europe it is not so strange that the fact
should have escaped remark, but in our country, where the process o f settle­
ment is going on every day under our eyes, it is easy to make the necessary
observations. The contrast between our country roads, nearly every one of
which seems to have been laid out with the design to go over the top o f eve­
ry hill lying near their course, and our railroads and canals, which necessarily
pursue the levels and the valleys o f the streams, indicate the course o f culti­
vation in the elder states with great precision, and in a striking way. W e
first go where the houses o f the original settlers were located. Lady Em­
meline Stuart W ortley, in her recently published “ Travels in the United
States,” notes the fact that our railroads are lined with forests. “ Railroads
in the United States,” she says, “ are not like railroads in other countries,
for they fly plunging through the deep umbrageous recesses o f these vastly,
widely spreading woods.” If I mistake not, Lyell, the geologist, makes the
same statement, and it is a familar remark, that we see the least cultivated
portions o f the country on a railroad jaunt.
R. S. has not deemed it worth while to read Carey’s works. They have
attracted the attention and high commendation o f the most distinguished
economists in Europe, and have been made the subject o f extended review
and discussion in several languages. They have been made text-books in
foreign universities. W ithin a few weeks Sciologa, the most eminent Italian
Economist, in a new edition o f his own Lectures, has put them in the list of




40

Protection vs. Free Trade.

the few great works which every scholar in Political Economy must study.
They are widely and earnestly studied in France, where great interest has
been given to his views and reasoning, from their having been repeatedly em ­
ployed by Bastial in various pamphlets directed against the multiform
schemes o f social and industrial reorganization, which have been presented
since the revolution o f 1848, to say nothing o f the book on which his repu­
tation mainly rests, the Harmonies Economique, which was a wholesale ap­
propriation o f Carey’s ideas without acknowledgment. It was this book, by
the way, o f which the N ew Y ork Evening P ost, in announcing the forthcoming
o f a second edition at Paris, said, last August, “ It embodies the whole doc­
trine o f free trade in its most comprehensive yet compendious form.” Its
doctrines are precisely those which I have attempted to defend in the first
part o f this article. One o f its editors, (for the second edition was left in an
unfinished state by Bastial at his death,) M. de Fontenay, in an article pub­
lished in Journal des Economistes for October, makes an argument against
the Ricardo theory o f rent, o f which he says, “ This capital refutation o f Ri­
cardo’s theory was first indicated to me by Bastial, who, as I believe, had
borrowed it from Carey.” I might have said, therefore, that all the views
which I am setting forth were entertained by Bastial, and, according to the
highest authorities, coincide with “ the whole doctrine o f free trade.” The
views o f Carey on the subject o f rent, occupied, a few months ago, an entire
session o f the Society o f Political Economy at Paris, and are the subject of
discussion for the next prize-medal o f the Politico-Economical department of
the French Academy. These things are mentioned to show that though an
American writer cannot sacrifice so much time as to read the works o f his
countryman, the founder o f an American school, yet authors o f the highest
distinction abroad feel themselves under a necessity o f doing it.
If men constantly proceed from the light and poor soils, which are most
available in the poverty o f machinery and labor, to those which are more fer­
tile, as the growth o f population and capital render them available, it is plain
there is no room for the idea o f production diminishing its ratio to the con­
sumers.
Malthus and McCulloch both found it upon the notion o f a fundamental
distinction between agricultural, commercial and manufacturing industry,
consisting in this, that “ in manufactures the worst machinery is first set in
motion, and every day its powers are improved by new inventions,” while
“ in agriculture, on the contrary, the best machinery, that is the best soils,
are first brought under cultivation, and man is forced to proceed to the use
o f inferior machinery.”
I f Carey is right, agricultural production tends to become larger and cheap­
er even if we look only to what Ricardo styles “ the original and indestruc­
tible powers o f the soil.” But there is another and very important element,
which I propose to present in the language o f another free-trade writer, in
the North British Review for November, 1850, whose article is chiefly devot­
ed to the castigation o f a protectionist pamphlet published in Edinburgh by
Prof. Low. After stating many very striking facts illustrating the great
value o f sewer water as manure, among others this : “ From every town o f a
thousand inhabitants, says Professor Johnston, is carried annually into the
sea, manure equal to 270 tons o f guano, worth at the present price o f guano
£2,700, and capable o f raising an increased produce o f not less than 1,000
quarters o f grain,” he proceeds thus:
“ Surely if these well authenticated facts are admitted, it is impossible to
overrate their practical importance. They seem at first sight to make neces-




Protection vs. Free Trade.

41

sary some reconsideration o f the relation between population and production.
They suggest at least a reason for suspecting that political economists, when
they laid down the law that population increases faster than production, may
have been falling into the error o f representing the tendencies o f fallen man
as the normal and ideal laws o f the human species. Production ought to
increase as fast as population, because any given 'population would return to
the soil the whole elements o f last year's fo o d ; and in a food-importing coun­
try like Britain, faster than population, while, as at present, the yearly im­
portation o f food bears a higher proportion to the home produce, than the
annual addition to the population does to the census o f the preceding year.
W ith respect to agriculture, again, these facts put the consuming population
in a new light. They now appear as the producers o f the raw material o f
food, the very manure on the abundance o f which all agricultural production
and profit ultimately depends, and for which the good farmer seeks by the
most costly and laborious processes.”
There is much more to be said upon this point than is even suggested by
the preceding extract. It considers only the case o f a people who not only
retain all the elements o f fertilization existing in the refuse o f their own
crops, but in that o f their imported food. The policy o f those who in this
country style themselves the friends o f free trade, compels our farmers to
export a large portion o f the fertilizing elements o f each crop, to nourish for­
eign production. It must be exported unless a market is made upon the
land for the products o f the land. The importance o f this consideration
will appear from the statement o f McQueen that the value at market prices,
of the manure annually used in the British Islands is £103,369,139, or
more than the entire value o f the exports o f British produce and manufac­
ture.
To nourish the earth for reproduction, the fertilizing matter contained in
all the produce which has been exported must sooner or later be reimported
in the shape o f guano or artificial manures, or the impoverished soil must
be abandoned, because it will cease to support its owner. The worn out
and abandoned lands o f the southern states, which have been for long years
raising crops to be consumed in foreign markets, and have been the main
support o f the policy recommended to the grain producers, on the score that
it will enable them to do likewise, are gloom y illustrations o f this truth.
The solitary countervailing advantage which is proposed for the inevita­
ble loss resulting from the deterioration o f the soil, is that o f buying fabrics
produced by low-priced wages and low-priced capital; wages and capital,
the low price o f which is an indication that they are relatively unproduc­
tive, dear and not cheap. Manchester and Lowell both send cotton goods
to Brazil and China, where neither has any advantage in point o f duties.
Manchester paid the least wages and the lowest rate o f interest for the capital
employed. Both look to the money received on the sale to reimburse the
wages and interest; but Lowell is able to do it for less money than Man­
chester. W h at does this prove but that labor and capital are cheaper at
Lowell, in other words, that a given amount o f each produces more cloth.
“ To complain o f our high wages,” says Mr. Senior, when contrasting those
paid in England with those o f the continent, “ is to complain o f the diligence
and skill o f our workmen.” To the same effect says Adam Sm ith:—
“ The liberal reward o f labor, as it encourages the propagation, so it in­
creases the industry o f the common people. The wages o f labor are the
encouragement o f industry, which, like every other human quality, improve
in proportion to the encouragement it receives. A plentiful subsistence in




42

Protection vs. Free Trade.

creases the bodily strength o f the laborer, and the comfortable hope o f bet­
tering his condition and o f ending his days, perhaps, in ease and plenty, ani­
mates him to exert that strength to the uttermost. W here wages are high,
accordingly, we shall always find the workmen more active, diligent and ex­
peditious, than where they are lo w ; in England, for example, than in Scot­
land ; in the neighborhood o f great towns than in remote country places.
Some workmen, indeed, where they can earn in four days what will maintain
them through the week, will be idle the other three. This, however, is by
no means the case with the greater part. W orkmen, on the contrary, when
they are liberally paid by the piece, are very apt to over-work themselves,
and to ruin their health and constitution in a few years.”-— Wealth o f N a ­
tions, hook ] , chap. 8.
The American system rests upon the belief, that in order to make labor
cheap, the laborer must be well fed, well clothed, well lodged, well instruct­
ed, not only in the details o f his handicraft, but in all general knowledge that
can in any way be made subsidiary to it. A ll these cost money to the em­
ployer and repay it with interest. That we have made greater progress
than has been made elsewhere on the earth’s surface, in raising up a body
o f such laborers, is the highest warrant for believing, that they can carry
any raw material which our land produces to the last degree o f manufac­
ture, more cheaply than it has ever yet been done elsewhere.
R. S. thinks it untrue, o f machinery or any other thing that can be correctly
called capital, that it will never bring as much as it cost to produce. The
proposition which I stated o f course did not relate to an immediate sale. It
is doubtless true as a general rule, that any piece of machinery, upon its
completion, will bring its cost. Every improved machine, for which a patent
can be procured, will, during the duration o f the patent, produce more than
cost, and the ordinary rate o f profit. But every improvement is such, in vir­
tue o f the fact that it cheapens the production o f something else. The m o­
ment it comes into use, the commodity, whatever it may be, the process of
obtaining which it facilitates, is offered in market at a reduced cost. But all
existing commodities o f the same kind must also fall to the same price.
They will bring only what it now costs to produce them. To borrow an
illustration from one o f Bastial’s pamphlets, I can go into any book store and
purchase a bible for fifty cents, half the price o f a day’s labor o f an unskilled
workman. A few centuries ago it required at least three hundred days’ la­
bor o f a skilled and instructed workman, to produce a manuscript copy o f the
scriptures, inferior in every respect to the printed one. I f all the processes
by which the production o f books has been thus cheapened could have come
into use in one day, it is very clear that the entire stock o f manuscript bibles
would have fallen at once to the six hundredth part o f their former value.
But each one o f the successive improvements in the art o f making books
had an effect precisely similar in kind, though less in degree, on the existing
supply o f books. A nd what is capital but the sum total o f commodities,
some one or more o f which is every day losing a part o f its value by reason
o f the introduction o f improved processes and machinery, by which they can
be reproduced at less than it cost to produce them originally ? Every step
in improvement gives labor additional command over some one o f the con­
stituents o f capital, and consequently raises the ratio between the value o f ex­
isting labor and the sum total o f capital. The capital o f a nation which is
not absolutely torpid and stationary, or every nation which is making the




Protection vs. Free Trade.

43

slightest industrial progress, will each day command less labor than it would
on the preceding day.
To show that the same proposition holds true as to land, it is only neces­
sary to demonstrate that it owes its whole value to labor. Mr. Webster, in
a speech at Buffalo last summer, put the statement thus:— “ Land is a
theater for the application and exhibition o f human labor ; and where hu­
man labor goes, there it creates its value, and without it, it is not worth a
rush, from “ Dan to Beersheba.” I don’t wish to say that on every acre o f
land there must be a settlement; but there must be human labor somewhere
near i t ; there must be something beside the mathematical divisions appor­
tioning it into sections, half sections, and quarter sections, before land is o f
any value whatever.
Now the proposition is, that the land will not bring as much as the cost
of the labor in and near it, to which it owes its entire value. In the case
of a farm in the neighborhood o f a city, suggested by R. S., the difficulty is
to enumerate and estimate the value o f all the labor expended in the city,
and to apportion it among the various tracts which have had their value
enhanced by such expenditure. This difficulty, however, disappears when
we consider a region o f sufficiently large extent. Take the state o f New
York, for example. I regret that we have not the amount o f the county va­
luation for the present year, which, for the first time, will give any tolerable
approximation to the value o f the land.
Suppose it, however, to be
$1,200,000,000, which is more than double the valuation o f last year. This
is equal to the cost o f four years’ work o f one million o f men working three
hundred days to the year, at a dollar per diem wages. Let R. S. now con­
ceive the State in the condition it was when Hendrick Hudson anchored in
Manhattan Bay. Let him reflect upon all the work that has been done
since then, the forests that have been felled, the roads, railways and canals,
that have been constructed, the swamps that have been drained, the build­
ings, public and private, that have been erected, the fences, wharves, bridges
and structures o f every description, that go to make this State what it is, and
then consider whether four years’ or ten years’ labor of a million o f men
would suffice to do the work that has made the Empire State. After study­
ing upon this problem for a while, we will readily perceive how it has come
that all great landholders have such capital, and will appreciate the discri­
minating judgment o f Madame de Sevigne, when she wrote to her son from
the country— “ I wish m y son would come here and convince himself o f the
fallacy o f fancying ourselves possessed o f wealth when one is only possessed
of land.”
If he should be desirous o f pursuing the subject further, I beg leave to re­
fer him to Mr. Carey’s chapter on the cost and value o f existing landed capi­
tal, in the first volume o f his Principles o f Political Economy, where it is
discussed with much more perspicuity, force, and copiousness o f illustration
and proof than I could bring to it. The same indeed may be said o f every point
mooted in this article, and that o f which it is a continuation. The conscious­
ness o f this has been a continual embarrassment, and I could not have re­
conciled myself to the reproduction o f his ideas in so much more imperfect a
dress and accompaniments than the original, but for the hope that they
might thus be brought to the knowledge o f some whom they might other­
wise have failed to reach, and that they may be the more stimulated to resort
to the fountain head.

i



44

M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible Paper-Money.

I should perhaps apologize for loading m y text with so many quotations.
M y justification is to be found in the desire to show that Protectionist though
I be, I am so upon principle, taught by the leading English economists, and
that I am not to be turned out o f the free-trade ranks without impeaching
the orthodoxy o f a good many o f them.
e . p . s.

Art. III.— MONEY OF PAPER— OR INCONVERTIBLE PAPER-MONEY.
A s early as 1839 we published, at Brussels, a work in which it was proved
to a demonstration, that gold and silver coin furnish an imperfect kind o f
money, but poorly performing the office o f a medium o f exchange, especially
in those countries where monetary operations are carried on upon a very
large scale ; and we proposed to substitute for coin, a money o f paper, as
being better calculated for the rapid exchange o f values.
This idea o f creating money, whose sole distinctive property is value, out
o f a material without inherent value, called forth violent opposition in Eu­
rope, even among enlightened men, so close does the old and universal idea
that gold and silver are the only materials which can be conveniently con­
verted into money, shut the door, as it were, against any idea not in accord­
ance with it, notwithstanding the strength o f the well-founded arguments
adduced in support o f it.
Our satisfaction may therefore be easily imagined, when we found that in
this favored land, the United States o f America, where the tendency o f eve­
rything is rapid towards the improvement of society, the idea o f forming a
currency o f paper has been entertained and recommended by distinguished
writers who have given their attention to the discussion o f the mooted ques­
tions o f Political Economy.
In an article published in the Merchants'Magazine for the month o f O c­
tober last, Mr. N. H . C. proposes the substitution o f State notes for the pre­
sent currency, these notes to be the exclusive currency o f the country.
Mr. G. Bacon, in a communication published in the May number o f the
Merchants' Magazine, proposes in like manner to substitute paper issued by
the State for paper issued bv banks, and to retain coin only in quantities suf­
ficient for fractional sums.
Here, then, we have proclaimed the principle, that a money o f paper issued
by the State may be substituted with advantage for a metallic currency, and
we take pleasure in rendering a due tribute o f praise to the writers named
above, who, like true Americans, take the van in the field o f commercial sci­
ence. while the people o f the old world lag behind in the rear with our old
and unconquerable prejudices.
But, having paid this tribute o f admiration, we feel bound to point out the
false applications which these gentlemen make o f the principle which they
advocate.
Mr. N. H. C. would have the State emit as many notes (these notes to
be the money o f the country) as the owners o f any capital yielding income
may desire, they giving mortgage securities. This, it is evident, would be
actually a loan made by the State to the owners o f capital yielding revenue,
but with the difference that the loan would be obligatory and gratuitous,
and the borrower would have no interest to pay.




M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible Paper-Money.

45

The proposition o f Mr. N. H . C, is a violation o f the principle on which
rests a system o f money o f paper, that is to say, Mr. N. H . C. thinks it ne­
cessary to give a guaranty to these State notes which we call money o f pa­
per, while, according to our theory, this money is a value which, like all
other values, exists in and by itself, and is subject to the general law of va­
lues, that o f demand and supply; that is to say, the quantity in circulation,
and the aggregate o f wants which money is designed to supply. To require
for monetary value any other guaranty than that proceeding from demand
and supply, is to return to the old notion that money has no other value than
that o f the material o f which it is made, or that o f the things which furnish
a guaranty for i t ; it is to declare the system o f money o f paper, absurd and
chimerical.
To demonstrate the position that the value o f money is a value sui generis,
independent o f the value o f the material o f which it is made, or the guaran­
ties by which it is secured; in other words, to demonstrate that the sys­
tem o f money o f paper which rests upon the doctrine, is positive, rational,
practicable, we should have to reproduce the arguments and developments
contained in the work above referred to. But, as it is impossible to do this,
we must refer the reader to a criticism from the Revue Britannique publish­
ed in the December number o f H unt's Merchants' Magazine, where our
views and doctrines with regard to the subject o f money are clearly and suc­
cinctly set forth.
There is moreover a further objection to the system o f Mr. N . H . 0 .
One o f the principal advantages to be derived from a good monetary sys­
tem is the greatest possible freedom from fluctuation in the value o f the unit
of money. Now, to bring about this result, it is necessary to keep in circu­
lation as much money as the wants o f the community require ; that is to
say, not to increase the supply, the demand remaining the same. Now, in
Mr. N. H. C.’s system, the aggregate o f money increases in proportion as
capitalists procure new loans, while the want o f money— that is to say, the
demand, remains the same.
The expression, want o f money, which we have employed, does not mean
the wants o f those who have acquisitions to make and plans and agreements
to carry out. These wants are immeasurable, like the desires o f men ; it is
not these wants which money is designed to satisfy; what supplies these
wants is those things o f which a use can be made, corn, cotton, iron, or any­
thing of that k in d ; money serves only as a medium, a vehicle to bring these
things within the reach o f those who want them and who have other things
to give in exchange.
By the want o f money, in this discussion o f the best monetary system,
must be understood, the want o f a medium o f exchange o f values, one for
another; but o f real values, o f values already created, already in existence
at the time o f the exchange. Now the notes which the State gives to the
capitalist who asks for them, are not in the power o f the State to give in con­
sequence o f a previous exchange o f values, but they are a new emission, and
an abuse of money which increases by so much the mass in circulation ; an
increase which becomes very considerable in proportion as new emissions
take place, and which, in consequence, diminishes the value o f the money
of the country, by taking from it that freedom from fluctuation which it is
so necessary to maintain in the value o f money.
It will be seen from the statements just made, that it is not in the power
of the State, or o f any one else, to create new money values. It may create
new units o f money, by increasing the number, but the total value o f these




46

M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible Paper-M oney.

units is not increased, since the value o f the unit diminishes, in proportion to
the increase o f the number. This is what resulted from the arrivals o f gold
from California. The gold regions o f that country increase the aggregate
mass o f gold in existence, and the number o f pieces coined from the metal,
but they do not increase the sum total o f their value. In fact gold coin is
already depreciated, although but slightly, as compared with silver coin,
which has not undergone any increase o f value. To enable the reader, how­
ever, to perceive the full force o f these rather abstract principles, we must
refer him to the article in the Revue Britannique, where their truth is amply
demonstrated. It is from not comprehending their true import that refor­
mers like Prudhomme and others, have been led to conceive the possibility
o f banks o f the people, from which any one might borrow as much capital
as he needed.
These Utopians imagine that by issuing paper which
they call money they are creating money, as if capital was anything else
than those things which have the property o f satisfying our wants, and not
bits o f paper, which, by improperly making them take the place o f money,
serve only to depress the value o f real money.
Mr. G. Bacon, whose essay is full of judicious observations, and evinces
an inquiring spirit, has also fallen into the error of supposing that it is ne­
cessary to redeem paper money in order to maintain its value ; only in place
o f redemption in specie o f gold and silver, he would have it redeemed by
State stocks. W e grant that there is a luminous idea involved in this plan,
the end proposed to be attained by this mode o f redemption, according to
Mr. Bacon, being to fix the rate o f interest on capital in accordance with, or
at least to make it oscillate in harmony with, the rate o f interest allowed on
State stocks; but we do not think Mr. Bacon’s system reaches the object pro­
posed.
Mr. Bacon, it would seem, thinks that the rate o f interest on capital is re­
gulated by the amount o f money in the country. A nd he thinks that the
larger the supply o f money, the lower the rate o f interest, and vice versa.
This opinion rests on the idea that coin and capital are one and the same
thing.
Now, capital is not money, but it is that thing which the owner abstains
from using himself, and lends to a third person in consideration o f return,
which, by common consent, is termed interest. Money, by means o f which
the loans take place, is not itself (as we have above shown) the thing loaned;
it is simply the vehicle by which the thing loaned is transferred from the
lender to the borrower.
Thus it is not the abundance or the scarcity o f money, that is, o f the me­
dium o f loans, which governs the rate o f interest, but the abundance or scar­
city of things held in reserve for loaning. W e say in conversation, it is
true, money is scarce, money is plenty, to account for the rise or fall o f the
rate o f interest; but this language, which is in such general use, is but one
o f the thousand improper modes o f expression which mislead the ju dg­
ment by conveying false ideas o f the true nature o f things.
But we may be asked, whence arise fluctuations in the rate o f interest on
capital, since the quantity in existence is nearly the same before as after a
movement o f this kind ?
W e might ask the same question with regard to money. W h en a panic
takes place there is neither more nor less money than there was just before.
It is because the rate o f interest is regulated not by the quantity o f capital
in existence, but by the quantity offered. If any cause whatever produces




M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible Paper-Money.

41

alarm in the minds o f capitalists, they not only cease lending, but rigidly in­
sist upon the return o f what they have already put o u t ; interest then rises
immediately, the supply o f capital having fallen off. If, on the contrary,
agriculture, manufactures and commerce, the three great sources o f national
wealth, are in a state o f prosperity, and make good returns to those engaged
in them, confidence is restored, all the capital available is brought into mar­
ket, and the rate o f interest falls, the supply having increased.
Thus we think Mr. Bacon’s plan for regulating permanently the rate o f
money, by offering at all times to capitalists State stocks in exchange for their
money, or, on the other hand, refunding their money on the return o f the
stocks received, does not effect its object.
But we have another objection to point out. By this system the State is
burdened without necessity, without any advantage to the country, with the
interest on all sums paid into the National Treasury in return for stocks.
This would be to loan money without object, without making any use o f
the money borrowed, and yet to contract the obligation to meet the interest
on i t ; in other words, it is compelling the State to pay interest on its own
money. A nd the interest, we may remark, would amount to a more consi­
derable sum than is supposed.
The aggregate o f money serving as a medium of exchange is very consi­
derable, and a large portion o f it would go into the national treasury in ex­
change for stocks which would be used in performing the function of money,
and serve as a medium o f pecuniary transactions, at least o f those of a cer­
tain degree o f importance. Every one would willingly receive as many
stocks bearing interest, and redeemable with certainty, at any moment. A t
present, Government stocks cannot be used as a medium of exchange be­
cause they are not redeemable at will, and because their value is exposed to
all the fluctuations o f the market. W e may hence judge o f the enormous
sacrifice the State would have to make in order to have the pleasure o f keep­
ing on hand, and idle in its vaults, enormous amounts o f its own money.
Mr. Bacon was led to propose the system o f currency which we have an­
alyzed, by the discussion o f the question o f the measure of value. W e re­
gret that on this subject also we must differ from the distinguished writer.
In our opinion the attempt to ascertain a constant measure o f value is not
only idle, but cannot possibly lead to any result.
Mr. Bacon, with his usual clearness and accuracy o f judgment, sees that
the value o f things is simply the relation between the quantity given and
the quantity received. Value, then, is not a concrete quantity that can be
measured, but it is an abstraction. It is the capacity o f things to be ex­
changed for other things.
Almost all the schools o f economy have confounded value with wealth,
and this confusion has often led away from the right path those who have
given their attention to economical questions.
True wealth is the possession o f things adapted to the satisfying o f our
wants. If all those things which have this adaptation were given us in such
abundance that they might be used without exhausting the supply, as is
the case with air, light, electricity, we should be immensely rich, and yet we
should not possess one cent o f value.
Some economists are of the opinion that the value o f things is the sum
total o f the sacrifices, or, in other words, o f the cost incurred in procuring
them. This is again a mistake. Value, we must repeat, is nothing but the
relation between the quantity o f things given and o f things received. Now




48

Money o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible Paper-Money.

as this relation is established by the demand and supply, it may happen,
and often does happen, that things are given without the equivalent o f the
sacrifices they have cost being received in return.
According to these views, since value is not wealth, being only the rela­
tion between two variable quantities, it cannot serve as an invariable mea ■
sure o f values. However, for daily transactions, money, although subject
itself to the variations ,o f the market, may serve as a measure at the moment
o f exchange. I f one hundred yards o f cloth, as well as a quarter o f wheat,
may be exchanged for five dollars, the conclusion is, that the value o f these
two commodities is the same. A n y other article o f merchandise might serve
as a measure at the instant of the transaction, and if the preference is given
to money, it is because all exchanges are made by means o f it. But
neither money nor any other value can serve as a constant measure o f va­
lues, since it changes itself. A n ounce o f gold, before the discovery o f the
mines o f Potosi, had not the same value then, that it has n ow ; and if the
mines o f California, o f Australia, and o f the Ural mountains increase to a
considerable extent the existing mass o f gold, the value o f gold must neces­
sarily undergo a change.
A money o f paper, not that issued on Mr. Bacon’s plan, nor that furnish­
ed on the application o f the owners o f capital, according to Mr. N . H . C.’s
system, is the only value subject to fewer variations than any other. But
it would vary none the less according to the progress o f the wealth o f the
country, which, making more money necessary, and increasing the demand,
as business became heavier and more important, would necessarily lead to a
rise in its value. Moreover, this progress being from its nature slow, the va­
riation would be almost insensible, and the State might even prevent it by
providing for new emissions, in proportion as wealth increased or the de­
mand for more money made itself felt.
In conclusion, then, we rejoice to see the doctrine o f a money o f paper
making its way among enlightened American minds, and we believe the
day is not far distant, when it will become more general, and, by securing
the sanction o f the federal legislature, will become the law o f the country.
And it will be reserved for young America to set the example o f a social im ­
provement so important, which Europe in its dotage, and the slave of an­
cient prejudices, obstinately rejects without deigning even to examine its
merits.
Note— W e had written thus far when a friend sent us a work entitled
“ Treatise o f Political Economy," by George Opdyke, published in 1851,
by G. P . Putnam, at New York.
W e have hastily read, not the whole o f the work, which we propose to
examine more attentively. hereafter, but only the 5 th chapter, on the subject
o f money.
Everything in this portion o f the Treatise is written with evident convict:on, order and clearness. The principles on which the theory o f money
rests are established and developed, with the conclusiveness o f axioms, and
the consequences logically deduced from them are as evident as the princi­
ples themselves.
W e are happy to find a perfect coincidence o f the ideas o f the author with
those published by ourselves in 1839, (see the criticism from the Revue B ritannique, cited above, and published in the December number o f the M er­
chants’ M agazine). This coincidence is the more flattering as we are sure
from the course o f reasoning pursued by Mr. Opdyke, that he knows noth




M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible Paper-M oney.

49

ing o f our own labors, for he would otherwise have certainly mentioned
them.
Mr. J. Opdyke boldly proposes the emission o f a money o f paper, which
he calls “ inconvertible paper-m oneyI But there is a slight difference be­
tween his plan and our own. His aim is principally to do away bank pa­
per, which he calls convertible paper m on ey: and he allows coin to circulate
concurrently with his inconvertible paper money. Mr. Opdyke thinks it ne­
cessary to retain the metallic currency, in order to liquidate the debts o f the
country to foreign nations. These are his w ords: “ My proposition is mere­
ly designed to transform that portion o f our circulating medium which con­
sists o f convertible paper into inconvertible, or rather to expel the one and
fill its place with the other, leaving the coin portion undisturbed. W e
should thus blend the service o f two portions and secure the utility o f both
inventions. The paper would circulate at home, coin partly at home, and
partly in the channels o f foreign Commerce.”
On the contrary, we cannot admit any auxiliaries in our system o f a mo­
ney o f paper; to it exclusively and absolutely should belong the office o f
effecting exchanges. Our monetary reform is as absolute as the principle on
which it is founded; and as to the payment o f foreign debts, it is not in­
dispensable that they be paid in coin ; the precious metals uncoined are
sufficient for the purpose. It is in this way that foreign debts are paid at
present, when the legal currency is exclusively metallic. It is not the money
value which the foreign creditor receives in payment, but the value o f the
metal contained in the national coin. In fact, the par o f exchange is estab­
lished solely by the weight o f the precious metals contained in the coin, not
by their denomination.
To prevent a rise in the value o f money and to keep it at the same level,
(a rise which must necessarily result from the increase in the wealth o f the
country,) Mr. Opdyke proposes new emissions o f money o f paper accord­
ing to the growth not o f wealth but o f population, in the belief that the
growth o f population furnishes a correct basis for the computation o f the
growth o f wealth. A nd his opinion is that the relation between the number
of monetary units, that is, o f dollars, and the number o f the inhabitants o f
the country was 10 to 1.
W e have no reason to doubt the correctness o f this hypothesis so far as
regards the wealth and population o f the United States; but we doubt its
accuracy with regard to other countries in general. The want or demand
for money is in proportion to the pecuniary transactions which daily occur,
and these transactions depend upon the agricultural, industrial and commer­
cial movement o f a country— that is to say, upon its wealth. N ow the
wealth of different States is far from being in the same proportion to their
respective populations. W h at a difference, for instance, exists with regard to
this relative proportion between the United States and Ireland, between
England and Italy, between France and Spain !
Thus Mr. Opedyke’s plan for preventing the rise o f value o f money may
suffice for the fortunate American Federal Union, but not in a general way
for all the nations o f the globe, in a large portion o f which the population
is poor, idle, and without occupation.
A government has various ways, we think, o f determining the right mo­
ment for increasing the circulation o f a money o f paper. It must necessa­
rily take into consideration the increase o f population which is usually a
VOL. x x v i.— no . i.
4




50

M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible P ayer-M oney.

symptom o f the increase o f wealth, but it will also consider the increase o f
sources o f the wealth o f tbe country.
W e will clos6 these remarks by quoting those passages o f Mr. Opdyke’s
work in which he very happily sums up the imperfections o f a metallic cur­
rency, and o f bank currency, (convertible paper-money,) and the advantages
o f a money o f paper, (inconvertible paper-money.)
“ I have now finished m y survey o f the uses and properties o f money in
its two most customary form s; and if the views that I have advanced are
sound, they establish the truth o f the conclusions which follow, v iz :
“ First, That money in the form o f gold and silver coins, although an in­
vention o f unrivalled utility, is nevertheless liable to three serious objections,
namely, it costs'too much to produce, it is too heavy for convenience, and it
lacks the requisite uniformity o f value.
“ Secondlv. That the-, invention o f convertible paper-money was designed
to mitigate two ot tfieso -ikifects by a partial substitution of representative
real value, and a material o f paper for one o f
ujyiQvention last named has secured the aims o f its
[voiding the objections referred to, it has produced
other mischiefs o f a far more serious kind, which may be recapitulated thus :
1. It has turned out that the fictitious value o f the convertible paper costs
its producers as much or more than it costs to produce the coin which it
purports to represent.* This o f itself neutralizes one o f the two advantages
anticipated from the invention. 2. The money thus produced has proved
to be insecure; for, although it costs as much to produce as coin, it has no
value when the producers become insolvent, which happens so often that its
holders are subjected to immense losses. 3. It is demoralizing and other­
wise injurious to the general welfare, since, by its ceaseless expansions and
contractions o f the measure o f value, it has thrown around Commerce, and
in fact every other branch o f production, the chance-like uncertainties o f the
gambling table. 4. It tends, when aided by tariff laws, to keep the measure
o f money too full, which, besides giving undue advantages to foreign nations,
by enhancing the price o f imports while it does not affect the price o f ex­
ports, is certain to be followed by ruinous contractions or a general suspen­
sion o f specie payments. To counterbalance these great evils, convertible
paper-money has but one compensating attribute, which in comparison with
these is but as a feather in the opposite scale, namely, it possesses greater
convenience than coin.”
Mr. Opdyke thus sets forth the advantages o f a money o f paper (incon­
vertible paper-money.)
“ Paper-money thus issued would cost nothing, or next to nothing, to
produce, nor would it be inconvenient from weight. Therefore it would
clearly obviate two o f three serious objections to which coin is liable. And
since its quantity as compared with population or Commerce would be inva­
riable, it follows that its value or purchasing power would be uniform, there­
fore it would be free from the other objections which I have urged against
coin, and which applies with still greater force to convertible paper. It
would possess another advantage over coin which deserves notice. W hen
coin is lost or destroyed, there is an absolute loss o f value, the owner loses,
no one gain s: but whenever this should meet the same fate, the loss o f the
* We are not entirely convinced o f the correctness of this position.




L . C.

M oney o f Paper ; or, Inconvertible P aper-M oney.

51

owner would be balanced by tbe gain o f the community. If, in these es­
sential attributes, it is thus superior to coin, it is scarcely necessary to com­
pare it with convertible paper, or with a circulating medium made up o f
coin and bank notes. It may not, however, be amiss to say that in view o f
its irredeemable character, it would be free from the wide-spread mischiefs
produced by bank panics, suspensions and failures, which periodically occur
under that system. It would thus greatly mitigate the severity o f commer­
cial crises, * and perhaps render them altogether harmless; in a word, it
would remedy all the defects inherent in coin and in convertible paper.”
It may be well, we think, to add a further remark as to the means pro­
posed by Mr. Opdyke for preventing the excessive issue o f paper money.
To obviate this inconvenience, he deems it sufficient to place the control over
it in the hands o f the President, Vice-President and Treasurer o f the United
States, and a commissioner elected by the people; and, as a measure o f pre­
caution, he would have the bills issued countersigned by one or more gover­
nors o f States.
The certainty that it will be out o f the power o f Government to make secret
issues, is the corner-stone o f the system o f a money o f paper. Governments,
even republican ones, are forced by circumstances to have recourse for re­
sources to the emission o f paper-money. Now, it is precisely the abuse,
hitherto, o f this means o f procuring funds, by governments, in moments of
need, it is the disastrous consequences o f these excessive issues which now
lead many to reject the system o f a money o f paper, believing it exposed to
the same abuses as ordinary paper-money. Hence it is o f the greatest im­
portance, not only to render impossible the abuse o f this power o f issue, but
to convince the public mind o f this impossibility.
W e think, therefore, that the responsible direction o f these emissions
should be more general than that which Mr. Opdyke proposes. W e would
have it confided to a commission composed o f a large number o f members o f
both branches o f the Legislature, o f delegates representing Commerce, agri­
culture, and manufactures, and o f commissioners appointed by the Execu­
tive. W e would also have every thing relating to the currency publicly
discussed in the halls o f legislation, and made the subject o f enactments, and
we would have the members o f the currency commission personally responsi­
ble for the execution o f the laws in this particular. W e would also have a
monthly statement published in the public press, o f the number of mone­
tary units issued by the government up to the day o f publication. It is
essential that the country should know the quantity o f money in circulation.
It then can be certain that the value o f the currency remains stationary and
is not threatened with depreciation. B y means o f these precautions, confi­
dence is confirmed; not only at home but abroad also, and we are sure that
the excellence o f a system o f money o f paper such as we have proposed,
would also have a tendency to make the rate o f exchange incline in favor
of the country adopting it.
L ou is C h i t t i .
* A money of paper renders great financial crises impossible, the only cause o f which is the ex­
cessive emission of bank paper, or paper-money. L. C.




52

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States.

Art. IV.— COMMERCIAL CITIES AND TOWNS OF THE UNITED STATES.
NU M BER 3 X V III.

K E Y WEST, FLORIDA.

T his position, recently become so important as the K e y o f the United
States to the Florida Pass, and the Gulf o f Mexico, is little known to the
outer world, except as a wrecking station ; and is consequently and unjustly
associated only with scenes o f disaster, distress, and quasi piracy. The ob­
ject o f the present paper, is to remove these false impressions, by a brief
outline o f the history o f the island, and a summary sketch o f its present
character and condition.
Cayo Yuesson, or Bone K e y , was so called from the great masses of hu­
man bones which were found upon it, on the discovery o f the Island by the
Spaniards. The time o f the discovery is not exactly known, not having
been made a matter o f distinct record. It was probably somewhat early in
the history o f Florida. The accumulation on such a spot o f such a quan­
tity o f human relics as to give a name to the Island, has not been sufficiently
accounted for. W hether, in the remote ages o f aboriginal history, it was
an isolated and over populous island city, a half-way mart between Cuba
and the continent— a Palmyra in the desert of waters, where the canoe car­
avans o f our unknown predecessors, met for refreshment, or barter;— or
whether, as remote from either shore, it was selected as the common ceme­
tery o f the nations both o f the islands and o f the main land, it is fruitless to
conjecture. The tradition, among the modern Indians, is, that the tribes of
the main land, in conflict with those o f the Reef, drove them, by a series of
conquests, from island to island, and rock and rock, till they reached this,
their last and most important hold. Here they made a desperate stand, con­
gregating all their hosts, men, women and children, from all their deserted
and desolated isles. A terrible battle ensued. The islanders were overpow­
ered, and utterly exterminated. Large numbers o f the invaders also fell
in the conflict. Many more fell victims to a pestilence, occasioned by the
sudden putrefaction of so many unburied corpses, while the few that escaped
were compelled to flee for their lives, leaving the bones o f friends and foes
to bleach together on the deserted and sunburnt rock.
There may be some foundation for this story. Indeed it is difficult to ac­
count for the facts in any other way than by supposing the island to have
been suddenly desolated by war, or pestilence, or both united. It was evi­
dently, for a considerable time, the residence of an important tribe o f Indians.
They have left behind them the traces of their presence, and evidences of
their progress in some o f the arts. Several mounds have been opened, which
were found to be filled with bones. The figures were all arranged in a sit­
ting posture, and decked with ornaments o f gold and silver. Glass beads
were also found among them, showing that some o f the burials were of
comparatively recent origin.
The English name, K e y W est, is a corruption o f Cayo Yuesson. The
name is not appropriate to the place. It is not the western termination of
the Reef. There are several small islands in that direction, with Tortugas,
the last and largest o f them all, about sixty miles distant.
The Island o f K ey W est is four miles long, by one mile in the widest




K e y W est, Florida.

53

part. The average width is considerably less than a mile. The entire area
is 197 acres, including the salt pond. 'It is o f coral formation, with very
little available soil. It is very low and 'flat, the highest spot on the island
being scarcely more than twenty feet above the level of the sea. It is situ­
ated in latitude 24° 25' N. and longitude 82° 4' W .
The unoccupied parts o f the island are covered with a low stunted growth
of wood peculiar to that region. D ogwood, Maderia wood, mangrove, and
some other species, are found in considerable abundance, and turned to some
account, as timber, for various purposes. The Maderia wood is particularly
valuable, when found o f sufficient size, being hard and durable, and capable
o f resisting the ravages o f the worms. The prickly pear and the geranium,
grow wild, in such luxuriance as the scantiness o f the soil will admit. The
The cocoa nut, the orange and the quava, also thrive well in any spot
where there is depth o f earth to sustain them. This, however, is so rare and
so thin, that a garden is the most expensive luxury in the place, and one can
easily imagine, that, like Naaman the Syrian, a resident there, visiting some
of the rich valleys o f our land, might reject more costly offerings, and ask,
as the greater boon, for “ two mules’ burden o f earth.”
Cayo Yuesson was granted by the Spanish Crown, some thirty or forty
years ago, to John P. Salas. From him it was purchased, in Dec. 1821, by
Col. Simonton, who now resides there. He took possession, in person, one
the 22d January, 1822, and erected a small house, the first that was built
on the island, in April following. One year after, in April 1823, a Custom
House was established there, by the United States Government, and it was
made a station for the squadron commissioned for the suppression of piracy
in the Gulf o f Mexico. The squadron arrived in April, and rendered very
important services, in accomplishing the object for which it was sent. In
1827, the season proved a very sickly one. Fever and dysentery prevailed
to an alarming extent, and the station was removed in November o f that
year. It is difficult to account for the sickliness o f that season. There has
been nothing like it since. It is regarded, by those who have tried it, as
one o f the healthiest places in the world.
In 1832, K ey W est was made a military station, a very pleasant spot was
selected for barracks, which were not completed till 1845. The buildings
are large, airy, and commodious, and furnished with all the conveniences
which the place and the climate afford. They are placed on three sides o f
a large quadrangle, the open side being toward the sea. If nature had fur­
nished soil enough for a respectable growth o f shade trees, or even for the
cocoa nut and orange, her liberality would doubtless be often blessed,
both by officers and soldiers, particularly during the intense heat o f the sum­
mer months.
The first white female that settled on the island, was Mrs. Mallory, the
worthy mother o f the present worthy United States Senator from Florida.
She took up her abode there in the year 1823, and was, for some consider­
able time, without a single companion o f her own sex. As the pioneer ma­
tron of the place, she was presented with a choice lot o f land, on which she
has erected a house, which she now occupies, as a boarding house, dispens­
ing to the stranger, with liberal hand, and at a moderate price, the hospitali­
ties of the place.
The first white child born on the island was John Halleck, who was born
in August, 1829. H e is now a printer in the City o f Washington. The
second was W illiam Pinckney, born Sept. 1829. He is a clerk in one of




54

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States.

the largest mercantile houses in K ey W est. They are both promising
young men, o f good abilities and excellent character.
From these small and recent beginnings, K ey W est has grown to be an
important and a prosperous place. From the solitary house, erected by
Col. Simonton in 1823, has sprung a flourishing and well ordered city of
about 3000 inhabitants. It is now the largest town in Florida. The City
is well laid out, with streets fifty feet wide, at right angles to each other,
and is under a judicious and efficient administration. There is not a more
quiet, orderly town in the United States. Alexander Patterson, Esq. is its
present Mayor.
The city contains, at this time, (1851,) 650 houses, 26 stores, 10 ware­
houses, 4 look-out cupolas, 11 wharves, and 4 churches. The churches are
Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, and Roman Catholic. The buildings are
small, but very neat. They will accommodate from 150 to 250 worshipers.
There is a Sabbath School attached to each. The services o f the Sabbath
are well attended. The Episcopal church numbers fifty communicants, and
seventy Sabbath scholars. A bout five hundred persons attached to the
congregation. The Methodist Church numbers 100 communicants and 115
scholars. Congregation 700. The Baptist 82 communicants and 22 schol­
ars. Congregation 300. There are four private schools in the city, and
one county school. The private schools average about thirty scholars each.
The county school has an average attendance o f about sixty scholars. This
is far below what it should be, showing a want o f a just appreciation o f the
inestimable benefits o f education. Perhaps, however, we ought in justice
to observe that the occupations o f a considerable portion o f the inhabitants
are o f such a nature as to keep them much away from home. The boys,
as soon as they are able to work, are occupied with fishing, sponging, and
other similar employments, and soon denied the advantages o f a regular
school.
The county school is not, like our public schools at the north, open to all.
It is free only to fatherless children. This provision is a singular and an
unfortunate one. Though the orphan has a rich mother, he is admitted to
the school without charge ; while the motherless child o f an indigent father
must pay one dollar a month tuition. This rule seems to reverse the na­
tural order o f things. A motherless child is much more likely to be neg­
lected, in his education and morals, at the forming period o f life, than a
fatherless one. There are but 17 county scholars in this school. If it were
thrown open to all who need its advantages, it would probably number 150
to 200, and would be a source o f blessing to the rising generation, which
cannot be estimated in dollars.
The tonnage o f K ey W est is not very considerable, but it is very active
and profitable. It consists of—
27 wreckers, averaging 57 tons.............................................................
8 coasters and fishermen, averaging 90 tons......................................

1,539
720

Total tonnage....................................................................................

2,259

The Harbor is capacious, safe, and easy o f access. It may be entered by
several different channels, the principal one being at the N . W . angle of the
island. Ships of 22 feet draft can enter there with safety.
The principal business of K ey W est is derived from the salvages, commis­
sions, and other perquisites o f wrecking. This is a business peculiar to the
reefe, and demands a particular elucidation. It is not, as many suppose,




K e y W est, Florida.

