Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : January 1858, Vol. XXXVIII, No. I

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H U N T ’ S

MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE
AND

RE V I E W.
JANUARY,

1 85 8 .

Art. I.— AN EXPOSITION (IP THE CRISIS OF 1857.
T I ! K C R IS IS A H O P E F U L E V E N T — T H E “ SIC K . M A N ” W I L L G E T B E T T E R I F I IE H A S C O N S T IT U T IO N E N O U G H
— N O F A T A L L E S IO N 6 I N A G R IC U L T U R E , M A N U F A C T U R E S , R A I L R O A D 8 , O R C O M M E R C E — T H E A M E R IC A N
H O U S E S O U N D , B U T T H E P A R T N E R S IN

D E B T T O E A C H O T H E R — S K E T C H O F T H E G R O W T H A N D P R O fl-

P E R I T Y O F T H E P A R T N E R 8 — P U B L IC O P IN I O N A S T O T H E

SO U R C E OF IT — T H E F IN A N C IA L P A R T N E R »

W I T H G E N E R A L A P P R O B A T I O N , IN T R O D U C E S T H E S A M E P R I N C IP L E I N T O H IS D E P A R T M E N T , A N D ISSU ES
P A P E R M O N E Y , A N D O U T S T R IP S T H E O T H E R S— C O M P L I C IT Y O F T H E 6 T A T E W I T n T H E F I N A N C I A L P A R T ­
N E R — T H E S Y S T E M IS U N E Q U A L , B U T T H E O T H E R P A R T N E R S T H I N K
T H E IR P R O P E R T Y M O R E D E E P L Y — A

M ON EY BO TH V E R Y PLEN TY A N D V E R Y SC A R CE , A N D P R 0 P 0 8 E D
BETW EEN

THE

PARTN ER

P A R T N E R S — N O T IC E O F S E T T L E M E N T — H O W

S T R E N G T H E N IN G

R IG H T , A N D M O R T G A G H

H IS P O S I T IO N — E X T E N T

MORE M O N E Y ” —

RE FO R M 8— ST A TE M E N T O F ACCO U N T

R E C E IV E D — W H Y

D IS A S T R O U S E F F E C T S , A N D T H E O S T E N S IB L E R E A S O N S F O R G I V I N G

H O U S E — T H E Y SU E F O R R E L IE F , A N D

IT A L L

P R IN C IP L E S E T T L E D ! “ T H E M O R E D E B T , T H E

O B JE C T IO N A B L E — I T «

IT — S K E T C H O F T n E F I N A N C I A L

O F IT — CONSEQ UENCES TO T H E

REST

OF TH E

I N V A I N — A B S T R A C T R IG H T S L I M I T E D B Y T E R M S O F P A R T N E R ­

S H IP — T H E R IG H T A N D W R O N G O F T H E C A S E — T A E C O L L IS IO N — G E N E R A L P R O T E S T D A Y — Q U E S T IO If
W H IC H W E N T

T O S E T T L E M E N T — Q U E S T IO N S T IL L P E N D IN G — P R O B A B L E

R E L IE F

M EA SU RE S— IN E F ­

F E C T U A L A S R E M E D Y — IN J U S T I C E A N D T Y R A N N Y O F T H E B A N K S Y S T E M — N A T U R E O F D E B T -M O N E Y —
W H A T D O E S N O T C O N S T IT U T E M O N E Y — T H E C R E D I T SY S T E M — IT S L E G I T I M A T E P R O V I N C E A N D B O U N ­
D A R I E S — W H A T 18 M O N E Y — P R I V A T E D U T IE 8 S U I T A B L E F O R T H E T IM E S .

T he financial troubles o f the country need no longer want a proper
name. A t first, scouted as panic, senseless and causeless, for the full cure
of which only a little confidence was needed; then discussed under the
name of the pressure, which was tardily admitted to be the fact by the
rhetoric were
public journals,
panic, its guilty accessory :—-these troubles at length arrived at the dignity
and importance of a crisis. The suspension of the banks o f New York
city, after two months o f boast and defiance, during which period they
were (according to their own showing) alike impregnable under siege and
assault, and bearing aloft the banner on whose ample folds was inscribed
the financial honor o f the country, ceased to be a dim possibility, but a




20

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

present and significant fact. Virtually, if not formally, the other banking
institutions of the country followed suit, and suspension general, if not
total, became the order of the day.
I think we may congratulate ourselves and each other that we at length
reached a crisis. For a crisis, unlike a panic, has in it elements of hope,
and often premonitions o f returning health and strength. Our “ sick
man,” the financial system, has been for a long time in unhealthy condi­
tion — his bloated form and feverish activity proclaimed that— but of
late, like Job, covered from the crown o f the head to the sole of the foot
with malignant boils slowly progressing to a head, his sufferings have
been intense. But, with the crisis, the aching and throbbing malady
reached its acme o f agony; relief or dissolution must follow. And the
constitution of our Young America is by far too firm and springy, for us
to think for a moment he is on his last legs. Let us try and learn the
facts of his case.
In July last, the fears which had been entertained earlier in the year
respecting the crops were fairly dispelled, and it became evident that not
merely average crops, but abundant plenty, would crown the harvests o f
the year. An unusual breadth of land had been put under plow and
harrow, and the earth was justifying the largest expectations. It was
nowhere disputed that never before had the soil been so largely planted,
and yielded so bountifully. Whatever else might happen, there could be
no lack of bread. Not only enough for our people themselves to eat, but
after a careful comparison of figures, from eighty to one hundred millions
of dollars’ worth to sell to other nations, after the necessary abatements
to supply the wants of a rapidly increasing population. The great inter­
est o f the country— the agricultural— was safe beyond contingency. How
great the values which have been lifted from the soil by the powers of
nature, under man’s husbandry, since the snows of 1856, will appear best
from census returns, and necessary inference from them.
In 1850, the annual value of the agricultural products of the country
was but a fraction short o f $1,300,000,000; the estimate of 1854 was
put at $1,600,000,000; and it is believed the figures of the year 1857
reached $2,000,000,000. It is, and was seen to be months ago, a hand­
some income for a single branch o f industry— agriculture.
Take another department o f labor— manufactures. They have been in
the main prosperous and growing. Though, in exceptional cases, and for
brief periods, falling short of the expectations of proprietors, (when were
men’s calculations of gain ever fully realized ?) the manufacturing interest
has been steadily and largely increasing. In 1850, its annual creation of
values footed $1,000,000,000, and it is no unreasonable estimate that
places them, in 1857, at $1,500,000,000.
Thus, in two departments o f labor— agriculture and manufactures—^there
have been produced by the labor and skill of our people $3,500,000,000.
But when to this vast sum are added the profits which have been made
by our ships, plowing every ocean, bringing and carrying the commerce
of the country, and the profits upon our domestic or internal commerce,
which together were rated, in 1850, at $1,500,000,000, the annual returns
from these three sources alone reaches from five to six thousand millions
of dollars. A people whose yearly creation o f values is measured by
figures of this magnitude ought not to reckon themselves insolvent with­
out a clear demonstration from facts and figures that such is their condi­




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

21

tion. An income like this is large enough to stand some losses, and pay
for some improvements upon the farm, without breaking down the pro­
prietor, and sending him into corduroy, and his wife and daughters into
nome-spun.
But improvements had been made upon the farm which complicated
the question. Nearly 25,000 miles o f railroad had been built, and the
money had been partly borrowed. They had cost $825,000,000. In
many cases they had paid good dividends upon the stock, and kept up the
interest m oney; in others, not— for they had been pushed boldly in every
direction— and the creditors were not now pressing for their pay. Whether
they were a 3 or 10 per cent investment for the individual stockholders,
there was no doubt the railroad improvements were a remunerative in­
vestment for the farm; the country had profited in its increased product­
iveness vastly in consequence of them. They were no South Sea Bubble
— no Credit Mobilier— through which everybody was going to get rich
they knew not how— by doing they knew not what— by the simple force
of accumulated capital, and whose splendid assets turn out, upon investi­
gation, to be but splendid debts. Whatever shifting valuations may be
put upon the stocks by the caprices, or fears, or reckless gambling of
Wall-street, the iron highways and the iron steeds remain, and can earn
their living, nay, pay for their keeping, and something more, in dragging
to the seaboard the heavy granaries o f the W est
Upon these vast high­
ways of commerce and pleasure rest some $80,000,000 of direct railway
obligations, and about as much more in State and city obligations, issued
for railroad purposes; and this comprises the whole registered f o r e i g n
indebtedness. W e speak not of the whole bonded and floating debt upon
the railroads of the United States owned at home— that is another mat­
ter. One hundred and sixty millions of dollars upon property which cost
eight hundred and twenty-five millions, is no ruinous and hopeless debt.
Twenty per cent only of their cost owed for abroad— the balance, of 80
per cent, belonging to the American people. Any one of us, owning a
house which cost to build it $5,000, would not regard a mortgage upon
it of $1,000 as an alarming indebtedness. What, therefore, as a people,
we owe abroad for our railroad system is no fatal affair; much less fit
cause for a general downfall.
What else do we owe for abroad ? Nothing but the account current
o f our merchants for such importations as their shipments of produce
and gold'have not already canceled. Put it at $90,000,000— one quarter’s
purchases, according to last year’s figures. Two hundred and fifty mil­
lions foreign indebtedness, and five thousand millions profits on agricul­
ture, commerce, and manufactures! Foreign debt, 5 per cent on one
year’s income— a large part o f the debt not yet d u e! And when to in­
come is added the value o f capital which the industry and thrift o f former
years has produced, that has not been spent, but remains— the farms, the
fences, the dwellings, the shops, stores, manufactories, bridges, railroads,
steamboats, ships, mines, &c., which constitute some part of the wealth
of the country, and rated, exclusive of United States government property,
at $18,000,000,000, it becomes no mere flourish o f declamation, but just
sober truth, that, as a people, not only are we not ruined, but wealthy and
prosperous beyond all precedent. The A m e r i c a n h o u s e is sound unde­
niably.
A ll this was apparent three months a g o ; for with the balance-sheets




22

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

of commerce, with their array of statistics of industrial progress of every
kind spread out every day in the year in the columns of the newspapers,
of the most newspaper-reading people in the world, it was not possible to
be ignorant of it. And yet two months ago witnessed the first steps
towards an insolvency, which is now scarcely less than universal. Tem­
porary, indeed, this insolvency must prove, but actual, none the less, and
disastrous beyond all computation, before its depths are fully sounded.
W e will not stop for any description of our condition. No words can
do it justice. Every man feels that wholesale ruin came upon us, and
that it descended upon us with the rushing speed of a tornado.- The par­
ticular route by which we have come, whether it was the best, or a safe,
or necessary one at a ll; and still more the causes of it, may better engage
our attention. To these we shall revert hereafter. But first—
What is this disaster which has come upon us, when our resources are
so magnificent? D e b t — not to foreign countries, but among ourselves—
not on the European account, but to one another. The American house
is indeed sound, and both can and will pay its foreign debt, but the part­
ners are in debt to one another. Their accounts with each other, instead
of being adjusted daily, or quarterly, or half-yearly, or yearly, have run
on, and the balances from time to time have been charged over. There
has been no actual settlement these twenty years, and the account between
the partners is now a formidable one.
The agricultural partner has bought more land than he could pay for
down, in the assurance of good times— his credit was good, and the secu­
rity upon his land undoubted— why shouldn’t he ? His surplus profits he
put into more acres, instead of paying up his debts of bonds and mortgages
and the tradesman’s account. This latter as a sound financier he ought
not to have had at all, for, as he got ready pay for the products of his
acres, he should have given ready pay for his supplies, and paid up his
tradesman’s account before he invested in more land. lie has been easy
about his mortgages too, but there was a reason for that, for the merchant’s
friend, the capitalist, could use the mortgage more profitably than the
money they represented, and so they are undischarged on the record,
though many of them are past due.
And the mercantile partner, he is in debt. He had shown rare enter­
prise, skill, energy, and versatility, his credit was good ; why should’nt he
use it? To the rest of the world he represented the American house, its
purchases being made by him for the benefit of the concern. His credit
ought to be good certainly, and buying on credit he could give the agri­
cultural partner credit, and take from him profits on larger sales, than if
he gave none. Besides, after his mortgages were paid, there would be a
good margin of property, on real estate basis, and the improvements clearly
belonging to the former— it was safe to trust him.
Linked in with the mercantile and agricultural partner, is the manu­
facturer. He had no capital to begin with, but the other partners having
got along in the world, he persuaded them to let him into the partnership
and lend him some money to start with. This they did, and took certifi­
cates of ownership and right to a share o f the profits, which were called
stock. The new partner’s business promised not only to pay them directly
good profits upon their investment, but indirectly to benefit the former
by making a better and more convenient market for the products of the
farm, and ultimately, if not immediately, to furnish the manufactured




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 185V.

23

fabrics better and cheaper than any foreign houses could. It was a good
idea for all times, but especially in case any misunderstanding should
arise with foreign houses, as might sometimes be tne case in spite of the
best intentions. But though supplied with his fixed capital by the other
partners on easy terms, he could not buy his cotton and other materials
except for cash, and as he sold through the merchant only, and the
merchant gave credit to his customers, the manufacturer must give the
merchant credit. And so the manufacturer must borrow money of some­
body to buy his cotton with. He too was in debt.
After a while the railroad partner was admitted into the firm on the
same conditions as the manufacturer. He had no capital, but the others
had done well, and becahse the railroad partner promised the merchant
to bring him more customers, and the farmer a market with better prices
for his produce, all concluded to lend him some money, and take certifi­
cates of ownership in his road and cars, which also were called stock, and
upon which they were to draw a portion of the profits of the new business,
the prospects of which were so inviting. And so this was done, and rail­
roads were built every which way, and they quickened business amazingly,
and every one of the partners reckoned it an excellent arm of the general
enterprise. But as we have seen, this railroad partner was in debt too.
From the beginning of the common enterprise— the American house—
there had been in the partnership, rather as a silent than active partner, a
member of whom no account has been given— the money partner. As
he had no trouble in disposing o f his goods as the merchant had, or in
making them as the manufacturer had, or in raising them as the farmer
had, instead of a variable profit, he had come to receive for the use of his
money, a fixed yearly rate called “ interest,” which was regarded by all as
about the share which he, taking no risks of bad crops, shipwrecks, fires,
etc., and performing little or no labor, was fairly entitled to. This rate
was about what he would get. in any o f their employments, upon an average
o f good and bad years for agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, over
a long period of time and-after the losses had been paid, less only by the
value of his labor, which he not being an active partner, had not given.
For it was always understood that his loans should be amply secured and
paid at the day. He undertook to supply money to the partners, as their
exigencies might require and his purse hold out.
The money partner was held in high repute by the other partners.
His share-interest was promptly and cheerfully paid, because it was rea­
sonable in its rate, and the success of the other partners in their respective
employments enabled them to do this and still prosper. There was a
little chafing at times to be sure, because the money partner would not
wait for his, payments a day after they were due, and sometimes, a large
part of his money being in the hands of the agricultural or other partners,
there was not enough left for the merchant’s wants; but such disappoint­
ments were in some way got along with and all were thrifty. The money
partner though a little crisp and positive, was sagacious and cautious, and
a favorite in the firm, and the others were not unfrequently saved from
losses by his constitutional and habitual prudence. And when by sales
to foreign houses beyond their purchases from them, the agricultural or
manufacturing partners received money balances, this enabled them to
extend their operations in their several departments, and the shortness o f
the money partner's purse to be less sensibly felt. In process o f time many




24

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

of their loans from the money partner bad been paid u p ; but new avenues
for enterprise and capital were constantly opening, so that the money of
the capitalist never wanted employment for any considerable period. And
when by industry, by skill, and by plenty o f hard work (for the American
house had been brought up to that) they produced larger crops, or manu­
factures than usual, so that prices fell, they sold off a part to foreign
houses, and got in a little money, which added to the money partner’s
stock, made prices rise again to a fair average. The introduction of laborsaving machines was quite in their way— (for they liked to set the brooks
and streams, the steam and iron, and everything else, to work)— which had
also a tendency to bring down prices, and there seemed no good reason
why, in time, the American house should not be the cheapest house to
trade with in the world, as well as live the best.
At this point the money partner grew jealous of the rapid advance in
prosperity of the other partners, and became ambitious to emulate their
good fortunes. If getting credit was the source and secret of their success,
which seemed to be the prevailing opinion, (for hard work was too much
a second nature with all the partners, for them to think much abopt that,)
why should not the money partner do business on credit ? If borrowing
was so much for their advantage, it could serve him, none the less. Surely,
if their obligations to pay were good, his would be.
And so he bethought himself to issue his promises to pay, and lend
them as money. Everybody said they were just as good as money, and
vastly more convenient to carry. The proposition was hailed with gene­
ral acclamation. The manufacturer, the merchant, the farmer, all the
partners could use more money than they already had to manifest advan­
tage, and with it put on foot many new and splendid enterprises. By all
means, let it be done, was the general cry.
The money partner wrote his notes o f hand payable on demand, and
lent them as money to his clamorous partners, who cheerfully paid the
interest on them, and bought, sold, built, and ran in debt, on a larger
scale than before. Prices rose and the disposition to trade was greatly
stimulated, for every buyer expected to become a seller upon a rising
market. It was a time of great prosperity. Everybody said so, and the
enterprise of the money partner was undoubtedly the cause of it. The
more money the house had, the richer it was, that was self-evident. And
the money partner’s notes were just as good as m oney; ergo, they were
money. Were they? They served to raise prices and to exchange goods
between the partners just as money would. But, were they equally good
to pay debts with? W e shall see.
Enlarged operations and enhanced prices soon used up the new money,
and the demand was as great as ever for more. Meanwhile the money
partner, finding his business increasing, had opened an office, called a
bank, where besides his usual business o f loaning, he would undertake to
keep securely for the other partners such money as for short periods they
could not profitably employ, and return it to them on demand. The ser­
vice was a good one, and promptly welcomed by all. And so the other
partners made deposits with the money partner for safe keeping. But
he very shortly discovered that what one depositor drew out, another
depositor soon brought in, and that a large amount o f deposit money re­
mained steadily on hand. W hy should not he borrow that and lend it
out on interest ? To this the depositors offered no objection, provided he




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

25

kept himself always prepared to return it to them on demand. It was so
much more available money in the community and all wanted money;
besides, the banker could turn an honest penny by getting interest upon
it, while he borrowed it for nothing. Indeed, it came to be the estab­
lished custom and law that the other partners must lend the money
partner a handsome sum in deposit money for nothing, if they expected
him to loan them any on interest.
With the new supply of money thus made available, prices o f course
rose, and as everybody said the banker could pay his debts both to his
noteholders and depositors, nobody thought o f asking him to pay, and he
lent his notes more freely than before. The American house grew with
astonishing rapidity. What caused it? W hy, the banker’s enterprise.
It was that which made us, undeniably.
And the State also became a borrower of the money partner o f the
American house. The credit of the State was so good that it never paid
risk-rates for the use of money. The security was undoubted, and being
so, the State had usually borrowed at low rates of interest when it had
occasion to borrow at all. But the money partner could do better, lend­
ing to the manufacturing, or commercial, or railroad partner, than to the
State. How was it arranged 2 To loan the State at low interest as here­
tofore, and permit the money partner to make a profitable thing of it ?
Simply thus. The State permitted the money partner to issue his pro­
mises to pay to just as large an amount as the State had promised to pay
h im ; and these, with the State’s indorsement, he could loan to the other
partners. It was admirable. He could loan all his money to the State
and draw interest upon it, and then have just as much money as before to
lend the other partners o f the house and take interest from them. And
the statistics of his office showed that from the State, from the mer­
cantile and other partners, upon his notes and deposits, he could and
often did obtain interest upon from two and a half to three times his
capital. For instance, suppose the money partner had $100,000 to
begin with. This he loaned to the State, and got interest upon it. The
notes which he was thereupon permitted to issue he loaned to the other
partners of the house, which was a second interest; this usual reported
soundness, and the guaranty o f the State, brought other handsome de­
posits into his hands, and these also in considerable amount he loaned
and took interest upon.
On the whole, it was clear that the money partner o f the American house
was by far the shrewdest of the firm.
For his notes with the indorse­
ment of the State came to be reckoned as money ; and nobody thought
of asking him to pay them. W ith such extraordinary credit, he easily
distanced the other partners of the house, in doing business profitably
upon borrowed capital. There were some inequalities indeed, which those
not embarked in the rush and rivalry of the house could not but remark.
One was, that while all the other partners had to pay interest on their
notes which they lent to the money partner, he had none to pay on his,
but on the contrary got interest upon them. Another was, that while
they were obliged to pay up the principal on theirs, he was seldom
troubled with such a demand. It was the singular facility o f the money
partner of the house, to be so good, that he was almost never called on to
pay his debts:— and he might go on, and get rich upon the interest of
what he owed.




26

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

But prices were rising, all kinds of business increasing, new lands set­
tling, new cities springing up, new railroads building, and new mines of
nnexanjpled richness were opening. The prosperity of the various part­
ners was unprecedented and indisputable.
For their teeming plans,
money was in still more fierce demand, and the slight inequalities just
mentioned, disturbed nobody, seriously. The demand for money was un­
flagging, notwithstanding its enormous plentifulness. The money part­
ner reposed in his old security, high as ever in the confidence of all. Of
his solvency, guarantied as his notes were, by the State, it was idle to
doubt. The money system which he had built up, was regarded by all
the partners as the perfection of finance.
Besides the satisfaction with the money partner, which the other part­
ners would naturally feel, arising from the “ facilities,” (as they were ac­
customed to call his loans to them,) which he afforded them for enlarged
undertakings, and the advancing prices which followed in their wake;
there were other grounds for the good-will they cherished towards him.
The discovery being once made that his promises to pay, or notes, would
answer just as well as money, and provided there was a property basis,
the money partner’s promises might be indefinitely multiplied ; the other
partners had a desire to enter the new field which the money partner’s
sagacity had opened. From two-and-a-half to three legal interests on
money was a handsome profit, and left a good margin after paying office
expenses. As by taking each other into limited partnerships or by invest­
ments with each other, as it was called, the merchant had become entitled
to a share of the profits of the manufacturer, the railroad and the other
partners, each other’s enterprise, while each in turn was enabled to do a
larger business by what he borrowed from the others ; and the common
bond of mutual debt and mutual ownership, while it fostered the private
interests of each, by the same cord of self-interest constrained them to
stand by and uphold each other— why not make a similar arrangement
with the money partner? To this the money partner readily acceded—
for it being agreed now on all hands, that provided there was a property
basis, it was immaterial how many promissory notes the money partner
issued, he could enlarge his loans and of course his profit by all the prop­
erty which they could contribute. It was removing the foundation stones
of their houses and putting them into superstructure, but then the houses
were mutually supporting, and did not need so much.
The other partners, therefore, took stock or ownerships with the money
partner, entitling them to a participation in his profits. For instance, the
agricultural partner mortgaged his land for a part of its value to the
money partner, and paid him thereon 7 per cent. With the money thus
obtained he bought o f the money partner an interest in his business, or
stock, upon which he often received 10 or 15 per cent dividends. And
so with the others. Each o f the partners of the American house became,
as it is seen, a participator in the profits, in the losses, and in the risks of
the other partners. Each wras doing business on borrowed capital, and
the actual property o f the house in the aggregate was less than the
nominal, by the aggregate o f all the debt the partners owed each other.
Was the debt large? Yes, but the partners had entire confidence in
the solvency of each other, and the credit system, by common consent,
had been the making of them. Confidence was just as good in their trans­
actions with each other as California gold, and a much cheaper article.




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

27

And the principle seemed established in the house, that the more they
could get in debt to each other, and especially to the money partner, the
more money they might and would have, and the richer consequently
they would be.
Interlocked, interlaced, mutually supporting and mutually dependent,
the American house went ahead. Experience demurred; political econo­
mists said, “ take h e e d b u t the reply was “ no musty precedents lor the
American house. Our conditions, equally with our career of prosperity,
are unprecedented. Go to financial men for knowledge of the laws of
finance, and not to the school men. Practice is better than theory.”
The American house went ahead, the money partner spread another
sail, and the others let out canvas accordingly.
Money grew plentier
than ever, and faster than ever it was swallowed up in new schemes, by
the partners.
The demand for money was still unsatisfied, unusual rates of interest
(from 12 to 36 per cent) were given for the use of it by the other part­
ners of the house—not indeed directly to the money partner, but to parties
who borrowed of him. The general opinion was, that money was scarce
because it drew such interest. Some thought, the old fashioned legislative
restriction upon the rates of hire should be taken off, so that competition
might have free play, and that thus the rates would come down. There
were those, who shook their heads to this proposal as unavailing for the
end desired. By the sure guidance of principles they knew, that high
rates of interest denoted not scarcity of money, or the disproportion now
between the money of a country and the exchangeable products of it; but
disproportion between money and the debts which were to be discharged
by it; and that high rates of interest proclaimed not insufficiency o f
money, but plentifulness of debt. But they were unheard in the general
cry, that the train, though under prodigious headway, was on the track,
and all right.
Let us review now the affairs o f the partners between each other, and
collectively, with the money partner.
The agricultural partner owes to the extent of all the mortgages which
rest upon his lands. The railroad partner owes to the extent of his bonds
and floating debts. The merchant and manufacturer owe a large amount
of promissory notes. All the partners owe to each other, in these and
other forms, as well as to the financial partner, a vast sum total, of which
precise statistics are wanting or inaccessible.
But the property o f these
partners exclusive of money is reckoned at 815,000,000,000— a vast sum,
and on any supposition which could be reasonably made, an ample
guaranty for the ultimate payment of the debts of the partners to each
other, as well as their debt to the money partner; which latter, of course,
amounts to the whole of the money partner’s loans. These loans and dis­
counts were in January, 1857, according to the latest returns then attain­
able, 8813,000,000. The bank movement up to the middle of the year
1857, was an expanding one, which would somewhat increase the amount
due the money partner from the other partners. To pay their debts of
every sort to each other and foreign houses as they matured, the other
partners had in metal and paper, say 1600,000,000— (8200,000,000 in
specie, and 400,000,000 in paper o f the money partner, also reckoned as
money.) Their debt to the money partner, was, as we have seen, over
8800,000,000. This debt alone, would sweep their till if called for at




28

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

once, and require $200,000,000 more from some quarter to make up the
deficiency, and leave them moneyless to pay the first dollar of their debt
to each ether and abroad.
And how stand the money partner’s affairs? By the same returns, the
circulation and deposits of the money partner, (or the banks of the United
States,) were $431,750,000 ; to pay that, he had specie to the amount of
nearly $60,000,000, a per centage of 13 cents to the dollar, and large as­
sets of various kinds. The bank movement up to the middle of the year,
was an expanding one, and it is safe to estimate the proportion of money
in the money partner’s hands, to his obligation, as 1 to 10. If required to
pay his debts at once, he could discharge $43,000,000 o f them ; but that
would leave nearly $390,000,000 balance to be paid by the assignee after
the property was disposed of to the highest bidder. Under the ordinary
usage of the partners for twenty years, viz., to keep running accounts,
and charge over balances— the money party was sound and had large and
valuable assets.
Such was the condition of the house in the summer of the year 1857.
Every one of the partners had abundant assets or property, and large in­
debtedness. None of the partners had money enough to discharge their
debts. All the partners had an ample property basis, and would be
wealthy after the payment o f their debts, collected and paid by a slow
course of liquidation. But either and all the partners, if forced to pay in­
stantly in money, were inevitably and hopelessly insolvent.
And now the money partner, who enjoyed vast influence in the Ameri­
can house, and was regarded with confidence, and whose sway had been
undisputed for many years, sent out notice to all the other partners, that
they must pay him his dues. There was no intimation given of his pur­
pose— no discharge of blank cartridges preceding.
The notice was a
demand, decided and peremptory. All must liquidate their dues to him
without delay. The other partners at once endeavored to comply with
his demand. For so great was the preponderance of the money partner
in the house, that his demand was equivalent to a command. It was he
who held the scales in which all the partners were weighed; he appor­
tioned to each and all the amount to which they might run in debt:—
if a partner was right with the money partner, he was right with all— if
the money partner found him wanting, from that decision there was no
appeal. Obedience, general and unhesitating, was therefore the common
impulse and endeavor.
It was an obvious dictate of mercantile courtesy, and scarcely less than
a right, in a house where confidence played so large a part, that a running
account of twenty years’ standing, should not be forced to a settlement,
full of disaster to one or more o f the partners, implying total withdrawal
of confidence, except upon the most cogent and decisive reasons. Favors
had been given and received on both sides; if mercantile paper— less the
interest— had been received for bank paper; bank paper on the other
hand had drawn the wages of money in interest from the confidence which
commerce had extended to it. From no source whatever was it apparent
that the present was any more the fit, proper, and necessary time for
general liquidation than any other of the preceding six, twelve, eighteen,
or twenty-four months. W hy make to-day universal pay-day instead of
yesterday, or to-morrow ? The question was unanswered, and remains so.
No answer can be given which does not criminate the money partner for




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

29

past negligence in suffering the currency of the country to he eviscerated
of its money and sent abroad— a result it was entirely in his power to
bring about, or hinder, in spite of tariffs high or low. Since he had under­
taken to furnish a currency which should have all the functions of money,
not only to exchange commodities at home, but to be a steady measure
of values, and convertible at any moment, and in any quantity, into the
money of the commerce of the world, it was his business to do it. With
this negligence, and the immeasurable consequences to every interest of
the American house, he is justly chargeable. Nor can the charge be
avoided, unless he is ready to plead guilty to the indictment that he has
made nefarious alliance with the “ bears” of Wall-street to play out, on
the broader arena o f the American continent, by the destruction of
all values, the desperate game o f depreciation to which the railroads
were devoted earlier in the season. By him the question will remain
unanswered.
Instantly a great and terrific change passed over the American house.
Commerce, external and internal over a continent, ceased; manufactures
ceased; the gathered harvests of the land were locked up, and tens of
thousands, from store and factory, were turned adrift to face hunger and
cold through the winter. A nation’s industry, itself worth three thousand
five hundred million dollars per year, or nearly a million a day, was para­
lyzed. To vast indebtedness, which will task the sinews of labor for years
to lift, is added the enormous waste and demoralization of enforced idle­
ness. The fiat, “ let every man leave his work and set about paying his
debts,” went forth. The eager pursuit of wealth gave place to the mad
and ineffectual pursuit o f debtors, who had nothing to pay with but
property, (which now, by that same fiat, was made inconvertible,) and
who, at the word, start off on the same hopeless errand and with the same
fruitless results.
W hat ostensible reason did the money partner give for his course. He
said he needed to “ strengthen his position” by reducing his liabilities.
No special opposition was offered to that at the outset; it was a good
thing, certainly, for the money partner to be thoroughly solvent, since the
welfare of all the other partners depended on his stability, and the with­
drawal o f his indebtedness, until he could reach a safe position, a matter
of prime necessity. All acquiesced therefore. What, in the money part­
ner’s judgment, would constitute a safe position, the others became curious
to know.
A million per week began the contraction; another week, another
million of withdrawal; a third week, four millions; a fourth week, four
millions more. Heavens 1 what is the money partner about ? Is he mad—
is he malicious— is he not in a safe position yet ? A t the end of the fourth
week the New York city banks (for they, by their location at the com­
mercial metropolis o f the country, as well as from their number and cap­
ital, virtually controlling the finance movements o f the country, do fitly
represent the money partner at this juncture) were in as good position as
they were January 3d of the year. The money partner regarded himself
as safe then— nay, so safe that he could advance his loans from one hun­
dred and nine millions, at which they stood January 3d, to one hundred
and twenty-two million dollars— their figure August 8th, the beginning of
the contraction. With a larger capital by nine millions than he had at
the beginning of the year, with a specie reserve and deposits substantially




30

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

the same they were then, surely the money partner was as sound as a nut.
Nobody doubted his solvency then, nor was it questioned now. Bank­
ruptcy in the other houses had already reached an alarming figure, and
the wheels of commerce and industry were everywhere greatly impeded.
The attitude of the New York city banks was imposed upon all other
banks throughout the country by the inevitable connections of commerce.
The stone cast in the water there, sent its waves in ever enlarging circles
to the remotest point. Through a period of thirty-one weeks, from
January 3d to August 8th, an expansion had been going on which put
into the currency nine million dollars. In four weeks this had all been
withdrawn !
But not yet had the money partner got into a safe position. Another
three millions of withdrawal marked the end o f the fifth w eek; two more
weeks, four millions m ore; at the end of the eighth week, four millions
more. In eight weeks of contraction, the fifty odd banks o f New York
city alone withdrew twenty-one millions of bank debt! and the remaining
1,350 banks of the United States did likewise. How dreadfully unsound
our money partner must be, or judge himself to be, if his case requires
such vigorous treatment 1
And the other partners— it was curious to see the force of habit and
custom over them. Though ruin was descending upon them thicker and
faster every hour, and the integrity o f their own houses was the very stake
at hazard, applauded the money partner’s movements, and said he was a
brave fellow, and they must stand by him !
But the dramatic applause of the other partners began at length to be
quenched by the imminency of their own fortunes. The public journals
had bawled themselves hoarse with the stereotyped phrases, always cur­
rent in such bewilderments of finance, of “ panic,” senseless and stupid;
of private extravagance, and, loudest of all, were preaching “ confidence”
as the universal panacea, which would have been all well enough if it had
been aimed in the right direction; but they were discharging right into
the breasts of those whose weakness had been that they “ loved, not wisely,
but too well,” instead of into the bank parties. Here, if ever, during the
eight weeks reign of terror which the banks had inaugurated, in the steady
support which the other partners had yielded the money partner, was ex­
hibited the spectacle of a “ confidence” grand enough in its proportions
to stand beside the lakes and rivers, the cataracts and mountains, the
resources, enterprise, and universal grandeur o f the American continent.
There was no confidence wanting anywhere but in the bank parlors of the
money partner towards the other partners of the house, or in his own
solvency; and the confidence game began therefore to be a worn out
affair, and men began to feel as well as think in prodigious earnest.
Let us return a step for explanations. The movement of the money
partner to strengthen himself, abstractly considered, was right enough.
If he could get his debtors to a settlement, and with the avails curtail his
own debts, he would undoubtedly be stronger; but the debt o f the money
partner— viz., his circulating notes— was, in great part, the other partners’
money to pay their debts to him, and to each other, with. The faster the
money partner got out of debt, the less money the other partners had to
pay theirs with— for two-thirds of all the money of the house consisted
of the money partner’s debts, or circulating notes; and as the aggregate
property of the other partners was much larger, and their aggregate debts




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

31

much larger, than those o f the money partner, every dollar of his debts
which the money partner got retired, made it vastly more difficult for the
other partners to pay theirs. It became evident, therefore, that the other
partners could not pay their indebtedness to the money partner, to each
other, and the indebtedness o f the American house abroad, with a cur­
rency diminished by the amount o f the money partner’s debts, or any
considerable part of them, and that total and absolute ruin of their estates
was inevitable.
The common bond of indebtedness to one another, under which they
had long been living and prospering, and which, by common consent, was
regarded as the Archimedean lever, by which the vast fortunes o f the
American house had been lifted up, was found to be also a terrible power
for ruin. The two-edged sword which they had reckoned all potent to
cut a way through the natural obstacles o f a new country, had also a
back-stroke which could cut most keenly. Give the money partner his
way, let him call in his dues, pay his debts first, and the solvency o f his
house was indeed assured and his property impregnable; but then every
other interest, mercantile, manufacturing, agricultural, railroad, &c., must
be leveled to the earth. Fifteen thousand millions (for the property of
the other partners, as we have seen, foots that) must be unsettled in its
values, change hands, and be subjected to the losses o f forced liquidation
for what it might owe.
Whatever therefore the abstract right o f the money partner to collect
his dues, retire his debts, and maintain the vaunted solvency of his house,
he was using it tyrannously. As a co-sharer in the common prosperity
which had come of their mutual indebtedness, lie ought to have had some
forbearance towards his friends. But to such representations the reply
was, that it was his business to make profits for his own house, and the
rest must take care o f themselves.
But neither mercantile courtesy to his friends, nor his rights as an iso­
lated individual, were by any means the full measure o f the money part­
ner’s obligations to the other partners. B y the terms o f the partnership,
their exclusive business was to create values and exchange them— his to
provide them a currency stable at all times, and available for every pur­
pose of money. It was no part of their duty to buy, more or less, of
foreign houses, or to trouble themselves about the exchanges or balance
of trade with them. It was enough, if they had commodities saleable
abroad, to sell them there; and if they wanted commodities from abroad,
to buy them while their money lasted. Good faith towards the monev
partner required them to treat his debts, (i. e., his promissory notes,) which
made up part of the currency, no otherwise than as money, in their esti­
mates of what they had, for foreign adventures. And their obligations
had been scarcely observed. It was for him to keep his notes collected,
at all times, with all the functions, and to serve in all the offices o f money,
and obedient to the laws of that natural or value money, which they had
displaced, in all its flexible adaptation to s u p p l y and d e m a n d — receding
before these great tidal movements of commerce at the full, and returning
upon the ebb, tide, as do the rivers which empty into the sea. This he
had solemnly engaged to do, and the State was his bondsman that he
should do it. Not by pouring himself upon the flood side in expansions,
or receding to his fountains at the ebb, by contractions, was he filling out
the just measure of his engagements. And least of all might he, in time




32

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

of apprehended danger to the whole American house, strip his notes, the
use of which had been paid for, as money, of the functions of money in an
hour, thus reducing them to the miserable place o f a set-off to cancel the
obligations of the other partners to him, or that of certificates of owner­
ship upon the division o f effects in the Controller’s office. To discredit
his own notes was only to be done or suffered by him, after the assignment
and sale of his reserved property; and prior to this the plea of necessity,
as against his partners, was the plea of infamy.
Thus stood the case at the end of the eighth week. It was apparent
that no compromise could be effected, and that internecine war must try
its powers in the firm to accomplish what submission and persuasion had
failed to effect. In the strife, hundreds of solid men in industrial firms
had been dishonored, and their names sent along the swift lightning paths
of the land, branded as bankrupts. A few thousand bank debts, lent them
on four-fold securities, would have saved them the disgrace. But n o ! the
money partner must retire his debts, and his debts or circulating notes
were the principal money of the house. His solvency required it— there
was no help for it.
It was a time of cruel necessities. The huge boa-constrictor of paper
debt money coiled around every industrial interest of the American house,
was still tightening his folds, and gazing the while with stony apathy
upon the livid agony of his victims. Was there no help for it? If the
day of judgment to the American house had come, and all debts must be
paid, and there was no help for that, still it was of immense importance
whose debts among the mutually indebted partners should be paid first.
If a settlement must be had all around, (and nobody could deny that debts
justly and already due should be paid,) it was equally clear that they
should be paid in the order in which they were due. And now through
the thick meshes of self-interest and custom, which had overgrown the
commercial mind, a faint glimmer o f light gained entrance. It began to
be felt rather than said, that there was a right and wrong about this com­
plication of disasters; and a wright and wrong discovered anywhere, no
less in finance than in ethics, is a safe clue to follow out of any labyrinth.
Whose debts were due fir s t?— for those were the debts which ought
to be paid first. W hy— the money partner’s, to be sure. He had not
been called upon to pay his, time out of mind, and he seemed to have
forgotten, and everybody else to have forgotten, that they had been due
and justly payable any time these twenty years. And now the demand
was made of the money partner— p a y i n m o n e y , p a y a t t h e d a y , without
grace, as you require.of us; let liquidation go on in the order o f time in
which the debts fell due.
The 13th of October became therefore a great protest day. Substan­
tially, with unimportant exceptions, the paper currency of the United
States was protested for non-payment on that day— for the fate of the
New York city banks involved in it the fate of all others, and though
numbers did not formally publish their suspension, they escaped that
necessity merely through the forbearance of their note-holders and de­
positors. They are solvent, just as the thousand suspended mercantile
firms, already on the lists, most of them are, v i z . h a v i n g property which,
if it could be sold at the average values of the past two years, would
suffice to clear their estates; insolvent, in that they are none of them able
to pay in money their full liabilities when these fall due.




A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 1857.

33

My task is done. I have sketched, and only sketched, what seems to
me an exposition of the crisis in its general form and leading features, its
cause, its route, and its movement. Its cause stands before us as debt,
not of the American house to the rest of the world, but of the partners to
each other— itself the first shock of the encounter between the money
partner and the rest o f the American house, to determine which of them
shall first meet the last consequences of debt— payment. Shall all other
interests be sacrificed to uphold a vaunted solvency of the money partner,
which every quarter-day’s exhibit, openly shown and solemnly sworn to,
proves to be fictitious 3 Shall the law of forbearance, by which he exists,
be abrogated in his dealings with the other partners ? Shall the extension
of the time of payments, which by clothing his debts with the functions
of money, and paying upon them the wages of money, is granted him in
perpetuo, be sternly refused by him to his co-partners in their time o f
direst need 3 Shall he who demands a full settlement, confessedly on the
ground of his own necessities and the consequence of his own delinquency,
himself refuse to settle ?
These were some of the issues which went to trial October 13th, 1857,
and with what result we have seen. Added to them, and only to be an­
swered by the progress of events and the disclosures of the future, is the
larger question yet pending:— is the inevitable loss of final settlement,
which a vicious currency has fastened upon us in the inflated values and
inflated debts of the third era .of debt-money, to be equitablg distributed
over all the partners, or shall the money partner alone, under shelter o f
legislative action or judicial construction, be suffered to shift the loss from
his own shoulders to the shoulders of the others!
,
It is not the design o f this article to advocate or even propose simply
relief measures. Its aim is to discuss facts and principles, confident that
all dealing with our “ sick man,” neglecting these, will prove but shallow
empiricism. R e m e d y instantaneous and complete, there is none, nor need
it be anticipated. That paper expansion will follow paper contraction,
may certainly be counted upon ; and that temporary relief will come by
this means, and movement among the industrial interests once more take
place, is likely enough, and sooner probably than after the revulsion o f
1837. Now nothing has broken but the machinery of currency, and upon
its readjustment things will go forward again. But in all this there is no
remedy, and the homilies of the public journals upon extravagance, over­
trading, speculation and panic, confidence and panic, and all that, will be
as idle to prevent another revulsion as to lecture the drunkard in his cups
upon gravity of carriage and propriety of demeanor while the power of
his betrayer is upon him.
It matters not to our present purpose whether the banks resume specie
payments this week or this year; whether their enormous strength, which
the journals are industriously recording, enables them to pay 10 or 20
cents on the dollar; whether that invisible and irresponsible being in the
land “ the bank movement,” (whose up-risings and down-sittings must be
pored over by every petty trader before he can know whether he can
safely buy or sell, on credit, a hat or a coat,) is now moving this way or
that. These considerations have significance only as indications o f tem­
porary relief— none as remedy. That the stimulant will be administered
and the ravages of the disease marked by means of i t ; that an artificial
life will be set up ; that the levity of youth will incline to forget the crisis;
V OL. X X X V III.---- NO. I .




3

34

A n Exposition o f the Crisis o f 11-57.

that the dead will be decently buried, and the wounded be put out of
sight in hospital; and that a great outrage will be submitted to as an
inevitable and mysterious necessity, is perhaps not unlikely. But who
p a y s for this ruin 1
To defend the future against these periodic revulsions, which no less
prostrate commercial integrity than scorch and desolate the industry of
the land, something besides an expanding bank movement is needed— for
systems, though hoary with age, though interwoven with the commercial
habits of even prosperous States, and though forever defended on grounds
of expediency and supposed necessity, may be, and often are, trusted too
long. It demands o f every man grave, earnest, and thorough inquiry
whether a system which unjustly calls and treats the money partner’s
debts (i. e., his promissory notes) as money, while those of the other part­
ners are held to be simply debts; a system which robs money of its first
and greatest function, viz., that o f being a stable measure of value, and
plunders the currency o f value while it enlarges the amount; a system
which invests him with despotic sway over industry in its every form,
placing its creations forever at the mercy of his necessities or interests, is
not a system which should be dismissed at once and forever.
D e b t - m o n e y is in its nature an eternal falsehood, nor can any dexterity
o f management make it to be a truth, or to serve as well as the truth,
and of this we have terrible demonstration in the crises o f 1837 and
1857— for these are no accidents, no mysterious and unaccountable phe­
nomena, but a logical development and out-working o f the hidden vice
o f its nature. Nor is the nature of debt-money, changed in its essential
character under the ingenious disguise of the New York State banking
system, with its property basis and multiplied securities, the highest phase
and refinement of the falsehood— for the power of the bank-bill to sustain
itself, as money, being contingent upon the sale or payment of its reserves
lodged in the Controller’s office, and that sale or payment being contin­
gent upon and only possible while the integrity o f the bank bill as money
is somehow upheld, our money system itself is but a microcosm of debt,
and useless for any purpose but to discharge itself, except as it is propped
up by the fiction o f confidence at one time, or the fraud o f suspension
at another.
Accordingly, though lauded to the echo in fair weather, the New York
State system has proved as powerless in soul as any of its despised pre­
decessors and cotemporaries. Its State stocks were as unavailable in the
storm to raise money e n o u g h upon, as were the bank stocks o f the others.
And the second problem o f debt-money, which has been resolving itself
since 1837, whether with an ample property basis lodged with the State
as trustee, and guarantied by the State, the bank-bill could be kept in
power as money, at all times, seems now to have received its solution— for
never was a banking system more thoroughly anchored in a property
basis than that of which the New York system is the head; and never
was the experiment of debt-money tried under more favorable circum­
stances than with a gold mine, of almost fabulous richness, emptying itself
weekly into the currency.
Debt is not m oney; promises to pay, by whomsoever made, are not
money. Contingencies are not the material of which it is m ade; confi­
dence is not the metal which can endure the fiery trial. These, employed
in their true place, have value; but they are not money. Leave them




Interest and Cheap Currency.