55

and as it was, to some extent, before it was regulated by law and well ad­
ministered by the courts, a species o f relentless piracy. It is a legitimate
business, conducted under established and equitable rules, and for the mu­
tual benefit o f the wrecker, the wrecked, and the underwriter. The persons
engaged in it are men o f character, standing, and wealth; men o f generous
sentiments, and kindly feelings, who risk much and work hard for what they
get, and who throw into their calling as much o f regard for the rights, inter­
ests and property o f the sufferers whom they relieve, as is exhibited in any
other department o f mercantile business. That there are occasional excep­
tions to this general rule, cannot be denied. A single instance, o f recent
occurrence, will serve to show that wreckers are not always pirates, nor
always chargeable with heartless rapacity, in the pursuit o f the hardy pro­
fession. A vessel, with a few passengers, having struck upon the reef, made
the usual signals o f distress, and waited for help. Impatient o f delay, and
fearing the ship would go to pieces before relief came, the passengers and
some o f the crew took to the boat, with a view to finding a safe place of
landing. W h en the wrecker came down, the captain was informed o f this
fact. ITe immediately left the vessel, and went in search o f the wanderers
among the intricate passes o f the keys. Another wrecker came down, and
pursued the same course, showing more anxiety to save life, than to secure
the advantages o f an attempt to save the vessel and cargo. A third came
down, and, feeling that the deserters were sufficiently cared for, went to
work, to rescue the vessel, and remove the cargo. So much was this act o f
heroic benevolence appreciated, that, when the award o f salvage was made
up, those who first arrived at the wreck, and left it in search of the passen­
gers and crew, received the same share as they would have done if they had
proceeded, in the usual way, to discharge the wreck and get her o ff; while
their comrades, who came last to the spot, received only the share which
would appropriately belong to the third in the race.
The rule in this respect is, that he who first boards the wreck has undis­
puted control o f her, till she is delivered into the hands o f the court. H e deter­
mines who, if any, shall aid him in the rescue, and in what order they shall come
in for their shares. H e also decides to whom the ‘ wrecked-vessel shall be
consigned, unless the master o f the wreck has a choice in the case. The whole
matter is then left for the adjudication o f the court. The amount o f salvage
is there determined, each party engaged in the rescue receiving his share o f
the award, according to the previous arrangements o f the skipper who first
boarded the wreck.
The amount o f the award averages about one-tenth o f the value o f the
property saved. Commissions, expenses, &c. swell this to about one-sixth.
The average amount o f wrecked property brought into K ey W est, is not
far from 1,200,000 dollars per annum, o f which there is left behind, for the
benefit o f the place, about $200,000. This, being divided among the captain,
crew, and owners o f the wreckers, commission merchants, lawyers, auction­
eers, wharf-owners, ship-wrights, carpenters, and store-keepers, is pretty widely
diffused, and goes into general circulation. It is the principal reliance o f all
the business men, mechanics, and laborers of the place.
There is a large amount o f auction business done here, employing twelve
auctioneers, and paying more auction duties than all the residue o f the State.
It is established by law, that everything saved from wrecks shall be sold at
auction.
The following reports prepared by Capt. Hoyt, the intelligent and vigil­
ant agent of the underwriters, at K ey W est, will show, in brief, the results
of the wrecking business, for the last two years:




56

Commercial Cities and Towns o f the United States.
K ey W est,

January 1st, 1850

The past year in this latitude has heen favorable for shipping, there having
been but few severe storms and no hurricane. Notwithstanding this, forty-six
vessels have been ashore on the reef or compelled to put into this port.
The value o f vessels and cargoes wrecked and in distress is nearly.........
The amount of salvage...................................................................................
Total salvage and expenses on the 46 vessels..............................................

$1,305,000
127,870
219,160

With hut one or two exceptions, the wrecking business for the past year has
heen conducted with good faith, and it affords me great pleasure to inform you
that arrangements have heen made and entered into by the merchants during
the past month to remove one o f the most prolific sources o f demoralization
connected with it.
ST A T IS TIC S F O E

1845
1846
1847
1848
1849

T H E F I V E Y E A E S E N D IN G J A N U A R Y

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

Vessels.

Value.

29
26
37
41
46

$725,000
731,000
1,624,000
1,282,000
1,305,000

1ST, 1 8 5 0 .

Salvage. Total expenses.

$92,691
69,600
109,000
125,800
127,870

$169,064
105,700
213,500
200,060
219,160

The last three years show a gradual annual increase, but it is not probably
greater than the proportional increase o f Commerce within the same period.
The number o f vessels engaged in the wrecking business does not vary much
from my last report. Various causes are now in operation, which must lead to
the diminution o f the wrecking business. When the coast survey and the
thorough lighting o f the Florida Reef, both o f which are now progressing, shall
be completed, the two prominent causes o f wrecks will be removed. The Tortugas light has been much improved, but it still needs alterations, which ought
to be promptly made. When the light on Gordon Key bears N. E. by E. to E.,
a large part o f the power o f the light is lost by a narrow door, and the want of
more lamps and reflectors. Several shipmasters, that have struck on the reef
when the light bore about E. N. E., judged the light to be ten miles off.
The three light-ships on this coast are faithfully kept, but the power o f their
lights is by no means what it ought to be. The light ship stationed near Sand
Key is old, and the light they attempt to show is miserable. Several vessels
have been lost, and much valuable cargo, by the neglect o f Government to build
a light-house on Sand Key, to replace the one destroyed by the hurricane o f
1846. The lights o f Cape Florida and Key W est are both very good. The
materials are on the spot, and the operatives at work erecting the iron pile light­
house on Carysfort Reef. It is to be placed on the extreme outer edge o f the
reef, within one quarter o f a mile o f the Gulf stream; is to be fitted with a
powerful light 127 feet high, and can be seen 25 miles from the mast head o f a
skip.
I deem it my duty to call your attention to a common neglect o f shipmasters
to provide themselves with proper charts o f this coast. The Messrs. Blunt have
published a good one on a large scale. I seldom find on board vessels wrecked
on this coast suitable boats to take out anchors in case o f accident. Key West
is naturally a position o f no inconsiderable importance. It is a strong and
valuable position for a naval station ; strong because the Government is now
erecting an extensive fort in 10 feet water, which will entirely command the
harbor; and valuable, as it is the only fort from Pensacola to Hampton Roads,
where a ship o f war drawing 22 feet water, would make a harbor and be pro­
tected in time o f war. It is not only a safe commodious harbor, but it has also
several channels by which it may he entered.
The population o f the island has considerably increased within the past year.
It cannot now he much short o f 2,500. It depends entirely upon wrecking, fish­
ing, and the manufacturing o f salt, for its support. It has two schools, and
Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist congregations and churches,




57

K e y W est, Florida.

each having its own clergyman. There is certainly a great improvement going
on in the moral and social condition o f the inhabitants, and they will hear com­
parison in these respects wPh any marine town in our country o f its size. The
Hon. Judge Marvin, through whose court a large amount o f property annually
passes, has presided on the bench for several years, dealing even-handed justice
to all, and has given satisfaction to all parties interested.
K ey W est,

E lw o o d W

a lte r ,

December 31st, 1850.

E sq., Secretary Board o f Underwriters, New-York:

Deak Sir :— I would respectfully submit to my employers my usual report,
and a condensed report for the past six years, with such brief remarks upon the
passing affairs of this part of the United States as will be interesting to commer­
cial men.
The number o f vessels that have put into this port in distress, and been ashore
on the reef in the past year, is thirty.
Estimated value of vessels and cargoes..........................................................
Amount of salvage................................................................................. ............
Amount of expenses...........................................................................................

$929,000
122,831
77,169

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

$1,129,000

CO N D E N SE D R E P O R T F O R

S IX Y E A R S .

Number of vessels under the head of marine disasters that have been re­
ported by m e....................................................................................................
209
Value of vessels and cargoes, (low estimate)................................................. $6,602,000
Amount o f salvage..............................................................................................
647,775
Amount o f expenses............................................................................................
259,637
Total...............................................................................................................

$7,509,412

Nothing has occurred out o f the usual course o f events since my last report.
The Coast Survey progresses slowly. The Light on Carysford R eef will not be
finished for some time. Government is building a light-house on Sand Key,
near this place. Fort Taylor is now safe from hurricanes, as the foundation is
finished, and it is now being filled up. The Government works at the Tortugas
are progressing. The health o f this place has been good during the year, with
the exception o f the month o f August, when more than half the population were
sick. There are, in my opinion, more vessels and men in the wrecking business
than are necessary. The population o f the island is increasing, and unless busi­
ness should increase, there must soon be a large number o f unemployed
persons.
In my last report I glanced at the value o f this place as a naval station. I
have not changed my views. This port ought to be looked after by Govern­
ment. It is a very important point, and when the Tehuantepec canal or railroad,
and other connections, are completed to the Pacific, with the increase o f Com­
merce that must follow, Key West, the only port o f safety for vessels o f a
heavy draft from Pensacola to Cape Henry, should be protected.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN C. HOYT.

I f the Key-W esters are not entitled to the reputation o f pirates, they are
among the most remarkable and successful spongers in the country. The
reefs abound in sponges, and large numbers o f the people are now engaged
in collecting them. It is quite a profitable branch o f business, so much so,
that most o f the fishermen have abandoned their craft for this new and
more lucrative employment. On this account, though the waters abound in
many desirable species, a fresh fish is a great rarity at K ey W est, and they
who keep Lent conscientiously must practice the abstinence o f an anchorite.
The gathering o f sponges, at the present rates o f sale, will pay 40 to 50




68

Commercial pities and Towns o f the United States.

dollars per month to the hands employed. It is supposed that the amount
o f shipments in this article is not less than 60,000 dollars per annum. The
sponges, when taken from the rock, are full o f life, and are left, for a consid­
erable time on the rocks, putrefying in the sun. They are cleansed with no
little labor, brought to town, and spread out, by the acre, to dry. They are
then packed and pressed in bales, shipped to New York, and there sold
mostly for the French market, where they are largely used in the manufac­
ture o f felt for hats.
A large portion o f the population o f K ey W est consists o f emigrants
from the Bahama Islands. They are called Couch Men, or Couchs, chiefly
from their skill in diving, and the part o f the city they occupy is familiarly
designated as Couch town. They are a hardy, industrious, economical,
honest race, all getting their living from the water, wrecking, sponging,
turtling, fishing, diving, <fcc. In the latter, they are very expert, and have
been known to find the bottom in seventy feet o f water.
Many o f the leading merchants are from New England. The society of
the place is excellent. The people are very social and hospitable. The ladies
are intelligent, accomplished and refined ; and no man o f taste could fail to
enjoy a,winter sojourn in the island. A m ong the young men, there is a
Temperance Association, which is large and prosperous, and promises to be
o f great benefit to the morals and happiness o f the place.
In the United States District Court, which has cognizance o f all the cases of
wrecks and disasters, Judge Marvin presides, with great ability and universal
acceptance. W illiam R. Haekley is District Attorney, and worthy o f a
better place. In the State Circuit Court, Judge Lancaster at present occu­
pies the bench, a gentleman o f liberal views, large intelligence, and courteous
manners— one o f your old school gentlemen lawyers. The Jail, a substan­
tial stone building, about 30 feet square, is almost tenantless— the office of
keeper quite a sinecure.
Senator Mallory, who, though a decided Democrat, was elected, last win­
ter, by a W h ig Legislature, solely because they thought he could be relied
upon to support the constitution against the madness o f Southern agitators,
is a man o f mark. Self-educated, and self-made, he has, by industry, per­
severance, and an indomitable energy o f character, risen to his present high
position, which it is not doubted he will maintain, with honor to himself
and dignity and advantage to the State. l i e is a man o f great industry,
and said to be possessed o f unusual powers o f memory.
The first light-house was erected in 1823. It was near the shore, and
was carried away, with the house adjoining it, in the great flood o f 1846.
The entire family o f the keeper, consisting o f fourteen persons, perished in
the ruins, o f which scarcely a trace remained on the following day.
A new
and very substantial one was erected in 1847, standing some distance from
the shore, and on the highest spot o f ground in the island. It can be seen
16 miles at sea. There is a light-ship anchored on the reef, at the western
entrance to the harbor, about 9 miles’ distance, and a substantial iron light­
house is now in the process o f erection on Sand K ey, about 11 miles
S. S. W .
The Marine Hospital is a fine airy building, 100 feet b y 45, erected under
the superintendence o f Col. Simonton, in 1844. It stands close on the
shore. It is beautifully ventilated, and enjoys the benefit o f every cool
breeze that comes along. It possesses every comfort for the sick sailor, and
is equal, in all that constitutes a home-like retreat for the invalid, to any




K e y W est, Florida.

59

similar institution in our land. The plan o f the building is peculiarly well
adapted to the climate, where the chief desiderata are, a shelter from the
sun and a good circulation o f air. A central building, about 45 by 20, is
flanked by two others o f the same dimensions, standing at right angles to
the former, and distant from it ten feet. It is in the form o f the letter
H, the two uprights being a little separated from the transverse. In this
space between the central and outer buildings, are the stairs, leading to the
upper stories, with a wide gallery, which extends quite round the central build­
ing, and is protected, in its whole length, from top to bottom, by Venetian blinds.
The rooms, throughout, are separated by folding doors, which being thrown
open admit the air from any direction in which it may be moving. This
building is now, unfortunately, much exposed to the washing o f the sea, by
the removal o f a large quantity o f sand, on the west side o f it, for the pur­
pose o f filling in Fort Taylor. In the event o f another such inundation as
visited the island in 1846, it will inevitably be carried away, unless pro­
tected by a substantial sea-wall. It is hardly to be expected that Uncle
Sam will think of it, till it is too late. W e may therefore confidently pre­
dict its downfall, at the next return o f that same hurricane.
Fort Taylor, now in the process o f construction, under the superintend­
ence o f Capt. Dutton, is situated at the north-western angle o f the island,
just within the main entrance to the harbor. It is built on an artificial
island, made by the deposit o f many thousand tons o f stone. It stands about
I, 000 feet from the shore. It is 700 feet long in the rear, by 250 deep. The
front facade is 253 feet, within the bastions, the curtains being o f the same
length as the front. It is very substantially built. A large sum o f money
has been expended upon it already. Before it is completed, it will have
drawn upon the Treasury to the tune o f a million and a half, or more.
A t the eastern part o f the island, there is a natural salt pond, covering
340 acres, which, with slight arrangements to control and regulate the influx
of the water, by means o f a canal, 40 feet wide, has proved quite profitable.
It was nearly destroyed by the flood in 1846, but has been restored to a
better condition than before. Its present enterprising proprietor, Mr. Howe,
is doing well with the business. H e makes an average o f 30,000 bushels o f
salt, which is worth 20 cents on the spot.
The communication between this little island and the great world, is ir­
regular and unfrequent. The only regular direct communication, is with
Charleston and Havana, by means of the steamer Isabel, which touches, leaving
the mail on her outward passage, and taking it on her return. This gives
them a mail once in two weeks. B y this means, also, they are regularly
supplied with vegetables, fruit, &c., &c. Besides this, there are occasional
vessels, small craft, from St. Mark’s, Mobile, New Orleans, &c., but so seldom
and irregular, that one may often wait two or three months for a passage.
Transient vessels would touch there more frequently in passing, but for
the exorbitant rates o f pilotage now charged under a recent enactment.
These charges are five dollars a foot for United States vessels. For mer­
chantmen, four dollars a foot for vessels drawing over 16 feet— three and a
half, if over 12 feet-— and three if less than 12 feet. A large ship, passing
in February last, made signals for a pilot. The captain was sick, and wished
to come on shore. The pilot brought him in, and the ship went on her voy­
age.
The pilot charged and received sixty-four dollars for this service. It
is hoped that others will take warning from this example, and avoid touch­
ing there, when by any possibility it can be done. The harbor is easy o f




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Journal o f Mercantile Law .

navigation, and demands no extra skill, or responsibility on tke part o f the
pilot. The charges are preposterous and abusive.
Allusion has been made several times to the hurricane and flood o f 1846.
It took place on the 10 th o f October, and was very destructive. The water,
driven in by the violence o f the wind, rose over the wharves, flooded the
streets, and covered almost the entire city to the depth o f several feet.
From noon o f Sunday till about daylight on Monday morning, it stood
three feet over the floors o f most o f the buildings in Duval and the adjacent
streets. The wind blew a hurricane all the time, and the usurping waters
surges to and fro with terrific and destructive violence. Many buildings
were unroofed, and many more were entirely thrown down. The LightHouse has already been spoken of. The Custom House, and the Episcopal
Church, both built o f stone, shared the same fate. Boards and timber were
blown about like shingles. Nearly all the cocoa nut and orange trees on
the island were rooted up and destroyed. A large box, containing muskets,
which was in the fort, was found, the next day, on Tifft’s W harf, nearly half
a mile distant. A grind-stone, from near the same place, was found on ano­
ther wharf, and heavy timber from the wharves was piled up in different
places, making the streets nearly impassable. W recks and pans o f wrecks
were found all over the island. The grave-yard which was on the southern
shore, was wholly uncovered, and bones, and skeletons, and coffins, dashed
about, and scattered far and wide. After the storm subsided, one coffin was
found standing upright against the bole o f a tree, the lid open and the
ghastly tenant looking out upon the scene o f desolation around, as if in
mingled wonder and anger that its rest had been so rudely disturbed.

JOURNAL OF M E R C A N TIL E L A W .

ACTION TO RECOVER EXCESS OF niJTIES— OF THE RIGHT OF SHIPPING MER­
CHANTS TO HAVE INVOICE PRICES, WHEN STATED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY, VALUED
AT A SPECIFIC STANDARD, & C.

In United States District Court, April Term, 1851. Before Judges N e l s o n
and B e t t s ; J. S. McCulloh for Plaintiff. J. Prescott Hall, U. S. District Attor­
ney for Defendant. Samuel Grant vs. Hugh Maxwell.
June 2, 1851. Betts, District Judge, delivered the opinion o f the Court. The
action in this ease was brought against the Collector, to recover an excess of
duties alleged to have been exacted by him, and paid by the plaintiff, on the
importation o f an invoice o f goods from Trieste. A verdict was taken on the
trial, by consent o f parties, in favor o f the plaintiff, subject to the opinion of
the Court, and to correction and adjustment at the Custom-House.
The main facts in the case are not in dispute. The goods imported were
purchased in Austria, and shipped at Trieste, for the United States.
The invoice and entry represented the true purchase and market price in
Austria in paper florins, equal in value to silver florins, at 19f and 18£ discount,
according to the different periods o f purchase.
This depreciation was proved by the official certificate o f the United States
Consul at Trieste, and also by the testimony o f witnesses examined on the trial.
It was further proved that the legal currency in Austria at those dates, was
paper money, estimated in florins and made by law a lawful tender at their nomi­
nal value.
Some questions were raised at the trial, and reserved on the case as to the




Journal o f Mercantile Law .

61

admissibility o f particular portions o f the evidence, but not being pressed on the
argument, they are not now noticed in the decision o f the Court.
By Act o f Congress, passed May 22, 1846, (Sessions Laws, p. 21, eh. 23,) it is
enacted, that “ in all computations at the Custom House, the foreign coins and
money o f account herein specified, shall be estimated, as follows,” (amongst
other currencies specified,) “ the florins o f the Austrian Empire, and o f the City
of Augshurgh, at forty-eight and one-half cents, and all laws inconsistent with
this act are hereby repealed.” (Session Laws ch. 23, p. 21.)
For the defendant it is urged, he was bound by the terms o f the act to charge
duties on the goods in question, rating the florins o f the invoice at forty-eight
and a half cents each, without regard to their specie value or depreciation.
The plaintiff, on the other hand, claims the goods are subject to duty only upon
their cash value abroad, and that he is entitled, in order to fix that value, to have
the paper or nominal value in which they were purchased and are invoiced re­
duced to its specie value in Austria, and to enter the goods on that valuation.
The purpose o f the Government in all its laws imposing ad valorem duties on
foreign merchandise imported into this country has been to take the true value
of the goods in the country producing them, or in which they were obtained,
_ -ascertained by the actual purchase price, or market value as the basis upon
‘ f whiclfamount duties are to be computed.
' ThisHs manifested in the various revenue laws, from time to time introduci i n g new provisions to enable the Collectors to fix the foreign value correctly,
•V and to.-render duties uniform. The oaths exacted to invoices and on entries,
1 and tlie-enlarged powers conferred on appraisers, together with the early regulai ' tidn by law o f the value o f foreign currencies, with the methods o f determining
■' tl/eir, depreciatioh" are dlE designed to accomplish that end, 'Tin- f.nactments to
. this pu/pose are‘tound'iq'flic i\cis o f 1789, , 1 7 9 0 , V80], 1823, 1828, 1830,
■ 1832,-1842, and 1846. (1 Statutes at Large, 24 ibid., 180 ibid., 627— 2 Stats, at
Large 121, 3 ibid. 729, 4 ibid.' 2 7 6 /ibid. 58*3/S' itic. §63.)
The invoice value o f merchandise mnst.be. expressed,in money, and the invoice
and entry must particularly specify what money the goods are bought and
valued in, (1 Statutes at Large 655 §3fc,)'aiid they must be invoiced in the cur­
rency o f the country whence imported without respect to the intrinsic value o f
the money or the standard o f the United States fixed for its value, (2 Statutes
at Large 121 § 2.)
Still the actual wholesale cash value is to be ascertained, and made the duti­
able basis, notwithstanding any affidavit or invoice statement or valuation. (5
U. S. Statutes, 563 § 16.)
The earlier and later enactments concur in enforcing the one prominent ob­
ject, that of having at the Custom House the actual value in cash o f the mer­
chandise imported at the places o f its exportation. To make that purpose effec­
tual, in addition to the regulations respecting invoices, entries, and appraisals.
Congress by the Act o f 1799, \61, fixed the rates at which all foreign coins and
currencies shall be estimated in the United States, giving to various known de­
nominations o f foreign money a specific value, and requiring all other denomi­
nations to be estimated as nearly as may be in value, to such fixed rates, or the
intrinsic value thereof, compared with money o f the United States, (1 Statutes at
Large, 673.)
The following pi’oviso was added to the section, “ That it shall be lawful for
the President o f the United States, to cause to be established fit and proper re­
gulations for estimating the duties on goods, wares and merchandise imported
into the United States, in respect to which the original cost shall be exhibited
in a depreciated currency issued and circulated under the authority o f any foreign
government.”
The main question submitted to the Court for its decision upon the arguments
of the respective counsel accordingly is, whether the Act o f 1846 covers the sub­
ject, so that the cost price o f the goods must be estimated at forty-eight and a
half cents the florin, stated in the invoice, or whether the proviso to the 61st
section o f the Act o f 1799 operates in the case, and entitles the plaintiff to enter




62

Journal o f Mercantile Law .

his goods upon paying duties upon the specie, or intrinsic value o f the Austrian
florin or currency.
The Act o f March 2, 1799 is regarded the fundamental law in relation to im­
ports and duties, and each o f its enactments to be independent, forming a rule
upon the particular subject, which is not changed by subsequent legislation
varying other provisions o f the act.
The like doctrine applies to the succession o f Statutes which have followed
the parent Act, and accordingly the law or imports and duties is enforced as a
system composed of distinct enactments passed at successive periods o f time,
and each distinct provision is executed as part o f the system, notwithstanding the
change or repeal o f other provisions in those acts, in relation to the denomination
o f imports, the rates o f duties, or the methods o f computing them.
This is sometimes by virtue o f a saving clause appended to the same act, (4
Stats, at Large, 583, § 1,) and sometimes by declaring all provisions o f any for­
mer law inconsistent with the Act last passed, repealed (5 Stats, at Large, 566
^26,) and Act o f 1846. (Sess. Laws 21, ch. 23,) the Act now in question ; and
by the decisions o f the Courts on posterior enactments, anterior to the passage
o f the Act o f 1846, the Treasury Department had treated the proviso to § 61 o f
the Act o f March 2, 1799, as continuing in force, and duties were levied in con­
formity to its provisions. (Treasury Instructions to Collectors, Aug. 20, 1845;
ibid. May 14, 1831; ibid. Oct. 16, 1832 ; ibid. Aug. 4, 1840.)
The last instructions from the Secretary o f the Treasury, dated Oct. 12, 1849,
directs that bonds taken for the production o f consular certificates o f the value
o f depreciated currencies must be strictly enforced, which imports the continu­
ing operation o f that proviso, because the consular certificates come into exist­
ence and haveVvaJi^fCy solely'nrfdar she howdra given byitbatj proviso.
The Act o f V790i^ &%'fix<?4 the value;of certain forbi|n'coinh, or currencies;
so subsequently <fid tbe Acl o f March ‘3, 1801 ; and similar‘ provisions were re­
enacted in 1832, 1843, 184U/ ahd 1846-*—thfe thfee hast Acts being framed in like
terms and declaring the vaiues-of foreign coins,; anything in any former Act to
the contrary notwithstanding.
Tt is plain upon this summary stafefpq'rj) o f the course o f legislation and prac­
tice on the subject, that the proviso .1,0 Jr6l o f the Act o f 1799 is to be regarded
as repealed only in the contingency that it stands opposed to subsequent Acts
o f Congress, and especially that o f May 22, 1846.
The reason for its preservation and enforcement, as a relief secured to import­
ers against the payment o f ad valorem duties on amounts beyond the fair value
o f the merchandise imported, is the same at the present time as when it was
enacted.
What then does the proviso require ? Clearly not a disregard f»r the valua­
tion o f foreign currency designated by Statute, but only a method o f determin­
ing whether that value remains unchanged, and the actual value corresponds
with the nominal rate. The invoice must be expressed in the currency o f the
country from which the goods are exported, or in which they are produced. The
nominal currency will necessarily very often give the cost or market value very
wide from the truth. In the case before the Court it is proved beyond question
that the goods imported are rated nearly 20 per cent above their actual value
in Austria, and beyond the real cost to the importer.
This discrepancy is foreed on him by the imperative direction o f the revenue
laws. He must invoice the goods at the cost or value expressed in the cur­
rency o f Austria, although they are obtained at one-fifth less that amount in specie,
and without the aid o f the proviso he will be precluded showing the actual cost
or value.
It seems to us the proviso acts no way in contradiction o f the Statute o f 1846.
It supplies the Custom House a means o f laying duties on invoices in confor­
mity with the general provisions and scope o f the revenue laws, and helps to
carry out the intention o f Congress by keeping the fluctuations o f nominal value
to the standard o f specie value, in transactions in foreign currencies.
Congress do not make the foreign currencies named in the Statute receivable




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

63

in the United States at the values applied to them. Had that been so, the mer­
chant might be considered protected by the opportunity o f paying duties in the
currency o f his invoices. The proviso looks to a remedy for the injury that
might without its aid be sustained by importers under the peremptory regula­
tion o f foreign coins and currencies as a measure o f the foreign value o f mer­
chandise.
W e think there is no incompatibility or inconsistency between the Acts sub­
sequent to 1799, upon this subject, and the proviso, and that accordingly, neither
by the terms o f the Act o f 1846, or those antecedent to it, nor by legal implication
is the proviso repealed, or its legal operation suspended.
The business o f the country was conducted on that understanding o f the law
antecedent to 1846, and collectors and the Treasury Department unitedly ad­
mitted importations and charged duties in conformity with regulations adopted
by authority o f the proviso.
The proviso was repugnant to the enacting clause o f section 66 o f the Act o f
1799, precisely as it is to a like designation o f the value o f foreign currencies by
the Act o f 1846. That section in nearly identical language declared the value
of various denominations o f foreign moneys, but the proviso referring to the de­
preciation o f foreign currencies in which tbe original cost o f goods was exhi­
bited, would necessarily include those specified in the enacting clause, equally
with those not named.
There was no less necessity for the interposition o f the President in relief o f
the merchant, when his invoices were made up in a currency which had depreci­
ated after its valuation once determined by Congress, than where no rate o f valu­
ation had been established by law.
The proviso is accordingly framed to apply to all importations when the in­
voice is exhibited in a depreciated currency issued and circulated under the au­
thority o f a foreign government, and necessarily embraces equally those whose
value has been once fixed by Congress, and those which have never been recog­
nized by our laws.
The Treasury Circular o f August 20, 1845, regards the proviso as in the alter­
native. Its directions relate to invoices made out in a foreign depreciated cur­
rency, or a currency the value o f which is not fixed by the laws o f the United
States.
This, we think, the correct reading and exposition o f the proviso to the 61st
section o f the Act o f 1799.
Congress has since, from time to time ascertained the existing value o f various
foreign coins and currencies, and declared them by Statute. This relieved the
Treasury Department from keeping on foot a train o f investigations at every
importation, respecting the value o f the currencies in which the invoices were
exhibited. The Statute value was adopted as the real one for the time being,
but it was manifest such valuations must be liable to changes from the adulter­
ation of coins or the emission o f paper or base currencies abroad, and it was
consonant with the general course o f legislation in relation to the revenue, that
a means should be supplied the Executive Department to maintain uniformity in
imports and duties, without delaying the business o f the country, or enforcing
hardships or inequalities upon importers, until special legislation could be inter­
posed to remove the difficulty.
The proviso supplied such means, and as its operation was so appropriate as
well as effectual and just, we must conclude it to have been the purpose o f
Congress to retain it in force, when they have not in express terms rescinded it,
or passed any enactment necessarily repugnant to it. On the contrary, it seems
to us, that the proviso being essentially prospective, contemplating and arranging
for a state o f things which may come into existence at future periods, the
Act of May 22, 1846, instead of being construed as repealing it, ought to be un­
derstood as upholding and sanctioning the powers conferred by it on the Presi­
dent.
Judgment must therefore be entered on the verdict for the plaintiff, and the
amount be adjusted according to the stipulations or reservation o f the case.




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Journal o f Mercantile Law .
ACTION ON A BILE OF EXCHANGE----BANK CHECKS.

In the Superior Court, New York City, 1851. Before S a n f o r d D tjer and
Justices. G. W . Thatcher vs. The Bank o f the State o f New York
and D. Thatcher.
On the 5th July, 1850, G. W . Thatcher, at St. Louis, Missouri, drew a bill of
exchange on D. Thatcher, o f Bridgeport, Conn., for $2,500, payable at the Bank
o f the State o f New York, in this city, on the 5th Oct., 1850. The hill was
accepted, and after being twice endorsed was sent to the American Exchange
Bank for collection. On the day it became due, at or soon after 3 P. M., the
notary o f that bank presented it at the Bank o f the State to a person at the pay­
ing teller’s desk, (not the paying teller,) who said there were no funds to pay
it. The bill was thereupon protested for non-payment, the usual notice thereof
given, and it was returned to the holder at St. Louis, who claimed and received
o f the drawer, G. T. Thatcher, ten per cent damages, that being the rate allowed
by the Statute o f Missouri. It appeared that on the 5th Oct., 1850, the bank
clerk o f E. D. Morgan and Co., before 101 A. M., handed to the paying teller o f
the Bank o f the State o f New York, their certified check for $2,500, (the same
as cash,) and asked him to pay the bill in question when presented that day.
The teller took the check, but made no answer to the request. The check was
subsequently received from him. This clerk had before left funds with the pay­
ing teller to take up paper accepted by D. Thatcher, and he testified he had been
in the habit o f leaving funds with other paying tellers to take up paper, and no
teller ever refused to take the same. The paying teller o f the American Ex­
change Bank testified that it was customary to leave funds with the paying
teller, when the note is payable at a bank, and the party keeps no account
there.
Neither o f the Thatchers kept an account in the Bank o f the State o f New
York, or ever had any funds deposited there to their credit. Some other facts
appearing at the trial are mentioned in the opinion o f the Court. At the close
o f the evidence, the counsel for the bank moved for a non-suit. The judge re­
serving the question, denied the motion, and gave a proforma judgment for the
plaintiff, from which the Bank appealed to the general term.
B y t h e C o u r t — S a n d f o r d , J.— The action is founded wholly upon the
neglect o f the bank to pay the bill o f exchange drawn by the plaintiff, and it
was incumbent on him to establish that the bank had assumed or become liable
to perform such a duty in his behalf.
The complaint alleges that the plaintiff or his agents left funds with the paying
teller for the purpose o f paying the b ill; but there is no proof o f that statement.
It does not appear who furnished the funds, and inasmuch as it was presump­
tively the acceptor’s duty to provide them, we certainly are not at liberty, in the
absence o f proof, to infer that they were furnished by the drawer. As the case
stands, the money was delivered to the teller in behalf o f the acceptor, and if
the bank assumed any duty in the premises, it was to him, and he alone was
entitled to an action for its neglect. There was no privity whatever between
the bank and the drawer, the bank owed no duty to him, and if he can maintain
this suit for damages, so can each o f the endorsers to the extent o f their dam­
ages and disbursements growing out o f the protest o f the bill. The proper course,
on the plaintiff’s case as proved, was for the acceptor to pay the protested bill,
and then bring his action against the bank.
Assuming, however, that the drawer left the money, and can maintain a suit,
how does the case stand ? Was the paying teller theagent o f the bank or of the
drawer o f the bill, in receiving the money in question ? It appears that in this
bank there were a cashier, a paying teller, and a receiving teller. Now we know
and may assume (as was done 7 Hill 94) that the cashier is the principal execu­
tive officer o f the bank. A bank is not bound to receive on deposit, or to keep,
the funds o f every man who offers money for that purpose. It may select its
dealers, and refuse such as it pleases. For the purposes o f this selection, the
cashier appears to be the proper officer. The bank pays for its dealers, who
C am pbell,




Journal o f Mercantile Law .

65

have funds to their credit, such hills and notes, accepted or drawn hy them, as
are payable at the bank. The latter circumstance is deemed an order o f the de­
positor for the payment o f the bill or note out o f his funds deposited. But it is
only in respect o f its dealers, persons keeping an account with the bank, that
this course o f business exists or can exist.
A person may, no doubt, become a dealer, by a deposit made on the day his
note or draft falls due, though never before in the bank; but his deposit must be
made with the proper officer o f the institution, and with the requisite assent to
his becoming such dealer.
In this instance, there is, in the first place, no pretense that the cashier, or any
officer o f the bank except the paying teller, ever assented in any manner to the
plaintiff’s making a deposit or becoming a dealer with the bank. The first step
toward establishing a duty o f the bank toward the plaintiff is therefore wanting.
Let us suppose this difficulty obviated, the next step is to show a deposit pro­
perly made, that is, that the money was left with an agent o f the bank author­
ized to receive it. The person who left the money knew that the agent who
received it was the paying teller, and not the receiving teller o f the bank, and it
cannot be said he was ignorant o f the fact that there were two such officers.
Indeed, there was no such idea advanced at the trial. Now the very names o f
these two agents indicate to every one the proper and widely different functions
of each. The one is to pay the money o f the bank; the other is to receive
moneys for the bank. Dealers always pay their money to the receiving teller.
When they draw money from the bank, or their notes or bills are presented made
payable at the bank, the paying teller pays the amount to them, or to the hold­
ers of such notes or bills.
But we are not left to the inference derived from the names o f these agents.
The answer states that the proper receiving officer o f the bank is the receiving
teller, and that it was not within the duties o f the paying teller to receive the
money left in this instance, or to assume to pay the plaintiff’s bill with it, and
that it is not in the usual course o f business to deposit moneys with the paying
teller. The reply does not traverse the allegation as to the receiving teller being
the proper receiving officer o f the bank, but it alleges that the receiving o f money
by the paying teller, in the bank, duringbank hours, is within the ordinary scope
of the business o f the paying teller and o f the bank, and that his receipt and
promise in the instance before us, were within his duties, and bound the bank.
The proof entirely failed to make out these allegations. It was shown that,
in several instances, these same parties had left funds with the paying teller in
the same way that these were left, but there was no proof that it was Ms proper
function to receive them, or that it was in the usual course o f business for him
to receive funds in behalf o f the bank. On the contrary, both the cashier and
paying teller clearly prove that it is no part o f his duty or business to receive
moneys for the bank; and the teller testifies that when he does receive money
for parties who do not keep an account in the bank, in order to pay notes they
have drawn payable there,it is as a favor to such parties; he sometimes refuses
— sometimes, when pressed very hard, he takes it for them, and keeps it separate
from the money o f the bank.
It is true the cashier appears to have known in a few instances, that the paying
teller thus received money to pay notes and bills, and did not forbid i t ; but we
cannot infer from this an assent o f the bank that he should, in their behalf, re­
ceive money for that purpose. His duties as their agent were clearly defined,
and the cashier’ s knowledge that he occasionally, while at the bank, acted for
others, does not show that the bank adopted those acts.
So far from the proof showing that in this transaction the paying teller was the
agent o f the bank, it clearly shows that he was the agent o f the party who left
the money. The bank had nothing to do with the affair, nor was it intended
that it should have. The drawer, it seems, was in the habit o f drawing bills
payable at this bank, but he kept no account or money there, and his sole ob­
ject in this operation appears to have been to give a sort o f currency to his bills
because payable at a New York bank. If he had offered an account with the

VOL. xxvi.— NO. I.




5

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Journal o f Mercantile Law.

defendants’ bank and kept funds there, the bank would have had the usual bene­
fit o f its dealings with depositors, and his bills would have been paid of course
on presentment. The paying teller, and his substitute in his temporary ab­
sence, know as to those who keep accounts in the bank, and pay accordingly.
But the drawer and acceptor chose to run the risk o f meeting the bill at the
proper moment, at the counter o f this bank; and their transactions were simply
for their agent to come to the bank on the day the bill fell due, and wait there in
front o f the paying teller’s desk until the holder o f the bill came in and present­
ed it. The money would then be handed by their agent to the holder, and the
latter would take it away. The bank derived and could derive no possible bene­
fit from such a transaction; it was never intended that it should ; and the bank
was as ignorant o f its occurrence as if it had been done outside o f its building,
instead o f in its office. To avoid the trouble o f waiting with the money at the
bank counter for the bill to be brought in for payment, these parties resorted to
the expedient o f asking the paying teller to take the money they had brought,
and when the bill came in, to hand it to the holder. He sometimes assented as
a favor to them. There was no intention or expectation that the money should
go into the hands o f the bank, or be mingled with its funds. It was handed to
the paying teller, because from his position in the bank, the bill would necessa­
rily be presented to him for payment, and if he would take the money and retain
it till the bill came in, it would save the time and attendance o f the agent o f the
drawer, and acceptor. The same expedient has been adopted in reference to
bills payable at another bank, as shown by the evidence, and it may be general
in this city: but it cannot alter the relation o f the parties in the transaction.
The paying teller, in such cases, becomes the agent o f the parties who leave the
money with him, and the bank is not responsible for his conduct in regard to it.
The case o f the Manhattan Company vs. Lydig, 4 John. R. 377, was like this
in principle. There the party, instead o f delivering his money to the receiving
teller o f the bank, handed it, from time to time, to the bank’s book-keeper to
deposit it for him. The book-keeper kept part o f the money; but, by false en­
tries in the dealer’s pass-book and in the books o f the bank, concealed the ab­
straction from both. Sometimes in a pressure o f business, this book-keeper
assisted the receiving teller, and sometimes supplied his place in his absence,
but none o f the money in controversy was delivered to him on those occasions.
The Supreme Court decided that the book-keeper in receiving these moneys was
the agent of the party and not of the bank, and. that the bank was not liable for
that portion which did not come to the hands o f the receiving teller or the per­
son temporarily supplying his place in the bank, or which did not otherwise come
into the coffers o f the bank.
On the case made at the trial, the plaintiff was not entitled to recover. The
formal judgment entered in his favor must be reversed, and a judgment rendered
for the defendants.
COMMERCIAL CASES IN THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA.

The subjoined abstract o f points in cases, decided in the Supreme Court of
Louisiana, (Term 1851-52,) are derived from the carefully prepared reports of
the Commercial Bulletin. They embrace points o f great interest to mercantile
and business men:—
S p a r k s e t a l . v s . S t e a m e r S a l a d i n a n d O w n e r s .— Slidell, J. Where a
flatboat was tied to the bank at a place appropriated to that sort o f craft, at a
considerable distance from the landing assigned to steamboats, and a steamboat
moving in a dense fog at night came in collision with and sunk the flatboat, and
it appeared from the evidence that it was not usual at the place for flatboats
thus moored to display a light and keep a man on the look-out, held, that there
had been no want of conformity to custom, on the part o f the flatboat, whereby
a false confidence could have been given to an approaching vessel, and that the




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

61

collision was owing to a want o f care and caution on the part o f those who had
the management o f the steamboat.
B ond v s . S. W . F r o s t a n d O w n e r s o f S t e a m e r C o n c o r d ia . Slidell, J.
—In an action against a vessel for damages alleged to have been sustained on a
lot o f cotton, the vessel’s bill o f lading acknowledging the cotton to have been
in good order and condition when received by her, even if it be admitted to be
open to explanation, most certainly throws the burden o f proof upon the vessel,
and the recital contained in the bill o f lading cannot be overthrown or qualified,
except by evidence o f a very clear and convincing character— the policy o f law,
justified by a long experience, being to hold the carrier to a very strict accounta­
bility.
Per curiam: in the plaintiff’s bill o f damages there is an item (which the
Court allowed) for loss o f weight by picking, for which loss defendants are
charged. The cotton picker testified that he. kept the cotton picked, dried it, sold
it, and got the money for i t ; that he charges so much a bale for picking, with­
out reference to the damaged cotton, which he keeps, the damaged portion being
considered part o f the price for picking.
The defendants are charged $50 for picking the cotton, and if they are to pay
the sound value o f the portion damaged, it seems to us, as at present advised,
unreasonable that its proceeds should not be allowed for. The amount in this case
is not large, but it involves the justice and reasonableness o f a practice, the pro­
priety of which we have hitherto had occasion to question.
F o l e y v s . B e l l a n d S t e b b in s . R o s t , J.— Where, under a special agree­
ment and for a consideration deemed sufficient by the defendants, they purchased
on account o f tho plaintiff certain gunny bags and certain barrels o f inspected
mess pork, for which they gave their own notes, and agreed to store those ar­
ticles in their warehouses and to hold them for a stipulated time—the sales to be
ultimately effected, not by the defendants themselves, but by the plaintiff through
the agency o f his broker, and the proceeds to be paid over to the defendants, to
meet their outstanding n otes; but, before the expiration o f the time agreed
upon, the defendants sold the pork and gunny bags, without the knowledge o f
the plaintiff or his broker, and subsequently, when the plaintiff directed his bro­
ker to sell, the defendants offered him, in the place o f the articles sold, gunny
bags of the same size and number and other inspected mess pork, which were re­
fused, held, that, after the sale o f the goods by the defendants, their liability to the
plaintiff, whether they be considered as agents or as depositaries, or as creditors
selling the goods o f their debtor, in violation o f their agreement not to do so, is
the same, and that, in the absence o f any legal justification for selling without
authority, they must account to him for any profits they may have made in sell­
ing and indemnifying him for any loss he has sustained by their failure to deliver
the goods when demanded.
Where it was alleged to be the custom o f trade in New Orleans, to deliver
gunny bags and pork from the warehouses in which they are stored without re­
gard to marks or ownership, held, that such a custom, if proved to exist, would
be contrary to law and good morals, and could not be recognized by a court o f
justice.
C l u m a s v s . G a l l a g h e r .— Rost, J.— Where, by the death o f one o f the com­
mercial partners, the firm was not dissolved but continued, held, that the author­
ity o f the agents o f the firm given previous to the death, still subsisted after the
death.
S o y e vs. M e r c h a n t s ’ I n s u r a n c e C o.— Slidell, J.— There is no rule o f law,
nor usage, which would make it the duty o f an assured to have his house, if
untenanted, guarded by a keeper. Such a duty could only be imposed by a
special clause in the policy o f insurance.
M o r t o n v s . D a y .— Where the captain o f the steamer o f which the defend­
ant was part owner had purchased o f the plaintiff goods, representing that they
were for the use o f the boat, and the goods were accordingly charged to the
boat and owners, but the account o f the sales on its face plainly indicates, and it
was satisfactorily shown by other evidence, that the goods could not have been




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Journal o f Mercantile Law.

bought for the boat’ s consumption, but were probably purchases made to fill
orders which had been entrusted to the captain— held, that the captain had no
authority to bind his owner in that manner, and that the owner was not liable :
per curiam, the master is not the general agent o f the owner. He is clothed with
various incidental powers, resulting from his official capacity; but these, in the
main, are restricted to such as belong to the usual employment o f the vessel. An
extraordinary transaction, like the one under consideration, calls for a particular
authority, either express or resulting clearly from an antecedent, similar and usual
course o f dealing, so adopted by the owner as to hold the captain out to the pub­
lic as his agent for such purposes.
LIABILITY OF RAILROAD

CORPORATIONS FOR PERSONAL INJURIES SUSTAINED BY
PASSENGERS.