35

where they belong, to do their appropriate work under a sound credit
system; and while with unshaken faith in the c r e d it s y s t e m itself, in its
innumerable applications to the business of life, and which, having its
roots in the mutual dependence of the family o f man, must (let it be said
emphatically) always exist under a high and Christian civilization, the
crisis of 1857 once more pronounces and, by the heritage of bankruptcy
which it leaves behind, enforces the lesson that there are boundaries which
it cannot pass, and alliances which it cannot make, without both giving
and receiving a fatal taint. Credit, by its very definition, is the transfer
of values in the confidence of future payment. No money but a value
money can meet the terms of the case. Debt, planted in money, carries
its fruitful and pestiferous germs into every field of credit, and yields a
plentiful crop of debt in them all. God has made the precious metals,
gold and silver, to float the exchanges of commerce at home and abroad,
as he made the great ocean to float our ships. Is it wise to abandon the
ocean and take again to ballooning ?
But though remedy, full and final, for these periodic eruptions is hope­
less on any other basis, something is in the power o f every man of us to
alleviate the present exigency. In patient practical endeavor to extricate
our individual affairs from the universal confusion, under the guidance of
the great moral law o f forbearance, now by stress of the times made also
the first financial law o f safety and of movement, there is business for
every partner of the house. And first, let every man try to pay his debts,
courageously meeting his quota o f the inevitable general loss. Every
debt paid is so much o f the cause and substance o f this catastrophe forever
buried in the earth, returning no more to plague his peace.
W ho is in debt and bankrupt without stain upon his integrity, overtaken
by a hurricane which no foresight of his could provide against? Let no
such man hang his head. His credit gone? grant it; but there is some­
thing better than credit— the basis of all credit— industry and integrity.
These are the substances of which credit is but the shadow ; these com­
mand credit. They have the ring o f the true metal— they are a bank
which cannot be broken. And now that the fair casket o f his individual
credit is shivered, it remains to be seen whether the jewel o f his individual
integrity is safe; that safe, let no man disturb himself, lest the shadow
should not follow the substance.

Art. II.— IN TEREST AND CIIEAP CURRENCY,
F b e e m a n H u n t , Editor o f the Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review ; —

It is important to consider the nature o f interest with reference to any
movement for the reform of the carrency. It is almost uniformly sup­
posed to be the value o f money, and this false idea is the cause o f more
obscurity, in the consideration of the currency question, than anything
belonging to the nature o f the subject.
Interest indicates the value o f debt—not of money. It is inversely as
the quality of debt— the poorer the debt, the higher the rate o f interest.
This applies to the whole mass as well as to each individual debt, or to
the average value of the debt in every community. That of California is




36

Interest and Cheap Currency.

the lowest in value, with panic exceptions, of any in the world. This is
owing partly to the same cause that degrades the security and increases
the quantity of debt here— namely, debt banking. The bankers of Cali­
fornia grant two promises to pay the same dollar, upon the principle of
our chartered banks, and of course, when pay-day arrives, the same result
follows that always must attend this system of banking— somebody must
break for the obligation based upon the dollar created without value.
Yet they grant only book-credits— people love to deceive themselves by
calling them “ deposits.”
Adams & Co., and Page, Bacon & Co., were
ruined by this, with many other bankers and merchants. One would
think there could be no occasion to add dollars of debt to the abundant
gold currency of California ; but there is no limit to the demand for dol­
lars, whether made of gold, or silver, or debt, because there can be no
limit to the price of commodities attending the increase and consequent
degradation of the currency. Money can be merged in price forever.
But the principal difficulty with California, is her position as a goldproducing country. This keeps the market glutted with commodities that,
from the nature of the case, must flow there. The fact that the material
of money is cheaper at the source of supply, is only the converse of the
fact that commodities are dearer there than elsewhere. If it were not so,
the gold could not be brought away. Nobody would send merchandise
from New York to San Francisco, intentionally, if he could obtain as
much gold for it— that is, as much price for it— here as there. California
must keep down the value of her gold to sell it, and this can be done only
by keeping up the price of her imports. Gold is almost her only cro p ;
it is but an infhrior want— the superior or more essential wants are food,
raiment, and shelter; to procure these she must sell her gold. Thus it is
that prices, with accidental exceptions, must be higher there than else­
where, and they will always attract an excess of imports. Prices cannot
be low there permanently, therefore that excess, not wanted for money, is
sold on credit, or advanced upon on time by commission merchants, at the
high prices caused by cheap gold, the bills are discounted by the bankers,
and the gold brought away for the sum of the proceeds. California is too
new a country to possess much capital. Gold is not capital more than
any other product of human labor, and relatively her commerce and her
people are oppressed with a heavy debt. For these reasons the rate of
interest is almost uniformly higher there than anywhere else. It is be­
cause of much debt and little capital.
As the quantity of debt, in relation to capital, increases anywhere, the
quality depreciates in proportion— most especially is this law applicable
to the currency. Therefore when our debt-currency, in which I include
credits as well as circulation, is at the highest, as in 1837, and in the
middle of August last— when, according to the fallacious notion o f our
people, we have the most money— interest is at the highest. The truth
is, then we have the most debt and relatively the least money, and much of
the debt is in the worst place in which it can present itself— the currency.
As debt declines in amount it improves in quality, except during the
frenzy of the change; and when the debt-currency is at the lowest, in­
terest is at the lowest. It was so in 1843-4, and now most of the debt
existing four months ago having been removed from the market by de­
falcations and the reduction of bank loans, interest will fall below the legal
fate in a very few weeks, (probably by the time this article is in type,) if




Interest and Cheap Currency.

37

the banks do not increase their loans, unless the same difficulties should
reduce the currency of England below ours in relation to commodities.
Indeed, it is there already on undoubted securities, and we may soon have
all securities undoubted, if we will, and make an end of future bad debts.
These details respecting California, apply also to Australia, with the
exception that Australia was a cultivated country possessing capital, when
California was a wilderness, and has greatly the advantage of California
in this respect. They are necessary to show the fallacy of the argument
against a specie currency drawn from the instability o f credits in Cali­
fornia, and the high rate of interest prevailing there. The truth is,
an expanded and consequently cheap currency is the most costly and
wasteful machinery a nation can possess; the history of the world shows
it to be uniformly unprofitable or disastrous. It is evil whether formed
o f the precious metals or of bank debt, for a cheap currency and high
prices o f commodities are synonymous terms. It must encourage im­
ports, check exports— excepting the precious metals which must be ex­
ported— and involve the community in debt; and bankruptcy follows in
its train. This cannot fail to be obvious to every reflecting m ind; never­
theless it has been unaccountably ignored by writers and talkers upon the
subject o f the currency.
A cheap currency is Adam Smith’s great heresy, and here is his famous
announcement:— “ The substitution of paper in the room of gold and
silver money, replaces a very expensive instrument of commerce with one
much less costly and sometimes equally convenient. Circulation comes
to be carried on by a new wheel, which it costs less both to erect and
maintain than the old one.”
This celebrated economist is as unfortunate in his illustration as in his
argument with respect to paper money. A paper wheel would not seem
to be very efficacious or valuable in a powerful machine. On the appli­
cation of power, it is quite certain the machine would stop or run to de­
struction, and such, to my mind, is the effect of the paper substitute for
money in the currency. It has thrown out of gear, repeatedly, all the
machinery of commerce in every nation that ever adopted it, and the wild
work we are having now is precisely owing to this nuisance in the center
of our system.
I have no quarrel with the bankers, and those who administer the sys­
tem. They are with us and of us, and are no more responsible for its
evils than others. The unquestionably lose as merchants and citizens, by
its general evil effects, more than they gain as bankers. The reader,
therefore, will comprehend the distinction between the system, which I
condemn, and those who are engaged in its direction and details.
Dr. Smith understood perfectly well that every pound note, or every
bank credit, added to the currency, expels its amount of gold and silver;
but it never seems to have occurred to his mind that the additional cur­
rency must degrade the value o f the whole, before the precious metals
can be displaced— that they must be sold at the degraded value, and that
the excess, which causes the degradation, must be thrown off in the in­
flated price of commodities; ’ so that the metals are utterly lost to the
community that substitutes the bank currency.
No man is more eloquent than he in praise o f the policy which spreads
the most widely a thorough cultivation o f the soil, as the true means to
secure the greatest wealth and prosperity to the nation; yet he did not




p
38

Interest and Cheap Currency.

discover that, if the nation exports its gold and silver, it must retain the
products, or stop the labor which renders that cultivation necessary— his
argument thus defeating itself— and that debt must take the place of
money, not merely in the currency, but in the repeated transactions that
would otherwise be made for money.
This is a most important mistake o f Dr. Smith’s, that has exercised a
wide influence in retaining debt in the currencies, and in disturbing the
commerce of Europe and America. As a pioneer in the science o f polit­
ical economy, when few facts had been elaborated, upon which to form
sound conclusions, it is not very surprising that this, which appears to be
the only important error in his system, should have escaped his observa­
tion ; but it is unaccountably strange that Ricardo, Fullerton, Mill, and
others, who have written at a comparatively recent period, should have
followed him in this specious, but false and destructive, doctrine.
What argument is there for a cheap currency, that does not apply, with
equal force, to cheap houses, cheap furniture, cheap ships, cheap apparel,
cheap food, cheap learning, and cheap everything? If this is true econ­
omy, how are we to have any wealth at all— in what can it be invested,
and how are the people to be employed ? Shall we return to barbarism,
and put a stop to the employment and gains o f our merchants, to promote
economy ? The argument is perfectly absurd; it would reduce the city
to a group of shanties, and carry us back to the destitution of mother
Eve and her apron of fig-leaves.
Everything of utility is wealth. It is the same to us whether we pro­
duce or import it. In the former case, it is the direct product of our la­
bor ; in the latter, the product of our labor supplies returns. Therefore
wealth, obtained in gold and silver, is the sure means of disposing of an
equivalent amount of our products for cash. To object to this as a dear
currency, and complain o f the loss of interest thereon, is as futile as to
object to the fine warehouses and dwellings, or to anything else that con­
stitutes the wealth of New York, and say that Irish shanties would be a
great saving, and answer every purpose.
If there is anything in the world we want dear and valuable, it is the
currency; for while we can keep it more valuable than that o f other com­
munities, we cannot fail to sell commodities, buy money, and keep out of
debt among ourselves and with the world.
A valuable currency may be
obtained in two ways, either by reducing its volume or by increasing com­
modities. The former, however, insures the latter, and is in direct oppo­
sition to our banking system; for just in proportion as we cheapen money,
by increasing the currency, we sell our money, stop our exports, and of
course limit the employment o f our navigation, and limit cultivation, pro­
duction, and wealth; and just in proportion as we pursue the opposite
course, we thrive. Value, and therefore wealth, are the same at any
price. A barrel of flour at $5, is of the same value, with a given amount
o f currency, as at $10, with double the amount.
W e cannot stop the gold producing in California. Under Providence,
it is settling that country— that is all the good we can say o f i t ; but if
the same amount of labor were employed in any other production, it
would be vastly better for the whole country, and would result in more
wealth, and in securing a better population. It is only cheapening money,
by raising the price o f everything not made o f g o ld ; the only advantage
being that we obtain gold leaf, plate, and trinkets in exchange, for less of




Interest and Cheap Currency.

39

other things. But we cannot stop it. What, then, should we do ? Cer­
tainly use the gold— all we can of it. Give it the most extended use, and
thereby the greatest possible value. Away with the debt banking! Let
us have room for the gold. W e have room, by withdrawing the debt from
the currency, for 1400,000,000 of gold, before the rest of the world can
take any of it, unless more is returned than taken away. By retiring the
bank currency we can keep a constant balance of gold in our favor, with
a constant increase of business, and decrease of debt. W hile we are ob­
taining it we shall pay for all the imports in flour, wheat, corn, fish, beef,
pork, ashes, and everything else that we can send out of our ports, not to
Europe only, but, in every direction, to all the world. But, to do this,
we must quit tampering with theories— we must use, and not neglect, the
thing we promise to pay.
The quality, not the quantity, o f the currency should be our constant
care. If the quality is pure and unadulterated, the quantity will take
care of itself. No foreign tariff, no foreign or domestic policy— short of
war— no power on earth can prevent us from obtaining and retaining
more gold, as we have relatively more productive labor, in proportion to
population, than any other nation; except the abnormal power exercised,
but not, in my opinion, constitutionally possessed, by the State Legisla­
tures, of adulterating the currency in such manner that the mixture can
be separated at will, the pure taken off at the adulterated value, and the
dross left with us.
A constant effort is being made to place those who are satisfied with a
pure curreney in a false position. It is attempted to place us on the de­
fense when we are plaintiffs in the cause. W e are required to show cause
why bank-notes, issued upon real estate, imaginary estate, and no estate
at all, are not as good as gold ; why notes issued upon the security of
State stock are not perfect; why the whole real property of a kingdom
or a nation may not be coined into money by the transmuting power of
legislation, and why a promise to pay is not p ay itself. To all this
we reply, that gold is gold, and silver, silver. W e are perfectly satis­
fied with them for currency. W e are no theorists, and have no theory
to propose— none to defend. W e have nothing to do with negations in
the case. W e state the positive fact that gold and silver are money, pos­
sessing value; and that a promise to pay them is debt, and not value.
By what rule of common sense we are called theorists it is difficult to
comprehend. They are theorists who utter a promise to pay an ounce
or a dollar o f gold, and propose to pay it with anything else. Whenever
and wherever such promises have been substituted for gold and silver, the
result has been embarrassment and loss to many, and ultimate ruin to
more or less of the community. Dispel the mischievous theory ! Cease
tinkering the currency with a paper wheel, and let us depend upon the
solid material of gold and silver!
The paramount law in commercial finance, I conceive to he, that the
currency should never for a moment exceed its natural volume. How­
ever little this may have been understood by the economists, or however
much nelected, it will infallibly become a settled conclusion o f Political
Economy. Nothing can prevent a commercial country from obtaining
and retaining its due share o f the precious metals to form the natural
volume o f its currency; but that neglect o f their use, and substitution o f
debt in their place, which degrades their exchange value. Because they




40

Interest and Cheap Currency.

form the medium o f exchange, and a given weight of gold therefore be­
comes the price of other exchangeable things, people do not discover that,
in parting with gold for something else, they are merely exchanging one
commodity for another— that there is reciprocal value in the exchange,
and that the parting with any additional sum of gold, in making the ex­
change, is quite as likely to be owing to a fall in its value, as to a rise in
the value of the thing purchased ; but it is so. The recent high prices
have been caused by the swollen and unnatural volume o f the currency;
they have been a degradation of the value of money, and not a rise in the
value, but only in the^nce of commodities and property.
There is a surprising fallacy in the public mind respecting the quantity
of currency required to circulate the products of the country. If the
principle of debt is not in the currency, any quantity will be sufficient to
transact any extent of business. If commodities increase and the currency
does not, prices yield until the export trade takes off the commodities
and returns specie. Prices conform to any volume of currency, more
or less, with equal facility. If expansion were not permitted, contrac­
tion, with the present increase of gold in the world, would be wholly
impossible.
Debt in the currency is therefore a fatal principle. It cannot be intro­
duced without being, in the first place, an addition to the natural volume
of the currency, whieh, if not tampered with by legislation, would always
be regulated by the labor and commodities offered in exchange therefor.
The addition cannot remain. It must be lost in the inflated price o f other
things which cannot be sold, and thereby virtually cost us their equivalent
in the gold exported, or it is paid away in the added price of imported
commodities. If, with a natural currency, corn could be exported at $1
per bushel, and, by an artificial increase of its volume, the export of corn
is stopped by a rise of price to $1 10 per bushel, and $1 10 of specie goes
in its place, it is clear that the retention of the bushel of corn has cost us
$ 1 1 0 in gold. This is one form of the evil. Another is, that the foreign
imports have the benefit of this rise of price, and the foreign commodity—
a yard of silk for example— which, with a natural currency, could be
bought for the price of $1, and paid for in a bushel of corn, will rise to
$1 10, and must then be paid for in $1 10 of gold, because the foreigner
can take the gold to another corn-producing country and buy there 10
per cent more corn with that amount o f gold than here. In either case
we lose 10 per cent in standard gold, and shall continue to lose until the
excess, which is mere disease in the currency, is thrown off'. I am per­
fectly satisfied that, in this manner, our artificial money costs the country
its whole sum in gold, and restricts our business to the same extent, in­
stead of increasing it as many have supposed.
But there is another evil, of still greater magnitude, which is the prime
cause of our present financial difficulties, and of all the financial difficulties
we from time to time experience— namely, the dollar o f debt, created
without value and placed in the currency, creates an obligation, or is o f
itself an obligation, that never can be paid. If the bank should lend gold
to its customer, it would be one thing— value— and there would be value
in the hands of the customer to repay it. Nothing would be added to
the currency thereby; no depreciation of the value of money and con­
sequent rise of prices would result therefrom. But the bank lends quite
another thing— it lends debt and no value. Nothing goes into the hands




Interest and Cheap Currency.

41

of the customer, or the community, to repay it. It is the difference be­
tween something and nothing— between value and no value; and yet this
thing of no value becomes currency, in addition to the currency existing
before, and necessarily adds itself to the prices of all things— labor and
commodities. In other words, it depreciates the value o f money for its
whole amount.
Suppose the volume of the currency to be doubled in this manner, then
a commodity that sold before for $5, and probably for cash, would rise to
$10; and as this artificial money is obtained only by creating a debt in
exchange, the commodity will almost certainly be sold on credit, for the
debt banking system must be supported by debt, of course. The recip­
rocal debt of the people and the bank becomes $10, which was only $5,
or nothing before. Probably the article will be sold three times over on
credit, at the average price of $10, creating $30 of debt. When the
liabilities of the banks return upon them in a demand for coin, they de­
mand the same sum from their debtors; they demand a value which never
existed; one-half the sum was mere price— it cannot be paid. The banks
attempt to collect $10, five of which they never loaned and never pos­
sessed. Tne people possess nothing for it but the debt of the banks, and
the banks possess nothing for it but the debt o f the people. It is a recip­
rocal demand for coin that is nowhere, or for an equivalent value that is
nowhere— that never existed. It is reciprocal destruction— the fight
o f the Kilkenny cats. Payment is impossible, and the $5 of artificial
currency thus created, inevitably creates in this transaction $15 of
bankruptcy.
I am making a very moderate assumption in this illustration, for the
capital of the bank is not value. It consists mainly of credits checked out
of other banks, continued in an endless chain of debt, and when the de­
mand comes for coin, it is not merely dollar for dollar they call back, but
frequently five for one, depending upon the extent o f their expansion.
Moreover, the removes of a commodity between the producer and con­
sumer probably average five, all of which, by this system, must be made
on credit; but the number and extent of these credits, whether longer or
shorter, obviously depend upon the expansion or contraction of the bank
loans. If five, then every bank contraction compels the settlement of five
times its amount in bankruptcy. There are three most important points
or doctrines, herein presented, to which I ask the especial attention o f
the reader:—
1. Interest must be dear, and debt plenty, when and where the currency
is extended and cheap.
2. Every dollar of currency, created without value, costs the nation its
whole sum in standard gold, and restricts the business of the country.
Europe adds her supply to the stream of the precious metals, flowing to
the eastern nations from this country, upon the same unprofitable terms.
3. The dollar of bank money creates an obligation that never can be
paid, and repeats the defalcation for every obligation based upon it. His­
tory and experienc demonstrate this fact in every bank contraction, great
or small.
These may be my discoveries. I do not find them mentioned in the
writings of the economists, but to my mind they are self-evident truth.
Such are the evils of our system o f banking, resting as it does upon
the competition of more than 1,400 banks, whose profit and whose exist­




42

Interest and Cheap Currency.

ence depend upon the abnormal principle o f making interest on their debt
payable, and degrading the currency. W ho would not issue “ bills pay­
able,” without limit, if he could be permitted by law to charge interest
thereon, and how is such a power to be restrained ?
A great fact, like the general bankruptcy now prevailing in the com­
mercial world, does not spring suddenly into existence by accident. Like
every other fact of human history it has its primal element, or ultimate
atom. That element or atom is the dollar of debt added to the natural
volume of the currency, and all remedies for the financial evils, of such
frequent occurrence in this country, must be directed to the removal of
this destructive principle.
I think it would not be difficult to establish in New York the legitimate
system of hanking with coin, if the Legislature o f the State would modify
the usury law in favor of institutions conducted upon that principle, so as
to permit them to borrow and lend money, and nothing else, without
restriction as to the rate of interest. But the restraint upon their loans
must apply to their credits as well as their circulation. The credits to
lenders would be payable at stipulated dates; the credits to borrowers
must not be loaned for a dollar or a moment. They would be merely
the safe keeping of coin, liable to be drawn out at any moment.
But to facilitate this system of banking, I think a law of Congress is
necessary authorizing the deposit of coin in the Sub-Treasury, and issues
of certificates for the same, of the denomination of §20, and upwards.
A paper currency being necessary, it should be so much superior to any
other as to have the preference in circulation. It should be free from
doubt and subject to no evasion.
Small payments for remittances would be necessary, for which coin
would not be convenient, such as subscriptions to newspapers, etc. These
could be paid in coin to the postmasters, who should be authorized to
draw for the amount on the Sub-Treasurer in the city, to order. The
national government can well afford to be put to some charges, and ought
to take every available measure to relieve the country from the present
system of banking with debt, which is continually piling debt upon the
people and spreading bankruptcy and wretchedness over the land.
W ith these measures on the part of the State and the United States, I
do not see why a currency of money might not be established in New
York, and if there, its adoption by every other State would, I think, be a
necessity— for the exchanges would be so constantly and so largely in
favor of New York, that she would infallibly take the coin for every con­
vertible note or credit issued in the other States without value. It would
be necessary to place this system under the supervision of a strong board
o f currency, for the whole State, to enforce the law.
I am clearly of opinion that when, if ever, New York shall establish a
specie currency, with no evasions, the present ruinous system of banking
upon debt will be at an end in this country forever.
c. h . c.




Garblings : or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

43

Art. III.— GARBLINGS: OR, COMMERCIAL COMMODITIES CHARACTERIZED.
N U M B E R V .*

ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS.
WINE.
D E F IN IT IO N — C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S —
M U S T — A N T IQ U IT Y

AND

C A N A A N — W IN E S OF T H E
PANY— OTHER

T A R T A R — N O N -A C ID IT Y — S U G A R — N A T U R A L

V A R IE T IE S — W IN E

OF

TH E

R O M A N S, G R E C IA N S , I T A L IA N S , AND T H E

PORTUGUESE

FE R M E N T— AROMA—

S C R IP T U R E S — T H E J E W IS H

W IN E S — M A D E IR A — S E R C IA L AND

W IN E — W IN E S OF

B R IT IS H — P O R T — O PO R TO

COM ­

T I N T A — S I C IL Y — A F R IC A N

C A PE

W IN E S , E TC.

W in e is the product of grape juice.
And although this name is fre­
quently applied to alcoholic liquors, obtained by the fermentation of
various other juices, such liquors are wholly devoid of the true properties
of wine.
There is a peculiar principle pertaining to grape juice, which stamps
the character of wine on its product exclusively, and no modification of
conditions can apply this to other fermentable substances. Grape juice,
indeed, differs in several particulars from that of all other fruits or juices.
Its chief distinction depends upon the presence of tartaric acid, in suchwise combined as to form the substance called tartar— the tartrate o f
potash. And it is the presence of this salt in a state of combination with
the juice of the grape, which constitutes true verjuice, and this it is— the
combination— not the simple solution of tartar with the juice o f the fruit,
which causes wine to differ from all other fluids.
The quantity o f tartar in grapes is greatest before they are ripe, and it
decreases in proportion as they approach maturity. When the juice of
grapes begins to ferment, tartar is precipitated in the form of lees. This
is owing to the insolubility of tartar in alcohol, so that in proportion as
it is formed, tartar is precipitated. With the tartar there is united a very
small proportion of lime, which serves to increase its power o f neutralizing,
whatever acids may be present. Hence it follows that, if the grapes are
of good quality, the presence o f tartar serves to prevent the presence of
any free acid, and if fermentation be properly conducted, wine should be
entirely free from acid of every kind.
Elderberries, gooseberries, currents, &c., from which “ wine” is some­
times made, contain acetic, malic, and citric acids, which are in part free
and in part formed into salts. These are all soluble in alcohol. Conse­
quently the so called “ wines ” from these fruits always contain free acids,
which cannot be separated nor neutralized. And as these acids are both
unpalitable and unwholsome, their taste is usually concealed by the addi­
tion of sugar, which has the effect of rendering them still more deleterious.
Such preparations, therefore, cannot with any propriety be called wines,
and their manufacture should be discouraged.
All grapes, however, are not free from acid other than the tartaric, and
hence their unfitness sometimes, for making good wine.
Sugar is also more abundant in grapes than in any other fruit, in con♦For number i, see Merchants'1Magazine for July, 1857, (vol. xxxvii., pp. 19-23;) for number iisee same for August, (pp. 166-171;) for number iii, see same for September, (pp. 298-308;) for
number iv, see same for November, (pp. 542-554.)




44

Garblings: or, Commercial Commodities Characterised.

sequence of which they are capable of producing more alcohol than any
other. The proportion of sugar in grapes is in the inverse ratio with the
tartar, that is to say, the riper the grapes the more abundant the sugar.
They also contain mucilage, which has the peculiar quality of being a
natural ferment. And an essential oil peculiar to each variety of grape,
which gives the aroma to wine.
When grape juice or must as it is technically called by the wine manu­
facturer, is subjected for a short time to a temperature of 60°, it begins to
ferment spontaneously. No yeast or other ferment is necessary, as in beer,
because of the natural ferment in the must. It is, however, remarkable,
that although must spontaneously ferments, this process never takes place
in the fruit unless it is bruised. This is owing to tae circumstance, that the
ferment and the sugar are entirely separate in the grape, and cannot get
together unless the grape is mashed.
Antiquity and varieties. As of most other fruits, Asia seems to have
been the first division of the globe in which the vine was cultivated, and
vinyards and the manufacture of wine abounded in Palestine from the
most rfemote periods. The S a c r e d w r i t i n g s particularly celebrate the
wines of Abel, Sorek, Jazer, and Sibnali, and profane writers extol the wines
of ancient Tyre, Libanus, Sarepta, and Gaza. In Palestine, the valleys of
Eschol and Hebron are noted for the productiveness of the vine, and the
enormous size of the clusters. Doubdan states, that in the valley of
Eschol, bunches are produced which weigh ten or twelve pounds. This
accounts for the surprise of the Israelites in Egypt, where they were only
accustomed to see small grapes, when they beheld the bunch brought by
the spies from the valley of Eschol. But Forster tells us that, in his
travels he was informed by a religious from Palestine, that the clusters of
grapes in the valley of Hebron were so large, that two men could scarcely
carry one of them. In the early part of the last century, Hebron annually
sent three hundred camel loads— about three hundred thousand pounds—
of grape juice to Egypt alone, besides large quantities of it, and also of
grapes and raisins, to other places. Bochart informs us, that the vines of
Hebron produce three harvests. First, in March the first clusters are pro­
duced, when the old barren wood is cut away. In April, new shoots
bearing fruit spring up, and the barren wood in like manner lopped; in
May appear shoots loaded with the latter grapes. These arrive at maturity
successively in August, September, and October.
The Jews considered the vine the noblest of all plants, and a type o f all
that is excellent, powerful, fruitful, and fortunate. And in the S c r ip t u r e s
the prophets compared the Jewish nation and church to a great vine,
adored with beautiful fruit, planted, tended, and guarded by G od, who
was the dresser of the vinyard:— Israel was the vinyard and vine, and
every true Israelite the branches, and the might and the power of the
nation, the full swelling bunches.
In the Temple at Jerusalem, above and around the gate, seventy cubits
high, which led from the porch to the holy place, a richly carved vine
was extended as a border and decoration. The branches, tendrils, and
leaves were of the finest gold ; the stalks of the length of the bunches
were of the length of man, and the bunches hanging upon them were of
costly jewels. Herod first placed it there, and after him rich and patriotic
Jews continued to add embellishments. One contributing a new grape,
another a leaf, and a third a whole bunch of the most costly materials.




Garblings: or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

45

The value o f this decoration has been computed at not less than
12,000,000 of dollars.
When in the evening, this magnificent decoration was illumined by ten
thousand tapers, it shone with majestic splendor. And finally it came to
he regarded with uncommon importance and significance.
The patriotic Jews as they contemplated it, were elated with the dignity
and pre-eminence of their nation. And to go out and to enter under the
vine, signified peace and contentment. Hence each one contributed to
increase its magnificence, and so ingraft himself as a worthy member of
so holy and glorious a nation.
Among the Jews, the season of the vintage was a season of great mirth.
It occured about the first o f July, when the clusters were gathered with
the sickle, and carried in baskets to the wine-vats, where they were first
trodden by men, and then pressed. The juice of the squeezed grapes was
made into wine without fermentation. The expressed juice was made into
common wine and vinegar. The wine was abundant and weak, and com­
monly used by laborers. It was probably o f such as this, with which
Solomon was to supply twenty thousand baths to Hiram for his servants,
while they cut timber in Lebanon. The vinegar was acid and pungent—
“ disagreeable to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes.”
The wines o f Canaan were strong, and generally mixed with water be­
fore using them. They also had aromatic wines, so made by the addition
of pomegranite, frankincense, myrrh, calamus, &c.
The varieties of wine, both ancient and modern, are almost innumerable.
They chiefly depend upon the difference in the grapes producing them ;
but besides this, different varieties o f wine are made from the same
species of grape, according to culture, soil, and climate.
In the Hebrew language, different words indicate different kinds of
wine; and from the context of their use, we are made acquainted with a
classification o f wine according to the qualities it possessed. In the B i b l e ,
for example, “ Corn shall make the young men cheerful and new wine the
maids,” the word wine is derived from tirosh, which denotes the fruit in
the cluster, the press, and the vat, or grape-juice. But in “ W ine is a
mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise,” the word wine is derived from yayin, whieh comprehends wine of
every kind. “ Strong drink,” is derived from shechar, which denotes
drink prepared from trees and fruits other than the vine. “ Their vine is
the vine of Sodom and o f the fields of Gomorrah. Their wine (yayin,) is
the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom o f the asps.” “ W ho hath
w oe; who hath sorrow; who hath contention; who hath babbling ; who
hath wounds without cause ; who hath redness of eyes! They that tarry
long at the (yayin) wine; they that go to seek (mesech) mixed wine, look
not thou upon the (yayin) wine when it is red; when it giveth his color
in the cu p ; when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a ser­
pent, and stingeth like an adder,” etc.
By these and other words used to designate wine in the ancient lan­
guages, we are clearly justified in the opinion that good and bad wines
have in all ages been alike prevalent, and that ours is not the only age
which have in the strongest language condemned the use o f yayin, sechar,
and mesech. Among the ancients, a quality o f wine was used for the
purpose of speedily producing stupefaction and insensibility in criminals
condemned to death. Probably of such were those mixed wines o f which
kings might not drink, lest they should forget the law.




46

Gu ridings: or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

Pliny informs us that in his day there were no less than ninety-five dif­
ferent kinds of wine, and judging from their intoxicating qualities, some
of these at least, were in no respect lacking in the now essential princi­
ple— alcohol. Yet there were others which seem to have possessed no
alcohol whatever.
These were prepared from the preserved juice of the most luscious
grapes kept from fermentation by excluding the air.
It is said to have
retained the entire flavor of the grape. One means of preparing this
wine was to totally fill large vessels with the fresh pressed must, and after
making them perfectly air-tight, they were coated with pitch and sunk in
the sea. By thus keeping it a long while must looses its tendency to
ferment, and acquires keeping qualities. Such wine possesses no alcohol.
Another means of preparing wine free from alcohol, was to boil the fresh
must until reduced to a syrupy consistence. This requires dilution be­
fore drinking. Pliny also tells us of wines as thick as honey, which
it was necessary to dissolve in warm water and filter, before they could
be drunk. And Horace boasts of drinking wine as old as himself. This
was the ancient Falernian, produced by fermentation, and probably very
similar to pure sherry.
But the best wines o f the ancients were not the product of fermentation,
and therefore contained no alcohol. These were the pure juice. The
next most highly prized were those flavored by the addition of aromatic
substances, which for the most choice varieties, were kept secret by the
proprietors.
Virgil who lived about the same time as Pliny, seems to have considered
the variety more particularly. But after beginning to enumerate them,
he abruptly concludes the residue by declaring them innumerable.
Other authors refer to particular kinds, and by some, recipes are given
for their production. From all which we are led to infer that our word
wine was almost as unlimited in its meaning among the ancients as among
the moderns. It appears to have indicated not only the pure juice o f the
grape, but any modification or mixture of it by or with other juices, or
the juice of any other fruit, seed, leaves, stems, etc., which were used as
common beverages or at bacchinal feasting. It is, at any rate, very
certain that the ancients were well acquainted with various processes for
making wines possessing the different characters which now distinguish
them into dry, moist, sparkling, etc., notwithstanding our inability to
trace out the particular flavor or taste of any one of these varieties. This
arises from the incapability o f words sufficiently expressive to convey a
perfect idea of the various nice distinctions o f which the taste only is
cognisant.
Grecian Wines.— By the ancient Greek poets the virtues of wine are
constantly extolled, and in the time o f Homer their wine was very intox­
icating; and it was in such high estimation as to be exported to Rome.
But since the conquest of Greece by the Turks, their wines have lost their
ancient celebrity. During the latter part of the sixteenth century, when
under the Venetians, Candia, and Cyprus, supplied the whole o f Europe
with wines, which were then deemed the best in the world. Good red
wine is still made in these islands, and the wine of Cyprus is particularly
noted for its extraordinary keeping qualities. The muscadine wine of
Cyprus is the sweetest of all wines, and drinks best after it is two years
old. After sixty or seventy years old this wine is thick as syrup. It




Garbling# : or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

47

is doubtless the same, and as excellent, as that produced in the time of
Pliny and Strabo.
Malmsey wine was originally produced in Napoli de Malvasia, in the
Morea, and the word Malvasia has been corrupted into Malmsey. The
overthrow of Morea by the Turks destroyed its manufacture.
But the
same kind of wine, and probably by the same process o f manufacture, is
still produced in Candia.
Malmsey, however, is a term now applied to every variety of sweet and
luscio*us wine.
Italian Wines.— W e have no account o f the cultivation of the vine in
Italy until about six hundred years after the foundation of Rome. Subse­
quent to this period, there are ample directions in Roman history both
for the culture of the grape and the manufacture o f wine. In the early
part of the Christian era the cultivation of the vine in Italy had become
so prevalent as to lead to the general neglect of agriculture. In conse­
quence of which Domitian issued an edict prohibiting the planting of any
more vineyards. This continued in force about 200 years, until A.D. 280,
when the celtivation of the vine was renewed with increased vigor, and it
extended to the northern parts of Gaul, the banks of the Rhine, and to
Great Britain. But in modern times, the manufacture o f wine in Italy
has retrograded to the lowest possible degree, and none are now made
except for home consumption. The vineyards are left pretty much to
their natural growth, and the wine from them is prepared in such a
slovenly manner as to be abominably ill-tasted and unwholesome.
In
the Papal States there is a little tolerably good wine, but it will not
bear transportation and is not known elsewhere.
British Wines.— In the early history of Great Britain the beauty and
extent of the vineyards are much praised.
Nevertheless, during the
time the Romans held possession of the island they imported their wines.
There was, however, some wine made in England, but the climate was so
poorly adapted to the cultivation of the vine, that the domestic wine was
never good nor plentiful. It could never be made to produce fruit with
such ease as to effectually compete with the almost spontaneous produc­
tion of the vine in the south o f France, on which account wines could be
imported into England at less cost than they could be produced.
It is, however, remarkable as well in France and Italy as in England
that in the first cultivation of the vine, the best vineyards were usually
attached to the monasteries and abbeys. This fact may be noted in France
to this d a y ; many of the best vineyards being on land which formerly
belonged to the monasteries, and when these domains first passed into
the hands of the people there was a manifest falling off in the assiduity
and skill of their management.
English wine appears to have been pretty much like the Hebrew mesech.
It was not only mixed wine but a mixture of various other things with a
peculiarly harsh and stringent must. The manufacturers used a liquor
which they called piments, it was esteemed very precious, and of this a
portion was added according to the variety of wine to be produced. But
there was a still more exquisite liquor called ypocrase which was “ pre­
pared, when fo r lards, with wine, gynger, synamon, graynes, sugour, and
turesoll; and when forcomyn pepull, of wine, gynger, canell, long pepper,
and clarified honey.” Clarry was a similar mixture; and bishop, which is
still used, made of wine, oranges, and sugar, appears to be a remnant of
the past.




48

Garblings : or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

The necessity o f covering the rough taste of the must o f English
grapes, produced a taste for sweet wines. Consequently, the malmsies
of Candia, and the sweet wines of Greece and Spain, were, previous
to the time of Queen Elizabeth, in greatest request. Subsequent to this
period the abundance of Spanish wine cultivated a taste for sack, a
corruption of sec, signifying a dry wine. The original sack wine was very
similar to sherry, but the term was extended in its application to the
wines of Malaga, the Canaries, Malmsies, and other sweet wines; and the
light wines of France, and o f the Rhine, were extensively used.
Port. W hen the war broke out between England and France in 1689,
the red wine of Portugal was for the first time imported into England.
Among the obstacles for procuring French wines, the British govern­
ment imposed a discriminating duty, at first to the amount of £8 per tun,
but eight years afterwards the amount was increased to £33, as a special
blow aimed at the French, because Louis X IV ., espoused the cause o f the
exiled family of Stuart.
But the English were fond of wine and speedily accommodated their
tastes to their necessity, and subsequent treaties with Portugal giving her
wines the advantage of those of other nations, so confirmed the English
taste that, from that time to this, Port has been the favourite wine with
Englishmen.
When the Portuguese first began to export wines to England, those
usually sent, were from the vicinity of Lisbon. Indeed, previous to that
time, there were very few vinyards in other parts of Portugal, and it was
the English demand which led to their extension. As the demand in­
creased, the cultivation of the vine was extended to the banks of the
Douro, and British supercargoes settled there for the purpose of en­
couraging and profiting by the growing favor of the Portuguese wines.
The wine from the new vinyards, however, was found to be inferior to
that of the old ones, and the demand from the old district continued un­
abated. Thus straitened in their undertaking, the English supercargoes
settled in Oporto, adopted, and first taught the Portuguese the expedient
o f adulteration— in the use o f brandy and elderberries— for the production
of a strong red wine.
For the next hundred years adulteration prevailed to such an extent, as
to occasion a decided falling off in the English preference of port; but in
1756 some English merchants who were settled in Oporto, obtained a
charter from the Portuguese government to sanction a joint stock com­
pany, with the avowed object of recovering the reputation of the Portu­
guese wines, by preventing adulteration, and protecting commerce. For
this purpose, the charter granted to the Oporto Company a monopoly of
all the territory, a district including Oporto on the river Douro, in which
alone all wine intended for exportation was permitted to be raised. The
only vinyards in this district at that time capable of producing good wine,
were those belonging to the monasteries and gentry. But so well had the
company designed their plan, that they gained the absolute disposal of all
wines produced by these vinyards, and had the power to fix the prices
which they were to pay for them to the cultivator, or for home consump­
tion, and likewise the price at which they were to be sold for exportation.
By this means England obtained a complete monopoly of all the best
wines produced by Portugal. This insidous charter had the effect of
accomplishing the sinister object of those who conceived it, and also of




Garblings: or, Commercial Commodities Characterized.

49

retarding instead o f promoting the improvement o f Portuguese wines.
The proprietors of the vinyards ceased to exercise skill in their cultivation,
and only strove to produce wine at the least expense, or took advantage
of the company by mixing the most inferior qualities o f wine with the
better, so as to reduce them to a barely acceptable standard for port.
Notwithstanding this, the company being secured against competition,
raised the price of wine for exportation to an enormous amount, and made
princely fortunes.
The Oporto Company still exists, though many o f their obnoxious
features have been abolished. Meanwhile the duties on Portuguese and
French wines have been equalized, and port wine has become a sort of
uniform standard liquor of a certain color, containing about 22 per cent
of alcohol, and coloring matter according to the ingenuity o f the per­
petrator.
The best wines produced on the Douro at the present time, never pass
through the Oporto Company’s hands, and are scarcely known out of
Portugal. They are of full mellow body, very mild, and of exquisite
flavor. The very best is produced at Pezo da Regna, and when pure it
has been compared to the finest of the Rhone growths o f France, or the
Cote Rotie.
There are also other varieties o f Portuguese wines, which are excellent,
and by some thought to be superior to any produced in the Oporto Com­
pany’s district.
Among which may be named those of Sunego and
Mougaon. The vino tinto is a somewhat syrupy, blackish-red wine, seldom
drunk alone, and chiefly used to deepen the color of other varieties.
Bttcelles is an excellent white wine, made in the vicinity of Lisbon. But
like port, it is never exported without first adding brandy.
Lisbon wine, is usually so called on account o f its place o f shipment.
There are two varieties of it, both sweet, the Carcavellos and Setuval,
from the province of Estremadura.
There are in all about fifty varieties of wine made in Portugal, none of
them drunk pure elsewhere; while in the district of the Douro particu­
larly all sorts are mixed, colored, strengthened, and flavored according to
the particular brand required for exportation.
Madeira wines, were first taken to England from the West Indies, only
about a century ago. But the vine was introduced into Madeira by the
Portuguese soon after its first settlement, in the early part of the fifteenth
century. Ever since that time, Madeira has been distinguished for pro­
ducing some o f the finest wine in the world. This wine, however, is
found to improve in a remarkable manner by a sea voyage, in a hot
climate, a fact which was first discovered by its exportation to the West
Indies.
In consequence of this, it is the custom in Madeira to improve every
opportunity of giving their wines such a voyage, by which its value is
much enhanced. The very best Madeira wines, however, are frequently
matured on the island, by keeping them in warm upper rooms, and fre­
quently agitating them, while much inferior wine is sold on the faith o f a
tropical sea voyage. It is durable and improves by age in every variety
of climate, but thought to keep best in wood, in warm rooms instead of
underground cellars. The Madeira wine proper is a strong wine, at best,
notwithstanding it is always brandied before exportation.
Sercial is a red wine obtained from a grape much like the Madeira.
V O L.

x x x v i i i .— n o




. i.

4

50

Venezuela.

When new it is disagreeably rough to the taste, but it improves by age,
and is the finest variety o f Madeira. There is, however, very little of it
made— not over forty or fifty pipes a year. A very fine Malmsey is also
produced in small quantity, from the same species o f grape as the sercial.
This is made from the grapes partially dried, by permitting them to hang
on the vines a month longer.
The variety called tin ta is, when new, a red astringent wine, somewhat
resembling Burgundy. But if kept long it loses color, and acquires the
taste of Madeira— for which it is sometimes brandied and exported.
Vino passado from the Azores, and Teneriffe, also called Vidonia, from
the Canary Isles, are similar to inferior Madeira wines. These islands
also produce good Malmsey. All these were formerly much used in Eng­
land, and called sack.
The Marzara and Marsala wines of Sicily, are mixtures of poor wine,
worse brandy, and sundry other ingredients of equally bad properties.
African wines. The production o f these has been much impeded by
Mahommedanism. Yet there are few places in Northern Africa under the
Jews, which prove the perfect adaptation of the country to the cultivation
of the vine.
Cape wines have been produced for the last two hundred years. But
thus far quantity seems to have been a much more desirable object with
the manufacturer than quality.
As a general thing, Cape wines are very poor. There are, however, of
late years, exceptions sufficient to justify the belief, that that country is
in every way congenial to the finest culture of the vine, and the success­
ful production of superior wines.
C'onstantia— so called from the name of the vinyards, is the best Cape
wine which has been produced. There is o f it two varieties, the white
and the red.
Cope Madeira is made up of different qualities.
These are the usual varieties, after brandying, sent to England. They
are acid, and about the same strength as— but inferior to— Teneriffe. A
white wine, called Cape Hock, and a red one, called Rota, are the chief
o f still cheaper qualities.