A Mr. Hood, on the 15th January last, took passage at New Haven for Col­
linsville, Conn., buying a ticket for that place at the railroad office. At Plainville
the conductor gave him a check for the stage, which at that place connected
with the cars, in exchange for his ticket. The stage was upset, and Mr. Hood’s
leg was broken. He sued the railroad company for damages, but they contend­
ed that in the first place that they were not authorized to carry passengers in
stages, and if they had been they had no control over this accident. The Court
and Jury ruled differently, however, and gave a verdict for the plaintiff, with
$3,400 damages and costs.
R e c e n t D e c isio n s of t h e C in c in n a t i C h a m b e r o f C o m m e r c e .— W e are
indebted to the Cincinnati Price Current for the subjoined decisions o f the Com­
mittee o f Arbitration o f the Cincinnati Chamber o f Commerce. The decisions
o f these Committees must, says the Price Current, be regarded o f as much im­
portance to merchants, as the decisions o f Courts, the Committees being always
composed o f practical and intelligent business men. It is a fact worthy of
remark in this connection, that a growing desire is manifested to resort to this
method o f settling matters o f dispute. It is certainly the most agreeable, as it
is the cheapest, and, we may add, the fairest way to settle such matters.
The views o f the Price Current are in keeping with some remarks we made
some month’s since, in publishing in the pages o f the Merchant's Magazine the
memorial o f the New York Chamber o f Commerce, to the Legislature o f New
York, on the subject o f establishing a Court o f Commerce for the City o f New
York. W e trust that the next Session o f the Legislature will be induced to
comply with the objects set forth in that memorial.
R ic h a r d s o n , G a r d n e r a n d S t o n e v s . J. M. M c C u l l o u g h .— This case was
brought to recover damages for a lot of gunny bags purchased o f defendant on
the 20th o f September, 1851. It was alleged by plaintiffs that the bags were a
good merchantable article ; but upon examination about three weeks or a month
after the bags were taken into store, it was found that a large number were not
as represented by defendant. It is alleged by defendant that the sacks were ex­
amined before they were sold or delivered to plaintiffs, and that they were then
good second-hand bags, as represented, and that they must have been damaged
after they had been delivered by defendant.
The committee decided from the testimony given on both sides, that the bags
were now in bad order, as represented, but having been in store some weeks
before they were overhauled, and being exposed part o f that time to rats, it was
possible they might have been damaged. The Committee are o f the opinion,
however, that the practice o f purchasing goods upon the representation o f the
seller, and keeping the same in possession a length o f time before instituting an
examination, is one that should not be encouraged, being calculated to cause
much trouble and dissatisfaction in mercantile transactions. Decision for defend­
ant. G. Y. Roots and Geo. Graham, Select Committee.
P r o c t o r a n d G a m b l e vs. R. A. H o l d e n .— This case is brought to recover
damages for the difference between the guarantied and actual strength o f a lot of
soda-ash. In July, 1851, defendant sold to plaintiffs 25 casks soda-ash, repre-




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Commercial Chronicle and Review.

senting its strength to be 84° or 85°, and the bill was rendered accordingly.
When a portion o f the article had been used in the factory o f plaintiffs, it was
discovered that the strength was unusually weak, and a series o f tests proved
the average strength to be only 66°. Eleven casks were used, and the remain­
ing fourteen casks were returned to defendant. A letter from Babcock and
Fennell o f New Orleans, was read, which represents the strength o f the article
to have been 84° or 85° when shipped from New Orleans; but it was also
shown that the packages were in bad order when delivered in this city. The
question, however, as to the actual strength o f the article is not contested, de­
fendant resting his objections to the claim o f plaintiff upon the following points:
— 1st. The custom of this market has been to purchase soda-ash at the repre­
sented strength, there being no established system for testing. 2nd. When
plaintiffs discovered that the article was not as represented, they were bound to re­
turn it ; and not having done so, they are not entitled to any deduction on that
portion o f the article used.
The Committee decide that no custom has been shown to exist that can set
aside the right o f plaintiffs to recover for the difference between the guarantied
and actual strength. Upon the second point, it is decided that when an article
is purchased upon the guaranty or representation o f the seller, the purchaser is
not bound to return the goods, but may use the whole and recover damages for
the difference between the guarantied and actual quality. Plaintiffs are entitled
to the difference between 80°— the standard strength, and 66°, the actual strength.
C. W . West, W . B. Cassilly, Wm. C. Noff, Geo. H. Hill, Joseph Rawson, Com­
mittee.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND R E V IE W .
O P E N IN G OF T H E N E W Y E A R — C O M M E R C I A L C H A N G E S IN T H E P A S T — U N E X P E C T E D S U P P L Y OF G O L D —
E F F E C T O F E X P O R T S OF D O M E S T I C C O IN A S C O M P A R E D W I T H S H IP M E N T S OF F O R E IG N — T O T A L P R O D U C ­
T IO N OF D O M E S T I C G O L D F R O M 1 7 9 3 T O T H E C L O S E OF 1 8 5 1 — T H E N A T U R A L C O U R S E OF T R A D E S U R E
BE

TH E

M OST

P R O S P E R O U S — C O M M E R C E OF T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S F O R Y E A R

E N D IN G

JU N E

TO

30TH ,

1 8 5 1 — IM P O R T S A N D E X P O R T S C O M P A R E D — IN C R E A S E D E X P O R T S O F C O T T O N — C O M P A R A T IV E E X P O R T S
OF C O T T O N A N D B R E A D S T U F F S

FO R S E V E R A L Y E A R S — A V E R A G E P R IC E OF C O T T O N E X P O R T E D

1 8 2 1 — C O U R S E OF T R A D E F O R T H E C A L E N D A R Y E A R
ON T H E S E A B O A R D A N D IN T H E I N T E R I O R — D E P O S I T S
D E L P H IA

AND

NEW

Y O R K FO R ELE V EN

ORLEANS

M IN T S — I M P O R T S

M O N T H S — IM P O R T S O F

DRY

AT

J U S T C L O S IN G — S T A T E OF T H E
AND
NEW

C O IN A G E

S IN C E

M O N E Y -M A R K E T

FO R N O V E M B E R A T T H E P H IL A ­

Y O R K FO R N O V E M B E R — IM P O R T S A T N E W

GOO DS A T N E W Y O R K FO R N O V E M B E R — IM P O R T S

OF

D R Y G O O D S F O R E L E V E N M O N T H S — C O M P A R A T IV E R E C E I P T S F O R D U T IE S F O R T H E M O N T H , A N D F R O M
JA N U AR Y 1 S T — E X P O R T S FROM N E W Y O R K
EXPO RTED— EXPO RTS

FO R

FO R

N O V E M B E R — P A R T IC U L A R S

OF P R IN C IP A L A R T I C L E S

E L E V E N M O N T H S — O F F IC IA L R E P O R T OF T H E S E C R E T A R Y OF T H E T R E A S ­

U R Y , E T C ., E T C .

If there is any vantage ground in time, it must be on the threshold o f a New
Year. Standing thus on this great landmark between the past and the future,
we recount our experience, and map out the untrodden path before us. The
vision, however, is not equal: running back far into the dim distance, we can
see the track we have pursued, trace its windings, and mark the beacons we
have erected: as we turn forward, we can but fancy the shadowy outlines o f the
way where there is nothing a,s yet known or real. The past year has witnessed,
upon this continent, many important commercial changes, but they have all been
effected so quietly that we can scarcely realize their importance. The produc­
tion o f gold from our own soil since the 1st o f January, 1851, is a little over
$90,000,000, o f which about $54,000,000 has been deposited for coinage at our
mints. This large supply o f coin is far beyond any former precedent, and may




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Commercial Chronicle and Review.

well have effected great changes in the channels o f trade. When we depended
for our supply o f the precious metals almost entirely upon our foreign Com­
merce, it was natural to watch with some anxiety the exports o f coin, for in a
little while the basis o f our circulating medium might be withdrawn from us.
Now we are, in this respect, independent o f the world, and the anxiety which
was then natural to our circumstances, is now foolish and unreasonable. From
the year 1793 to the close o f 1847 the total production o f gold in the United
States and territories, deposited for coinage, was but $12,808,575, or less than
$240,000 per annum; in 1848 it was $896,675; in 1849, $7,079,144; in 1850,
$36,938,314; and in 1851, about $54,000,000. The amount deposited for
coinage the last year, however, as noticed above, does not show the total pro­
duction, as a large quantity o f gold dust is in transitu, or still held outside o f the
mint. With such an increase in our supply o f this precious metal, we can
hardly regard it as wonderful that our exports o f coin show a corresponding
increase. It is useless to contend about what might have been the state o f the
country if the whole sum produced had been retained here. The shipment has
been regarded by many as a serious loss, and as indicating an unsound and
unhealthy state o f trade. But it is not clear that if most o f it had been kept at
home, the result would not have been still more disastrous to our prosperity. W e
do not think the public mind is becoming more favorable to restraints o f any
kind upon the Commerce o f the world. That which is natural, will in the end be
found the most beneficial. Any attempt to force, by statute, the course of
trade, will effect injury somewhere, and do more harm than good. The Com­
merce o f the country for the year ending June 30, 1851, as now just made up at
Washington, shows a large increase over any former year. Under our statisti­
cal head will be found a full summary o f the most interesting statements. It
will be seen that the total imports into the United States for that period
amounted t o ..................................................................................................
8215,725,995
Less foreign merchandise re-exported...........................
$9,738,695
Less foreign specie re-exported.......................................
11,162,800
-------------------------------------- 20,900,995
Imports consumed........................................................................
Exports of domestic produce.....................................................

$194,825,000
196,616,135

In the last item we have included the exports o f specie o f domestic produce,
amounting to $18,069,580, because this is as legitimate a product o f the soil as
so much value in potatoes. W e have also deducted the total foreign coin
exported, although part o f it does not appear in the imports for the year.
The total imports and exports for the fiscal year under notice have been as
follow s:—
Foreign merchandise. Foreign specie.

Imports.....................................................

$210,758,086

$4,967,910

Domestic produce. Foreign merch’dise. Foreign specie.

Exports.................
$196,616,135
$9,738,695 _ $11,162,300
Excess of exports over imports......................................'.......................

Total.

$215,725,995
Total.

$217,517,130
1,791,135

O f these exports $112,315,317 were in cotton, showing an increase in value
o f $40,330,701. This increase was not exclusively in price, as one might gather
from a careless reading o f the President’ s Message, but was mostly in quantity.
The exports o f breadstuffs have declined both in quantity and value. The fol-




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Commercial Chronicle and Review.

lowing is an interesting comparison o f these items for several years.
extended comparison will be found in another place.
Years.

1851...............
1850...............
1849...............
1848...............
1847...............

Exports o f
breadstuffs.
Value.

Exports o f cotton.
Pounds.
Value.

Total exports.
Value.

A more

Total imports.
Value.

927,237,089 $112,315,317 $20,051,373 $217,517,130 $215,725,995
635,381,604
71,984,616 38,165,507 151,898,720 178,136,318
1,026,603,269
66,396,967 37,472,751 145,755,820 147,857,439
814,274,431
61,998,294 68,701,921 154,932,131 154,998,928
527,218,958
53,415,848 27,701,121 158,648,622 146,545,638

The average price o f cotton exported for the last fiscal year, as shown above,
was 12.11 cents, while for the previous year it was 11.3 cents, showing an aver­
age increase o f but 1.8 cents. For the year 1849 the average price o f exports
was but 6.4 cents, being the lowest with a single exception for a long series o f
years. The average for 1834 was 12.8 cents; for 1835, 16.8 cents; for 1836,
16.8 cents; for 1837, 14.2 cents; for 1838, 14.8 cents; showing that the price
for the current year instead o f being exorbitant, as is generally supposed, was
only a reaction to a fraction above the medium rate. The average price o f the
exports o f cotton for 31 years is 11.36 cents.
The calendar year now closed, has witnessed fewer commercial disasters than
might have been expected, considering the magnitude o f the business under­
taken. The great bulk o f losses, on this side o f the Atlantic, has come from the
depreciation in the value o f foreign goods, but this has fallen for the most part
upon wealthy houses here and abroad, who are able to sustain it without failure.
Toward the close o f the first six months o f the year, the money-market which
had witnessed a plethora so long, began to tighten and the value o f capital
appreciated, until during a portion o f the autumn the best business paper was
sold in our principal cities at a discount o f 18 per cent per annum. This rate
has been gradually reduced, and we have now in our Atlantic cities a good
supply o f money, although we have had no return to the minimum rates o f last
year. Just about New Year’s there is always an increased demand for money,
which we have not taken into the account. In the interior, however, the scarcity of
money seems to be extending, according to our previous predictions; but the
increased supply on the seaboard will again be felt through the country toward
the approach o f spring.
The receipts o f gold from California continue to increase; the deposits for
November at both the Philadelphia and New Orleans Mints were larger than for
any previous similar period, as will be seen by the annexed statistical statement:
D E P O S IT S F O R O C T O B E R .
NEW

O RLEAN S.

P H IL A D E L P H IA .

From California.

Total.

From California.

Total.

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

$1,049,618 98
6,997 59

$1,060,020 28
19,184 97

$5,390,000
20,800

$5,450,000
20,800

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

$1,056,616 57

$1,079,205 25

$5,410,800

$5,470,800

GOLD

Double eagles................
Eagles...........................

C O IN A G E .

Pieces.

Value.

Pieces.

Value.

7,500

$150,000

$4,564,340
246,400
191,280
263,510
216,079
$5,481,609

Quarter e a g le s .................
Gold dollars.................

70,000

70,000

228,217
24,640
38,256
105^04
216,079

Total gold coinage.

99,600

$440,000

612,596




2 2 ,0 0 0

2 2 0 ,0 0 0

__

72

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
S IL V E R

CO IN A G E .

54,000
9,000
1,000
2,000

12,000
62,000
137,500
60,000
500,200

6,000
15,500
13,750
3,000
15,006

$66,000

771,700

$53,256

Half dollars...................
Quarter dollars.....................
Dimes...............
Half dimes...............
Three cent pieces........
Total silver coinage........
COPPER

C O IN AG E.

Cents...............
Total coinage.................

$506,000

193,124

1,931

$1,577,420

$5,536,796

W e estimated, in our December number, the total receipts at the United
States mints, o f California gold, from the date o f its discovery in 1848, at
$90,000,000; the above official return shows the amount to have been
$91,620,583 up to December 1st, so that the total, up to January 1st, 1852,
amounts to about $100,000,000. This sum, it will he remembered, has actually
been added to our coin ; the produce o f the mines in addition, must he, as here­
tofore shown, full half as much more, making the total for the three years and a
half about $150,000,000.
The average value o f the gold as it comes from the mines and is sent to
market, according to the returns from our mint, is about $17 50 per ounce,
although some dirty parcels realize as low as $16 50. The promise o f a good
yield for the coming season is very flattering, and our mint receipts will doubt­
less exceed $5,000,000 per month. Some action on the part o f Congress is
necessary to modify the present legal comparative value o f the precious metals>
or all o f the silver change will be abstracted from the country. It has been
recommended, that a seignorage he taken from the silver coined at the mint,
making the present coin, representing fractional parts o f a dollar, about 7 per
cent lighter in weight, and retaining gold as the sole legal standard for the
country in all sums above five or ten dollars. There seem to be fewer objec­
tions to this plan than any other which has been proposed, and we see no good
reason why it should not be adopted.
The imports into the country for December will probably exceed the entries
for the corresponding month o f last year, but the returns are not yet completed.
For November there was a slight falling off at our principal ports. At New
York the value o f free goods entered was about the same, but the receipts o f
dutiable merchandise show a decline o f $504,473, as will be seen by the follow­
ing comparative statement:—
I M P O R T S T H R O W N U P O N T H E M A R K E T IN N E W Y O R K D U R IN G T H E M O N T H O F N O V E M B E R .

Years.

1851...................
1850...................

Dutiable.

Free.

Specie.

Total.

$5,776,185
6,280,658

$415,838
416,191

$218,473
13,680

$6,410,496
6,710,429

Having before given the receipts o f California gold, we have omitted it in this
comparison, as it cannot properly be classed with foreign imports. The first
item o f dutiable goods includes $4,399,085 entered directly for consumption,
and $1,377,100 withdrawn from warehouse. The value o f goods entered ware­
house during the month was $938,056 against $798,147 for the same period of




73

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

last year; and for the previous month the entries also showed an increase o f
about $250,000. The withdrawals, however, have increased about $500,000, so
that the stock left in bond shows no increase over last year. The imports for
eleven months are still in excess o f last year, both in dutiable and free goods.
IM P O S T S T H R O W N U P O N T H E M A R K E T A T N E W Y O R K F O R E L E V E N M O N TH S.

Years.
1861.............................................
1850.............................................

Dutiable.

Free.

$113,890,017
102,837,646

$9,144,170
8,260,538

$122,534,187
111,098,184

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

$10,552,371

$883,632

$11,436,003

Total.

This increase was most o f it during the early part o f the year, and consists
wholly o f merchandise other than dry goods, as will be seen by the following
comparative statement, which for greater interest we extend back another
year:—
I M P O R T S O F D R Y GO O D S A T T H E P O R T O F N E W Y O R K F O R T H E M O N T H O F N O V E M B E R .
ENTERED FO R

CO N SU M PTIO N .

1849.
Manufactures of w o o l.......................
Manufactures of cotton.......................
Manufactures of silk........................... ........
Manufactures of flax........................... ........
Miscellaneous dry goods...................

501,270
291,829

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

1850.
$379,399
267,516
673,438
323,704
240,445

1851.
$285,308
264,439
347,862
321,715
138,685

$1,884,602

$1,358,009

1850.
$54,997
47,675
57,088
32,396
18,176

1851.
$52,948
34,911
184,660
25,160
56,083

"WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.

1849.
Manufactures of wool..........................
Manufactures of cotton.......................
Manufactures of silk............................
Manufactures of flax...........................
Miscellaneous dry goods.....................
Total...........................................
Add entered for consumption.. . . ........

1,558,277

212,332
1,884,502

353,662
1,358,009

Total thrown upon the market. ........

1,721,383

2,096,834

1,711,671

1850.
$79,641
101,690
57,224
49,068
45,597

1851.
$87,820
81,037
172,607
101,206
66,542

$333,220

$509,212

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.

1849.
Manufactures of wool........................
Manufactures of cotton.......................
Manufactures of silk............................
Manufactures of flax........................... ........
Miscellaneous dry goods...................
T otal..........................................

25,573

W e have again an excess o f goods entered warehouse over the value with­
drawn, a state o f things which does not appear in the general merchandise
account before given, showing that the quantity o f dry goods in bond is greater
than at the same time last year. This excess is more fully shown in the follow­
ing comparison:—




U

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

IM PO R TS O F D R Y GOODS AT N E W Y O R K

F O R E L E V E N M O N T H S , B E G IN N IN G J A N U A R Y

1ST.

ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.

1849.

1850.
1851.
$14,483,062 $12,668,004
9,601,966
8,941,972
18,546,459
20,863,773
7,045,810
5,756,705
2,555,614
2,421,639

Manufactures of wool . . .
Manufactures of cotton ..,
Manufactures of silk........
Manufactures of flax........
Miscellaneous dry goods...
T otal.......................

$52,232,911

$50,652,093

1850.
$1,744,877
1,171,289
1,085,084
427,014
145,290

1851.
$1,819,885
1,320,439
1,554,921
586,304
436,268

$4,573,554
52,232,911

$5,717,817
50,652,093

$56,806,465

$56,369,910

1850.
$2,079,980
1,850,928
1,329,806
712,912
166,919

1851.
$2,155,437
1,513,372
2,461,450
819,971
498,298

$6,140,545

$7,448,528

■WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.

1849.
Manufactures of wool......
Manufactures of cotton...
Manufactures of silk........
Manufactures of flax........
Miscellaneous dry goods...

___
___

515,534
350,277

Total..............................................
Add entered for consumption........ .
Total thrown upon the market...___

$42,742,888

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.

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

1849.
$1,246,306
1,148,414
259,113

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

The receipts for duties at New York for the month o f November were
$1,488,740 09 against $1,642,125 27 for November, 1850. For eleven months
at the same port, the receipts were $29,459,976 80, against $26,975,265 98,
showing an increase for the first eleven months o f the current year of
$2,484,710 82.
The exports from New York for the month o f November show a material
decline in value from the amount for the same period o f 1850, except in the
item o f specie:—
EXPORTS FROM

Year.

N E W YO R K FOR

Domestic produce.

1851.............................
1850.............................

$2,451,511
3,677,657

NOVEM BER.

Foreign.

$459,965
714,419

Specie.

$5,033,996
905,394

Total.

$7,945,472
5,297,470

The foreign goods include $62,368 free, and $397,597 dutiable. In domestic
produce the decline is difficult to account for, as the quantities o f most leading
articles show little falling off from the shipments o f last year. W e annex a
statement o f particulars.
EXPORTS FROM

NEW

YORK

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

F O U R W E E K S , E N D IN G N O V E M B E R

Ashes, Pots................................................................. barrels
Pearls.........................................................................
B eesw ax............................................................................ lbs.
Breadstuff's—
Wheat flour..............................................................barrels
Bye flour.............................................................................




30.

1850.

1851.

1,349
255
9,024

1,322
57
25,119

119,855
e,253

100,499
428

75

Commercial Statistics.

1850.
2,838
210,935

1851.
2,016
230,757

19,765
13,887
25,310

73,919
13,971
23,835

4,157
4,177
151,955
171,983
48,286
1,730,992
1,095
268,169
908
136,611
241,624

2,962
3,030
183,189
445,206
71,177
1,567,713
1,579
210,358
2,233
353,317
10,286

Corn meal............................................................................
Wheat.................................................................... .bushels

Bye................................................................................

100

Corn.....................................................................................
Cotton..............................................................................bales
Naval stores.................................................................barrels
Provisions—
Pork......................................................................... barrels
Beef......................................................................................
Cut meats ...................................................................lbs.
Lard.. .................................................................................
Butter..................................................................................
Cheese.................................................................................

B ice............................................................................. tcs.
Tallow................................................................................lbs.
packages
Tobacco, crude................................
Tobacco, manufactured.....................................................lbs.
Whalebone..............................................................................

T he total exports from N ew Y ork for eleven months show a large increase
over the same period o f 1850, but this excess is com posed w holly o f specie.
E X P O R T S A T N E W T O R E F O R E L E V E N M O N TH S.

Years.

1851.................................
1850.................................

Domestic produce.

Foreign.

Specie.

Total.

$36,652,340
40,512,499

$4,371,519
5,470,970

$38,075,974
8,774,188

$79,099,833
54,757,657

Excess.......................................................................................

$24,342,176

Since our last the official statements concerning the Commerce o f the country
for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1851, have made their appearance, and will
be found under our statistical head. They fully corroborate our previous
articles upon this subject, and confirm the fact that the country was never in a
more prosperous condition.

COM M ERCIAL STATISTICS.
COMMERCE OF BARCELONA.
G E N E E A L STATEM ENT OF

IM P O R T A T IO N S

ENTERED

D U R IN G T H E Y E A R C O M M EN CIN G JU L Y

.
Destination.

AT

Ships.
National.
Foreign

St. Thomas..............
Curacoa...................
Trinidad.................

2
1
1

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

4

THE

1, 1850, A N D

CU STO M -H O U SE
E N D IN G JU N E

AT

BARCELONA,

30, 1851.

Tonnage
National.

Foreign.

7
2

136 87
11 30
12 00

669 04
36 60

9

160 23

725 54

C A P IT A L .

Destination.

St. Thomas...
Curacoa..........
Trinidad........
Comismos . . . .
Beparos..........
Total.

6 per cent.

30 per cent. Total ad val.

$112 82 $2,681 90
40 10
549 25
....
39 50
....
....
....

$2,794 72
589 35
39 50

....
....

$152 92 $3,270 65 $3,423 57




Free.

Specific.

Total capital

$180 60 $73,102 50 $76,077 82
13 00
3,080 14
3,682 49
1,291 92
1,331 42
80 62
80 62

....

....

. ...

$193 60 $77,555 18 $81,172 35

76

Commercial Statistics.
D U TIE S .

Destination.

St. Thomas...
Curacoa........
Trinidad.. . .
Comismos.. .
Reparos__ _
Total . . . .

Obligations
and coin.

$30,789
1,501
522
35
7

10 per cent.

4 per cent.

Cont’bs.
Ext’ rdy.
10 a 20 p. c. 15 per ct.

$3,078
150
. 52
3

$1,354
60
22
1

$7,451
846
133
10

88
88
39
30
56

$32,856 81

91
18
24
53
75

$3,285 61

73
09
99
55
33

$1,444 69

11
94
14
23

$23 33
1 94

$7,941 41

$25 28

—

...
...

...

Total
duties.

$42,697
2,087
730
50
8

76
04
76
60
64

$45,574 80

The exportations have been made in 31 vessels— five of them national—measuring
in all 3,295 tons. The value of the merchandise exported sums up $115,767 50, the
duties upon which amount to $142 59. The principal articles exported were :— 1,600
pounds cotton, 9,099 head cattle, 45,327 hides, 620,984 lbs. of meat, 12,808 lbs. cocoa,
262,428 lbs. of mulberry wood, 151,403 lbs. cheese, 3,559 lbs. of grease.

EXPORTS OF COFFEE FROM RIO DE JANEIRO.
In the Merchants! Magazine for December, 1851, (vol. 25, page 690,) we published
an interesting article on “ Coffee: and the Coffee Trade,” written for our Magazine by
John Gardner, Esq., an intelligent American merchant, residing at Rio De Janeiro, but
at that time on a visit to the United States. ¥ e now subjoin a statement of exports
of coffee from Rio De Janeiro, together with the receipts at the various ports of the
United States and Europe, for the last ten years, and from January 1, to September
1, 1851:—
E X P O R T S OF COFFEE F R O M R IO

D E J A N E IR O , A N D R E C E IP T S A T T H E V A R IO U S P O R T S O F T H E

U N IT E D ST A T E S A N D E U R O P E , F O R T H E

LAST TEN YE A R S , AND FR O M JA N U A R Y

1

TO S E P ­

TEM BER 1 , 1 8 5 1 .

Years.
1841.............
1842..............
1843.............
1844..............
1845 .............
1846.............
1847.............
1848.............
1849 .............
1850.............
Total........
1851.............
Years.
1841.............
1842 .............
1843 .............
1844............
1845 .............
1846.............
1847 .............
1848 .............
1849 .............
1850.............
T otal........
1851.............

Baltimore.
112,120
95,786
143,044
131,119
118,311
152,622
110,818
221,062
176,287
157,593

Boston.
18,451
23,513
35,479
60,879
47,024
76,113
32,803
50,039
21,882
7,419

New York.
123,518
101,527
170,176
181,312
173,897
209,274
245,841
194,750
162,070
167,398

373,602
7,225

1,729,760
179,791

Charleston.

Mobile.

Savannah.

5,452
11,468
2,664
7,778

10,207
7,657
2,403
5,858
12,400
5,850

1,418,762
197,399

8,606

2,184
4,320
2,182
2,180

47,975
3,900

10,866
2,180

New Orleans. Philadelp’a.
30,952
112,945
19,660
102,810
30,955
155,471
28,255
133,097
35,168
173,245
47,753
229,301
23,304
266,321
265,860
44,572
44,095
209,063
34,634
255,946
339,349
51,173

1,904,059
180,296
Total to
United States.
400,186
346,496
550,784
553,787
552,712
728,696
713,630
810,890
635,891
645,812

Total to
Europe.
612,206
780,806
554,332
684,521
613,612
643,012
1,050,684
846,208
819,880
710,722

5,939,190
631,903

7,515,983
599,642

Stock in Rio Janeiro, September 17, 1851, 120,000 bags, of which 70,000 was old
crop, and 50,000 new.




Commercial Statistics.

77

BRITISH EXPORTS TO ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD.
A return has just been issued by the

British Board of Trade, of the declared value
o f British and Irish produce and manufactures exported from the United Kingdom in
the year 1850, specifying the amount to each country and colony. From this an Eng­
lish cotemporary has compiled the following list, which will show the order in which
the various communities of the world rank as as the customers of the United King­
dom:—
British Pos. and settlements—

India.................................. £8,022,665 Naples and Sicily................. £1,026,446
3,235,051 Portugal...............................
1,029,204
North America.................
2,602,253 Spain.....................................
864,997
Australia...........................
2,030,229 Buenos Ayres.......................
848,800
West Indies.......................
796,600 Peru.....................................
South Africa.....................
845,639
506,416 Sardinia .............................
174,512
Channel Islands.................
388,141 Tuscany...............................
Gibraltar...........................
169,409
368,726 Indian Seas...........................
100,768
Mauritius..........................
314,386 Egypt.................................
648,801
Malta.................................
183,352 West CoaBt of Africa..........
Honduras.........................
641,975
135,912 Austria in Italy....................
Ionian Islands...................
607,755
30,063 Denmark.............................
Ascension and St. Helena.
454,304
13,711 Mexico.................................
Aden.................................
451,820
1,145 Sweden in Norway............
Falkland Islands..............
362,947
250 New Granada.....................
Heligoland........................
330,810
Syria and Palestine............
303,254
Total.............................. 18,628,899 Venezuela......................1..
301,094
United States....................... 14,891,961 Hayti..................................
274,918
Central America.................
Germany—
251,073
6,755,545 Papal territories..................
Hanseatic towns..............
222,559
424,480 Greece.................................
Prussia.............................
202,228
231,987 Canary Islands....................
Hanover...........................
61,754
83,898 Republic of the Uruguay..
Mecklenburg Schwerin.. . .
60,480
11,436 Azores................................
Oldenburg and Kniphausen
47,607
Madeira..............................
41,578
7,457,346 Ecuador .............................
Total.............................
83,289
3,542,632 Morocco..............................
Holland.................................
31,799
T’key, Wallachia, &. Moldavia 2,810,425 South Sea Islands...............
18,143
2,544,837 Algeria...............................
Brazil...................................
15,069
2,403,702 Tunis...................................
France...................................
5,128
1,574,145 Dutch Guiana.....................
China.....................................
5,152
Cape Verde Islands............
Foreign West India Islands,
3,242
1,517,144
.
1728
1,464,834
Greenland...........................
Russia...................................
665
1,156,267
flhili
...............................
1,136,236
Total........................... . £71,367,885
Belgium...............................
The Liverpool Times, in commenting upon the foregoing statement, remarks:—
“ Our own possessions, in conjunction with the United States, it will be observed,
take nearly one-half of the entire total, and it is satisfactory, by a comparison of the
present returns with those for 1849, to find that while the general total to all countries
has increased from £63,596,025 to £71,361,885, or about 12 per cent, the increase to
our colonies has been equal to 19 per cent, and to America about 25 per cent. With
regard to the colonies this improvement is most noticeable in the cases of India and
Australia, and it is a fact that the latter, although she is still denied the advantage of
steam communication, now takes of our goods SO per cent beyond the amount taken by
the West Indies, that have enjoyed for ten years the favor of the government, at a
cost which has lately reached £240,000 per annum. Among the countries to which
our exports have declined, as compared with 1849, are Prussia, Russia, Belgium, Greece,
Naples, Tuscany, Austria in Italy, Sweden and Norway, New Granada, Buenos Ayres,
Peru, Mexico, Syria, Morocco, the Azores, the South Sea Islands, and Greenland. A ll
the others show an increase, and in the case of Spain it amounts to nearly 40 per cent.




78

Commercial Statistics.

The most remarkable instance, however, is furnished by Central America. The total
taken by the small republics in that region has risen from £117,933 in 1849, to £251,073,
or nearly 115 per cent. The Republic of Ecuador, also, has risen from £9,689 to
£83,289; and Venezuela from £178,998 to £301,094.”

FUR TRADE OF THE HUDSON’S BAY C0A1PANY.
A C T U A L IM P O R T IN T O LO N D O N O F F U B S A N D S K IN S , F R O M S E P T E M B E R

1, 1850, T O

SEPTEM BER

1 , 1 8 5 1 ----- C O M P R IS IN G T H E E N T IR E COLLECTION O F T H E HUDSON’ S B A Y C O M P A N Y , A N D T H E
E N T IR E C O L L E C T IO N F R O M C A N A D A A N D T H E

U N ITE D S T A T E S, (E X C E P T

D IR E C T F R O M T H E U N ITED STATES TO G E R M A N Y , A N D S M A L L
S U M P T IO N , W H I C H

S H IP M E N T S M A D E

LOTS U SED F O R

HOME

CANN OT B E A S C E R T A IN E D .)— T H E S E E N T IR E I M P O R T S W E R E

A U C T IO N I N L O N D O N , I N J A N U A R Y , M A R C H , A N D S E P T E M B E R ,

1851.

Hudson’s Bay
Company.

escription.
i— Beaver.........................
Muskrat....................... ............
Otter.............................
Fisher............................
Martin...........................
Mink.............................
Lynx............................ ...........
Silver Fox.....................
Cross “ ...................
Red
“ .................... ............
Grey “........................
White “ ...................
Kitt
“ ....................
Black Bear.....................
Brown “ ...................
Raccoon.......................
Wolf.
.............................
Wolverine.....................
WHd Cat.......................

CON­

SOLD AT

194,502

20,338
5,561

Canadaand
United States,
chiefly
United States.
1,294
894,200
3,968
5,016
21,150
210,120
5,243
376
1,681
34,661
18,450
577
none.
3,532
15
551,246
20
8
10,007

Total.
50,929
1,088,702
12,884
11,313
85,507
231,260
25,581
903
3,641
40,222
18,450
1,476
1,603
8,358
1,317
553,054
9,765
1,431
10,347

THE TRADE OF THE LAKES.
General Parker, of Lycoming county, in a speech before the Senate of Pennsylva­
nia, February 21st, 1851, says:— “ I have prepared, from an official source, a table
showing the value of the entire Commerce of the lakes, both imports and exports, for
the year 1848 ; and I regret that I have not been able to lay my hand upon the re­
ports for the year 1849. The value of the trade in the year 1848 on—
Lake Erie was..................
1116,785,048 Lake Champlain..............
$16,760,700
Lake H uron.....................
848,152 Lake St. Clair....................
639,524
Lake Michigan.................
24,320,481
----------------Lake Ontario...................
28,141,000
Total..............................
$186,484,905
“ Showing the total value of our lake trade, for the year 1848, to be over one hun­
dred and eighty-six miUions of dollars ! And I have not included in my calculation
the passenger trade— in itself a most important and profitable item. One hundred
and eighty-six millions, Mr. Speaker, of a commerce concentrated on your northern
frontier, accessible within your own borders, through the best harbor on Lake Erie.”
P O P U L A T IO N O F T H E F IV E S TATES B O R D E R IN G

O N , A N D CONTIGUOU S TO , T H E L A K E S , W H O S E

P R O D U C E C H I E F L Y F IN D

OUTLET B Y T H E L A K E .

1800.

1810.

1820.

1880.

1840.

1850.

O h io ...............
Indiana...........
Illinois............
Michigan........
Wisconsin . . . .

45,365
5,641

230,760
24,520
12,282
4,528

581,434
147,178
65,211
9,048

937,637
341,582
157,575
31,639

—

—

1,519,467
685,866
474,183
212,267
39,945

1,981,940
990,258
850,009
397,576
305,596

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

51,006

1,468,433

2,924,728

4,526,370




. . . .
. . . .

272,090

802,871

19

Commercial Statistics.

COMMERCE OF CUBA IN 1850.
FROM

TH E

D I A R IO

D E L A M A R IN A , O F

HAVANA, NOVEM BER

8, 1851.

The general movement of the revenue in 1850 was over $54,615,175 56 ; in 1849
it was $48,757,016 68. W e have thus au increase in the first place of $7,858,158 87*,
equivalent to 12 per cent. In this increase we reckon the importations, which, in 1850,
were over $28,983,227 56, and in 1849, $26,320,460 by $2,662,767 56, that is, by 5.45
per ce n t: and the exportations, which in 1850 were $25,631,948, and in 1849,
$22,436,556 68* by $3,195,391, equivalent to 6.54 per cent. Now, compared with
each other, the importations of 1850 exceeded those of 1849 by 10 per cent, and the
exportations by 14 per cent. W e see, then, that notwithstanding the disadvantageous
circumstances, which have borne upon the Commerce of the island, it has continued
to increase in the same ratio as that which we announced with pleasure in previous
years.
A multiplicity of figures is not, we are aware, most agreeable to the majority of
readers, but without them we are unable to descend to the details of the general
movement of Commerce with different nations. These details were as follows, for
the two years given:—

1849.
Ports.
Importations.
Spanish...................................
$7,682,757 68*
United States.........................
6,578,295 81*
1,252,466 12*
French...................................
English.................................
5,810,670 31*
Spanish American................
2,197,630 75
German..................................
1,223,681 37*
Belgian.................................
402,785 18*
Portuguese.............................
12,849 25
Brazilian.................................
.......................
Dutch......................................
194,147 81*
Danish....................................
357,134 81*
Russian..................................................................
Swiss........................................................................
Prussian..................................
120 00
Austrian..................................................................
Italian....................................
27,313 75
Mercantile deposits...............
580,608 12*

TotaL...............................

$26,320,460 00
1850.

Ports.

Importations.

Spanish..............................
$8,640,625 93*
6,653,360 56*
United States.......................
French.................................
1,747,580 18*
6,117,669 37*
English................................
Spanish American...............
2,001,664 56*
German................................
2,107,293 43*
Belgian...............................
318,881 87*
Portuguese..........................
......................
Brazilian..............................
33,882 18*
Dutch...................................
190,479 56*
Danish..................................
520,200 81*
Russian..............................................................
Swiss..............................
Prussian...............................
....................
Austrian.............................
......................
Italian..................................
13,297 18*
Mercantile deposits..............
638,291 62*
Total...................................

$28,983,227 56*

1849.

1849.

Exportations.
$3,113,070 50
6,801,657 62*
1,212,909 37*
7,127,420 43*
872,083 06*
1,712,067 18f
673,562 25
14,720 50
........................
301,365 00
230,754 68*
638,702 62*
36,150 00
.......................
16,964 87*
185,128 56*
.......................

Total.
$10,795,828 18*
12,879,952 93*
2,465,375 50
12,938,090 75
3,069,713 76*
2,935,748 56*
1,076,347 48*
27,569 75
........................
495,512 81*
587,889 50
638,702 62*
36,150 00
120 00
16,964 87*
212,442 31*
580,608 12*

$22,436,556 68*

$48,757,016 68*

1850.
Exportations.

$3,071,084 75
8,359,252 93*
1,862,596 18*
7,061,056 93*
578,237 68*
1,871,620 00
963,393 12*
......................
......................
654,450 31*
279,937 56*
446,770 50
11,262 00
......................
......................
572,286 00
......................
$25,631,948 00

1850.
Total.

$11,711,710 68*
15,012,613 50
3,610,176 37*
13,178,726 31*
259,902 25
3,978,913 43*
1,282,275 00
......................
33,882 18*
744,929 87*
800,138 50
446,770 50
11,262 00
......................
......................
585,583 18*
638,291 62*
$54,615,175 56*

In order to enable our readers more readily to understand the relation each country
thus bears to ours, we have reduced the table to so much per cent, and find the
following result:—




Commercial Statistics.

80

Total.

Exportation.

Importation.

1849.

1850.

1849.

1850.

1849.

1859.

Spanish.......................
United States.............
French........................
English........................
Spanish American. . .
German.......................
Belgian.........................
Portuguese..................
Brazilian.’....................
D u tch .........................
Danish........................
Russian.......................
Swiss............................
Prussian.......................
Austrian......................
Italian..........................
Mercantile deposits.. .

29.18
24.99
4.76
22.07
8.34
4.72
1.53
0.04
0.73
1.35

29.81
22.96
6.03
21.10
6.91
7.27
1.10
....
0.12
0.66
1.79

0.10
2.20

0.05
2.20

13.87
28.09
5.41
31.77
3.88
7.60
3.05
0.07
....
1.34
1.03
2.84
0.16
...
0.07
0.82

11.98
32.61
7.27
27.55
2.26
7.30
3.76
....
....
2.16
1.09
1.74
0.05
....
....
2.23

....

22.14
26.44
5.06
26.54
6.30
6.02
2.21
0.06
....
1.01
1.20
1.30
0.07
....
0.03
0.43
1.19

21.44
27.49
6.61
24.13
4.72
7.29
2.35
....
0.06
1.36
1.46
0.82
0.03
....
....
1.07
1.17

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

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

....

In the carrying of the above values, or the merchandise represented by them, Span­
ish and foreign bottoms have compared as follows:—
IM P O R T A T IO N .

Spanish..............
F oreign.............

1849.

1850.

$16,366,844 81£

$18,455,071 62^
10,528,155 93J

Increase.
$2,088,226 81J
574,540 75

E X P O R T A T IO N .

1849.
Spanish...............
Foreign...............

1850.
$6,020,639 68J19,611,308 S li

Increase.
$447,104 81*
2,748,287 00

SOUTHERN AND WESTERN ROUTES FOR PRODUCTS TO NEW YORK.
A late number of the Cincinnati Price Current contains a long letter from Messrs.
J. S. Chenoweth & Co., merchants of that city, urging the superior cheapness of the
northern route to shippers of Western produce. W e make the following extract:—
The advantages of the northern route to Hew York over that by Hew Orleans, are
vastly superior. By the northern route, tobacco is delivered in Hew York in from
thirty to thirty-five days, in as good order and condition as when shipped. It is de­
livered dry and free from sweat, and opens a hundred per cent better than that shipped
by Hew Orleans, which requires double the time to arrive in New York. Tobacco
shipped by Hew Orleans is nearly always injured to some extent from the sweat
caused by heating in the hold of the vessel, which uniformly happens from the great
heat of the weather in that latitude at this season of the year. W e subjoin the cost of
transportation on a single hhd. by each route, say by Louisville:—
BY NORTHERN ROUTE.

Dray in Louisville.................
Freights to Cincinnati...........
Charges in Cincinnati............. . . . .
Freights by Canal, Lake. . . .
Insurance ...............................

B Y S O U T H E R N R O U TE.

0 50

Dray, Louisville...........................
Freight to N. O., $3 to $3.50, say. .
Insurance to New Orleans.............
Chartres in Hew Orleans...............
Freight by s h ip .........................
Insurance to Hew Y o r k ...............

2 50

$10 62
$15 12
Showing a difference in favor of the Lake route, of $4 50.
tobacco to Hew York at 50 cents per 100— thirty days.




We are now shipping

81

Commercial Statistics.

IMPORT AND EXPORT OF MERCHANDISE FROM 1820 TO 1851.
STA T E M E N T E X H IB IT IN G T H E A N N U A L AM O U N T O F M E R C H A N D IS E — E X C L U S IV E
IM P O R T E D

FOR

S P E C IE — F R O M

C O N S U M P T IO N , A N D T H E
1S T OCTOBER,

O F S P E C IE -----

AM O U N T O F D O M E S T IC E X P O R T S -----E X C L U S IV E O F

1 8 2 0 , TO 3 0 T H

JU N E , 1 8 5 1 — A N D

S H O W IN G ,

ALSO,

THE

A V E R A G E AM OUNT E V E R Y F IV E Y E A R S .

Annual consumption, exclusive
of specie.
43,696,405 'j
68,367,425 |
51,308,936 1
53,846,567
66,395,722

Years.
1821.............
1822...........
1823...........
1824...........
1825...........

Average amount
every
five years.
56,723,011

283,615,055
1826...........
1827...........
1828...........
1829...........
1830...........

54,901,108
66,975,475

56,769,166

49,575,099
283,845,830

1831...........
1832...........
1833...........
1834...........
1835...........

90,117,397

450,586,986
1836...........
1837...........
1338...........
1839...........
1840...........

.

86,552,598

V

118,159,142

590,795,712
1841...........
1842...........
1843...........
1844...........
1845...........

87,996,318
57,294,129

88,411,369

442,056,845
1846...........
1847...........
1848______
1849...........
1850...........
1851...........

r

132,711,099

Annual export,
exclusive
of specie.
43,671,894'!
49,874,079
47,155,408
50,649,500
66,944,745 J

Average amount
every
five years.

268,295,626
52,449,855 7
57,878,117
49,976,632
55,087,307
58,524,878 J
273,916,789
59,218,583 7
81,726,529
69,950,856
80,623,662
100,459,481 _
371,979,111
106,570,942'!
94,280,895
95,560,880 i101,625,533
111,660,561
509,698,811
103,636,2367
91,799,242
77,686,354 V
99,531,774
98,455,330 J
471,108,936
101,718,0427
150,574,844
130,203,709
131,710,081
134,900,233

51,659,125

54,783,358

74,395,822

101,939,762

94,221,787

129,821,382

649,106,909
178,970,576

663,555,497
200,894,645

COMMERCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1849 AND 1850.
From a statement of the imports and exports from Sydney and Port Philip, it apears that in 1850, the value of the imports to Sydney were £1,333,413 ; and to Port
hilip, £744,295; making a total of £2,078,338. The exports from Sydney were
£1,357,784; and from Port Philip, £1,041,796; being a total of £2,399,580, or an
excess of exports over imports of £321,242. In 1849 the imports in gross amounted
to £1,793,420 ; and in 1850 to £2,078,338, showing an increase last year of £284,918.
The exports in 1849 were £1,891,270; in 1850, £2,399,580; showing an increase last
year of 508,310. In 1850, the amount of wool exported from Sydney was 14,270,622

?

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




6

82

Commercial Statistics.

lbs, the declared official value of which was stated at £788,051; and from Port Philip,
18,091,207 lbs.; of the value of £826,190, making a total of 23,361,829 lbs, valued at
£1,614,241. In 1849, the wool exported from both districts was 27,963,630 lbs, valued
at £1,238,559, showing that in 1850 an increase had taken place in the quantity of
wool exported of 4,398,298 lbs, valued at £375,682. Last year the quantity of tallow
exported from Sydney was 128,090 cwts, valued at £167,858 ; and from Port Philip,
89,788 cwts, valued at £132,063, making a total quantity of 217,878 cwts, valued at
£300,721. In 1849, the quantity of tallow exported from both districts was 154,103
cwts, valued at £249,932; so that during the last year there has been an increase in
the quantity of tallow exported of 63,776 cwts, of the value of £50,789.

IMPORT A1VDEXPORT OF SPECIE FROM 1820 TO 1851.
ST A T E M E N T O F T H E AM O U N T O F S P E C IE IM P O R T E D A N D
OCTOBER,

1820,

T O 3 0 t H JU N E,

1851----- A N D

EXPO ETED ANN UALLY, FEO M

S H O W IN G ,

ALSO,

TH E

AVERAGE

1ST

AM O U N T

E V E E Y F I V E Y E A R S D U R IN G T H A T P E E IO D .

Years.
1821................. ___
1822.................
1823................. ___
1824................. ___
1825.................
1826................. ___
1827...............
1828.................
1829................. ___
1830............... ___

Average amount
every 5 years.

Annually.
8,064,890'
5,097,896
8,379,835

6,212,646

31,063,232
6,880,966]
l

7,616,282

7,403,612
8,155,964 j
38,081,413

1831...............
1832................. ___
1833...............
1834............... ___
1836...............
1836............... ___
1837............... ___
1838...............
1839...............
1840............... ___

5,907,504
L

10,265,379

17,911,632
51,326,897
13,400,881'
10,516,414

j-

11,228,480

8,882,813
56,142,400

1841...............
1842............... ___
1843...............
1844............... ___
1845............... ___

4,087,016
V
5,830,429
4,070,242 J

8,259,331

41,296,655
1846...............
1847...............
1848...............
1849...............
1850...............

L
45,539,277

1851...............




9,107,856

6,651,240
4,628,792^
52,689,974
12,839,579
65,529,553

Annually.
10,478,059'
10,810,180
6,372,987 [
7,014,552
8,797,055 J
43,472,883
4,704,533 ]
8,014,880
8,243,476 L
4,924,020
2,178,773 J
28,065,682
9,014,9311
5,656,340
2,611,701
2,076,758
6,477,775 J
25,837,505
4,324,336]
5,976,249
3,508,046
8,776,743
8,417,014^
31,002,388
10,034,332]
4,813,539
1,520,791 L
5,454,214
8,606,495 j
30,429,371
3,905,268'
1,907,739
15,841,620 L
5,404,648
7,522,994 _
34,582,269
29,147,985

Average amount
every 5 years.
8,694,566

5,613,136

5,167,501

6,200,477

6,085,874

6,916,454

37,678,008
29,147,985
66,825,993

83

Commercial Statistics.

THE EFFECT OF THE PRICE OF WHEAT OH CRIME.
The London Economist illustrates the relative effects of plenty and scarcity on crim­
inal offences in England after this manner:—
“ To the great mass of our population, notwithstanding aU the efforts of the ‘ best
possible public instructors,’ the connection between the number of commitments for
crime and the price of wheat, is stiU not more inteUigible than the old puzzle for reg­
ulating the value of a horse by the number o f nails with which he was shod. And in­
deed the results seem at first sight as astounding as, upon close investigation, they are
obvious and irrefragible. W e have now before us the tables recently laid before Par­
liament, showing the number of criminal offenders in England and Wales during the
past year; from which we find that the number of persons committed for trial during
1850 was three per cent under the average of the last ten years; the total number
during each year of that period being as follow s;
Years.

Commitments. Years.

1841
...................................
1842
...................................
1843 ............................................
1844
...................................
1845
...................................

21,760
31,306
29,591
26,542
24,303

1846
1847
1848
1849
1850

Commitments,

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

25,107
28,833
30,349
27,616
26,813

Throughout the greater part of 1842, when, as will be seen, the commitments were
at the highest, in consequence of the defective harvest of the previous year, corn was
comparatively dear, having risen above 7 3s. a quarter; and to the influence of this
scarcity may be traced the increased criminality of that year. With the full crops of
1842, 1843, and 1844, and the commencement of fiscal reforms, cheapness and plenty
tended to diminish the amount of crime. In 1845, the prospect o f corn-law repeal
and the previous good harvests kept down prices, and the averages during those four
years were:—
PRICE OF WHEAT PER QUARTER.

1842 ........................................
1843 ........................................

57s. 3d. 1 1 8 4 4 .......................................
50s. Id. | 1845.........................................

51s. 3d.
50s. lOd.

The consequence (says the Economist,) of the low prices in the last two years, and of
the stimulus given to industry by Sir R. Peel’s removal of restrictions, with a great
access of employment, was to reduce the number o f commitments, and in 1845 they
had fallen to 24,303 from 31,309 in 1842. The different effects o f plenty and scarcity
were never more plainly manifested on the morality of the people. The sudden col­
lapse of railway speculation and the disastrous commercial failures of 1847 were not
without their influence, and in 1848 the commitments again amounted to 30,349.
Since then, with comparatively free and settled and regular trade, the commit­
ments have steadily decreased, and were only 26,813 in 1850. If they were above
the number of that very active and enterprising year, 1845, they were lower than in
Bix other years of the series since 1841. Taking into account the increase of popula­
tion in the interval, the number of commitments in 1850 is a decided testimony to the
advantages of free-trade in promoting the morality of the community.

THE COTTON AND AMERICAN TRADES.
Some very interesting facts connected with the cotton trade of the United Kingdom,
and our trade with the United States, are contained in a Parliamentary paper recent­
ly issued. The first table shows that, in 1848, the whole quantity of cotton imported
was 713,020,161 lbs., of which 600,247,488 lbs. was from the United States, and
112,772,673 lbs. from aU other parts. In 1849 the total import was 755,469,012 lbs.,
of which 634,504,050 lbs. was from the United States, and 120,964,962 lbs. from all
other parts. In 1850 the total amount imported was 663,576,861 lbs. o f which
493,153,112 lbs. was from the United States, and 170,423,749 from other parts. The
quantity imported from the British possessions in the East Indies was, in 1848, 84,101,961
lbs.; in"the following year it feU to 70,838,515 lbs.; and in 1850 it rose to 118,872,742
lbs., or nearly one quarter of the amount imported from the United States. The British
"West Indies and British Guiana furnished us, in 1848, with 640,437 lbs.; in 1849, with
944,307 lbs.; and in 1850 with only 228,913 lbs. The Whole return shows the impor­
tant fact, that our dependence upon America for this most valuable staple has been




84

Commercial Statistics.

considerably diminished in the last two years; but whether this diminution will con­
tinue under a lower range of prices than those of 1850, remains to be seen. Another
table in the return shows that the declared value of the cotton manufactures of all
kinds exported in 1848 was £22,681,200; in 1849, £26,470,135; and in 1850,
£28,257,461, or about forty per cent of our whole exports. The declared value of
the cotton manufactures exported to the United States was, in 1848, £1,713,024; in
1849, £2,055,286; and in 1850, £2,504,280. Another table exhibits the whole trade
o f this country with the United States. It appears that in 1848, the declared value
o f the entire exports was £9,561,909 ; in 1849, £11,971,028 ; and in 1850, £14,891,961,
or nearly one-fifth of the declared value of our exports to all parts of the world.
The otfici.J value of our imports from the United States amounted in 1848, to
£23,916,844; and in 1849 to £26,554,941. Great Britain and the United States there­
fore interchange in a year produce worth above £40,000,000.— Liverpool Times.

THE AMERICAN COASTING TRADE.
W. S. Lindsay, in a letter, recently published in the London Times on the subject of
the British mercantile marine, says :—
“ Call upon America to fulfil her pledge ‘ and give what we give;’ and thus, let the
British ship-owners test their skill, industry, and perseverance in the valuable coasting
trade of the New World. America will, even then, be still very deeply in our debt,
as unfortunately, she has no colonial trade to grant in return for the vast possessions
we have thrown open to her; and of which she is at present reaping a rich harvest,
as our Customs’ entries daily prove. It is, however, a question with me whether Amer­
ica will now ‘ give us what we g iv e ;’ but our Government may as well make a virtue
o f necessity, and try them. The sooner the better, as at this moment a very great
number of our ship-owners who cannot find remunerative employment for their vessels,
will at least make a trial of the trade between the Northern and Southern States; and
more particularly the rapidly increasing trade between New York and California.
They may be enabled then, to make 30s. per ton freight on teas and silk, from Canton
to London, combined with the outward freight, leave a margin of profit, and which I
need not assure you, sir, they cannot do now. If America do not fulfill her promise,
it would then become a serious question—though desirable to avoid retaliative mea­
sures— whether our Government ought not, under such circumstances, to pass the order
in council against that nation. While we grant freedom to others, we must have free­
dom ourselves to whatever extent those others can grant it, or we play both a simple
and a dangerous game.”

STATISTICS OF BREWERS AND VICTUALERS IN ENGLAND.
From a return printed by order of the House of Commons, it appears that in Eng­
land the number of brewers is 2,281, and of victualers, 59,676; 35,808 persons are
licensed to sell beer to be drunk on the premises, and 3,350 are licensed to sell beer
not to be drunk on the premises; 25,851 victualers brew their own beer; 12,497 who
brew their own beer are licensed to sell it if drunk on the premises; and 951 persons
are allowed to sell beer not to be drunk on the premises. The amount of malt con­
sumed by each class is, in bushels, as follows:— Brewers, 17,800,683; victualers,
7,154,519; persons licensed to sell beer to be drunk on the premises, 2,884,249 ; and
persons licensed to sell beer not to be drunk on the premises, 341,878. In Scotland
there are 151 brewers, and 14,971 victualers, 178 of whom brew their own beer. The
brewers consume 831,981 bushels o f malt, and the victualers consume 118,024 bushels.
There are 95 brewers in Ireland, who consume 1,164,702 bushels of malt, and there
are 13,793 victualers.

THE BOOK TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.
According to an estimate in The Book Trade, an excellent literary journal published
monthly in this city, by H. Wilson, the number of volumes issued in the United States,
from the 1st of July, 1850, to the same date in 1851, was 1,298. The number of pa­
ges in these volumes amounts to 213,049. The distinct works composing the volumes
are 1,176. Of these volumes 817 were published in New York, 223 in Philadelphia,
and 203 in Boston. The department of fiction, including every class of novels and
tales in prose, comprises 249 distinct works. Of juvenile publications, there are 52 ;




85

Commercial Statistics.

of gift-books, 32; and of poetical works, including hymn-books for the use of church­
es, 80. The number of religious and theological works is 170. Comprising under one
head general histories, travels and works descriptive of countries, not strictly geo­
graphical, we may put their number at 121. Of biographies there are 96, of scientific
works, 50, and of metaphysical treatises, strictly so called, 8. Of mathematical works
there are 17 ; classical books, 7 ; dictionaries and treatises (not grammars) on language,
13 ; school-books, 50 ; legal works, 43 ; medical works, 47 ; agricultural, 20; practical
mechanics, 18; artistic, 6; architectural, 8 ; political, 16 ; commercial, 12; orations, 3;
works entitled essays, in general, 11; manners and morals, strictly so called, 18; so­
cial economy, comprising cook-books and works for housekeepers, 15 ; natural history,
8 ; miscellaneous, embracing works not within the scope of either of the above divis­
ions, and often possessing considerable literary merit, 48.

OFFICIALSTATISTICAL RETURNS OF THE TRADE OF RUSSIA.
Having given in a previous article a general view of the import and export trade of
Russia, some particulars of the rise and progress of its cotton manufactures cannot fail
to be interesting. The quantity of raw cotton entered for home consumption in Euro­
pean Russia was, in 1842, 18,477,144 lbs., and increased progressively to 1848, when
it realized 44,331,660 lbs. In 1842, 21,760,880 lbs. of cotton twist was also imported,
but in consequence o f the establishments in Russia, which we shall particularize pres­
ently, decreased in 1848 to 13,901,142 lbs. The following is an official statement in a
tabular form of the quantities of raw cotton and cotton yarn imported at St. Peters­
burg in each year from 1838 to 1849 :—
Raw
cotton.
Cwts.

Cotton
yarn.
Cwts.

84,704
120,199
131,895

177,338
163,108
144,935
149,430
188,738
186,362

Years.

1838...............
1839...............
1840...............
1841...............
1842...............
1843...............

\ ears.

1844...............
1845...............
1846...............
1847...............
1848...............
1849...............

Raw
cotton.
Cwts.

Cotton
yarn.
Cwts.

173,012
222,057

195,605
154,108
122,082
104,397
91,212
64,565

244,887
397,137
423,107

W e subjoin a curious statement of the number of cotton-spinning factories at St.
Petersburg, with the number of spindles, and the quality and quantity o f yarn pro­
duced therein on the 29th of February, 1849, since which period they have
materially increased. The first-named establishment under the Government direc­
tor, General Wilson, is said to have been commenced in 1800 on private account;
the remainder were established iu the years specified. This statement is derived from
official sources, and we believe has never before been published:—
Years.

Mills owned by.

1834

General W ilso n .........................
Steiglitz, Wilson & Company . .

1836

Mattzoff <fc Sobolefsky..............

1836

Joint-Stock Com pany...............

1838

T. Wright & Com pany.............

1843
1845
1847
1847

E. Hubbard.................................
Loder, Busk <fc Company..........
J. Thomas & Com pany.............
Mituphanoff................................

Spindles.
No.
Kind.

19,000 mule . .
60,000 mule . .
2,000 throstle.
28,000 mule . .
68,000 mule . .
16.000 throstle.
44.000 mule . .
35,000 mule . .
36,000 mule . .
25,000 throstle.
10,000 mule . .

Yarn produced.
Quality. Quantity per day.
No.
hks.
hs.

38 fair..
38 good.

3*
Si

12
m
23

38 fair..

3J

12+

37 fair .

3f

12+

37 fair..

39 good.
4
12+
39 good.
4
13+
32 good.
4
12+
(Not then ready.)1

Whatever may be the eventual success o f the protective system of Russia, certain
it is that the importation of cotton and woolen manufactures is considerably
checked. In 1842, Russia imported between 40,000 and 50,000 pieces o f white cotton
cambrics, besides coverlets, muslins, colored stuffs, gloves, <fcc., and in the tables before
us these articles exhibit a blank for the years 1848 and 1849. The whole amount of
cotton manufactures imported in 1848 was valued at £605,290, whereof £415,852 was
was from Great Britain. Prussia sends about £108,000. The importation of woolen
goods also declined. Baizes, camlets, carpets, cashmeres, flannels, and a variety o f the
best descriptions of woolen goods, of which, in 1844, Russia imported a considerable




Commercial Statistics.

86

quantity, exhibit the same unsatisfactory blank in 1848 and 1849 as some of the cotton
manufactures. The total imports of woolen goods declined from £619,475 in 1844 to
£385,381 in 1848. A premium of five silver roubles per pood is paid on Russian
velvets and half velvets exported to China, and six silver roubles on nankins and other
cotton goods. The premiums allowed for these exports at the Kiakhta custom-house
was 92,775 silver roubles in 1847, and 73,643 in 1848. A t the Astrachan and Moscow
custom-houses, on cotton goods exported to the Caucasian frontiers, a drawback of onehalf the duty paid on foreign cotton yarn is returned— viz., three silver roubles twentyfive copees per pood. This draw-back, allowed at Astrachan, was but 3,346 silver
roubles in 1847, but increased to 12,969 in 1848. In Moscow it amounted to 19,390
silver roubles. The whole amount of premiums and drawbacks, inclusive of Kiakhta
tea exported to Poland, the duty on which is returned, and the duty on tobacco of
Russian manufacture, the excise duty on which is also returned when exported either
by the frontiers or to the kingdom of Poland, amounted, in the whole empire of Russia,
to only £27,969 sterling in 1847, and £26,095 in 1848.
The following table exhibits the quantities of the principal articles of import entered
for home consumption, in European Russia, in the years specified:—
IMPORTS.

Sheep’s wool....................................
Dyeing stuffs...................................
Raw sugar.........................................
Machinery and tools, value in pounds, sterling.. .
Wine and liquors...........................
Silk manufactures..........................
Linen manufactures.......................

1842.

1847.

1,000,368
889,016
618,062

2,022,696
906,757
259,855
217,888
298’484
1,025,006
643,270
80,255

2,094,264
879,215
439,209
112,810
291,149
1,142,434
528,656
69,960

43,903
37,777
1,270,240
15,657,480
990,775
595,678
7,553,847
928,292

38,743
60,007
1,271,599
8,593,056
865,514
395,622
2,843,397
58,725

81,891
925,618
635,009
54,978

1848.

EXPORTS.

H e m p ................................................
Flax...................................................
Tallow................................................
Sheep’s wool..................................... ...............lbs.
Linseed and hempseed....................
Timber, deals, dsc., value in pounds sterling . . .
Grain.................................................
Flour, value in pounds sterling__ _

38,771
48,849
1,088,017
20,378,772
772,290
335,604
1,609,366
102,790

The extent o f the Russian inland trade, and the value of the imports and exports to
and from the various countries in Asia, has been, up to this time, wholly unknown.
W e give the imports and exports in English sterling for the year 1848. Russia im­
ported from Turkey, in Asia, to the value of £136,976, two-thirds of which consisted
o f woven cotton fabrics. From Persia the imports valued £626,805, two-thirds of
which consisted of woven cotton, silk, and woolen fabrics. From the Kirghis Steppes
the value of her imports was £229,792, nearly one half of which consisted of cattle.
From Khiva the imports were £12,479, chiefly dye stuffs and raw cotton. From
Bokhara the imports were £108,480, one-half of which consisted of cotton fabrics.
From Taschkend the imports were £76,241 ; from Kokhan, £6,923; from China,
£888,363 ; and from other countries, chiefly beyond the Caucasus, £66,889 ; being a
total of imports from various countries in Asia of £2,133,048. The exports of Russia
to these parts were, in 1848, as follow :—To Turkey, in Asia, £76,093 ; Persia,
£103,780 ; Kirghis Steppes, £238,041 ; Khiva, £6,346 ; Bokhara, £39,154 ; Taschkend,
£38,704; Kokhan, £736; China, £865,848; total of exports to Asiatic countries,
£1,368,703. The value, both of imports and exports, appears to average nearly the
same amount, taken in a series of years.
The following is a statement of the Russian imports and exports (exclusive o f specie)
from and to Poland and Finland, in the following years:—
Poland.
Imports.

1844........................................
1847 ......................................
1848 .....................................

£165,022
254,599
198,342

Finland.
Exports.

Imports.

£315,778
448,903
412,064

£91,123
90,717
96,383

Exports.

£229,712
182,925
182,433

Some idea may be formed of the quantity of business transacted at the great fair




Commercial Statistics.

87

of Nijny Novgorod, if we give the results of the fair in the year 1849. The trans­
actions in that year are stated to have been less satisfactory than those of 1848. The
price of tea was 20 per cent higher, and injuriously affected the trade in other articles.
Money was scarce, owing to the recent stagnation in the corn trade, and the payment
for two-thirds of the aggregate purchases is said to have been deferred for periods of
twelve, eighteen, and even twenty-four months. With these drawbacks, the total
value of the domestic articles at the fair was £7,916,016 sterling. The following found
a sale:— Raw materials, £1,917,940; provisions, £858,684, and domestic manufac­
tures, £3,981,716; the total sales of domestic articles, amounting to £6,758,340,
leaving £1,157,675 unsold. The total foreign articles at the fair amounted to
£2,430,191, of which £493,955 worth of European raw materials, found a sale ; and
£204,888 of manufactures. Asiatic articles sold to the extent of £1,329,131 ; the
total sales of foreign articles being £2,027,944, leaving £402,217 unsold. So that in
fact the total value of both domestic and foreign articles at the fair, was no less than
£10,346,207, of which £8,785,314 found buyers, and £1,559,893 remained unsold.
The extreme market prices o f fine wheat at Odessa were in the last quarter o f 1848,
28s. to 30s. 5d. per quarter. In the quarter ending 31st December, 1849, the market
prices were 27s. 4d. to 30s. lOd. per quarter ; and the rates in the same period in
1850 were 27s. 4d. to 30s. per quarter. The rates of freight from Odessa to Great
Britain per imperial quarter, ruled from 6s. 2d. to 13s. lid . in the first part of 1848 ;
the rates were lower in April and May, and higher in September. In the last quarter
of 1849, they ruled from 6s. 8d. to 7s. 4d. per quarter, and in the same period in 1850,
from 6s. 2d. to 7s. 9d. per quarter. The average price of wheat at Riga was at the
close of 1848, 41s. 8d. per quarter. About the same average in 1849, whilst in 1850,
the average price declined to 37s. Id. per quarter; barley, 18s. 4d. to 18s. 9d. per
quarter; and oats, 11s. lOd. to 12s. 3d. per quarter.— Eastern Counties Herald.

STATISTICS OF THE PRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
The statistics of the newspaper press form an interesting feature in the returns of
the seventh census.
It appears that the whole number of newspapers and periodicals in the United States
on the 1st day of June, 1850, amounted to 2,800. Of these, 2,494 were fully re­
turned ; 234 had all the facts excepting circulation given, and 7 2 are estimated for
California, the territories, and for those that may have been omitted by the assistant
marshals.
From calculations made on the statistics returned, and estimated circulations where
they have been omitted, it appears that the aggregate circulation of these 2,800 pa­
pers and periodicals is about 5,000,000; and that the entire number of copies printed
annually in the United States, amounts to 422,600,000. The following table will show
the number of daily, weekly, monthly, and other issues, with the aggregate circulation
of each class:—
No,

Circulation.

No. o f cop’ s prin’d an’ally.

Dailies.............................
Tri-weeklies...................
Semi-weeklies................
W eeklies.......................
Semi-monthlies...............
Monthlies.......................
Quarterlies.....................

350
150
125
2,000
50
100
25

750,000
75,000
80,000
2,875,000
300,000
900,000
20,000

235,000,000
11,700,000
8,320,000
149,500,000
7,200,000
10,800,000
80,000

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

2,800

5,000,000

422,600,000

Four hundred and twenty-four papers are issued in the New England States ; 876
in the Middle States; 716 in the Southern States; and 784 in the Western States.
The average circulation of papers in the United States is 1,785. There is one publi­
cation for every 7,161 free inhabitants in the United States and territories.

DUTCH COMMERCE IN 1850.
The finance department, at the Hague, has published the result of the Commerce
and navigation of the Netherlands for the year ending 1850. The results are extremely
favorable. The import and export trade shows an increase of 45,000,00011. in the last
four years. Imports, compared with 1849, are increased by 9,000,00011., the exports
by 13,000,000fl. The general imports of 1850 amounted to 284,415,27611.; the gene­
ral exports to 250,002,06611.; the transit trade to 92,252,78911




88

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

BRITISH TRADE AND SHIPPING.
A return to the British House o f Commons has just been printed, showing, from
1816 to 1850, the number of vessels and of tonnage at twelve principal ports, and of
the exports and imports for each of the said ports. The declared value of British and
Irish produce and manufactures exported from the port of—
London last year, w a s .. . .
£14,131,527 [ Leith...................................
L iverpool...........................
34,891,847 : Glasgow .............................
HuU.....................................
10,366,610 |Greenock.............................
Bristol........................................
362,039
Dublin...............
Newcastle..................................
920,068
|C o rk ................
Southampton...................
1,859,6411Belfast....................................

£366,552
3,168,646
355,693
50,354
116,268
56,506

JOURNAL OF B A N K IN G , CU RR EN C Y, AND F IN A N C E .

DEBT AND FINANCES OF KENTUCKY, 1851-52.
In the message of Governor Powell, of Kentucky, the foUowing items concerning
the financial condition of the State are given:—
The actual and supposed receipts of the sinking fund, for the year
ending January 1, 1852, are..................................................................
The actual and estimated amount of disbursements for the same pe­
riod, are............................................................................ ......................
Estimated deficit, January 1, 1852........................................................
“
“ 1853.........................................................
“
“ 1854.........................................................
The following is a statement of the public debt of this State:—
There is now due o f the public debt......................................................
Of bonds bearing 5 per cent interest, there wiU faU
due in 14 years the sum o f........................................
$221,000 00
In 16 years the sum o f.................................................
100,000 00
In 20 years the sum o f.................................
165,000 00
In 32 years the sum o f.................................................
100,000 00
Total amount of 5 per cent bonds.......................
Of bonds bearing 6 per cent interest, there wiU faU
due in 17 years the sum of........................................ $1,250,000 00
In 19 years the sum of...................................................
447,500 00
1,738,000 00
In 20 and 21 years the sum o f ..................
In 23 years the sum o f..................................................
150,000 00
In 25 and 27 years, redeemable after 15 years, at the
pleasure of the State..................................................
69,000 00
In 30 years, Southern bank bonds...............................
150,000 00
The Cradock Fund, 6 per cent......................................
6,592 81
Total Amount of 6 per cent bonds...................
Amount of bonds held by the Board of Education.
Total amount of public debt........................................................

$592,416 47
615,025
$22,608
22,572
21,335

31
84
34
84

$445 00

586,000 00

3,811,092 81
1,326,770 01
$5,724,307 82

Of the school bonds, the sum of $1,259,270 01 bears 5 per cent interest, and the
sum o f $67,500, 6 per cent.
To pay this debt the State has the following resources, if they could be applied to
that purpose:— $939,000 stock in the Bank of Kentucky ; $290,000 of stock in the
Northern Bank of Kentucky; $40,600 of stock in the Bank of Louisville, and $150,000
o f stock in the Southern Bank of Kentucky; to which may be added, $150,000 of
stock in the Lexington and Frankfort Railroad, and $76,420 25 bonds on the Louis­
ville and Frankfort Railroad Company; making, in all, the sum of $1,646,020 25.




80

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

The State has, in addition, §2,694,239 93 stock in turnpike roads— supposed to be
worth about twenty-five or thirty cents on the dollar—-besides her investments in
rivers, etc.

STATE DEBT OF GEORGIA.
The message of Governor Towns is calculated to deceive the people of Georgia in
regard to the amount of the State debt. It estimates the debt at §1,424,722 22 ; but
does not include in the estimate the liability of the State, on the account of the Cen­
tral Bank. That liability, which will have to be met out of the treasury, is §371,000,
and the assets of the bank are only estimated at $100,000— leaving a balance o f
$271,000. The Treasurer’s report states the matter as follows:
Due July 1st, 1853, at 6 per cent..........................................................
Due January 1st, 1858, at 6 per cent....................................................
Due July 1st, 1863, at 6 per cen t..........................................................
Due July 1st, 1863, at 6 per cent...........................................................
Due July 1st, 1868, at 6 per cent..........................................................
Due September 1st, 1869, at 6 per cent................................................
Due June 1st, 1870, at 6 per cent............................................................
Due July 1st, 1871, at 6 per cent............................................................
Due June 1st, 1872, at 6 per cent..........................................................
Due January 1st, 1873, at 6 per cent....................................................
Due January 1st, 1873, at 6 per cent....................................................
Due May 1st, 1874, at 6 per cent...........................................................
Due May 1st, 1874, at 7 per cent..........................................................
Sterling bonds at 5 percent.....................................................................
Central Bank liability...............................................................................
Aggregate actual debt......................................................................

$10,000
22,222
45,000
25,000
216,500
301,500
202,750
219,750
130,250
170,750
41,000
81,500
183,500
72,000
271,000

00
22
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00

’ $1,995,722 22

The last item on account of the Central Bank, is not included in the Treasurer’s
report, but it is so clearly a liability of the State, that it ought to have been so
reported.
To the above must be added the sum of $168,542 18 for 4,200 tons of iron, pur­
chased for the State road, without any authority by law, by the engineer, with
executive approbation. This, claim, if assumed by the Legislature, will run up the
State debt to $2,164,264 40—being nearly one million larger than stated in the
message.

THE DEBT AIVD FINANCES OF TE1V1VESSEE.
The Controller o f Tennessee has recently made a report of the finances o f the
State, the substance of which is as follows:—
There has been paid into the State Treasury during the two years prior to the first
Monday in October, 1851, from all sources, as well as upon warrants issued within that
time...............................................................................................................
$1,004,004 94
And there has been paid out of the Treasury within that time, for all
purposes....................................................................................................
933,431 25
Excess of receipts over disbursements for the two years............
Balance in the Treasury on the 1st Monday of October, 1849............

$70,573 69
152,198 11

Leaving in the Treasury on the 1st Monday of October, 1851..

$222,771 80

The receipts into the State Treasury have increased within the last two years from
8790,695 53 to $1,004,004 94. The disbursements during the same time have in­
creased from $862,436 66 to the sum of $933,431 25. Receipts over disbursements,
$70,573 69.
The public debt of Tennessee, according to previous statements published in the
Merchants’ Magazine, is now $3,352,856.




90

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

THE PROSPECTIVE OF GOLD.
The London Times, of a late date, furnishes the following speculations touching the
“ future o f gold,”
“ The question as to the probable effects of an abundance of gold is again in agita­
tion. California has thus far realized more than was expected by the most sanguine,
the product at the end of each year having exceeded the highest estimate at the com­
mencement, and there are now indications of a similar promise from the new regions
in Australia. A disposition, however, still prevails to believe that no extraordinary
changes in the relations of money are impending. When the California mines were
first discovered, it was admitted that if any thing like eight or ten millions should annu­
ally be produced for a series of years, there could be no doubt strange effects would be
witnessed. But it was contended that instead of this continued yield, there would be
a gradual decline after the first year or two. That idea being now effectually set
aside, a new argument is adopted. The exports of gold from California for twelve
months ending the 31st December, 1850, were equal, it is supposed, to £12,000,000,
while for the present year, judging from the first nine months, they may be estimated
at £15,000,000. In the face of this supply there has been no very observable distur­
bance in the measure of value. It is therefore assumed that the augmented quantity
has been met by an augmented demand, and that with the increasing traffic of the
world, a like annual addition will henceforth easily be absorbed.
“ This inference, although it is urged by some able economical writers, appears alto­
gether unsupported. The only tests of the result of the increased supply would be
an alteration in the relative value of gold and silver, or a general and unaccountable
rise in the prices of all articles. But the extensive displacement of silver which has
occurred in France, and which was plainly foreseen, has prevented the first o f these
from being available, except to a very limited extent, while, with regard to the second,
the changes in our commercial system have been such as to produce a rapid fall in all
commodities far more than sufficient to neutralize any moderate influences of an oppo­
site kind.
“ Apart from free-trade, moreover, there is quite enough to account for the increased
influx having thus far produced no palpable manifestations. The Bank of France
at this moment holds £8,000,000 sterling in excess of what she possessed in 1849 ;
the extent to which hoarding, both of gold and silver, has been carried on all over the
Continent during the past three years, and especially in Italy and throughout the
Austrian empire, has perhaps been unprecedented; a drain no less remarkable has been
caused by the Irish emigration, which has carried large totals to western America,
where much of it will long remain; and finally, there has been the return to India of a
great portion o f that specie which was suddenly drawn to England after the panic of
Exceptional circumstances exist, therefore, sufficient to render it unnecessary to as­
sume that an increase in the demand for gold has suddenly sprung up to an extent
such as steadily to absorb fifteen millions per annum. The tendency of civilization is
to render needless the use of the precious metals for the purposes of barter, and al­
though new colonies and settlements for a time create fresh demands, there is no rea­
son to suppose that they more than counteract the economical influences elsewhere in
progress. Even California herself is not believed to have absorbed, in the shape of
circulation, more than two or three millions, while on the other hand we have to bear
in mind the effects o f extended banking accommodations, and the use of money orders,
postage stamps, and other similar contrivances, which are more or less being imitated
in every part of the world.
“ Hence we may still infer that previous to the discovery o f California the produc­
tion of gold, increased as it had been by the large supply from Russia, was equal most
probably to the annual demand; that its value is consequently liable to be reduced near­
ly to the extent of the exports from California, and that such reduction will o f course be
measured by the proportion which the new supply may bear to the existing stock.
What the amount o f that stock may be is wholly unknown, but there can be little
question that fifteen millions per annum is not relatively an insignificant addition to
it. Some investigators have surmised that 400 millions is about the total in circula­
tion throughout the world. If that can be taken as in any degree correct, it will easily
be understood that the California supplies must soon make themselves seriously felt
whenever the condition of Europe shall cause the quantities now eagerly secreted to
return to active pursuits.




Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

91

“ But it is, after all, not a question of an addition of fifteen millions per annum. If
any reliance can be placed on ordinary evidence, the production from California alone
is only likely to be limited by the amount of population able to reach the State and
the rapidity o f the arrangements for obtaining machinery. It is impossible to name
any other reason why the fifteen millions should not be increased to thirty or sixty.
No word of failing supplies has yet reached us. On the contrary, the miners seem
disposed to welcome as many fellow laborers as may seem fit to join them, and every
one asserts that the whole country is rich, and that as far as the present generation are
concerned, it may be pronounced inexhaustible. The old impression that gold is never
found in large or continuous quantities is wholly dispelled, and scarcely any news could
now arrive from California, Bolivia, Peru, or Australia, that could take the public great­
ly by surprise.
“ In the face o f these circumstances it must be injurious to encourage the tendency,
always too strong in the majority of minds, to believe that the old routine of things is
to go on as it has always gone. It can do no harm to keep the possibilities of the
case constantly in view, so that people may learn gradually and quietly to adapt their
interests to whatever may occur.”

THE EXPhANATIONS OF BANKRUPTS.
The pressure in the money market has caused, or, at any rate, it has been made the
pretext of several remarkable and unexpected failures. A man in Salem has failed,
who is reported to be worth two millions of dollars over and above his liabilities. He
intends, it is said, to discharge what he calls his direct engagements, but to postpone
as long as possible his contracts as endorser, if not to escape them altogether. Other
failures of a like character have taken place in New Tork and elsewhere, where a
large excess of assets over indebtedness is confidently asserted to exist. The reason
assigned for these failures is the determination of the parties to violate their contracts
and stop payment, rather than submit to any considerable sacrifice for the sake o f
maintaining their good faith by fulfilling their engagements. This reason for failing is
sometimes assigned without truth, for the sake of saving the pride of the bankrupt,
when his assets are, in reality, enormously deficient. But as it is undoubtedly the true
reason in other cases, we have a remark or two to make about it.
W e will take the Salem failure for an example. A man with $2,000,000 o f assets,
at a fair estimate, and with $1,000,000 o f debt, finds himself pinched for cash to pay
his notes, when money is scarce. Three alternatives are presented to him. He can
raise sufficient money to meet his engagements by paying the market rate of interest
for it, as poorer men do, and which may be one or two per cent a month. Or he can
raise money by selling a part of his property, obtaining, of course, much less than it
would bring in easy times. By taking either of these courses, he may make what he
considers a sacrifice of $200,000, and after he has made it, he will still have a princely
fortune of $800,000 left. But his grasping avarice may lead him to prefer the third
alternative— namely, bankruptcy. By taking such a course, a man of wealth (if he be
such) sets a most pernicious example in any country. In the case which we have sup­
posed for the sake of illustration, the failure is not as much a matter o f stern necessity
as o f sordid convenience and dishonest gain. He postpones payments of small amounts
to much poorer men than himself, who are greatly injured by such postponement. He
shuffles off the burden of “ hard times ” (which it belongs to him to bear more man­
fully than others) upon a host of creditors, not one of whom may possess a tithe of his
real ability to pay. He may be a man who has always insisted upon the last farthing
of pay, and the uttermost punctuality from his debtors. He may have availed himself
of the bright side of speculation to amass his wealth, and consequently have no excuse
for shirking the dark side when the turn of the die has brought it uppermost. He
may be one who, if a much poorer man desired to stop the payment of a note due to
him, on the ground that it would cost some considerable sacrifice to raise the money
now, and that it would be much handier to pay it in about four years— would treat
such a pretext with unlimited scorn. I f the rich man postpones his notes and debts
and payments three or four years, in such a time as the present, he compels his small­
er creditors to submit to a loss ( f from 20 to 40 per cent, according to their needs and
the high rate which they are compelled to pay for money. This loss is certain, even if
ultimate payment at a distant day is secured, for all that he expects to allow them is
six per cent interest, while they are obliged to pay far higher rates. The rich bank­
rupt may and often does use the funds gained by staving off his debts, in secretly buy­




92

Journal o f Banicing, Currency, and Finance.

ing them up at 80 or 40 per cent discount, and makes a capital hut dishonest specula­
tion out of his own failure. 1 hese things have happened, and may happen again, and
in these remarks we are not describing any individual in particular, but a class of
bankrupts.
The effect of such failures is doubly disastrous—bad by the wide-spread and special
loss which they occasion, and still worse by the evil of their example. The cry goes
abroad— if millionaires are to be exempted from facing financial pressures, how can
poorer men be expected to do so ? If the rich are privileged to sneak under the cov­
er o f bankruptcy, and postpone their payments for years, by what principle of moral­
ity or equal justice can it be incumbent upon ordinary debtors to make sacrifices of
property to meet their contracts ? As one consequence of such examples, a merchant
informed us that the business men of a neighboring town had talked seriously about
“ suspending ” in a body till a “ more convenient season,” thinking, shrewdly enough,
that there would not be much harm or disgrace about such a step, after what had hap­
pened elsewhere. It is to be hoped, however, that the Salem platform in bankruptcy
will not be extensively followed in honest communities.

ROTHSCHILD, THE BANKER, IN TROUBLE.
The Paris correspondence of the Courier des M ats Unis contains the following an­
ecdote of Baron Rothschild:—
The splendid Hew Year’s fetes which were to have been celebrated at the Hotel
Rothschild have been put aside, on account of a family sorrow, a very young child, a
grandson of Baron Rothschild, having recently died. The Baron was so much affected
by this affliction, that for some time he gave up the care of his affairs, and neglected
his vast enterprises.
A few days since a friend came to offer him his condolence; the Baron recalled, with
a melancholy tenderness, the winning ways of the poor little child. “ They brought
him in to me every morning,” said he ; “ here is my cabinet, and I think I see him now,
on my table, overturning all my papers.”
At this period an agent from the exchange came in. It was the hour when he came
to take the orders of the prince of finance, and render him an account of the move­
ment in the funds, and the aspect affairs had taken on the Bourse since the day above.
Interrupted in the overflowings o f his memories and regrets, M. de Rothschild fell into
a melancholy revery, while the agent launched bravely into the subject of his habitual
visit, and continued, with the most minute detail, his expose of the state of financial
matters, without being disconcerted by the silence of his auditor, which he attributed
to continued and deep calculation.
After having finished his report on the state of all the stocks negotiated on ’Change
the agent added:—
“ A new advance in the public funds is expected— do you believe in it, M. le
Baron ?”
M. de Rothschild, aroused from his revery, raised his head, and replied, with an ac­
cent full of sadness and gravity:—
“ I, sir i I believe only in God.”

HOARDING OF GOLD.
The immense additions made to our circulating medium, since the discovery of Cal­
ifornia, says the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, can scarcely be realized, except by
those who refer to statistics on the subject. Nevertheless it is evident, even to the
most cursory observer, that the amount of gold in circulation is far greater than it was
twenty, or even ten years ago. W e can distinctly remember when an American gold
coin was something of a curiosity. However, less gold is in circulation than there
should be, considering the large quantity sent out from the mint. The practice of hoard­
ing gold, in part, explains this. A ll through the rural districts, gold is hoarded to a
very great extent; and even in cities, though to a less degree. Thousands of persons
who would never think of hoarding a bank note, hoard gold, for the latter can never
lose its value, which the former may. A few dollars laid by here, and a few dollars
there, produce, in the aggregate, a large sum. It is impossible to tell to what extent
this hoarding is carried on, but there is good reason to believe it prevails to a very
great extent; and, in consequence, quite considerable sums are being thus annually
withdrawn from circulation. It is not only the merchants of England, that drain our
gold currency— it is the provident of our own country, who save and hoard it.




93

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

UNITED STATES TREASURER’S STATEMENT, NOVEMBER 28, 1851,
t r e a s u r e r ’s s t a t e m e n t , s h o w i n g

th e

am ount

at

h is

c r e d it

in

th e

treasu ry

, w it h

A S SIS T A N T T R E A S U R E R S A N D D E S IG N A T E D D E P O S IT A R IE S , A N D I N T H E M IN T A N D B R A N O H E S ,
B Y R E T U R N S R E C E IV E D T O M O N D A Y , N O V E M B E R

24r, 1851,

H A V E B E E N ISS U E D B U T W E R E T H E N U N P A ID , A N D T H E
TO DRAFT.

T H E AM O U N T F O R W H I C H D R A F T S

AM O U N T T H E N R E M A IN IN G SUBJECT

S H O W IN G , A L S O , T H E AM O U N T O F F U T U R E T R A N S F E R S TO A N D F R O M D E P O S IT A ­

R IE S , AS O R D E R E D B Y TH E SE C R E T A R Y O F T H E T R E A S U R Y .

Drafts

heretofore drawn
Amount on

Treasury of United States, Washington.. .
Assistant Treasurer, Boston, Mass..............
Assistant Treasurer, New York, N. Y . . . . .
Assistant Treasurer, Philadelphia, Pa........
Assistant Treasurer, Charleston, S. C.........
Assistant Treasurer, New Orleans, La. . . .
Assistant Treasurer, St. Louis, Mo..............
Depositary at Buffalo, New York...............
Depositary at Baltimore, Maryland............
Depositary at Richmond, Virginia..............
Depositary at Norfolk, Virginia..................
Depositary at Wilmington, North Carolina.
Depositary at Savannah, Georgia...............
Depositary at Mobile, Alabama..................
Depositary at Nashville, Tennessee..........
Depositary at Cincinnati, Ohio....................
Depositary at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.. . .
Depositary at Cincinnati, (late)...................
Depositary at San Francisco.....................
Depositary at Little Rock, Arkansas.........
Depositary at Jeffersonville, Indiana..........
Depositary at Chicago, Illinois....................
Depositary at Detroit, Michigan................
Depositary at Tallahassee, Florida.............
Suspense account.........................$2,536 74
Mint of the U. S., Philadelphia, Penn.......
Branch Mint of U. S., Charlotte, N. C........
Branch Mint of U. S., Dahlonega, Ga.........
Branch Mint of U. S., New Orleans, La. . . .

but not yet paid,

Amount

deposit.
though payable, subj.to draft.
$130,103 12 $40,151 96 $89,951 16
28,082 75 972,143 96
1,000,226 71
2,564,673 58 238,954 67 2,325,718 91
8,073 31 1,215,842 15
1,223,915 46
17,070 79 308,559 1)1
325,630 70
1,253,004 95 1,149,224 55 103,780 40
32,520 96 306,373 89
338,894 85
223 35
90,780 56
91,003 91
131,838 93
5,624 92 126,214 01
20,168 43
20,314 43
146 00
38,549 14
71,636 83
33,087 69
1,044 41
593 39
451 02
20,188 37
20,985 95
847 58
27,358 10
18,403 18
8,934 92
11,766 59
11,031 36
735 23
33,895 76
11,636 16
22,259 60
848 19
194 81
653 38
3,301 87
3,301 37
78,748 17
421,060 48 342,312 31
3,412 79
94,656 46
91,243 67
12,385 91
37,068 21
49,454 12
5,373 00
30,430 29
25,057 29
13,542 79
29,814 55
43.357 34
11,880 33
16,479 33
4,599 00
2,536 74
5,684,690 00
5,684,690 00
32,000 00
32,000 00
26,850 00
26,850 00
1,100,000 00 416,179 82 683,820 18

Total........................................................ 14,749,421 86 2,489,502 12 12,262,456 48
Deduct suspense account.........................................................................
2,536 74
A dd difference in transfers..................................................................

$13,436,529 74
1,176,610 00

Net amount subject to draft................................................................ $12,259,919 74
Transfers ordered to Treasury of the United States, Washington.
Transfers ordered to Assistant Treasurer, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Transfers ordered to Assistant Treasurer, St. Louis, Missouri........
Transfers ordered to Depositary at Norfolk, Virginia.......................
Transfers ordered to Depositary at Savannah, Ga...........................
Transfers ordered to Depositary at Cincinnati, Ohio.......................
Transfers ordeeed to Depositary at Pittsburg, Pa...........................

$200,000
825,000
100,000
170,000
1,380
2,390
1,380

00
00
00
00
00
00
00

$1,300,150 00
Transfers ordered from Assistant Treasurer, New Y ork.................
Transfers ordered from Mint of the United States, Philadel., Pa..




$100,000 00
23,540 00
$123,540 00

94

Journal o f Banicing, Currency, and Finance.

ANCIENT COUSS IN THE UNITED STATES MINT.
The ancient coins in the Mint, in Philadelphia, are displayed in eight cases, mitered
in pairs, and placed erect against the -walls in the wide doorways and the middle
room. The modern coins are variously arranged; part (including all those of the
United States) being in a nearly level case, and part being in upright cases, disposed
along the walls of the middle and west rooms. The ores, minerals, and metallic
alloys are placed in the west room ; in the eastern are shown the national and other
medals, and the fine beams used for the adjustment o f weights. The middle room
also contains portraits of the directors of the mint, beginning with Rittenhouse, the
first director.
A great majority of the coins— almost all of those not over three hundred years old
— have been culled from deposits, and consequently have cost us no more than their
bullion value.
They are, moreover, the choicest of their kind; and, perhaps, there are few cabinets
where so large a proportion of the pieces are in so fine preservation, as well the
ancient as the modern.
A t the present time the aggregate o f specimens is about 650 in gold, 2,100 in silver,
1,200 in bullion, brass, copper, A c ; in all, 3,950. O f these the ancient Greek and
Roman number 82 in gold, 503 in silver, and 480 in other metals; in all, 1,065.
There are a number of scarce English and Colonial coins, also some very rare ancient
Persian coins from the East India Company, and some very curious antiques from
Middle Asia.

IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT IN RHODE ISLAND,
The Senate o f Rhode Island has passed a biU for the abolition of imprisonment for
debt, and it only remains for the house to endorse it to become a law. It is somewhat
curious that one of the most enlightened commonwealths of the Union has not before
adopted this reform. William Beach Lawrence, the Lieutenant-Governor, has made
a report on the subject which narrates several cases of great hardship under the old
law. Of six persons, confined in a single cell in Providence, five were for debts under
five doUars; and they had been immured from two weeks to four months. A poor
cripple was lately arrested in the same city, for a debt of three dollars and twelve
cents, just as he was about to go on board an oyster boat, where, by means of his
remaining limbs, he hoped to be able to earn a scanty livelihood. The worst use a
debtor can be put to is to confine him in jail, unless, indeed, he is fraudulent; and for
persons o f this description provision is made in all acts abolishing imprisonment for
debt. To pex-mit arrests for debt, under ordinary circumstances, is equally useless and
cruel. In the States where the abolition has taken place the best results have fol­
lowed. I f there is a commonwealth left in the Union where imprisonment for debt is
allowed, the barbarous law cannot be struck from the statute book too soon.

AN EMERALD MINE IN EGYPT.
The Overland Chronicle contains the following interesting account o f an emerald
mine in E gypt:— “ It appears that the existence of an emerald mine on Mount Zabarah, situate on an isle in the Red Sea, has long been known. It had been worked by
the Pacha of Egypt, but the operations had been stopped in the latter years of the
reign of Mehemet Ali. A short time ago an English company obtained permission to
carry on the digging, which promised to yield them immense wealth. Recently their
engineer, Mr. R. Allan, discovered, at a great depth, traces of a great gallery, bearing
about it evidence of extreme antiquity. Here he found ancient instruments and utensils,
and a stone with a hieroglyphic inscription on it in a great measure destroyed. It ap­
pears that in his time, Belzoni, to whom the world is so much indebted for its knowl­
edge of the wonders of Egypt, had given it as his opinion that this mine had been
worked by the ancient Egyptians, and this discovery establishes the soundness o f his
remark. The configuration of the gallery, and the nature and shape of the tools found
in it, it is said, exhibit great skiU in the art of engineering. From the inscription on
the stone, so far as it can be read, it is believed that the laboring in the mine of Zabarah had commenced in the reign of the great Sesostris, (living about 1650 before
Christ,) whom antiquity describes as combining the character of a conqueror with that
of a prince of vast enterprise in the arts of peace.




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

95

THE BANKING LAW OF VERMONT.
The chief items o f the Free Banking Law recently adopted in Vermont are as fol­
lows :—
1. Banking Associations to consist of not less than ten persons.
2. The State Treasurer to provide circulating notes to such association to an amount
not less than $50,000, nor more than $250,000, upon receiving a transfer of an equal
amount of the public stocks of the United States, or the States of Massachusetts,
New York, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, New
Jersey, or Virginia— such stocks to be made equal to six per cent stocks ; or upon re­
ceiving half the amount in such stocks, and the remaining half in bonds or mortgages
on productive real estate in this State, reckoned at not exceeding two-fifths of its val­
ue, excluding buildings thereon: which stock or bonds and mortgages are to be held
by the treasurer as security for the redemption of the bank notes issued by him to
such associations for circulation.
3. As additional security, the directors and stockholders of such associations are to
give bonds equal to the amount of notes received for circulation, to make up any de­
ficiency in case the stocks, bond and mortgages before provided, shall be insufficient.
4. The banking associations are required to redeem their bills at par in the city o f
Boston.
5. The existing banks, upon the assent of the stockholders, or upon paying of such
stockholders as dissent, may come in under this law.