Art. IV.—VENEZUELA.
GENERAL

DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, WITH AN ENUMERATION OF ITS

PRODUCTIONS, STATISTICS OF ITS COMMERCE, AND A STATEMENT OF THE
INDUCEMENTS FOR IMMIGRATION.

T h e Consul of Venezuela at New York recently prepared a circular
for the purpose of readily affording information in regard to Venezuela,
to those who having business with him frequently desire some account of
its condition, and especially to those who may be proposing to emigrate
to that country. Having furnished us with a copy o f it (which he has
printed for private distribution) with the view of presenting it to the
public through the Merchants' Magazine, we have concluded to publish
the more important portion of it. W hat is here given embraces the fore-




Venezuela.

51

part o f the circular, without editorial change, excepting a rearrangement o f
the order of the topics treated. W e have omitted the remainder, which
consists of a statement of the proposed improvements by the government,
(viz. the building o f railroads in Venezuela, the establishment of lines o f
steamers to New York, etc.,) and several letters describing the “ gold
------diggings,” etc.
•
V enezuela, situated in the northern part of South America— bounded
on the south by the Empire o f Brazil; on the north, by the Atlantic
Ocean ; on the east, by the same, and by English Guayana, and on the
west, by New Granada— is 287 leagues in length, by 223 in breadth;
being twice the extent of France. Its coast stretches from the east to the
west, a distance of 522 leagues— 260 o f which have 32 harbors and 71
islands in front.
R ivers.— The territory o f Venezuela is watered by many important
rivers, such as the Orinoco, the Meta, the Caroni, the Caura, the Apure,
the Casiquiare, the Guaviare, the Cojedes, the Portuguesa— navigable the
year round, and by many others o f second and third class, which fertilize
and enrich the valleys and plains through which they flow on their course
to the sea, where they empty themselves, rendering navigable almost the
whole interior of the country. By the Orinoco, Venezuela has commu­
nication with New Granada, entering by the Meta up to FusagasugA,.
which is distant two days’ travel from Bogotd, the capital: by this im­
mense river, which joins the river Negro by the branch o f the Casiquiare,
it has communication with the Amazonas as high as the Pongo or rapids
of Manseriche, in the province of Mainos, in the Republic of Ecuador;
also, by the principal branch o f this colossal artery as far as Chacas, a
short distance from Lima, the capital of Peru ; by another branch, with
the city o f Paz, capital o f the Republic o f Bolivia, and by its immense
tributaries— the Tocatin, the Xinejii, the Tapajos, the Madeira and others—
with sundry interior provinces of the Empire of Brazil.
Soils.— The soil of Venezuela is of three different kinds— agricultural
land, pasture land, and forest mountain land. The agricultural fields are
confined to the sea-board provinces, cultivated only to a limited extent,
for want of laborers, and leaving an area of land, which, it is no exaggera­
tion to say, is a hundred-fold greater than that which is improved. The
second kind of land lies in the interior, or center of Venezuela, called
“ Los Llanos,” where are bred the horse, the mule, the ass, the bull, the
cow, the goat— and quantities of birds, such as the duck, the heron, the
pigeon, etc.— which are at once the food and delight o f the inhabitants.
The third is situated in the chain o f the Andes Mountains, which extend
across the whole country, almost diagonally, and in the Parima ridges,
which run along the frontier of Brazil, and enter New Granada at the
southern boundaries of Venezuela.
Climate.— Breezes from the east, which are general, prevail during the
day, and at night blow off the land. The temperature is warm on the
coast, moderate in the interior, and cold on the heights. The thermometer
(centigrade) on the coast is at 27 decrees 22 minutes; in the interior, at
21 degrees 67 minutes; and on the ridges of the mountains o f Merida,
on the average, at 9 degrees 5 minutes: there are thus all known climates
from perpetual snow to the warm and ardent temperatures of Maracaibo,
La Guayra, and Cumana. The seasons of the year are two in number—
winter and summer ; or rather, the dry and the rainy season. Summer,.




1
52

Venezuela.

or dry weather, commences in February, and winter, or rainy weather,
begins in May. The rains are not constant, at times there being none for
weeks.
H ealth.— In general, the climate of Venezuela is salubrious, except in
some of the warm, low, and damp sections, such as Rio Chico, Unare,
Barcelona, Giiiria, and the banks of the Orinoco, which are merely apt
to be unhealthy at the fall of the waters at the end of the year.
An idea of the climate and good health to be enjoyed may be derived
from the following data and statistics of the salubrity o f Caracas, the
capital of the Republic.
According to the census, Caracas contains a population of fifty thousand,
(50,000.) of which one-fifth is foreign.
The deaths, during the four months from January to April of the year
1857 w ere:—
Venezuelans, 261 ; Puerto Riquenos, 1 ; New Granadians, 2 ; Canary
Islanders, 7 ; and Europeans, 3 ; total, 274. The three Europeans were—
Spanish, 2 ; and English 1 ; and one of these was a man o f 70 years o f
age, and another was a widow of 93.
G o v e r n m e n t .— The government of Venezuela is republican, democratic
with representation, responsibility, and the rotation system is carried out
in regard to public functionaries. It is divided thus :— Legislative, con­
sisting of two chambers; Executive— there being a President chosen for
six years, together with ministers and governors of provinces; Judicial—
consisting of a Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Judges of “ primera
instancia
and Municipal— the duties o f which are performed by councils
in each canton. Strangers, o f whatever nation, are admitted into Vene­
zuela, subject to the same laws as Venezuelans, and enjoying the same
privileges.
R eligion.— The government professes the Catholic, but the law allows
perfect freedom of conscience and worship.
T e r r i t o r ia l D iv i s i o n s .— The Republic is divided into provinces, can­
tons, and parishes. According to the last law, the Republic is divided
into twenty-one (21) provinces, to-w it: Caracas, Aragua, Guarico, Carabobo, Yaracui, Cojedes, Barquisimeto, Portuguesa, Barimas, Trujillo, Coro,
Maracaibo, Merida, Tachira, Apure, Guayana, Amazonas, Maturin, Cumana,
Barcelona, and Margarita.
The capital is the city o f Caracas, with fifty thousand inhabitants;
there is the seat o f government, the Supreme Court, and other national
bureaus.
P opulation.— The last census shows it to reach 1,564,433 souls, in­
cluding the Indians of Guayana and Apure.
P roductions.— The agricultural comprise coffee, cacao, indigo, cotton,
cocoa-nuts, sugar-cane, and tobacco, which are the principal articles of
export; celery, sweet potatoes, plaintains, manioc, lairenes, yams, pota­
toes, and arrow-root, which constitute the general daily sustenance of
the people; rice, corn, millet, and wheat, which are cereals in daily use;
bananas of different kinds, used as fo o d ; fustic, Brazil-wood, and cochi­
neal, for dyeing purposes ; copaiva, thatch, cocoa-nut, and similar produc­
tions, from which oils are extracted ; hemp and sundry articles from which
excellent rope is manufactured ; India rubber and many other substances
suitable for gums and resins; dividive and mangroves for tanning ; Peru­
vian bark, sarsaparilla, guaco, palma-christi, and many other such, useful




53

Venezuela.

for medicinal purposes ; mahogany, cedar, satinwood, curarire, rosewood,
white and black ebony, vera, and quantities of woods much esteemed by
cabinet-makers. To the above productions many others might be added.
Mines.— Venezuela possesses copper mines in Aroa, Carupano, and
Caracas ; urao mines in Merida ; hard coal in Coro, Maracaibo, La Guayra,
and Barcelona; asphaltum in Maracaibo and Pedernales; salt in inex­
haustible quantities in all of the eight sea-coast provinces; and various
“ gold mines" have been reported to the government, as well as silver,
lead, and other metals, wdiich it is contemplated to work at an early day.
T iie T rades and A rts.— These are beginning to be carried on in Vene­
zuela to a considerable extent, and the trades o f carpenters, tailors, shoe­
makers, coopers, tinsmiths, saddlers, printers, jewelers, and others, with
which, twenty years ago, the Venezuelans were but imperfectly acquainted,
are now, owing to the arrival of foreigners, much better understood,
although native work is still dear or expensive. They are still in want
of looms, iron-foundries, and metal works in general. They have as yet
no established engravers, stone-cutters, or millers, and they are obliged to
use flour imported from the United States, which comes very high, and
as wheat bread has become of general daily consumption, this may be
looked upon as an article of actual necessity.
C ommerce.— The wholesale business of the country is carried on by
strong German, French, American, Spanish, and a few Venezuelan houses.
The retail trade is chiefly in the hands of native shopkeepers. The im­
ports for 1855 were:—
Cotton fabrics.......................
Woolen “
Linen
“
Silk
“
Liquors..................................

$2,275,245 Provisions...............................
495,137
253,362 Hardware..............................
256,703
689,286 Specie and sundries...............
1,721,214
197,224
353,515
Total............................... $6,241,686

To show the development of the resources and products of the country,
the following comparative table of exports made in the five years from
1830 to 1835, and from 1850 to 1855, is annexed:—
Exports.

Cotton............................................lbs.
Cacao........................................
Indigo..............................................
Coffee.......... ....................................
Tobacco.............................................
Cattle............................................No.
Salt beef....................................... lbs.
Ox hides...................................... No.
Other skins.......................................

1830*35.

1850*55.

1,063,641
29,541,490
1,554,139
52,557,553
2,445,558
13,341
10,000
320,890
587,712

7,072,745
45,410,952
1,455,276
179,248,753
7,539,649
74,306
6,907,650
3,010,829
2,474,667

Increase.

6,009,104
15,869,462
.
126,691,200
5,094,091
60,965
6,897,650
2,689,939
1,886,955

I mmigration.— Since 1830, when the Republic was organized, there
has been a constant immigration o f foreigners of all classes and nations,
but particularly from the Canary Islands and from Germany, who have
founded a town in the fertile province of Aragua. Immigrants are favored
in Venezuela with “ special protection and hospitality.” The government
provides them with necessary lodgings and assistance at the seaports,
gives “ a fanega” (100 square yards) of land to each and every one of
them who shall labor in the country; gives them naturalization papers,
entitling them, from the date o f their arrival, to all the civil and political
rights enjoyed by the natives ; and sees that the contracts they make with
farmers, agriculturists, or landed proprietors, be such as shall be advan­




54

The Census Systems o f Civilized Nations.

tageous to the immigrant, and insure to them a profitable and pleasant
reception on their arrival. The proprietors, on their part, give to the
immigrant a lodging, land to cultivate, some animals— such as cows,
hogs, poultry, etc.— gratuitously, until, by their labor and industry, they
acquire the means to pay the little they may owe, and become small
farmers themselves. It is evident that there is no country better adapted
for immigrants, either from Europe or America, than Venezuela, recom­
mended as it is by climate, manners, and customs, and general open
armed hospitality. Inhabitants of other climates, who despair of making
a living in them, and who labor hard sixteen hours a day, and often
lack employment altogether, would make a change undeniably for the
better by going to Venezuela, where all the necessaries of life are abundant
and cheap, and where but a few hours of daily labor reward him with
the produce of a generous soil. Facts hear out the assertion that any
stranger coming to Venezuela, in a short time finds his condition materially
improved by his residence and industry there. A considerable portion of
the foreigners who have come to the country and made their fortunes
there, grateful to it for benefits received and happiness enjoyed, have
made it permanently their homes, and become members of the Venezuelan
community.

Art. V.— THE CENSUS SYSTEMS OF CIVILIZED NATIONST H E IR . G R E A T

IM P O R T A N C E ,

H IS T O R Y , AND

GENERAL

A D O P T IO N — H O W C O N D U C T E D IN

N A T I O N S — S U G G E S T IO N S F O R I M P R O V E M E N T — D IF F IC U L T IE S
S P E C IA L A R R A N G E M E N T S
R E SU LT S OF C OM PLE TE

FO R S T A T I S T I C S

OF

IN O B T A IN IN G C O R R E C T

A G R IC U L T U R E

D IF F E R E N T
CEN SU SES—

A N D M A N U F A C T U R E S — B E N E F IC I A L

CEN SU SES.

A full and correct knowledge o f national statistics is very important,
both in the public and private relations of society. Among the earliest
wants of governments has uniformly been, an authentic summary o f their
social condition and industrial wealth ; nor can the one be improved, or
the other increased, without a thorough acquaintance with their actual
conditions, and the relations existing between them.
The political economist may construct his beautiful theories upon the
production, distribution, and consumption o f wealth, and elaborate plausi­
ble systems for the advancement o f social and individual welfare, but
without the support of statistics— the science of facts— the world labored
theories become but transcendental speculations, and vanish like the mists
of error before the light o f truth.
The absence of statistical details in any country must, in a certain
degree, characterize its government with tyranny and misrule; while in
those countries where statistics have been cultivated, and honored with
the essential attributes of precision and authority, we may uniformly trace
the progress of social improvement, the equalizing operation of the burdens
and the benefits of government, and that salutary tone of moral sentiment
which springs from the knowledge that the rights of every class are known
and respected. Nor are these facts less essential to the private than the
public life of the people; for by their light are afforded the best argu­
ments, the most explicit witnesses of the good or evil tendencies of various
plans of local or sectional interest; the expediency or risk of investment




The Census Systems o f Civilized Nations.

55

of private or associated capital; the direction o f industry in particular
channels— and the control of various benevolent, literary, and charitable
enterprises, whose success depends in a great degree upon the correctness
of the data upon which they are predicated.
W e appeal continually to these facts— in public discussions— in parlia­
mentary debates— and in the daily press. However plausible the argu­
ment o f an opponent, in matters of fact, it can have little weight upon the
judgment, if at variance with statistical tables.
W e may trace the good and evil fortune of the science o f statistics
through a period o f forty centuries. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans,
employed operations analogous to the census, to second their wonderful
developments of civilization; but, like these, they were swept away by
the inundations of barbarism that extinguished the light o f knowledge in
the middle ages. Upon the revival of literature the knowledge and
science of statistics remained for a long time in the possession o f only the
learned, and may be said to have been shunned by both princes and people ;
the one, fearing disclosures of their weakness, and the other dreading its
effects as a fiscal agent, to more directly and completely reach the scanty
surplus of their industry.
Without the slightest probability of concurrence or interchange of
ideas, we notice the plan of an enumeration o f the inhabitants by authority
of government, originating at a remote period o f antiquity, in the two
extremes of Asia, and even beyond seas in the New World. The Chinese
and the children of Israel, the Mexicans, and the Peruvians, had each
their methods of obtaining, not only the number, but the wealth and re­
sources of the different classes o f their population, and knowing these,
they were able to calculate and collect the revenues necessary for the sup­
port of the State in peace, and its defense in war.
Although certain inventories of wealth, resources, and revenues, had
been in use in Great Britain from remote periods, it is worthy of remark
that the want of correct data for the administration of her colonial de­
pendencies, led the English government to order enumerations on the
plan of our modern census in her American colonies, more than a century
before a similar enterprise was attempted at home.
These censuses were ordered at irregular intervals, and like those re­
corded in sacred writ, were founded upon the military capabilities of the
country, and designed to afford a knowledge of its effective strength.
They were taken by sheriffs and their deputies, under instructions from
the governors, and by order of the lords of trade. Making due allowance
for want of system and experience, these returns often exhibit evidences
of having been made with great care, and they afford invaluable historical
data concerning the condition and growth of the several colonies.
The plan of a regular periodical census, as the basis of representation,
was adopted in the organic law o f the State of New York in 1777, and
subsequently, by the general government of the United States in 1789,
affording the first instance in the history of the world at which a regular
periodical census was ever instituted. The British government in 1801,
commenced a decennial census, which has reached a high state of perfec­
tion through the agencies employed during the last twenty years, in the
registration of births, deaths, and marriages. The intimate relations be­
tween registration and the census, appears to render their union of opera­
tions extremely appropriate, as it cannot fail to be eminently successful.




56

The Census Systems o f Civilized Nations.

The examples of a census at decennial periods, •which we have noticed,
have been followed by nearly every nation in Europe, and extended to
their colonial possessions. Of the census reports ot continental Europe,
those of Belgium, France, and Prussia, deserve particular notice from the
excellency of their arrangement.
W hile so many interests depend upon the fulness and reliability of a
census, it becomes a matter of solicitude to inquire how these facts can be
obtained with the greatest facility and precision. W hat are the difficul­
ties to be met, and how are they to be surmounted 1
It will be found that an organization that would operate in an old and
densely settled country, and under a strongly centralized government,
would require essential modifications to adapt it to a new and thinly set­
tled country, in which the governing power was diffused in a correspond­
ing manner. There must necessarily exist in the latter case much diversity
of intelligence, customs, and manners, and difficulties from other sources,
that would not appear in the former.
The original facts should be obtained, as far as possible, by those who
have a personal knowledge of the people they enumerate, who possess the
confidence o f the public, and who fully understand their duty, and are
zealous and conscientious in the discharge o f it.
The enumerations made by the direction of the government of the
United States, have always been performed by special deputies, appointed
by the marshals of the several district courts, who often had large districts
assigned to them, and occupied a whole summer in going over them.
In New York, the sheriffs and their deputies, and afterwards special
marshals, chosen by the local town officers, reported the census until 1855,
when the appointing power was given to the Secretary o f State. In mak­
ing the appointment of the 1,750 persons thus chosen, recourse was had
to the aid of personal friends in the several counties, and the system was
found to be attended with infinitely more trouble thau benefit.
In Belgium, in 1846, a central commission of statistics, with special
commissions in each province, were employed, with numerous local and
temporary agents. In France the existing municipal organizations were
charged with the duty. The last Canadian census was taken under the
Board of Registration and Statistics, having 83 commissioners and 1,073
enumerators subordinate to them.
In general, in the absence of a thoroughly organized and permanent
system of registration, the existing municipal and civil officers will be
found to be appropriate means for the distribution and collection of in­
structions, and blanks and special agents with small districts, chosen by
local magistrates, and accountable to them for the accuracy of their la­
bors, will be found most efficient for obtaining the original facts.
The whole organization should be under the direction of a central office,
and the report of each enumerator should be examined and approved by
the local appointing authority, and by the central office, before pay should
be allowed.
The compensation should always be pro rata, and sufficient to secure
competent and faithful persons in the service. The labor of summing up
ana arranging for the press, should be done entirely under one direction,
and in one office.
The time occupied in the enumeration should not exceed, if possible, a
single day, to avoid the errors arising from omissions or double entries,




The Census Systems o f Civilized Nations.

57

by changes and removals while the work was progressing, and hence each
enumeration district should be small, and its boundaries precisely defined.
The population should not be returned by families, or dwellings, but the
precise name, sex, age, relation to the head of family, nativity, profession,
civil condition, etc., of each person should be reported in full.
A period of the year should be selected, when the people are mostly at
home, and the beginning of the civil year will generally be found to pos­
sess, in this and other respects, many advantages.
One of the chief difficulties that have attended a census, has arisen
from suspicion that some scheme of taxation or revenue was to be based
upon it. This obliged the Belgian government, in 1846, to publicly de­
clare the measure to be entirely free from financial schemes. The sus­
picion of political and partizan operations has, in some cases, and not
without color of reason, been excited by the exclusive appointment of
enumerators of one party.
Other difficulties in obtaining the census o f the population, arise from
foreign languages, want of knowledge respecting age, and sometimes a
weakness in attempting to conceal it. In one o f the colonial censuses of
New York, the object of the enumeration was in part defeated, by a super­
stition that a sickness followed the last numbering of the inhabitants, ob­
viously derived from the Scriptural account of the pestilence among the
Israelites, in the time of David. In the New York State census of 1855,
one of the marshals in New York city found difficulty from suspicion that
a military conscription was intended.
A prominent source o f error in a census, arises from the ignorance of
the people themselves, concerning the facts required. This applies with
peculiar force to agricultural and manufactured produce. The land de­
voted to particular crops is seldom surveyed, and the product when used
on the farm, js sometimes not measured. Except in large manufactories
(where system is indispensible,) the exact amount and value of materials
used and products sold in the course o f a year, is not easily found ; and
the answers concerning these inquiries, even when made with the best
intentions, are often but little better than very poor guess work.
The
desire to avoid rivalry or taxation on the one hand, or to create an undue
credit or reputation on the other, may in some instances lead to under or
over estimates. More than all of these, the mixed and doubtful character
of many manufactories, renders an attempt at classification absolutely im­
possible, without the exercise of more care and attention than is often
allowed.
Statistics of agriculture and manufactures when they extend to estimates
o f quantities and values, may therefore be regarded as liable to consider­
able uncertainty, as given in a census, and my observation tends to the
conclusion that they should be disconnected from it, and made separate
and special subjects of inquiry. Full and authentic statistics of these
great elements of national wealth are of vital interest to those engaged in
their production and might justly be obtained at their expense. Recog­
nising this principle, the interests concerned in the United States, in the
production of iron from the ore, are at the present time, by votuntary as­
sociation, procuring the statistics o f this manufacture through the agency
of competent persons, who are to visit each furnace, and collect from their
ledgers and books every fact relating to the business. Such associations
in the several branches of productive industry, cannot fail to collect re­
sults incomparably superior to the hasty returns o f a census.




58

The Census Systems o f Civilized Nations.

It is worthy of inquiry, whether agricultural societies, acting through
township, district, or county, and central organization, and clothed by law
with sufficient authority, might not secure the most authentic returns of
agriculture, with the greatest economy, and these from year to year,
instead o f at intervals of five or ten years, as in the ordinary personal
census.
Beyond the original faults of the first returns, and the slight risk of
loss, (which may be prevented by a duplicate filed in some local office of
record,) there need be no further sources of error in a census. The sum­
mary may without difficulty be accomplished under such checks and
regulations, as to produce uniformly correct results. A detailed account
of the arrangements for this end would scarcely possess general interest.
Some of the operations are of a very simple and mechanical character,
and even mechanism itself may be advantageously applied.
The difficulties which oppose the obtaining of correct census are only
to be overcome by the increase of intelligence, the avoidance o f partizan
or sectarian feeling in appointments, and especially by the diffusion of
correct ideas of the true objects of the enumeration, and of the public,
social, and individual advantages arising from it.
When these have been removed it will be apparent to all that while
personal items become lost in the general averages, and the wealth and
industry of the individual are merged in that o f the nation— there arises
from the combination of seemingly incongruous facts, a series of beautiful
proportions— of harmonious relations; not simply curious coincidences,
but general laws, founded upon principles as immutable as those of the
physical universe, and incapable of change without disturbing the founda­
tions of human society.
What can be more uncertain than the details which the census obtains
concerning a single life ! How little of concert or system there appears
in the ages and conditions of those marrying— how much of apparent
chance in time and cause of death— or the sex of birth ! And yet, when
we aggregate these items, there is noticed a certain definite relation ex­
isting between the different ages, sexes, and classes, which constitutes a
normal standard, and that while different countries may exhibit variations
within certain limits peculiar to themselves, and arising from specific
causes, yet any essential departure from the due proportion impairs the
balance of society, and unless corrected, leads sooner or later to national
weakness and disaster.
An undue proportion o f single persons, for example, may indicate either
inordinately high prices in the necessaries o f life, opposing the tendency
to marriage, or a decline in morals of still graver consequences to the
public welfare. An excess o f widows and orphans has, from time imme­
morial, been the sequel of wars and pestilence.
It is apparent, that the immediate present and effective vigor o f a coun­
try depends upon the number o f young and middle-aged males, upon
whom devolves the heaviest labor of the farm, the mine, the manufactory,
and the public works, as well as the entire service of the army and the
navy, and most of the interests employed in the production and distribu­
tion of wealth. But the years of man are few and quickly spent. The
decrepitude of age succeeds the vigor o f manhood, and needs in its turn
the support of those whom it fed and protected in infancy and childhood.
Man has a double duty to perform— to pay up the interest of borrowed




Old Fogydom in Trade and Commerce.

59

capital, in the support of aged parents, and to invest funds for his own
future support, in the proper training and education of his little ones.
The hallowed associations of home, with all its endearing relations, must
have their influence in order to develop the greatest amount o f permanent
national as well as individual happiness and prosperity.
A country is truly rich and powerful that contains, not the greatest
sums of hoarded or invested wealth, but the greatest number of happy
families; not the heaviest armaments and costliest array o f defenses against
foreign invasion, but the greatest number of intelligent and industrious
home and-country-loving citizens, who, knowing the value of domestic
happiness, and o f civil and religious liberty, from their enjoyments, are
ready to yield their lives and fortunes in their defense.
It is the duty of every government to know the elements o f its own
strength; to understand the enfeebling tendencies which may be secretly
operating within it, and by a timely and judicious course o f administra­
tion, or exercise of law, to correct these tendencies by modifying their
causes.

Art. VI.— OLD FOGYDOM IN TRADE AND COMMERCE.
As the term “ Old Fogy” is very frequently applied to the merchants of
Louisville, in an opprobrious sense, it may perhaps be as well to inquire
how far the implied censure is just, and what is meant by the designation.
Old fogydom in society is applied to those who prefer the courtliness and
grace of former days to the flippancy and impudence of modern times.
In literature, the old fogy is he who prefers Spencer to Stowe, Francis
Bacon to Fanny Fern, and Love’s Labor Lost to the Lamplighter. In
religion, the old fogy preaches the maxim of “ peace on earth and good
will to men,” rather than the more modern dogma of “ a Bible in one
hand and a rifle in the other.” In politics, he is the old fogy who seeks
the good of his country rather than of his party, who is more a patriot
than a politician. In art, the old fogy prefers the solid grace of the Italian
to the glittering gorgeousness o f the French school. In commerce, old
fogydom is content with results of honesty, industry, and probity, without
seeking, at the possible expense of these, to acquire wealth and fame in a
day.
W hat state of society is that, then, which makes this term one of op­
probrium, and to what degree of impertinence will not youthful folly be
led ? It would be well for the community if the opprobrious use o f this
soubriquet involved merely a question of impertinence. It does far more
than this. Its tendency is to destroy in the young mind all reverence for
the past and its legacies; to uproot those ideas of justice, propriety, and
honor, which are the result of centuries of experience and thought; to
substitute expediency for correctness, and to make success, no matter how
attained, the test of merit.
It is perhaps out of the province of the R eview to inquire into all the
evils which are likely to follow the spread of that spirit of mistaken inde­
pendence which mocks at established usages and laughs at the experience
of centuries; but it is certainly within its duty to show what commercial
evils may grow out of a too great preponderance o f “ Young American­




60

Old Fogydom in Trade and Commerce.

ism.” It is not denied that the self-sustaining spirit which Young Ame­
rica shows contains much that is noble and worthy o f praise. It is this
very spirit which has reclaimed a hemisphere from barbarism, which has
unburied the treasures of the modern El Dorado, and which promises
peace, plenty, and protection to half a world. Self-reliance, boldness, and
energy, are noble characteristics, but they need judgment, discretion, and
experience, to make them available. The former are the boast of Young
America, the latter they affect to despise, though these may attain success
without the former, those have but little likelihood of gaining their ends
without the latter.
Old fogydom, properly so called, merits contempt, but one must be
careful that the term is correctly applied. He is the true old fogy in busi­
ness who follows the beaten path of his predecessors irrespective of the
changes which time has made around him ; who buys his wares in the
same places and at the same prices from year to year, without knowing
or caring for the state o f the markets or the changes of trade, who refuses
to take advantage of the facilities for commerce which time has placed in
his w ay; who pursues an unvarying routine of daily duties, not because
they are best or most necessary, but because they are customary to him ;
who sleeps in lethargy while all is activity and bustle around him ; who
lives in the past, and looks neither to the present nor the future ; who
despises improvement and desires no change, because he believes none can
be made for the better. Such is the true old fogy of trade— a character
sufficiently despicable, yet hardly worse than its opposite, and certainly
not so frequently met with in the world of commerce. The opposite of
the old fogy is that restless spirit whose first article of faith is contained
in the maxim that “ whatever is, is wrong;” who believes that the means
which have once been employed to attain an end can never be used again,
lie does not dream o f securing an independence by laborious industry.
Such means are too slow for his genius; his fortune must be made in a
day. He is rapid for improvement. He would build a railroad from his
home to the market place, and carry his neighbors’ baskets at so much a
head. His scent is keen for a speculation. He enters with his capital o f
a hundred dollars into a speculation involving a hundred thousand with­
out a thought of where the means are to come from. He buys tobacco
on credit, and as his notes are protested, he enters into a magnificent trade
in pork to repay them. He is careless of his name, for he knows that he
will succeed by and by, and then he can establish his credit. He does
not believe in the drudgery o f a daily routine o f business. His life is a
series of electric sparks. He asks in New Orleans when he will get a
reply to his dispatch to New Y ork ; and when he is told that he must
wait fifteen minutes, he thinks he had better get on his horse and go after
it. He mistakes physical restlessness for mental power. He lives fully
impressed with his immense usefulness to the world; yet he dies, and his
very grave is forgotten.
W hich of the two characters described above is the most hurtful to
society ? The injury which the former does is done to himself and to his
fam ily; the other inflicts a wrong upon the community which is only
bounded by the extent of his transactions. It may be objected that these
characters are extreme. This is true ; but it is only by extremes that we
are to gain a fair judgment of the tendency of those ideas which govern
the world.




W h y Merchants are Liable to F ail in Business.

61

Let us now inquire who are the men so ill-naturedly branded as old
fogies by the “ Young Rapids” of the day. They belong to neither of
the classes described above. They are the happy union of the reflective­
ness and discretion of the one, with the energy and activity of the other.
They, are the true “ solid men of business.” Is a scheme of public im­
provement proposed, they stop to count its cost; they consider carefully
its value and their own resources, and if both are practicable, they embark
in it at once. If, however, either should be found wanting, and they re­
fuse to lend it their aid, immediately they are branded “ old fogy.” Is a
vein of coal or a mine of iron hawked about the streets by some speculator,
they must take the stock and develop the resources, or they are old fogies.
Does a company of land-owners demand a railroad to a new made city,
they must build it, or rest under the charge of old fogydom. Does some
juvenile hero of the second class show them in his maiden speech how to
enlarge the limits of their city, and render its prosperity certain, they
must adopt his views and spend their money to try his plans, or he will
raise.the cry of old fogy.
W ip gives to your city its reputation for wealth, for mercantile credit,
•for kotaorable dealing? W h o builds your public institutions and your
private palaces? W h o indorses your note, and upon whom do you rely
to ggt/that note cashed ? It is he whom you have abused as an old fogy.
Wlrtm you point with pride to the best and most reliable among your
ness men, do you forget to mention the names o f those you are used
’'call old fogiepj , „
( .
Your •prqgije*?5y® spirit is a worthy ijrad,' an, .honorable one. Your age
is the age of action.
Form then your plans ; set your restless mind at
work; labor earnestly a ad zealously for, your own good and that o f the
community, but do. not; suppose bec^-u^e your mind is fresh and active
that your judgment is immaculate. Do not mistake the caution o f ex­
perienced maturity for the lotljaigy. o f old fogydom. Lay your plans be­
fore the so-called old fogies of your neighborhood; and if they approve
them, prosecute them vigorously and earnestly to the end. If they doubt
or deny their efficacy, go back to your closet and make yourself sure of
their success before you attempt them in the face of the experience,
talent, and judgment, raised against you. If you then succeed, you will,
for the first time, have the right to sneer at what you call “ Old Fogydom.”

Art. VII.— WHY MERCHANTS ARE LIABLE TO FAIL IN BUSINESS.
T he Prairie Farmer, though rather severe in the following essay, tells
some truths, which it would be well for our merchants to read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest. So intimately connected are the interests o f
agriculture and commerce, that we need not be surprised to find the
Prairie Farmer reading a homily to the merchants of the land.
Few things are so precarious as commercial credit. Men who have
borne up under repeated losses of thousands of dollars, have in the end
gone down before so informidable a thing as a doubt. First a surmise, then
a suspicion, next a pressure, at last a protest, followed by a failure— such
is the brief history o f the downfall of many a dealer in foreign fabrics,




62

W h y Merchants are Liable to Fail in Business.

whose daughters went forth arrayed in purple and fine linen, and whose
house was furnished like unto the palace of a king.
There is a sad lack of manly honor and integrity among commercial
men. They set up for themselves a strange standard o f morality— a com­
bination of a punctuality which must pay a debt the very hour in which
it becomes due, and a license which sanctions any business that brings
gain, whether by flattering the vanity of women, by gratifying the ap­
petites of men, or by rasping gold from the dry hones of poverty. Almost
all merchants and bankers who fail, know beforehand that their business
is very unsafe. Most of them foresee that failure is inevitable; but instead
of bowing at once, they continue to borrow money, try to make a show
o f wealth by increasing their business, stake the money of others on a
desperate cast where success would simply postpone the ruin, miserably
fail, and, in their fall, drag down hundreds o f honest men who placed
implicit confidence in their honor and business capacity. To this method
of transacting business there are noble exceptions ; but they are distin­
guished for their singularity.
W e never believed that there was, necessarily, more hazard in the
mercantile or the banking business than in farming. Farmers rarely be­
come bankrupt, simply because they keep their expenditures below their
incomes, and do not try suddenly to get rich by borrowing money and
engaging in hazardous speculations. Suppose a man should attempt to
borrow a hundred thousand dollars in order to bet at a horse race or
at a faro bank— wonld; any prudent man furnish him. with .the. means?
would any upright •m^nfgiv& him "money for suoh a purpose? -.Gamblers
can borrow money only from gamblers o f from fools. And if borrowing
money to speculate in sugafs/fop exAipple: be not1 gambling, by what
name shall we call it? The'prirfcfplfe is'jast thetsame, whether we stake
money on the swiftness of a horse, the .turning o f a card, or the failure of
a crop. Suppose a man should borrow m^ney for the ostensible purpose
of buying a vast quantity of sugar and awaiting an expected rise in its
price, and should, without consulting his creditors, bet the whole sum on
a decrease in the next sugar crop— would not the lenders charge him
with a violation o f faith, a reckless misuse of their money, and appeal to
the law for restitution ? And yet there would be scarcely a shade of dif­
ference between the morality of the two transactions. The one would be
like buying the horse to win money on his speed, the other would be
simply betting on the race. In truth, the most striking difference between
the commercial gambler and the horse jockey gambler is this— the one
cheat scoundrels like himself, the other cheats honest men. And it is
this cheating and overreaching, this unmanly impatience that will not
wait for the reward of honest industry, this eagerness for sudden and un­
merited wealth, this reckless hazard o f borrowed money, which strews all
the paths of commercial life with the bleaching bones of bankruptcy, and
robs the unsuspecting poor man of his small blit well-earned substance.
A young man just liberated from the apprenticeship of a common clerk
conceives the idea of becoming immensely rich in a few years, and resolves
to open a wholesale dry goods store, or perhaps a large banking house.
From his late employers he receives flattering letters of recommendation,
just as quack medicines receive puffs from newspapers; and from his
mercantile acquaintances he begs testimonials, just as bad actors beg ap­
plause from the galleries o f theatres. Armed thus with both the sword




W h y Merchants are Liable to F ail in Business.

63

and shield of the commercial impostor, he obtains credit; borrows m oney;
opens a splendid establishment; employs a dozen dashing clerks ; marries
a belle who must be attended by a train of liveried menials ; rents a firstclass house on the most fashionable avenue; receives on deposit the earn­
ings of laborers and seamstresses; drives a splendid span of blooded
horses; gives dinners, evening parties, and birthday balls; buys box
tickets at the theatre; heads the list whenever a complimentary benefit
is tendered to a favorite actress; occupies a front pew at church ; never
offers less than a hundred dollars at a donation party; spends the summer
at Newport or Saratoga; announces his intention to visit Paris and Lon­
don the ensuing spring; borrows, and borrows, and borrows, till he can
borrow no more— and then there is a startling rumor that a failure has
occurred involving in ruin hundreds o f industrious and economical peo­
ple. The telegraph sends the astounding intelligence all over the country,
editors consult their dictionaries for words to utter their regret and aston­
ishment, commercial men tender their sympathy and express renewed
confidence in the integrity of their unfortunate brother, and the cheated
poor again commence their weary journey at the bottom o f their steep
and rugged path of life. The author of all this wasteful extravagance,
and all this glittering falsehood, and all this pompous liberality, and all
this snobbish admiration, and all this undeserved sympathy, and all this
piteously abused confidence, absents himself from public assemblies till
the nine days’ tempest has blown over, and then comes forth to seek some
new field of operation and play the same game over again.
The shivering beggar who steals a web of flannel is promptly arrested
and punished. No sympathising crowd follows him to the grim entrance
of the solitary and dreaded abode of counterfeits, thieves, and assassins.
No sorrowful paragraph reluctantly tells how, in an evil hour, he committed
the unfortunate deed. And yet how small does his poor offense seem
alongside of the enormous crimes o f the wicked and reckless vagabond
who steals the value of many thousand webs of flannel; who, though he
never earned the daily food of a starveling dog, yet often squandered
in a single night’s licentious riot more than a whole year’s wages of an
industrious m an; who beggared hundreds of families whose humble
dwellings he was not worthy to enter; and who, a bankrupt debtor, yet
wasting the substance of others with the most shameful extravagance, and
covered all over with the recent stains o f treachery, falsehood, fraud, and
extortion— goes off the stage which he disgraced, not only unpunished,
but with the sympathy of most whom he did not rob ?
Every principle o f honor tells us that no man should peril another when
ruin is even probable. He should pause at once, and brave the danger
which his own folly has brought upon him. The plain rules of common
justice exempt the innocent from the punishment o f the guilty. When a
man wilfully invites ruin which he might otherwise avert, and treacherously
involves unsuspecting men in it, the public conscience must be sin-hardened
if it does not pronounce him an infamous criminal, and the law which
does not treat him as such must lack justice as much as he lacks virtue.
W hy should a merchant or a banker every day do with impunity what
would forever ruin the reputation of a farmer or a mechanic ? It is good
that disgraces should constantly attend upon bad conduct in a farmer;
but why should it not also constantly attend upon bad conduct in a mer­
chant? When a farmer, through extravagance or mismanagement, be­




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The Law M erchant:

comes bankrupt, he is called a swindler and a cheat; hut when a mer­
chant, through even worse conduct, fails in business, his bankruptcy is
charged to the account of financial embarrassment. How strange that
broadcloth or homespun should so change the complection of crim e!
The merchant is constantly exposed to loss by uncurrent bank notes;
so is the farmer. He may be ruined by a reduction in the price of pro­
duce ; so may the farmer. He may be hard pressed by his creditors; so
may the farmer. He may be cheated by his debtors; so may the farmer.
He may be reduced to poverty by sickness, by fire, by flood ; so may the
farmer. On the right hand and on the left, before and behind, he is ex­
posed to evils; and the farmer is exposed to the worst effects of rain and
drought, and to the ravages of untimely frosts and destroying insects.
After summing up the whole matter, we find that for every danger to
which the one is subject, an equal danger besets the other. W e insist,
therefore, upon the right to try them both by the same standard, and the
conduct which, in a farmer, would be disgraceful, cannot be overlooked
in a merchant. Let business men, as they call themselves, imitate the
plain simplicity and the honest prudence of farmers, and there will be an
end to the disheartening list of assignments and failures. It is no part of
their duty to imitate the manners o f the simpering fops of London and
Paris, to squander the annual products of a farm at the benefit of a
lewd actress, to sleep all day and spend the night amid riot and de­
bauchery, to frequent the assemblies of men bloated with gluttony, dropping
with wine, and reeling in obscene dances. No man has a right to spend
more money' than his ordinary income ; and he who squanders the earn­
ings of others, should be set down in the catalogue o f thieves. Until the
law ceases to make distinctions without a difference, the confiding poor
man will hold his bank deposits by the precarious tenure of commercial
conscience, and the defaulter will mock at the indignation of public
opinion.

Art. VIII.— T H E

LAW

MERCHANT.

NU M BER M I .

LIMITATIONS.
I t is a wise and beneficent maxim of the law that “ W hile Man is
Mortal Controversies shall not be Immortal.” In the early days of our
system of judicial proceedure, it was felt to be an evil that old and long
forgotten claims should be allowed to demand the strong sanction afforded
by well organized and efficient courts of justice. It was felt to be an evil
that transactions so ancient as to be traditionary were permitted to be
ransacked to furnish materials for litigation.
Judges, therefore, very
early attempted to set some limits to the life o f causes o f action. These
efforts, although neither very uniform nor very authoritative, led to the
enactment of the statute of limitations. This statute originated in Eng­
land in the reign of James I. It became of course the law of this country,
while this country was an English co lo n y ; and since our independence
it has been adopted in substance by every State. There are few rules of




Limitations.

65

law so universally accepted, so uniformly enforced, as the rules of limita­
tions.
By the English statute it was enacted that all actions to recover per­
sonal property, or to recover damages for its wrongful conversion, or
damages for trespass, “ and all actions of account and upon the case other
than such accounts as concern the trade of merchandise between merchant
and merchant, their factors or servants, all actions of debt grounded upon
any lending or conttact without specialty, must be brought within six
years after the cause of such action and not after.”
The statute contains other provisions respecting actions to recover pos­
session of real property, and actions for slander, assault and battery, and
such causes ; but these are not material here.
The reader will notice two points in the clause quoted. First. The
statute does not enact that after six years from its inception a debt shall
cease. It simply provides that no suit shall be brought upon it. The
debt still exists, but the law will not enforce its payment.
It is not
canceled; it is merely outlawed.
In England in 1800, a man brought
suit against a wharfinger, to recover certain goods of his, which the wharf­
inger had in possession and refused to deliver up. The wharfinger set up
as his defense, that the plaintiff owed him a balance o f account, and that
he was not bound to part with the goods until the debt was paid.- The
balance had been due since 1790, and the plaintiff insisted that it was
barred by the statute. But Lord Eldon decided that the debt had not
been discharged, though the remedy to enforce it by action had been
taken away. “ Though the statute had run against the demand,” he said,
“ if the creditor has possession of the goods on which he has a lien for a
general balance, he may hold them for that demand by virtue o f his lien.”
In any case o f a security held for a debt, though the debt may be barred
by the statute, it may perhaps still be collected through the security.
The other point is that mercantile accounts are excepted. This ex­
ception is omitted in the statutes of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Ohio, Michigan, Mis­
souri, and Arkansas. It exists in the statutes of the remaining States.
The exception is merely remarked here: its scope and operation will be
more fully considered in a following page.
It has been held that a debt barred by the statute, cannot be allowed as
a set off counter-claim to an action on a cross debt; for claiming to re­
cover it as a ground of defense, is considered equivalent to claiming to re­
cover it as a cause of action.
Two merchants, in settling up the account o f an adventure in which
they had been engaged, disagreed about the mode o f settlement. One of
them ciaimed a balance due him of over one thousand dollars; the other
conceded a balance of two hundred to be due, but denied that anything
more was due. He offered the two hundred that he thought due. The
first refused to receive wThat he considered but a part of his claim. He
would have, he said, the whole or none. The dispute hung a long time
unsettled. Some months afterwards, the creditor not having yet been paid,
purchased from his debtor a quantity o f goods nearly equaling the
amount o f the unsettled claim. When the bill was sent in, the creditor
reminded the other of the old claim, and demanded that that should be
allowed in the settlement. The debtor renewed his offer to pay what he
thought he owed, and asked for payment of his bill. The first creditor
VOL. XXXVIII.— no. i.
5

i



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The Law M erchant:

finally said, “ I will pay you when you pay me, and not till then.” The
two claims nearly balanced each other, and the first creditor thought he
would as lief they should be settled in that way as any other. This sort
of settlement was a very convenient one for a time, but in the end through
the statute of limitations it proved to be no settlement at all. The debtor
made no further claim on his bill of goods, but waited until a time more
than six years from the date of the first transaction, but a little less than
six years after the date o f the second ; and then he brought a suit to re­
cover the price o f the goods he had sold. The balance o f account had
been outlawed; the bill of goods, being a transaction of a few months
later date, had not yet been outlawed ; so that the debtor recovered his
claim, while the creditor was left without remedy.
There has been much difference of opinion among courts and lawyers
as to what is called the theory o f this statute. Some have thought that
the reason of its rule was that the mere fact that a long time had elapsed
since a debt accrued, made it more than probable, that the debt had been
paid or satisfied in some w a y ; while the evidence of such satisfaction
might have been lost. Others have thought, that the reason of its rule
was just the reverse— that debts, although undoubtedly unpaid, should
not be collected after the creditor had suffered a long time to elapse over
them. The reader may think this only a theoretical question, but in fact
it became a very practical question, and one that is important for business
men to understand. And in this way. One class of authorities held that,
if a debtor, whose debt was outlawed should say, or do anything acknowl­
edging that it was sill existing, the creditor might maintain a suit upon
it ; “ for” said the court, in such a case, “ the reason of the statute is,
that after six years there is a presumption that the debt has been paid ;
and if the debtor admits it has not been paid, this presumption is effect­
ively rebutted, so that the reason o f the statute failing, the statute ought
not to govern the case.” The other class o f authorities would say, in pre­
cisely the same circumstances. “ The debtor admits, that this old debt
was never paid ; but according to the statute, it is too late to make him
pay it now. The statue wTas not meant to prevent litigation of old debts
that had been paid, but o f old debts that had not been paid; and if it
wTere ever so clearly proved that this debt had never been paid, that would
be the strongest reason for dismissing the action now. The statute is a
statute of repose. If a creditor claims money, he ought in all fairness and
honor so assert and establish his claim in a reasonable time, and not let
it sleep when the transaction is fresh, to be awakened in after years when
the transaction is long forgotten. If the debt has been paid, the debtor
does not need a statute to protect h im ; he can very likely prove the
payment. If it has not been paid he is the very man for whose protection
the statute was framed.”
The one theory thus operated to enforce the debt, where the defendant
did not deny that the debt was unpaid; the other theory operated to
refuse to enforce the debt, unless, indeed, the debtor had within six years
made some definite promise, either expressly or by implication. Such a
new promise, if he had made one, was as good as a new cause of action
against him. After such a discussion, and much conflict of authorities, it
has now become generally settled that the latter is the correct view, and
that no simple recognition by the debtor o f his indebtedness ought to be
of any effect to revive the debt against him. This theory has been ef­




Limitations.