THE THREE-CENT PIECES OF THE UNITED STATES.
The last section of the A ct of the last session of the 31st Congress, “ to reduce and
modify the Rates o f Postage in the United States, and for other purposes,” (see
Merchants’ Magazine, for April, 1851, vol. xxiv., page 384,) authorizes the coinage at
the mint o f the United States, and Branches, a piece of the denomination and legal
value o f three cents, or three hundredths of a doUar, to be composed of three parts
silver, and one fourth copper, and to weigh twelve grains and three eighths of a grain.
The die for this coin, as we understand, has been purchased, and the coinage will be
proceeded with at once at our mint in Philadelphia, but for a defect in the law, which
makes no provision for procuring the silver and copper to commence with. In conse­
quence, the coinage will be delayed until the proper steps are taken by the authorities
at Washington to remedy the deficiency. The new coin is decidedly neat and tasty,
and wiU be in a measure a convenient substitute for coppers.
In size it is between the gold doUar and the five cent piece, but it is so much thinner
than either that a blind man can easily distinguish them apart by the touch. The
face of the coin has a capital O, with three numerals indicating the value of the coin
embraced within it. Around the edge are the thirteen stars for the original states.
On the reverse is a star having in its center an American shield, and around the edge,
“ United States of America, 1851.”

OF THE REDEMPTION OF BANK NOTES.
The Attorney General of the State of New York has addressed the foUowing circu­
lar to the country banks of that State:—
Attorney General’s Office, November 2 5, 1851.
To the President, Directors, d'c., o f the
Section 9 of the A ct entitled “ An A ct relating to the Redemption of Bank Notes,”
passed May 4, 1840, prohibits any Bank, Banking Association, or individual Banker,
from purchasing, buying in, or taking up, directly or indirectly, their circulating notes,
at an amount less than what purports to be due thereon, at any other place, or in any
other manner, than is directed in and by this act.
The act authorizes the appointment, in New York or Albany, of a Redemption
Agent, who shall redeem the circulating notes of the country banks, at a rate of discount
not exceeding one half of one per cent. This appointment must be in writing, and
filed in the office of the Controller. A bank may be appointed the redemption
agent, but no city bank can redeem the circulation of country banks without such ap­
pointment.




96

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

Complaints having been made to me, duly verified by affidavit, that a large number
o f the banks of this State, including the bank under your charge, have entered into an
arrangement with the Metropolitan Bank of New York, to “ purchase,” “ buy in,”
and “ take up,” their own bills, at a discount of one-eighth of one per cent, I feel bound
to call your attention to the subject, and to suggest that in my opinion this mode of
redemption is unauthorized, and is in direct violation of the statute of 1840. My du­
ty requires me, in all cases of violation of law by moneyed corporations, to proceed
against the offending institution, by information, to annul the charter.
The M etropolitan B ank not having been duly appointed a Redeeming Agent for
your Bank, you will see the propriety of either filing a regular appointment of said
Bank as your Redeeming Agent, or to discontinue Redemptions at said Bank. I f this
course is not pursued, I shall be obliged to institute legal proceedings to correct the
error.
Respectfully yours, Ac.,
L. S. CHATFIELD, Att’y General.

CATECHISM OF THE BANK LAW OF ILLINOIS.
Illinois has adopted a banking system similar in most of its features to the law reg­
ulating the Free Banking Associations, Ac., o f New York State. A cotemporary in
Illinois gives the foUowing catechism, which clearly explains the character of the law,
in aU its important features:—
Q uestion.

How is it proposed to furnish and regulate the bills for banking pur­

poses ?
A nswee . The Auditor of the State is required to have them engraved ; and to
have them countersigned, numbered and registered in a book, by registers which he
shaU appoint for that purpose. [See sec. l.J
Q. To whom shaU the Auditor issue these notes for banking purposes ?
A . To persons or associations who shall transfer to and deposit with him— 1st, any
portion of United States stock ; 2d, or any State stocks, on which fuH interest is annu­
ally pa id; 3d, or the stocks of this State, to be valued at 20 per cent less than the
rate at which they have been sold in New York for the six months previous to their
being deposited. But the Auditor shall not issue bills on the bonds of any State, if
less than six per cent is regularly paid thereon, unless there be deposited two dollars
f o r one, exclusive of interest. No stock to be taken above its par value, or above its
market value at the time of deposit. [Sec. 2.]
Q. What check is provided on the honesty of the Auditor, in this matter ?
A. The State Treasurer is required to copy and keep descriptive lists of all notes
issued by the Auditor. [Sec. 3.]
Q. How are those who thus comply with the law, authorized to get their notes in­
to circulation ?
A. They may loan or “ circulate the same as money,” payable “ on demand.”
[Sec. 4.]
Q. Who keeps the securities deposited by bankers ?
A. The Auditor of the State transfers them to the Treasurer, who is responsible
for their safe keeping. He is authorized— 1st, to deliver them back to the Auditor to
be sold for the benefit of the bank’s creditors ; or 2d, to be used or disposed of under
a decree of Court for the same purpose; or 3d, to be delivered back to the depositor.
[Sec. 5.]
Q. What number of persons, and what amount of stock, are necessary to open a
bank?
A. A n y number of persons may do it, but their capital stock must not be less than
fifty thousand dollars. [Sec. 6.]
Q. What shall constitute such a company a “ body politic and corporate ?”
A. They must make a certificate certifying the name of their bank, its location, its
amount of capital stock, and the number of its shares— the names and residences of its
stockholders, and the number of shares held by each respectively, and the period at
which such association shaU commence and terminate. This certificate to be acknowl­
edged and recorded in the county Recorder’s office where located; and a copy filed
with the Secretary o f State. It shall then be a body corporate. [Sec. 1.]
Q. What is a chief use of this certificate ?
A. It may be used in evidence in Court against such associations. [Sec. 8.]
Q. What are the powers of the corporations so formed ?




Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

97

A. They have all the powers of ordinary banking institutions. [Sec. 9.]
Q. Is the stock of such banks taxable ?
A. Yes. It is declared “ personal property, subject to taxation.” The amount of
taxation is determined by a commissioner provided in the law, and is levied on the
company, not the individuals. A transfer of stock to new hands carries with it a trans­
fer of all the “ rights and liabilities ” of original shareholders. The rights of credit­
ors cannot be prejudiced by any alteration in the articles of association, nor can the as­
sociation be dissolved by death or insanity, when there is more than one shareholder.
[Sec. 10.]
Q In what name must the corporations do business ?
A. In the name of the corporation. [Sec. 11.]
Q. Who may maintain actions against such corporations i
A. Any person having demands against them ; and all judgments against them
shall be enforced against their property, except such as may be obtained against share­
holders, as provided in section 38. [Sec. 12.]
Q. How are bankers to receive the benefit of the security stocks deposited with the
Auditor ?
A. The Auditor may give them power of attorney to receive interest on dividends
for their own use ; but this power is to be revoked on the bank failing to redeem its
notes, or whenever, in the opinion of the Auditor, the bonds become insufficient securi­
ty. The Auditor may also deliver to bankers an amount o f their deposited stocks
equal to any notes returned to him for cancelation— notes so returned to be burned.
[Sec. 13.]
Q. W hat is to be done when banks refuse to pay their notes on demand ?
A . The Auditor is to sell the pledged bonds at auction in New York, and shall
pay the said notes from the proceeds thereof. [Sec. 14.]
Q. Is there any precedence given in the kind of debts to be paid from these stocks
by the Auditor!
A. Yes. The notes are to be first paid; afterwards “ all other liabilities.” [Sec. 15.]
Q. Who keeps the dies and plates from which the bank notes are to be printed;
and who pays for the printing ?
A . The Auditor keeps the dies and plates, and pays for the printing, charging the
same again to the bank. [Sec. 16.]
Q. Is the Auditor prohibited from issuing notes to a greater amount than there are
securities deposited ?
A. Yes. He is for this to be judged “ guilty of a misdemeanor; and shall be pun­
ished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars, and imprisoned not less than five
years in the penitentiary.” [Sec. 17.]
Q. Are the banks to be bound for damages, for refusing to pay a ndte on demand ?
A. Yes. Twelve per cent. [Sec. 18.]
Q. How may it be known who are shareholders in any bank i
A. The bank is bound to file lists with the county Clerk, for inspection. [Sec. 18.]
Q. Where are bank notes to be made payable i
A. At the bank, and no place else. [Sec. 19 ]
Q. When are bank notes payable; and what is to be the banking capital!
A. They are to be payable on demand, and the capital is to be specie, “ a suffi­
cient amount ” of which is “ to be kept always on hand ” to redeem all notes which
may be pres ented. The bonds deposited with the Auditor are not the bank’s capital
—they are only pledges of security. [Sec. 20.]
Q. What is to become of torn and mutilated notes ?
A. The Auditor is to give new ones in exchange for them— descriptions of the tom
ones are to be put on file, and they are then to be burned. [Sec. 21]
Q. Can the bank prefer any of its creditors to others, by conveying its property to
them 1
A. No. Such conveyances are expressly declared void. [Sec. 20.]
Q. Can the banks hold real estate ?
A. Yes. Such as is necessary, as banking houses, <fcc.; such as is mortgaged to
them by debtors in good faith ; such as shall be conveyed in satisfaction of debts pre­
viously contracted in the course of its dealings ; and such as they shall purchase at
sales under judgments in their behalf, or in behalf of others, for the purpose of saving
a debt due them. [Sec. 23.]
They cannot purchase, hold or convey real estate for any other purpose whatever,
VOL. x x v i.— NO. I.
7




98

Journal o f Banking, Currency, and Finance.

and conveyances shall be to the corporation, free from any claim for or against share­
holders, or others claiming under them. [Sec. 24.]
Q. How is the condition of a bank to be investigated ?
A. The Judge of the Circuit Court where the bank is located, may appoint compe­
tent persons to investigate it, on the application of one or more shareholders whose
shares amount to three thousand dollars ; said investigation to be published by the
Judge’s orders. [Sec. 25.]
Q. What is to be done when a bank refuses to pay its notes on demand 2
A. The holder of the notes may have them protested before any Notary Public;
and the Auditor, on receiving such protest, shall forthwith give notice in writing to
the bank to pay the same; and if the bank shall omit to do so, the Auditor shall im­
mediately, (unless the bank shall by affidavit convince him that it has a good defense
against the person presenting the same,) give notice in a newspaper at the place where
the bank is kept, (if there be a paper there,) and in a paper at the seat of government,
that the notes of that bank will be redeemed out of the trust funds belonging to the
bank, by the payment pro rata of all such circulating notes, whether protested or n ot;
and to adopt such other measures as in his opinion will secure the note holders from
loss. The obtaining of such a protest, and the filing a copy thereof with the bank,
shall put all end to its banking powers, and they shall be prohibited from exercising
further banking privileges. The legal existence of the bank will only be continued
for the necessary purpose of settling its accounts. [Sec. 26.]
Q. What is to be done with the property of such banks ?
A. It is the duty of the Auditor to apply to any Judge of the Circuit Court, who
will appoint Receivers to take the assets or property of every such bank. They are
to apply the property :
1st. To the redemption or payment of circulating notes:
2d. To the payment of all other indebtedness; and
3d. To the payment of stockholders on account of stock invested. [Sec. 27.]
Q. What then becomes of the stock in the hands of the Auditor 2
A. He is also bound to devote it, first, to the payment of the circulating notes.
[Sec. 28.]
Q. Cannot stockholders avoid personal liability by pretended assignment or trans­
fer of stock ?
A. N o ; “ the said liability is to continue six months after the assignment by him of
any such s t o c k a n d any stockholder who is the party in interest, shall be liable, al­
though such stock may be held and recovered in the name of some other party. [Sec. 29.]
Q. How is it to be known who are stockholders 2
A. The bank is bound to keep a list of its stockholders posted up for inspection;
and also a list of all transfers of stock, as they occur. [Sec. 29.]
Q. To whom does this law apply 2
A. To all who shall “ conduct business under the provisions of this law. [Sec. 30.]
Q. How are the bank Commissioners to be appointed, and what are their duties 2
A. A t the first meeting of the Legislature after the law takes effect, and every
fourth year thereafter, the Governor is to nominate to the Senate three persons as
Commissioners, and by the advice and consent of the same they are appointed. It is
made their duty to make annual examinations of the condition of all banks formed un­
der this la w ; to inspect the securities filed with the Auditor to see if they are still suf­
ficient security for the notes; and to report them to the Auditor and to the banks.
They have all powers necessary to those duties. [Sec. 31.]
Q. What are the Commissioners to do if they find the securities from any cause
insufficient 2
A. They are to notify the bank concerned, and require additional securities, or the
surrender of such quantity of their notes to be burned as will make the securities
sufficient for the remaining notes. I f the bank fails to comply, it is to be put into
liquidation by the Auditor. [Sec. 32.]
Q. Are the banks bound to report their condition 2
A. Y e s; quarterly under oath— to be published by the Auditor in a newspaper.
These reports must contain the amount of stock “ paid in and invested according to
l a w t h e value of real estate h eld; the debts due the bank, and a list of bills dis­
counted ; giving amounts and times payable ; the amount of debts owing by the bank,
and the notes in circulation; of loans and discounts, and specie on hand; and amount
held of the notes of other banks. Also, the amount of suspended debt held by the
bank. [Sec. 33.]
Banks which refuse to do this “ shall forthwith go into liquidation.” [Sec. 85.]




Commercial Regulations.

99

Q. How and when may banks wind up voluntarily ?
A. “When they have redeemed 90 per cent of their notes, and deposited means to
redeem the remainder in such bank as the Auditor shall direct, to his credit for that
purpose. The Auditor may then give up the securities before deposited with him.
[Sec. 36.] The bank may then give three years’ notice in a paper published at the
seat of government, and in a paper in the county where the bank is located, that all
notes o f said bank must be presented at the Auditor’s office within three years, for
redemption; after which the Auditor will give up to the bank any securities which
may have been held for the redemption of any unredeemed notes. [Sec. 37.]
Q. What rate of interest may the banks charge 8
A. “ Hot exceeding seven per cent on any real or personal security.”
This may
be received in advance; thirty days to make a month, and twelve months a year.
[Sec. 38.]
Q. Are stockholders to be individually responsible ?
A. They are, “ to the full intent provided for in the Constitution of this State, and
to the amounts of their respective shares of stock.” And when the property of the
corporation is exhausted, creditors may have recourse against stockholders. [Sec. 38.]
Q. When does the baDk law take effect 8
A. When a majority of the people, on the first Tuesday in November, shall vote
in favor o f its adoption. [Sec. 39.]
Q. How are the people to vote 8
A . By ballot; with the tickets having the words, “ For the general banking law
or, “ Against the general banking law.” [Sec. 40.]
Q. How long may a bank exist under the law ?
A. Not longer than twenty-five years. [Sec. 41.]

COM M ERCIAL REGULATIONS.

THE HALF PILOTAGE LAW US PENNSYLVANIA,
W e publish below the law and supplement passed at the last session of the Legis­
lature of Pennsylvania, as applied for by the Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia and
Board of Trade of that city. It will be seen that all vessels engaged in the Pennsyl­
vania Coal trade are exempt from the charge of half pilotage, whether inward or
outward bound, and also all coastwise vessels outward bound and all steamships arri­
ving at or departing from Philadelphia. The following is a correct copy of the laws
in relation to Half Pilotage, passed March 24th, and April 8th, 1851:—
A ct of

24th

M arch ,

1 8 5 1 .*

S ec. 4. That no duly licensed coasting steamboat, or propeller steamboat, sailing to

or from any port within this State— and no duly licensed coasting vessel, bound from
any port within this State— and no duly licensed coasting vessel, of the burden of one
hundred tons, or under, and bound to any port within this State, shall be obliged to
take a pilot, or to pay any pilotage therefor— and all vessels taking steam down as
far as Keedy Island between the twentieth day of November and the tenth day o f
March, inclusive, in any year, there shall be a deduction of five dollars, or to the Buoy
of the Brown, there shall be abated the whole charge of winter pilotage, of ten dollars.
S ec. 5 . That every vessel arriving from, or bound to any foreign port or place— and
every other vessel of the burden of one hundred tons or upwards, sailing from, or
bound to any port not within the river Delaware (excepted licensed coasting vessels
Bailing from this port,) shall be obliged to take a pilot— and it shall be the duty of the
master of every such vessel, within thirty-six hours next after his arrival at said ports
of Philadelphia, to make a report to the master warden of the name of such vessel, her
draught of water, and the name of the pilot who shall have conducted her to this port,
and when any such vessel shaU be outward bound, and not duly licensed to coast, the
master of such vessel, and the pilot who is to conduct her to the Capes, and her draught
* Tn accordance with a system of legislation that prevails in Pennsylvania, which we have alluded
to in former numbers o f this Magazine, the other Sections of the Act relate to matters entirely discon­
nected with the objects o f the Half Pilotage law, included in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Seciions lb
above.




100

Commercial Regulations.

of water at that time— and it shall be the duty of the wardens to enter every such
vessel (reported as aforesaid,) in a book to be by them kept for that purpose—-and if
the master of any such vessel shall neglect or refuse to make such a report, he shall
forfeit and pay the sum of ten dollars, and no more— and if the master of any such
vessel being licensed, as a coasting vessel, and of the burden of one hundred tons, or
more, shall refuse or neglect to take a pilot, the master or owner, or consignee of such
vessel, shall forfeit and pay the sum equal to half pilotage of such vessel— and if such
vessel be not licensed as aforesaid, then and in such case, the master, owner or con­
signee thereof, shall forfeit and pay the full pilotage thereof. Provided always, That
wherever it shall appear to the wardens, that in the case of an inward bound vessel,
should a pilot not offer before such vessel reached the Brandywine light-house, bearing
east, or in case of an outward bound vessel, should a pilot not be obtained for twentyfour hours after such vessel was ready to depart, the penalty aforesaid for not having
a pilot, shall not be incurred.
S ec. 6. That all sums due for pilotage, half pilotage, and all other claims and pen­
alties in the nature or in lieu thereof, shall, as they accrue, become and remain a lien
upon the vessels chargeable therewith, her tackle, apparel and furniture, until they are
paid; and for the recovery thereof, in addition to the remedies now provided, (and
which shall remain as heretofore,) such process and proceedings shall issue and be had
in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia county; or in any court possessing
admirality jurisdiction, as are usually had in the courts of admirality, for the recovery
o f seamen’s wages and all half pilotage forfeitures, and penalties in the nature thereof,
accruing by the virtues of this act, and all other debts, claims and demands to which
the “ Society for the relief of distressed and decayed Pilots, their Widows and Child­
ren,” are legally or equitably entitled to, under any law whatsoever, shall be recovered
in the name and for the use of the said Society, to whom, or to whose agent, duly con­
stituted, the same shall be pa id: Provided, That in all suits and proceedings, to which,
“ The Society for the relief o f distressed and decayed Pilots, their Widows and Childdren,” shall be a party, no person shall be incompetent to testify as a witness, because
of his being a member thereof.
S ec. 7. That such law or laws of this Commonwealth as are hereby repealed or
supplied, shall thenceforth be and remain void, saving, nevertheless, all claims and
causes o f action which were instituted under any former laws, which shall continue to
be presented as therein directed, and where proceedings therefore shall not have been
commenced, the same shall be prosecuted, as prescribed under existing laws, prior to
the passage of this act.
A ct of 8th A pril , 1881.

That nothing contained in any act of Assembly shall be construed as to require any
vessel engaged in the Pennsylvania coal trade to pay any Health fee or Half Pilotage
either inward or outward bound.

POSTAGE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES AND TO CANADA.
For every single letter in manuscript, or paper of any kind upon which information
shall be asked or communicated in writing, or by marks or signs sent by mail, the
rates mentioned in this table shall be charged; and for every additional half ounce or
fraction of an ounce above the weight named in this table, an additional single rate is
to be charged.
.RATES OF LETTER POSTAGE BETWEEN OFFICES IN THE UNITED 8TATES, AND TO AND FROM
CANADA, FROM AND AFTER JUNE 30, 1851.
J ^ T T .>' *
/A i

VS V -

. ■ ,.

- r . . '*
■f

W H E N P R E P A ID .

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ED Q.

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6

6
12

9
18

12
24

15
30

10
15

20
30

30
45

40
60

50
75

& g,§

For any distance not over 3,000 miles., cts.
For any distance over 3,000 miles..........
To and from Canada, for any distance not
over 3,000 miles...................................
For any distance over 3,000 miles..........

I s

o
Is

:si
3

gp

N p

101

Commercial Regulations.
W H E N U N P A ID .

3
&S a
© OCJ
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10
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15
30

• 5.
20
40

10
15

20
30

30
45

40
60

<6 2.B
- aq f

For any distance not over 3,000 miles.cts.
For any distance over 3,000 miles............
To and from Canada, for any distance not
over 3,000 miles......................................
For any distance over 3,000 miles...........

o

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50
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15

N o t e .— From

and after the 30th o f June, 1 8 5 1 , the mode of computing the rates
upon inland letters— i. e. letters from one office within the United States or Territories
to another, and also upon letters between the United States and the British North
American provinces— is to be as follows, to wi t : Single rate, if not exceeding half an
ounce ; double rate, if exceeding half an ounce, but not exceeding an ounce ; treble
rate, if exceeding an ounce, but not exceeding an ounce and a half; and so on,
charging an additional rate for every additional half ounce or fraction of half an
ounce.
The mode o f computing rates upon letters to Great Britain, and to all other foreign
countries, the British North American provinces excepted, will remain as at present,
under the act of 3d March, 1849, and agreeably to instructions appended to the table
of foreign postages.
D IR E C T IO N S .

1st. Every letter or parcel, not exceeding half an ounce in weight, shall be deemed
a single letter or rate.
2d. A ll drop-letters, or letters placed in any post office, not for transmission, but for
delivery only, shall be charged postage at the rate of one cent each.
3d. Each deputy postmaster, whose compensation for the last preceding fiscal year
(ending the 80th of June) did not exceed $200, may send through the mail all letters
written by himself, and receive through the mail all written communications addressed
to himself, on his private business, which shall not exceed in weight one half ounce,
free of postage. This does not authorize them to frank any letters unless written by
themselves, and on their private business on ly ; nor does it authorize them to receive
free of postage anything but written communications addressed to themselves, and on
their private business.
From and after the 30th of June, 1851, for each newspaper, not exceeding three
ounces in weight, the annexed rates per quarter are to be paid quarterly in advance.
These rates only apply where the paper is sent from the office of publication to
actual and bona fide subscribers.
N E W SPAPER K ATES, P E E
ACTUAL A N D

Q U ARTER, W H E N SENT FR O M

THE

B O N A F I D E S U B S C R IB E R S , A F T E R

For any distance not exceeding50miles.cts
Over 50, and not exceeding 300 miles.........
Over 300, and not exceeding 1,000 .............
Over 1,000, and not exceeding 2,000...........
Over 2,000, and not exceeding 4,000...........
Over 4,000 miles.............................................

O F F IC E
30TH

OF

P U B L IC A T IO N ,

TO

JU N E , 1 8 5 1 .

Tri­ Semi­
Semi- M’nthDaily. weekly. weekly. W’kly. m’thly.
iy25
15
10
5
2*
n
50
30
20
10
5
2*
15
45
30
15
3f
n
100
60
40
20
10
5
125
15
25
50
12J
6i
160
90
60
30
15
n

D IR E C T IO N S .

1st Weekly papers only, when sent as above stated, are to be delivered free in the
county where they are published; and this although conveyed in the mail over 50
miles.
2d. Newspapers containing not over 300 square inches are to be charged one quarter
the above rates.
3d. Publishers of newspapers are allowed to exchange free of postage one copy of
each number ouly ; and this privilege extends to newspapers published in Canada.




102

Commercial Regulations.

4th. The weight of newspapers must be taken or determined when they are in a
dry state.
5th. Postmasters are not entitled to receive newspapers free of postage under their
franking privilege.
6th. Payment in advance does not entitle the party paying to any deduction from
the above rates.
N o t e .— For each additional ounce, or fractional part of an ounce, beyond the ten
ounces embraced in this table, an additional rate must be charged.1
3
2
KATES OF POSTAGE TO BE
PA PE R S, AND E V E R Y
AND

P E R IO D IC A L S

FROM

THE

CHARGED, AFTER

OTHER

P U B L IS H E D

D E S C R IP T IO N

30, 1851,

JU N E
OF

P R IN T E D

U P O N A L L T R A N S IE N T N E W S ­

M ATTER,

EXCEPT

NEW SPAPERS

A T I N T E R V A L S N O T E X C E E D IN G T H R E E M O N T H S , A N D SE N T

O F F IC E O F P U B L IC A T IO N T O A C T U A L A N D B O N A F ID E

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7
14
21
28
35

8
16
24
32
40

2
3
4
5

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When sent not over 500 m iles.. .
Over 500, and not over 1,500....
Over 1,500 and not over 2,500...
Over 2,500, and not over 3,500 . .
Over 3,500 miles..............................

a ■**

S U B S C R IB E R S .

o|
: a
: S.
2
4
6
8
10
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When sent not over 600 m iles.. .
Over 500, and not over 1 ,5 0 0 ....
Over 1,500, and not over 2,500 . .
Over 2,600, and not over 3,500 . .
Over 3,500 miles...........................

o

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16
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5
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18
27
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45

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10
20
30
40
50

D IR E C T IO N S .

1. — On every transient newspaper, unsealed circular, handbill, engraving, pamphlet,
periodical, magazine, book, and every other description of printed matter, the above
rates must in all cases be prepaid, according to the weight.
2. — Whenever any printed matter on which the postage is required to be prepaid,
shall, through the inattention of Postmasters, or otherwise, be sent without prepay­
ment, the same shall be charged with double the above rates.
3. — Bound books, and parcels of printed matter, not weighing over 32 ounces, shall
be deemed mailable matter.
Periodicals published at intervals, not exceeding three months, and sent from the
office of publication to actual and bona fide subscribers, are to be charged with onehalf the rates mentioned in the last above table, and prepayment of a quarter’s postage
thereon must in all cases be required. Periodicals published at intervals of more than
three months are charged with the full rate, which must be prepaid.
N ote.— In case there is on, or in any newspaper, periodical, pamphlet, or other
printed matter, or paper connected therewith, any manuscript of any kind by which
information shall be asked for, or communicated in writing, or by marks or signs, the
said newspaper, periodical, pamphlet, or other printed matter becomes subject to
letter postage; and it is the duty of the Postmaster to remove the wrappers and
envelopes from all printed matter, and pamphlets not charged with letter postage, for
the purpose of ascertaining whether there is upon or connected with any such printed
matter, or in such package, any matter or thing which would authorize or require the
charge of a higher rate of postage thereon.
N. K. HALL, Postmaster General.
P ost Office D epartment , June 14, 1851.




Commercial Regulations.

103

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BALTIMORE BOARD OF TRADE.
The second Annual Report of the Baltimore Board of Trade for the year ending, Octo­
ber 1st, 1851, which we here subjoin, is a model of brevity and comprehensiveness: and
illustrates the importance of such associations to Commercial cities, when under the
management o f intelligent and liberal merchants:
The Legislature of Maryland not having been in session since the date of last
Report, such subjects as had been brought to the notice of that honorable body when
last convened, and were not then acted upon, remain of course still in abeyance, and
must be referred anew to the Legislature shortly to assemble at Annapolis; and they
will doubtless receive the proper attention in that respect from the officers the Asso­
ciation are about to elect for the ensuing year.
In consequence of the “ short session” of Congress last winter, several matters of
much importance to the trade of the city, although ably and energetically urged by
our late representative at Washington, were not acted upon, and renewed efforts must
be made hereafter to secure the aid of the federal government in reference to such
objects as are of a national character, in fostering and facilitating the Commerce of
Baltimore. Some questions, however, in regard to which the Board have exerted
themselves, were favorably disposed o f; among them may be mentioned the passage of
the bill known as the “ Cheap Postage” law, which, although it does not go to the
extent recommended, of an uniform rate of two cents per half ounce prepaid, may still
be regarded as a great concession to the interests and convenience of the entire com­
munity.
For the erection of a Light-House on the seven foot knoll, near the junction of the
Patapsco River and Chesapeake Bay, the sum of seventeen thousand dollars was appro­
priated by the bill of 3d March, 1851, leaving at the command of the Secretary of the
Treasury twenty-seven thousand dollars for the Light-House in question; thus far a
commencement has not been made, but it is to be hoped that ere long the work may be
accomplished.
Another strenuous but unsuccessful effort has been made before the City Councils to
have the enactments upon the inspection and storage of Beef and Pork altered and
amended, so as to leave untrammeled this important and growing branch of business;
the attempt, however, to place this market upon a fair basis of competition with those
North and East of us will be again resumed, and as a large majority of dealers in
Provisions, whether buyers or sellers, packers or exporters, concur in recommending
the proposed alterations in the enactments, they will probably ultimately be granted.
It having been represented that “ Through Tickets” from Charleston to New York
were granted on the various works constituting the main line of travel with a discrimi­
nation unfavorable to Baltimore, a correspondence between the appropriate committee
and the President of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company ensued, and by the ex­
ertions of that gentleman with the representatives of connecting links, the tariff of rates
o f passage has been equitably adjusted.
Memorials, numerously signed, addressed to the Postmaster General and representing
the necessity of enlarged accommodations for the reception and distribution of the
Mails, were brought to the consideration of the Board. A special committee appointed
for the purpose examined the bearings of the subject, and recommended the removal
of the Post Office to the Exchange Building, where it now is, and the change appa­
rently meets the approval of the public.
It having been understood that some idea was entertained at the Department to
suspend, or even entirely withdraw, the Express or Special Mail Train westwardly, a
correspondence was opened with the Chambers of Commerce o f Wheeling, Pittsburg,
Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, asking their co-operation in remonstrating against
such a proceeding; it was cheerfully accorded, and the Postmaster General appears
favorably to have regarded the representations on the subject, as we are still in the
enjoyment o f this second mail and passenger train between Boston and Cincinnati six
days in the week. It would appear that, by avoiding the detention of some hours at
Petersburg, Virginia, the Great Southern Mail might reach here sufficiently early to
admit of reply the same evening, which is not at present the case, and twenty-four
hours are thus lost to correspondence ; it is hoped this unnecessary delay will soon be
done away with.
A communication was received from the Chamber of Commerce of New Orleans
relative to “ the causes of the explosisn of steam-boilers, and the measures deemed
necessary for their prevention,” and invoking the assistance of this Board in the matter.




104

Nautical Intelligence.

our representative in Congress will be requested to urge the passage of such laws as
in his opinion may remedy the evils named in that document.
The attention of the Board has been given to various other subjects of more or less
importance to the commercial community, but it is not deemed requisite to enter into
further details on this occasion; before, however, concluding this Report, it is thought
a duty once more to refer to the imperative necessity of some action towards deepening
the Ship- Channel, in order to maintain the advantages of Baltimore as a maritime port.
It is well known that each year the average size of vessels built is increased in tonnage
and draught of water, likewise that deeply laden ships, entering and leaving our harbor,
frequently ground, to the manifest danger of vessel and cargo, to say nothing of loss by
detention; it is no isolated interest that thus suffers, every citizen is concerned directly
or indirectly, and in the opinion of this Board prompt and efficient steps should be taken
to remove such impediments as may exist. If an appropriation cannot be had from
the General Governnent, surely the State and City can be induced to unite in furnishing
the sum necessary to do away with such obstructions in the Ship-Channel as interfere
with the egress or ingress of mercantile ships of the largest class.
•
The accompanying statement of the Treasurer shews that he has in cash $181 01;
the association is also possessed of 17 shares of Stock of Merchants’ Bank of Baltimore,
and $700 Maryland State 6 per cent Stock.
A ll of which is respectfully submitted. By order of the Board of Directors.
JNO. C. BRUNE, Prest.

NA U TICAL

IN T E L L IG E N C E .

VARIATION OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE.
Something like ten or twelve years since I addressed a letter to one of the profes­
sors of Middlebury College, stating the expediency of adopting a course of experi­
ments upon the magnetic variation, requesting his co-operation in bringing the subject
before the public. It appeared to meet his approbation, and he gave the communica­
tion publicity in the Middlebury and Albany papers. But as he left the college soon
after, nothing further transpired on the subject. And although it is a science almost
totally neglected by surveyors in this State, it can but be viewed as one of no ordinary
importance.
That observations should be annually made by every practicing surveyor no one can
doubt. As the boundaries of lands are usually described according to the course indi­
cated by the needle, and as there are no rules by which its variation can be ascertained
for any interval of time, according to which such bounds can be retraced where the
land marks have been obliterated, it therefore appears of importance that surveyors
should, from year to year, ascertain at different places the true variation of the needle,
and note it in their surveys, which would prevent much litigation.
The phenomena of the magnetic attraction have for many centuries engaged the at­
tention of philosophers, not only from the obscurity in which it is involved, but from
the importance of the subject. It would, however, seem that no very satisfactory con­
clusions as to the main cause any one has as yet arrived at, though I believe it to
be generally conceded that it lies hid on the earth and near the poles. Although con­
siderable affinity is discoverable between the the electric and magnetic powers, yet in
what manner electricity acts in producing magnetism, we do not learn, as it is, as yet,
not distinctly known, but continues to be one of those hidden mysteries that defies the
aagacity of the most scrutinizing genius.
The magnetic needle affects the situation of being in direction from south to north,
but there are accidental causes capable of deranging the direction. You have only to
present the point of some well-tempered steel, and it will immediately leave its direc­
tion. Iron alone does not produce the effect, as a compass may be used to advantage
even in iron mines.
Every practical surveyor well knows that the magnetic needle does not always
point due north, and that the variation is different not only in different places, but at
the same place at different periods of time, but is the same to all magnetic bodies at
the same place.
Many curious experiments have been made, and a multitude of theories advanced to
account for its surprising^qualities. Newton, Halley, Kepler, Euler, Churchman, and a




Nautical Intelligence.

105

number of later date, have each adopted different theories and conclusions, as to those
attractive bodies, but generally concede that the cause is within the bowels of the
earth, and near the poles. The first discovery of the variation of the magnetic needle
was in the year 1492, by Columbus, in his first voyage to America, but it was not until
the year 1580, that the subject was carefully studied and thoroughly investigated at
London, when the variation was found to be 11° 50' E., and in 1620 but 6° E., and
in 1634, 4 ° 5' E., but in the year 1660 the pole pointed due north.
In 1672, it was found to be 2° 30' W., and in 1692, it was 6° W. In Paris the
needle pointed due north about nine years after that at London.
A t present through Europe, Africa, and a part of Asia, the declination is to the west,
but advancing eastward at the rate of one degree in 19 years.
It is, however, ascertained that the declination never exceeds 15° on or near the
Equator, but increasing towards the poles to 60°.
Another surprising quality discoverable in the needle, is its inclination or dipping,
that is, the magnetic power produces a double effect on needles.
This, as well as the declination, deserves to be everywhere carefully observed and
noted; in London I believe the inclination to be about 68°. In July 1820, Mr. Sabine
observed the inclination of the needle at Melville Island, inlat. H. 75°, W. Ion. 110°,
found it to be 88° 43' 5".
The following observations and calculations were made chiefly in the State of Vermont; partly by Dr. Samuel Williams, the more recent by the writer:
In the year 1785, the declination of the needle at Montreal was 8° 24' W., and at
Quebec, 12° 5 0 '; in 1794, 12° 20'. On the north line of Vermont in the year 1785,
the variation was 7° 40' W., and at Missisque bay the same year, 10° 10' W., and in
1828, but 8° 50'. In Pownall in 1786, the variation was 5° 50' W., and in 1828, but
4 ° 10'. A t Rutland in the year 1789, the variation was 7° 5' W., and in 1818, 6° 10',
and in 1828, 5° 40', and in 1848, 4° 39'. At Burlington in the year 1793, the vari­
ation was 7° 30', and in 1828, but 6° 45' W. A t Brandon in the year 1820, the vari­
ation was 5° 20', and in 1830, 4 ° 50' W. A t Pittsfield, Vermont, in the year 1825,
the needle varied 6° 5' W., in 1826, 6° 2', in 1830, 5 ° 50', and in 1836, 5° 34' West.
In Hew Haven in 1820, the variation was 4° 25' 25", according to Professor Fisher,
who supposes the annual variation to be 2' 45" eastward, but from personal observa­
tions made by the writer, the variation is found to be something over three seconds.
From the above view it is no way surprising that so much litigation has arisen in
consequence o f surveys being made at different periods of time with little or no atten­
tion to the annual variation, and unless there is some method adopted to make it the
duty of every practicing surveyor to ascertain from time to time the true variation, and
note it as before observed, different cources will be run, and litigation continue.
Mr. Dewit truly remarks, “ that in years past, a rule has been prescribed for obtaining
an approximate meridian supposed sufficient for common purposes, that is, to take the
direction of the Pole star when in the same vertical fine with Aliotli, which is the first
star in the tail of the Great Bear.” This rule was once correct, but it is more than a
century since, that the interval between the time when these two stars are in the
same vertical, and the time when the Pole star is in the meridian, has been gradually
increasing, on account of the annual increase of the right ascension of the Pole star than
o f Alioth. According to Blunt’s table for the year 1805, we find that in lat. 42° 30'
the elongation o f the Pole star was 2° 20' 5 1 "; and in the year 1837,1 found it to be
but 2° 7' 2 " in the same lat.; and in 1839, 2° 6' 7", and in 1840, 2° 5' 41". In lat.
42° in the year 1837, 2° 5' 52", in 1848, 2° 5' 26", and in 1839, 2° 5' 0", and in the
year 1840, 2° 4' 34".
These annual variations will show the importance of a strict attention to time and
place of observation.
Various methods have been instituted to ascertain an accurate variation, but with
much inaccuracy, and I apprehend that the main difficulty is in the finding a true
meridian. The following is therefore recommended, being simple and the least subject to
error: viz., by measuring the angle formed between the magnetic meridian and a line
formed by the Pole star when on the meridian.
But in this process it is necessary to know that this star is due north but twice in
twenty-four hours. The time may be found by observing when the star Alioth, and
the star Gamma, and the Pole star, are vertical; but when in a horizontal position, is
at its greatest elongation on the side of Gamma. In order, therefore, to find a true
meridian from the star, its declination must be calculated for the degree of latitude




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N autical Intelligence.

where the observation is made. This may be found by the following proposition:—
As the cosine of latitude is to radius, so is the sine of declination to the sine of elongation.
The calculation may be also made as in the 6th and 7th cases laid down in Euclid’s
Spherical Trigonometry. According to the above proposition, the North star, in lat.
43° 30', January 1829, was in its declination 87° 47' 37", and its elongation 2° 13' 22",
and increasing at the rate of 19' 59" annually in the same latitude.
In lat. 43° the same year the elongation was 2° 10' 13". From the above dates
and the application of the rules given, the variation of the magnetic needle is easily
found in any latitude by a properly informed surveyor.
e . CHILD.
C astlk ton , Vermont.

ROCKS AND SHOALS IN THE PACIFIC.
The following list of islands, rocks, and shoals in the Pacific are not laid down on
the charts:—
Names.

Latitude.

New Balista Island___
14' N.
Group of Islands..........
6 S.
Mitchel’s Group............ ...................................
9 S.
7
An island......................
0 s.
Independence islands..
25 s .
Gaspar’s islands........... ...................................
15
0 N.
Kee’f .............................
0 N.
Barber’s island............. ....................................
8
4 N.
Shoal............................
44 N.
Shoal............................
30 N.
Shoal............................
36 N.
A bank..............................................................
26
0 N.
[In the S. E. part plenty of fish, turtle, and seal.]
S.
A reef...........................
[No woodland—moderately high.]
A reef...........................
48 S.
Island...........................
0 N.
36 N.
Island...........................
0 N.
Island...........................
0 N.
Island...........................
Island...........................
5 N.
Island...........................
...
.•
24 N.
Darker’s Island...........
A reef...........................
6 N.

Longitude.

W.
W.

113°
112
179
169
179
179
179
170
170
163
166
173

14'
24
47
30
0
18
24
0
30
54
0
24

160

0

E.

164 14
144 24
143
0
143
0
155
0
163 33
165 33
163
5
159 14

E.
E.
E.

E.

W.
W.
E.

E.
W.
W.
W.
W.
W.

E.
E.

E.
E.
E.
E.

[In lat. 20° 30' N., Ion. 152° 30' E., lies a small sandy bank, with heavy breakers, N.
E. by N. of Nooaheva.]
145 44 E.
6 N.
A group of islands..
[Lies a shoal, with from 5 to 15 fathoms.]
168 35 E.
19 31 N.
Islands...................... ............................................
0 W.
46 N.
115
Island.......................
168
40 N.
0 W.
Island.......................
175
0 W.
27 46 N.
Hennis Island.......... ............................................
35 N.
171 42 W.
Island.......................
136
0 W.
35 N.
Island.......................
[Marquesas Islands— N. E. by N. from O’Paro Island, lies a shoal, with from 5 to 15
fathoms, discovered by S. D. Morris, bark Fortune. The native name of the island
is Rapp’d.]
22 28 N.
5 E.
177
Massachusetts island
10 miles.]
165 23 W.
10 23 N.
Paltron’s island..........
131 35 W.
25 48 N.
Cooper’s island..........
173 35 W .
26
2 N.
Sapron’s island..........
156 55 W.
5 40 N.
Starbuck’s island.. . ,
6
177 40 E.
7 S.
SeppeFs island.........
Equator.
178 30 E.
Starbuck’s group. . . .




Nautical Intelligence.

107

Longitude.
Names.
Latitude.
Reef..
5° 30' S.
175° 0' W.
Island.................................................................
174 40 W.
43 S.
Trycey’s island................................................
30 S.
178 46 E.
New Nantuckets..................................................
0 11 N.
176 20 W.
[With a reef 10 miles.]
Island..................................................................
41 N.
176 20 W.
Rock.................................................................. .
51 S.
164 42 w .
174 30 E.
Island............................. ...................................
57 S.
.,
174 50 E.
Drummond’s island— Nautilus Shoals.......... .
26 S.
176
Chase’s island..................................................
0 E.
159 39 W.
Fanning’s island...............................................
48 N.
159 39 W.
Washington’s island......................................... .
. . N.
168 54 W.
Thomas Dickason’s reef..................................
21 32 S.
[Two cables’ length, discovered at 4, A. M., blowing a S. E. gale, ship going 9 knots.
Narrowly escaped shipwreck.— Sydney Herald.]
20
6 N.
131 54 E.
Cappers’ island.................................................
Reef................................................................... .
13 S.
159 45 W .
Sixty-four fathom b a n k .................................
25 N.
179 30 E.
Reef................................................................... .
160 40 W.
49 N.
146 14 E.
Granger’s island..............................................
18 58 N.
Reef................................................................... .
154
30 N.
0 E.
Olis islands........................................................ .
58 S.
5 W.
131
Island..................................................................
0 S.
160
0 W.
Phenix..............................................................
3 35 S.
171 39 W.
Bernie’s island.................................................. .
9 S.
171 18 W.
Boulcot’s island..................................................
47 S.
171 46 W.
Charlotte island................................................
4 29 S.
171 55 W.
[18 miles S. E. o f the island Amagura lies a small low island, and about West from
it, at 4 miles distance, lies a dangerous reef, two cables’ length, E. by N. from Robert’s island.]
Greenwich island...............................................
5 S.
54 30 E.
A small island. . . ; ............................................
50 S.
155 46 E.
A small island......................................................
3 15 S.
154 41 E.
[Sydness, 35 miles to the Eastward of its position on the chart.]
Pickerton’s reef..................................................
34 S.
164 32 E.
Cumberland’s reef..............................................
160
20 S.
0 E.
46 S.
164 10 E.
Favorite’s reef....................................................
Farnham’s island................................................
14 46 N.
169 18 E.
,,
Reef near the Equator.....................................
150
0 W.
Favorite reef.......................................................
35 S.
179 11 W.
Island..................................................................
15 35 S.
175 23 W.
LATE DISCOVERIES IN THE SOUTH SEAS.

Foster Tyan’s shoal.............. ............................
31 56 S.
160
0 E.
21 39 S.
138 32 W.
Island discovered by a French ship................
Aurora island......................................................
32 S.
41 18 W.
Rapids reef............................................................
21 40 S.
174 40 E.
[On the chart in lat. 21° 56, Ion. 175° 26.]
Underwood’s r e e f ..............................................
42 S.
175 18 E.
Ship Mucalo reef................................................
18 10 S.
175
0 E.
Marox reef..........................................................
8 25 S.
165 32 E.
Avan island........................................................
23 32 S.
162 52 E.
Ploughboy island..............................................
3 80 S.
176
2 E.
[Surrounded by a reef, 8 or 9 miles off shore.]
6 52 N.
158 24 E.
Kound Killy h arbor..........................................
[The harbor of Ascension being very indefinitely laid down, and a great many excep­
tions, extends to the North-east of the island, 40 miles long.]
Reef 80 miles long................................................
7 21 N.
156 80 E.
[This reef the ship Isabella was lost upon, bound to Manilla, observed on the reef.]




108

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Grimes’ island, ship Jean..............

145° 43' E.

[Six miles in circumference.]
Mumford’s shoal, 18 miles S. by 'W.^'W. from Yetthone island.
Sarah Scott.....................................
Lyrns re e f......................................
S h o a l...................................
Bank (least water, 7 fathoms). . . .....................

7

42

N.