07

fectually established by the passage in England, and in several o f the
United States, of a further statute providing that no promise to pay an
outlawed debt, will save the debt from being cut off by the limitation, un­
less such promise be in writing signed by the party sought to be charged
thereby. This in reality is quite consistent with the old statute; for such
a written promise is in fact a new cause o f action, and after such a promise
has been made, the creditor would be entitled to six years more, in which
to bring a suit.
From the preceding remarks, it will be seen that the theory of limita­
tions is, that stale demands will not be enforced by the law either as
grounds of actions or of defense to actions ; that old claims shall not be
litigated, not because they are supposed to have been settled, but simply
because they are old.
Pleading the statute of limitations, therefore, is not to be regarded as
an unworthy evasion o f just debts. It is true that a dishonest debtor may
contrive to procure a delay in the commencement o f a suit for a suffici­
ent price, to avail himself of this defense. Such a course may be considered
as dishonorable. But where the delay in pressing the claim is the act of
the creditor, it is a fair reply or the debtor— you ought to have tested this
question before now. You have let it sleep so long, that I am under no
moral duty, as well as under no legal obligation, to pay any attention to it
now. In fact, in all business communities, this is the one o f the con­
ditions of debts and credits. When a man contracts simple debts, he does
not contract them forever. lie holds himself subject to them for the time,
and the creditor must assert himself as such within a reasonable time, or
he is fairly to be considered as waiving his original right.
For a creditor to sue his debtor fairly and promptly ; this is just. For
a creditor to resolve never to sue him, and to leave him to pay in his
own time, wholly, or in part, or not at a ll; this is generous. Many
creditors with a vague idea of being generous without letting go what is
just, take a middle course which works neither generosity to their debtor,
nor justice to themselves. They allow an unsettled cSaim to lie, and the
evidence of the transaction to decay, as a fancied favor to the debtor;
while all the time they are ready upon any slight inducement to rake up
its remains, and ransack them for a cause of action against him.
The words of the late Judge Story, o f the United State Supreme Court,
in commenting upon a case under this statue, which came before him,*
are so plain and so just upon this point that we quote them.
“ I consider the statute of limitation a highly beneficial statute, and
entitled, as such, to receive, if not a liberal, at least a reasonable construc­
tion, in furtherance of its manifest object. It is a statute of repose;
the object of which is, to suppress fraudulent and stale claims from spring­
ing up at great distances o f time, and surprising the parties, or their re­
presentatives, when all the proper evidence and vouchers are lost, or the
facts have become obscure, from the lapse of time, or the defective memory,
or death, or removal of witnesses. The defense, therefore, which it puts
forth, is an honorable defense, which does not seek to avoid the payment
of just claims or demands, admitted now to be due, bufw hich encounters
in the only practical manner, such as are ancient and unacknowledged;
and, whatever may have been their original validity, such as are now




* Spring vs. Gray, 5 Mason, 523.

68

Journal o f Mercantile L aw .

beyond the power of the party to meet, with all the proper vouchers and
evidence to repel them. The natural presumption certainly is, that claims
which have been long neglected, are unfounded, or at least are no longer
subsisting demands. And this presumption the statute has erected into a
positive bar. There is wdsdom and policy in it, as it quickens the diligence
of creditors, and guards innocent persons from being betrayed by their
ignorance, or their over-confidence in regard to transactions which have
become dim by age. Yet, I will remember the time when courts o f law
exercised what I cannot but deem a most unseemly anxiety to suppress
the defense; and when, to the reproach of the law7, almost every effort of
ingenuity was exhausted to catch up loose and inadvertent phrases from
the careless lips of the supposed debtor, to construe them into admission
o f the debt. Happily, that period has passed away; and judges now
confine themselves to the more appropriate duty o f construing the statute,
rather than devising means to evade its operation.”

JOURNAL OF MERCANTILE LAW.
BOTTOMRY ON VESSEL, CARGO, AND FREIGHT.

Court of Admiraltyf Dublin, (Ireland.)
fore Dr. Kelly.

The Bon Accord, of Liverpool.

Be­

This was a cause of bottomry, promoted by Messrs. Scott & Co., assignees
of a bottomry bond effected on this vessel, her cargo and freight, at Malta, for
£1,794 16s., with maritime interest and insurance premium. No appearance had
been given for the vessel, but the owners of the cargo had filed a defensive alle­
gation, setting up that the bond had been given without sufficient necessity, and
that several of the items of the account, for the discharged of which it was given,
w7ere not properly the subject of bottomry. Captain Robert Nicolls, master,
and George Duncan, mate of the vessel, had intervened in the suit, claiming
wages and disbursements in priority to the bond. The rest of the crew had
gone before the justices at Cork, under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, and
the justices had given an order for payment to them, but the vessel being under
arrest by the Admiralty Court, that order could not be made effectual. It was
arranged, however, between the parties to the suit, that the seamen should (to
save expense) be allowed to take a decree in this court for the sum awarded
them by the justices.
Dr. Radclitf (with whom was Mr. Lowry) on behalf of Captain Nicolls and
the mate, stated their claims for wages, and examined them in support o f it. Dr.
Townsend appeared on behalf of the bondholders, and Dr. Elrington for the
owners of the cargo. Dr. Radclitf stated that the claims of Mr. Nicolls were
partly composed of demands for money advanced for the ship’s use and for wages
to the crew; partly of his own demand for wages. He conceded that the de­
mand for disbursements was prior to that of Dr. Townsend’s clients, but argued
that it was a charge upon the residue of the funds. The demand for wages was,
he contended, prior to every other claim.
Dr. Townsend, in reply, cited a decision of Dr. Lushington’s, made during the
last week, in the case of the Janet Wilson, reported in Mitchell’s Maritime Re­
gister.
Dr. Elrington contended that no part of the demands of the master could be a
charge upon the cargo.
The court gave its judgment as follows :—The hiring and services of both pe­
titioners have been well proved, and the priority of the demand of the mate over
that of the bottomry bondholder (the original suitor in this cause) not being
disputed, this officer is therefore entitled to the decree o f the court for the sum




Journal o f Mercantile Law.

69

o f £28 8s. 2d., the amount found to be due to him, together with kettle money
and costs. The claim o f the master, however, is neither so single an one, nor
is it unresisted, lie claims not only his wages, but also for disbursements which
were made on the ship’s account during the voyage, at Constantinople, Malta,
and Gibraltar, and which in themselves amount to a sum o f nearly £200. Coun­
sel on the part o f the bondholder, admitting both accounts to have been fairly
presented, object to payment o f both in priority to their own demands, there
being probable reason for conjecturing that the fund from which all are to be
paid may be a deficient one. The objection to the priority o f ttie disbursements,
the money to pay which was raised on the personal credit o f the vessel, and by
the master, too, who himself had entered into the transaction o f the bottomry
bond, was well taken, and could not be overcome; and accordingly, in this, an
interventional suit for wages, that claim cannot be entertained. But the claim
for wages is resisted on grounds peculiar to the master himself. First, because
that he was not entitled under the statute, which alone enabled him to sue in
this court, to the same benefits and privileges as seamen. Secondly, because
that being personally liable under the bond, he was not entitled to come against
a common fund, until after that bond was first discharged. This court, however,
when it finds by the words o f the statute referred to that “ every master shall
have the same rights, liens, and remedies for the recovery o f his wages, which
by the act or by any law or custom any seaman had,” must overrule the former
o f these objections. He thought the opinion reported to have been expressed
by Dr. Lushington last week, in the case o f the Janet Wilson, showed that his
inclination was to consider the right o f the master to his wages in this court was
now commensurate with that of the seamen. Neither can this court hold tns
latter objection a good ono, as the remote and improbable possibility o f the mas­
ter being personally sued in a court o f common law on foot o f the bond should
never afford a sufficient reason for debarring him of his undoubted right in this
court, namely, suing for wages due to him for his services on board this ship.
These objections, then, fall to the ground. The evidence as to his conduct in
regard to the ship’s disbursements, showing that he had acted with great integ­
rity and ability towards all concerned, and having gone into the account on be­
half of the owners, I find no set-off, as far as that evidence goes, can be main­
tained against him. The court, therefore, decrees him his wages to the amount
claimed— £173 15s. 6d., with costs.

GRAIN DEALERS— WRITTEN CONTRACT TO DELIVER GRAIN AT A STIPULATED PRIOR
— WAS IT A GAMBLING SPECULATION ?

An action was decided, September, 1857, in the United States Circuit Court,
on a written contract, made in April, 1857, whereby defendant agreed to deliver
to plaintiff fifteen thousand bushels o f corn during the last half o f June, at a
stipulated price to be paid on delivery, which defendant failed to perform; and
plaintiff claimed damages for the failure, corn having advanced largely in price
in the meantime. Defendant filed several pleas, setting forth that, at the time of
making the contract, he had not the corn, which fact was known to the plaintiff;
that, therefore, it was a wager-contract, and void at law. To these pleas the
plaintiff demurred, his counsel arguing that the pleas disclosed no such state of
facts as, if proved, would warrant a jury in finding it a gambling contract. The
counsel for the defendant contended that the fact o f selling, deliverable at a fu­
ture day, when the seller had not the article on hand, was sufficient cause to
overrule the demurrer, and permit the case to go to the jury, where he could
show the fact that, at the time o f the making o f the contract, no delivery was
contemplated by the parties, but only the payment o f the difference between the
contract and market prices for money from one party to the other at the time
specified for delivery. The court gave judgment for plaintiff on the demurrer.




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Commercial Chronicle and Review.

COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW.
BESUM B
NEW

O F F IN A N C IA L A F F A I R S —

R E S U M P T IO N O F S P E C IE

PAYM ENTS

E N O L A N D — R E D E M P T IO N O F C O U N T R Y M O N E Y — E F F E C T S

M OVEM ENT TO W A R D

L IQ U ID A T IO N — T H E IN F L U E N C E

E N G A G E D IN T R A D E — P R O S P E C T O F A
— TH E

8TA TE

OF T H E

E M IG R A T IO N — T H E
EXPORTS A T TH E
YO RK— EXPORTS

M ONEY M A R K E T — T H E

GOLD

OF

TH E

N A T IO N A L B A N K R U P T
NEW S

FROM

R E C E I P T S A N D C O IN A G E — T H E

P O R T OF N E W Y O R K FO R T H E
OF D O M E S T IC P R O D U C E — T H E

M ONTH

IN N E W

OF T H E

YORK

A N D M O S T OF

R E S U M P T I O N — C O N T IN U E D

F IN A N C IA L P R E S S U R E U P O N T H O S E
LAW — TH E

SM A LL

NOTE CU RREN CY

A B R O A D — P R O S P E C T O F IN C R E A S E D

B A N K IN G

M OVEM ENT —

IM P O R T S AND

OF N O V E M B E R — CASH R E V E N U E A T N E W

C R O P M O V E M E N T , E T C ., E T C .

of the most important financial events since the date of our last issue, is
the formal resumption of specie payments by the banks of New York, which was
resolved upon on the evening of Friday, December 11th, and consummated on
the morning of the 12th. As the suspension was settled upon on Tuesday eve­
ning, October 13th, and commenced by appointment on the morning of December
14th, it follows that it continued nominally just 59 days. We have noted the
resumption as a measure of imparlance, but in this connection its importance was
almost wholly theoretical. Practically, there has been no suspension of specie
payments in New York since the first day or two following the excitement in
October. All of the banks, as far as we can learn, paid specie on demand for
their circulation, and few, if any of them, refused to pay in specie upon any of
their obligations. Consequently there was no premium upon coin beyond th»
cost of packing it in kegs or boxes for export. Silver has been very plenty, and
in some cases sold at a discount. Gold in small sums was easily obtained in New
York, at from par to |c. premium upon bankable paper, and we know of no con­
siderable purchases, during the whole period, at anything over half of one per
cent premium. Outside of New York more difference was paid, because the
tendency of specie was toward that city.
The formal resumption of specie payments at New York was almost forced
upon the banks by the accumulation of coin. We noticed in our last the fact
that the country currency was no longer received by the New York city banks
at par, and that the whole accumulation was about eight million dollars, which
had been deposited in the Metropolitan Bank, and was represented by certificates
of deposit. This sum was put on interest at 6 per cent after the 1st December,
and the country banks had therefore every inducement to withdraw it. The total
rapidly ran down, so that the banks held, at the date of resumption, only about
four millions, and it was no longer convenient or desirable as a medium of settle­
ment between them. Meanwhile the specie in the city banks increased to twentysix millions, (an unprecedented total,) and there was really no reason why the
banks, for themselves, should hesitate about a resumption.
The argument used by those who opposed a formal resolution to this effect,
was, that the suspension was only nominal, and therefore inflicted no practical
injury, while it would enable the banks to protect themselves and their customers
against any sudden change for the worst abroad, or any unlooked-for disaster
nearer home. Those who wished to reserve this defense against any contingency,
gave way, however, and the resumption was unanimous throughout the city on
Saturday, December 12th. It was immediately followed by a similar movement
throughout the State, and the greater part of New England. The Bhode Island
O ne




Commercial Chronicle and Review.

71

banks delayed their action, although a large portion were urgently desirous of
following the good example, and Philadelphia, and some other cities further
south, continued the suspension.
The general movement of the country is still toward liquidation, and there has
been therefore no general revival of trade. Contraction, collection, and settle­
ment, are everywhere the order of the day. This work of course goes on slowly,
as of necessity it must from the large field over which the entanglement extended,
and the difficulties in the way of negotiating exchanges and providing the medium
of payment. It has borne the most severely upon the country, because the pro­
duce was gathered for market at great disadvantage and after many delays,
while the money, which was not hoarded, was gleaned from the channels of cir­
culation, leaving the interior without the proper facilities for conducting the
local trade. Money can only be restored in plenty to the rural districts after the
produce has been mostly forwarded to market, and in payment of any surplus
which may be due upon such shipments, so that the relief will be longest delayed
in the quarters where the pressure was felt latest.
How far the country can be relied upon for payment in full for past or present
indebtedness, is a question not easily solved. Those who thought themselves
rich with wheat at §2 a bushel, will find their assets miserably shrunken with
wheat at 75c. for the same measure. This will be true not only in reference to
the actual contents of the granary, but also in connection with every description
of property dependent upon the value of agricultural produce. Apart from this
necessary depreciation of values, there are many who will take advantage of the
notorious difficulties to repudiate their obligations. This is no libel upon human
nature, nor is it any new thing under the sun.
Some will yield to the general pressure without any consciousness of wrong
doing, who might avoid the disgrace if they only had faith in themselves. As in
epidemics, when thousands are dying of disease, many will perish from fright
without being touched with the prevailing distemper; so, in times of pecuniary
excitement, there are scores who are imbecile through fear, and who fail to meet
their engagements because they see others go down and suppose it is their own
necessary fate. Beyond these cases, there are others who hide their ability to
gratify their covetousness, and are glad of any excuse to repudiate their obliga­
tions without losing all reputation for honesty or fair dealing.
In our last we argued, at some length, the importance of a national bankrupt
law, not for the benefit of debtors, but for the protection of creditors, and we are
much pleased to observe that the President of the United States, in his first annual
message, since issued, takes similar grounds, and urges upon Congress the adoption
of this measure at its present session. The public are now evidently prepared for
such an enactment, and as it is within the powers granted to the National Legis­
lature, there is good reason to hope that the proposition will be successful.
We also alluded in our last to the small note currency in connection with Con­
gressional legislation. The message touches upon the same topic, and adopts
substantially the same views, but so many difficulties environ any uniformity
of action in this matter among the several States, that we have little hope of any
immediate change, however desirable.
On the whole, there has been a general lightening up of the financial horizon in
this country. The contraction in the issue of business obligations has created a




72

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
I
comparative scarcity of such as are undoubted, and these are in active demand at
a lower rate of interest. Second-class securities are still negotiated with great
difficulty, but as the others are not to be had, the temptation of higher rates will
sooner or later lead to their absorption. There is a settled disinclination on the
part of capitalists to invest in renewed or extended paper, and a growing convic­
tion that much of this class of bills cannot be met at maturity. Indeed we should
not be surprised if many of those who have thus postponed the evil day by re­
newing their obligations, should find themselves worse off in the end than those
who were compelled to suspend outright during the height of the panic.
Abroad, at the date of this writing, there is also a better state of feeling. In
England a treasury letter was issued, in effect suspending the restriction of the
issues of paper money by the bank, so that this institution was enabled to increase
its accommodations to its customers, and save many from bankruptcy. Previous
to this there were many failures both of private firms and joint stock banks
throughout Great Britain, and afterward many more on the continent, especially
in Bremen and Hamburg, and great commercial embarrassment still prevails in
Europe, particularly in manufacturing districts. There must be a large emigra­
tion from Germany to the United States during the whole of the next year, as
labor of all kinds must be scarce and poorly rewarded throughout whole sections
where business is almost totally suspended.
The receipts of gold from California have largely increased within the last two
shipments, owing to the distrust of bills, and to the general impression prevailing
at San Francisco that specie payments in New York would command a pre­
mium. The total for December, not yet summed up, will be the largest of any
month during the year, and will make up part of the previous decrease, as given
in the statement for the first ten months. The following will show the business
at the New York Assay-office for the month of November :—
DEPOSITS AT THE ASSAY-OFFICE, NEW YORK, IN NOVEMBER,

1857.

Gold.

Silver.

Total.

Foreign co in ...........................
Foreign bullion.......................
United States bullion..............

$350,(IU0 00
290,000 00
2,6S0,000 00

$141,000 00
40,000 00
26,200 00

$491,000 00
260,000 00
2,606,200 00

Total deposits..............

$3,150,000 00

$207,200 00

Deposits payable in bars..................................................................
Deposits payable in coin....................................................................
Gold bars stamped............................................................................
Transmitted to United States Mint for coinage...............................

$3,367,200 00
$2,000,000
1,357,200
2,406,537
1,510,675

00
00
76
79

The depletion of the Treasury has drawn upon the bullion fund, so that the
coinage has been somewhat crowded to convert the bars on hand into the means
of payment. The following is a statement of the coinage at the United States
Mint in Philadelphia, during the month of November, showing a total of over
two-and a-half millions:—
STATEMENT OF THE DEPOSITS AND COINAGE AT THE MINT OF THE UNITED STATES,
AT PHILADELPHIA, DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, 1857.
GOLD DEPOSITS.

Gold from California.....................................value
Gold from other sources..........................................

$1,399,320 00
24,270 00

Total gold deposits..................................................................




$1,423,590 00

IS

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
SILVER DEPOSITS.

Silver, including purchases.....................................
Spanish and Mexican fractions of a dollar received
in exchange for new cents.,.................................

$373,304 00
9,886 00

Total silver deposits.................................................................

$383,140 00

COPPER.

Cents (0. S.) received in exchange for new cents...............................

$949 00
$1,807,679 00

Total deposits.......................................

The coinage executed was:—
GOLD.

Double eagles...........................................
Eagles......................................'.................
Half eagles.................................................
Dollars......................................................
Total..............................................

Value.
No. of pieces.
$1,899,400 00
94,970
72,000 00
7,200
80,340 00
16,068
56,686 00
56,686
174,924

$2,108,426 00

SILVER.

620,000
1,316,000
350,000
520,000

$310,000
329,000
35,000
26,000

2,806,000

$700,000 00

1,620,000

$16,200 00

Gold coinage.................................................
Silver coinage..............................................
Copper coinage..............................................

174,924
2,S06,000
1,620,000

$2,108,426 00
700,000 00
16,200 00

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

4,600,924

$2,824,626 00

Half dollars..............................................
Quarter dollars..........................................
Dimes........................................................
Half dimes................................................
Three cent pieces..................................... .
Total..............................................

00
00
00
00

COPPER.

Cents
RECAPITULATION.

The following is a statement of the operations of the U. S. Branch Mint at
New Orleans, for the month of October, 1857 :—
STATEMENT OP THE NEW ORLEANS BRANCH MINT.
GOLD.

California gold...................
Gold from other sources....

SILVER.

$170,419 47 Silver parted from Cal. gold
424,159 67 Silver from other sources..

$1,034 65
519,068 39

$594,579 14

520,103 04

Total gold and silver deposits.....................................................$1,114,682 18
GOLD COINAGE.

Double eagles, 13,500 pieces..................................................................

$270,000 00

SILVER COINAGE.

Half dollars, 550,000 pieces.....................................................................

$275,000 00

Total amount of gold and silver coinage.....................................

$545,000 00

The specie movement at New Orleans outside of the mint has been quite large
during the month.
The statistics of the U. S. Branch Mint of San Francisco for the month of
October, are as follows:—




74

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
DEPOSITS.

Gold bullion received, gross weight............
S ilver.................................

103,740.12
1,929.40

COINAGE — GOLD.

No. of pieces.

Double eagles.....................
Eagles...............................
Half eagles.......................
T ota l.......................

Value.

69,000
10,000
18,000

$1,380,000
100,000
90,000

97,000

$1,570,000

24,000
54,000

$12,000
13,500

78,000

$25,500

97,000
78*000

$1,570,000
25^500

175,000

$1,595,500

SILVER.

Half dollars.......................
Quarter dollars...................
Total.......................
Gold...................................
Silver..................................

RECAPITULATION.

T otal.....................

The shipments of treasure by steamers from San Francisco for New York for
the month of October, compared with those of a corresponding period of last
year, was as follows :—
October 5..........................
October 20.........................
Total...........................

1857.

1856.
$2,277,860 October 11
1,901,279 October 20

$2,007,390
1,697,042

$4,179,189

$3,704,432

Total.

This shows a falling- off in the shipments for October, 1857. of §474,707.
For the ten months of the respective years ’56 and ’57, inclusive, the com­
parison stands thus:—
1856 ....................................................................................
1857 ....................................................................................

$40,313,205
35,768,413

Decrease in 1857 ......................................................

$4,544,792

As noticed above, this comparative decrease has already been partly made up
by the increased shipments by the later steamers, the returns of which are not yet
compiled.
In the former part of this article we have referred to the banking movement,
but we now present our usual comparative statistics showing the changes since
the last month. A t New York the regular line of loans and discounts has act­
ually decreased, but the distribution of the certificates of deposit received for the
country bank-notes, and their absorption under the head of loans, has made a
slight apparent increase. The gradual redemption of these by the country banks
will again reduce the total, unless the banks find more businees paper which they
are willing to discount. We annex a statement containing the averages since
the beginning of the year :—
WEEKLY AVERAGES OF NEW YORK CITY BANKS.

Capital.

Loans and
discounts.

Specie.

Circulation.

Deposit*.

55,235,068
56,235,068
55,235,068

109,149,153
110,150,234
110,860,401
111,094,415

11,172,244
11,090,108
11,955,154
11,633,924

8,602,113
8,328,395
8,047,065
7,879,027

95,846,21^
90,709,710
93,036,766
88,644,576

Date.

Jan. 3, 1857 55,235,068
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.

1 0 ...
1 7 ...
2 4 ...




Commercial Chronicle and Review,
Date.

Jan. 81.
Feb.
7.
Feb. 14.
Feb. 21.
Feb. 28.
Mar’h 7.
Mar’h 14.
Mar’ll 21.
Mar’h 28.
April 4.
April 11.
April 18.
April 25.
May
2.
May
9.
May 16.
May 23.
May 30.
June 6.
June 13.
June 20.
June 27.
July 3.
July 11.
July 18.
July 25.
Aug. 1.
Aug. 8.
Aug. 15.
Aug. 22.
Aug. 29.
Sept. 5.
Sept. 12.
Sept. 19.
Sept. 26.
Oct’r 3.
Oct’r 10.
Oct’r 17.
Oct’r 24.
Oct’r 31.
Nov’r 7.
Nov’r 14.
Nnv’r 21.
Nov’r 28.
Dec’r 5.
Dec’r 12.

Capital.

59.266.434
59.266.434
59.266.434
59.266.434
59.266.434
59.266.434
59.266.434
59.296.434
59.296.434
59.513.330
59.513.330
59.513.330
59.513.330
59.513.330
59.513.330
59.513.330
59.100.000
59.700.000
60.264.705
60.264.705
62,000,000
64.500.000
64.576.110
64.576.110
64.576.110
64.626.110
64.626.110
64.626.110
64.626.110
66.027.705
66.027.705
66.027.705
66.027.705
66.027.705
65.500.000
65,000,000
64.500.000
63.770.137
63.470.137
63.470.137
63.470.137
63.470.137
63.470.137
63.470.137
63.470.137
63.470.137

Loans and
discounts.

Specie.

Circulation.

15
Deposits.

111,785,333
112,876,713
112,722,799
111.173.572
111,131,717
111,899,649
113,250,980
113,448,692
112,884,025
114,833,902
115,374,117
114,398,174
113,391,910
114,409,275
115,068,322
114,620,042
114,049,103
114,049,633
115,338,592
115,412,541
115,119,690
115,015,504
115,044,303
116,028,618
117,365,321
118,848,131
120,597,060
122,077,252
121,241,472
120,139,582
116,588,919
112,221,365
109.985.572
108,777,421
107.791,433
105,935,499
101,917,669
97,245,826
95,593,518
95,317,754
95,866,241
95,239,247
95,375,432
94,963,130
96,333,687
96,526,037

12,191,825
11,143,894
10,497,382
10,432,158
10,645,254
11.707.346
11.077.132
11,291,373
11.325.133
11,538,732
10.884.490
12,061,372
.11,827,861
12,009,911
12.011.491
12,643,694
13,126,734
12,815,515
13,134,715
11,974,879
12,790,455
10,901,091
12.837.346
12,666,146
13,594,606
12,956,855
12,918,013
11,737,367
11,360,645
10,097,173
9,241,376
10.229.965
12,181,857
18,556,186
13,327,095
11,400,413
11,476,294
1,843,230
10,411,648
12,883,441
16,492,152
19.451.966
23,167,980
24,303,145
26,069,832
26,058,877

8,024,948
8,426,817
8,151,799
8,106,014
8,159,215
8,465,697
8,452,541
8,494,238
8,473,829
8,812,328
8,187,344
8,170,828
8,736,768
9,006,566
9.182.783
8,936,291
8,138,025
8,696,693
8,838,572
8,696,893
8.593.801
8,505,065
8,901,590
8,693,578
8,448,833
8,528,814
8,665,422
8,981,140
8,780,012
8,694,011
8,671,060
8,673,192
8,322,316
8.013.801
7,838,308
7,916,102
7,623,599
8,087,441
6,884,739
6,334,748
6,434,312
6,258,652
6,283,417
6.520.783
6,555,000
6,348,494

92,466,236
96,029,439
91,917,188
92,448,944
92,173,280
95,858,222
94,231,267
96,406,450
92,614,560
97,340,914
96,618,908
96.461.417
95,258,612
99.159.472
98,963,318
98,818,704
97,306,034
96,147,814
96,594,391
96.168,937
95,939,618
94,318,715
98,834,583
94.624.473
94,446,798
93,633,736
94,445,967
94.436.417
92,356,328
89,364,046
84,812,886
79,491,317
76,388,376
75,772,174
73,315,611
67,918,667
63,301,681
52,894,623
57,530,384
61,463,664
68,884,173
72,592,645
79,313,291
79,509,225
78,492,065
75,365,134

108,336,586

10,832,543

8,516,854

89,590,680

Same time last year :—
Dec’r 13, ’56

55,235,068

The later statements in December will show a further large increase in specie.
We annex a continuation of the weekly average of the Boston banks :—
WEEKLY AVERAGES AT BOSTON.

Capital.........................
Loans it discounts........
Specie...........................
Due from other banks..
Due to other bankB.......
Deposits.......................
Circulation...................




Nov. 24.

$31,960,000
50.900.000
3.960.000
6,923,900
4.229.000
15.703.000
6,708,400

Nov. 80.

$31,960,000
50,748,000
4,160,700
6.931.600
4,277,000
15,734,134
6.010.600

Dec. 7.

$31,960,000
50,822,000
4.265.500
6.340.000
4.172.500
16,185,500
6.236.000

Dec. 14.
$31,960,000
50,733,600
4.350.000
6.825.000
4.139.000
15,927,000
5,883,600

76

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

We have also compiled the following returns of the condition of the banks of
Massachusetts, on the 4th December, 1857, from the returns of the Secretary
of State:—
Capital... . . . . .
Net circulation.

560,385,722 Notes, bills of exch’ge, Ac..
10,812,177 Specie...............................
21,789,560 Real estate.......................
6,344,349

D ep osits..............

Profits or) hand

$92,482,001
5,433,415
1,416,392
$99,331,808

$99,331,808

The above statement exhibits a contraction in the circulation of §6,062,644
since August 3d. It also appears that the banks of Massachusetts have at the
present time less than two dollars of paper and circulation for each dollar of
specie. The above statement also exhibits, as compared with the 1st day of
January last, an increase in the item of capital of §1,813,792 ; and of specie,
§552,659 ; and a decrease in the item of net circulation of §6,592,055 ; of de­
posits, §1,823,536 ; and of loans, §7,243,160.
We continue likewise our usual comparative weekly statement of the condition
of the banks at New Orleans :—
WEEKLY AVERAGES AT NEW ORLEANS.

Specie............................
Circulation.....................
Deposits.........................
Short loans....................
Exchange......................
Due distant banks.........
Long and short loans......

Nov. 14.

Nov. 21.

Nov. 28.

$0,757,164
4,728,824
8,726,358
16,916,749
2,209,244
584,984
19,545,971

$7,402,019
4,306,089
9,087,132
15,934,362
2,482,801
523,043
18,464,189

$8,037,032
4,128,374
10,021,443
15,537,689
8,029,908
565,019
17,851,794

Dec. 5.

$8,500,124
4,121,304
9,838,078
15,105,736
3,243,893
818,199
17,758,178

The imports of foreign merchandise at the port of New York for the month of
November, were §1,050,585 less than for the corresponding month of last year,
§1,470,772 more than for the same period of 1855, and §4,786,118 more than for
the same month of 1854. By far the larger portion of the receipts were entered
directly for warehousing, so that the value thrown upon the market was exceed­
ingly small:—
FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK IN NOVEMBER.

1854.

ms.

1856.

1857.
$2,792,185
5,821,688
1,776,384
8,027,803

Entered for consumption.. . .
Entered for warehousing......
Free goods ............................
Specie and bullion.................

$5,746,538
2,185,366
6 62,817
39,121

Total entered at the port___
Withdrawn from warehouse.

$8,631,842 $11,947,188 $14,468,546 $13,417,960
1,431,775
1,197,660
1,726,544
3,152,316

$7,654,782
2,547,741
1,730,287
14,378

$9,739,429
3,318,842
1,097,524
321,760

It will be seen that the imports of specie and bullion, from foreign ports, were
unusually large—indeed larger than for any previous month within the last ten
years, (always excepting the California shipments,) and we believe larger than
for any previous month in the history of the port. This leaves the total foreign
imports at New York, since January 1st, §19,879,913 greater than for the cor­
responding eleven months of last year, §79,084,599 greater than for the same
period of 1855, and §49,365,692 greater than for 1854 :—




11

Commercial Chronicle and Review.
FOREIGN IMPORTS AT NEW YORK FOR ELEVEN MONTHS, FROM JANUARY 1ST.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Entered for consumption... $126,185,443 $104,408,458 $148,562,621 $120,107,089
Entered for warehousing...
28,963,725
24,116,079
34,650,285
70,033,885
Free goods...........................
14,867,342
13,066,406
16,760,950
19,063,434
Specie and bullion..............
2,069,116
747,776
1,667,549
12,216,910

Total entered at the port. . $172,055,626 $142,836,719 $201,541,405 $221,421,318
Withdrawn from warehouse
21,006,667
22,266,646
24,097,168
37,024,982
Of the imports of dry goods during the month of November, the great bulk
have been thrown into warehouse, less than four hundred thousand dollars having
gone directly into consumption. The total receipts of foreign dry goods at the
port of New York, during the month of November, are §1,999,013 less than for
the corresponding period of last year, §1,595,144 less than for the corresponding
period of 1855, and §254,086 less than for the same time in 1854:—
IMPORTS OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS AT NEW YORK FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER.
ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

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

$320,267
204,445
590,757
234,050
253,712

$924,069
489,752
977,765
897,225
274,889

$834,527
746,138
1,074,671
543,868
274,144

$132,088
67,042
83,748
56,012
59,281

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

$1,603,231

$3,063,700

$3,473,348

$398,171

WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Manufactures of w ool..........
Manufactures of cotton........
Manufactures of silk............
Manufactures of flax............
Miscellaneous dry goods. . . .

$167,102
52,618
102,254
68,166
28,831

$62,270
54,073
29,439
32,190
45,284

$82,988
135,307
155,945
57,739
56,220

$154,950
74,239
127,187
26,715
42,318

Total.............................
Add entered for consumption

$418,971
1,603,231

$223,256
3,093,700

$488,199
3,473,848

$425,409
398,171

Total thrown on market.

$2,022,202

$3,286,956

$3,961,547

$823,580

ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

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

$68,292
135,308
196,909
59,069
157,203

$176,557
292,587
289,766
107,094
119,588

$198,179
339,220
195,326
183,681
63,857

$424,866
620,983
488,688
290,811
230,579

Total.............................
Add entered for consumption

$816,781
1,603,231

$985,542
3,063,700

$979,763
3,473,348

$2,055,927
398,171

$2,220,012

$4,049,242

$4,458,111

$2,454,098

Total entered at port.. .

This leaves the total imports of dry goods at New York, since January 1st,
only §742,735 in excess of the corresponding period of last year, §27,932,618 in
excess of the corresponding period of 1855, and §10,399,248 in excess of the same
period of 1854. The warehousing account is very large, not only in consequence
of recent commercial embarrassments which lead to the accumulation of stock in
bond, but also to the large warehousing movement in anticipation of the change
in the tariff that took effect last July




78

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

IMPORTS OF FOREIGN DRY GOODS AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK, FOR ELEVEN MONTHS,
FROM JANUARY 1ST.
ENTERED FOR CONSUMPTION.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Manufactures of w ool............
Manufactures of c o tto n ........
Manufactures of Bilk ..............
Manufactures of fla x ............
Miscellaneous dry g o o d s.. . .

$17,529,560 $15,686,552 $23,060,524 $19,343,504
12,763,639
7,774,506
14,103,863 13,911,067
23,989,516
19,856,354 27,835,024 22,14 1,161
6,155,876
5,290,905
7,601,581
6,170,527
5,185,977
4,777,945
6,535,099
5,550,137

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

$65,624,568 $53,386,262 $78,636,091 $66,116,396

WITHDRAWN FROM WAREHOUSE.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Manufactures of wool.................... $4,046,154 $2,334,214 $2,570,682 $5,031,888
Manufactures of cotton ................
2,504,123
2,095,993
2,024,260 2,813,062
Manufactures of silk......................
2,882,257 2,514,650
1,979,346 4,089,982
Manufactures of flax......................
839,642
1,139,270
985,013 1,420,743
Miscellaneous dry goods...............
379,256
785,930
423,328
775,453
Total withdrawn....................$10,661,423 $8,870,057 $7,982,619 $14,081,128
Add entered for consumption...... 65,624,568 53,386,262 78,636,091 66,116,896
Total thrown upon markefc... 76,276,000 62,256,319 86,618,710 80,197,524
ENTERED FOR WAREHOUSING.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Manufactures of w ool.................... $4,668,179 $1,746,241 $3,124,867 $7,854,770
Manufactures of cotton .^ ............
2,559,442
1,733,099 2,228,952 4.178,679
Manufactures of silk............
3,554,962
2,105,529 2,133,144 6,01S,955
Manufactures of flax......................
1,136,658
987,403 1,123,993 2,561,074
Miscellaneous dry g ood s..............
687,490
738,385
639,755 1,904,663
Total........................................$12,605,721 $7,310,657 $9,250,711 $22,513,141
Add entered for consumption........ 65,624,668 58,386,262 78,636,091 66,116,396
Total entered at the p o r t.. . .

78,230,289 60,696,919 87,886,802 88,629,537

The export trade for the month was quite large, considering the difficulty of
negotiating foreign exchange and the general derangement of business affairs.
The total shipments from New York to foreign ports, exclusive of specie, was
$972,868 less than for November, 1856, §1,954,073 less than for November,
1855, and §1,726,202 greater than for the corresponding month in 1854. The
shipments o f specie show a slight increase:—
EXPORTS FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER.

1854.
Domestic produce.........................
Foreign merchandise (free)..........
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)...
Specie and bullion.......................

$4,660,007
116,884
323,389
3,538,001

Total exports.........................
Total exclusive of specie.. . .

8,638,281
5,100,280

1855.

1856.

1857.

$8,344,333 $7,541,595 $5,245,599
129,405
55,662
386,528
306,817
202,093 1,194,355
1,011,900 2,955,839
3,239,231
9,792,455
8,780,555

10,755,189 10,065,713
7,799,350 6,826,482

This leaves the shipments from the port of New York since January 1st, ex­
clusive of specie, §5,968,570 less than the corresponding total of last year, but
§6,126,095 greater than for the same period of 1855, and §10,442,873 greater
than for the same period of 1854




79

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

EXPORTS FROM HEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS, FOR ELEVEN MONTHS, FROM JANUARY 1ST.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

Domestic produce........................ $6g,557,868 $54,766,778 $71,007,627 $58,970,897
Foreign merchandise (fre e )___
1,561,963
3,618,875 ■ 875,668 3,726,297
Foreign merchandise (dutiable)
4,239,044
4,290,000
2,887,023 6,104,554
Specie and bullion....................... 37,101,142 26,639,205 35,439,585 36,825,122
Total e x p o rts........................

Total, exclusive o f specie..

95,460,017
58,358,875

89,314,858 110,209,903 105,626,870
62,675,653 74,770,318 68,801,748

A considerable part of the difference, as compared with last year, is owing no
doubt to the falling off in values, as nearly all articles of domestic produce are
entered for export at lower rates, and this is likely to be still more strongly
marked during the next six months.
The cash revenue, as we have already stated, shows a very important deficiency,
and there is now no question in regard to the necessity of a loan to meet the
current expenses of government. As the revenue has been, for some years past,
more than sufficient for all the wants of the Treasury, there is no reason to sup­
pose that the embarrassment will be more than temporary :—
CASH DUTIES RECEIVED AT NEW YORK FROM JANUARY 1ST.

1854.

1855.

1856.

1857.

First quarter........ $10,873,699 31 $7,588,288 21 $11,642,681 46 $13,406,813 26
Second quarter----8,864,261 45 6,711,657 50 10,898,464 29
5,886,708 85
Third quarter........ 12,699,868 05 11,601,517 60 14,430,078 08 13,183,832 90
In October.............
2,402,115 10
3,329,194 95
3,391,230 97
867,534 99
In November.........
1,751,023 45
2,171,707 76
2,774,845 68
1,121,792 70
Total since Jan. 1 36,590,967 36

31,402,366 02

43,137,300 43

34,466,681 9*

This deficiency occurs at a very inopportune moment, inasmuch as the army
estimates are likely to be somewhat increased by the difficulties with the Mor­
mons, but it will be promptly met, and will soon be made up when trade revives.
We also annex our usual monthly statement of the progress of the export trade
from New York, in the principal articles of domestic produce :—
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE EXPORTS OF A FEW LEADING ARTICLES OF DOMESTIC
PRODUCE, FROM NEW YORK TO FOREIGN PORTS, FROM JANUARY 1 TO DECEMBER 15.

Ashes—pots, bbls...
pearls........
Beeswax, lbs...........
Breadstuffs—
Wheat flour,bbls.
Rye flour.............
Corn meal............
Wheat, bush........
Rye......................
Corn.....................
Candles, mold, boxes
sperm........
Coal, tons.................
Cotton, bales............
H a y .......................
Hops.......................
Naval stores—
Turpentine, bbls..
Spts. turpentine..




1856.

1857.

8,573
1,440
206,180

12,971
3,629
253,907

Rosin....................
T a r......................
Pitch....................
Oils—whale, galls..
sperm............
lard................
linseed..........
Provisions—
Pork, bbls............

1856.

1857.

451,669
20,241
2,730
44,378
598,062
55,063
5,006

397,108
32,464
3,475
449,909
882,826
32,425
31,839

1,859,416 1,003,871
11,890
3,790
76,533
48,625
9,167,489 3,583,468
1,253,828
81,446
133,782
49,473
64 481
46 l^Q
3,767.117 1,950,664
44,509 ’ 49,715
Cut meats,lbs__ 28,088,9S6 18,209,984
4,751
6,579
Butter.................. 1,091,118 857,663
7,222
21,776
Cheese................ 3,606,855 4,297,841
188,118 159,580
Lard................... 10,495,591 14,308,010
4,415
12,714 Rice, tcs...................
37,016
28,838
4,226
2,161 Tallow, lbs.............. 1,161,939 3,061,417
T obacco—cr ude, pkg.
32,879
40,660
81,559
61,110
matrnf., lbs. 4,778,715 2,304,497
34,858
45,918 Whalebone, lbs....... 1,858,403 1,889,018

80

Commercial Chronicle and Review.

It will be seen that there is a falling off in the shipments of almost every article
of domestic produce. This is true not only in regard to quantity but also in
regard to value. The decrease is most strongly marked in breadstuffs and pro­
visions. Of course, one reason why breadstuffs have not been shipped more
freely have been the comparative plenty of foreign harvests; but another pro­
minent cause is the disarrangement of foreign and domestic exchanges and the
great difficulty in moving produce. The seaboard towns and New England will
now be supplied from the stock which has reached tide-water and remains unsold,
(about 500,000 barrels of flour are thus on hand) and by the receipts per rail­
road, and from Southern ports still open. "When canal navigation is resumed in
the spring, the remaining surplus in the country must begin to move. There
will be an unprecented accumulation of Indian corn, and an abundance of wheat
and flour, and these must be sold at such prices as will induce shippers to take
them. One of the great difficulties in Europe—that of dear food—will thus be
removed, and for some years to come the products of the soil must find buyers
abroad as well as at home.

NEW YORK COTTON M ARKET FOR THE MONTH ENDING DECEMBER 25.
P E E P A B E D F O E T H E M ERCH AN T S’ M A G A Z IN E B Y

C H A R L E S W . F E E D E R IC K S O N , B R O K E R , N E W Y O R K *

My last review was dated November 27th, since which time the market has
been dull and declining. The aspect of affairs abroad has been such as not to
warrant purchases, and the difficulty of negotiating exchange, such as almost
to stop shipments, unless sent forward under positive orders by direction of
Southern owners. Some few parcels pressed in sale have found unwilling pur­
chasers for export, at prices generally below the current rates of the day, and
there is a growing disposition not to touch the article unless at figures below those
ruling at the close of our report. For home consumption the demand continues
light, and although there is rather more inquiry, still not enough to sustain
holders in their views. The total sales for the month are viewed at 9,000 bales,
about one-half for shipment. Our unsold stock is estimated at 12,000 bales and
increasing. The market closes at the following nominal quotations :—
Upland.

Middling......................................................................
Good middling............................................................
Middling fa ir..............................................................

9f
10
10J-

N. O. & Texas.

10
10J
10£

Estimates of crop of the South range from 3,100,000 to 3,200,000 bales.
Here the general opinion may be put at 3,250,000 to 3,300,000 bales, both
navigable rivers:—
Receipts to date........................... bales
Export to Great Britain........................
Export to France...................................
Total exports................................
Stock on band.......................................




832,000
283,000
80,000
423,000
429,000

Decrease 376,000
Increase
46,000
Decrease
36,000
Increase
4,100
Decrease 192,000

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

81

JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE.
THE

FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES.

1857.
The annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury, on the state of the finances,
is a document always looked for with great interest by the country. The first
report of Mr. Secretary Oobb, presented to Congress December 8th, 1857, will
receive, owing to the present condition of monetary affairs, a more general and
careful attention than is usually given to such documents. The receipts for the
fiscal year ended June 30th, 1857, were as follows :—
REPORT OP THE SECRETARY OP THE TREASURY FOR

Quarters ending

Sept’r SO, 1856...
Dec’r 31,1856...
March 31,1857...
JuDe 30,1857...

Customs.

$20,677,740
14,243,414
19,055,328
9,899,421

Lands.

40
90
55
20

$892,380
808,252
1,065,640
1,063,213

Miscellaneous.

39
86
11
28

$355,310
123,999
274,054
172,756

57
59
90
92

Total.

$21,925,431 36
15,175,667 35
20,395,023 56
11,135,391 40

Total............. $63,875,905 05 $3,829,486 64 $926,121 98 $68,631,513 67
Balance on hand July 1st, 1866..........................................................
19,901,325 45
Aggregate means available for the fiscal year 1866-57......... $88,532,839 12
Expenditures for the year—
Civil, foreign intercourse, and miscellaneous........ $27,531,922 37
Service in charge of Interior Department............
5,358,274 72
Ditto, War Department........................................ 19,261,774 16
Ditto, Navy Department......................................
12,726,856 69
Purchase of the public debt...................................
5,943,896 91
Total.......................................................................................... $70,822,724 85
Balance in the Treasury July 1, 1857

$17,710,114 27

The transactions of the Treasury during the first quarter of the current fiscal
year, 1858, being from July 1,1857, to September 30, 1857, were—
Receipts from

Customs.........................
Public lands.................
Miscellaneous sources,..
Total......................
Excess expenditures___

Expenditures for

$18,573,729 37 Civil list, foreign inter
2,059,449 39
course, Ac................
296,641 05 Interior Department..
War Department........
$20,929,819 81 Navy Department.. . .
The public d e b t ........
2,784,708 56
Total.....................

$7,316,789
3,240,098
7,290,950
3,915,906
1,951,782

00
99
83
99
56

$23,714,528 37

The estimates for the entire current fiscal year, and for the next year, are thus
presented :—
Balance in Treasury July 1, 1857......................... $17,710,114 27
20,929,819 81
Receipts for 1st quarter of 1857-58 (actual).......
Receipts for 2d, 3d, and 4th quarters (estimated) 36,750,000 00
Aggregate means for the year 1857-58............... ............................ $75,389,934 08
74,963,058 41
Aggregate of estimated expenditures, ditto......................................
Estimated balance July 1, 1858.............................................
Estimates for 1858-59—
Receipts.........................................................................................

75,500,000 00

Total means....................................................................................
Expenditures..................................................................................

$75,926,875 67
74,064,765 97

Balance July 1,1859......................................................................

$1,862,119 70

VOL. XXX VIII.----NO. I.




6

$426,875 67

82

Journal o f Banking , Currency, and Finance.

Owing to the present revulsion in trade and commerce, the Secretary accom­
panies these estimates with a statement of facts and principles upon which they
have been made. The exports and imports have usually borne a relative propor­
tion—the amounts, respectively, not differing greatly from each other. For the
year ending June 30, 1857, the exports were $362,949,144, and the imports
$360,890,141. The average rate of increase of importations for the past ten
years has been ten per cent a year, excepting for two years, attributable to tem­
porary causes. For the quarter ending September 30, 1857, the importations
were a little less than $89,000,000, and the customs received were $18,573,729 37.
The merchandise entered for duty during the last three-quarters of the previous
year was valued at $210,000,000. Adding ten per cent, the importations for
the remaining three-quarters of the current year would be $231,000,000. The
commercial pressure will reduce this amount one-fourth, or to $174,000,000.
Under the tariff' act of 1846, this amount would produce forty-three millions of
dollars of revenue. Under the act of March 3, 1857, the duty received will be
one-lourth less, or thirty-three millions of dollars.
The revenue Irom importations during the balance of the fiscal year will be
sufficient, when paid, to meet the expenditures during the same period. A large
portion of the goods imported are warehoused, and the duties are not payable
until entered for consumption, which may be deferred by law for three years.
To meet this temporary exigency it is recommended that authority be given the
Treasury Department to issue treasury notes, not to exceed twenty millions of
dollars in amount, payable within a limited time, and carrying a specified rate of
interest.
It is recommended that hereafter annual appropriations be made for the ex­
penses of collecting the revenue, and that the same mode of defraying such ex­
penses be authorized for the Pacific coast that now regulates the collections on
the Atlantic coast. The amount of these expenses has been greatly increased by
the erection of new custom-houses, the construction of revenue cutters, and the
salaries of persons required to take care of them.
The public debt on the 1st of July, 1857, was $29,060,386 90. Since that
time there has been paid the sum of $3,895,232 39—leaving the public debt at
this time $25,165,154 51. Since the third of March last there has been paid of
the public debt $4,878,377 53.
A protective tariff is examined at some length, and the Secretary concludes
that “ a policy so partial and unjust in its operations cannot command the ap­
proval of the country.” The day has passed for increased restrictions on com­
merce. He regards it as an error to suppose that the occasional revulsions which
have so seriously affected our manufacturing interest are attributable to the want
of a high protective system. It needs “ steady prices, a sound currency, and pro­
tection against the ruinous effects of expansions in the credit system.”
No change is recommended in the tariff act of March 3, 1857. It has been in
operation less than six months—a period too short to judge of its workings even
under the most favorable circumstances.
The report then proceeds to examine specifically the cause of the present revul­
sion in trade, and refers it to an undue expansion of the credit system, of which
the banks constitute an important part. The operations of individuals and of
other corporations besides backs have contributed to the present condition of
things.
To restrain banking and railroad corporations from exceeding their proper
bounds, a compulsory bankrupt law is proposed, which shall apply to such cor­
porations alone.
The success of the independent treasury system, and its advantages to the gov­
ernment and the country over the former deposit system, are fully set forth. It
is suggested that the States of the Union should conduct their financial opera­
tions on the same plan. It would increase the demand for gold and silver, and
tend to retain them in the country. The suppression of all bank notes under
twenty dollars is suggested.
The director of the mint recommends that the same seigniorage of one-half




J o u rn a l o f B a n k in g , C u rren cy, and F inance.

83

per cent be charged on bullion withdrawn in the form of bars for export that is
paid on coin, in which the Secretary concurs.
The act for the better organization of the treasury has been executed so far as
practicable. A modification is suggested.
Piofessor J. H. Alexander is now in London, consulting with an English
commissioner relative to a decimal arrangement of the coinage of that country
and of the United States, so that the units of each shall hereafter be easily and
exactly commensurable.
The report concludes by referring briefly to the various reports from the heads
of offices under the Treasury Department, and recommends the suggestions con­
tained therein to the consideration of Congress.
PAMPHLETS OJV THE CUBREHCV AND BANKING.

We have published, since the commencement of the financial crisis of 1857,
several original papers connected with that all-absorbing subject, and we have
received a number of printed pamphlets from different sections of the country.
We can, however, do little more than give the titles of these pamphlets for the
benefit of those who wish to examine the subject.
I. The Hon. N athan A ppleton has republished “ Remarks on the Currency
and Banking, having Reference to the present Derangement of the Circulating
Medium in the United States.” The substance of this treatise appears to have
been written in the summer of 1841. This pamphlet, which covers sixty-three
pages, octavo, treats of the circulating medium, the suspension of specie pay
ments, a National Bank, and improvements in the banking system. In an ap­
pendix to the same, Mr. Appleton gives copious extracts from a pamphlet which
he published in 1831, entitled, “ An examination of the Banking System of
Massachusetts, in Reference to the Renewal of the Bank Charters.” The appendix
also embraces the article by the same writer, “ The Money Crisis and the New
York Banks,” which was published in the Merchants' Magazine for November
1857, (vol. xxxvii., pages 093-598,) under our “ J ournal of Banking, Currency
and F inance.”
II. The Hon. W illiam G regg, member of the Legislature of South Carolina,
from the Edgefield District, has sent us a speech on resolutions he offered on the
Bank Question, December, 1857, occupying forty-three pages. These resolutions
set forth—
1. That the distressed state of the country, and the unprecedented derangement
of monetary affairs, render it necessary for this Legislature to pass some act to
amend the bauk charters, which shall in future restrain bank issues.
2. That the money pressure everywhere, and general want of confidence, render
it necessary at present to remove all unnecessary restrictions upon the banks,
that they may have freedom of action, and be able to so far expand as to give
a forward movement to the produce of the country now waiting to be sent to
market.
3. That we have full confidence in the solvency of our banks, and in their dis­
position to resume specie payments as speedily as circumstances will permit.
The closing resolution recommends the appointment of a committee of seven
to take into consideration the whole subject of banking in South Carolina, and
the report of a bill for the action of the House. Mr. Gregg is, it will be recol­
lected by many of our readers, the founder of the Graniteville (S. C.) Cotton
Manufactory, some account of which we gave in a letter from that gentleman in
the Merchants’ Magazine for December, 1849, (vol. xxi., pages 671-672.) It was




84

Jou rn a l o f B a n kin g, C urren cy, and Finance.

established some years previous, and has, we learn, been in successful operation
ever since, conferring great benefits on the poor white population of that State.
Mr. Gregg is a sound, practical thinker, and his views in monetary and business
matters will com mend the respect of the citizens of that State and wherever he
is known.
III. A third pamphlet is “ An Address on Banks and Banking : delivered by
W . N. Bilbo, Esq., at the State Capitol, Nashville, Tennessee, November 16,
1857. Mr. B. enters into a wide range of discussion, treating of the constitu­
tionality of the State system of Tennessee, the expediency or policy of banks,
what he deems a natural constitutional currency, the issue of small bills, and
recommends the gradual suppression of bills under twenty dollars. He suggests
several remedies for the existing evils of the banking system in that State ; among
these is a law that, after a certain period, no bank in the State should issue or
circulate any notes or bills not redeemable in specie at their own counters.
Another remedy is that no banks in Tennessee should in future be allowed with
a capital actually paid in of less than $200,000, and that all banks now existing
increase their capital to that amount. The other remedies recommended relate
to the meeting of credited agents at some point, the payment of balances in specie,
etc. He discusses the legality and justice of bank suspensions, and closes with
arguments directed against banks of paper circulation.
IV . “ The Present Crisis or the Currency : a Tract of the Times for Every
Man who can Read,” by an anonymous writer, who styles himself “ Bank Crash,
Esq.” This pamphlet is copyrighted. The author, after discussing “ the cause,”
divides his subject into the following heads :—1. The evil from which we now suffer is simply a derangement of the currency.
2. The currency is the measure of the value of all other things. 3. What that
is which gives to money its value. 4. Equation of value between the whole cur­
rency and the whole of that for which it is used as a medium of exchange. 5. A
currency in order to be sound must be stable. 6. The reason why the trouble
came upon us just when it did. 7. The remedy.
V . Several other papers on similar topics, which we have not received, have
been issued during the last two or three months, and among them is one entitled,
“ The Radical Deficiency in the Existing Circulating Medium, and the Advan­
tages of a Mutual Currency,” by William B. Greene, of Boston. The merits of
Mr. Greene’s plan are freely discussed in the papers of that city.
SUGGESTIONS FOR A S E W SYSTEM OF BANKING,

The following communication from Mr. E. B. Bishop, of Shreveport, La.,
presents the outlines of a plan for improving the various systems of banking, now
in existence in the United States, and for making them uniform, (or nearly
uniform,) in their operations :—
F reem an H unt, Editor o f the Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review : —

D ear Sir :—Thinking that a communication on banking would command more
respect and attention appearing in your valuable Magazine, than in any other
American journal, I solicit a place, provided you think anything I should say
would have any useful effect. Having passed through the crisis of 1837, and
thought much on the subject of banking, and suffered twice by the commercial
troubles, I cannot but think that confidence is the great desideratum to be at­
tained.
The “ old or independent,” the “ New York safety fund,” “ the State,” and the




J o u rn a l o f B a n k in g , C u rren cy, and F inance.

85

“ free or general ” bank systems, have proved to be imperfect. No plan has yet
established such perfect confidence in the bill-holder and the depositor, that de­
signing anti-bank men, brokers or editors, may not frighten the people.
To establish fu ll confidence in the bill-holder, is the first object, and I think that
it can be done to such an extent, that there will never be another run upon the
banks. I would suggest the following amendments to the free banking law:—
1st. That none but Slate and United States stocks paying interest semi-annu­
ally be the basis of bank issues, and these bonds be received at their market
value when deposited—and that the circulation allowed to each bank, should not
exceed the amount of bonds pledged for its redemption.
This fund will secure the bill-holder better than any other class of assets in the
bank. Whenever a State authorizes banking on its bonds, the capitalists of that
State will buy up and deposit all of its bonds for banking deposits or basis.
This will prevent the bonds from being hawked about in other States and foreign
countries, subject to the fluctuations of the “ bulls and bears.” Citizens of each
State would prefer to invest capital in the bonds of their own State.
Thus,
each State would borrow from its own people, Spaying interest to them, and
thus its people would aid in sustaining the credit of their own State.
2. Make each and every bank in the State under the law bound for the im­
mediate redemption of each other’s bills of issue, whenever officially notified of
a suspension of specie payment by any one of them.
This would give the bill-holder confidence that his bills would be redeemed by
some bank. If a bank should be run on, the bill-holder would be delighted in­
stead ot frightened, for this provision would make his bills payable everywhere,
and they would be received by every merchant and trader in the State; thus his
bill is better than when first issued, better than local paper, being now State
bank paper. In fact, if it was as good as gold or silver before suspension, it is,
after suspension, better than gold, and always would be preferred, being lighter of
carriage and transmission.
3d. Any bank or individual redeeming the issue of any suspended bank, may
demand of said failing bank ten per cent interest on the same from the time of
purchase until paid, or may demand of the Bank Controller the same bonds, at the
same price at which the suspended bank deposited them with him, and may re­
ceive a new issue in favor of any other bank upon the same.
In this there is a double and valuable inducement to redeem the circulation by
sound banks of any suspending banks, giving them a high rate of interest, or
bonds upon which the sound bank may receive an additional issue, and perhaps
make a speculation upon the rise or value of stocks.
4th. That there should be one-half of one per cent assessed and collected of the
net earnings of all the banks, deposited in one “ clearing house ” in each State,
to pay any deficit of any depositor, (not a stockholder,) of any failing bank, and
that said fund shall not be liable for any other demand, until at the end of ten
years, when said fund shall be returned to the banks paying it in.
5th. That the depositors of any bank should have a right to appoint a com­
mittee of three or more of their members, who shall have a right to examine the
books of their bank, and report monthly or oftener to the balance of the depo­
sitors, and have a right to say what amount of the deposits may be loaned out
by the directors from time to time.
The 4th clause is like the safety fund of New York, but intended only to pro­
tect the depositors, the bill-holder being fully protected in former clauses.
The 5th clause inspires confidence in the depositors of a bank, and as the billholders would never run on a bank, the depositors would have no interest in deposit­
ing money one week, and next week drawing it out again. Thus in the first
clauses the bill-holders are amply provided for against depositors, brokers, editors,
or anti-bank men. The latter clauses secure the banks in sustaining each other’s
credit, and in the reports by the depositor’s agents they may have implicit con­
fidence ; so that it appears to me that confidence must be established in banks by
every class.
In addition, I would suggest that there may be a meeting of the bank presi­
dents once a year, to devise ways and means to direct and protect American




■
86

J ou rn a l o f B a n k in g , C u rren cy, and F inance.

bank credit, and report any improvement in banking, and may, if they see proper,
establish one United States Clearing Honse, to act in connection with the State
Clearing Houses, and may have the right to buy and sell bills of exchange o r
every other clearing house. The proportion of the profits falling to the credit
of each State Clearing House, after paying expenses, loses, &c., should be reg­
ularly paid to them. By this, the rate of exchange would be equalized through­
out the Union. If these State or United States Clearing Houses make money in
exchanges, or the half per cent fund increases in the State, it would be divided
out every ten years to banks paying it in proportionably.
My object is to consolidate the State and United States stocks, establish a per­
manent and fixed value on the same ; change the basis of banking from specie to
stocks; (believing that a few, if any, States will have more bonds out than would
be required for banking purposes.) to pay no interest to any foreign country ; to
prevent the fluctuations of the value of stocks ; to protect the bill-holder and de­
positor ; to regulate exchanges, reducing them to a paying standard ; and to
make bankers indorse and protect each other’s interest and credit. In a word, to
make paper money better than gold or silver.
Yours respectfully,
£■ E- B.
VALUATION, TAXATION, AND FINANCES OF SAN FRANCISCO,

The San Francisco Bulletin, of September 23,1857, published a lengthy-statis­
tical account of the assessment of the taxable property of the city and county of
San Francisco for the fiscal year 1857-58, prepared by Mr. Clement Ferguson,
one of the deputy assessors, of which we have prepared an abstract.
According to the California State Register for 1857, (a very valuable book,)
the city and county of San Francisco were consolidated by the act of the Legis­
lature, April 19, 1856, which went into operation July 1,1856. In 1856, also,
the county of San Francisco was divided, and the new county of San Mateo was
organized. The latter has an area of 127,223 acres, while the present county of
San Francisco has about 22,040, (exclusive of the bay and the islands in the same
belonging to the county,) of which 1,000 are occupied by the city proper. In
1856-57, the valuation of these counties was—
San Francisco...................
San Mateo.........................

Real estate.

Iin pro vein’ts.

Pers. property.

$17,827,617
669,303

$8,845,667
184,975

$4,194,070
466,055

Total.

$30,868,254
1,320,333

The subjoined table shows the rate of taxation on the hundred dollars, and the
assessments of property for the eight fiscal years since the organization of the
city government:—
Years.
1850--51....... ..
1851--52.......
1852--53.......
1858--54.......
1854--55.......
1855--56.......
1856--57........
1857--58.......

Kate.
$2 00
10
4 41
3 88*
3 85*
3 85*
2 30
2 30

Keal estate.
$16,859,054
11,141,463
15,676,366
17,889,850
19,765,285
18,607,800
17,827,617
16,106,890

Improvem'ts. Pers. property.
$4,772,160
In person’l
«(
2,874,441
“
2,805,381
$6,158,300
4,852,000
9,159,935
5,837,607
8,394,925
5,073,847
4,194,970
8,345,667
7,814,920
15,7S4,295

Total.
$21,621,214
14 016,903
18,4S1,737
28,900,150
34,762,827
32,076,572
30,368,254
39,706,105

It will be seen that, although the valuation of real estate is lower for the present
year than any preceding year since 1852-53, the total valuation of property is
much larger. This is owing to the new revenue law of 1857, which provides
that all real estate and other property shall be assessed to not only to the known
owners, but also to “ all owners and claimants, known or unknown.” This pro­
vision will give confidence to purchasers at tax sales, over whose property there
may be Spanish titles pending.
As contrasted with last year, there is an increase in the present, on the gross




87

J o u rn a l o f B a n k in g , C u rren cy, and Finance.

amount, of $9,337,851, attributable to the fact that mortgages and consigned
goods, together with the shipping as registered in the Custom-house, have been
included in the personal property, for the first time, this year. The item of
“ steamers, vessels, and sailing craft,” alone amounts to $1,637,400. The highest
single assessment on the books is to the California Steam Navigation Company,
$565,000—the taxes on which amount to $12,955.
The assessments on this year’s rate of taxation, is two dollars and thirty cents
on the hundred— of which seventy cents belong to the State, thirty-five cents to
the free common schools, and the balance of one dollar and twenty-five cents will
be appropriated to the payment of the interest, and to the sinking funds for the
liquidation of the bonded debts, and to the payment of the current municipal
expenses. This entire collection will therefore be thus set apart:—
For State purposes........................................................................
For free common schools........ ..................................
$138,972
For bonded debts and expenses...............................
496,326

$277,942

Total assessed taxes for 1857-58......................................

$913,240

635,298

The auditor, in his last annual report, estimates the demands on the treasury,
for the current year, as under:— For the bonded debts, $263,383 ; for school
fund and current expenses, $340,500; total expenses, 1857-58, $603,783. To
which must be added— for the bonded debts, 1856-57, $65,200 ; for outstanding
indebtedness, 1856-57, $133,467 ; total estimated expenses, $802,250. To meet
the above expenditures are the following sources of revenue, viz.:—The city and
county taxes, 1857-58, $635,298 ; licenses, fines, rents, etc., 1857-58, $150,000 ;
city and county taxes, 1856-57, $249,675 ; estimated total revenue, $1,035,973 ;
estimated total expenses, $802,450 ; overplus, $232,523.
The above figures justify the gratifying conclusion that, if property owners
will do their duty, the city’s embarrassments will end with this fiscal year. In
the estimated sources of revenue, we have not included the taxes delinquent prior
to the existence of the present consolidated city and county government, (July 1,
1856,) as they are payable in the indebtedness of 1855-56, which will, it is an­
ticipated, considerably mere than absorb the entire floating debt of that year,
both city and county.
ACT UV RELATION TO SAVINGS BANKS IN NEW YORK,

The following act passed both branches of the Legislature of New York
March 20th, 1857, and having been approved by the Governor, is now in force :—
Sectiox 1. The several savings banks or institutions for savings now incor­
porated, or which may hereafter be incorporated, shall, on or before the twentyfifth day of January and on or before the twenty-fifth day of July, in each year,
make a report in writing to the Superintendent of the Bank Department, of the
condition of such savings banks or institutions for savings, on the first days of
January and July ; which report shall be verified by the oath of the two principal
officers thereof : and shall state therein the total amount due to depositors ; the
total amount of assets of every kind ; the principal sum of each and every bond
and mortgage, with the estimated value of the property on which it is based ; the
amount invested in stock, designating each particular kind of stock, and the
estimated market value of the same; the amount loaned upon the security of
stock, with a description of all stocks so held; the amount, if any, loaned on
personal securities; the amount invested in real estate; the amount of cash on
hand, or on deposit in bank, with the names of the banks where deposited, and
the amount placed in each; and the amount loaned or deposited in any other
manner than herein described. The report of January in each year, shall, in
addition, also state the number of open accounts; the amount deposited, and the
amount withdrawn ; also, the amount of interest received, and the amount placed
to the credit of depositors during the year preceding the date of such report.




88

J ou rn a l oj B a n k in g , C u rren cy, and F inance.

Any willful false swearing in respect to such reports, shall be deemed perjury,
and subject to the punishments prescribed by law for that offense. And if any
sayings bank or institution for savings, shall lail to furnish to the Superinten­
dent of the Banking Department, its report at the times herein stated, it shall for­
feit the sum of one hundred dollars per day for every day such report shall be so
delayed; and the said superintendent may maintain an action in his name of office
to recover such penalty, and when collected, the same shall be paid into the
Treasury of the State.
S ec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of the Bank Department,
on or before the twentieth day of February in each year, to communicate to the
Legislature a statement of the condition of every savings bank and institution for
savings from which reports have been received for the preceding year; and to
suggest any amendments in the laws relative to savings banks or institutions for
savings, which in his judgment may be necessary or proper to increase the
security of depositors.
S ec. 3. Whenever any savings bank or institution for savings shall fail to
make a report in compliance with this act, or whenever the Superintendent of the
Banking Department shall have reason to believe that any savings bank or in­
stitution for savings is loaning or investing money in violation of its charter or
of law, or conducting business in an unsale manner, it shall be his duty, either in
person, or by one or more competent persons by him appointed, to examine their
affairs; and whenever it shall appear to the Superintendent, from such examina­
tion, that any savings bank or institution for savings has been guilty of a viola­
tion of its charter or of law, he shall communicate the fact to the AttorneyGeneral, whose duty it shall then become to institute such proceedings against
said savings bank or institution for savings, as are now authorized in the case of
insolvent corporations. The expense of any such examination shall be paid by
the savings bank or institution for savings so examined, in such amount as the
Superintendent of the Banking Department shall certify to be just and reason­
able.
Sec. 4. N o savings banks shall hereafter be required to make an annual re­
port to the Legislature, any provisions in their charter to the contrary notwith­
standing.
S ec. 5. The Superintendent of the Banking Department is hereby authorized
to employ, from time to time, so many clerks as may be necessary to discharge
the duties hereby imposed ; the salary of said clerks shall be paid to them month­
ly, on his certificate, and upon the warrant of the Controller, out of the treasury;
and it shall be the duty of the said Superintendent, in his annual report to the
Legislature, to state the names of the clerks so employed, and the compensation
allowed to them severally.
S ec. 6. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent to collect all the expenses
incurred in the performance of the duty hereby imposed, including the salaries of
the clerks, and such expenses shall be defrayed and paid by the savings banks and
institutions for savings in proportion to the amount of deposits held by them
severally, and when collected, the same shall be paid into the Treasury of the
State. If any savings bank or institution for savings shall, after due notice,
refuse or neglect to pay its proper share of said charges so allotted, then the
said Superintendent may maintain an action in his name of office against such
savings bank or institution for savings, for the recovery of such charges.
BASKS IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1837, 1847, AND 1857.

From the annual report for 1857, by the Secretary of the Treasury, on the
condition of the banks throughout the Union, to which are appended tables for a
series of years, we have compiled the following statistics, which present a com­
parative view of the principal features in the reports of the banks in 1837,1847,
and 1857— the returns being made near the 1st January in each year. We have




89

J o u rn a l o f B a n kin g, C urren cy, and F inance.

made the compilation with Especial reference to the relative condition of the banks
just before the suspension of specie payments in 1837 and 1857, with which we
have introduced the statistics of the intermediate decennial period of 1847, when
the financial condition of the country was much depressed. The suspensions in
New York, which were immediately followed by the banks throughout the Union,
took place on 10th May, 1837, and 14th October, 1857 :—
Number of banks................................
Number of branches...........................
Number of bauks and branches............
Capital paid in....................................
Resources—
Loans and discounts.........................
Stocks.............................................
Real estate......................................
Other investments............................
Due by other banks.........................
Notes of other banks........................
Specie funds....................................
Specie.............................................
Liabilities—
Circulation........................................
Deposits..........................................
Due to other banks.........................
Other liabilities................................
Aggregate of immediate liabilities, i.e., of
circulat’n, deposits, <fc dues to oth. b’ks
Agg. of immediate means, i. e., specie—
specie funds, notes of other banks, and
sums due from other banks...........
Gold & silver in U. S. Treas. depositories
Total specie in b’ks tfc treas. depositories

1837.

1857.

1847.

634
154
788
5290,772,091

591
124
715
8203,070,622

1,283
133
1,416
$370,834,686

525,115,702
12,407,112
19,064,451
10,423,630
59,663,910
26,533,527
5,366,500
37,915,340

310,282,945
20,158,351
21,219,865
12,206,112
31,788,641
13,112,467
13,789,780
35,132,516

684,456,887
59,272,329
26,124,522
5,920,336
65,849,205
28,124,008
25,081,641
58,349,838

149,185,890
127,397 1S5
62,421,118
36,560,289

105,519,766
91,792,533
28,539,888
4,706,077

214,778,822
230,351,352
57,674,333
19,816,850

339,004,193

225,852,187

502,804,507

139,479,277

93,823,404

177,404,692
20,066,114
78,415,952

THE PROFITS OF JOINT STOCK BANKS IN LONDON.

It appears from the reports of the three joint stock banks, recently made, that
their profits exceed all former statements. The London and Westminster (which
has been, from its commencement, under the management of our esteemed friend,
J ames W illiam G ilbart, the author of several very able works on the history
and principles of banking) divided 18 per cent, with a surplus of £10,271; the
Union Bank divided 25 per cent, with a surplus of £16,220 ; and the London
Joint Stock divided 224 per cent, vdth a surplus of £9,246. The capital of
the first named is £1,000,000 sterling, and of the other two, £600,000 each.
With this small amount of capital, little more than £2,000,000 sterling altogether,
the three banks hold deposits amounting in the aggregate to the enormous sum
of £35,473,000, viz.
London and Westminster............................
Union.......................................................................................
Joint Stock...............................................................................

£13,900,000
10,875,000
10,698,000

These figures show an increase of more than six millions sterling upon the cor­
responding period of last year. The private deposits of the Bank of England
are much less than the lowest of the above, which is most likely attributable to
the high rate of interest allowed by these establishments.




90

S tatistics o f Trade and Commerce.

STATISTICS OF TRADE AND COMMERCE.
PRICES OF ELEVEN ARTICLES FOR FORTY YEARS.
(PREPARED FOR THE MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE BY DAVID M. BALFOUR, ESQ., OF BOSTON, MASS.)

The figures in the subjoined table indicate the wholesale prices on the 1st day
of January in each year. In all cases where the articles are dutiable, short price
is indicated. Coffee and tea have been admitted free of duty since 1833
Mess
Beef,

Balto.

bbl.
$

Mess
Pork,
per
bbl.
*

Cod­
fish,
per
quin.
$

1 8 1 9 ..
1 8 2 0 ..
1 8 2 1 ..
1 8 2 2 ..
1 8 2 3 ..
1 8 2 4 ..
1 8 2 5 ..
1 8 2 8 ..
1 8 2 7 ..
1 8 2 8 ..
1 8 2 9 ..
1 8 3 0 ..
1 8 3 1 ..
1 8 3 2 ..
1833.
1 8 3 4 ..
1 8 3 5 ..
1 8 3 6 ..
1 8 3 7 ..
1 8 3 8 ..
1 8 3 9 ..
1 8 4 0 ..
1 8 4 1 ..
1 8 4 2 ..
1 8 4 3 ..
1 8 4 4 ..
1 8 4 5 ..
1 8 4 6 ..
1 8 4 7 ..
1 8 4 8 ..
1 8 4 9 ..
1 8 5 0 ..
1 8 5 1 ..
1 8 5 2 ..
1 8 5 3 ..
1 8 5 4 ..
1 8 5 5 ..
1 8 5 6 ..
1 8 5 7 ..
1 8 5 8 ..

15 37
9 75
8 62
7 75
8 00
8 12
9 *25
9 50
9 12
9 87
10 25
9 12
8 50
10 25
10 62
10 50
10 75
10 75
14 50
14 25
16 00
12 58
10 18
8 25
6 78
7 00
7 25
8 40
9 00
8 62
11 00
10 00
10 00
10 00
13 25
14 25
16 25
14 25
15 25
14 50

22 50
16 00
13 12
13 00
12 50
11 87
13 00
12 25
13 25
14* 12
13 25
11 75
12 25
13 75
14 37
12 00
15 50
19 00
26 75
20 50
23 50
14 73
13 21
9 97
9 41
10 25
9 25
13 25
10 31
11 75
13 75
10 37
12 25
14 75
20 50
16 25
16 00
18 75
20 50
15 62

3 50
2 87
2 67
3 25
2 75
2 56
2 87
1 94
2 35
2 87
2 25
2 05
2 37
2 75
2 56
2 25
2 12
2 57
3 12
3 19
3 30
2 37
2 62
2 00
1 75
2 50
2 37
2 62
3 12
3 56
2 12
2 37
2 62
2 62
3 50
3 00
2 75
3 75
3 25
3 25

*
9 25
6 12
4 12
7 25
7 75
6 81
5 75
5 87
5 87
6 12
9 00
5 37
5 75
6 87
6 25
6 75
5 25
7 75
11 25
9 50
8 69
6 18
5 50
6 37
4 50
4 75
4 75
5 75
5 50
6 50
5 50
5 25
5 25
4 75
6 25
7 62
9 62
9 50
7 37
5 50

A v g ’e .

10 19

14 63

2 72

6 54

Year.




ir. s.

flour,
per
bbl.

St.
Dom.
Bice, coffee,
per
per
100 lbs. lb.
cts.
*
3 37
3 36
3 12
3 00
2 87
3 87
3 31
3 37
3 75
3 19
3 75
2 87
2 62
3 12
3 50
3 00
3 25
3 25
3 12
4 12
4 12
3 62
3 62
3 25
2 87
2 50
3 25
4 75
4 00
3% 7
3 25
3 25
3 62
3 50
4 62
4 50
5 62
5 37
4 50
3 75
3 67

B. A. N. 0 . Smy*
mid. washdry
Y ’ng Musco­
salt’d fair ed
hyson vado
tea, sugar, hides, cott'n, wool,
per per
per
per
per
lb.
lb.
lb.
lb. 100 lbs.
cts. cts.
cts.
cts.
$

23
21
22i
20f
18i
13J
10|
12

60
54
53
50
52
62
55
61
49
n
8
47
49
7
61 42
43
H
68
11
68
12
60
1H
37
10
47
H i
42
H i
45
38
n
10
57
67
9f
■ S i 56
5 f 47
47
55
5§
6| 62
58
6f
58
6i
55
5i
1 0 i 55
38
lO f
38
8f
38
Si
38
H i
91 35
35
10f
10J 35
91 37

14 50
8 12
8 55
6 25
6 12
8 63
8 75
9 37
7 10
9 62
7 05
7 80
6 25
5 15
7 25
5 00
6 37
6 95
7 07
7 25
5 56
6 05
5 87
3 75
3 90
3 95
4 75
6 40
7 30
4 50
4 00
5 05
5 15
4 55
4 75
4 50
5 35
7 50
9 75
5 87

50

6 52

101

H i
21
19
26
31
19

n
12f
15
91
H f
H f
10f
H i
141
10

25
16
18
14
13
13
12
12
11
12
7
12
24
25
17
23
30
17
21
20
20
20
20
20
20
21
17
17
14
16
13
14
19
18
21
23
20
20
21
26

151

131

18

151
12f
124
18
17

H i
161
14i
H i
16f
121
14f
16i
15
131
131
H I
H i
12
14
151
141
161
H I
12i
121
111
12
11
101
9
101
14

H i

281
19
171

m
H i
H i
17
18
14
12|
12f
131
13
10J
121
151
l»i
181
191
12
16
H i
101
10
n

n
61
81

Hi
9i

IM P O R T S

(PREPARED FOR THE

AND

m erc h ants ’

EXPORTS

FROM

17S 9

TO

1857.

MAGAZINE BY DAVID M. BALFOUR, ESQ., OF BOSTON.)

Tariff

Continued from

of

1789
1790
1794
1804
1812
1816
1824
1828
1832
1842
1846

Imports.

July 4,1789, to J’ne 30,1791 $52,200,000
June 30, 1791, to J’ne 30,1794
97,200,000
1794, to
“
1804 802,807,964
1804, to
“
1812 719,720,000
1812,to
“
1816 295,114,274
1816, to
“
1824 686,530,639
1824, to
“
1828 349,308,444
1828, to M’ch 3,1833 403,649,002
M’ch 3d, 1833, to Aug. 30,1842 1,242,292,887
Aug. 30, 1842, to Dee. 1,1846 481,543,718
Dec’r 1,1846,to J’ne 30,1857 2,505,168,646

Exports.

$39,217,197
79,888,903
683.166.366
536.691.366
169,261,643
608,607,242
331,720,223
359,765,921
1,115,617,653
498,509,634
2,429,157,209

Excess o f
imports
over
exports.

Excess o f
exports
over
imports.

$12,982,803
17,311,097
119,641,598
178,028,634
125,852,631
77,923,297
17,588,221
43,883,081
126,675,234
16,965,816
76,011,437

Imported.

$28,672,602
32,308,209
99,455,727
46,460,084
73,958,856

Exported.

$29,894,923
23,079,915
55,309,514
20,682,488
341,842,502

Excess of
imports over
exports.

Excess of
exports over
imports.

$1,222,321
$9,228,294
44,146,213
25,777,596
267,883,646

Total..................................$7,635,535,474 $6,861,603,257 $790,898,033 $16,965,816 $288,855,478 $470,809,342 $79,152,103 $269,105,967




Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.

The following statement will exhibit the imports and exports under the eleven different tariffs which have been in operation since the
adoption of the Constitution. The first tariff act was passed July 4th, 1789. The present is the twelfth which has been adopted. Since
the adoption of the Constitution, we have employed annually upon an average of oue million tons of shipping in foreign commerce, from which
fifteen hundred million dollars profit have accrued to American shipowners. Between August 30th, 1842, and December 1st, 1846, the
United States exported $103,653,173 of breadstuff's to foreign countries:—

92

Statistics o f T rad e and Commerce.
CONSUMPTION OF TE A, SUGAR, AND COFFEE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

A British parliamentary paper, just issued, gives some very interesting and
useful information regarding these leading articles of consumption. The following
tabular statement shows an astonishing increase in the consumption of tea and
sugar, per head, since 1841. The poverty of the Irish people, says the Belfast
Mercantile Journal, is too apparent in the great disparity between their con­
sumption and that of the people of Great Britain, but since 1841 there has been
a most gratifying increase. Of tea, Ireland consumed in that year only 10 ozs.
per head, whereas now she uses 1 lb. 7 ozs. per head; and of sugar, she uses 8
lbs. 7 ozs., against 4 lbs. 10 ozs. at that period.
The annexed is a comparative account, showing, for the years 1841 and 1856,
the aggregate quantities of tea, coffee, and sugar consumed in England, Scotland,
and Ireland, respectively; and showing also, for each of those divisions of the
United Kingdom, the average quantities consumed by each individual of the
population :—
TEA.

1841.

Consumption.
Lbs.
Lbs.

England.................................
Scotland..............................
Ireland..................................
United Kingdom...........

1856.

36,675,667

1841.

1856.

Average consumed
by each individual.
Lbs. Ozs. Lbs. Ozs.

47,986,635
6,583,233
8,708,344

1 2
0 10

1

13

2
2
1

8
3
7

63,278,212

1

6

2

4

33,019.884
1,197,685
778,385

1
0

1
7

1

12

2

0
0

34,995,954

1

1

1

4

5,773,608
839,778
458,129

23
17
4

4
7
10

33
31
8

15
0
7

7,071,515

17

0

28

2

COFFEE.

England......................
Scotland....................
Ireland..................
United Kingdom...........

0

6
2

SUGAR.

Cwts.

England...........................
Scotland..............................
Ireland................................
United Kingdom........... ___

4,057,900

Cwts.

PRICES OF BREADSTUFFS IN NEW YORK FOR TEN YEARS.

In a circular by Mr. Edward H ill, flour and grain broker, New York, he
published the annexed table, showing the comparative prices of breadstuffs in
that market. The prices given were those current on the 1st of September of
each year:—
State flour.

1848.................
1849.................
1850.................
1851.................
1852.................
1853.................
1854................
1855................
1856................
1857................ ..........




6 00
5 50
4 50
4 00
4 46
6 00
6 50
8 75
5 75 a 6 35

Red wheat.

White wheat.

$1 00 a 1 05
95 a 1 10
80 a 90
60 a 65
70 a 95
1 16 a 1 23
1 60 a 1 88
1 50 a 1 54
1 75 a 1 85
1 40 a 1 62

$1 18 a 1 30
1 10 a 1 28
90 a 1 13
90 a 1 05
1 00 a 1 10
1 35 a 1 42
1 90 a 2 10
1 62 a 1 65
1 90 a 1 93
1 35 a 1 78

Ind. com,

62 a 72c.
60 a 63
61 a 62
57 a 58
71 a 72
75 a 78
86 a 88
60 a 70
87 a 88
84 a 93

93

Statistics o f Trad e and Commerce.

Prices of State flour, on 1st September, 1857, were relatively not more than
half as high as they were in 1854, because the standard of inspection is much
higher now than then. Extra State flour is now as good as medium Genesee
was then, and liberal purchases were made, on 1st September, 1857, at from
$5 60 to §6 25 per barrel, and for the higher figure a really good flour was
obtained.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF PROVISIONS AT CINCINNATI,

The following table, compiled by W illiam S mith, Esq., the Superintendent of
the Merchants’ Exchange at Cincinnati, shows at a glance the progress of the
hog trade—that is, the products of that animal—for the twelve years from 1846
to 1857, both years inclusive:—
IMPORTS.
Years.
1 8 4 6 ............
1 8 4 7 .............
1 8 4 8 ............
1 8 4 9 ............
1 8 5 0 ............
1 8 5 1 ............
1 8 5 2 ............
1 8 5 3 ............
1 8 5 4 ............
1 8 5 5 ............
1 8 5 6 ...........
1 8 5 7 ...........____

Pork & Bacon,
hhds.
4,089
5,476
4,420
6,178
7,564
6,277
10,333
15,251
12,164
9,734
3,264

Pork,
tcs.
98
124
140
465
2,358
1,183
1,987
3,550
2,736
6,770
7,513
1,607

Pork,
bbls.
53,969
40,581
69,828
44,2 67
43,2 27
31,595
22,501
39,517
39,387
38,365
26,292
19,713

Pork,
lbs.
6,037,163
8,027,399
9,643,063
9,249,380
1,825,766
14,631,330
16,532,S84
26,868,341
27,059,927
18,551,646
16,482,452
11,968,483

Lard,
bbls.
18,898
21,991
37,978
28,514
34,173
36,889
86,047
51,747
76,094
53,6 54
79,505
29,465

kegs.
51,870
22,722
4 1,7 14
48,187
63,327
31,087
32,283
26,157
19,752
14,831
14,763
10,534

Lard,
bbls.
22,747
49,878
81,679
37,521
39,192
30,391
47,862
42,652
57,084
43,799
31,838
36,989

kegs.
135,008
150,828
203,696
130,509
170,167
71.300
115,845
98,650
84,346
62,806
50,388
51,591

EXPORTS.
Years.
1 8 4 6 ...
1 8 4 7 ...
1 8 4 8 ...
1 8 4 9 ...
1 8 5 0 ...
1 8 5 1 ..,
1 8 6 2 ...
1 8 5 3 ...
1 8 5 4 ...
1 8 5 5 ...
1 8 5 6 .. .
1 8 3 7 ...

Pork & Bacon,
hhds.
15,287
31,538
37,162
39,470
23,519
30,220
43,633
47,150
49,2 30
42,469
34,005
34,072

Pork,
tcs.
3,874
7,894
8,862
10.930
22,477
20,762
34,398
53,154
51,778
40,515
41,819
32,775

Pork,
bbls.
29,302
137,218
196,186
186,192
193,581
122,086
131,560
135,707
134,939
104,275
110,869
100,816

Pork,
boxes.

. . . .

13,448
2,974
2,372
6,338
18,806
22,574
25,603
29,896

Pork,
lbs.
404,426
3,478,850
759.188
924,256
2,310,699
4,753,953
3,912,943
2,146,987
1,939,148
873,054
1,115,220
900,799

EXPORT OF PROVISIONS FROM UNITED STATES TO GREAT BRITAIN,

We give below a tabular statement of the exports of beef, pork, bacon, cheese,
tallow, lard, oil, &c., to Great Britain, for the seasons from 1851 to 1857, ending
31st of August in each year :—
Years.
1 8 5 1 ____
1 8 5 2 ____
1 8 5 3 ____
1 8 5 4 -----1 8 5 5 ....
1 8 5 6 ____
1 8 5 7 .....

Bacon,
tons.
1,213
1,671
6,535
18,271
11,464
14,457
14,921




Cheese,
tons.
3,468
2,363
1,579
2,843
2,785
3,837
1,896

Tallow,
tons.
1,168
842
1,140
3,001
2,216
971
880

Yard,
tons.
3,299
3,463
4,191
13,062
4 ,589
5,891
9,250

Sp'm oil,
tons.
2,167
2,522
3,744
2,224
3,290
2,008
2,215

Eosin,
bbls.
69,855
97,685
176,567
275,425
291,137
190,021
213,909

Beef,
tcs.
26,548
34,663
55,794
49,815
71,712
53,213
25,826

Pork,
bbls.
4,887
2,705
14,757
32,650
60,718
32,664
11,562

✓

94

Statistics o f Trade and Commerce.
EXPORTATION OF GRAIN AND FLOUR FROM THE UNITED STATES.

The Washington Union, of August 26, 1857, illustrates the almost incredible
progress the United States is making in supplying the people of Great Britain
with food— from being the lowest on the list in 1855, to the highest in 1857—by
the following tables. According to the Union, every bushel of wheat given in
the table was entered for consumption in Great Britain.
The following is a statement showing the quantities of wheat imported into
Great Britain, and the countries whence imported, from January 1st to June
30th, in the years 1855-6-7 :—

1855.
Russia.......................................bush.
Prussia...............................................
Denmark..........................................
Mecklenburg.....................................
Hanse Towns....................................
Turkey, including Wallachia and
Moldavia.......................................
E gypt..............................................
United States...................................
Other countries.................................
Total.

1856.

1857.

2,697,832
1,789,328
1,107,600
1,566,112

197,872
429,680
670,556
273,160
621,024

1,251,064
2,138,992
1,021,056
618,536
938,824

158,720
1,796,288
126,008
2,211,912

829,240
2,970,299
1,856,180
2,887,616

132,360
1,096,648
2,483,752
512,360

11,451,800

10,736,224

10,193,592

In addition to the quantity of wheat which Great Britain received from the
United States, from January 1st to June 30th of the present year, (2,483,752
bushels,) we also supplied them during the same period with the enormous quan­
tity of 111,497,024 pounds of flour, besides heavy quantities of Indian corn, barley,
oats, peas, and beans. We will first exhibit the flour accouuts, and then add a
statement of the other articles.
The subjoined is a statement showing the quantity, per 100 pounds, of flour
imported into Great Britain, and the countries whence imported, from January
1st to June 30th, in the years 1855-C-7 :—
Hanse Towns............................. cwL
Spain................................................
United States...................................
Other countries.................................
Total......................................

1855.

1856.

67,587
433,273
182,735
161,486

56,837
400,978
982,210
167,531

66,000
4,663
906,227
88,758

1857.