163 12 E.
111 40 E.
0 E.
112
111 37 E.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN IRON COMPARED.
W e have received a letter from a highly responsible house in Philadelphia, exten­
sively engaged in the manufacture of iron in Pennsylvania, calling our attention to an
extract we made of an article from the “ Ledger ” of that city. Our correspondent
says:— “ It gives so unjust and unfair a representation of the case and of the facts, as
stated by the Ledger’s correspondent, that we herewith mail you the Ledger, contain­
ing the article in question. By a reperusal of this, you will perceive that the differ­
ence in value between English and American iron, according to the experience of the
Reading Railroad Company, is thirteen dollars and fifty cents per ton, and not, as would
appear by your extract, fifty-f 'our cents. This arises from your stopping in the midst
o f the statement—fifty-four cents is the difference in the labor cost of repairs, in lay­
ing down so much more of the inferior iron. The statement was prepared by the En­
gineer of the Reading Railroad for Mr. Tucker, the President. W e do not know
how it fell into the hands of the Ledger, but recognize the statement as the same as
the one we had previously received from Mr. Tucker.”
In order to correct an error of “ omission” rather than one o f “ commission,” and set
the matter right, we cheerfully comply with the request of our correspondent by trans­
ferring to the pages of the Merchants’ Magazine the whole article as follows :—
R eading, October 26th, 1861.
I promised, in my last letter, to furnish you with a comparative statement of the
wear and te ar o f English and American rails, for the purpose of showing that the iron
used in English rails has for the last five or six years materially deteriorated, a very
inferior quality of the metal having been substituted for that formerly employed, with
a view, probably, of “ circumventing” the Tariff of 1846. On the other hand, our own
improvements in the manufacture of railroad iron have kept pace with those in other
branches of industry, so that, though the first cost of American rails is greater than
that of imported English rails, yet, in the long run, the use of American rails proves to
be cheaper and more economical. Unfortunately for new companies, the cheap
article, at first cost, competes but too successfully with the superior high-priced one,
and an immense amount of tribute is, in consequence, annually paid to the British iron­
masters, that had much better, and much more profitably, be invested at home.
The Reading Railroad, doing a larger business than any other railroad in the country,
and carrying at all times and horns heavy freights, is probably better qualified to test
the use o f different kinds of rails, and I have accordingly procured from the officers on
the road the following statistics of their respective wear and tear.
The average yearly per centage of rails worn out on the road for the two years
ending on the 1st of December, 1849, has been as follows:—

English.....................................................
Do.........................................................
Do.........................................................
Phoenixville, Pa.......................................

45 pound rail, 1 3-10 per cent per annum.
52 “
“ 1 4-10
60 “
“ 6 3-10
“
“
60
“
“
7-10
“
“

This statement, however, does not exactly indicate the relative value of the several
kinds of iron mentioned. The 45 and 52 lbs. rail, are both on the light track; yet it is




,

Railroad, Canal and Steamboat Statistics.

109

the ten and eleven years’ wear of the former which compares with the seven and eight
years of the latter, and the five and six years of the 60 lbs. rail, which are compared,
with the average o f the first three years’ wear of the Phcenixville American 60 lbs.
rails ; both of which latter patterns are on the loaded (coal) car track.
The 45 lbs. rail is composed of a double refined English E. V. iron,* and, from several
indications, has lost much of its original strength by eleven years’ use under a heavy
trade; yet it compares favorably with the 52 lbs. rail" lately manufactured and
brought to this country; notwithstanding the superior weight and freshness of the
latter, which experience can only be accounted for by the inferior quality of the metal
used in its manufacture.
The 52 lbs. English rail is also a very good English iron, corresponding, in quality,
nearly with the American iron from Phoenixville and Danville; whilst the English 60
lbs. rail (last employed on the road,) is of an inferior quality, similar to the present
low-priced importations, as it is only the low-priced English iron that can be thrown
on the American market at prices calculated to impair the vigor of American compe­
tition. About 83 per cent, or one-third of the wear of the Phcenixville 60 lbs. rail is
due to its having to sustain the loaded instead of the light trains; and by continuing
the assumption that the best American iron is equal to that used in the English 52 lbs.
rail, the following may be considered as the comparative wear of rails on the Reading
railroad.
English, 4 1-10 per cent per annum.
American, 1 4-10 per cent per annum.
Difference in favor of the American, 2 7-10 per cent; or, otherwise stated, the cost of
repairing these rails per annum, (considering the damaged iron taken out as worth half
as much as the new iron put on the track,)will be as follows :
Repairing English iron, per ton, per yard..........................................................
82 cts.
Do.
American, “
“
“
28 “
Difference in favor o f American rails......................
54 cts.
In addition to this, we must make a proper allowance for the labor of replacing the
bars, and for the greater wear of machinery running over constantly failing rails, items
which will increase the advantage of the good iron at least 50 per cent on the 82 cents
per ton per annum, and correspondingly enhance the advantage resulting from the em­
ployment of American rails. Thus it would seem that the dividend-paying capacity
of a railroad is the same with English iron at $40 a ton, as with American iron at
$53$ per ton ; or, in other words, it gives American iron an advantage of $13J per ton
in quality; and any process of legislation that would favor the employment of Amer­
ican rails instead of the English, though it might add to the first cost of the road,
would not increase but diminish its permanent expenditures.
OBSERVER.

RAILROAD CARS WITHOUT DUST,
The only misery o f railroad traveling in a dry time is the dust and cinders, but
a Yankee is about to do away with that annoyance. He has hit upon a mode of ven­
tilation and has constructed a passenger car that is entirely free from dust and cin­
ders, be the day dry, hot, windy, or dusty as may be. The car has been tested on the
Vermont Central Railroad, and the success of the experiment was most triumphant. A
long drouth had prevailed, and the road was as dusty as it well could be. The day
was hot, and a correspondent of the Boston Atlas who rode in the car from Northfield
to the Junction, says:
“ Not only was the car kept perfectly free from dust and cinders, but there was a
constant current of air circulating through it all the while, ventilating and cooling it
in the most thorough manner. While all the other cars were uncomfortably hot and
dusty, ours continued the whole way most comfortably the reverse, in both respects.
This great invention, which should be adopted on every railroad in the country, and
for the discovery of which its inventor will deserve the thanks of every railroad travel­
er, is as simple as its success has been apparent. The air is forced into the car from the
top, through boxes so adjusted that the motion of the car drives in a strong current.
This is protected from dust and cinders by a network of fine wire. The windows of
the car are made to admit light, but not air, and are not to be opened. A ll the air ad­
mitted must be from above, and through the network, and it passes out again through




* A celebrated brand.

110

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

blinds on tbe sides of the ears, so arranged that their motion may not resist its free pas­
sage. The inventor of this valuable improvement is Mr. Hovey of New York city;
and, so far as we can judge from the experiment we witnessed, the success of his in vention was most triumphantly demonstrated. It is no exaggeration to say, that on
one o f the most trying days of the season there was not even the smallest annoyance
from the dust.
The change from this most comfortable and well ventilated car, to those in common
use, was even greater than supposed possible. The rest of our journey was performed
with open-windowed cars, admitting clouds of hot dust, smoke and cinders, and at its
end we were hardly recognizable, we were so thoroughly covered. Mr. H. has our
most hearty good wishes and prayers that he may succeed in introducing his inven­
tion upon every line of railroad in the country.

WHAT RAILROADS MUST ACCOMPLISH.
“ Were the railroad trains to keep moving nights and Sundays,” says tbe Com­
monwealth, “ very few but laboring people would reside in the city, and by no
means all of them.” One great advantage that must eventually result from rail­
roads will be the dispersion of the laboring classes o f the city among our rural
villages and towns. Country life must not long remain the exclusive luxury o f
the rich, who pursue their business “ in town.” The men of small means, mecha­
nics and even day laborers, will find that they can remove their families ten or
twenty miles into the country, and have their little vegetable gardens, their fruit
trees, their cows, pigs and poultry, their pure air, with healthy rustic employments
for their children, and the adjoining forest for a holiday ramble. What a bless­
ed change, physically and morally, for the families now packed in the cellars or gar­
rets of old houses, in filthy alleys, where the breezes of heaven cannot pass without
contamination, and where the roses on childhood’s cheeks are withered before they
can bloom 1
Every year or two we hear of the departure of some rich man, who leaves princely
bequests to some institution, perhaps already liberally endowed, or who sends his mo­
ney to convert the heathen in distant lands. As soon as we have fifty thousand dol­
lars to give away, we will dispose of it, not in bequests of doubtful utility to take effect
after “ the pitcher is broken at the fountain,” but we will purchase a liberal tract of
land, withiu a radius of twenty miles of Boston, and there create a village for day-la­
borers, who procure their daily employment in the city. They could live as economi­
cally as they now do, in spite of the additional charge of a passage to and fro in the
cars. They and their children would soon acquire a taste for country life and agricul­
tural pursuits. I f they are Irish and Catholics, they shall have a church and a priest,
and a burial ground, (for which they will not have as much use as now,) and this last
shall be in a wood remote from their habitation— Bishop Fitzpatrick approving, of
course. W e have reached the end of our page, and our day-dream shall terminate
with it.

AMERICAN VS, ENGLISH RAILROADS.
“ The American people number 23,000,000 of souls, to whom, besides the natural
yearly native increment, an addition is made by emigration of between 400,000 to
500,000 settlers, mostly in the prime of life, and many with hard cash in their pockets.
Wages are in the States so high, and the whole population so well off, that they can
afford to spend money in traveling more universally and to a greater extent, than the
inhabitants of any other country. Intensely migratory, and proverbially locomotive
themselves, the annual influx of strangers and emigrants passing on to their settlement,
or traveling through the country, fill every medium of conveyance to every quarter,
and to overflowing. Wood is to be had everywhere for the cutting. Irish navigators
present themselves on the arrival of every ship. Land may be had for nothing— pre­
miums even offered to railway projectors by proprietors to carry their lines through
their properties. There are no lawyers and jobbers to run up enormous bills in Par­
liamentary contests. Economy is uniformly consulted— cheapness always commend­
ed. The result, reluctantly acknowledged, and hastily slurred over, by our stags, our
capitalists, and the common jackalls of the press, is neither more nor less than this
Twenty-eight millions of British have 7,000 miles of railway, and 24,000,000 of Yan­
kees have 10,000. The English paid £250,000,000 for their 7,000 miles, while the
Americans constructed and furnished 10,000 miles for £66,654,000. In a word, British




Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

Ill

railways cost £35,100 per mile, and Yankee railways average £6,500, or little more
than one-sixth of the cost of our own. It is obvious from these data, that if the Lon­
don and North-western can afford to divide 5% per cent, the line from New York to
Albany or Buffalo should yield 33 per cent; and it may, on the most assured evidence,
be with great safety concluded, that the account contained in our last, of American di­
vidends ranging from 6, 8, and 10 to 15, and even 19 per cent, scarcely comes up to
the most moderate estimate of the probabilities of the case.— London Despatch.

THE NEW HAMBURG TUNNEL ON THE HUDSON RIVER RAILROAD,
The following is a description by the Engineer who superintended the work of the
principal tunnel on the Hudson River Railroad. It will interest the engineering
fraternity generally, as well as others in this State who are agitating the question of
the cost of the Hoosac Tunnel, on the Troy and Greenfield line :—
S ir
A t the request o f the President I furnish you below all the information I can
draw together during the short interval before the departure o f the mail.

The tunnel at New Hamburg is approached on both sides by such heavy rock
cutting as rendered it necessary to commence operations through shafts.
Firstly.— The tunnel is 836 feet long.
Secondly.— The area of the tunnel is 15,603 cubic yards, (15,603-1,000) per lineal
foot. The specification herein quoted gives the outline. Grading for a double track.
The tunnel to be twenty-four feet wide at the grade line, eighteen feet high at the center,
seventeen feet high at a distance of five and a half feet each side of the center, (these
points being nearly perpendicular to the center of the smoke pipe of the locomotive,)
and ten feet high at the springing points of the arch, distant twelve feet each side of
the center. The bottom to be excavated one foot below grade for ballast to imbed the
sleepers, and also side drains two feet below grade. The roof is a curve of three
centers.
Thirdly.— The total time occupied from the removal of the first cubic yard to its
completion was sixteen months. The excavation was commenced and carried north
and south in the first shaft, during September, 1848. The excavation was commenced
and carried both ways in the second shaft in December of the same year. North end
of the tunnel commenced early in February, 1849. South end commenced middle of
June, 1849. From the middle of June to December 27th, 1849, the time of comple­
tion, workmen were employed on an average of four faces. The drifts, ten feet by six
feet nearly, at the top center of the tunnel, were driven day and night from the very
commencement until their completion in October, 1849.
Fourthly.— The cost of excavation of 13,011 cubic yards o f rock, embracing the
tunnel proper, was 84,249-1,000 or nearly 84 25 per cubic yard. Also 6,000 cubic
yards hoisted through shafts at 76 cents— 14,500. Also 608 cubic yards of shaft
excavation, at 85 00— $3,040 ; all of which included, made the cost about $4 51 per
cubic yard.
Fifthly.— There were two shafts, one forty-five feet, the other thirty-five feet in
depth from the natural surface to the top center of the arch. Distance between the
tw o shafts 245 feet. The work, though expedited by more than half, was increased
in its cost by the use of shafts. 1st.— From the fact that all the material thus ex­
cavated was hoisted. 2d.— By the removal of 2,000 to 2,500 gallons of water per day,
during the greater portion of the spring and autumn months, and perhaps half that
quantity during the remaining seasons from each shaft. 3d.— The necessity for
pumping fresh air to remove the smoke from the blasts and to displace carbonic acid
gas, which would have rendered the shafts otherwise untenantable. 4th.— Lights, and
higher wages, and time lost in ascending and descending.
The rock was throughout a compact limestone of different degrees of purity, free
from seams or layers of earth, so much so that every inch was made by blasting. The
contour laid down in the specifications was carefully observed by the workmen, and
the tunnel is beyond all question safe in every part.
I would remark in addition, that had the tunnel been worked only from the extrem­
ities, and the time for its completion (prolonged for more than another year, the
excavations might have been made for $4 per cubic yard, yielding to the contractor
nothing more than a fair profit.
Very respectfully, youV obedient servant,




THOMAS C. MEYER, Civil Engineer.

112

,

,

Railroad Canal and Steamboat Statistics

.

INCREASE OF OCEAN STEAMSHIP LINES.
The vast field of enterprise opened by the expansion of steam navigation, cannot fail
to produce a sensation of astonishment in the minds of most individuals; and to casual
and inexperienced observers of passing events, the rapid strides made under the direc­
tion of those who have encouraged the movement, must appear to be associated with
that indomitable attempt to extend the links in the grand chain of communication, so
as to embrace the whole of the civilized world within the range of what may be
described as our every day occupations. The circumstance that a contract has just
been concluded with the General Screw Steam Company, for a monthly communication
with the Cape of Good Hope, and also the rapid progress making by the Royal West
India Mail Company to complete their arrangements for starting the Brazilian line in
the early part of the ensuing year, has given the subject a fresh interest in a public
point of view, and affords us the opportunity of a few passing observations.
To look back at the period when the power of steam was first applied to navigation,
or to trace its course in connection with the facilities it has afforded in channel convey­
ance or continental communication, is a task we need not impose upon ourselves. The
history of the last half century is sufficient to record its achievements, and to show
incontestably the advantages which have resulted from its employment. What is now
simply proposed to be done is, to inquire how far, and in what manner, our colonial
possessions or distant points o f intercourse have been, or are likely to be, supplied with
this means of connection between themselves and the parent country, or such countries
whose connection it may be considered desirable to cultivate.
It is certainly within the last fifteen years that fleets of steamers— the property of
individual companies, supported by government contracts for performance of mail
service— have covered our seas. Taking these in the order in which their importance
gives them rank, we must first name the Peninsular and Oriental; secondly, the Royal
West India Mail Company, thirdly, the Cunard, Halifax and Boston Company; and,
fourthly, the General Screw Company. The General Steam Company, although hold­
ing a very prominent position, is more closely allied with the trade of the continent and
the north of Europe, and does not, therefore come immediately within the scope of
our notice. By the Peninsular and Oriental Company, the whole of the Indian route,
exclusive of its Spanish and Portuguese junctions, is supplied; and from Malta, through
the whole course of the voyage, even to Hong Kong, the lengthy arterial line of com­
munication has been kept up with undeviating punctuality. The Royal Mail Steam
Company has, probably, scarcely proved so fortunate in the performance of the public
service assigned it. The West India line has, from time to time, failed; and the Mex­
ican mails have, through difficulties which could not be well avoided, frequently missed,
or have been anticipated. These errors have, at length, been rectified, and there is now
the promise o f the West India and the Mexican routes being established at once, on a
perfect and punctual footing. The experiment of the Brazilian line is one of no ordi­
nary character. That it may prove successful, all who are interested in the trade of
Rio, Bahia, Pernambuco and Buenos Ayres, evidently strongly w ish; since it is now
alone these places that the old government packets are allowed to monopolize, much
to the inconvenience of business intercommunication. Of the importance of as speedily
as possible effecting a steam route to the Cape there can be no question. The powerful
passive resistance to the introduction of the convict system, by the settlers, has possibly
prompted Sir Harry Smith to lay representations before the government respecting
it. Whatever may have been the conclusions arrived at in this matter, it is self-evi­
dent that, if the great chain is to be carried out with proper consideration to the wants
o f the mercantile community, this colony could not be omitted.
That intercommunication exists in the closest possible relationship between England
and America, none will have the temerity to dispute. The Cunard Company satisfac­
torily establish the degree of connection between Liverpool and the ports on the sea­
board of the United States. Already the laurelo this company have gained are to be
disputed by the American company known as Collins’ line, the trips of whose vessels
show a spirit of competition which will at least produce vigilance and exertion, so as
to ensure in each case regularity and dispatch. Who shall profess to contemn the
spirit of Anglo-Saxon enterprise and adventure, when it is discovered that by this
means the position of two great nations, divided by the broad Atlantic, is recognized
at the expiration of little less than a fortnight. The extension o f steam navigation,
both by England and America, is one o f the grqat wonders o f the age. The same
mighty agent which, through the assistance of the rail, conveys to the remotest inland
localities, with unparalleled celerity, the impressionable circumstances o f the hour,




Railroad, Canal, arid Steamboat Statistics.

113

carries alike, with proportionate punctuality, similar intelligence over the rough paths
o f the ocean, wherever encompassing the known habitable world.
The supply of steam communication to the Cape of Good Hope and the Brazils,
leaves only unprovided a group of settlements which, as far as the complete absence
of all such connection is concerned, renders it absolutely necessary that further delay
should not be permitted. The Australian colonies deserve, and ought to be permitted
to enjoy, this privilege. They stand in a progressive condition, as recent parliamentary
statistics will clearly establish. The increase of population, according to an analysis of
the document referred to, appears to be, in the last ten years, as follows: New South
Wales, 93 per cent; Van Diemen’s Land, 59 per cent; South Australia, 286 percent;
and Western Australia, 107 per cent. A s regards the entire population of these colo­
nies, it may be stated that the progress has been from 170,676 souls in 1839, to 333,764:
in 1848, exhibiting an augmentation of 163,088, or at the rate of 954 per cent. The
balance of trade in 1848 was in favor of Australia, the imports being £2,578,442, and
the exports £2,854,315, while the total tonnage inwards and outwards was 694,904 tons.
Facts such as these are appreciable by the meanest comprehension. It cannot be
said that the large and growing interest of the wool trade of New South Wales, does
not merit the facilities sought to be obtained, or that the mining prosperity of South
Australia, and the Indian trade of Western Australia, fail to require the various bene­
fits that would inevitably spring therefrom. The question of route may be one which
may have aided in deferring temporarily the practical accomplishment of the underta­
king ; but this should not be allowed to interfere to the extent it has, when it is so
clearly to be perceived what results must follow.
India, connected from port to port by her fleet of steamers; the West Indies, in
every respectfully accommodated, even in conjunction with Mexico; England and
America, hand in hand, as it were, through the medium of her hebdomadal mails; the
Brazils and the Cape of Good Hope afforded ample room for their communication,
Australia will, when suffered, join the throng, forming the complete bond of union cre­
ated and nurtured by this fostering power. Whatever revolutions in our commercial
career may succeed these changes—-promoted, as they must sooner or later be, by the
other branches o f communication in the Atlantic and Pacific— there is little fear of their
not warranting the experiments that have been attempted in our own period.— London,
Skipping Gazette.

CANAL BUSINESS AT TOLEDO,
The canal movements to and from Toledo for the past season exhibit a gratifying
increase over those of 1850.
The account is made up to 10th November of each year. Reduced to ton3 the
amount will be nearly as follows:—
1850................

184,000 | 1851.................

250,000 | Increase...........

66,000

tons, being over 86 per cent. The Miami Canal, connecting Cincinnati and Toledo
encountered this season a new rival, for river and lake exchanges, in the Cleveland
Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad. The canal has vindicated its power, by holding
its own, against both the railroads connecting Cincinnati with Lake Erie at Cleveland
and Sandusky city. When the latter road (Mad River,) shall be re-laid with a T rail,
the tolls on the canal will have to be reduced, for many articles, to enable it to
compete successfully with that road.

STEAMERS BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND SOUTH AMERICA.
A company has been formed for the purpose o f establishing a line of steamers from
this port to Rio in the first instance. Three screw steam-ships, o f from 1500 to 1700
tons, and 300 horse-power each, and with an average speed o f ten knots per hour, are
to be built as a beginning. There are to be branch steamers on the river Plate. The
boats will call at Lisbon for passengers and fuel, and the departures will be monthly.
It is calculated that the whole distance will be run in thirty-five days, including the
detention at Rio, which will be reached in twenty-five days. The first steamer is to be
dispatched on the 21st of June, and to arrive at Rio on the 16th of July, leaving that
port on the 31st, and reaching Liverpool again on the 25th of August, 1852.
°
V O L. X X V I.-----NO. I .




8

114

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

A RAILROAD IN AFRICA.
One of the most interesting facts in relation to the onward course of things which
characterizes the present age is, that the Viceroy of Egypt has sanctioned the project
of a railroad from Alexandria to the Isthmus of Suez, by the way of Cairo. It is said
that the Viceroy is able at any time to place a hundred thousand Arabs at work on
the proposed route, and, as he is a very enterprising monarch, it is supposed that he
will not suffer the improvement to languish. The spirit of progress was never so ac­
tive as it is at present. Every nation in Europe is exhibiting striking evidences of this
fact. Even the Sultan of Turkey has roused himself from the long dream in which his
government has indulged, and is now busily engaged in introducing reforms from other
nations in Europe. The hoary old despotisms of Asia must also renounce their torpor
and decrepitude, be rejuvenated and enter on the grand career of improvement. Rail­
ways and telegraphic lines will hereafter pierce the solitudes of Oriental despotism, and
open up highways for. the exchange of the products of mind as well as of manufactures
and agriculture.

JOURNAL OF M IN IN G AND M ANUFACTURES.

THE CULTIVATION OF BASKET WILLOW IN THE UNITED STATES,
W e cheerfully give place to the subjoined letter of Mr. W atson G. H aynes , weU
known throughout the country for his untiring devotion to the cause of improving the
condition of seamen, and especially for his successful efforts to abolish the use of the
lash in the United States Navy. Having devoted several years to the accomplishment
o f these benevolent objects, with no other resources' than a stout heart and a strong
will, Mr. Haynes has now turned his attention to the production of an article that
promises not only to benefit the country, but afford him a pecuniary competency.
F reeman H unt, Esq., Editor Merchants' Magazine :—
D ear S ir :— Knowing something of your knowledge of the commercial affairs of the

world, and o f your desire to lay before your readers information calculated to benefit
them, I have taken the liberty of addressing to you a few remarks touching the growth
and cultivation of the Ozier , or B asket W illow .
From the best information I can obtain, there are from four to five million of dollars’
worth of willow annually imported into this country from France and Germany. The
price ranges from $100 to $130 per ton weight—the quantity imported may appear
large, and yet it is not sufficient for the consumption. In view of this importation, and
the large sums expended for willow, would it not be well for some of your wealthy
readers and landholders to give a little attention to this subject. Loudon, in his Ar­
boretum, (vol. 3.) gives an account and description of one hundred and eighty-three
varieties of this plant. Knowing nothing of botany, I wiU confine myself exclusively to
the three kinds best adapted for basket making, farming, tanning and fencing.
The Salix Viminalis is that specimen of all others best calculated for basket-makers.
An acre of this properly planted and cultivated upon suitable soil, will yield at least
two tons weight per year, costing about $35 per ton for cultivating and preparing for
market.
This kind of willow, grown in this country, and sent to market free from bruises,
breaks and mildew, will at all times command the highest price.
The importers (quite naturally) discountenance the idea of attempting the cultiva­
tion in this country, alleging as a reason that the flies wiU seriously damage the crop,
and that labor is so high, it will never pay. To this I have to say, that I have growing
as good a quality of willow as grown in any part of the w orld; that from two acres
cut last year, the proceeds, clear of all expense, was the snug little sum of $333 75;
and if any person requires stronger proof than this of the feasibility of growing wil­
low profitably in this country, I can refer them to John Bevridge, Esq., of Newburg,
N. Y., and Dr. Charles W. Grant, M. D., of the same place, a practical botanist, and
thoroughgoing horticulturist, who has given much time and attention to this subject,
and has the best and greatest variety of willow, and the largest quantity planted, of
any one in the United States. A ll his stock is imported, and in fine condition for pro­
pagating.




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

115

The people of England, like us at present, until the year 1808, relied entirely for
their supply upon continental Europe. Their supply was cut off by the breaking out
o f the war between Great Britain and France, so that after that date they were com­
pelled to rely upon their own crops, and many associations in England offered large
premiums on the best productions of willow.
The late Duke of Bedford, one of the best farmers and horticulturists o f that day,
gave much attention to the subject, which is rigorously prosecuted by his son, the pre­
sent Duke, and brother to Lord John Russell. His grace had one specimen which is
extensively planted in and about the Park at Wooburn Abbey, Wooburn, Bedfordshire.
In England this plant is highly prised for its beauty, rapidity of growth, out-growing
all other trees, and giving a fine shade in two or three years. This is the Salix Alba,
or Bedford Willow. The bark is held in high estimation for tanning; the wood for
shoe-makers’ lasts, boot-trees, cutting-boards, gun and pistol stocks, and house timber.
The wood being fine-grained and susceptible of as fine a polish as rosewood or maho­
gany. An acre o f this kind of wood, ten year's old, has sold in England for £155.
The next species is the Huntingdon Willow, or Salix Capua, which is also a good
basket willow, and is used extensively in England for hoop poles and fencing by the
farmers. Their manner of planting when for fencing, is by placing the ends of the
cuttings in the ground, and then working them into a kind of trelis-work, and passing a
willow withe around the tops or ends, so as to keep in shape for the first two years.
They then cut the tops off yearly and sell them to the basket-makers; thus having a
fence and crop from the same ground.
Another description of fence is also made from the salix eapua, known in England
'by the name of hurdle fences, which may be removed at the pleasure or discretion of
the proprietor.
The salix alba is extensively used by retired tradesmen who build in the country,
for the purpose of securing shade in a short time, and by the nobility around their fish
ponds and mill dams, and along their water courses and avenues. This is the princi­
pal wood used in the manufacture of gunpowder in England. It has also been assert­
ed by several English noblemen that their fish succeeded much better in ponds sur­
rounded by willow (salix alba) than in waters where other trees were contiguous.
The price of cuttings in England are as follows:— 1 year old, £ 1 ; 2 years old, £ 2 ;
3 years old, £ 4 ; 4 years old, £5 10s; 5 years old, £6 10s. For any kind of willow it
requires about 12,000 cuttings to plant one acre; cuttings 3 years old will pay an in­
terest the year after planting of about 25 percent. The second year of at least 50,
and by the fourth year the crop ought to yield about 1-J tons.
Capitalists are generally contented with an interest of 10 per cent per annum, while
here is a business which will pay at least ten times that amount.
There are hundreds of thousands of acres o f land at present in this country, not pay­
ing 2£ per cent per annum, which might be planted with willow, and would yield an
immense profit
The facts stated by me are open to all who may think proper to investigate. W e
send clocks, corn, flour, shoes and broom corn to England, and I can see no reason why
we can’t send willow there. I am fully convinced that willow may be grown profita­
bly in this country at $50 per ton weight. It may be asked and wondered why I do
not go extensively into this business myself. The question is easily answered. I have
not the capital, but am getting into it as fast as my limited means will permit. If I
had the means I would purchase lands and plant thousands of acres of w illow ; and
find a ready market for it. In conclusion, I have to say, that I have no cuttings for
sale myself, but that I will cheerfully give any reasonable explanation to any inquiries
by letter, post paid. I am, dear sir, very respectfully,
WILSON G. HAYNES.
Garrison’ s L anding, Putnam Co. N. Y., Dec. 4, 1851.

051 THE CULTURE OF FLAX.
A Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, appointed to procure information
concerning the culture of flax and the probability o f its substitution for cotton in the
manufacture of its cheap fabrics, report that there is no doubt that the plant can be
raised abundantly in every State in the Union under proper tillage, without exhaust­
ing the soil,; ana that it is but reasonable to conclude, from recent developments,
that flax may soon be adopted to a considerable extent, as a substitute for cotton,
in the manufacture of the class of fabrics referred to. It is affirmed that not less
than 46,000 acres of land in the State of Hew York were sown with flax in 1849.




116

Journal of M ining and Manufactures.

MANUFACTURE OF BEET-ROOT SUGAR IN IRELAND.
The subject of cultivating the Beet-root, with a view to the manufacture of Sugar,
is now engrossing a good deal of public attention. Ireland is said, by Mr. Sullivan,
the chemist to the Museum of Irish industry in Dublin, to possess great capabilities
for the production of Beet-root in large quantities, and of very superior qualities— the
Irish root possessing at least as much saccharine matter as that of France or Germany.
The statistics of beet-root sugar are very curious and instructive. In 1841, the pro­
duction of this article in Europe was estimated at 55,000 tons; in 1841, it was said to
be 100,000 tons, and in 1850, it is calculated to be 190,000 tons. The manufacture is
said to be rapidly increasing, and realizing a great profit to those who are engaged in
it. W e see no reason why it should not be prosecuted as favorably in Ireland as in
Russia, Prussia, Belgium and France, the countries at present most largely engaged in
its production.

FLAX COTTON.
F reeman H unt, E sq., Editor o f the Merchants’ Magazine, etc:—

This valuable vegetable fiber is at the present moment attracting much attention
on account of many advantages to be derived from its capability of being spun upon
cotton, wool and silk, and Chevalier Claussen’s patent for converting flax into flaxen
cotton, bids fair to create a new era in this branch of domestic industry.
The flax or linen crops offers great advantages to the farmer, who will ere long
make a good use of them; the flax or linen fiber, by the new process, may be pulled
when quite ripe and yellow, so as to allow the seed to be recovered, which can be em­
ployed either for planting again or for obtaining the linseed oil and linseed cake; the
straw may, within three hours after being gathered, be converted into the proper ma­
terial for linen manufactures ; its long fiber may then be scutched and adapted for
spinning on cotton machinery. Yarn may be spun on cotton machinery either alone
or mixed in various proportions with the Southern cotton, whereby it receives the
name of Flax Cotton ; or it may be mixed with wool in all proportions, and is then
called Flax Wool, from which flannels, fine cloth, dyed in various colors, may be
obtained. If the flax fibre is mixed with silk, it is called Flax Silk, and a yarn may
be obtained from it. A ll these applications deserve the serious attention of the agri­
culturist and manufacturer as well as the merchant.
The annual imports into the United States of linen manufactures is about §6,000,000
Flaxseed from Calcutta and Russia,.............................................................. 1,000,000
Linseed oil, from England and Holland.......................................................
1,600,000
The soil in this country is very apt to grow the flax, and of better quality than in
Europe. The manufactured products of the flax are to the farmer and manufacturer
equally profitable, and enhance as much the value over the raw material as the raw
cotton does to its fabrics ; nay, more, linen can be obtained at a much less price from
the flax than cotton goods from the raw material. The flax cotton is prepared with
but a trifling expense, and made as white, soft and fine as any cotton, in fact of a richer
and more glossy silk-like appearance, which can be spun into very fine yarns, as
cheaply as cotton; now, if we consider the price, it is decidedly in favor of linen or
flax; it does not exceed seven cents per pound when manufactured; white cotton
leaves no margin at this price to the planter or manufacturer. It is well known that
the seed of the flax is a profitable branch of husbandry; a few years ago I purchased
the seed in Cincinnati for 50 cents a bushel; one bushel of seed will yield two gallons
o f linseed oil; at the present rate of foreign linseed oil, 6S cents per gallon would
yield a profit of 32 cents for each bushel, independent of the linseed cake, which is
worth nearly 25 cents to the bushel of seed.
The states of Hew York, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa are now making efforts
to produce flax, and save the seed, and from all indications flax will become as impor­
tant a staple to the Northern and Western states as the cotton is to the Southern
states; less liable to such fluctuations in price than cotton. Having been present in
the new establishment at Stepney Green, London, and passed personally the raw flax
through all its stages from the straw to the flax cotton, and brought with me the sam­
ples of each process, I can speak advisedly on the subject, and feel satisfied that the
process patented by the Chevalier Claussen is the simplest, best and most expeditious,
and superior to any other existing; it is called the chemical process, for the reason
that a chemical action is required to split the fiber, which is accomplished by the ac-




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

117

tion of an alkali, and afterwards of a weak acid solution. The old process required at
least three days for steeping the flax fiber in hot water at a temperature of 90 degrees,
while Claussen’s requires but three hours boiling, makes less waste, and even that is
as useful as the fiber itself, and suitable for bleaching and producing the flax-cotton,
or it may be worked as paper material. I have spoken hitherto of the long flax, wiiich
is mostly used as the material for spinning, &c. ; but the flax tow which is intended to
be converted into the flax cotton, and of which two tons may be prepared and bleach­
ed daily, is the most important staple, deserving the attention of the manufacturer, and
will no doubt receive it, whenever the superior advantages are generally and properly
appreciated. Scotland paid £25,000 for Claussen’s patent, and a bounty per ton, and
England reserved the patent for an association for a much larger sum.

INDUSTRIAL AND OTHER STATISTICS OF MANCHESTER,
The annual report of Captain Willis, the Chief Constable o f Manchester (England)
has just been published, containing, as usual, some elaborate and useful tables, which,
besides showing the activity of the police, give a good idea of the progress of the bo­
rough in population, in material wealth and resources. By this return it appears that
the population has risen from 235,507 in 1841 to 303,358 in 1851; and the gross num­
ber of habitable houses has increased from 44,462 to 53,697. One happy feature o f
this part of the return is that the inhabitants living in cellars have diminished from
22,924 in 1841 to 20,399 in 1851. The total annual value of the property has in­
creased in the same period from £841,664 to £1,204,241. The gross number of all
buildings is now 58,385, of which 103 are cotton mills, 7 silk mills, 3 worsted mills, 18
smallware mills, 7 print works, 35 dye works, 15 hat manufactories, 49 machinists, 38
foundries, 4 lead works, 3 paper works, 27 saw mills, 11 corn mills, 775 workshops.
1619 warehouses, 6262 shops, 109 places of worship, 413 public and private schools,
12 banks, 10 markets, 2 theatres, 7 railway stations, 3 public washhouses, 8 infirma­
ries and hospitals, 14 public institutions, 33 public buildings, 53 livery stables, 176
breweries, 121 slaughter houses, and 511 buildings used as offices. The total new build­
ings within the last year were 1556— comprising two cotton mills, 4 saw mills, 21
workshops, 11 warehouses, 1358 dwellings, 118 shops, 8 churches and chapels, 1 bath
^nd washhouse, 3 breweries, and 2 schools. The total number of reputed thieves re­
siding in the borough within the knowledge of the police is 305, and 267 persons known
occasionally to steal. Houses where thieves resort 234; houses for the reception of
stolen property, 141.

A LOCOMOTIVE ESTABLISHMENT IN VIRGINIA,
Messrs. Smith and Perkins, of Alexandria, Virginia, have, as we learn from the
American Railroad Journal, commenced the manufacture of locomotives upon a
pretty extended scale. They now employ about one hundred and fifty hands, and are
now manufacturing at the rate of about twenty locomotives a year. Mr. Perkinswas
for many years superintendent of machinery and repairs upon the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad ; and has long enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most skillful and
practical mechanics in the country. There is probably no person among us better ca­
pable of constructing a good engine, or a better judge of work. The above establish­
ment is now engaged in filling orders for the Orange and Alexandria and the Manasses
Gap Railroads, terminating in Alexandria.
The above establishment is one of the beneficial results of the railroad movement
in Virginia. But for railroads in that State, it never would have existed. The rail­
road is the pioneer, and where they are constructed a thousand branches of industry
follow in their train. They create a demand for labor to construct and maintain them,
and, by opening up a market to every article of use or consumption, stimulate every
kind of industry. As the South is behind the North in the manufacturing establish­
ments, we hope to see them give a liberal patronage to their own works, a course:
which will be of mutual benefit to all parties.

CULTIVATION OF FLAX IN THE SOUTH OF IRELAND,
The annual flax sowing of Ulster averages 50,000 acres. For the rest of Ireland it
is but 4,000. Supposing each of the other provinces to cultivate flax as extensively
as Ulster, the value of the crop for Ireland, would, it is estimated, be £4,500,000.




118

Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

JEW CLOTH MEASURING MACHINE.
A t a recent meeting of the English Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr. Joseph Whit­
worth, of Manchester, exhibited a new measuring machine, for determining minute
differences of length. The accuracy of the machine was demonstrated by placing in
it a standard yard measure, made of a bar of steel, about three-quarters of an inch
square, having both the ends rendered perfectly true. One end of the bar was then
placed in contact with the face of the machine, and at the other end, between it and
the other face of the machine, was interposed a small flat piece of steel, termed by
the experimenter, “ the contact piece,” whose sides were also rendered perfectly true
and parallel. Each division on the micrometer represented the one millionth part of
an inch, and each time the micrometer was moved only one division forward, the exerimenter raise'd the contact piece, allowing it to descend across the end of the bar
y its own gravity only. This was repeated until the closer approximation of the
surfaces prevented the contact piece from descending, when the measure was com­
pleted, and the number on the micrometer represented the dead length of the standard
bar to one-millionth part of an inch. Eight repetitions of the experiment, in a quarter
o f an hour produced identical results; there not being in any case a variation of onemillionth of an inch.

E

THE USES OF INDIA RUBBER.
Da. J. V. E. S mith, the editor of the Boston Medical Journal, who has just returned
from an extensive journey in the East, states that in those tropical regions where it
was necessary to transport water, he found that river water placed in an India rubber
bag, and securely corked, remained at the end of six weeks, perfectly sweet and good,
while water carried in the whole skin of an animal, as is the custom in that country,
became excessively offensive in the desert in a few days, besides assuming the color of
a pale decoction of coffee. In wooden casks, another method adopted by travelers,
the changes wrought on the water are analogous to those observed in water tanks at
sea. The writer does not decide whether the preservation of the water is due to the
utter exclusion o f air, or to the influence exerted upon it by the material itself. The
fact is one of much importance to travelers in tropical countries, where the supply of
this important element it is frequently necessary to transport through great distance.

MANUFACTURE OF GLASS PEARLS.
Glass pearls, though among the most beautiful, inexpensive, and common ornaments
for women now made, are produced by a very singular process. In 1656, about 200
years ago, a Yenetian, named Jaquin, discovered that the scales of a species of fish,
called the bleak-fish, possessed the property of communicating a pearly hue to water.
He found, by experiment, that beads dipped in this water, assumed, when dried, the
appearance of pearls. It proved, however, that the pearly coating, when placed out­
side, was easily rubbed off, and the next improvement was to make the beads hollow.
The making o f these beads is carried on even to this day in Venice. The beads are
all blown separately. By means of a small tube, the insides are delicately coated with
the pearly liquid, and a wax coating is placed over that. It requires the scales of
four thousand fishes to produce half a pint of the liquid, to which small quantities of
sal ammouia and isinglass are afterwards added.

ECONOMY OF TOBACCO SMOKING.
Mr. Robert Ellis, surgeon, the principal editor of the official catalogue of the Exhi­
bition, has the following remark, (vol. 1, page 180,) which must gladden the hearts of
our smoke-raising b r e t h r e n T h e total quantity of tobacco retained for home con­
sumption,in 1848, amounted to nearly 17,000,000 lbs. North America alone produces
annually upwards of 200,000,000 lbs. The combustion of this mass of vegetable mate­
rial would yield about 340,000,000 lbs. of carbonic acid gas; so that the yearly increase
o f carbonic acid gas from tobacco-smoking alone cannot be less than 1,000,000,000 lbs.,
a large contribution to the annnal oemand for this gas made upon the atmosphere, for
the vegetation of the world. Henceforth let no one twit the smoker with idleness
and unimportance. Every pipe is an agricultural furnace— every smoker a manufac­
turer of vegetation, the consumer of a weed that he may rear more largely his own
provisions.




Journal o f M ining and Manufactures.

119

PROGRESS OF BRITISH MANUFACTURES.
The increase of manufacturing industry in Great Britain in sixty years, is shown by
the following table of the raw materials (in pounds) used in that kingdom:—
W ool.

In 1790 .............. 3,245,352
In 1849 .............. 76,756,173
Increase in 60 years 73,488,821

Silk.

Hemp.

Flax.

Cotton.

1,253,445
592,306
257,222
30,574,374
6,881,861 1,061,273 1,806,786 758,841,650
5,628,416
468,967 1,548,664 728,267,276

STATISTICS OF THE MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES.
The subjoined summary of the manufacturing industry of the United States is de­
rived from the report of Mr. Kennedy, the Superintendent of the Census, at Washing­
ton. The statistics of population will be found under their appropriate department, in
another part of the present number of the Merchants' Magazine : —
The period which has elapsed since the receipt of the returns has been so short as
to enable the office to make but a general report of the facts relating to a few of the
most important manufactures.
I f in some instances the amount of “ capital invested ” in any branch of manufac­
ture should seem too small, it must be borne in mind, that when the pruduct is of
several kinds, the capital invested, not being divisible, is connected with the product of
greatest consequence. This, to some extent, reduces the capital invested in the manu­
facture of bar iron in such establishments where some other article of wrought iron
predominates— sheet iron, for example.
The aggregate, however, of the capital invested in the various branches of wrought
iron will, it is confidently believed, be found correct.
The entire capital invested in the various manufactures in the United States on the
1st of June, 1850, not to include any establishments producing less than the annual
value of $500, amounted, in round numbers, t o ....................................
$530,000,000
Value of raw material...............................................................................
550,000,000
Amount paid for labor...............................................................................
240,000,000
Value of manufactured articles.................................................................
1,020,300,000
Number of persons employed...................................................................
1,050,000
The capital invested in the manufacture of cotton goods amounted to .
Value of raw material................................................................................
Amount paid for la b or..............................................................................
Value of manufactured articles...............................................................
Number of hands employed......................................................................

74,501,031
84,835,056
16,286,304
61,869,184
92,286

The capital invested in the manufacture of woolen goods amounted to
Value of raw material,...............................................................................
Amount paid for labor...............................................................................
Value of product........................................................................................
Number of hands employed......................................................................

28,118,650
25,755,988
8,399,280
43,207,555
39,252

The capital invested in the manufacture of pig iron amounted to.... .
Value of raw material...............................................................................
Amount paid for labor..............................................................................
Value of product.........................................................................................
Number of hands employed.....................................................................

17,346,425
7,005,289
5,066,628
12,748,777
20,448

In making these estimates, the Assistant Marshals did not include any return of
works which had not produced metal within the year, or those which had not com­
menced operations. The same is applicable to all manufactures enumerated.
The capital invested in the manufacture of castings amounted to.. . .
$17,416,861
Value of raw material...............................................................................
10,346,365
Amount paid for labor...............................................................................
7,078,920
Value of product........................................................................................
25,108,155
Number of hands employed......................................................................
23,589
The capital invested in the manufacture of wrought iron amounted to
13,995,220
Value of raw material...............................................................................
9,518,109
Amount paid for labor...............................................................................
4,196,628
Value of product.......................................................................................
16,387,074
Number of hands employed.....................................................................
13,'067




120

M A N U F A C T U R E OF COTTON GOODS IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .
A

TABLE SHOWING THE CAPITAL INVESTED, THE BALES OF COTTON AND TONS OF COAL CONSUMED, THE NUMBER OF HANDS EMPLOYED, AND THEIR WAGES,
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COTTON GOODS IN THE UNITED STATES, TOGETHER WITH THE VALUE OF TEE RAW MATERIAL AND THE ENTIRE PRODUCT.

Bales
Capital
cotton.
invested.
3,329,700
3,531
10,950,500 83,026
202,500
2,243
23,455,630 223,607
6,675,100 50.713
4,219,100 39,483
4,176,920 33,775
1,483,500 14,437
4,528,925 44,162
460,100
4,730
2,236,000 23,325
1,908,900 17,785
1,058,800 13,617
857.200
9,929
1.736,156 20,230
80,000
600
657,900
8,208
38,000
430
16,500
170
669,600
6,411
239,000
3,760
297,000
4,270
43,000
675
102,000
2,160
85,000
960

Total. . .

74,501,031 641,240




Pounds of yarn.

Tens
Coal.
2,921
7,679
46,545
13,116
2,866
1,539
4,467
24,189
1,920
2,212
4,805

....