845,081

1,607,456

1,065,648

We are unable to distinguish the exporting countries for the remaining articles,
but doubtless the United States furnished the same proportion as is shown in the
preceding tables, especially as respects Indian corn and barley.
The annexed is a statement of the quantities of the following articles of food
imported into Great Britain, during the six months ending June 30th, in the

years 1855-6-7

1855.
Barley............................
Oats.................................
Peas.................................
Beans...............................
Indian corn.....................




1856.
1,307,768
3,490,264
176,896
1,934,352
8,033,440

1857.
8,407,304
6,252,120
741,880
1,296,928
3,403,120

S tatistics o f T ra d e and

95

Commerce.

TRADE AND PRODUCTION OF BRITISH INDIA.

We copy the following from a late number of the Washington Union, a journal
that, from its political relations to the Administration, has access to the informa­
tion received at the Department of State from our commercial agents and con­
suls abroad :—
In 1834, when the East India Company ceased to be a trading company, and
when, as it is claimed by those who believe that under British rule only can India
make any progress in arts, civilization, and commerce, the full benefits of a wiser
policy were extended both to the foreign, or rather external, trade and internal
administration of the country, the value of imports from all quarters was
$21,305,000, and the value of exports to all countries, was $39,965,000. The
amount of specie imported was $9,465,000, while the amount exported was
$970,000. In 1856, the imports of merchandise into India from all countries in­
creased from $21,305,009 in 1834, to $86,370,000, and the exports from
$39,965,000 to 127,470,000. The amount of specie imported was $61,780,000,
against an exportation of $10,230,000. During the. past five years there was
imported not less than $200,000,000 in specie—an amount indispensable to meet
the heavy balance of trade against Great Britain and other nations. This
enormous increase and extent of general commerce, must be felt iu their con-,
sequences upon the individual native producers in the romote districts o> India,
though it does not necessarily follow that those native producers, who constitute
at least nine-tenths of the population of India, are so thoroughly Anglicized in
their sentiments and feelings as not to sympathize, to a great extent, in the
motives and objects of the leaders and masses of the mutinous army.
The following comparative table, exhibiting a summary view of the principal
articles produced in Bengal, which have been received at Calcutta in 1834 and
1856. presents the most reliable means of judging of the actual progress which
the Indian cultivators have made during the past twenty years :—
TABULAR STATEMENT SHOWING THE QUANTITIES OF BENGAL PRODUCE BROUGHT DOWN
TO CALCUTTA IN 1834 AND 1856.

1884.
Castor oil......................................................................... lbs.
Raw cotton.........................................................................
Lac d>e...............................................................................
Shellac...............................................................................
Gunny cloths................................................................. pcs.
Hides and skins...................................................................
Jute..................................................................................lbs.
Linseed...............................................................................
Mustard seed.....................................................................
Opium.........................................................................chests
Rice.................................................................................lbs.
Wheat ...............................................................................
Other grain..........................................................................
Saltpeter.............................................................................
Sugar...................................................................................

487,280
1,148,440
76,720
208,528
2,615,000
1,251,000
542,440
..........
..........
12,006
21,336,000
914,920
1,101,384
4,324,432
2,322,104

1856.
357,616
1,391,264
223,960
383,792
20,221,000
4,788,000
9,652,000
20,304,000
10,456,000
44,937
73,496,000
7,600,288
5,324,464
5,89S,184
9,768,000

The above table exhibits, in several of the articles at least, a striking proof of
the increasing prosperity of the cultivators of the soil; but we need not add that
the increase which it exhibits, even in those articles which show the greatest ad­
vance, would sink into comparative insignificance if contrasted with the general
advancement of productive industry during the same period in any one of our
Western States. If we look at the figures and their corresponding facts simply
in the mass, we cannot fail to be struck with the general improvement which is
going on in the productive industry of this portion of India under the influence
of British rule ; but if we analyze them more closely, and take into account the
fertility and productiveness of soil, and the millions of population who, under a
system of voluntary self-discipline, might be converted into skilful agriculturists,
we must confess that the figures are far from showing such results as might be ex­




96

S tatistics o f Trad e and Commerce.

pected. Still, even the involuntary respect for English rule which has done so
much for India, may accomplish still more in time to come, if the present
mutinous spirit, and the general disposition among the masses out of the army to
sympathize with the mutineers, can be crushed, and the evils of past misgovernment be remedied by the adoption of wiser counsels, and the introduction of a
more enlightened and more liberal policy in the administration of the Indian
government.
COMMERCE OF SMYRNA, TURKEY, IN I85G.
The total number of vessels which entered the port of Smyrna, by steam and
sail, were 1,772, having 442,253 tons. The total number of those which left it
was 1,759, with 436,975 tons, which is to be divided as follows:—
ARRIVED AT THE POUT.

Sail-vessels.
British...............................
American..........................
Austrian............................ ................
Belgian..............................
Danish...............................
French...............................
Greek................................ ...............
Hanoverian....................... ................
Ionian................................
Oidenburgian.....................
Ottoman............................ ................
Sardinian......................... .
Sicilian.............................
Sweden-NorwegiaD........... ...............
Dutch................................

70
2
292
5
641
12

Tons.
35,324
11,836
17,807
293
163
8,172
30,512
914
2,236
....
44,190
1,267
976
2,572
4,171

Steam-vessels. Tons.
74,215
140
....
93,136
224
...
....
....
...
106,053
160
....
...
....
...
....
1
295
8,113
22
....
....
....
...
....
* **

LEFT THE PORT.

British.................................
American......................... .
Austrian.............................
Belgian.............................. .
Danish................................
French................................
Greek ............................. .
Hanoverian....................... .
Dutch................................
Ionian ...............................
Oidenburgian ..................
Ottoman........................... ................
Sardinian......................... .

35,099
11.557
17,836
587
6,708
163
29,970
596
3,940
2,503
524

Sicilian...........................
Sweden-Norwegian.......... ...............
COASTINO TRADE

11

42,666
997
976
2,254

139
...
223
...
160

73,750
....
92,876
....
106,058

1
22
%

295
8,117

...
•. .
...
...

...
...

....
....
...
•>•.

—

OF FRANCE.

An account of this has just been published by the Imperial Board of Customs.
In France there are not fewer than 242 ports, and the total amount of the trade
between them, for the year 1856, was 2,432,813 tons—201,089 tons, or 9 per
cent, more than in 1855. In the 2,432,813 tons, the Atlantic ports figure for
1,734,427. and the Mediterranean for 698,386. What is called the “ great coast­
ing trade” (that is, the communication between the ports of one sea and those of
another) was 108,439 tons, the remainder being the communication between ports
of the same sea. The port in which the coasting trade was the largest was Mar­
seilles, it having had 309,350 tons; then came Havre, with 217,339 tons ; Nantes,
with 153,845; Bordeaux, 138 609; Rouen, 83,336; Arles, 80,794. The next
in importance were Honfleur, Charente, Dunkirk, Cette, Libourne, and Plague.
Grain and flour constituted 52 per cent on the freights from the ports of the
Atlantic to those of the Mediterranean.




Commercial R egulations.

9?

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
T R E A TY BETW EEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE SHAH OF PE RSIA,

This treaty, an official copy of which we have received from the Department of
State, is dated at the city of Constantinople, 13th of December, 1856 ; ratified by
James Buchanan, the President of the United States, 12th of March, 1857 ; ex­
changed at Constantinople, 13th of June, 1857, and proclaimed by the President,
18th of August, 1857. Omitting |the formal introductory preamble, which, as
usual, is larded with high-sounding titles, for economy of space, we give the several
articles of the treaty, as follows :—
A rt. 1. There shall be hereafter a sincere and constant good understanding
between the government and citizens of the United States of North America
and the Persian empire and all Persian subjects.
A rt. 2. The ambassadors or diplomatic agents whom it may please either
of the two high contracting parties to send and maintain near the other shall be
received and treated, they and all those composing their missions, as the ambas­
sadors and diplomatic agents of the most favored nations are received and
treated in the two respective countries; and they shall enjoy there in all respects
the same prerogatives and immunities.
A rt. 3. The citizens and subjects of the two high contracting parties, travelers,
merchants, manufacturers, and others, who may reside in the territory of either
country, shall be respected and efficiently protected by the authorities of the
country and their agents, and treated in all respects as the subjects and citizens
of the most favored nation are treated.
They may reciprocally bring by land or by sea into either country, and export
from it, all kinds of merchandise and products, and sell, exchange, or buy, and
transport them to all places in the territories of either of the high contracting
parties. It being, however, understood that the merchants of either nation whoshall engage in the internal commerce of either country shall be governed, io
respect to such commerce, by the laws of the country in which such commerce
is carried on ; and in case either of the high contracting powers shall hereafter
grant other privileges concerning such internal commerce to the citizens or sub­
jects of other governments, the same shall be equally granted to the merchants of
either nation engaged in such internal commerce within the territories of the
other.
A rt. 4. The merchandise imported or exported by the respective citizens or
subjects of the two high contracting parties shall not pay in either country, on
their arrival or departure, other duties than those which are charged in. either o f
the countries on the merchandise or products imported or exported by the mer­
chants and subjects of the most favored nation, and no exceptional tax, under
any name or pretext whatever, shall be collected on them in either of the two.
countries.
A rt. 5. All suits and disputes arising in Persia between Persian subjects and
citizens of the United States, shall be carried before the Persian tribunal to
which such matters are usually referred at the place where a consul or agent of
the United States may reside, and shall be discussed and decided according to
equity in the presence of an employee of the consul or agent of the United States.
All suits and disputes which may arise in the empire of Persia between citi­
zens of the United States, shall be referred entirely for trial and for adjudication to
the consul or agent of the United States, residing in the province wherein such
suits and disputes may have arisen, or in the province nearest to it, who shall
decide them according to the laws of the United States.
All suits and disputes occurring in Persia between the citizens of the United
7
V O L. X X X V III.-----NO. I.




98

Commercial Regulations.

States and the subjects of other foreign powers, shall be tried and adjudicated
by the intermediation of their respective consuls or agents.
In the United States, Persian subjects in all disputes arising between them­
selves, or between them and citizens of the United States or foreigners, shall be
judged according to the rules adopted in the United States respecting the subjects
of the most favored nation.
Persian subjects residing in the United States, and citizens of the United
States residing in Persia, shall, when charged with criminal offenses, be tried and
judged in Persia and the United States in the same manner as are the subjects
and citizens of the most favored nation residing in either of the above mentioned
countries.
A rt. 6. In case of a citizen or subject of either of the contracting parties
dying within the territories of the other, his effects shall be delivered up integrally
to the family or partners in business of the deceased ; and in case he has no rela­
tions or partners, his effects in either country shall be delivered up to the consul
or agent of the nation of which the deceased was a subject or citizen, so that he
may dispose of them in accordance with the laws of his country.
A rt. 7. For the protection of their citizens or subjects, and their commerce
respectively, and in order to facilitate good and equitable relations between the
citizens and subjects of the two countries, the two high contracting parties re­
serve the right to maintain a diplomatic agent at either seat of government, and
to name each three consuls in either country; those of the United States shall
reside at Teheran, Bender, Bushir, and Tauris ; those of Persia at Washington,
New York, and New Orleans.
The consuls of the high contracting parties shall reciprocally enjoy in the ter­
ritories of the other, where their residences shall be established, the respect,
privileges, and immunities, granted in either country to the consuls of the most
favored nation. The diplomatic agent or consuls in the United States shall
not protect, secretly or publicly, the subjects of the Persian government, and
they shall never suffer a departure from the principles here laid down and
agreed to by mutual consent.
And it is further understood, that if any of those consuls shall engage in trade,
they shall be subjected to the same laws and usages to which private individuals
of their nation engaged in commercial pursuits in the same place, are subjected.
And it is also understood by the high contracting parties, that the diplomatic
and consular agents of the United States shall not employ a greater number of
domestics than is allowed by treaty to those of Russia residing in Persia.
A rt. 8. And the high contracting parties agree that the present treaty of
friendship and commerce, cemented by the sincere good feeling and the confidence
which exist between the governments of the United States and Persia, shall be
in force for the term of ten years from the exchange of its ratification ; and if,
before the expiration of the first ten years, neither of the high contracting par­
ties shall have announced by official notification to the other, its intention to
arrest the operation of said treaty, it shall remain binding for one year beyond
that time, and so on until the expiration of twelve months which will follow a
similar notification, whatever the time may be at which it may take place ; and
the plenipotentiaries of the two high contracting parties further agree to exchange
the ratifications of their respective governments at Constantinople in the space
of six months, or earlier, if practicable.
In faith of which, the respective plenipotentiaries of the two high contracting
parties have signed the present treaty, and have attached their seals to it.
IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN SPIRITS INTO COSTA RICA,

The United States Consul at San Jose, Costa Rica, has transmitted to the
Department o f State at Washington, the copy of a decree by J uan R afael
Mora, President of the Republic of Costa Rica, dated September 21, 1857, pro­
hibiting, after the expiration of ten months from the date thereof, the importa­




99

Commercial Regulations.

tion of all classes of foreign spirits except on account of that government. He
states that, by this decree, all foreign spirits are placed upon the same footing as
gunpowder, rum. and tobacco. According to art. 22d, chap, lltli, of the tariff
and custom-house ordinance, all vessels arriving at the port of Punta Arenas,
having on board any of these articles, are required to deposit them in the public
stores at a cost of two dollars per month for each cwt., (although they may be
destined for other ports,) or leave the port within twelve hours.
Omitting the preamble, we annex a translation of the decree, which was given
in the city of San Jose, in the National Palace, in the Department of Pinance,
of which R afael G. E scalente is the Minister, who is charged with the execu­
tion of the decree, and with submitting the same for the approbation of the
Congress
A rt. 1. Ten months from this date, (Sept. 21,1857,) the importation of every
kind of foreign spirits on account of private individuals, is prohibited, and those
having these articles on hand at the termination of the period specified are re­
quired to export them.
A rt. 2. The government will cause to be procured on account of the State
all the various kinds of foreign spirits in common use, in order that the same
may be expended in such public places as shall be instituted for this purpose,
and the proprietors of hotels and restaurants will purchase, at wholesale, in these
places, for the supply of their establishments.

U. S, TREASURY LE TTER ON VESSELS CLEARING FOR BREMEN,

For the information of ship-owners and shippers, and to enable them to obviate
the embarrassments heretofore experienced in the trade with Bremen, the col­
lector of customs at New Orleans has deemed it proper to give publicity to the
following letter of the Treasury Department, explaining the difficulties and delays,
and suggesting a mode of relief:—
T reasu ry D epartm ent,

November 17,1857.

:—The Secretary of State has submitted for my perusal a dispatch from
the United States Consul at Bremen, in which he refers to delays in the unlading
of cargoes to which vessels from the United States are sometimes subjected at
that port, and which he thinks ought, in justice to American ship-owners and
shippers, to be remedied if possible.
The port of entry for Bremen is at Bremerhaven, near the mouth of the river
AVeser, about 50 miles below the city. Vessels drawing over seven feet of water
cannot come up to the city, and the transportation of cargoes, destined for Bremen,
is effected between the port of entry and the city by means of small lighters,
which are not considered as common carriers by the local law, and the parties at
Bremen, to whom the cargo is destined or consigned, will not receipt the same on
its delivery to the lighters, but only when delivered to them at Bremen—thus
subjecting the vessels to delay until this transportation is completed.
It would seem from the statement of the consul, that Bremen vessels from the
United States are, as a general fact, not subjected to such delays, and in that
respect enjoy an advantage over vessels from the United .States, in contravention
of the spirit, if not the terms, of our treaty stipulation.
It is not clear, however, from the Consul’s statement, to what extent, if at all,
any ordinance of the government of Bremen, or any port regulations of the local
authorities, cause this discrimination between the vessels of the two nations. How­
ever that may be, the attention of the authorities of Bremen has been called to
the subject by the U. S. Consul at that port.
It is suggested by the Consul that the delays in the unlading of cargoes, so
often complained of by masters of vessels from the United States, might be ob­
S ir

V




100

Com m ercial Regulations.

viated if the shippers to that port would insert in their bills of lading, to “ Bremerhaven,” instead of “ Bremen,” “ to be discharged within five days after entering
the harbor.”
Among the cases stated by the Consul in which complaints have been made to
him, I perceive one from your port, and I have thought it expedient to communi­
cate the Consul’s suggestions to you, that shippers or masters of vessels in clear­
ing for Bremen at your port, may be notified by you of the facts and suggestions
communicated by the Consul, that they may adopt such measures as they may
deem necessary and expedient to secure requisite dispatch in the unlading of car­
goes at “ Bremerhaven.”
I am, very respectfully,
HOW ELL COBB, Secretary o f the Treasury.
F. H. H atch, Esq., Collector, &c., New Orleans.

THE TARIFF AJVD TRADE OF NEW SOUTH W ALES.

The Washington Union, which has access to the mercantile information forwarded by our consuls and commercial agents to the Department of State, pub­
lished on the 18th September, 1857, an article on New South Wales, with special
reference to our commerce with that colony, from which we condense the follow­
ing statements:—
The articles which American merchants could advantageously ship to New
South Wales, according to the Union, are wearing apparel, bags and sacks,
cheese, candles, (tallow and sperm,) coffee, preserves, drugs and medicines, salt
fish, flour and biscuit, furniture, glassware, hardware and ironware, leather man­
ufactures, linens, provisions, spirits, (chiefly rum and whisky,) stationery and
books, sugar, tobacco, woodenware, watches and clocks, and general notions.
TARIFF OF DUTIES LEVIED ON IMPORTS INTO NEW SOUTH WALES.
Spirits. _

Brandy and gin..................... .. ............. .............................................................
Whisky, rum, and other spirits, cordials or strong waters, sweetened or
mixed with any other article so that the degree of strength cannot be
ascertained by Sykes’ hydraulics..................................................................
Perfumed spirits..............................................................................................
Wine, containing more than 25 per cent of alcohol, of a specific gravity of
.825 at the temperature of 60° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, for every gal­
lon, in proportion to strength........................................................................
Wine not containing more than 25 per cent, <tc..............................................
Ale, porter, and beer of all sorts, in wood.......................................................
Ditto, in bottles............... ...............................................................................
Tea.......................................................................................................... per lb.
Sugar, refined, and candy.......................................................................... cwt.
Ditto, unrefined.................................................................................................
Treacle and molasses.......................................................................................
Coffee and chicory..........................................................................................lb.
CigarB...................................................................................................................................

Tobacco and snuff.............................................................................................

Per gall.
$ 2 40

2 40

1 68
4
48

2
4
6
1 60

1 20
80
4
72
48

On exports there are no duties. In regard to the best means of promoting the
commercial relations of the United States with this colony, a correspondent at
Sydney informs the Department of State that “ the abolition of the duty on wood
imported into the United States would have a tendency materially to augment
the trade between the two countries, as then ships bringing cargoes from the
United States would readily obtain return cargoes of an article of large consump­
tion there, and would thus add not only to the profits of those who might be
directly engaged in the trade, but would also contribute to the prosperity of one
of the most important branches of our manufactures, and more remotely to the
general welfare of all industrial pursuits in our country. Another, and no doubt the
most important, step which could be taken for promoting the commercial inter­
ests of our country in this region, would be the establishment of steam commu­
nication between the two countries by way of Panama.”




101

Commercial R egulations.
THE TARIFF OF MOROCCO.

The sixth article guaranties entire freedom in navigation and equality with
the national flag, as to duties on all imports, except those specified in article two.
Article seven stipulates that import duties shall not exceed ten per centum ad
valorem, and that export duties shall not exceed the amounts marked in the fol­
lowing tariffs:—
TARIFF OF DUTIES ON LEADING EXPORTS.
Exp’t duty,

Articles.
ounces.
Flour........................................ cwt.
30
Bird seed.......................................
12
Dates...........................................
40
Almonds.........................................
85
OraDges, lemons, and limes......... M.
12
Wild margoram....................... cwt.
10
Cumin seeds...................................
20
Oil..................................................
60
Gums.............................................
20
Wax................................................
120
Wool, washed...............................
80
Wool in grease.............................
55
Hides, sheep, and goat skins.........
36

Articles.
Tanned skins................

Exp’t duty,
ounces.

............. M.
Slippers...................... ..............C.
Porcupine quills.......... ............. M.
Ostrich feathers............
Canary seed................
Hair........................... .
Woolen sashes............. ............. C.
Tuckawt (a dye)..........
Tanned fleeces.............
Hemp and fla x ............
Raisins..........................

20
70
5
36
20
30
100
20
36
40
20

The preceding schedule contains the chief articles of export, and, besides the_
general reduction which it exhibits, is otherwise quite satisfactory, by reason of
the certainty it guaranties that no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the
produce of Morocco when sold or shipped for exportation.
TONNAGE DUTIES IN CHILI.

A new law imposing additional tonnage duties upon vessels entering Chilian
ports, the net amount of which is to be applied to the construction and support
of lighthouses, has been adopted by the government. We are uninformed as to
the amount of these duties, but the Chilian law of July 10,1850, abrogates a law
in force from January 8, 1834, imposing upon all foreign flags differential duties
in favor of the national flag, the amount, whatever it may be, cannot be con­
sidered in the light of an unjust or oppressive tax, since it applies, by virtue of
the law above cited, to all equalized flags, national as well as foreign. The existing
tonnage duties are, on vessels of nations having treaties of reciprocity, or that have
accepted the Chilian reciprocity law of July 16,1850, 25 cents per ton of the ves­
sels’ measurement. On'all other vessels, 75 cents per ton. This reciprocity law
of 1850, was accepted on behalf of the United States by President’s proclamation
bearing date November 1,1850.
IMPORTATION OF SPIR ITS INTO NEWFOUNDLAND.

Applications having been made to the Board of Revenue, at Newfoundland, for
the restoration of spirits seized under the provisions of the act 18 and 19 Viet.,
cap. 4, sec. 46, upon the ground that the owners or importers thereof were
ignorant of the prohibition, in certain cases, to import spirits in casks not capable
of containing at least fifty gallons—
The Secretary of the Board gives notice that no such application will be enter­
tained, but that the provisions of the statute will be rigidly enforced.




102

Commercial Regulations.

The following is the section of the act relating to the importation of spirits.
It was passed on the 4th August, 1855 :—
Sec. 46. After six months from the time this act shall come into operation'
no rum, brandy, gin, or alcohol, shall be imported or brought into this colony in
casks not capable of containing at least fifty gallons ; nor shall any such liquors
in any smaller casks or packages be exposed for sale, or be in possession of any
person unless imported before the said time, or unless the same shall have been
transferred to such smaller casks or packages after it shall have been brought
into this island or its dependencies ; of all which the proof shall be upon the
party in possession. Any person offending against any of the provisions of this
section shall forfeit ten pounds for every such cask or package, and the liquor
shall be forfeited. Nothing in this act contained shall apply to any such liquors
imported into this island or its dependencies from Europe, the British West
Indies, or any of the British possessions in North America.

FREE IMPORTATION OF CEREALS INTO FRANCE,

The Moniltur Universal, of Paris, has the following official notice
“ The postponement fixed by decree of September 8,1856, respecting divers
measures relative to alimentary articles, is further continued to September 30,
1858.”
The purpose of this decree is thus explained in the same number of the of­
ficial journal
The government of the emperor has decided to prorogue to the
30th September, 1858, the regulations relative to articles of food. These regu­
lations have a two-fold character; they facilitate the importation of cereals,
while they also suspend their exportation. The facilities granted for the importa­
tion of cereals have been deemed necessary, not with a view to affect high prices
of articles of subsistence, which the great abundance of our crops does not per­
mit us to apprehend in the slightest degree, but to assure the safety of the com­
mercial operations undertaken under the existing state of things— operations
which will also conduce to the replenishing of the reserve supplies exhausted
during a three years’ scarcity. As respects the regulations which suspend expor­
tation, the postponement does not constitute, as in the case of importation, a
sort of positive engagement on the part of the government. Circumstances and
future events must decide whether the suspension shall be continued or not.

AMERICAN VESSELS GOING INTO FRENCH PORTS.

The Courier des Etats Unis publishes the following notice, by order of the
French Consul-General in New York
“ Several American vessels recently arrived in French ports, (at Marseilles
among others,) after having delivered part of their cargoes at intermediate ports,
have considered themselves entitled to claim the favorable treatment resulting
from the treaty concluded between France and the United States, June 24th,
1852. According to the laws of the French custom house, this treatment is only
applicable to vessels arrived in French ports directly, and without intermediate
stoppage. We are consequently requested to give notice that, although this
favor has been accorded exceptionally by the government in the cases before
mentioned, American vessels cannot make, unless from absolute necessity, any
stoppage, without losing, on their arrival in France, the benefit of the treaty in
question. This rule is, moreover, indiscriminately applied in France to all the
vessels of foreign States which are allied with France by treaties of naviga­
tion.”




103

N a u tic a l Intelligence.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.
DECREASE IN THE DEPTH OF W A TE R ON GEORGE’ S BANK,
MASSACHUSETTS— COAST OF CAPE COD PENINSULA.

Subjoined is a letter from the Superintendent of the Coast Survey to the Sec­
retary of the Treasury, communicating extracts of a report by Lieutenant Com­
manding 0. R. P. Rodgers, U. S. Navy, in relation to the gradual decrease in the
depth of water on George’s Bank :—
B angob, Me., October, 17, 1857.

Sik :—I have the honor to communicate to the Department the result of a
development made by Lieut. Commanding C. R. P. Rodgers, XJ. S. N., Assistant
in the Coast Survey, showing a gradual decrease in the depth of water on the
shallowest part of George’s Shoal, off the coast and eastward of Cape Cod Pen­
insula. The examination was made under favorable circumstances on the 10th
of September, and the results are thus reported by Lieut. Com’g Rodgers :—
“ George’s Shoal seems to consist of narrow sand ridges, (like those at the en­
trance of Nantucket Sound,) lying parallel to each other in a direction generally
north and south, though some incline to the eastward and westward. The tide
rushes across them with great violence. We kept the steamer over the crests of
these ridges, and, aided by our experience of last year, probably found the most
shallow spot where the soundings, reduced to mean low water, show a depth of
only thirteen feet, or two feet less than the least found in the year 1837. The
least water found differed only some seconds, either in latitude or longitude, from
that found by Capt. Wilkes in his examination of the shoal twenty years ago.”
I would respectfully request authority to publish this communication as a no­
tice to mariners. Very respectfully yours,
A. D. BACHE, Sup’t U. S. Coast Survey.
Hon.

IIow ell Cobb,

Sec’y of the Treasury.
MAGNETIC VARIATION NEAR BOSTON.

The following notice, from G. W. B lunt, is of importance. In the Merchants’
Magazine for December, 1857, we published two authentic tables o f the variation
of the compass in Europe:—
It appears from a recent observation on the magnetic variation, near Boston,
made by Prof. Bond, of Havard College Observatory, and communicated to J. 1Bowditch, Esq,, that it is now 11° 20' W., instead of 9° 20' W., which is on
the old charts in use, it being Mr. Bond’s observation of 1840—the Coast Survey
of 1855 makes it 10° 20'. A vessel making the Highland Light of Cape Cod,
and shaping her course by compass for Boston Light, with the old variation,
would be two miles to the south of the expected position when at the end of her
run, perhaps among Cohasset rocks.
N ew Y ork,

December 10,1857.

GEO. W. BLUNT.

BEACON RANGE LIGHT AT SAPEL0, GEORGIA.

A beacon light will be exhibited for the first time on the night of January 1st,
1858, from an elevation of fifty feet above the mean level of the sea, from the
frame structure recently erected in front (to seaward) of the main light situated
on the southern extremity of Sapelo Island, Georgia, to serve as a range for
crossing the bar in the best water. The beacon is painted black, and fitted with
a fifth order catadioptric apparatus on the system of Fresnel. To run in across
the bar, bring the beacon in range with the main light, and keep on that range
line until the outer or east beacon on Wolf Island bears by compass S. W. by




104

N a u tica l Intelligence.

W . one-half W., when steer N. W . by W . one-half W., keeping in not less than four
fathoms water, to the anchorage abreast of the main lighthouse. By order of
the Lighthouse Board,
Savannah,

Geo., December 7, 1857.

LIGHT

SHIP

OFF

J. F. GILMER, Capt. Engineers.

THE

BLACKWATER

BANK.

COAST OF IRELAND---- ST. GEORGE’ S CHANNEL.

Official information has been received at this office, that the Port of Dublin
Corporation has given notice, that on or about the first week in October, 1857,
a light-vessel will be placed off the north end of the Blackwater Bank in the Irish
Sea, St. George’s Channel. The vessel will exhibit two white lights—one re­
volving, the other fixed. The revolving light, which will attain its greatest
brilliancy once in every minute, will be shown from the mainmast of the vessel,
at a height of 39 feet above the surface of the sea. The fixed light will be
shown from the foremast of the vessel, at a height of 26 feet above the same
level. The illuminating apparatus will be catoptric, or by metallic reflectors,
and of the third order. The revolving light should be visible from the deck
of a ship in ordinary weather at a distance of about 10 miles. The lightvessel will be painted black with a white band, having the word B l a c k w a t e r on
her side. She will have three masts, and carry a ball at the fore and main mast
heads. She will be moored in a depth of 19 fathoms at low water, at about 14
mile E. J S. of the black buoy on the north end of the Blackwater Bank, in lat.
52° 29J' N., long. 6° 7' west of Greenwich, nearly. A gong will be sounded in
foggy weather. All bearings magnetic. Yar. 25® 10' West in 1857. By order
of the Lighthouse Board,
THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.
Office Lighthouse Board, )
Washington, Oct. 5, 1857.
(

T reasu ry D epartm ent,

ENGLAND, W E ST COAST— ROCKS IN BROAD SOUND.

Official information has been received at this office that several rocks having
been lately discovered in the vicinity of Skokham Island and Broad Sound, near
Milford Haven, during the progress of the Admiralty Survey under Com’r Ald­
ridge, R. N., the following notice is published for the benefit of the mariner :—
1. A rock awash lies to the northward of the east end of Skokham Island, 200
yards N .E. J N . from the Stack.
2. A rock, with 24 fathoms on it, lies in the same direction from the Stack at
400 yards off.
3. Two other rocks, with 34 fathoms, exist at 533 yards N. N. E. f E. of the
Stack. All these rocks are directly in the track of vessels passing through the
Sound to or from Milford Haven.
4. To the southward of Skokham Stack there are also rocks, with 34 fathoms,
at 820 yards S. S. E. 4 E. from the Stack.
5. To the westward of Skokham Island, rocks have been found in the race,
known as the Wild Goose Race, with 44 and 5 fathoms, at 1,300 yards N. VV.
4 W. from the west end of Skokham Island, and the west end of Skomer Island,
bearing N. by E. 4 E.
6. To the Northward of Skokham Island there are rocks with from 3f fath­
oms to 44 fathoms on them, which lie midway between, and in a line from, the
west end of Skokham Island and the Mewstone of Skomer Island, or 14 miles
N. W. by N. from Skokham Stack.
7. A dangerous rock, with three fathoms on it, lies directly in the track of
vessels passing through Jack Sound to or from Milford Haven. It lies nearly
4 mile W. by S. 4 S. from the Bench Rocks, with the outer point of Gateholm
Island bearing S. E. by S., 1,733 yards distant.
8. A rock also lies off Long Point, bearing W. N. W. 4 N., f of a mile
distant, with 44 fathoms on it, the outer part of Gateholm Island bearing N. by
W. 4 W.




l ui>

N a u tic a l In telligen ce.

All bearings are magnetic. Yar. 24° 40' W . in 1857, decreasing 6' annually.
By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.

Office Lighthouse Board, )
Washington* Oct 16, J857.
)

T reasu ry D epartm ent,

PILOT CUTTERS OFF DUNGENESS, A c.
T r in it y H ou se, L o n d o n ,

November 7 ,185T.

Notice is given, that with a view of facilitating the supply of pilots to vessels
arriving from the westward, this corporation has caused an additional pilot cutter
.to be stationed on the cruising grounds between Dungeness and the Downs, and
that from this day. November 7, 1857, the said cutters, now three in number, will
cruise in the order and on the stations following, viz :—
The first or westermost cutter off Dungeness.
The second or middle cutter in the fairway of vessels between Dungeness and
Dymchurch bearing N. N. W .
The third or eastermost cutter off Folkstone, well out in the fairway, so as^to
supply such vessels as may have passed the other cutters without obtaining
pilots.
The attention of masters of ships coming from the westward, and bound to the
rivers Thames and Medway, is particularly directed to the 378 sec. of the mer­
chant shipping act, 1854, whereby it is provided, that the—
“ Masters of any ship coming from the westward, and bound to any place in
the rivers Thames and Medway, (unless she has a qualified pilot on board or is
exempted from compulsory pilotage.) shall, on .the arrival of such ship off Dunge­
ness, and thenceforth until she has passed the south buoy of the Brake, or a line
to be drawn from Sandown Castle to the said buoy, or until a qualified pilot has
come on board, display and keep flying the usual signal for a pilot; and if any
qualified pilot is within hail, or is approaching and within half a mile, and has
the proper distinguishing flag flying in his boat, such master shall, by heaving-to
in proper time or shortening sail, or by any practicable means consistent with
the safety of his ship, facilitate such pilot getting on board, and shall give the
charge of piloting his ship to such pilot; or if there are two or more of such
pilots offering at the same time, to such one of them as may, according to the re­
gulations for the time being in force, be entitled or required to take such charge;
and if any such master fails to display or keep flying the usual signal fir a pilot
in manner herein-before required, or to facilitate any such qualified pilot as afore­
said getting on board as herein-before required, or to give the charge of piloting
his ship to such pilot as herein-before mentioned in that behalf, he shall incur a
penalty not exceeding double the sum which might have been demanded for the
pilotage of his ship, such penalty to be paid to the Trinity House, and to be
carried to the account of the Trinity House pilot fund. By order,
P. n . BEUTHON, Secretary.
NORTH SEA, EAST COAST OF ENGLAND.

Official information has been received at this office, that the Corporation of the
Trinity House of London have issued the following notices :—
STANFORD LIGHT-VESSEL, OFF LOWESTOFT.

In consequence of the north end of the Neweorae Sound having grown up, the
Stanford light-vessel off Lowestoft has been moved nearly a cable’s length to the
E. S. E. of her former position, into six fathoms at low water springs, and now
forms a fair-way or channel-light. The vessel lies with two remarkably high
chimneys at Lowestoft, nearly in line N. W . by W., East Newcome buoy just
open to the eastward of the N. E. Newcome S. S. W . J W.
Also, the north end of the Scroby Sound, off Caistor, having grown out to the
westward, the north Scroby buoy has been moved about a cable’s length to the
westward of its former position, and now lies in 5 fathoms at low water of spring
tides, with the following marks and bearings, viz.:— Caiston Mill in line with the




Nautical Intelligence.

Beaehmens’ Lookout, S. W. 4 W .
fecroby buoy, S. by W. £ W.

Cockle Light-vessel, N. W . by N.

Middle

BRAN SAND-LIGHTS, RIVER TEES.

In consequence of an alteration in the direction of the channel at the entrance
of the River Tees it has become necessary to move both the Bran Sand-lights
about 300 fathoms to the eastward, and since the 10th July, 1857. these lights
have been exhibited from temporary buildings in the new position, bearing from
each other S. by E. 4 E. The South Care buoy has also been moved, and now
bears from the spiral buoy S. W. by W . No. 1, black buoy, has also been
moved about 40 fathoms to the westward, and now bears from the spiral buoy
W. S. VV., and from the South Gare buoy N. W . by W . Masters of vessels and
others entering the Tees are cautioned not to use the old light-towers as daymarks until further notice.
RED BUOY AT ENTRANCE OF TYNE.

A red buoy has been placed at the end of the north pier, now in course of con­
struction at the entrance of the River Tyne, in 2i fathoms depth at low water
spring tides. Tynemouth Castle bearing N. N. W . at 250 fathoms from the
Cliff, and the high beacon at South Shields, a little open to the north of the
low beacon.
All bearings magnetic. Var.. in 1857, 21° 5' W . off Lowestoft; 23° 20' W .
off the Tees; 23° 30' W. off the Tyne. Decreasing 6 'annually. By order of
the Lighthouse Board,
„

Office Lighthouse Board, )
October 5, 1857.
j

THOENTON A. JENKINS, Secretary.

I reasu ry D epartm en t,

POUT L’ORIENT, ATLANTIC OCEAN— FRANCE, W EST COAST.
LEADING LIGHTS FOR THE GREAT CHANNEL.

Official information has been received at this office, that the French govern­
ment has given notice of the following change in the position of the lower light
of the Grand Pass or Great Channel to Port L’Orient:— On the 15th September,
ult., the lower light of the two fixed lights which, when in line, lead to Port
L’Orient by the Grand Pass or Great Channel, will be removed in the same line
of bearing to the south bastion of Port Louis, and will be placed in lat. 47° 42'
13" N., and long. 3Q 21' 12" west of Greenwich. Its height above the sea at
high water will be 20 feet, and it will be visible at the distance of 8 miles. The
high light will be 1,826 yards from it in the direction of N. 83° E, and being 62
feet above the sea will be visible at the distance of 12 miles. Commanders of
ships are reminded that the compas course (N. 83° E.) on which these two lights
lead in through the Great Channel must be left as soon as the two lights of the
Little Channel appear over each other, and that these two lights kept in that
position must be carefully steered for. All bearings are magnetic. Variation
in 1857, 22° W. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
Office Lighthouse Board, )
Washington, October 16, 1857.
j

THOENTON A . JENKINS, Secretary.

T reasu ry D epartm en t,

MEDITERRANEAN— GIBRALTAR BAY LIGHT AT THE NEW MOLE,

Official information has been received at this office, that the Captain-Super­
intendent of Her Majesty’s Naval Yard at Gibraltar has given notice that on and
after the 25th day of August, 1857, a temporary colored light would be placed
a r the outer extremity of the new works now in course of construction at the
New Mole in Gibraltar Bay; and in order that the temporary light may be dis­
tinguished from the fixed red light at the original Mole Head, it will show a red,
white, and green light, viz.:— Green to the north, white to the west, and red to
the south. By order of the Lighthouse Board,
THOENTON A. JENKINS, Sec’y.
Office Lighthouse Board, )
Washington, October 24th, 1857.
j

T reasu ry D epartm en t,




Journal o f Insurance.

JOURNAL

OF

107

INSURANCE.

THE NEW ENGLAND MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.

We have received an official copy of the “ Fourteenth Annual Report of
the Directors of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company,” made by
the Directors to the members at their annual meeting, December 14, 1857. We
have been in the habit of publishing these reports for the last four years con­
secutively as follows:—
Report

Tenth.......................
Eleventh...................

Twelfth..................
Thirteenth................

Annual meeting of

Dec. 12, 1853
Dec. 11, 1854
Dec. 10, 1855
Dec. 8,1856

Published in Merchants’ Magazine

June,
Feb’ry,
Jan’ry,
Feb’ry,

1854,vol. X X X .,
pp. 737-742
1855, *• X XX II.,
“ 233-237
1856. “ X X X IV ., “ 122-124
1857, “ X XX V I., “ 223-226

In connection with the tenth report, we presented tables of statistics showing
the operations of the company from its establishment in 1843, (it was chartered
in 1835,) during the period of ten years to 1853. Those tables with the statistics
since published in each report, and in the one now presented, afford a complete
view of the business of the company to the present time. No company has
been managed with more skill, or been more successful in its operations. With
a President, the Hon. Willard Phillips, with thorough knowledge of every
branch of insurance, and a Board of Directors of character and integrity, it must
ever be regarded as a model mutual life insurance company :—
REPOET OF THE DIRECTORS TO THE MEMBERS AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, DECEMBER

14, 1857.
By the annexed statement of the business of our company, members will see
that the whole number of policies issued, during the past year, is five hundred
and thirty-two. This is the number issued on new applications, besides term of
years policies, which have been extended to an additional number of years, or
converted into policies for the whole life. It appears that, after deducting the
number terminated, there have been added one hundred and eight insurances to
the aggregate number. The amount now insured by the outstanding policies, is
nine millions forty-two thousand five hundred and one dollars; being an increase
of eight hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and thirty-eight dollars and
thirty-eight cents. The net addition made to the amount of the accumulated
fund during the year is one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. This is a
satisfactory test of the prosperous condition of the company. A large part of
this increase is necessary to the sound and solvent condition of the company, be­
cause a part of the premiums on every whole life policy, on which a uniform an­
nual premium is payable, is paid on account of future risk, enhanced every year
by reason of the life being older ; the probability of surviving being each year
diminished. Therefore, to make a company safe, the uniform annual premium
together with interest thereon, must exceed the risk for the earlier period of any
insurance in proportion as it falls short of the risk in the latter part. This is
illustrated by the table of premiums by comparing the premium for insurance for
one year only, with that for a whole life policy on the same life. From two-fifths
to two-thirds of the amount of the aggregate receipts of the company are from
policies for the whole life, about one-half of which receipts during the earlier
period of each of such policies must accordingly be reserved, on account of the
enhancement of the risk remaining to be run by the company. An elaborate
computation of this reservation is made by our company every fifth year, when a
distribution of surplus is made. The next computation and distribution will be




108

Journal o f Insurance.

made next year. After making this reservation, there remains a liberal addition
to the fund for distribution.
The credit given by the company for half of the premium on a whole life policy,
for a period of five years from its date, is predicated upon the fact that the
risk run during that period is equivalent to only about half of the premium. The
object of this practice is to afford a temporary facility for making a policy for
the whole life instead of one for a certain term of years, and not to encourage in­
surance on credit, and members so consider it, for they generally prefer to pay
the premium instead of giving a note, except in case of an occasional and tempo­
rary exigency. Excessive facility of credit is no less inexpedient and delusive in
insurance than in buying and selling.
The number of losses during the year ending December, 1856, was very much
below the usual estimate of mortality. Every year, for some years yet to come,
is expected to give an increased number of losses on a given number of policies,
for the reason that the average of the ages of members will be greater.
During the year ending November, 1856, sixteen lives dropped ; during that
just ended the number has been twenty-three, presenting a large difference. The
deaths of the past year are, however, quite below the rate given by our table of
mortality. The average amount insured on the lives has also been above the
general average of the policies by about twenty-five per cent; being very near
to four thousand dollars for each.
Notwithstanding this increased amount of losses, the amount added to the ac­
cumulated fund, by reason of the increased income of the company, has been
greater than in any preceding year since the establishment of the company, with
the exception of the year 1856, when the amount of aggregate losses was very
small.
The expenses of the company, including commissions of agents and one
thousand dollars paid for collecting and digesting statistical data and calculating
additional tables, is a small fraction less than eight per cent on the gross receipts,
and a small fraction over that rate on the net receipts.
These facts show the company to be in a no less prosperous condition than on
the previous anniversaries of its establishment. The item of $178,271 66, invested
in real estate, presented by our Statement for this year, is for an estate on the
corner of State and Congress Streets, formerly owned and occupied by the
Suffolk Insurance Company. The object of this investment is to give the busi­
ness of the company a permanent location, in a commodious fire-proof building,
centrally situated, of easy access, with contiguous occupancies subject to the
control of the company, yielding a good income on the cost. The walls of a new
stone building have been put up and protected for the winter by a temporary
roof. It is expected to be completed next spring.
The following i3 a statement of the business of the company for the year ending
November 30th, 1857 :—
2,688 policies outstanding November 30,1856.................................
532
“
issued since................................................................

$8,227,362 62
1,873,525 00

3,220
424

“
“

.....................................................................................
terminated...................................................................

$10,100,887 62
1,058,386 62

2,796

“

Outstanding November30,1857.................................

$9,042,501 00

Twenty-three members of the company have died during the past year, termin­
ating twenty-six policies—of which number twenty-three, amounting to $86,350,
were for the benefit of surviving families, and the three remaining, amounting to
$8,000. were for the benefit of creditors. The diseases of which they died were
as follows :—




109

Journal o f Insurance.

Consumption..............
Accidental..................
Diseases of brain..........
Diseases of heart..........
Inflammation of bowels.
Pneumonia..................
Paralysis.......................

4
3
2
2
2
2
1

1

Apoplexy..............
Acute rheumatism
Diseases of kidneys
General debility . .
Cancer of rectum..
Cholera..................
Congestive fever . .

1

1
1
1
1
1

The ages of new members are as follows:—
Under 20.......................
20 to 2 5 .......................
25 to 30.........................
80 to 35........................
35 to 40........................

40
45
50
55
60

92
35
26

to 4 5 ....
to 50___
to 55 ....
to 6 0 ....
and over.

7
7

The classes of new members are as follows :—
Merchants, traders,and brokers...
205 Physicians and dentists.............
Master mariners and mariners..
Mechanics..............................
31
Teachers.....................................
66
Clerks...................................
Bank, insurance, & railr’dofficers..
19 Engineers and machinists..........
46 Government officers..................
Manufacturers................ . . . .
Lawyers...............................
22
Expressmen and conductors.. . .
Farmers...............................
10
Supercargoes..............................
Students...............................
11
Artists and architects................
Females...............................
12
Editors........................................
Agents and superintendents......
15 Innkeepers.................................
Clergymen............................
12
Miscellaneous professions...........