....
1,000
237,081
....
3,010
720
2,152
300
1,668
121,099

Value of
all raw
material.
.1,573,110
4,839,429
114,415
11,289,309
3,484,379
2,500,062
.1,986,978
666,645
3,152,530
312,068
1,165,579
828,375
531,903
295,971
900,419
30,000
237,086
21,500
8,975
297,500
180,907
237,060
28,220
86,446
67,000
34,835,056

Number of hands
employed.
Male. Female.
2,959
780
9,211
2,911
94
147
9,293 19,437
5,916
4,959
3,478
2,708
3,688
2,632
1,096
616
3,564
4,099
425
413
1,008
2,014
1,688
1,275
442
1,177
620
399
873
1,399
28
67
369
346
19
17
18
13
581
310
181
221
269
132
38
57
80
75
41
103
33,151

59,136

Entire wages
Average wages
per month.
per month.
Male.
Female. Male. Female.
22,895
35,973 $29 35 $12 15
75,713 124,131 25 45 18 47
1,460
18,061 15 55 12 67
212,892 264,514 23 01 13 55
92,282
76,656 18 61 12 95
41,060 19 08 11 81
51,679
48,244
35,699 18 33
9 68
11,078
10,487 17 98
9 56
63,642
40,656 17 26
9 91
6,326
4,926 15 55 11 59
15,546
19,108 15 42
9 53
12,983
11,791 10 15
6 98
5,153
7,216 11 66
6 13
5,565
5,151 13 94
8 30
12,725
10,352 14 57
7 39
900
335 32 14
5 00
4,053
2,946 11 71
7 98
270
101 14 21
5 34
106 14 61
190
5 88
3,394
3,730 10 95
6 42
2,070 14 62
2,707
9 36
2,534 16 60
2,191
9 05
386 13 00
495
6 77
820
800 10 94 10 00
575
825 14 02
8 01

Value of
entire
Yards sheeting,
product.
&c., &c.
32,852,556
2,596,356
S,830,619 113,106,247
1,651,004
596,100
19,712.461 298,751,392
6,447,120
96,725,612
4,257,522
51,780,700
3,591,989
44,901,475
1,109,524
8,122,580
5,322,262
45,746,790
538,439
3,551,636
2,120,504
27,883,923
1,486,384
15,640,107
831,342
2,470,110
748,338
6,563,737
2,135,044
7,209,292
49,920
624,000
382,260
3,081,000
30,500
16,637
510,624
363,250
273,439
1,003,000
394,700
280,000
44,200
142,900
100,000
1,400,000

653,878

61,869,184

703,414

Sundries.
149,700
*53,050
*353,660
+1,902,980
+950,000
+2,180,600
+2,000,000
•■5,380,561
+533,000
+46,000
■1,755,915
•2,267,000
1,348,343
■4,198,351
+790,000
+ 171,000
+81,250
+2,326,250
■725,000
■433,000
•300,000
+ 13,260

763,678,407 f 27,873,600

t Pounds of yarn and thread.

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

States.
Maine . . . .
JN. Hamp’e.
Vermont. .
Massachus.
K. Island..
Connecticut
New York..
JN. Jersey.
Pennsylv’a.
Delaware .
Maryland .
V irginia . .
N. Carolina.
S. Carolina.
Georgia__
Florida . . .
Alabam a..
Mississippi..
Arkansas...
Tennessee.
Kentucky..
Ohio..........
Indiana. . .
Missouri....
Dis. of Col.

M A N U FA C TU R E OF W O O LE N GOODS IN T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .

A TABLE SHOWING THE CAPITAL INVESTED, THE NUMBER OF POUNDS OF WOOL AND TONS OF COAL CONSUMED, THE NUMBER OF HANDS EMPLOYED, AND
THEIR WAGES, IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WOOLEN GOODS IN THE UNITED STATES TOGETHER WITH THE VALUE OF THE RAW MATERIAL AND THE ENTIRE
PRODUCT.

Total. . .

28,118,650

70,862,829

Pounds of yarn.

46,370

Value of
all raw
material.
495,940
1,267,329
830,684
8,671,671
1,463,900
3,325,709
3,838,292
548,367
3,282,718
204,172
165,565
488,899
13,950
30,392
10,000
1,675
205,287
578,423
43,402
120,486
115,367
16,000
3,500
82,630
1,630
25,755,988

Entire wages
Average wages
No. of hands
employed.
permonth.
per month.
Male.
Female. Male. Female.
Male. Female.
310
314
6,998
3,697 $22 57 $11 77
17,451 22 84 14 51
926
1,201
21,177
16,712
8,388 24 50 11 80
683
710
6,167
4,963 141,533, 70,581 22 95 14 22
20,431
11,708 20 70 15 18
987
771
83,216 24 12 13 25
2,581
70,141
2,907
4,262
2,412
85,147
28,377 21 46 11 61
8 59
411
4,192 25 02
487
10,367
3,490
2,236
67,138
23,279 19 20 10 40
312 18 79 17 33
122
18
2,293
1,189 18 60 11 89
262
100
4,875
9 90
8,688
1,883 18 50
478
190
15
270
105 18 00
7 00
15
40
1,099
536 27 47 14 10
38
4
4
80
80 20 00 20 00
12 17 66
6 00
15
2
265
62
689 15 29 11 11
266
3,915
298
3,250 20 14 10 94
903
18,191
585 21 85 11 47
78
51
1,6S9
4,122
630 21 81 11 05
189
57
676 22 00 12 52
54
2,728
124
6 50
10
480
65 32 00
15
11 42
78
7
22 45
562
25
30 00
2
60
•. . .
22,678

Blankets.

16,574

489,039

210,901
J Hats.

Value of
entire
Y’ds o f cloth
products. manufactured. Sundries.
753,300
1,023,020
*1,200
2,127,745
9,712,840
165,200
1,579,161
2,830,400
12,770,565 25,865,658
749,550
2,381,825
8,612,400
46,000
6,465,216
9,408,777
7,030,604
7,924,252
261,700
1,164,446
771,100
350,000
5,321,866 10,099,234 1,941,621
251,010
152,000
295,140
373,100
841,013
2,037,025
398,705
23,750
34,000
88,750
340,660
15,000
f4,000
14,000
6,310
£22,200
318,819
878,034
*65,000
1,111,027
1,374,087
90,242
141,570
205,802
235,500
104,000
206,572
306,995
137,000
56,000
12,000
16,000
13,000
14,000
87,992
36,000
*74,350
2,400
10,000
43,207,555

82,206,652

[ Pairs of blankets.

4,294,326

121




Pounds of
Tons
wool used. of coal.
1,438,434
3,604,103
3,600
2,228,100
22,229,952 15,400
4,103,370
2,032
9,414,100
7,912
12,538,786
1,510,289
1,889
7,560,379 10,777
393,000
45
430,300
100
1,554,110
357
30,000
153,816
30,000
6,200
673,900
1,657,726
2,110
162,250
413,350
90
396,964
987
80,000
1,071
14,500
134,200
5,000

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

Capital
invested.
467,600
2,437,700
886,300
9,089,342
1,013,370
3,773,950
4,459,370
494,274
3,005,064
148,500
244,000
392,640
18,000
68,000
8,000
10,900
249,820
870,220
94,000
171,545
154,500
20,000
10,000
31,225
700

States.
Maine........
N.Hamp’e.
Vermont..
Massachu’s
li. Island .
Connectic’t
New York.
N, Jersey..
Pennsylv’a.
Delaware.
Maryland.
Virginia...
K. Carolina
Georgia . .
T exas. . . .
Tennessee.
Kentucky.
O hio.........
Michigan..
Indiana.. .
Illinois . . .
Missouri...
Iow a.........
W isconsin.
Dis. of Col.

to
to
manufacture of pig iron in the united states.
A

TABLE SHOWING THE CAPITAL INVESTED, THE NUMBER OF HANDS EMPLOYED, AND THEIR WAGES, AND THE QUANTITY AND KINDS OF FUEL USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PIG IRON IN THE UNITED STATES----TOGETHER WITH THE VALUE OF THE RAW MATERIAL AND THE ENTIRE PRODUCTS.

Tons of
ore used.

Maine...........
1ST. Hampsk’e
Vermont . . .
Mas’chusetts.
Connecticut.
New Y o r k . .
New Jersey.
Pen’sylvania.
Maryland.. .
Virginia.. . .
Carolina..
Georgia........
Alabama. . .
Tennessee . .
Kentucky. . .
Ohio.............
Michigan___
Indiana . . . .
Illinois........
Missouri. . . .
"Wisconsin . .

214,000
2,000
62,500
469,000
225,600
605,000
967,000
8,570,425
1,420,000
513,800
25,000
26,000
11,000
1,021,400
924,700
1,503,000
15,000
72,000
65,000
619,000
15,000

2,907
500
7,676
27,900
35,450
46,385
51,266
877,283
99,866
67,319
900
5,189
1,838
88,810
72,010
140,610
2,700
5,200
5,500
37,000
3,000

Tot al . . . .

17,346,425

1,579,309

States.




Tons
mineral
coal.
....
150
....
....
20
20,865
316,060
14,088
39,982
....
....
....
177,167
21,730
....

....

....
65,180

—

645,242

Bushels
coke and
charcoal.

Value of
raw material,
fuel, &c.

No. hands
employed.
M.
F.

150,000

14,939
4,900
40,175
185,741
289,225
321,027
382,707
3,732,427
560,725
158,307
27,900
25,840
6,770
254,900
260,152
630,037
14,000
24,400
15,500
97,367
8,250

71
10
100
263
148
505
600
9,285
1,370
1,115
26
135
40
1,713
1,845
2,415
25
88
150
334
60

54,165,236

7,005,289

20,298

213,970
50,000
326,437
1,855,000
2,870,000
3,000,074
1,621,000
27,505,186
3,707,500
1,311,000
150,000
430,000
145,000
160,000
4,576,269
5,428,800
185,000
310,000
170,000

..

9
..
14
5
3
..
109
10

150

Entire wages Average wages
per month.
per month.
Male. Female Male. Female.
1,562
180
2,208
7,238
3,967
12,625
12,720
201,039
27,595
14,232
208
2,355
700
21,958
37,355
59,129
875
2,290
3,310
8,112
1,800
421,435

..
..
..
46
..
96
22
15
..
588
47
..
..
..
••
784

$22 00
18 00
22 80
27 50
26 80
24 96
21 20
21 15
21 27
12 67
8 00
17 44
17 50
12 82
20 23
24 48
35 00
26 00
22 06
24 28
30 00

6 86
4 40
5 00
5 10
4 70

Tons
pig iron
made.
1,484
200
3,200
12,287
13,420
23,022
24,031
285,702
43,641
22,163
400
900
522
30,420
24,245
52,658
660
1,850
2,700
19,250
1,000
564,755

Value of
other
products.
....
....
20,000
12,800
40,000
96,000
28,000
5,000
41,900
10,000
6,000
....
....

—

259,700

Value of
entire
products*
36,616
6,000
68,000
295,123
415,600
597,920
560,544
6,071,513
1,056,400
521,924
12,500
57,300
22,500
676,100
604,037
1,255,850
21,000
58,000
70,200
314,600
27,000
12,748,777

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

Capital
invested.

MANUFACTURE OF IRON CASTINGS IN THE UNITED STATES.
A TABLE SHOWING THE CAPITAL INVESTED, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF HANDS EMPLOYED, AND THEIR WAGES, AND THE QUANTITY AND KINDS OF FUEL USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON CASTINGS IN THE UNITED STATES--- TOGETHER WITH THE VALUE OF THE RAW MATERIAL AND THE ENTIRE PRODUCTS.




Tons
Capital
pi£
invested.
iron.
150,100
3,591
232,700
5,673
290,720
2,279
31,134
1,499,050
8,918
422,800
11,396
580,800
4,622,482 108,945
10,666
593,250
69,501
3,422,924
4,440
373,500
7,220
359,100
7,114
471,160
192
11,500
169
185,700
440
35,000
2,348
216,625
100,000
1,197
1,660
255,000
250
16,000
1,682
139,500
9,731
502,200
2,063,650
37,555
2,494
195,450
82,900
1,968
4,818
260,400
187,000
5,100
81
5,500
116,350
1,371
75
5,000
14,000
545
17,416,361 345,553

Tons
old
metal.
245
500
274
3,361
....
337
3,212
350
819

Tons
of
ore.
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....
....

205
2,800
....
....
..• ....
...
....
...
5,050
...
1,843 2,000
....
5
....
....
50
...
200
...
15
....
....
...

11,416

9,850

Tons of
mineral
coal.
1,319
1,680
1,066
12,401
4,670
7,592
22,755
5,444
49,228
4,967
5,000
7,878
....
....
100
....
248
3,205
250
24,690
2,649
30,006
901
132
1,412
2,598
....
595
25
80
190,891

Bushels
coke and
charcoal.
14,000
20,500
198,400
3,500
4,000
30,600
181,190
175,800
276,855
30,000
71,600
6,375
405,560
9,800
31,300
92,000
13,200
432,750
355,120
16,200
29,600
12,500
200
2,700
2,413,750

Value of
No. hands Average wages
Tons
raw material, employed.
per month.
castings
fuel, &c.
Male. Female. Male. Female.
made.
112,570
1 §20 00 §5 00
243
3,691
. 33 05
177,060
374
...
5,764
. 28 27
160,603
381
5,000
1,057,904
30 90
1,596
...
32,074
. 29 63
800
258,267
...
8,558
351,369
942
7 27 02 8 00
11,210
. 27 48
2,393,768
5,925
. . . 104,588
301,048
803
24 09
...
10,259
4,782
i 27 55 6 00 57,810
2,372,467
153,852
250
23 36
...
3,630
259,190
761
6,244
27 50
297,014
810
9 19 91 9 44
5,577
8,341
15
23 46
...
172
2 13 59 4 00
29,128
153
1,286
.
39
11,950
27 43
415
. 30 05
212
102,085
...
1,915
112
50,370
37 91
...
924
75,300
347
35 60
1,570
...
35
43
43
8,400
200
261
90,035
8 17 96 4 50
3,384
558 21 24 89 4 15
295,533
5,888
2,758
1,199,790
27 32
37,399
28 68
91,865
337
...
2,070
66,918
143
25 74
. . . 1,757
172,330
332
28 50
4,160
133,114
297
19 63
5,200
2,524
32 35
17
...
71
228
86,930
26 73
1,342
8,530
3
23 33
75
18,100
27
512
27 05
...
10,346,353 23,541 48
322,745

Value of
other
products.
27,700
87,770
119,500
70,000
661,160
55,000
80,000

2,800
4,000
15,000
208,700
25,616
89,250
2,600
64,125
11,000
1,524,121

Value of
entire
products.
265,000
371,710
460,831
2,235,635
728,705
981,400
5,921,980
686,430
5,354,881
267,462
685,000
674,416
12,867
87,683
46,200
271,126
117,400
312.500
55,000
294,325
744,316
3,069,350
279,697
149,430
441,185
336,495
8,500
216,195
20,740
41,696
25,108,155

Journal o f M ining and M anufactures.

States.
Maine............
N. Hampshire
Verm ont___
Mass’chusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticnt .
New Y ork ...
New Jersey .
Pennsylvania
Delaware. . .
Maryland. . .
Virginia........
N’th Carolina
S’th Carolina.
Georgia........
Alabama. . . .
Mississippi.. .
Louisiana.. . .
T e x a s...........
Tennessee. . .
Kentucky. . .
O h io .............
Michigan. . . .
Indiana........
Illinois........
Missouri........
Iow a .............
Wisconsin.. .
California.. . .
Dist. of Col..
Total........

124

Statistics o f Population , etc.

BREAD BAKED BY STEAM IN ENGLAND.
Thr Plymouth (English) papers contain an account of a new method of baking
bread, which is in operation at Stonehouse, under the patent of Mr. Lee. The bread
is pronounced to be excellent, and superior to that baked on the old principle. A de­
scription of the process will not be found uninteresting. When the loaves are mould­
ed, they are placed on carriages aud conveyed on railways into the ovens— which are
made of cast iron, and placed one above auother. The doors being closed, the steam
is then “ turned on” from the boiler, and passing through a singularly formed coil of
pipes, heated to a high degree in a furnace of remarkable construction, is, by opening
the valves, admitted to the ovens. The baking process, from the time of running in
the carriages to drawing them out again, occupying from half an hour to an hour and
a half, according as the loaves vary in size. There are perforated pipes placed at
equal distances inside the ovens, by which means all parts are alike heated. The heat
is kept within determinate thermometric limits by the adjustment of the valves, and
the degree ascertained by an indicator, the “ bulb” being scarcely thicker than a cob­
web, yet ranging from 120 to 800 Far.

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, & c .

CENSUS STATISTICS OP THE UNITED STATES.
ANe publish below all tlmmore important parts of Hr. Kennedy’s,full and able re­
port just made to Congress, through the Secretary 6f the Interior. These statements'
and statistics, it will be seen relate chiefly to population of the United States. Un- s
der the appropriate head, in another part of- the Merchants' Magazine, the reader will
find a variety of statistics relating to the manufactures of the several States:—
The seventh enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States exhibits results
which every citizen of the country may contemplate with gratification and pride.
Since the census of 1840 there have been added to the territory of the republic, by
annexation, conquest, and purchase, 824,969 square miles, and our title to a region
covering 341,463 square miles, which before properly belonged to us, but was claimed
and partially occupied by a foreign power, has been established by negotiation, and it
has been brought within our acknowledged boundaries. By such means the area of the
United States has extended during the past ten years from 2,055,163 to 3,221,595
square miles, without including the great lakes which lie upon our northern border, or
the bays which indentate our Atlantic and Pacific shores. A ll which has come within
the scope of the seventh census.
In the endeavor to ascertain the progress of our population since 1840, it will be
proper to deduct from the aggregate number of inhabitants shown by the present cen­
sus, the population of Texas in 1840, and the numbers embraced within the limits of
California and the new territories at the time of their acquisition. Frum the best in­
formation which has come to hand, it is believed that Texas contained in 1840,15,000
inhabitants, and that when California, New Mexico, and Oregon came into our pos­
session in 1846, they had a population of 97,000. It thus appears that we have re­
ceived by additions of territory, since 1840, an accession of 172,000 to the numbers of
our people.
The increase which has taken place in those extended regions, since they came under
the authority of our government, should obviously be reckoned as a part of the de­
velopment and progress of our population. Nor is it necessary to complicate the com­
parison by taking into account the probable natural increase of this acquired popula­
tion, because we have not the means of determining the rate of its advancement, nor
the law which governed its progress while yet beyond the influence of our political
system. The year 1840, rather than the date of the annexation of Texas, has been
taken for estimating the population, in connection with that of the Union, because it
may be safely assumed that, whatever the increase during the five intervening years
may have been, it was mainly, if not altogether, derived from the United States.
Owing to delays and difficulties mentioned in completing the work, which no action
on the part of this office could obviate, some of the returns from California have not




Statistics o f Population, etc.

125

yet been received. Assuming the population of California to be 165,000, (which we
do partly by estimates,) and omitting that of Utah, estimated at 15,000, the total
number of inhabitants in the United States was, on the 1st of June, 1850, 23,246,301.
The absolute increase from 1st of June, 1840, has been 6,176,848, and the actual in­
crease per cent is 36.18. But it has been shown that the probable amount of popula­
tion acquired by additions of territory should be deducted in making a comparison be
tween the results of the present and the last census. These deductions reduce the total
population of the country as a basis o f comparison, to 23,074,301, and the increase to
6,004,848. The relative increase, after this allowance, is found to be 35.17 per cent.
The aggregate number of whites in 1850 was 19,619,366, exhibiting a gain upon the
number of the same class in 1840 of 5,423,371, and a relative increase of 38.20 per
cent. But excluding the 153,000 free population supposed to have been acquired by
the addition of territory since 1840, the gain is 5,270,371, and the increase per cent 37.14.
The number of slaves, by the present census, is 3,198,298, which shows an increase
of 711,085; equal to 28.58 per cent. If we deduct 19,000 for the probable slave
population of Texas in 1840, the result of the comparison will be slightly different.
The absolute increase will be 692,085, and the rate per cent 27.83.
The number of free colored population in 1850 was 428,637 ; in 1840, 386,245. The
increase of this class has been 42,392, or 10.95 per cent.
From 1830 to 1840 the increase of the whole population was at the rate o f 32.67
per cent. A t the same rate of advancement the absolute gain for the ten years last
past would have been 5,578,333, or 426,515 less than it has been, without including
the increase consequent upon additions of territory.
The aggregate increase of population from all sources shows a relative advance
greater than that of any other decennial terms, except that from the second to the
third census, during which time the country received an accession of inhabitants by
the purchase of Louisiana considerably greater than one per cent of the whole num­
ber. Rejecting from the census of 1810 1.45 per cent for the population of Louisiana,
and from the census of 1850 1 per cent for that of Texas, California, <fcc., the result is
in favor of the last ten years by about'one-fourteenth of 1 per cen t; the gain from
1800 to 1810 being 35.05 per cent, and from 1840 to 1850, 35.12 per cent. But, with­
out going behind the sum of the returns, it appears that the increase from the second
to the third census was thirty-two-hundredth3 of one per cent greater than from the
sixth to the seventh.
The relative progress of the several races and classes of the population is shown in
the following tabular statement:—
TABLE OP INCREASE, PER CENT, OP EACH CLASS OP INHABITANTS IN THE UNITED STATES
FOR SIXTY YEARS.

Classes.
Whites.................................
Free colored.......................
Slaves..................................
Total colored.....................
Total population...............

1790 to
1800.
35.68
82.28
27,96
32.23
35.02

1800 to 1810 to 1820 to 1810 to 1840 to
1810.
1820.
1810.
1840.
1850.
36.18
72.00
33.40
37.58
36.50

34.30
27.75
29.57
29.33
83.35

34.52
34.85
30,75
31.31
33.92

34.72
20.88
23.81
23.40
32.67

38.20
10 95
28.58
26.16
36.18

The census had been taken previously to 1830 on the first of August. The enume­
rator began that year on the first of June, two months earlier, so that the interval be­
tween the fourth and fifth censuses was two months less than ten years; which time
allowed for, would bring the total increase up to the rate of 34.36 per cent.
THE TABLE GIVEN BELOW SHOWS THE INCREASE PROM 1790 TO 1850, WITHOUT REFERENCE
TO INTERVENING PERIODS.

Humber of whites..............
Free colored.......................
Slaves .................................
Total free colored & slaves.
Total population...............

4790.

1850.

8,172,464
59,466
697,897
757,363
3,929,827

19,630,019
428,637
3,184,262
3,612,899
23,246,301

Absolute increase in sixty
years.
16,457,555
369,171
2,486,365
2,855,536
19,316,474

Increase per
ceni in sixty
years.
527.97
617.44
350.13
377.
491.52

Sixty years since, the proportion between the whites and blacks, bond and free, was




126

Statistics o f Population , e^c.

4.2 to 1. In 1850, it was 5.26 to 1 ; and the ratio in favor of the former race is in­
creasing. Had the blacks increased as fast as the whites during these sixty years,
their number on the 1st of June would have been 4,657,239; so that, in comparison
with the whites, they have lost in this period, 1,035,340.
This disparity is much more than accounted for by European emigration to the
United States. Dr. Chickering, in an essay upon immigration, published at Boston in
1848, distinguished for great elaborateness of research, estimates the gain of the white
population from this source at 3,922,152. No reliable record was kept of the number
of immigrants into the United States until 1820, when, by the law of March, 1819,
the collectors were required to make quarterly returns of foreign passengers arriving
in their districts. For the first ten years, the returns under the law afford materials
for only an approximation to a true state of the facts involved in this inquiry.
Dr. Chickering assumes, as a result of his investigations, that of the 6,431,088 in­
habitants of the United States in 1820, 1,430,906 were foreigners arrived subsequent
to 1790, or the descendants of such. According to Dr. Seybert, an earlier writer upon
statistics, the number of foreign passengers from 1790 to 1810 was, as nearly as could
be ascertained, 120,000; and from the estimates of Dr. Seybert, and other evidence,
Hon. George Ducker, author of a valuable work on the census of 1840, supposes the
number from 1810 to 1820 to have been 114,000. These estimates make, for the
thirty years preceding 1820, 234,000.
I f we reckon the increase of these immigrants at the average rate of the whole
body of white population during these three decades, they and their descendants in
1820 would amount to about 360,000. From 1820 to 1830 there arrived, according to
the returns of the custom-houses, 135,986 foreign passengers, and from 1830 to 1840,
579,370, making for the twenty years 715,356. During this period a large number of
emigrants from England, Scotland, and Ireland, came into the United States through
Canada. Dr. Chickering estimates the number of such, from 1820 to 1830, at 67,993;
and from 1830 to 1840, at 199,130; for the twenty years together, 267,123.
During the same time a considerable number are supposed to have landed at New
York, with the purpose of pursuing their route to Canada; but it is probable that the
number of these was balanced by omissions in the official returns. Without reference
to the natural increase, then, the accession to our population from foreign sources, from
1820 to 1840, was 982,479 persons.
Erom 1840 to 1850, the arrivals of foreign passengers in the ports of the United
States have been as follows:—
1840-41.....................
1842...........................
1843...........................
1844...........................
1845 .......................
1846*.........................

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

83,504
101,107
75,159
74,607
102,415
202,157

1847...........................
1848........................... ............
1849........................... .............
1850f......................... .............
Total.................

...........

226,524
269,610
173^011
1,552,850

Within the last ten years there has probably been very little migration of foreign­
ers into the United States over the Canada frontier; the disposition to take the route
by Quebec having yielded to the increased facilities for direct passenger transportation
to the cities of the Union; what there has been may, perhaps, be considered as equal­
led by the number of foreigners passing into Canada after landing at New Y ork;
many having been drawn thither by the opportunities of employment afforded by the
public works of the province. As the heaviest portion of this great influx of immigra­
tion took place in the latter half of the decade, it will probably be fair to estimate the
natural increase during the term at 12 per cent; being about one-third o f that of the
white population of the country at its commencement. This will swell the aggregate
to 1,739,192. Deducting this accession to the ^population from the whole amount,
the increase is shown to be 8,684,510, and the rate per cent is reduced to 25.95.
The density of population is a branch of the subject which naturally first attracts
the attention of the inquirer. The following table has been prepared from the most
authentic data accessible to this office :—
* This return includes fifteen months; namely, from July 1, 1845, to September 30, 1846.
f The report from the State Department for this year gives 315,333 as the total number o f passen­
gers arriving in the United States; but o f these, 30,023 were citizens o f the Atlantic States proceed­
ing to California by sea, and 5,320 natives of the country returning from visits abroad. A deduction
of 100,879 is made from the balance, for that portion of tho year from June 1st to September 30th.




Statistics o f Population , etc.

127

TABLE OF THE AREA, AND THE NUMBER OF INHABITANTS TO THE SQUARE MILE OF EACH
STATE AND TERRITORY OF THE UNION.
No. ofin-

State.
Maine................
N. Hampshire .
Vermont...........
Massachusetts .
Rhode Island.. .
Connecticut . . .
New York.__ _
New Jersey. . .
Pennsylvania ..
Delaware..........
Maryland.........
Virginia...........
North Carolina..
South Carolina..
Georgia.............
Alabama...........
Mississippi... . .
Louisiana..........
Texas................
Florida.............

Area in
habitants
square Population to the
in 1850. !3 q . m i l e .
m ile s .
30,000 583,188 19.44
9,280 317,964 34.26
10,212 313,611 30.07
7,800 994,499 126.11
1,360 147,544 108.05
4,674 370,791 79.33
46,000 3,097,394 67.66
8,320 489,555 60.04
46,000 2,311,786 50.25
2,120
91,535 43.64
9,356 583,035 62.31
61,352 1,421,661 23.17
45,000 868,903 19.30
24,500 668,507 27.28
58,000 905,999 15.68
50,722 771,671 15.21
47,156 606,555 12.86
46,431 511,974 11.02
237,321 212,592 00.89
59,268
87,401
1.47

No. o f inAreain
habitants
square Population to the

*
-«
11
1
-1n
tit 1
r
. n
tM
r
miles.
in 1859. n
sq.
mile.
37,680 982,405 26.07
45,600 1,002,625 21.98
67,380 682,043 10.12
52,198 209,639
4.01
39,964 1,980,408 49.55
33,809 988,416 29.23
55,405 851,470 15.36
56,243 397,654
7.07
50,914 192,214
3.77
58,924 305,191
5.65
188,981
83,000
6,077 00.07
341,463
13,293 00.03
210,744
61,505 00.28
...
187,923
136,700
187,171
Northwest......... 587,564
Lis. of Uolum’a.
60
51,687 861.45

State.
Kentucky........
Tennessee.........
Missouri............
Arkansas..........
Ohio.':...............
Indiana.............
Illinois.............
Michigan...........
Iowa..................
Wisconsin.........
California........
Minnesota.......
Oregon..............
New Mexico....
Utah.................
Nebraska ___

From the location, climate, productions, and the habits and pursuits of their inhabi­
tants. the States of the Union may be properly arranged in the following groups:—
States.
New England States; namely, Maine, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut........................................................
Middle States, including New York, New Jer­
sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and
Ohio....................................................................
Coast Planting States, including South Caroli­
na, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana..........................................................
Central Slave States; Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas.......................................................................
Northwestern States; Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa...............................
Texas.....................................................................
California..............................................................

No. of inhab­
Area In
Population itants to the
square miles.
in 1850.
square mile.
63,226

2,727,597

43.07

151,760

8,653,713

57.02

286,077

3,537,089

12.36

308,210

5,168,000

16.75

250,000
237,000
189,000

2,735,000
212,000
165,000

10.92
.89
.87

There are points of agreement in the general characteristics of the States combined
in the above groups, which warrant the mode of arrangement adopted. Maryland is
classed as heretofore, with the Middle States, because its leading interest appears to
connect it, rather with the commercial and manufacturing section, to which it is here
assigned, than with the purely agricultural States. Ohio is placed in the same con­
nection, for nearly similar reasons. There seems to be a marked propriety for
setting off the new agricultural States o f the northwest by themselves, as a prelim­
inary to the comparison of their progress with other portions of the Union. The oc­
cupations which give employment to the people of the central range of States, south
of the line of the Potomac, distinguish them to some extent from that division to
which we have given the appellation of coast planting Staies. In the latter, cottons,
sugar, and rice are the great staples, the cultivation of which is so absorbing as to
stamp its impress on the character of the people.
The industry of the Central States is more diversified, the surface of the country
is more broken, the modes o f cultivation are different, and the minuter divisions of




128

Statistics o f Population, etc.

labor, create more numerous and less accordant interests. So far as Texas is settled,
its population closely assimilates with that o f the other coast planting States; but it
would obviously convey no well founded idea of the density of population in that
section, to distribute their people over the vast uninhabited region of Texas. For the
same reason, and the additional one of the insolation of her position, California is con­
sidered distinct from other States.
Taking the thirty-one States together, their area is 1,485,870 square miles, and the
average number of their inhabitants is 15.48 to the square mile. The total area of
the United States is 3,220,000 square miles, and the average density of population is
7.219 to the square mile.
The areas assigned to those States-and Territories in which public lands are situated
are doubtless correct, being taken from the records of the land office; but, as to those
attributed to the older States, the same means of verifying their accuracy, or the want
o f it, do not exist. But care has been taken to consult the best local authorities for
ascertaining the extent of surface in those States, and as the figures adopted are found
to agree with or differ but slightly from those assumed to be correct at the General
Land Office, it is probable they do not vary essentially from the exact truth.
The area of some of the States— as Maryland and Virginia— are stated consider­
ably below the commonly assumed extent of their territory, which may be accounted
for on the supposition that the portions of the surface, within their exterior limits, cov­
ered by large bodies of water, have been subtracted from the aggregate amount. This
is known to be the case in regard to Maryland, the superficial extent of which, within
the outlines of its boundaries, is 13,959 square miles, and is deemed probable with
reference to Virginia, from the fact that many geographers have given its total area
as high as 66,000 square miles.
It appears from the returns that during the year ending on the 1st June, 1850, there
escaped from their owners, one thousand and eleven slaves, and that, during the same
period, fourteen hundred and sixty-seven were manumitted. The number of both
classes will appear in the following table:—
MANUMITTED ANB FUGITIVE SLAVES, 1850.

Delaware...............
Maryland..............
Virginia.................
Kentucky..............
Tennessee.............
North Carolina..
Georgia.................
Florida.................

Manumitted.

Fugitive.

493
218
152
45
2
2
19
22

26
279
83
96
70
64
16
89
18

Alabama........... ........
Mississippi......... ..........
Louisiana..........
Texas.................
Arkansas...........
Missouri............
Tot al . . . . . . .

Manumitted. Fugitive.

16
6

29
41
90
29
21
60

1,011

In connection with this statement, and as effecting the natural increase of the free
colored population of the United States, it may be proper to remark, that during the
year to which the census applies, the Colonization Society sent 562 colored emigrants
to Liberia. In our calculations respecting the increase of the free colored population,
we have considered that class of persons independent of these two causes, which re­
spectively swell and diminish their number.
The statistics of mortality for the census year represent the number of deaths oc­
curring within the year as 320,194, the ratio being as 1 to 726 of the living population ,
or as 10 to each 726 of the population. The rate of mortality in this statement
seems so much less than that of any portion o f Europe, that it must at present be re­
ceived with some degree of allowance.
Should a more critical examination, which time will enable us to exercise, prove the
returns of the number of deaths too small, such a result will not affect their value for
the purposes of comparison o f one portion of the country with another, or cause with
effect. The tables will possess an interest second to none others in the work, and the
many valuable truths which they will suggest, will be found of great practical advan­
tage” Medical men will accord to the Census Board no small meed o f credit, for the
wisdom manifested in an arrangement which will throw more light on the history of
disease in the United States, and present in connection more interesting facts connec­
ted therewith than the united efforts of all scientific men have heretofore accomplished.




STATEMENT OF THE POPULATION IN EACH STATE AND TERRITORY, DECENNIALLY, COMMENCING 1790 TO 1850, INCLUSIVE,
VOL. XX V I.-----NO, I,

'1790.

1800.

Ratio of in­
crease p. c.

151,719
183,762
154,465
423,245
69,122
251,002
1,233,315

57.1
29.5
80.8
11.7

New York............
New Jersey..........
Pennsylvania. . . .
Total................

340,120
184,139
434,373
958,632

Delaware.............
co Dist’t of Columbia
Maryland.............
Virginia................
North Carolina...
South Carolina...
G eorgia...............
Florida.................
T otal................

59,096

NEW ENGLAND STATES.
Ratio of in­
Ratio of in­
crease p. c.
crease p. c.

1840.

Ratio of in­
crease p. c.

1850.

30.4
13.9
8.2
10.9
7.8
5.0
12.8

399,455
269,328
280,662
610,408
97,199
297,695
1,954,717

33.9
103
19.0
16.6
17.0
8.1
17.7

501,793
284,574
291,948
737,699
108,830
309,978
2,234,822

26.2
5.6
4.0
20.8
11.9
4.1
14.3

583,188
317,964
314,120
994,499
147,544
370,791
2,728,106

16.22
11.63
7.69
34.81
35.57
19.61
22.07

43.1
13.0
29.5
34.0

1,918,608
320,823
1,348,233
3,587,664

39.7
15.5
28.5
32.88

2,428,921
373,306
1,724,033
4,526,260

26.6
16.3
27.9
26.16

3,097,394
489,555
2,311,786
5,898,735

27.52
31.14
34.09
30.32

...
37.5
7.0
9.3
15.0
18.1
35.1
...
14.43

76,748
39,834
447,040
1,211,405
737,987
581,185
516,823
34,730
3,645,752

55
29.2
97
13.7
15.5
15.6
51.2

78,085
43,712
470,019
1,239,797
753,419
594,398
691,392
54,477
3,926,299

1.7
23.3
5.1
2.3
2.1
2.3
33.8
56.8
7.66

91,535
51,687
583,035
1,421,661
868,903
668,507
905,999
87,401
4,678,728

17.22
18.24
24.04
14.66
15.32
12.46
31.03
60.43
19.19

62.0
99.9
202.4
....

1,980,408
988,416
851,470
192,214
305,191
397,654
6,077
4,721,430

30.33
44.11
78.81
345.84
890.48
87.33

1820.

6.4
22.1

228,705
214,360
217,713
472,040
77,031
262,042
1,471,891

50.7
16.6
41.0
11.5
11.4
4.3
19.3

686,756
211,949
602,365
1,401,070

72.5
15.1
38.6
46.15

959,049
245,555
810,091
2,014,695

63.4
15.9
34.4
43.79

8.7

319,728
748,308
393,751
249,073
82,548

64,273
14,093
341,548
880,200
478,103
345,691
162,101

1,852,504

2,285,909

72,674
24,023
380,546
974,622
555,500
415,116
252,433
...............
2,674,913

13.0
36.8
11.4
10.7
16.2
20.1
65.1
...
17.01

298,335
244,161
235,764
523,287
83,059
276,202
1,659,808

1830.

Ratio of in­
crease p. c.

Ratio of in­
crease p. c.

MIDDLE STATES.

1,372,812
277,575
1,049,458
2,699,845

ATLANTIC STATES.

6.8
17.6
21.3
38.7
96.4
...
23.39

72,749
33,039
407,350
1,065,379
638,829
502,741
340,987
...............
3,061,074

19.1

NORTH-WESTERN STATES.

Ohio......................
Indiana.................
Illinois.................
Iowa.....................
Wisconsin.............
Michigan...............
Minnesota, (ter’ry)
T ota l................




45,365
4,876

50,240

230,760
24,520
12,282
...........
...........
4,762

408.7
403.0
....
....
....

....
. ...

272,324 i42.04

581,434 152.0
147,178 500.2
55,211 349.5
...........
....
...........
....
86.8
8,896
...........
....
792,719 191.09

937,903
843,031
157,445
...............
...............
31,639
...............
1,470,018

61.3
133.0
185.2
....
....
255.6

1,519,467
685,866
476,183
43,112
30,945
212,267

85.43

2,967,840 101.89

....

570.9

....

59.08

S tatistics o f P opu lation , etc.

96,540
141,899
85,416
378,717
69,110
238,141
1,009,823

Maine...................
New Hampshire .
V ermont...............
Massachusetts . . .
Rhode Island. . .
Connecticut.........
T otal................

1810.

130

STATEMENT OF THE POPULATION IN EACH STATE AND TERRITORY, <fec.— CONTINUED.
SOUTHERN AND WESTERN STATES.

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

1800.

73,077

220,955
.............
...............
...............
105,602
8,850
...........

200.0
....
....
....
209.0

...........

..........
..........
35,791

108,868

52& t

\

Ratio of increasep. c.

1840.

1850.

25.98
77.75
30.62
45.27
20.91
61.46
114.85

47.86

....

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

....

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

....

982,405
682,048
-771,671
511,974
1,002,625
606,555
209,639
212,592
61,505

76.76

2,202,551

54.59

3,409,132

54.78

5,041,009

Seamen in U. S. service
....
....
.............

5,318

.........

33.12

12,866,020

....

335,407 208.08

805,991

140.3

36.45

564,317
66,586
127,901
153,407
422,813
75,448
14,273

38.8
219.5

...........
1,424,745

9,638,191

100.4
61.5
87.0

Seamen
....
33.48

6,100

17,069,453

Ratio ofin'
crease p. c.

Ratio of in­
;creasep. c.
13.3
173.2
90.8
63.3
21.6
175.0
221.1

...........

7,239,814

IQ9ft
10QJU.

779,828
383,702
590,756
852,411
829,210
375,651
97,574

83.1

....

35.01

Ratio of in­
creasep. c.

21.9
110.9
142.0
40.6
61.3
81.0
112.9

....

5,305,941

1820.

687,917
140,455
309,527
215,739
681,904
136,621
30,388

147.8
356.0

....

.............
8,929,827

Ratio of increasep. c.

406,511
20,845
..... .
76,556
261,727
40,352

California.............
Oregon territory.
Utah territory. . .
Total populat’n

1810.

....
Estimated
32.67

165,000
13,293
15,000

23,246,301

36.18

STATEMENT SHOWING THE DECENNIAL INCREASE OF EACH CLASS OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Whites..................
Free colored.........
Slaves..................

3,172,464
59,466
697,897

4,304,489
108,395
893,057

35.7
82.2
27.9

5,862,004
186,446
1,191,364

36.2
72.2
33.4

7,866,569
233,524
1,538,098

34.19
25.25
29.1

10,537,378
319,599
2,009,043

33.95
36.85
30.61

14,195,995
386,245
2,487,213

34.7
20.9
23.8

19,619,366
428,637
3,198,298

38.2
10.9
28.58

Total populat’n
Total free.........
Total col’d pop.
free dc slaves.

3,929,827
3,231,930

5,035,941
4,412,884

36.4

7,239,814
6,048,450

37.0

9,638,191
8,100,093

33.92

12,866,020
10,856,977

34.03

17,069,453
14,582,240

34.1

23,246,301
20,048,003

757,363

1,001,452

32.2

1,377,810

37.6

1,771,622

28.58

2,328,642

31.44

2,873,458

23.4

3,626,935

36.18
37.48
\
26.22




Statistics o f P opulation, etc.

Kentucky.............
Missouri...............
Alabama..............
Louisiana.............
Tennessee............
Mississippi...........
Arkansas..............
Texas ...................
New Mexico, (ter.)

1730.

Mercantile Miscellanies.

131

M ER C A N TIL E M ISCELLANIES.
SECTARIANISM IIS BUSINESS.
It seem3 that the editor of the Advocate, published at Memphis, Tennessee, a jour­
nal with which we do not exchange, has been recommending his religious brethren to
trade only with church members. Now, if that part of mankind were the exclusively
honest and upright dealers in “ goods, wares and merchandise,” there would be some
propriety in the advice of the editor of the Advocate ; but a large majority of sensible
people have, ere this, discovered that the profession o f religion, even that deemed the
most orthodox, does not always keep men, in mercantile transactions, free from the trick­
eries, and petty dishonesties of trade. Phrenologists tell us that some men have large
veneration and marvelousness, with very small conscientiousness and firmness. Such
men may be very religious, and yet not very nice in their discrimination between the
right and the wrong in trade. But it was not our purpose to discuss the subject, but
merely to copy the common-sense remarks o f the Memphis Express upon the narrow
and sectarian views of a cotemporary.
HARMONY NECESSARY TO THE BUSINESS SUCCESS OF A COMMUNITY.

“ Our neighbor of the Advocate furnishes us with elaborate disquisitions in its last
number upon matters and things in general and trade in particular— the horizon of its
views in the latter being within the rather limited area of a church membership. W e
do not design to argue this topic further. W e have said all that we thought necessary
in condemnation of a principle which we consider anti-American, as its practice would
be ruinous to general prosperity. W e are content to leave the question among prac­
tical businessmen. They can determine the effect upon commercial prosperity, o f the
splitting of the community into a thousand little fragments, and precluding business
intercourse between all persons, not belonging to the same religious body. There would
indeed be an end of enterprise! The arena of industry and energy would be so nar­
rowed down that both would be hopelessly crippled. Traffic would be stagnated,
large establishments would cease to flourish, for they would not be required to supply
such limited circles of customers, confidence and co-operation would cease, and a uni­
versal decrepitude fall upon all departments of industrial pursuits. Cannot any one
see that such would be the inevitable result of the general acceptance o f these recom­
mendations o f the Advocate ? Could a more tremendous or crushing blow be leveled
against the prosperity of this young and rising city of Memphis, than to paralyze its
industry, its enterprise and its capital, by depriving their possessors of all sphere for
the action of these qualities, save within the limits of the churches to which the indi­
viduals respectively belonged?
Away with it! To prosper we must harmonize, must be united, must direct our
exertions to the attainment of the general welfare. To do this, honesty, industry, en­
terprise and intelligence, must be the criterions of success. Change this criterion to that
suggested by Mr. Chapman and the Advocate, and you invert social order, fill the ave­
nues o f business with selfish hypocrites, and deprive merit of its just reward and
rights.
It does seem to us that one with half an eye can see that these results must ensue if
such a course as that we are condemning is persevered in.
I f it be necessary, as the Advocate and Mr. Chapman assert, that church members
should deal only with their fellow members, their frequent association, consequent on
their duties as members of the same church, would sufficiently lead to that result.
The natural tendency would be that they would from choice deal with each other.
Where then is the use of quickening this proclivity into a morbid and injurious activity,
by such recommendations as those of Mr. Chapman and the Advocate ? Counseling
them to do that from a principle of selfish clannishness, which they were already dis­
posed to do from the natural force of circumstances, but which they would not have
carried into a spirit of exclusiveness.
We regard the course of Mr. Chapman and the Advocate as most unfortunate. If it
is acted upon, no extended business could be carried on in Memphis, for such business




Mercantile Miscellanies.

132

must always look to the general patronage for support. If, however, society here is to
be cut up into as many coteries as there are denominations of Christians, it is evident
that no one of them could support these extensive establishments which form the
germs from which all great cities spring. We would have no scope for capital, no
room for its profitable investment, and our city would soon droop into insignificance,
as enterprise and industry found themselves without inducement for exertion.
It is ridiculously absurd to attempt to make this question one of isolated sectarian
concern. It comes home to the practical every day business transactions of life. Its
discussion falls within the province of all interested in the general prosperity.
We now dismiss the subject definitely; remarking that our object has been neither
hostility to one church nor partiality to another. If we know ourselves we have no
such motives to gratify. Our sole aim has been to point out an evil which common
sense is sufficient to perceive would operate seriously and permanently against the
growth and prosperity o f Memphis.

PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF A BREMEN MERCHANT.
W e furnish, happily, more frequently in the pages of the Merchants' Magazine’
biographical sketches of merchants, who, by their enterprise, industry, economy and
last but not least, integrity, have reached the “ golden gate ” of success in commer­
cial life. Such examples are not lost in their influence on the rising generation of
merchants. Nor will, in our judgment, the subjoined curious narrative of a Bremen
merchant, translated from the Zolnische Zeitung of September 11, 1851.
Henry Engelbert Haase, now sixty-eight years of age, having, when five years old,
been left the orphan of a small trader in Bremen, was adopted by a near relative of
his mother and brought up by him as his own son. This person, whose name was
Geisler, afterwards took him as a partner in business, and when he died, in 1806,
Haase continued the business in connection with Geisler’s widow, for about twenty
years, when the establishment was closed, Haase being considered as a man of large
property. He was one of the most highly respected men in Bremen—holding several
public offices, a trustee of the school fund, of the Missionary and Bible Societies, an
administrator on the estates of many deceased persons, and a guardian of several
orphan children. He gave the impression of the most active benevolence, and the
the highest integrity, and abounded in both public and private charities. No one ever
sought his aid in vain. He always gave with great liberality. Obliging in the highest
degree, he was always the man to whom his friends entrusted their obligations when
they were absent, on journeys or otherwise, from the city. Whatever was placed in
the hands of Haase was deemed perfectly safe. In 1818 he married into an old
Bremen family, but his wife died on the birth of her first child in 1814. Since 1830,
in which year he inherited $80,000 from the widow of Geisler, he was an alderman of
the city. A certain coxcombry—-for instance, he wore jewels and lace, which was not
usual, and took every means to conceal his age—was forgiven him on account of the
high esteem which he universally enjoyed. No one ever ventured in the slightest
degree to ridieule Alderman Haase— in the opinion of every one, he stood firmer than
any man in Bremen. With remarkable hospitality, he entertained, every week, a dis­
tinguished company of both sexes, and it was considered a great honor to be invited to
his parties. A degree of luxury was exhibited at his dinners which was excusable
only in a rich man without children. He pursued this course since 1806. His repu­
tation for honesty was perfect; but at that time he had commenced a career of
swindling on a large scale. In the very first year of his establishment, he spent a
great portion of the property of the widow, deceiving her with false accounts, and
paying interest on sums which were no longer in existence. In taking possession of
the Geisler legacy, he paid the tax of $8,000 to the State, although the property had
been previously made away with. This tax was paid with the public money, which,
since that time, he had used for himself, squandering it both in luxury and charity.
The whole amount o f his defalcation is not yet fully known. But it is certain that
there is a deficit of $100,000 in the School Fund, $8,000 in the Fund of St. Stephen’s
Church, which he attended twice every Sunday, and $9,000 in the Missionary Soc ety. In his annual statement of the different funds, he solicited the inspection of
the books, and often pretended that the value of the property had increased by advan­
tageous purchase and sale of stocks, frequently offering the overseers to show them




Mercantile Miscellanies.

133

the certificates in various closets and oaken chests. It was naturally deemed a gross
imputation on such an accurate accountant to accept the offer. In order to preserve
the honor of the city several of the inhabitants were willing to advance $10,000 or
even $20,000 to hush up the matter ; but it was too late; the affair had already got
wind. Justice must accordingly take its course. Everyone sees that it is a great
misfortune for Bremen, the consequences of which cannot as yet be fully calculated.
On Saturday, when the explosion took place, men wept like children ; they were pale
as death when they met on the Exchange, and all business came to a stand still. The
streets were perfectly hushed ; people stood in groups, speaking to each other in
whispers o f the astounding disclosures. The demeanor of Haase at the examination
greatly surprised the judges. With great composure he listened to the charge, dis­
playing no traces of distraction; and he still remains in a state of self deception, per­
suaded that he will receive pardon, as he confessed the crime and yielded himself to
justice when he gave up the accounts and resigned his office.

SKETCH OF A BALTIMORE MERCHANT,
We take great pleasure in recording in the pages of the Merchant^ Magazine, noti­
ces of the character of men whose lives have been devoted to mercantile pursuits,
especially when that character has been free from the blemishes which detract from the
reputation o f the intelligent and upright merchant. With this view we extract from the
Baltimore Price Current, the following brief sketch of J ames B eatty, one of Bal­
timore's “ oldest and best merchants,” recently deceased.
Mr. B. was a man of no ordinary mind; It had been much improved in his earlier
years, by extensive travel, and remained active and vigorous to the last. His long
life was well spent, and those who had known him say that in all his relations he had
never failed to perform his duty faithfully; and it was remarked by him only a few
days before his death that he knew of no act to regret, and if he had his life to live
anew, he did not think he could improve upon it. Throughout a mercantile career
of more than sixty years, he had been universally admired and esteemed; and now
when it is fully realized that his valuable life is closed, and his presence lost to the
community with which he had been so long identified, a blank the most profound is felt
at the sad though common dispensation. He has gone, but the light of his influence
still shines brightly and his memory will be longest kept fresh among those who
knew him best.
Mr. Beatty was born in Fredericktown, Md., in 17 V0, and came to Baltimore about the
year 1786. For a considerable length of time he was associated in business with Gen.
Strieker, upon whose resignation as navy agent at Baltimore, under President Jefferson,
he succeeded to that office, which he filled with the greatest ability until the adminis­
tration o f Gen. Jackson, a period of nearly twenty years.
Mr. Beatty was very fond of relating anecdotes of former days. Among numerous others
which his remarkable memory retained, was one connected with the period of our last
war with England, and which demonstrates the truth of our statements, in the
obituary of James Wilson* in reference to the liberality of one o f our old mercantile
houses. It is not only an instance of liberality, but of the most disinterested patriot­
ism. A t the. time of the approach of the British forces toward Baltimore, the U. S. navy
agent, Mr. Beatty, was placed in a somewhat unpleasant situation by repeated threats
from the soldiers in the regular army that unless they received, within a stated period,
all the wages due them, they had determined to revolt. The amount of funds in his
hands was far short o f what was required, and the banks of the city were called upon
to aid in making it up; but after this request had been complied with, there was still
not enough to satisfy the demand. A t this juncture, Mr. Beatty happening one day to
meet Mr. James Wilson, the latter gentlemen made inquiry as to how matters stood
with him in relation to the raising of the funds. Mr. B. related the circumstances,
upon which Mr. Wilson requested him to step to his counting-room, and he would give
him a check for the sum yet wanting, which was over $50,000. Mr. B. went to the
bank, and the check was duly cashed— the soldiers returned to duty— the battle of
North Point was fought shortly afterwards, the war was closed, and government again
* In the Merchants' Magazine for April, 1851, (vol. xxiv., page 516,) we published, under the title o f
u a merchant, philanthropist and C h r i s t i a n , ” a brief biographical notice o f Mr. James Wilson, the
gentleman alluded to in the present sketch.




134

Mercantile Miscellanies.

became enabled to discharge all its minor debts. Mr. Beatty made out a statement of
the indebtedness of government to Mr. Wilson, including interest, which he presented
to Mr. Wilson for his approval. “ Mr. Beatty ” said the patriotic merchant, “ you have
allowed me interest on the sum loaned ; sir, I want no interest—the money was lying
idle, and it was just as well that government should have the use of it.”

COMMERCIAL HONESTY AT A DISCOUNT,
We find the following in the New York correspondence of the New Orleans Com­
mercial Bulletin:
Cheseboro, Stearns & Co., (who failed a few days ago, but which I hesitated then
to name to you,) are to declare to-day how much they can pay on their $100,000
of liability. “ They will pay twenty-five per cent,” I heard a clerk in a store say this
morning. “ They will b e ------ fools, if they do,” exclaimed his employer, an old man
in gold spectacles. “ I suppose, sir,” he added, tinning to me, “ that you will think it
strange that I should say so. But they had better stow away all they can. They can
as well put away two hundred thousand dollars as not, and the world will think
better of them for doing it. Their honesty will not keep them from being despised if
they are poor. Look at my own case,” he continued. “ On the night of the ‘ Great
Fire' in shis city, I was worth $200,000. The next morning the contents of my store,
worth all that, were destroyed, and only $9,000 insured. I gave up all I had in the
world to my creditors, including a home in Warren-street worth $30,000. Not a cent
was reserved. And was my honesty appreciated! Not at all. My poverty rendered
me despised. One man whom I owed $6,000, which I paid, principal and interest,
called me ‘ scoundrel,’ though I paid a hundred cents on a dollar. That man, rich as
he then was, has broken to pieces, and paid only twelve and a-half cents on a dollar.
There’s my frie n d ---------------------, who failed at the same time I did, and saved
$150,000, and there is neighbor so and so, a similar case.” And he went on and
named over some half a dozen wealthy men, who have got rich by bankruptcy.
“ They ride in their carriages, and here X am keeping this little shop.” I told him I
had much rather be in his shoes than theirs, for conscious meanness must mar all their
pleasure. “ The world don’t agree with you,” he rejoined bitterly. I was sorry to see
the old man have so much feeling on the subject. The rich men whom he named may
flourish for a time, but “ verily they will have their reward”

THE EFFECT OF WAR ON COMMERCE.
The following statements, which we extract from Baine’s History o f Liverpool,
strikingly illustrate the results of a naval war to the mercantile classes:—
T he A merican W ar. and the C otton T rade.— In spite of the efforts of the mer­
chants engaged in the American trade, of many of the ablest men in the country un­
connected with Commerce, and of the urgent and angry remonstrances of the Ameri­
can Government, the English Government adhered resolutely to the policy of the or­
ders in council, until the spring of 1812. According to a statement of President Mad­
ison to the American people, upward of a thousand American vessels were seized^
under these orders, in the high seas. These were carried into English ports ; many of
them condemned, and all subjected to heavy losses. During the whole of this time,
from 1807 to 1812, the American merchants of Liverpool continued to remonstrate
against these orders, both on the ground of policy and principle. They contended
that, by inducing the American Government to retaliate, they inflicted infinitely greater
evils on England than on France ; and, moreover, that however just they might be as
measures of retaliation against France, they were altogether unjust in their operation
on neutral nations. At the beginning of 1812, these remonstrances became more ur­
gent, as the commercial and manufacturing distresses became greater; and as it be­
came more evident that a perseverance in the policy of the orders in council would
produce a war with America. In the years 1810 and 1811, the opponents of the or­
ders of council obtained the powerful assistance of the present Lora Brougham, then
Mr. Brougham, who was already pre-eminent among cotemporary statesmen and
orators, for his great attainments and his powerful eloquence. By his advocacy, aided
by the pressure of the mercantile and commercial classes, the English Government
had resolved to suspend the orders in council. The repeal of the orders was celebrated
in Liverpool by a public dinner, at which Mr. Brougham was present, and by a public




Mercantile Miscellanies.

135

meeting, at which thanks were voted to the leading men who had taken part in pro­
curing their repeal; among whom Mr. Thornely, the present member for Wolver
hampton, had particularly distinguished himself by his activity and zeal. Unfortu­
nately, the concession came too late. War against England was declared by the
American Government in the same month, of June. In the course o f this war, which
lasted more than two years and a half, the losses of both nations were enormous, while
their successes were so nearly balanced that they were both heartily glad to accept
the mediation o f the Emperor of Russia to put an end to the strife. In the course of
the conflict, from eight hundred to a thousand English merchant ships were taken by
the American privateers and ships of w ar; and at least an equal number of American
merchantmen were taken by British cruizers. In the latter part of the war, the risk of
capture was so great, that the freight on cotton from Savannah to France rose to lOd.
a pound. A t the close of the contest, upward of 200,000 bales of cotton, which was
more, than a year’s supply, were piled up in the warehouses of America; while in this
country, that great article of consumption was sold at prices ruinous to trade. The
Liverpool Mercury o f May 7th, 1813, quoting from an American insurance list, says:—
“ The following is a statement of the premiums of insurance on the coasting trade of
Boston, on the 3d ult.:— To Eastport, 7 to 10 per cent; other eastern ports, 2 to 5 ; to
New York, £6 to £7 10s.; to Philadelphia, £1 0 ; to the Chesapeake, £12 to £15 ; to
North Carolina, £17 to £ 1 8 ; to South Carolina, £21 to £28 ; to Savannah, £22 to £25.
With regard to foreign trade, it is emphatically stated in the insurance list that there
is none remaining, except to France, and the premium upon voyages to that quarter is
30 to 50 per cent 1” On the other side of the account it appeared, from a return made
to the House of Lords, that from the 1st of October, 1812, to the 1st of May, 1813
382 British ships were captured by the Americans, of which 66 were retaken and 20 re­
stored, leaving a loss of nearly 300 British ships in seven months.

MAXIMS FOR YOUNG MERCHANTS.
Keep good company or none. Never be idle. If your hands cannot be usefully
employed, attend to the cultivation of your mind. Always speak the truth. Make
few promises. Live up to your engagements. Keep your own secrets, if you have
any. When you speak to a person, look him in the face. Good company and good con­
versation are the very sinews o f virtue. Good character is above all things else.
Your character cannot be essentially injured except by your own acts. I f any one
speaks evil of you, let your life be so that none will believe him. Drink no kind of
intoxicating liquors. Ever live, misfortune excepted, within your income. When you
retire to bed, think over what you have been doing during the day. Make no haste
to be rich if you would prosper. Small and steady gains give competency with tran­
quillity of mind. Never pla^ at any kind of game of chance. Avoid temptation,
through fear you may not withstand it. Earn money before you spend it. Never
run in debt, unless you see a way to get out again. Never borrow if you can possibly
avoid it. Do not marry until you are able to support a wife. Never speak evil of any
one. Be just before you are generous. Keep yourself innocent, if you would be hap­
py. Save when you are young to spend when you are old. Read over the above
maxims at least once a week, and adopt the maxims and examples of mercantile mo­
rality inculcated and exhibited from time to time in the pages of the Merchants' Mag­
azine, and success will crown your efforts in the battle of fife.

PHILLIPS’ PATENT FIRE ANNIHILAT0R.
W e learn from the Liverpool Chronicle that Lord Derby has put the efficacy of
the machines to a severe test. He had the building in the park, at Knowsley, known
as the dairy, which his Lordship is about to puU down, prepared for the purpose. The
building is circular and of considerable dimensions, with windows and doors all round,
aU of which were taken out, admitting a strong current of air, which was increased by
a sort of funnel ventilator opening through the roof. This was filled with a very large
body of dry poles, pine boards, a large quantity of dried faggots, and the place weH
bedded with shavings, &c. For the purpose of keeping up a fierce fire, a dozen tar
barrels were placed in the center of this pile. Mr. Francis Morton, of the firm of Fran­
cis and H. J. Morton, of North John-street, the sole agents for the patent, attended and
minutely described the invention and the machines to Lord and Lady Derby. The
fire was allowed to burn for some time when his Lordship gave the word, and the




136

Mercantile Miscellanies.

machines were struck off. From the moment the vapor was brought to bear upon
the burning pile, the flames became instantly controlled, and were extinguished with
the marvelous rapidity which characterizes the invention, and in a few minutes the
whole body of fire was put out. A ll present expressed their satisfaction at the com­
plete success which had attended the trial.

THE TRICKS OF TRADE.
It would seem, from the following lines by “ Eunice,” a fair contributor to the colums of the “ Carpet Bag ,” that the “ tricks of trade ” are not confined to the “ goods,
wares, and merchandise ” of the merchant and mechanic, but that the D. D. and the
M. D., and even “ Eunice,” are not exempt from their influence.

THE TRICKS OF TRADE.
BY EUNICE.

“ There are tricks in all trades,” says the worthy
divipe,
“ But professions are held to be free,
And mine is a holy calling—at least
They can find no fault with me.”
Then other men’s sermons are preached as his
own.
And the author no credit is paid:
Of course it is only a sad mistake—
But it lookslike a “trick of trade.”
’Tis the tricks of trade and the gift of gab
Fills the lawyer’s purse with gold,
And little he cares, if ’tis gain to him,
Though a hundred hearts are sold.
He can take the poor, honest widow’s last mite,
And the orphan’s last loaf of bread,
And still his conscience, (if any he has,)
With “ it is only, a trick of trade.”
The skillful M. D. some patient has,
Who is gaining in strength each day—
’Tis a pity, sighs he, such a chance to lose
In a family able to pay;

So I’ll give him this powder to weaken him
down,
And his friends will all think he must die,
And I’ll visit him often, till on my books
His father stands pretty high.
I can easily raise him at any time,
And ’twill add to my practice, I’m sure,
For the case will be told of for miles around
As a most miraculous cure.
What matters it if, by some schemes of mine,
Some few in their graves are laid ?
They only take their chance with the rest—
It is only a “ trick of trade.”
So goes the world. I knpw a young man
Who is worth his thousands to-day.
And thousands more will be added to that
When an uncle steps out of the way.
I scraped an acquaintance the other night,
And siege to his heart I laid—
And if 1 win it, you may rest assured,
It is only a “ trick of trade.”

COMMERCIAL PROGRESS OF THE AMERICANS.
An English cotemporary thus describes the social and commercial phenomena 'which
the United States now exhibits, for which, as the writer justly remarks, it would be
in vain to seek a parallel in the past history of the human race.
In an interval of little more than half a century it appears that this extraordinary
people have increased above 500 per cent in numbers; their national revenue has aug­
mented nearly 700 per cent, while their public expenditure has increased little more
than 400 per cent. The prodigious extension o f their commerce is indicated by an in­
crease of nearly 500 per cent in their imports and exports, and 600 per cent in their
shipping. The increased activity of their internal communications is expounded by
the number of their post-offices, which has been increased more than a hundred fold,
the extent of their post roads, which has been increased thirty-six fold, and the cost of
their post-office, which has been augmented in a seventy-two fold ratio. The augmen­
tation of their machinery of public instruction is indicated by the extent of their pub­
lic libraries, which have increased in a thirty-two fold ratio, and by the creation of
school libraries, amounting to 2,000,000 volumes. They have completed a system of
canal navigation, which, placed in a continuous line, would extend from London to Cal­
cutta, and a system of railways which, continuously extended, would stretch from
London to Van Dieman’s Land, and have provided locomotive machinery by which
that distance would be traveled over in three weeks, at the cost of 1-Jd. per mile.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

137

They have created a system of inland navigation, the aggregate tonnage of which is
probably not inferior in amount to the collective inland tonnage of all the other coun­
tries in the world, and they possess many hundreds of river steamers, which impart to
the roads of water the marvelous celerity o f roads of iron. They have, in fine, con­
structed lines of electric telegraph which, laid continuously, would extend over a space
longer by 3000 miles than the distance from the north to the south pole, and have
provided apparatus o f transmission by which a message of 300 words dispatched un­
der such circumstances from the north pole might be delivered in icriting at the south
pole in one minute, and by which, consequently, an answer of equal length might be
sent back to the north pole in an equal interval.

THE SOUNDS OF INDUSTRY,
BY FRANCIS D. GAGE.

I love the banging hammer,
The whirring of the plane,
The crashing of the busy saw,
The creaking of the crane;
The ringing of the anvil,
The grating of the drill,
The clattering of the turning-lathe,
The whirring of the mill;
The buzzing of the spindle,
The rattling of the loom,
The puffing of the engine,
And the fan’s continual boom;
The clipping of the tailor’s shears,
The driving of the awl,
The sound of busy labor—

I love, I love them all.
*
*
*
*
*
For they tell my longing spirit
Of the earnestness of life—
How much of all its happiness
Comes out of toil and strife.
Not that toil and strife that fainteth
And murmureth on the way—
Not that toil and strife that groaneth
Beneath the tyrants sway ;
But that toil and strife that springeth
From a free and willing heart—
A strife which ever bringeth
To the striver all his part.

SUCCESS IN MERCANTILE LIFE,
The Mirror, a cleverly-conducted “ folio of four,” published at Bath, in the State of
Maine, furnishes the following illustration of that perseverance and industry which is
generally pretty sure to command success :—
There is nothing more true than that success in life is sure to follow any well-direct­
ed efforts, which do not clash with the immutable laws of nature. “ Luck ” is a
word that has no place in the vocabulary o f the successful man, and is used only
by those who are so blind or ignorant as to be unable to trace effects back to
causes. W e do not propose an argument from this text to-day, but merely wish to
present the idea to our readers for them to discuss. There are feelings of despondency
prevalent among mankind, which the consideration of the subject will dissipate, and
many who believe themselves doomed to poverty and toil, by giving earnest heed to
the faith which this truth will create, will find themselves rising at once from misery
they so much fear. Fear of bad luck operates as a continual check on many, crushes
enterprises and prostrates energies. It is the “ conscience ” that
------- “ doth make cowards of ua all,”
and only by taking a rational and common-sense view of the operating causes that
change our position and affect our well-being, are we enabled to profit by them, and
shake off the chains that our weakness and irresolution have permitted us to become
enslaved with.
The luck doctrine places an erroneous estimate on exertion, and consigns success to
the care o f the
“ Divinity that shapes our ends,”
and makes a machine of man’s immortal nature. W e have seen many a poor devil
resigned to the hopelessness of his poverty, sit for hours with his pipe, cursing the tar­
dy divinity that should enrich him, and wasting the moments which alone could do it.
“ As j e sow, so shall ye reap,” is as true to-day as ever it was, and he who would sue
ceed in becoming wealthy, learned or moral, must labor, study, watch.




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Mercantile Miscellanies.

W e are every day reminded by forcible illustrations of the power of exertion. In
this city (Bath) there are many examples in proof. W e have before us one remark­
able case, where, unaided save by their own hands and the friends their own energies
naturally drew around them as their business increased, two poor men in a very few
years amassed one of the largest fortunes in the city. Their ships are in every sea,
and at home their houses and stores line every street, and the busy hum of scores of
mechanics speak their increasing wealth. Unable to obtain a liberal education, and
with talents no more than ordinary, they had nothing to boast but the determination
to succeed. It was not luck but common sense which told them that a dollar put at
interest would be worth more at the end of the year than it would be if expended for
rum and cigars, military parades or dancing. It was not luck but natural accumulation
of the investment that, in a few years made the one dollar two dollars, the first hun­
dred two hundred, and the first ten thousand twenty thousand. It was as natural for
the “ pile ” to grow as it is for grain to take root. There was no chance about it— it
must be so. Industry and economy were their only aids to obtain the first few thou­
sands, the last few were obtained by the first. There is nothing marvelous in all this,
nor any thing which any person of common sense might not avail himself of. It is
plain matter-of-fact business, and no god o f fortune can rub it o u t; and no god o f ill
fortune can overstep proper guards erected to secure you in possession of what you
have thus got your hand upon.
We might give innumerable instances, but leave that labor to the reader, contenting
ourself with having called his attention to the subject

NEW METHOD OF EXTRACTING SUGAR FROM THE CANE.
Dr. Shier, agricultural chemist to the colony of British Guiana, has discovered a
method of extracting an extra quantity of sugar from the juice of the cane by substi­
tuting subsidence and filtration for skimming, in the clarification of the juice. By this
means he obtains nearly 20 per cent more than by the ordinary process, and the juice
yields from 1 lb. 4 oz. to 1 lb. 10 oz. of muscovado per gallon.

ORIGIN OF THE PENNY POSTAGE SYSTEM IN ENGLAND.
A traveler sauntering through the lake districts of England some years ago arrived
at a small public-house just as the postman stopped to deliver a letter. A young girl
came out to receive it. She took it in her hand, turned it over and over, and asked
the charge. It was a large sum—no less’than a shilling. Sighing heavily she observ­
ed that it came from her brother, but that she was too poor to take it in, and she re­
turned it to the postman accordingly. The traveler was a man of kindness as well as
o f observation; he offered to pay the postage himself, and in spite of more reluctance
on the girl’s part than he could understand, he did pay it, and gave her the letter. No
sooner, however was the postman’s back turned than she confessed that the proceeding
had been concerted between her brother and herself; that the letter was empty, that
certain signs on the direction conveyed all that she wanted to know, and that, as they
could neither of them afford to pay postage, they had devised this method of franking
the intelligence desired. The traveler pursued his journey, and as he plodded over
the Cumberland fells he mused upon the badness of a system which drove people to
such straits for means of correspondence, and defeated its own objects all the time.
With most men such musings would have ended before the close of the hour, but this
man’s name was Rowland Hill, and it was from this incident and these reflections that
the whole scheme of penny postage was derived.

BRITISH CUSTOMS DUTIES—1850-51.
A return has been laid before the British Parliament of the gross amount of the
customs dues received at all the ports o f the United Kingdom, exclusive of London, in
the year ending January 5, 1851. The gross amount received in the ports of England
in that period was £6,961,629 ; in the ports of Scotland, £1,251,981 ; and in ports of
Ireland, £2,055,925 ; making a total o f £10,960,535.




The Book Trade.

139

THE BOOK TRADE.
1. — The Works o f John Adams, Second President o f the United States : With a Life
o f the Author, Notes and Illustrations. B y his Grandson, C harles F rancis A dams.
Yols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8vo., pp., 542, 576, 588, and 496. Boston: Little and Brown.
The second and third volumes are chiefly filled with a diary o f Mr. Adams, which
commences with his first entrance into responsible life, and continues through a large
part of his great career. It is somewhat broken and partial in its character, but it
develops so much of the tenor of his life as to enable the reader easily to detect its
leading principle. The second volume closes with passages from an autobiography
of Mr. Adams. Those are marked by superior animation in style. They also supply
some of the details that are wanting in the diary. These two volumes appear to
have been prepared with great judgment and discrimination. The diary is fairly and
faithfully presented, even without regard to its bearing. Indeed the main purpose
seems to have been, to present to the public a fair and unbiassed picture of the mind
and heart of an individual so far as this can be of interest. The diary extends to
1778. That portion of the autobiography covering his Congressional life as then commenced. It includes all the notes taken of debates in the Continental Congress.
These, meager as they are, constitute almost the sole remaining memorial of the kind
that has come down to us. Some of them relating to the state of trade, the authority
to institute governments and the formation of the articles of confederation, although
fragmentary, possess an intrinsic value for every one who desires to understand the
true history of the Revolution. The remaining volumes contain the very able work of
Mr. Adams entitled the “ Defence of the Constitutions of the United States against
the attack of M. Turgot in his letter to Dr. Price, 22dj March, 1778.” This is the chief
performance o f the author as a writer. It is worthy of his high fame in other
respects.
2. — Appletons’ Dictionary o f Machines, Mechanics, Engineer-work, and Engineering:
Designed f o r Practical Working Men, and those intendedf o r the Engineering P ro­
fession. 2 vols. 8vo., pp. 960 and 960. New Y ork : D. Appleton
Co.
As a work for mechanics, engineers, and practical men, who are interested in any of
the branches of mechanical industry, this is unquestionably the most important that
has ever been published in this country. The progress which those pursuits have
made within a few years has been wide and rapid; at the present moment thev may
be regarded as scarcely inferior in importance to any other departments of industry.
It is to furnish a text-book, and a convenient and compendious work of reference for
such a vast field, that those two volumes have been brought out. They may be
regarded as particularly American and national in their character; for while they
contain the experience and knowledge of Europe on mechanical subjects, they are en­
riched with all the important details of American ingenuity. The plates and cuts of
machinery, many of which are working-drawings of machines, exceed four thousand in
number; these are generally made with such distinctness and intelligibility that a
mechanic can successfully construct a machine from them. In its pages are embodied
complete practical treatises on mechanics, machinery, and engine-work. The appear­
ance o f the work, originally in numbers, has attracted to it a very general and favor­
able notice. In its present form, it comes within the means of all who are interested
in mechanical subjects, by all of whom it should be patronized.
3. — The Ladies o f the Covenant. Memoirs o f distinguished Scottish Female Charac­
ters, embracing the Period o f the Covenant and the Persecution. Ry Rev. J ames
A nderson. 12mo., pp. 494. New York: J. S. Redfield.
These are sketches of the lives of women who were distinguished by their zeal and
their sufferings on account of of religious belief during the reign o f James 6th and o f
his grandsons, Charles II. and James Y II. The notices are not historical, but contain
such illustrations of their personal piety, and such portions of their domestic history,
as time has spared. They are written in an interesting and animated manner, and af­
ford much insight into the customs and habits of social life in those days, as well as de­
lineate the spirit of piety which prevailed among the covenanters.




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4—.The Complete Works o f Martin F. Tapper: Authorized Edition.
12mo., pp. 419 and 416. Philadelphia: E. H. Butler.

Vols. 3 and 4,

These volumes complete the recent edition of this author’s work. They are very
beautifully printed and bound. The third volume contains “ Ballads for the Times,”
“ Geraldine,” “ Hactenus,” “ A Thousand Lines,” and other poems. TBe fourth volume
commences with an “ Essay on Proverbs,” by an American, which appeared in an
edition of this volume issued a year ago. Then follows “ The Proverbial Philosophy,”
first and second series; and a “ Modern Pyramid,” which consists of seventy sonnets
to distinguished men of all ages. The latter portion of the volume is occupied by a
translation from the Anglo-Saxon, of the poems of King Alfred. The author of these
volumes is an elegant writer whose pages are marked by a singular and unusual sim­
plicity of thought combined with good sense and kind feelings. The sentiment is
always pure and good. It flows from sympathy with the mass of mankind rather
than from any peculiar taste, or attachment to classes. These merits are sufficient, if
there were no others, to secure favor and popularity to such agreeable volumes.
5. — Cabinet o f Modern A rt, a Collection o f Twenty-five Subjects from Modern Mas­
ters. Engraved in the Highest Style o f Mezzotints. Illustrated by Appropriate
Articles in Prose and Verse. Second Series. 8vo., pp. 264. Philadelphia: E.
Hunt Butler.
This, the second of a series of works illustrative of modern art, is destined to take
a high rank among the illustrated books of the times. The engravings, twenty-five in
number, are in Sartain’s best, and we may add, the highest style, of mezzotinto. The
subjects are selected with taste and a nice appreciation of the beautiful. The let­
ter-press illustrations are in keeping with the pictorial, and it would be a work of su­
pererogation to say more on that head. Mr. Butler has already acquired an enviable
eminence as a publisher of rare taste, and by his liberality to artists, authors, and all
concerned in the morale and material of book-making, set an example worthy of all
imitation. The typography, paper and binding of this volume will not suffer by com­
parison with the best gift-books produced either in Europe or America.
6. — Old Testament Scenes and Narratives. Being a Second Series o f the Good Child’s
Library. 16mo., 12 vols. Philadelphia : Hogan, Perkins & Co.
W e have seldom met with a series of books more attractive, or better adapted
to the taste and capacity of children, than the present volumes. The series con­
sists of twelve volumes, comprising scenes and naratives in the Old Testament,
each separate and distinct from each other, having no other connection than similar­
ity of form and style. The following are the titles of each of the volumes, v iz :—
1. The Garden of Eden. 2. The Flood. 3. Dispersion of Mankind. 4. Departure of
the Israelites. 5. History of Absalom. 6. History of Isaac. 7. History of Jacob.
8. History of Joseph. 9. History of Moses. 10. History of Joshua. 11. History of
Samuel. 12. History of David. Each volume is illustrated with two beautiful col­
ored engravings. The scenes and histories are all conveyed in easy and graceful verse;
and the whole series is printed on a fine snow-white paper, in a style that would be
creditable to works designed for “ children of a larger growth.” This will be regarded
as an important feature, by all who can appreciate the advantages of implanting in
the young mind a taste for the beautiful in nature and art. It is second only in impor­
tance to that of implanting in the young heart and mind the lessons of truth and
goodness.
7. — The American Almanac and Repository o f Useful Knowledge, f o r 1852. 12mo.,
pp. 352. Boston: Little & Brown.
This is the twenty-third volume of this useful publication. It is sufficient to say of
it that in no respect does it appear to fall short of its predecessors. The information
which it contains is very complete in relation to all the civil Departments of the coun­
try, and the accuracy with which it is prepared is well known. This is doubtless the
most valuable work of the kind published in the country.
8. — Moby-IHck; or, The Whale. By H erman M elville . 12mo., pp. 634. New York:
Harper <fe Bros.
Those who expect to find an agreeable and entertaining volume in this will not be
disappointed. In some parts it may be rather diffuse, but as a whole it will be read
with gratification, The Whale forms the subject of i t ; in connection with it is intro­
duced character and scenes of that peculiar kind which impart so much life and spirit
to this author’s works.




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9. — The fifteen Decisive Battles o f the W orld; from Marathon to Waterloo. By E.
S. C beasy , M. A., Professor of Ancient and Modern History in University College,
London. 12mo., pp. 364. Hew Y ork : Harper & Bros.
It may after all be a disputed point whether the great drama of human affairs would
have been vastly modified had any other issue than that which really occurred, been
the consequence of these battles. The author assumes the affirmative of this question,
although we are disposed to believe that principles control men, and if their develop­
ment is even seriously defeated at any period, they will under another form manifest
themselves and struggle for the supremacy. Either view of the case does not affect
the value of this able work. Its prime excellence consists in that wide knowledge of
human affairs, that deep insight into the causes of human actions which the author dis­
plays. The scenes which he describes possess an inconceivable interest, and the skill
with which he traces the consequences of events gives to his work more than usual
value and importance.
10. — London Labor and London P o o r ; A Cyclopedia o f the Condition and Earn­
ings o f Those that W ill Work, Those that Cannot Work, and Those that Will Not
Work. By H enby M ayhew . Yol. I. 8vo., pp. 231. The London Street Folks.
New York: Harper & Bros.
W e have had occasion repeatedly to notice the numbers of this work as they ap­
peared. The present volume comprises the numbers thus far issued. The condition
of the humbler classes in an ancient citji like London,— their various pursuits, the
manner in which the industrious, and as. well the idle, live, presents a picture of hu­
man society from which the veil has never before been so fully removed. The state­
ments seem to be entirely l-eliable, and they are such as all persons should peruse.
11. — Drayton. A Story o f American Life, 12mo., pp. 274. New Y ork: Harper
& Bros.
The hero of this tale rose from the shoemaker’s bench to an eminent position before
his country, as the author represents him. There are many fine passages in its pages,
and much graceful writing, but to us the tale seems to lack interest, and appears as
if it had been written at wide intervals.
12. — The Talisman, an Offering o f Friendship. With Oil Colored Illuminations from
Designs byJOevereux. Edited by G. H enby D. M oobe. 8 vo., pp. 262. Philadel­
phia : Hogan & Thompson.
One of the leading features of this gift-book is its twelve illuminated illustrations,
designed by Devereux, and executed in the best style of the a rt; and another, and not
the least, is that it differs from the majority of the works of its class, inasmuch as in
the literary department there is a judicious blending of the pleasing with the useful—
the entertaining with the instructive, so as to render it not only a welcome visitor in
the holiday circles, but a work of permanent value and interest for all time. The
original papers are well written, and the selections made with taste and discrimination.
13. — The Course o f Creation. By J ohn A ndebson, D D., with a Glossary of Scien­
tific Terms. 12mo., pp. 376. Cincinnati: W. H. Moore ; New York: Mark H
Newman.
This is a handsome reprint of a work by an eloquent Scotch Geologist. The au­
thor writes with remarkable clearness and purity of style, and discusses with much
ability the several geological questions of the day. He takes a middle course be­
tween those who make the several geological periods glide into each other insensibly,
and by changes prolonged through an almost indefinite period, and the more summary
system of those who believe the successive periods were broken up by sudden pertur­
bations on a tremendous scale. Thus he links the present phases of the earth’s sur­
face with its past history in the remotest geological era. The work is one of that se­
ries o f admirable volumes which has been produced in Scotland within a few years,
and that are so well adapted to general reading.
14. — The Young Lady's M entor; A Guide to the Promotion o f Character— in a
Series o f Letters to her Unknown Friends. By A L ady. 12mo., pp. 281. Philadel­
phia : Peck <fc Bliss.
Few works for young ladies will be found more attractive than this volume. It
abounds in excellent sentiments, which are presented in such an attractive and enter­
taining manner as to secure a welcome with all who can appreciate the useful when
combined with the agreeable.




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15. — Personal Memoirs o f a Residence o f Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the
American Frontier ; with B rief Notices o f Passing Hvents, Facts and Opinions, A .
D. 1812 to A . D. 1842. By H enry R. S choolcraft. 8vo., pp. 703. Philadelphia:
Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
The author of these memoirs has already become well known to the public by his
works on the Indian Tribes of the North-West and kindred subjects. In these pages
he spreads before us many of the daily incidents of a thirty years’ residence on the
Western frontiers. These facts are interspersed with much information, both of a civil
and a scientific character. The latter relates to the mineralogy of the country, and its
physical geography, while the former refers more directly to the official intercourse
of the writer with the tribes. The work introduces us to a great variety of charac­
ters, the names of many of whom are familiar. It will be found one of the most in­
structive and generally agreeable volumes which has been offered to the public, in re­
lation to that famous race of men who are now so rapidly passing away.
16. — The Human Body and its Connection with Man, Illustrated by the Principal
Organs. By J ames J. G. W ilkinson, Member o f the Royal College of Surgeons,
England. 12mo., pp. 411. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
The appearance o f this volume should be hailed with gratification by all friends of
science, especially of the science of man. It will, however, be some little time before
it comes to be understood; but it is none the less valuable on that account. It is
rather difficult to understand clearly the mieaning of the author in every sentence, in
consequence of the novel views presented, and the novel service required of language,
which the author uses with great power and force. Neither are we prepared to assent
to the views of the writer, but these, especially as they relate to human physiology,
will do much to break down that torpidity of spirit winch has seemed to hang upon
the subject. It is for this object we are pleased to see the work, and we recommend
it as one o f thought and power to all readers.
17. — The North Carolina Reader : Containing a H istory and Description o f North
Carolina, Selections in Prose and Verse, Historical and Chronological Tables, and
a Variety o f Miscellaneous Information and Statistics. By C. H._W iley . Illustra­
ted with engravings, and designed for families and schools. 12mo., pp. 359. Phila­
delphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Co.
The selections in this work are made from speeches, writings, &c., of eminent citi­
zens of North Carolina, and will be instructive to those who are not familiar with the
history of that State.
18. — Jamie Gordon; or the Orphan. 12mo., pp. 326. New Y ork: Carter & Brothers.
A s a tale o f life in the East this is one of uncommon interest. The little hero is a
character worthy of imitation of all youth. The influence of these pages is of the
best kind, and the volume is justly entitled to a place among the books o f every
family.
19. — The Lady’s Companion; or Sketches o f Life, Manners, and Morals at the present
day. Edited by A L ady . 12mo., pp. 888. Philadelphia : Peck & Bliss.
The contents of this volume have been selected from the choicest articles of many
writers of the best class. They consist of pieces in perceptive, elegant, and imagi­
native literature, with here and there a gem of poetry, all bearing an intimate relation
to the conduct of life, and and addressed to female readers.
20. — Agatha's Stories. The Thunder Storm, and Other Tales. Marie the Orphan,
and Other Tales. Philadelphia: Hagar, Perkins & Co.
The design of this admirable series o f books is to embody moral truths, in the form
o f simple illustrations adapted to the comprehension of young children. This design
the writer has accomplished in a manner that cannot fail of rendering them among the
most attractive as well as instructive books of the class.
21. — The Soldier’s Cap ; or, I 'll be a General. Timour the Tartar ; or, I ’ll be a Con­
queror. Philadelphia: Hagar, Perkins & Co.
Two pretty and interesting historical stories, in which the author shows that while
history proves that many great and good men have acquired the reputation of con­
querors, military fame is neither the most desirable nor enduring; and at the same
time time corrects the taste for war, so prevalent among the youth of our country.




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22. _Handbook o f the Useful A rts ; including Agriculture, Architecture, Domestic
Economy, Engineering, Machinery, Manufactures, Mining, Photographic and Tele­
graphic A r t ; being an exposition o f their principles and practice, and a compend o f
American and European inventions. By T. A ntisell, M. D. 12mo. pp. 692.
23. — Handbook o f Universal Biography.
By Parke G odwin . 12mo., pp. 821
New Y ork: G. P. Putnam.
The Home Cyclopedia of Mr. Putnam to which these two volumes belong, promises
to be one of the most valuable productions of the season. In six volumes it will com­
prise all the leading and important departments of knowledge. The volumes before
us which are probably fair specimens of the work, are admirable as handbooks, or
dictionaries of reference in the subjects to which they relate. They are brought up to
the latest period,— the information is from the most reliable sources, and they have
been edited by gentlemen of taste and intelligence. As an American work, adapted
as well to the state of knowledge in this country as elsewhere, they are entitled to the
first rank.
24.

— Rural Homes; or Sketches o f Houses Suited to American Country Life, with
Original Plans, Designs,Ac. By G ervasse W heeler . 12mo.,pp. 298. New York:
Charles Scribner.
A ll those who contemplate building a place o f residence, may perhaps derive ad­
vantage from this volume. It commences with the first foot-tread upon the spot
chosen for the house; explains the considerations that should weigh in selecting a
site; gives models o f buildings suited to particular localities, differing in character, ex­
tent, and cost; shows how to harmonize the building with the surrounding scenery, and to
reconcile expenditure with refinement of taste; teaches how to warm and ventilate
healthfully, and to furnish and ornament a house and complete the outbuildings. It is
prepared with judgment, and displays excellent taste combined with economy in its
recommendations.
25.

_Sacred Streams; or the Ancient and Modern History o f the Rivers o f the Bible.
By P hilip H enry G osse. Edited by G eo. B. C heever , D. D. Embellished with
fifty illustrations. 12mo.,pp. 360. New Y ork : Stringer & Townsend.
As a work for the perusal of those who are seriously inclined and at the same time
desire to obtain information, this is entitled to be received with considerable favor.
The Rivers and Streams of Palestine and the neighboring lands, hallowed by their
mention in the Bible, and the narratives of high interest connected with these scenes,
are the objects o f the work. It is written in a lively and attractive manner, at the
same time it has a spirit o f devotion spread through its pages sufficient to render it a
general work for the Sunday reading, which it was destined to furnish. The embellish­
ments are exceedingly numerous, and form not the least attractive feature of the
volume.
26— A year abroad; or, Sketches o f travel in Great Britain, France and Switzerland.
By W illard C. G eorge. 12mo. pp. 248. Boston: A. Tompkins.
An American in Europe, who shall preserve hi9 American principles and views and
look at the world around him in that light is a rare character. The present volume
may be regarded as an exception to the numerous eulogies on foreign countries. In
this respect, the reader will find in its pages much to interest him. It is to be regretted,
that the author had not been better acquainted with continental languages, thereby to
have entered more fully into the spirit of the manners and customs of the people.
27. — The Christian V ictor; or, Mortality and Immortality: including Happy DeathScenes. By J. G. A dams. 18mo. pp. 216. Boston: A Tompkins.
The author of this volume is one of those whose charity leads to the conviction of
the future bliss o f all mankind. It is under this genial and consoling thought that the
contents of lhi9 volume have been written. The first part treats of death and kindr
subjeets relating to this life, and is followed by the details of a large number of happy
death-scenes in various parts of tbe country. It is written in a tender and kindly spirit.
28.

— Ruth Churchill; or, the True Protestant. A Talef o r the Times. By a L a d y o f
12mo., pp. 224. New Y ork : C. Shepard A Co.
Under the form of a very pleasing tale this author attempts to expose what she
regards as follies in the Protestant Episcopal Church. These relate rather to the
doctrines o f the “ Tractarians.” To those who sympathize with her views this w ill
prove an interesting tale.
V

ir s in ia .




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The Book Trade.

29. — Sketches in Ireland. By W . M. T hackeray, author of “ Vanity Fair,” <SiC. Em­
bellished with thirty-eight engravings from original designs by the author. 8vo.,
pp. 172. New York: H. Long & Bros. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson.
Thackeray is too well known as an author to need commendation. His Irish Sketches
are among His best things. With such a field for humor and in such hands, a work
that is produced cannot well be otherwise than instructive and entertaining.
30. — Sir Roger De Coverley. By the S pectator. 12mo., pp. 233. Boston: Ticknor,
Reed <k Fields.
Those papers of the Spectator in which Addison draws the admirable character of
Sir Roger De Coverley, form the contents of this volume. It is one of the choicest gems
o f literature, and in the beautiful dress in which Messrs. Ticknor & Co. have issued it,
few works of the kind are to be preferred.
31. — Florence, the Parish Orphan; and a Sketch o f the Village in the Last Century.
By E liza B uckminster L e e , author of “ Naomi.” 12mo., pp. 176 Boston: Ticknor,
Reed <Ss Fields.
Two brief tales are here presented to the reader. They are marked by that deline­
ation of the affectionate and simple minded Christian character which shines so
brightly. The style in which they are written is quite smooth and flowing, and they
possess far more than ordinary merit.
32. — Chambers' Papers f o r the People. Vol. 1. 12mo., p p .260. Philadelphia: J. W.
Moore <fc Co. New Y ork: 0 . A. Roorback.
This volume is the first of a series of twelve, which are intended to form a valuable
library of popular information. The papers are of a higher character and better order
than the contents of such volumes generally.
33. — The Game Cock o f the Wilderness; or, The Life and Times o f Dan Marble. By
F alconbridge. 12mo., pp. 235. New Y ork : Dewitt & Davenport.
This memoir of the noted comic actor, Marble, is well done; it abounds in anecdotes
and incidents full of entertainment.
34. — Pickings from the Portfolio o f the Young 'Un. 12mo., pp. 159. New York;
H. Long & Bro’s.
These pages contain Yankee stories, or rather stories illustrative of the Yankee char­
acter : they are apt and humorous.
35. — Dreamland by Daylight. A Panorama o f Romance. By C aroline Cheseboro.
12mo., pp. 422. New Y ork : J. S. Redfield.
As a series of miscellaneous papers, the contents o f this volume possess much sweet­
ness and beauty. The language is very smooth and flowing; the tales abound in
pleasing scenes and impressive incidents, such as are calculated to please all readers,
and find favor with the accomplished and discriminating.
36. — Utterance; or Private Voices fo r the Public Heart. A Collection o f Home Poems.
By Caroline A. B riggs . 12mo., pp. 255. Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co.
This is better than the mass of fragmentary poems. Many o f them have much
sweetness, and smoothness, and grandeur of thought. They display much skill in ver­
sification, and will be read with entertainment and gratification.
37. — Reveries o f an Old Maid, embracing Important Hints to Young Men, Illustrative
o f the Notable Arrangements o f that celebrated establishment, “ Capsicum House."
Embellished withforty-three Original Engravings. Second edition. 12mo., pp. 188.
New York: Dewitt & Davenport.
As a satire upon many of the follies connected with the manner of educating young
ladies of the present day, this volume possesses much merit. The humor is inexhaus­
tible, and quite free from affectation and weakness.
38. — A Method o f Horsemanship, founded upon new principles, including the breaking
and training o f horses— with instructions f o r obtaining a good seat. Illustrated with
engravings. By F. B oucher. From the ninth Paris edition.
No works on this subject have ever met with the rapid success of this volume. It
seems to have become authority in the troops of France. In the author’s opinion, the
horse requires a preparatory exercise to enable his forces to afford each other mutual
assistance ; without this, everything becomes mechanical and hazardous, as well on his
part as on that o f the rider.