18
10
11

9
9
3
2
4
2
4
21

The residences of new members are as follows:—New England States, 333;
Middle States, 137 ; Western States, 48 ; Southern States, 13 ; England, 1.
The following table exhibits the business and property of the company, No­
vember 30,1857:—
Premiums received on 632 new policies.
Ditto, on old policies.............................
Received for additional premium...........

$51,692 79
203,574 49
1,227 60

Add amount received for interest, including charges for policies... .

$256,494 88
68,462 05
$314,956 93

Deduct amount of premium returned on surrender of policies, or by
stipulation.......................................................................................
Losses paid since November, 1856.......
Losses not due November, 1857............

$299,345 86

$80,350 00
14,000 00

Rent and salaries.. . jO..................................................
Commission to agents, advertising, printing, postage,
doctors’ fees, stationery, and all other incidental ex­
penses ........................................................................

15,611 07

$94,350 00
6,600 00
17,957 35
$118,907 35

Net accumulation for the year, ending November 30,1857
Add accumulation as per report of December, 1856...........

The property of the company consists of—

$180,438 51
964,417 62
$1,144,856 13

Loans on mortgage............ $486,662 50 Railroad stocks..................
25,002
Real estate in Boston........
178,271 66 Boston Gas-light Co..........
13,500
Premium notes secured by
Manufacturing stocks........
10,000
collateral.......................
199,406 32 Railroad bonds ................
18,950
Bank stocks.......................
115,625 35 Cash in Merchants’ Bank..
2,250
Loans on collater’l security
69,670 00
Loans to & stocks of cities.
64,800 00
$1,184,037




00
00
00
00
10
93

110

Postal Department.

The company owe—
Balance of distribution account..........................................
Balance ofloss account......................................................
Notes payable on account of real estate...........................

$4,814 62
14,000 00
20,807 18
------------- $39,181 80
$1,144,856 13

We close the report with a list of the Board of Directors, as follows :—Willard
Phillips, Chas. P. Curtis, Thos. A. Dexter, Marshall P. Wilder, Sewell Tappan,
Chas. Hubbard, William B. Reynolds, George H. Folger, A. W . Thaxter, Jr.,
Patrick T. Jackson.

POSTAL DEPARTMENT.
STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STA TES POSTAL SERVICE IN 1857.

From the Annual Report of the Postmaster-General of the United States, the
Hon. A a r o n V . B r o w n , made December 1st, 1857, we have condensed the fol­
lowing abstract of the operations of the Post-office Department during the past
year:—
During twenty years, extending from 1827 to 1847, the number of post-offices
created was 8,146 ; from 1847 to 1857, half that length of time, the number was
11,444. On the 30th of June, 1827, the whole number of post-offices in the
United States was 7,000; in 1837, 11,767 ; in 1847, 15,146; and on the 30th
of June, 1857, 26,586. During the last fiscal year there have been 1,725 offices
established, and 704 discontinued, being a net increase of 1,021. The number
of postmasters appointed during the year was 8,680. Gf these appointments,
4,767 were to fill vacancies occasioned by resignation ; 1,681 by removal ; 238
by death ; 269 by change of names and sites; and 1,725 by the establishment of
new offices. The total number of offices at this time, December 1,1857, is 27,148,
of which 368 are of the class denominated presidential, their incumbents being
subject to appointment by the President and Senate. The commissions of the
higher class run four years from the date of confirmation, but those of the lower
are not limited.
TRANSPORTATION STATISTICS.

On the 30th June, 1857, there were in operation 7,888 mail routes, with a
length of 242,601 miles, divided as follows :—Railroad, 22,530 miles; steamboat,
15,245 miles; coach, 49,329 miles; inferior grades, 155,497 miles. The total
annual transportation of mails was 74,906,067 miles, costing §6,622,046, and
divided as follows :—Railroad, 24,267,944 miles, at §2,559,847, about ten cents
and five mills a mile; steamboat, 4.518,119 miles, at $991,998, about twenty-two
cents a mile ; coach, 19.091,930 miles, at $1,410,826, about seven cents and four
mills a mile ; inferior grades, 27,029,074 miles, at $1,659,375, about six cents a
mile. Compared with the service reported on the 30th of June, 1856, there is
an addition of 2,959 miles to the length of mail routes; 3,598,170 miles to the
total annual transportation, being about 5 per cent; and of $586,572 to the
cost, or 9.7 per cent.
The aggregate length of railroad routes has been increased 2,207 miles, and
the annual transportation thereon 2,458,648 miles, 11.2 per cent, at a cost of
$249,458, or 11.8 per cent. In order to exhibit more plainly the great extension
of railroad service, the increase is given separately in five geographical sections
as follows:—




Ill

Postal Department.

Sections.

Additional
cost.
$ 1 1 ,14 9

1,257,075

119,208

oo 00

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

907

Additional
miles o f
transpor­
tation.
26,123

rH

New England..................................................
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary­
land, and Ohio..............................................
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia........................................................
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin...
Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana..............................................

Additional
length
o f route,
miles.
187

171,078
650,088

19,899
7 1,2 67

393

354 ,28 4

27,935

2,207

2,458,648

$24 9 ,4 5 8

The length of steamboat routes is greater by 294 miles, and the annual trans­
portation by 277,949 miles, costing $131,243 additional, or 64 per cent on trans­
portation, and 15.2 per cent on the cost. The length of coach routes has been
reduced 1,124 miles, and the annual transportation 24,061 miles, while the ex­
pense has been increased $70,470, or about 5J per cent, ($10,000 less than would
appear from comparing the cost on 30th June last with that reported on 30th
June, 1856, the latter having been short stated by that amount.) The additional
length of inferior routes is only 1,582 miles, owing partly to the fact that during
the year ending 30th June last comparatively little new service of this descrip­
tion was put in operation. The large increase of such service reported 30th
June, 1856, arose from new routes established by Congress, amounting to nearly
6,000 miles, in the northwestern and southwestern sections alone, and from other
extraordinary service.
On the 30th June, 1857, there were in service 406 route agents, at a compen­
sation of $310,900 ; 45 local agents, at $28,488 ; and 1,335 mail messengers, at
$160,425; making a total of $499,813. This amount, with the increased cost
of service, commencing 1st July under new contracts ($120,044) added to the
cost of service as in operation on the 30th June last, ($6,622,046,) makes the
total amount for the current year $7,241,903. This is independent of the cost
of ocean mail service. There should also be added the estimated cost of improve­
ments made since 1st July last, (including the San Antonio and San Diego route,)
$587,825.
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES.

The net expenditures of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1857, including pay­
ments to letter carriers and for foreign postages, amounted to $11,508,057 93.
The gross revenue for the year 1857, including receipts from letter carriers and
from foreign postages, amounted to $7,353,951 76; to which sum may be added
the permanent annual appropriations made by the acts of March 3, 1847, and
March 3,1851, in compensation for services rendered to the government in the
transportation of franked matter, thus making the whole revenue of the year
$8,053,951 76, being $3,453,718 40 less than the expenditures.
In the following table we present the principal items of the expenditures and
receipts:—
PRINCIPAL EXPENDITURES.

Transportation, including
foreign mails.............. $7,289,333 27
Compens’n to postmast’rs
2,285 609 86
Clerks for post-offices, etc.
834,025 60
Balances on British mails
297,098 88
Letter carriers.................
154,710 61
Blanks.............................
117,170 87
Advertising...................
75,106 37
Mail depredations, e tc...
65,228 25
Mail bags.......................
65,219 21

PRINCIPAL RECEIPTS.

Stamps sold........
Letter postage . .
Newspapers, etc .
Letter carriers.. . .
Emoluments........
Registered letters
Dead letters........
Miscellaneous.. . .

$ 5,4 4 7 ,7 6 4
983 ,28 7
634,863
154,710
79,351
35,876
6,756
9,739

51
24
51
51
00
87
57
25

For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, the expenses are estimated at
$12,053,247. The means at the disposal of the Postmaster-General to meet




112

P ostal Department.

these expenses, including the balance on the books of the Auditor, the gross rev
enue, and the balances of appropriations available, amount to §10,584,074, leav­
ing a deficiency of §1,469,173 to be provided for.
OCEAN STEAMSHIP AND FOREIGN MAIL ARRANGEMENTS.

The contract with the Ocean Steam Navigation Company for monthly trips
between New York and Bremen, and New York and Havre, via Southampton,
expired on the 1st of June last, and temporary arrangements were made for the
continuance of that service. The contract for the service on the Bremen Line is
with Cornelius Vanderbilt, and upon the Havre Line with the New York and
Havre Steamship Company. Each contract provides for thirteen round trips
annually ; and the compensation to be paid is limited to the United States post­
ages, sea and inland, accruing from the mails conveyed. This, it will be observed,
is a very considerable reduction upon the former pay, assuming that the postages
for the year will be nearly the same as for the year ending 30th June last, when
on the Bremen Line they amounted to §124,193, and on the Havre Line to
§90,042. “ Moreover,” says the Postmaster-General, “ it appeared to be a fit
occasion to inaugurate a system of self-sustaining ocean mail service; and I shall
esteem it fortunate if the present temporary arrangements lead, as I trust they
may, to the adoption of this as a permanent system.”
A contract has been made with the Panama Railroad Company for the con­
veyance of the mails, as frequently as may be required, between Aspinwall and
Panama, at an annual compensation of one hundred thousand dollars. It took
effect on the 1st day of April last, and is to continue until the 1st of October,
1859, the date of expiration of the contract for the connecting lines from New
York and New Orleans to Aspinwall. Prior to this contract, the price of the
Isthmus service was regulated by the weight of the mails, at twenty-two cents a
pound, and at that rate the cost for the last year was §160,321.
A temporary contract has been made for semi-monthly mails between New Or­
leans and Vera Cruz, at §29,062, being the same rate as that with the former
contractors, who abandoned the service.
The report recommends an appropriation for an extension, for one year, of the
existing contract with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
The existing postal arrangements between the United States and England ope­
rate unequally upon the former, and negotiations are pending for a radical change.
A postal convention has been concluded with France, and also with the Hanse­
atic Republic of Hamburg. (These were published in full in vol. xxxvii. of the
Merchants’ Magazine.)
CITY POSTS.

Improvements have been made in the letter-carrier system in New York, Bos­
ton, and Philadelphia, providing for the delivery and collection of letters several
times a day. If the system works well, it is proposed to extend it to all the
principal cities of the Union. The Postmaster-General states that he “ does not
feel at liberty to advise thefree delivery of letters by carriers,” but recommends
a modification of the present laws, so as to give him authority to have the deliv­
ery made at one cent a letter, whether the carriers’ receipts are sufficient to meet
the expenses or not.
EXPRESS AGENTS ON RAILROADS.

Arrangements are being perfected to secure the more regular transmission of
the mails on the great through routes. Additional agents are employed on sev­
eral of the long routes, whose duty it is to receive the mail pouches at one end of
the line, giving his receipt, and accompany them to the other, guarding against
all delays that can possibly be avoided, and especially to see that passengers en­
joy no advantage over the mails, but that both are equally expedited under all
circumstances. These arrangements are now being tested on a few of the lead­
ing routes, and, if they succeed, the system will be extended to all through routes.
NEW YORK AND NEW ORLEANS ROUTE.

The consideration of the measures necessary to be adopted to insure greater




Postal Department.

113

speed and regularity in the transmission of the mails between New York and
New Orleans occupies a large space in the report. Under the present arrange­
ment sixteen different parties are employed in the service, with separate schedules,
each of which must be exactly complied with to insure the performance of the'
through trips in contract time. The time prescribed in the contract schedules
for the performance of the through trip is six days; but the instances in which
this speed is actually attained constitute rather the exceptions than the rule. Nu­
merous accidents conspire to interrupt its regular transmission. Proposals had
been received for carrying a mail between New York and New Orleans across
the peninsula of Florida, but as the railroad connecting Fernandina and Cedar
Key is yet unfinished, a contract had not been concluded. The transportation of
the mail between these cities by the proposed route—by steamship from New
York to Fernandina, by railroad to Cedar Key, and thence to New Orleans by
steamship—would avoid many of the causes of interruption and delay to which
the land route is subject. The Postmaster-General, in calling attention to the
proposals of the Florida Railroad Company, and to the advantage of having the
whole of the line under contract to a single party, with a schedule fixing the pe­
riod within which the entire trip should be performed, observes:—
“ Upon the question of accepting the proposals for this service, considering the
uncertainty of the period at which the railroad portion of the proposed line will
be completed, I have been unable, thus far, to announce to the bidders any defi­
nite determination. But the subject is referred to here because it is deemed to
be one of vast public interest, in view of the promise which the contemplated
new arrangement affords of so materially facilitating the communication between
the two sections and the two great commercial capitals of the country.”
OVERLAND MAIL TO CALIFORNIA.

A large portion of the report is devoted to the “ overland mail service to Cal­
ifornia,” which has been put in operation, in accordance with the act of March
3, 1857. A lengthy statement is made, setting forth the considerations which
induced the Postmaster-General to select the southern route as the most practi­
cable, and the reasons which decided the Department to accept the bids of Messrs.
Butterfield & Co. Although the route selected does not bear out the glowing
descriptions given of it by some of its earlier explorers, the evidence laid before
the Department led it to concur in the opinion of Mr. Bartlett, that it presents
more advantages for a great national highway, than any yet discovered, to Cali­
fornia. The service is semi-weekly, and is to be done for 55600,000 per annum.
The contractors bind themselves to carry the entire letter mail within twenty-five
days for each trip from the Mississippi River to San Francisco ; according to a
fixed schedule of arrivals and departures, and in a safe manner, they heing ac­
countable to the United States for any damages which may be sustained through
their want of care. The term of the contract is six years, commencing on the
16th of September, 1858.

POSTAL DELIVERY AND SUB-POST-OFFICES IiY THE CITY OF MEW YORK,

The Postmaster-General, after conference with the postmaster of the city of
New York, has established in that city, as far as the present laws of the Depart­
ment will permit, a system of post-office delivery somewhat similar to that of
London. There are six sub-post-offices in different parts of the city, and to these
offices letters are sent seven times each day, and collections from them for the
mails are made eight times a day, by horse express. The locations of the sub­
post-offices are :— Station A, No. 129 Spring-street; station B, No. 439 Grandstreet; station O, Troy-street, corner of Fourth-street; station D, No. 12 Bible
House ; station E, No. 368 Eighth-avenue; station F, 408 Third-street.
VOL. X X X V III.---- NO. I.




8

114

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.
RECEIPTS AND WORKING EX PEN SES OF RAILROADS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.

The following well-considered article, copied from the London Economist, will
be read with interest by all who are interested in the cost and earnings of rail­
roads in the United States :—
ENGLISH RAILWAYS :— WHAT THEY HAVE COST, AND WHAT THEY MAY EARN, AND
HOW.

It became very apparent, in our recent article on this subject, if any reliance
can be placed on the official evidence then adduced, that on the clearest and most
urgent grounds of financial policy the general maxim of railway management
must be to seek increasing receipts by cheapening the service—that is to say, by
bringing the railways more and more into favor with the great bulk of the
people.
This is a conclusion, which, however plain it may appear to be now, was not
considered to be plain at all a few years ago. The notion then was that an ex­
pensive system of transport could only be supported by an expensive class of
customers; and hence arose that unfortunate misapprehension which led railway
managers to run into all kinds of absurdities of expense and attention to firsts
class passengers, and to tax their ingenuity in the infliction on the second and
third-class carriages and trains of inconveniences aDd delays, which might have
the effect of compelling the humbler class of travelers to pay as much as the rich
ones, by obliging them to resort in self-defense to the most expensive kinds of
railway conveyance. There never was a greater practical mistake. Those who
fell into it set out with a fundamentally erroneous view of the most important
and simplest facts of the case ; for the very circumstance of the costliness of the
kind of transport afforded, was in itself decisive against the possibility of work­
ing it to a profit by the aid of the limited class of rich people. Traveling on
railways, except in a comparatively few cases, is a purely voluntary act, and like
all other voluntary acts involving some bodily exertion and some expenditure of
money, it will be avoided as much as possible, unless strong inducements of facility
and cheapness are held out. There is a rate of fare which would effectually keep
out of first-class railway carriages even all rich people, except those who for
business purposes were compelled to pass from one place to another. But for
the accommodation of this class—and of a large class besides—the comparatively
rude and inexpensive machinery of the stage coaches was amply sufficient. The
machinery of the railways, compared with the machinery of the coaches, was in a
proportion somewhat resembling the relation between Mr. Denison’s new clock
at Westminster and the commonest American time-piece; and it is abundantly
plain that if the railways were to spend £40,000 a mile in constructing a road
which should carry no more passengers than the ancient turnpike, whatever
might be the scientific or patriotic claims of the enterprise, it could never even
pay its own expenses.
The very expensivness, therefore, of the article eompelled those who controlled
it to charge a very low price, and to charge a very low price for the obvious
reason that there is not in existence any class or classes of persons who have the
means, even if they had the inclination, to pay a high one. The mauagers of
great public enterprises seem to forget constantly, that in Great Britain, for every
single person who has an annual income of more than £100, there are fifteen or
sixteen whose incomes are less than £100 ; and that for every person who lives
in a house worth £10 a year, there are more than two persons who live in houses
worth considerably less than £10.
Now, it is by the power of the pence that all great financial economical results
are worked out upon a large scale. It is a shallow and imperfect philosophy,
which allows itself to be dazzled and misled by the imposing appearance on paper




115

Railroad, Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

of a few large totals. It was that sort of philosophy which (aided of course by
the protectionist views,) upheld so long the reign of high duties on tea, sugar,
coffee, fruits,^and all the other articles of comfort and luxury required by our pop­
ulation. It was seen that the consumption of the rich classes would remain the
same, whatever (within reasonable limits) the duty might be, and it was sought
to make the fixed but limited consumption of these classes the basis of a national
revenue, by taking it as highly as possible. But the consumption of tea and
sugar in Belgravia, when con.oared with the possible consumption among the
swarming households of Whitechapel or the Borough, was hardly so great as the
consumption of the valiant youth of the nursery tale, compared with the powers
of absorption manifested by the giants whom he overthrew.
Free trade has emancipated us from the odious burden of protection, but it has
done for us a scarcely less service in proving beyond all cavil, that in order to
raise a large revenue from an article in great demand, the price of that article
must be so low as to bring it within the reach of the poorest.
Now the condition of the railways as regards passengers and goods is pre­
cisely that of the custom-house, as regards the duties on sugar and coffee. There
is a choice of two courses in both cases, namely—high rates and a small, fluctuat­
ing, sickly demand, or low rates and a roaring tide of consumption.
There is strong evidence of the soundness of this conclusion in the return of the
number of persons conveyed on the different classes of carriages even during the
last three years, 1854-56. For example :—
(0) England and Wales railways. Three years, 1854-56. Number of per­
sons conveyed in first, second, and third-class carriages in each year :—
Tear.

First.

1856.................................
1865.................................
1854.................................

14,448,000
13,151,000
12,249,000

Second.

Third.

85,490,000
31,397,000
33,284,000

58,348,000
51,608,000
46,793,000

We find there that the first and second-class passengers exhibit but little pro­
gress ; but in the third-class the increase is from 47 millions to 58 millions of per­
sons, and in point of magnitude the third-class exceed the first-class very consider­
ably more than three-fold.
If better railway dividends are to be obtained, they must come from this
Bource. The reservoir containing the pence and the shillings must be still more
vigorously and skillfully tapped. The cheaper carriages and the cheaper trains
must be made so convenient and attractive as to present inducements to the work­
ing classes to resort to them as the most agreeable mode in which to expend the
funds they are willing or able to apply to purposes of curiosity or amusement.
We are happy to perceive that most of the railways are now finding out the
soundness of this aovice. Many of them, to be sure, admit it very reluctantly.
They still adhere to the old modes of petty annoyance to second and third-class
passengers, they inflict upon them frequent changes at junction stations, they
push them into ill-ventilated carriages, and they do as little for the decent
provision of the commoner waiting rooms as it is possible. This policy is wholly
a mistake. There is no law compelling a poor man to travel, and he will most
assuredly stay at home unless a railway journey comes before him surrounded by
many attractions. But unless all the facts we have adduced are delusive, the
parties who will most suffer by the distaste of the poorer classes for railway
traveling are not those classes themselves, but the persons who, having spent
more tnau 300 millions sterling in making railways, are naturally desirous to ob­
tain a fair return for the risk and outlay.
It most not be supposed that we urge upon railway managers the necessity of
cultivating the cheap passenger traffic upon any sentimental or fanciful grounds.
We are not so foolish as to expect that 70 or 80 millions of railway passengers
are to be accommodated every year with superior railway carriages and fast trains,
simply because some benevolent person may desire to see everybody as well off as
himself. We argue the question on no such absurd basis. It happens, however,
in this instance, as in most other large instances of the same kind, that the very
course which is financially the most profitable to the owners of the capital which




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Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

has been expended, is also the most beneficial on moral grounds to the large body
of the inhabitants of the country where the works have been raised. There are
wonderful,resources of control and remedy in that stern and constant law. which
compels those who may be enabled to expend vast capital in the construction of
works destined to earn a revenue, to seek that revenue by the most direct appeals
for the support of the poorest, and, therefore, the most numerous order of per­
sons.
We have seen, then, that any increase which may have taken place during the
last four or five years in the non-preferential dividends on railway property is to
be traced, if not wholly, at least in great part, to increased receipts obtained by
a more skillful and decided reliance on the cheap kinds of service. We have now
only to ascertain in what degree, if at all, a diminution of working expenses may
have been an element of increased profit.
In the following table (D,) a statement is given, under the leading heads of
the working expenditures, per mile open, on the English lines during the three
years, 1854-56 :—
( d ) ENGLAND AND WALES RAILWAYS— THREE YEARS, 1854-5-6.
I.

EXPENDITURE PER MILE OF RAILWAY OPEN.

1. Mean length of line open miles......................
2. Maintenance of way......................................
3. Locomotive charges, including (1) engines and
workings, (2) carriages, (3) wagons.............
4. Traffic charges, including (1) coaching, (2) mer­
chandise.....................................................
4. Miscellaneous charges, including police, points,
and accidents.............................................
6. Rates and government duty..........................

1856.

1855.

1854.

6,153
£243

6,044
£217

5,924
£197

562

571

536

411

401

353

1,216

1,189

1,086

198
115

202

113

156
109

1,529

1,504

1,961

£1,548
1,627

£1,493
1,620

£1,329
1,693

8,175

3,013

2,922

48.1

49.9

46.2

WAY OPEN.

6. Passengers ,
7. Goods . . . . .
8. Proportion borne by expenditure per mile, to

receipts per mile........................... per cent

'

It is manifest from these figures, that a diminution of working expenses has
not in any manner contributed to the improved dividends. On the contrary,
there has been a growth since 1854 in the proportion borne by the expenses to
the receipts. The whole, therefore, of the improvement in the net return is due
to augmentation of the commoner kinds of traffic.
It is not to be disguised that one of the most important questions connected
with the future results of railway management, as concerns the shareholders, re­
lates to the probability or non-probability of a growth of the working expenses.
The high prices of nearly all the commodities re mired for working a railway,
and the higher rates of wages, have already sensibly affected the cost of keeping
a line open. If, from the gradual influence of the new gold, the general range of
prices and wages should be further advanced, it is quite possible that for a time,
longer or shorter, a somewhat difficult struggle might have to be maintained by
the railways between the augmentation of the working charges on the one hand,
and the limits imposed by their parliamentary maximum fares on the other.
A t present, however, the cases are very lew in which the rates of toll actu­
ally charged are the same or nearly the same as the maximum rates authorized
by the empowering statutes. And further, not only is there at present a con­
siderable margin between the actual and authorized rates, but, as we have en­




I

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Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

deavored to show, there are good reasons for believing that the railways are only
beginning to understand and adopt the policy which draws the largest amount of
revenue, not from high fares, but from low fares.
But far more powerful than any casual impediments which may occur to the
progress of railway prosperity, is the more confirmed establishment every year in
the habits and tastes of the people, and throughout the whole industrial system
of the country, of a disposition to rely more and more on the new means of rapid
transit for a constantly expanding class of large and small results. The genera­
tion which had been trained to consider the old modes of locomotion as adequate
to every end is fast dying away; and a new generation is coming into full vigor,
of whom it may be affirmed that in few things does it differ more from its pre­
decessors than in the full and implicit faith which it places in the improved
modes of transport.
STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI,

The following table shows the date of opening, date of closing, and consequent
length of each season of navigation at St. Paul, from 1844 to 1857 inclusive, and
the number of arrivals of steamboats at that place during each season :—
Tear.

First boat.

1844....................... .
1845....................... .
1 846.......................
1847....................... .
1848.........................
1849.......................
1850.......................
185!....................... .
1852....................... .
1853.......................
1854.......................
1855.......................
1856.......................
1857.......................

No. o f
arrivals.

41
48
24
47
63
95
104
119
171
200

256
560
837
1,026

Lengtil of
season.

Eiver closed.

November 23
November 26
December 5
November 29
December 4
December 7
December 4
November 28
November 18
November 30
November 27
November 20
November 10
November 14

231 days.
234 ((
245 ((
236 a
241 u
242 (i
239 «
1238 u
216 tt
238 «
223 (.
217 «
212 u
198 u

It is thus seen that in 1857 the season was shorter by two weeks than in 1856,
when it was shorter than in any year before. The Pioneer and Democrat, of St.
Paul, in publishing this statement, estimated that this unexpected shortness,
combined with the financial revulsion, cut off nearly 100 arrivals. However, the
number of arrivals in 1857 was 189 more than in 1856. The number of boats in
the trade in 1857 was 98, being an increase of 20 over 1856. The number of
arrivals from each place was as follows :—
Arrivals from

Dubuque.......................
Prairie du Cbien...........
Galena..........................
Fulton...........................

Arrivals from
1857•1856.
123
138 St. Louis..................
Cincinnati............... . . .
138
213
228 Pittsburg................
65
28

1857. 1856.
212
12
. •.

734
To Minnesota River__

622
216

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

838

The total for 1856 includes 18, estimated, from Cincinnati (6) and Prairie du
Chien (12.) The number from Pittsburg in 1856 (perhaps 6) are included under
St. Louis. There was, therefore, in 1857 a great increase of trade with distant
points. There was also an increase in the departures to the Minnesota River,
(viz., 76 over 1856,) and the boats running on that river carried large amounts
of goods during the whole season. The “ wharfage'1 collected in 1857 amounted




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Railroad , Canal, and Steamboat Statistics.

to $9,085, against $1,690 in 1856. This great increase was caused by the passage of
a new wharfage law, charging wharfage by tonnage instead of a stated sum upon
each boat, which we believe was $3. The change was in accordance with the
practice of all river ports situated at the termination of steamboat trips, aud tho
rate fixed per ton was lower than in Galena and St. Louis. Of this sum, the
Galena and Minnesota Packet Company paid about $5,000, and this company
was the only objector to the new law.
S teamboats to S t . A nthony .— The St. Anthony Express gives the names of
13 steamboats that made trips to that town the past season—making 47 trips,
and landing 5,175 tons of merchandise.
BUSINESS OF THE DISMAL SWAMP CANAL— TRADE OF NORFOLK.

The Dismal Swamp Canal, like the Dismal Swamp through which it passes,
is partly in Virginia and partly in North Carolina, and forms the prin­
cipal part of the avenue of communication between Hampton Roads of Ches­
apeake Bay of the former and Albemarle Sound of the latter. Although planned
(incorporated) in 1790, it was not made and put in operation until 1822, and
after that it was enlarged and widened. It is 224 miles long, and extends from
Deep Creek, a tributary of Elizabeth River, Va., (10 miles from Norfolk,) to
Joyce’s Creek, a branch of Pasquotank River, N. C.
The following is a statement of its dimensions when completed subsequent to
1823, and which we believe are now the same :—Width at top, 40 feet; depth,
64 feet; width at turn-out stations, at intervals of one-fourth mile, 60 or 66 feet;
rise and fall of the main canal, 33 feet, making the summit level 164 feet above
mid-tide in the Atlantic Ocean ; the locks, 5 double ones, 100 feet long by 22
wide, well constructed of hewn stone. Thus the canal readily passes vessels of
70 or 80 tons burthen, drawing 7 feet water. It has two branches. A navi­
gable feeder, 5 miles long, serves to supply the maiu trunk of the canal from
Lake Drummond (which is 15 miles in circumference, and occupies the central
portion of the great swamp.) The Northwest Canal is a branch, 6 miles long,
extending to the Northwest River, and this wholly in North Carolina. The
total cost of the company’s canals and appurtenances, from the commencement
to September 30,1854, was $1,151,006 71, of which the sum of $631,066 71 was
income thus appropriated.
A t present the canal is chiefly valuable as an avenue for the transportation of
lumber, naval stores, etc., produced in the regions through which it passes, and
these are sent to Norfolk, etc., and exchanged for piovisions, etc. The tolls for
the last four years, each ended September 30, were—

1857.
Inward........... ..........toll
Lumber.........................
Outward.........................
Road...............................
Northwest Canal.............
Total.......................

$10,972
18,966
4,801
974
1,144

31
64
91
52
59

$36,828 97

1856.

1855.

1854.

$14,732 74
17,073 63
5,124 32
853 22
782 32

$14,775 30
18,628 55
5,077 61
760 10
864 21

$16,569 24
20,582 54
5,791 10
953 92
881 9S

$38,566 23

$40,105 77

$44,959 36

The tolls for the last year are over $1,700 less than the preceding year, owing
principally to the shortness of the corn crop, and a still greater failure of the
fisheries. In the fiscal year of 1855, 1,165,146 bushels of corn passed through
the canal; in 1856, 1,300,206 bushels, a considerable increase. For this last




Railroad , Canal, ome? Steamboat Statistics.

119

fiscal year, 1857, only 745,564 bushels of corn passed through, a decrease of
554,642 bushels, not very far from one-half. In 1855. 30,057 barrels of fish
passed through the canal. In 1856 there was a failure in the fisheries, and there
was only 16,456 barrels. In 1857 there was a still further decrease, only 14,761
barrels having passed through.
RULES FOR PILOTS

OF STEAMBOATS

ON W ESTERN AND SOUTHERN RIVE R S,

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF PILOTS OF STEAMERS NAVIGAT­
ING RIVERS FLOWING INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THEIR TRIBUTARIES. RE­
VISED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISING INSPECTORS, OCTOBER 19,

1857.
R ule first . When steamers are meeting each other, the signals for passing
shall be one sound made by the steam-whistle to keen to the right; and two
sounds made by the steam-whistle to keep to the left; and these signals shall be ob­
served by all steamers, whether by night or by day, or whether in a narrow or a
wide river; and no such vessel shall be justified" in coming into collision with
another if it can be avoided.
R ule second. When two steamers are about to meet each other, it shall be
the duty of the pilot of the ascending boat to sound his steam-whistle once, if he
shall wish to keep his boat to the right; and it shall be the duty of the pilot of
the descending boat to answer the same promptly by one sound of his steamwhistle, and both boats shall be steered according to such signal ; or if the pilot
of the ascending boat shall wish to keep his boat to the left, he shall sound his
steam-whistle twice ; and it shall be the duty of the pilot of the descending boat
to answer promptly by two sounds of his steam-whistle, and both boats shall be
steered according to such signal; should the boats in meeting be likely to pass
near each other, and the signals should not be made and answered by the time
they shall have arrived at the distance of eight hundred yards from each other,
the engines of both boats shall be stopped ; or should the signal be given and
not properly understood from any cause whatever, both boats shall be backed
until their headway shall be fully checked, and the engines shall not be again
started ahead until the proper signals are made, answered, and understood.
R ule th ird . When two boats—the one ascending and the other descending
—are about to enter a narrow channel at the same time, the ascending boat shall
be stopped below such channel until the descending boat shall have passed
through i t ; but should two boats unavoidably meet in such channel, then it shall
be the duty of the pilot of the ascending boat to make the proper signal, and to
lie as close as possible to the side of the channel he may have selected, and either
stop the engines or move them so as only to give steerage way; and the pilot
of the descending boat shall answer such signal, and shall cause the engines of
his boat to be worked slowly until he shall have passed the ascending boat.
R ule fourth . When a steamer is ascending and running close on a bar or
shore, the pilot shall in no case attempt to cross the river when a descending
boat shall be so near that it would be possible for a collision to ensue therefrom.
R ule f i f t h . N o pilot of a descending steamer shall run down any island
chute which is not the usual channel of the river, except such chutes as may
hereafter be designated by the Board of Supervising Inspectors; which designation,
when so made, shall be considered a part of this rule, and shall be and continue
in force until the same shall be changed or modified by action of said board.
R ule sixth . When any steamer, ascending or descending, is nearing a short
bend or point in the river, where, from any cause, a steamer approaching in an
opposite direction cannot be seen at a distance of six hundred yards, the pilot of
such steamer, when he shall have arrived within six hundred yards of such bend
or point, shall give a signal by one long sound of his steam-whistle as a notice
to any steamer that may be approaching ; and should there be any approaching
steamer within hearing of such signal, it shall be the duty of the pilot thereof to
answer such signal by one long sound of his steam-whistle, when both boats shall
be navigated with the proper precautions, as required by rule second.
R ule seventh . When a steamer is running in a fog or thick weather, it shall




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Journal o f M ining, Manufactures , and A rt.

be the duty of the pilot to sound his steam-whistle at intervals not exceeding two
minutes.
These rules shall be in full force and effect on and after the first day of January,
1858; but all pilots of boats to whom they are previously delivered shall be
governed thereby from and after the time of such delivery.
EXTRACT FROM STEAMBOAT ACT APPROVED AUGUST

30, 1852.

S ection 29.

Should any pilot, engineer, or master of any such vessel neglect
or wilfully refuse to observe the foregoing regulations, any delinquent so neglect­
ing or refusing shall be liable to a penalty of thirty dollars, and to all damage
done to any passenger, in his person or baggage, by such neglect or refusal; and
no such vessel shall be justified in coming in collision with another if it can be
avoided.
S ec. 9. Ninth clause. The license of any such engineer or pilot may be re­
voked upon proof of negligence, unskillfulness, or inattention to the duties of his
station.
W m . B urnett ,
0. A . B itfield ,
B enjamin C raw ford ,
C has . W . C opeland ,
J ohn S. B rown,

D avis E mbree ,
J ohn S halcross,

I saac L ewis ,
alker ,

A. W

Supervising Inspectors o f Steamboats.

JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART.
SPINNING SEED COTTON INTO YARN ON PLANTATIONS.

Among the awards of the American Institute, at its fair of October, 1857,
was that of a large silver medal to Major G eorge G. H en rt , of Mobile, Ala­
bama, for his “ improved combinations of machinery for manufacturing seed cot­
ton into yarns on the plantations of the South.” The machine upon which this
award was given had been in practical operation during the fair, and had attracted
great attention. The two first-named gentlemen whose signatures are attached
to the official report of the Institute Committee, we understand, are familiar with
cotton manufactures, and with machinery, and the latter is a large cotton planter.
The peculiar construction of the announcement of the award, might mislead the
public as to the character of the machinery. It is not merely a machine “ to
manufacture yarns for plantation use,” as the announcement reads, but “ it is a
combination of machinery for plantation use,” where the whole process, from the
cotton gin to the yarn manufacture, is combined, doing the whole work perfectly,
and giving the planter his yarn for market instead of the cotton merely, thus
doubling his income, and adding but a trifle to his expense, beside the outlay for
the machinery, which is not large.
REPORT OF THE PREMIUM COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE.

The undersigned, members of the Committee on Improvements, Discoveries,
and Inventions, beg leave to report that they have examined the machinery effect­
ing the improvement in the manufacture of yarns, for which Mr. George G.
Henry, of Mobile, Alabama, has obtained a patent, and of which he is the pro­
prietor ; and they find that it effects its purpose in a manner both complete and
convenient.
A gin, constructed so as to act in connection with a lapper of a cotton factory,
and a lapper, constructed to act in connection with a gin, are made, and form
one machine. We have seen seed cotton very leafy and trashy fed to it, and it
gins the cotton from the seed, and the brush throws the lint on the cylinder of the




Journal o f M ining, Manufactures, and A rt.

121

lapper, which passes it continuously to the beater, and this again throws the cot­
ton to another cylinder, and this passes the cotton through rollers, which finally
rolls it on a beam, and makes a lap ; and, in this form, is prepared for the cards.
The gin is so constructed that the feed can be enlarged or diminished.
We have also seen clean cotton fed to it, and a lap obtained as before described.
Our attention was called to the fact, that even in running the very leafy and dirty
cotton through this machine, the usual dust and flying of the gin, or of the devil
or lappers of the factory, was not discernible. The brush of the gin throws leaf
and motes down as usual, and the beater also does, but it is very obvious that
this machine does not break up and pulverize the fiber to the point it takes it in
the preparation, as it is broken up and pulverized by the machinery used in the
factories to bring it to the same point or lap.
To illustrate this, we may remark that the adoption of this improvement obvi­
ates the necessity for the machinery and labor of packing the cotton in bales on
the plantation ; and the willow, the devil, or picker, one set of the spreaders and
beaters, the preparation or breaker card of the factory, by which not only the
labor of working them, and the power required to run them, is economized, but
such cotton as is wasted in the process of packing or sampling, or is thrown out
broken up by the willow, the devil, the spreader and beater, and the breaker cards,
(whose employment is excluded by this process,) must also be saved.
On examining the laps from both the dirty cotton and the clean cotton, we ob­
serve that, in consequence of the exclusion of this machinery, the fiber is not
stringy, tufted, or convoluted, but lays open and loose, leaving for the finishing
card obviously lighter manipulation to complete the carding than is required of
the cards by the factory process. And the result is, as the fiber passes by this
process immediately from the lap, continuously, to the cards and drawing, roving
and to the spindles, avoiding the use of those machines necessary in the factories
to open and disentangle it, which are very violent in their operations, the yarn
must necessarily be made of longer and less broken staple, and be, therefore, a
stronger and better yarn. As to the cost of the machinery, it, of course, will be
lessened to the extent of the portion excluded. The labor saved will be the
hoisting seed cotton on the plantations into the second or third story of gin
houses, (as this machine will be arranged on the ground floor,) the labor of pack­
ing the cotton bales, the labor of sampling, the labor of attending the machines
of the factory, which are excluded, and also the power those machines demand,
which is altogether a material figure.
Another important advantage which this improvement presents is, that the
danger of fire, now so terrible at the cotton gin houses, from lint cotton in it, is
removed, as no lint cotton of any consequence will be ever in this spinning room ;
and also the danger from the burning of cotton factories is, in a great measure,
almost entirely removed, as the devil or picker (which is here excluded) is the
machine which occasions the most of the fires at the factories.
Then, as the cotton planter will only require to buy the machinery and hire a
spinner, making surplus labor available which he now has to attend the machine­
ry, having already the location, the power, and seed cotton. Knowing the wide
difference between the value of ginned cotton and spun yarn, we see no reason
why this improvement in the manufacture of yarns shall not be rapidly adopted,
and add a very important sum annually to the wealth and resources of the coun­
try.
We have carefully read Mr. Henry’s description of his improvement and its
advantages, which we accompany with this, and respectfully submit it as a part
of our report.
N e w Y ok e , November 8d, 1857.

A L E X . KNOX,
)
WM. MONTGOMERY, J-Committoe.
L. M. W IL E Y ,
|

IMPROVEM ENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PLATE GLASS.

The United States Manufacturing and Plate Glass Company, have in use a
new machine intended to perform the grinding and polishing power. It is the




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Journal o f Mining , Manufactures , and A rt.

invention of Mr. Brougton, improved by Mr. P. Burgess. The grinder is a
horizontal circular plate of cast-iron, 10 feet in diameter and 2 inches thick. The
upper surface is planed and has ribs beneath to give it strength. This large
plate is keyed on the end of a vertical shaft, which is made to revolve at a velocity
of forty-five revolutions a minute. The plate of glass to be ground is placed
upon the circular table just described ; half-way between the center and the cir­
cumference an adjustable frame of the proper weight is placed upon it so as to
confine the edges and prevent the plate from slipping away. This frame carries
in its center a round rod, standing vertically, which is kept in its place by two
bars fastened to the frame of the machine. This arrangement prevents the frame
from moving away, but does not prevent it from revolving. There is room on
the circular table for four glass plates, disposed in a similar manner, at a dis­
tance from the center. A trough full of sand, with an aperture in the bottom
proportional to the quantity of sand required, is suspended above. The machine
is put in operation by making the ten feet table revolve. The frames above being
held in their place, the glass they carry is rubbed by the table, and the velocity
being greater at the circumference of the table than near the center, these frames
themselves begin to revolve in a contrary direction. This motion, which is a result
of the first, has the advantage of regulating the frietion by successively bringing
every point of the glass near the centea, where the friction is least, and near the
circumference where it is greatest.
The polishing machine is nearly similar to the grinding machine. The only
difference is that its upper surface is formed of wooden rings covered with felt,
which are screwed upon the cast-iron table, and that these circular rings are
eccentric to the table, and leave between them parallel circular ridges of nearly
the same breadth as the wooden rings. The glass plates are placed upon this
machine as upon the other, in exactly the same manner; but instead of sand fall­
ing on it from a box, oxide of iron or rouge, thoroughly mixed with water, is
used, and is applied to the felt with a brush.
A writer in the Tribune, says, he saw a plate of glass taken from the grinding
machine and placed on the polishing table, which came out of the machine per­
fectly smooth on one side after one hour. It takes ten hours to obtain a similar
result by hand labor. The grinding machine is calculated to produce equal results.
And, when we call to mind that the St. Gobain Company, which seems to have
the monopoly of the trade with the United States, makes enormous profits, and
that the duty on glass plate is thirty per cent, we doubt not that the new com­
pany has in hand one of the best inventions of the time.
WROUGHT 1R0IV— FORGE HAMMERS A BID FORGIJYG,

The Liverpool Albion, in noticing the January number of Orr’s Circle of the
Industrial Arts, gives some extracts from a paper on “ Wrought Iron in large
Masses.” We subjoin a few paragraphs from this paper :—
“ The manufacture of wrought iron in large masses cannot boast of a very
early origin. Although we read in the most ancient of Books that Tubal Cain,
before the Flood, was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron, it would
doubtless have puzzled even that great founder of the iron trade, had he been
furnished with an order to make the large masses of wrought iron required for a
Great Britain, Persia, Marlborough, or Great Eastern steamship; and he would




Journal o f M ining , Manufactures , and A rt.

123

have been equally at a loss with many modern craftsmen, had he been requested to
forge a ‘ monster gun,’ or a doubie-throw crank-shaft for engines of 1,000 horse­
power. Were he again permitted to visit the world, the mighty machinery at
work on every hand would compel the admission, that his trade had made great
strides during his absence. These advances in the manufacture of wrought iron
in large masses have taken place almost entirely within the present century, if
not, indeed, within the last thirty years. Up to that period, the improvement
upon Tubal Caiu’s (we presume original) inventions were of so limited a nature
that, in the year 1820, the manufacture of a shaft—say of six inches diameter,
and weighing fifteen or twenty cwt.— required the concentrated exertions of a
large establishment, and was considered a vast triumph if successfully accom­
plished ; whereas, we are now accustomed to forgings of twenty or thirty tons’
weight, as matters of every-day occurrence, scarcely exciting the slightest notice.
Nor do we stop even here— much larger masses will, no doubt, ere long, be man­
ufactured for the construction of iron ships, which, in future years, owing to the
increased size and strength of the plates, will be built upon a scale that would
but recently have been deemed fabulous. This consideration, combined with the
requirements of rapid communication, which demand more colossal engines, call
for renewed energy in conducting this important manufacture. It may, perhaps,
not be out of place to mention here, as a fact having few parallels in other
branches of the industrial arts, that, almost without exception, all the improve­
ments that have latterly crowded upon each other in this trade have originated
with the ‘ hammermen ’ or workmen themselves, and have been worked without
even the protection of an exclusive patent right.”
After a description of ancient and modern forge hammers, the writer describes
the materials consumed in the forge, the chief of which are the coals and the
iron:—
“ It is of considerable importance (he says) that care should be used in the se­
lection of the fuel for the manufacture of forgings, as great difference exists in
this important mineral, some being very much more suitable for the manufacture
than others. The best for the purpose is a strong, dense, durable coal, possessing
a good body, and having a dull, dirty appearance. Coal with a bright, clean
look, easily broken, as a general rule, is not suitable. Of course, it is desirable
that the coal should be as free from sulphur as possible, and that it should not
contain any large proportion of those foreign matters which, having an affinity
for iron, fuse on the bars in the shape of clinkers.”
In the manufacture of large forgings, Mr. Clay strongly advocates the use of
puddled iron over scrap iron, for various reasons, one of which is, that—
“ Scrap iron is composed of many various qualities of iron, and all of them
have their own special welding points. When worked together, one portion that
is less refined is too much heated, and consequently deteriorated, before the more
highly refined portions are at a welding heat; and we are thus placed in the
awkward dilemma of either burning the one, or of being unable to weld the
other. It may be said that this objection is a mere theoretical one, and that,
practically, no such difficulty exists. This, however, is not the case, for the dif­
ference of temperature at which puddled iron and a highly refined iron weld is
very considerable; although, from the difficulty of finding a really good pyro­
meter for these extreme heats, we are unable to give exact data in degrees. If
any proof were required of this, which is a matter of every-day economy, it is
only necessary to inquire into the heating of iron for our rolling-mills. It is a
well-established fact, that, in the mixing of different descriptions of iron in the
piles for that purpose, the hardest and most refined iron is always placed outside,
and the puddled, or common iron, inside. Were a contrary practice pursued,
and puddled iron of ordinary quality placed at the outside, and the highly refined,
or scrap, placed in the center of the pile, the outer, or puddled, iron would be
wasted and destroyed before the inner portion was sufficiently hot to weld.”




124

Journal o f M ining , Manufactures , and A rt.
GOLD IS THE FORM OF MALLEABLE SPOSGE.

The Chemical Gazette of London, in referring to this form of gold “ which has
been imported,” it says. “ of late years from America for the use of the dentists,
and sold at prices between 7 and £8 per ounce,” states that gold of a similar
spongy character was obtained by the following method :—
Gold free from copper is dissolved in “ nitro-hydrochloric acid,” keeping an ex­
cess of gold in the solution towards the close of the operation, so as to get rid of
all nitric acid and avoid subsequent evaporation; any chloride of silver present
is filtered off. The solution of gold is now placed in a flat-bottomed vessel and
heated, and a strong solution of oxalic acid added; in a few hours the whole
gold is deposited, and the supernatent liquid may be decanted oft', taking care all
the time not to disturb the gold at the bottom, and the vessel is then several
times filled up with boiling water and decanted until the last washings contain
no more oxalic acid.
The gold is now carefully slipped on to a piece of filtering paper, and, by means
of a spatula, gently pressed into the form of the desired cake, but somewhat
thicker; it is then removed to a porcelain crucible and heated for a short time,
somewhat below a red-heat, when it shrinks in dimensions, becomes coherent, and
is similar to the American product in properties. As the American gold is of a
reddish hue—it is propably precipitated by proto-sulphate of iron, and not by
oxalic acid.

NEW USES FOR THE CASTOR OIL OF COMMERCE,

The cultivation of the palma-christa plant, which produces the seeds from which
castor oil is pressed, has been somewhat extensive in this country, particularly in
Illinois; but, owing to the limited use of castor oil, the demand has not been
large enough to warrant extensive planting. But its application to other pur­
poses may increase the demand and make its cultivation profitable— as it would
be at SI a bushel for the seeds in many places south of latitude 40°, up to which
point the plant matures without much danger of frost, and although it grows
much larger further south, it does not afford as great a yield in Mississippi as it
does near the northern limit of its growth. New uses for castor oil have been
discovered in France. M. Berris, a French chemist, declares that it is applicable
to a great many industrial purposes to which it has not heretofore been consid­
ered applicable. He says :—
“ By distilling castor oil upon concentrated potash, the sebacic acid and caprylic alcohol are extracted as separate products, which may be turned to a good
account. The sebacic acid, having a high melting point, may be employed,
instead of stearic acid, in the manufacture of candles, and if it be mixed with
stearic acid, the hardness and quality of the candles arei greatly improved, and in
appearance they resemble porcelain. It is possible to use caprylic alcohol in all
the purposes to which ordinary alcohol is put, particularly in illumination, and
in the composition of varnishes, and from it certain other compounds may be
derived, of remarkable odor, similar to those which are at present largely used
in commerce.”
The French people expect that this discovery will prove of great advantage to
the farmers in Algeria, since they can produce from a given quantity of land
three times as much castor oil as they can olive oil, and twice as much as of palm
oil, both of which productions afford good compensation to the cultivator. Shall
we not make it equally profitable in this country ?




Statistics o f Agriculture, etc.

125

STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c.
PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The annual report, for the year 1857, of the Secretary of the Interior, Hon. J .
T hompson, opens with an exhibit of the operations of the General Land-office,
preceded by an historical sketch of the methods by which the public domain was
originally acquired. In the following tables and remarks we have arranged the
principal statistics and facts in the report:—
The surface of the domain, exclusive of water, is........................ acres
Of this there have been prepared for market, of net public lands—i.e.,
exclusive of school lands...................................................................
Of which there have never been offered, and are now liable to
public sale.................................................................................
And on Sept’r 80, 1857, there were subject to entry, at private
sale, upwards of.........................................................................
Of the public domain, there have boen disposed of by private claims,
grants, sales, &c., embracing surveyed and unsurveyed land...........
Which, deducted, leaves undisposed of an area of...............................
During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1857, and the quarter ended
Sept’r 80, 1857, the number of acres surveyed and reported w as..
Of which there were disposed of—
For cash (viz., $4,225,908 18)................................
5,300,550.31
Located with military warrants.............................
7,381,010.00
Returned under swamp land grant.......................
3,362,475.96
Railroad grants of March, 1857, estimated............
5,116,000.00

1,450,000,000
401,604,988
57,442,870
80,000,000
368,862,464
1,086,137,536
22,889,461.00

21,160,037.27
Of the lands sold and located during this period, it is estimated that threefourths were taken for actual settlement. The amount of money received on cash
sales is 81.225,908 18. This shows a falling off in land receipts from those for
the corresponding period of the preceding year of §5,323,145 99, with a falling
off during the same period in the loca tion of lands with warrants of more than 20
per cent. This diminution is attributable to the withdrawal of the extensive
bodies of public lands, along the lines of the railroads, in the States and territory
to which grants of land were made during the last Congress, and also to the sale
of large quantities of land at the reduced prices fixed by the graduation act of
the 4th August, 1854, and to the fact that the demand for new lands has been,
in part, satisfied by the States having lands for disposal under the swamp, inter­
nal improvement, and other grants.
The report favors a change in the pre-emption law. A s the pre-emptor is not
required to make proof of, and paymeut for, his claim until the day appointed by
proclamation for the public sale of the lands, an interest is created in opposition
to a public sale by proclamation. It is also suggested that settlers upon un­
offered lands should be required to make their proof and payment within a speci­
fied period.

Pre-emptions upon unsurveyed lands are now limited to particular States and
territories. The Secretary recommends a general law authorizing pre-emptions
upon lands of this character, superceding and repealing special statutes on the
subject; and observes, further, that in order to remove all doubt in the construc­
tion of existing law, pre-emption privileges should also be extended to alternate
reserved railroad sections, in cases where settlements have been made after the
final allotment. The enhanced value of such lands presents only a stronger reason
why preference should be given to settlers over all others.
There are 83 organized land districts, each having a register and receiver, for
the sale and disposal of the public lands. There is none for either New Mexico
or Utah. In New Mexico the public surveys have been executed to a very




\

126

Statistics o f Agriculture , etc

limited extent, owing to Indian hostilities. In Utah the surveys were rapidly
advanced, until the Surveyor-General abandoned his post, owing to reported
hostilities of the Mormon authorities at Salt Lake City. The extent of the sur­
veys in the latter territory, since the beginning of operations, exhibits a sphere
of field work embracing 2,000,000 acres.
A due regard for the public interests, as well as for the prosperity of New
Mexico, would justify Congress in establishing a land-office and a board of com­
missioners for the ajudication of Spanish and Mexican claims in that territory.
It is important to separate private property from the public lands before the set­
tlements become dense, and consequent conflicts of claim and title arise.
NURSERIES

IN THE

UNITED

STATES.

With the increase of horticultural knowledge and the means for furnishing
gardens and orchards with the choicest varieties of fruit and shrubbery, there
does not seem to have been a corresponding increase in those products, which, if
not the most substantial of the fruits of culture, are certainly the most agreeable
and the most conducive to sociality and enjoyment. This state of things ought
not to exist. There ought to be more attention given to the culture of fruit
than has ever yet been given to it. It is one of the most agreeable things in the
world to watch the development of one’s own fruit, the growth of one’s trees, to
eat the luscious products of one’s own industry. Whoever has an opportunity
to plant a tree, and to line his fences with fruit-bearing shrubbery, and does not
improve it, is guilty of a neglect not only to himself, and family, and friends, but
also to the public in whose midst he resides.
We recently observed in a number of Goward’s Real Estate Reporter, published
in Boston, a long list of the names of nurserymen in the Eastern, Northern, Mid­
dle, and Western States, which was prepared for that paper, and was an extension
of a similar list previously published in Life Illustrated. Without referring to
any of the prominent nurseries included in that enumeration, we now give a re­
capitulation of the whole number in each State, as presented in the list above
mentioned :—
Maine........................... .. ..........
12 District of Columbia.......................
2
New Hampshire................. .........
23 Virginia.........................................
6
Vermont............................ ..........
Massachusetts................... ..........

Connecticut...................... .........
New Y o rk ......................... ..........
New Jersey......................
Pennsylvania....................
Maryland........................... .........

2 Ohio..............................................
78 Michigan.........................................
23 Indiana...........................................
105 Illinois.............................................
Wisconsin.......................................
Iowa...............................................
3 Oregon............................................

47
8
7
88
19
11
10

In this connection we present the following extract from a letter from Roch­
ester, in regard to the nurseries of that city. In the list to which we have above
referred, we find the names of the firms of nineteen extensive nurseries in the city
of Rochester:—
“ Few people at a distance are aware of the vast extent of the nursery business
of Rochester. I cannot tell how many thousand acres are occupied in this way.
Large fortunes have been made in the business, and still it goes on increasing.
Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry are said to have one of the largest nurseries in the
world, covering four or five hundred acres, while those of A . Frost & Co., though
of comparatively recent origin, extend over two hundred acres, and employ one
hundred hands. I might mention a dozen or twenty similar establishments. The
neighborhood of Rochester has been fitted for growing fruit trees, and large as




127

Statistics o f Agriculture , etc.

our nurseries are, they cannot supply the demand. Their trade extends into every
State and territory. New York city is one of the chief customers. Indeed the
call comes from all quarters—the oldest no less than the newest sections of the
Union requiring a supply greater than can be furnished.”
Of the general correctness of this statement we are well aware from personal
knowledge. The nurseries make very large shipments to San Francisco, and
equally distant places. In each issue of the California Farmer some two columns
are filled with advertisements of importations from these establishments, etc.
COMPOSITION OF MILK A T DIFFERENT TIM ES OF DAY.

The Edinburgh Medical Journal says that Prof. Boedeckar has analyzed the
milk of a healthy cow, at various times of the day, with the view of determining
the changes in the relative amount of its constituents. He found that the solids
of the evening’s milk (13 per cent) exceeded those of the morning’s milk, (10 per
cent,) while the water contained in the fluid was diminished from 89 per cent to
86 per cent. The fatty matters gradually increase as the day progresses. In the
morning they amount to 2.17 per cent, at noon 2.63 per cent, and in the evening
5.42 per cent. This fact is important in a practical point of view—for while 16
ounces of morning’s milk will yield nearly half an ounce of butter, about double
this quantity can be obtained from the evening’s milk. The casein is also in­
creased in the evening’s milk from 2.24 to 2.70 per cent, but the albumen is
diminished from 0.44 per cent to 0.31 per cent. Sugar is least abundant at mid­
night (4.19 per cent) and most plenty at noon (4.72 per cent.) The percentage
of the salts undergoes almost no change at any time of the day.
HOG STATISTICS

OF KENTUCKY.

The Louisville Courier has procured from the assessors complete returns of the
number of hogs in Kentucky for 1857. It will be seen that the assessment num­
bers more hogs in 1857 than at any period for the past three years. The total
returns for 1857, 1856, and 1855, were as follows :—
1857..........

1,432,589 | 1856..........

1,105,185 | 1855..........

1,398,206

Excess of 1857 over 1855, 25,383; excess of 1857 over 1856, 318,404. Total
packing 1855-6, was 2,489,502 ; total packing 1856-7,1,818,468 ; excess packing
1855-6 over 1856-7, 671,034.

PRODUCTION OF W INE IN WURTEMBURG.

An authenticated statement of the production of wine in the kingdom of
Wurtemburg during the year 1856 gives the following results :—The whole
extent of vineyards at 84,700 acres, (the extent of the whole Zollverein is
321,414 acres,) and the whole produce of the kingdom at 97,835 eimers, or
about 1,500,000 gallons. The yield was greater than that of 1855 by 10,844
eimers. The average price was 46 florins. The greater part of it was taken
for home consumption; only 1,345 eimers were sold to foreign purchasers.
The total net value was estimated at 3,684,398 florins, or 462,993 florins more
than in 1851.




128

Statistics o f Population, etc.

STATISTICS OF POPULATION, & c.
IMMIGRATION INTO CANADA FROM EUROPE IN 1857,

The Chief Agent (Mr. A. C. Buchanan) of the Emigration Department of
Canada, stationed at Quebec, recently furnished to the government his report for
1857, from which we derive the following
Arrivals from

England..............
Scotland..............
Ireland.................

1856.
10,353
2,794
1,688

Arrivals from

1856.

1857.

15,471 Germany ............
3,218 Norway & Sweden.
2,016 Lower Am. provin.

4,537
2,806
261

4,961
6,407
24

22,439

32,097

1857.

Total immigrants arriving.

The total for 1857 includes 44 children born on the passage. Distinguishing
the nationality or origin of the immigrants during the season ot 1857, the returns
show as follows :—
English.....................................
11,098 I Norwegians...............................
Scotch............................................
4,925
Swedes....................
Irish...............................................
4,466
Belgians.....................
Germans.......................................
4,872
|Canadians...............

6,119
351
215
51

Total of immigrants..................................................................*.........

32,097

Prom these figures it appears that the Irish, who formed only a few years ago
nearly two-thirds of the whole of the immigrants arriving in Canada, were in
1857 inferior in numbers not only to the English, but also to the Scotch, the
Germans, and the Norwegians. This is the more remarkable when it is remem­
bered that the Irish papers, throughout the whole of the past summer, spoke of
the exodus as being as great as in any previous year.
The statistics of the mode of conveyance in 1857 are—18 steamships.................................... passengers
217 sailing vessels................................................
T otal........................................................

Cabin.

Steerage.

1,546
294

3,246
27,012

4,791
27,306

Total.

1,840

30,257

32,097

One important feature of the immigration of 1857 is, that out of the whole
number of adult males, 12,443, rather more than one-half, or 6,279, were “ un­
skilled laborers
of “ farmers and agricultural laborers,” there were 3,518 : of
“ mechanics and tradesmen,” 2,185 ; and of “ domestic servants,” 134 ; aggregate
of these four classes, 12,116.
Another feature is, that of the 30,257 steerage passengers who landed at Que­
bec, more than one-third, or 12.489, proceeded to the Western States, leaving the
actual immigration to Canada 17,768, in addition to some 1,840 cabin passengers.
The agent supposes, from information in his possession, that this loss is more than
covered by arrivals through the United States, but he has no correct data on
which to frame an estimate.
In regard to the health of the immigrants while at sea, the report states that
there was very little sickness among those from the British Isles, and that the
average mortality among them was “ not more than one-third of one per cent,
and chiefly confined to children. The foreign passengers suffered more; but




Statistics o f Population, etc.

129

among them the average mortality, between embarkation in Europe and landing
in Quebec, was less than one and three-eighths per cent, children included. The
mortality at sea was confined to the sailing ships—not a single death was re­
ported on board any of the steamers; while in the whole there does not appear
to have been a single instance of brutality, and only one case of personal illtreatment. On unskilled labor, the Chief Agent remarks :—
“ Both the past season aud that of 1856, have brought a class of immigrants
to whom this colony offers but little encouragement. I allude to those having no
particular business or calling, and who are unaccustomed to labor; to persons
whose sedentary employment has affected their condition and strength, or who
have been confined to a single branch of a manufacture until they are incapac­
itated from taking up other labor ; but more particularly to those who have filled
the more subordinate offices in government departments, or in bankers’ or mer­
chants’ establishments, with a routine of duty and confined habits of living. No
persons of these descriptions ought to be induced, under any circumstances, to
emigrate to this country. In other respects the immigration of the present year
is composed, in the main, of a highly respectable class of persons.”
THE I1VDUSTUUL POPULATION OF ENGLAND.

Statistics have recently been published in which the following are given as thevarious employments of the people, under classes:—
1. Persons engaged in the general or local government of the country...
2. Persons engaged in the defense of the country..............
78,496
3. Persons in the learned profession, (with their immediate subordinates,),
either filling offices, or in private practice......................................
4. Persons engaged in literature, the fine arts, and the sciences.......... .
5. Persons engaged in the domestic offices or duties of wives, mothers,
mistresses of families, children, relatives..................................
6. Persons engaged in entertaiuing, clothing, and performing personal
offices for man .............................................................................
T. Persons who buy or sell, keep, let, or lend money, houses, or goods of
various kinds............
8. Persons engaged in the conveyance of men, animals, goods aud mes­
sages..............................................................................................
9. Persons possessing or working the land, and engaged in growing grain,
fruits, grasses, animals, and other products....................................
10. Persons engaged about animals............................................................

11. Persons engaged in art and animal productions, in which matters of
various kinds are employed in combination...................................
12. Persons working or dealing in animal matters..................................
13. Persons working and dealing in matter derived from the vegetable
kingdom......................................................................
14. Persons working and dealing in minerals...........................................
16. Laborers and others—branches of labor undefined...........................
16. Persons of rank or property not returned under any office or occupa­
tion...............................................................................................
17. Persons supported by the community, and of no specified occupation.
18. Other persons, of no stated occupations or conditions.........................
Total of persons, aged 20 and upwards, in England and Wales...

65,33087,422
94,7 90
2,777,017
1,620,881
162,265
252,196
1,576,081
63,506

654,878
419,282
789,314
628,171
290,227
147,879
103,453
110,407
9,816,697

POPULATION OF HOLLAND.

We learn from the Slatistisch Yaarbaek voor het Koningrijk der Nederlanden,
“ Statistical Annual of the Kingdom of the Netherlands," that the increase of the
population of Holland during the quinquennial period from 1850 to 1854, was.
182,162, or an annual average of 36,432—equal to about one and a quarter per
VOL. X X X V III. ---- NO. I.




9

130

Mercantile Miscellanies.

cent. This rate of increase will appear considerable, especially if we consider
the density of population, which is 100 to the square kilometre in Holland, while
in Prance it is 68 ; in the United Kingdom, 88 ; and is much lower in other
countries of Europe, if we except Belgium, Saxony, Lucca, and Lombardy. It
seems, however, that the increase diminishes as the density of proportion increases,
according to the law of inverse proportion, which M. de Baumbauer elucidates in
cap. 11 of comparative demography. Thus, the increase of population in Holland,
which was 0.0253 (2| per cent,) in the period, 1815-1830, descended successively
to 0.0236 in 1830-1840,0.0188 in 1840-1850, and to 0.0121, (or 1i per cent,) in
1850-1854.
___________________
THE DECAY OF THE ASIATIC RACES.

The Friend of India, by far the ablest of the papers in India, some months
since had a very able and eloquent examination of the hitherto dominant races
throughout the whole continent of Asia. It showed that all were sinking away
from inherent and circumstantial reasons. Since then, the Bengal mutiny, which
must end in giving British India completely into the hands of its conquerors,
serves to confirm the following conclusions of the article referred to :—•
“ All history shows that indigenous Asiatic races require the direction of a
dominant class. Industrious, hardy, and with many of the qualities essential in
the development of cultivation, they seem to lack social force. India was in
the days of Aurungzebe what she was in the days of Ram. China is now what
she was a thousand years ago. The Greek raya'bs of Turkey are what the Greek
peasant was in the days of Cantacuzene. Their numbers do not materially change.
They do not advance, and need the directing force of a progressive race. It re­
mains but to speculate on the races to whom this high function must be assigned.
They must be Europeans, for Europeans alone have acquired the necessary
superiority in arms. Of Europeans, the English and Russians alone display ca­
pacity for the permanent administration of subject peoples. It is to their hands
■that we believe Asia to be intrusted. The advance of Russia will be checked by
no humanity and few scruples. That of England may, but she obeys the irre­
sistible impulse the more thoroughly for her occasional recoil. Year by year, the
two powers close in toward each other ; and if the future may be predicted from
the experience of the past, another century will see this quarter of the globe gov­
erned from London, Washington, and St. Petersburg.”

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.
WHAT

BECOMES

OF

THE

BOWES:

THEIR USE AND COMMERCIAL VALUE.

A writer in the Tribune has at length ascertained what becomes of the bones
of beeves, hogs, calves, sheep, and lambs. We could have informed him “ long
time ago.” A Mr. Green, one of the many engaged in the business of calcining
bones in New York, gives the following information, as to the use and value o f
bones. Mr. Jones’ boiling calcining establishment is situated on the Jersey side
of the Hudson, sixteen miles up, nearly opposite Yonkers. To collect the bones
trom the chifonniers he employs in this city eight men, eight horses, and four
carts. A laborer invariably goes with each driver. The largest collections aro
made in the Eleventh, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-first, Nineteenth, and
Twentieth Wards. They commence their rounds as early as 7 A . M., and by




131

Mercantile Miscellanies.

1 P .M . the collections are deposited in the vessel that is to convey them from
the city. The law requires all the carts engaged in this business to be boxed or
covered with canvas. The price paid for bones varies according to quality.
Thigh bones of bullocks rank first, as they are the only bones in an ox that are
fit for turner’s use; they are mostly manufactured into handles for tooth brushes,
the natural curve of the bone giving the desired shape to that indispensable article
for the toilet. They are worth from ten to twelve cents each. The jaw bones
rank next, and are worth @18 a thousand. The “ short” bones, as they are
termed, such as leave the family table, are worth from 40 to 50 cents a basket.
To give some idea of the amount of money paid for bones, when we consider the
number engaged in the business of bone-boiling, exclusive of the Barren Island
business, we will state that Mr. G. pays for bones in this city alone an average
of @100 a day. The fore leg and hoof are usually bought by manufacturers of
glue, Peter Cooper being the heaviest purchaser of this description of offal;
and when they are done with, they are sold to the bone-dealers at two cents a
pound. The hoofs are disposed of at the rate of @40 a ton, and are afterward
made into horn buttons and Prussian blue. Horse hoofs and sheep hoofs and
horns are sold at @15 a ton.
On the arrival of the bones at the factory, the thigh and jaw bones are sawed
so as to admit of the removal of the marrow. They are then thrown into a vast
cauldron and boiled until all the marrow and fatty substances attached to
them are thoroughly extracted. The fat is then skimmed off and placed in
coolers, and the bones are deposited in heaps for assortment. The thigh bones
are placed in one heap for the turners: the jaws and other bones suitable for
buttons are placed in a second pile ; the bones suitable for “ bone black” come
No. 3, and the remainder are ground up for phosphates and manures.
“ Bone black” is used by sugar-refiners, and is worth from 2i to 3$ cents a
pound. To judge of the amount used in this city alone of this article, in the
eleven immense sugar refineries in operation here, it is only necessary to state
that “ Stuart’s” and the “ Grocers’ ” refineries pay annually in the neighborhood
of @40,000 a year each for “ bone black.”
Of classes Nos. 2 and 3 we were furnished with no reliable data. No. 2 is
used in the manufacture of phosphates. No. 3 is made into manure, and is sold
at prices ranging from 38 to 55 cents a bushel, according to quality, but gene­
rally averaging about 50 cents, delivered at the factory.
Of the amount of soap-fat produced from bone-boiling, we can only say that
our informant showed by his books that the sale of soap-fat from his factory
from June, 1850, to June, 1857, amounted to @19,000. Of this amouut $14,000
was paid by one house, and we were assured that this was but a moiety of the
amount the house annually purchased.
THE BASKS A.VD THE MERCHA1VTS

•,

OR, TAKING CARE OP ONF.’s SELF IN PANIC TIMES.

When, in 1847, a panic overtook the trading community of the city of London,
England, a committee of bankers, headed by the present Lord Overstone— then
plain Mr. Lloyd— waited upon the Chaucellor of the Exchequer, and requested
him to authorize the Bank of England to issue a few millions more bank-notes—
such notes, as is known, being regarded by the British public as the absolute




132

Mercantile Miscellanies.

equivalent of specie. They urged that such an issue would at once have the
effect of allaying the panic, and that without it most of the mercantile firms must
fail.
The Chancellor, a man of no experience, replied :—“ No gentlemen; the mer­
chants and private bankers must take care of themselves.”
“ Very well, my lord,” replied Mr. Lloyd ; “ we shall take care of ourselves.
Be so good as to examine that memorandum. You will there perceive that our
balances in the Bank of England exceed the balance to the credit of the banking
department by several hundred thousand pounds. We shall draw them out
bright and early to-morrow morning, and before night the bank will fail. My
lord, I have the honor to wish you a very good morning.”
Lord John Bussell happened to be in the room, and he begged the deputation
to wait a few moments, while he withheld to consult with the Chancellor. Mr.
Lloyd waited. In five minutes the Chancellor stepped forward, with a grim
smile, and said :—
“ Gentlemen, the order is council will issue to-morrow morning, and the bank
will be authorized to make the extra issue you demand.”
The deputation left; the promise of the Chancellor was kept; the order in
council appeared, and the panic was allayed directly. Strange to say, it was not
necessary to issue one of the notes authorized. Confidence was restored, and
business went on as usual.
Precisely similar deputations waited on our city banks, and held precisely simi­
lar language. They, like the Chancellor, told the merchants to take care of them­
selves ; but there was no Lord John Bussell to advise the directors. Had there
been such an adviser at hand, and had his counsels been heard, what a difference
it might have made to the country!
ELEVENTH HOUR PEOPLE.

We don’t suppose the brief homily which follows from an anonymous pen will
change the Ethiopian’s skin or the leopard’s spots, but that will not deter us from
presenting to the church commercial the moral ethics and the prudential maxims
which go to make up and form the character of the good and the true merchant:—
There is a class of people who are always late. They are inevitably late to
the cars, and they invariably have to jump for it, if they are going upon a steam­
boat jaunt. Everything with these people is put off until the last moment, and
then, if the plank is removed, they stand a capital chance of dumping overboard,
in attempting to leap upon the deck after the paddle-wheels have commenced
revolving. If the boat started an hour later, it would be all the same to them,
for they would just as inevitably be behind time, and come up or down a little
too late to take things cool or comfortable. These late people have to stir
their stumps or be left behind, when they have steamboats or railroad cars to
deal with ; but they are the bane of the existence of punctual persons with whom
they have had dealings, and who have no recourse in the way of tapping a big
bell or blowing upon a steam-whistle, to hurry up the delinquent eleventh hour
men. One procrastinating man will derange the best-laid plans of hundreds, by
failing to come up to time, and he wastes hours for others in his disregard for
minutes.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

13S

SYM PATHY AND FIDELITY IN THE PANIC.

In the first volume of our “ L ives of A merican M erchants,” just published
by D erby & J ackson, we gave a biographical notice of the life of the late Jonas
Chickering, the founder of one of the largest piano-forte establishments in the
country. Mr. Chickering was an ingenious mechanic, and a most successful mer­
chant. His claim to a place in “ mercantile biography ” has been questioned by
some, but when it is considered that he imported whole cargoes of materials for
the manufacture, and exported his pianos to almost every part of the world, the
claim we set up is clear and unquestionable. Webster, in the quarto edition of
his dictionary, defines “ a merchant to be a man who traffics or carries on trade
with foreign countries, or who imports and exports goods, and sejls them by
wholesaleand again, “ in popular usage, any one who deals in the purchase and
sale of goods." Dr. Samuel Johnson, in his preface to R olfs Dictionary of
Trade and Commerce, published in 1757, says :—“ There is no man who is not in
some degree a merchant, who has not something to buy or something sell,” &c.
But our object at this time is simply to place on record in the pages of the Mer­
chants’ Magazine, a praiseworthy and noble instance of fidelity and sympathy
during the panic of September and October, 1857, which occurred at the exten­
sive piano-forte manufactory of Mr. Chickering’s sons, Boston, the particulars of
which are thus related in Dwight’s Journal:—
“ We cannot resist the temptation to quote one of the pleasing incidents in
these dark times, which has already found extensive circulation, and been read
with a thrill of new confidence in human nature. Messrs. Chickering & Sons,
the extensive piano-forte makers, employ about three hundred mechanics, and
many laborers, and have a large pay-roll to meet, of course, each week. Satur­
day before last, in consequence of the non-arrival of remittances here from all
parts of the country, and with business paper maturing, which required all their
available funds, this perfectly solvent firm were unable to pay off their hands.
The workmen met, and without a dissenting voice passed resolutions expressive
of sympathy and confidence in their employers, and of their ability and willing­
ness to wait till better times, and even tendering them a loan of six or eight
thousand dollars out of their own earnings. That was noble, and speaks volumes
in praise of the relation that has existed between employers and employed, a re­
lation alike honorable to both parties.”

THE FARM ER AND THE MERHANT.

The independence of the farmer is too apparent to require elaborate illustra­
tion, and we have frequently commented upon the pursuit of agriculture to the
thousands of young men who crowd our cities, seeking employment in shops,
stores, banks, and warehouses, as clerks, salesmen, book-keepers, &c. We say
go till the ground, and if you do not make a hundred thousand dollars in a year,
you may rest assured that a panic, or revulsion, will not sweep away in a day the
crops of your farm, and what is more, your life will be prolonged, and you will be
happier, because a better man. The merchant or manufacturer may be robbed
of the reward of his labor by change in the foreign or domestic market, entirely
beyond his control, and may wind up a year in which he has done everything
which intelligence and industry could do to insure success, not only without profit,
but with an actual diminution of capital. The strong arm of mechanical industry
may be enfeebled or paralyzed by the prostration of those manufacturing or com­




134

Mercantile Miscellanies.

mercial interests to whose existence it so essentially contributes, and on whom in
turn it so essentially depends. But what has the intelligent and industrious
farmer to fear ? His capital is invested in the solid ground. He draws on a
fund which has never wholly suspended or repudiated ; his success depends on no
earthly guaranty, but on the assurance of that great beneficent Being, who has
declared that while earth endureth, seed time and harvest shall not cease.
THE DUTCHMAN’ S GOLD liV A PANIC.

We find the following anecdote floating around in the journals of the day,
without credit. It is too good to be lost, and we therefore transfer it to our
Magazine :—
Everybody will remember the “ money panic ” they had at San Francisco some
years since—and the story “ John Phoenix ” used to tell of its effects—individ­
ually illustrated. Before the fright, a frugal old Dutchman, by dint of hard
labor, had accumulated some IgoOO, which he cautiously deposited in one of the
banking houses for safe keeping. Rumor soon came to his ears that they were
not very safe—some said that they had “ broke.” Next morning, he tremblingly
drew his balance and put the shining gold in his pocket. He breathed de­
cidedly freer, but here was a dilemma. What should he do with it? He did
not dare to keep it in his shanty—and as for carrying it about with him, 'twas
too precious heavy. So, after a sleepless night or two—in constant apprehension
of burglars—he deposited it in another “ banking office.” Another day—the
panic increased— there was a run on his bank—he pushed in—drew his gold—
and felt easier once more. Another anxious day and night for his “ monish,” and
again it was deposited in a safe bank. This time he felt safer than ever before,
and went quietly to his work. But the panic reached that bank, and anxious
depositors besieged the doors. Mynheer heard the news, and put post-haste, book
in hand, for the scene of action—jammed in with the crowd—drew his gold, new
and bright—put it safe in his corduroys—and was happy once more— but here
was the dilemma again—where to put it. He had gone pretty much the rounds
of the banks, and having had such narrow escapes, couldn’t trust them any more.
He sat down on a curb-stone, and soliloquized thus :—“ I put mine monish in von
bank, ven he preak ; I put him in de oder bank, ven he preak too ; I draw him
u ot; I can no keep him home :—I put him into dis bank, naw dis one preak;
vat te tuyvil shall I do ? I take him home and sow him up in my frow’s petticoat,
and if she preakes I preakes her head 1"
CONFIDENCE BETTE R THAN GOLD.
“ Suppose you no ave ze money, den Z want him quick; but suppose you ave him, don I no
him at all.”

w ant

The crowds at the Citizen’s, Canal, Robb’s, and other banks in New Orleans,
on Wednesday, the 14th of October, 1857, gave, says the Commercial Bulletin, a
fine illustration of the Frenchman’s philosophy, for when the defiant front main­
tained by the banks began to show them beyond mistake that they had “ ze
money,” and a plenty of it, and shelled it out on demand, the said crowds soon
discovered that they “ no want him at all.” The Canal, they deserted before
eleven o’clock, and left it with cart loads of the shining ore on hand. A t Robb’s
scarcely any body beyond the usual number of customers to do their business
called. The melal of this institution had been too well tested on the previous
day to require any further proof of its pluck and ability. The victory was fought
and won on Wednesday, the 14th of October. The same was the case with
the Southern Bank. The Citizens’ had a big crowd around it till about 3 o’clock,
and the paying tellers counted out the gold as fast as they possibly could. Every
thing solid as a rock there.




Mercantile Miscellanies.

135

THE RELIGION OF TRADE.

The Belfast “ Mercantile Journal ” says, that the local papers of Ireland have
for some time turned their attention, to the religious opinions, expressed or un­
derstood, of their neighbors, and that classified lists have even been published.
The Journal in discussing the subject, justly remarks :—
“ We believe that every sincere man wishes, on this most important point of
all, to draw all persons to his own particular views, and so far we agree with
those who consider religion a most serious question—too serious, indeed, to be
handled as it sometimes is. As a public question, we are inclined to think
that as long as the constitution of a country considers all citizens equal in the
eye of the law, it is not the business of neighbors to pry into the faith of their
fellows, still less becoming is it to assume that the church he attends fits or unfits
a man for public employments. The maxim of philosophy, however, applies
equally well to matters of this sort, where also “ action and reaction are always
the s a me a n d the fault of such discussions, injurious as we believe them to be,
and leading to no good result, must be charged on those who first introduced the
religious element into civil discussions, whoever those may turn out to be.”
Although we are not aware, that anything like classified lists of the religious
opinions of traders in the United States have ever been made, we fear that too
much of the spirit indicated by our cotemporary exists in some of our cities. We
have in times past heard young men advised to attend the church of some par­
ticular sect, as it would promote their pecuniary condition in life. The best
maxim for merchants, as for all men, is the golden rule of the Gospel.
COMMERCIAL VALLE OF BONES.

The laws of trade harmonize with laws of nature, that is, turn everything into
profitable use
There is a bone boiling establishment opposite Yonkers, on the
Hudson River, which, says the Scientific American, pays for bones in New York
city alone, an average of $100 a day. The forelegs and hoofs are generally
bought by manufacturers of glue, and when they are done with, they are sold to
the bone dealers at two cents a pound. The hoofs of horned cattle are disposed
of at the rate of $40„ a ton, and are afterwards made into horn buttons and
Prussian blue. Horse-hoofs and sheep-hoofs and horns are sold for $15 a ton.
On the arrival of the bones at the factory, the thigh and jaw bones are sawed
so as to admit of the removal of the marrow. They are then thrown into a
vast cauldron, and boiled until all the marrow and fatty substances attached to
them are thoroughly extracted. The fat is then skimmed off and placed in cool­
ers, and the bones are deposited in heaps for assortment. The thigh-bones are
placed in one heap for the turners ; the jaws and other bones suitable for but­
tons are placed in a second pile; the bone suitable for “ bone-black” come No.
3 ; and the remainder are ground up for phosphates and manures.
“ Bone-black,” for sugar refiners, is worth from 2J- to 3J- cents a pound. There
are eleven large sugar refineries in this city. Stuarts’ alone pays about $40,000
a year for “ bone black.”
PURSUIT OF SPECIE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.

The Lafayette (Indiana,) Courier gives an anecdote of a Mr. Davis, a Cin
cinnati broker, who favored the banks of Lafayette, during the panic. The broker
had with him about $2,500 in bills on the old State Bank, and some $4,500 on




136

Mercantile Miscellanies.

the Bank of the State. He stepped into the Bank of the State, and his eye
brightened at the prospect of the yellow boys ranged in tempting piles before
him, every dollar worth ten per cent premium. He presented his notes, and the
eashier recognizing him as one of the Cincinnati sharks, took up a bag of silver,
reserved specially for such chaps, and commenced redeeming one bill at a time.
The broker expostulated. He wanted gold—offered to make a slight discount,
but no, the cashier told him that the notes were worth one hundred cents to the
dollar, and he proposed to redeem them in Uncle Sam’s currency at that figure.
He refused to take the silver, and depositing the red backs in an old carpet sack
that looked as though it could a tale unfold of many a “ run,” the discomfited
broker wended his way to the old State Bank. He presented his packages
marked §2,500, and demanded the specie. The cashier promptly set out a couple
of bags filled with dimes and half dimes. Mr. Broker turned upon his heel in
disgust, and took the first train for Logansport, to make a run on the branch
there.
PICTURE OF A CHINESE MARKET.

R obert F ortune, in his “ Residence among the Chinese; Inland, on the

Coast, and at Sea,” thus describes a Chinese market:—
Near the center of the city (Tse-Kee) and in one of the principal streets, I
found a most excellent market. For fully half a mile this street was literally
crowded with articles of food. Fish, pork, fowls, ducks, vegetables of many kinds,
and the fruits of the season, lined its sides. Mushrooms were abundant and ex­
cellent, as I afterwards proved by having some cooked. Frogs seemed much in
demand. They are brought to market in tubs and baskets, and the vendor em­
ploys himself in skinning them as he sits making sales. He is extremely expert
at this part of his business. He takes up the frog in his left hand, and with a
knife which he holds in his right, chops off the fore part of its head. The skin
is then drawn back over the body and down to the feet, which are chopped off
and thrown away. The poor frog, still alive, but headless, skinless, and without feet,
is then thrown into another tub, and the operation is repeated on the rest in the
same way. Every now and then the artist lays down his knife, and takes up his
scales to weigh these animals for his customers and make his sales. Everything
in this civilized country, whether it be gold or silver, geese or frogs, is sold by
weight. Raw tea-leaves—that is, just as they had been plucked from the bushes,
and unmanufactured—were also exposed for sale in this market. They were sold
at from three farthings to five farthings a pound; and as it takes about four
pounds of raw leaves to make one pound of tea, it follows that the price paid was
at the rate of threepence to fivepence a pound, but to this must be added the ex­
pense of manipulation. In this manner the inhabitants of large towns in China,
who have no tea-farms of their own, can buy the raw leaves in the market, and
manufacture the beverage for themselves and in their own way.

MERCHANTS AND SHOPKEEPERS OF TAUNTON AT PLAY IN THE PANIC.

The dull times, and the extreme paucity of trade, brought out, according to the
Taunton (Mass.) Gazette, of the 24th of September, 1857, “ the merchants and
shopkeepers, with their clerks, to the number of more than one hundred, assem­
bled for a game of foot ball. The match was very exciting, and was’ played by
the north side of Main-street against the south side. The result of the game was
the defeat of the south-siders in three out of the four matches played. The match
was very spirited, and was witnessed by a large crowd of interested spectators.”




Mercantile Miscellanies.

137

DUTCH BANKER OF LOUISVILLE WHO KEPT RESUMING,

The Missouri Democrat relates the following anecdote of a sagacious and per­
severing Dutchman, in Louisville, (Kentucky,) who “ kept resuming ” as fast as
he could “ realize.” He evinced a good spirit, and set an example which might
be profitably followed by some who are not Dutchmen :—
A t the height of the panic and run upon the banks and bankers in Louisville,
a German banker of that city named John Smidt, found that he had paid out all
his money, and that he was compelled to stop. Instead of writing a card for
publication, he announced his suspension by a handbill affixed to his open doors,
in which he said he had no money on hand, but expected in a day or two to make
some collections, and that he would then resume payment. Accordingly, in a day
or two, another handbill appeared on his doors announcing that he had collected
some $15,000, which he would pay to those of his creditors who should first call
on him for it. This was soon paid out, and the first handbill again displayed,
and in a few days he announced that he had collected some more money which
he was ready to pay on demand. This manly and straightforward course had
the effect which was to have been anticipated. His German fellow-citizens seeing
that John Smidt was in earnest about paying his debts, and was not disposed to
higgle for an extension, concluded he was a man who ought to be sustained, and
accordingly came forward and deposited the sums they had withdrawn, and in­
duced others to do the same thing. A t the last accounts there was no run on
John Smidt. He was doing a perfect land-office business, and was able to assist
those who were in want by the money of those to whom his pluck had given
confidence.

EXAMPLE W ORTHY OF IMITATION.

correspondent of the Christian Mirror says, that at a meeting of ,the directors
of the extensive Glass Works it was decided to turn off a large number of hands,
and also to reduce the wages of those who remain, 30 per cent. And what is
still worse, these men have employment only half of the time He adds
A

In view of these things, a gentleman who has (or his tenants a large number of
the workers at our glass factory, has, in the generosity of his heart, concluded to
give them their rent free for the coming winter.
We would say to all those who own houses tenanted by the industrious, labor­
ing poor, “ go and do likewise."

CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR.

The Boston Post says, since the banks have “ shut down ” on the specie, some
of the people hold on to what coin they get hold of, to the annoyance of the retail
traders, who are importuned every hour to change a bill for a small purchase.
The Post relates an anecdote of a Celtic woman who entered a grocery and called
for “ cint’s ’orth o’ sand.”
The article was measured out, and put into the
customer’s pail, who tendered a one dollar bill to take his pay out of. “ I can’t
change that for so small an amount,” exclaimed the grocer ; “ you may take the
sand, and be welcome to it.” “ Indade, sir, and it isn't the sand that I ’m want­
ing at all at all; but it’s the sulver— the spashy that ye’ll be giving me back.”




138

Mercantile Miscellanies.
(•' LIVES OF AMERICAN MERCHANTS.”

Lives of American Merchants. By F reeman H unt. A. M., Editor of the Mer­
chants’ Magazine. Two volumes, octavo, pages 608 and 605. New York:
Derby & Jackson. 1858.
The work above named will soon be published, and exclusively by subscription.
In the principal cities of the United States, publishers’ agents are (or will be)
appointed, who will have specimen copies, and canvass for subscriptions. Those
desiring to subscribe who reside in less populous places (as well as those in cities
who, if not soon waited upon by canvassers, wish to obtain early copies) are re­
spectfully requested to send their names to the publishers, or to Freeman Hunt,
at the office of the Merchants’ Magazine.
The following is a consecutive list of the biographies in the two volumes :—
I ntroductory E ssay ,

J onas C hickering ,

By George R. Russell, LL. D.
T homas I I andasyd P erkins ,

By Hon. Thomas G. Cary.

By Rev. John L. Blake, D.

D.

A sa C l a pp .
P atrick T racy J ackson,

By John A. Lowell.

T homas P ym C ope ,

By Hon. Joseph R. Chandler.

H enry L aurens.
P eter C hardon B rooks,
W illiam P arsons.
By Hon. Edward Everett, LL. D. E lias H asket D erby ,
By E. H. Derby, Esq.
J ames G ore K ing ,
S ir W illiam P epperell , Bart.,
By Charles King, LL. D.
By Usher Parsons, M. D.
N icholas B rown .
S tephen A llen ,
S tephen G irard .
By William M. Allen, Esq.
S amuel W a r d ,
M ajor S amuel S haw .
By Charles King, LL. D.
A mos L awrence .
M atthew C arey .
A bbott L awrence ,
T homas E d d y .
By Hon. Nathan Appleton.
J onathan G oodhue.
W illiam L awrence ,
J oseph P eabody ,
B y Rev. S. K. L othrop , D. D.
By George Atkinson Ward.
J ohn J acob A stor,
J acob L orillard ,

By Rev. William Berrian, D. D.

By Alexander Walker, Esq.

By Charles M. Leupp.
W

alter

R estored J ones,

By William A. Jones, A. M.
S amuel A

ppleton ,

By Rev. Ephraim Peabody.

By W. K. King, Esq.
By Hon. George S. Hillard, A.

By Rev. John L. Blake, D. D.
lexander

J ohn B romfield ,
By Hon. Josiah Quincy, LL. D.
H arry R. W. H ill ,
J ames B rown,

J oseph M ay .
S amuel S later ,
A

By David Ralph Jaques, Esq.
J udah T ouro.

G ideon L ee ,

M.

J ohn H ancock,

By G. Mountfort.

H enry ,

By S. Austin Allibone, Esq.

R obert M orris .

The two volumes contain nineteen portraits on steel, viz., of—
Thomas IIandasyd Perkins.
Thomas Pym Cope.
Peter Chardon Brooks.
James Gore King.
Joseph Peabody.
Samuel Appleton.
Joseph May.

Samuel Slater.
Jonas Chickering.
Asa Clapp.
Patrick Tracy Jackson.
Elias Hasket Derby.
Stephen Allen.

Major Samuel Shaw.
Amos Lawrence.
Abbott Lawrence.
William Lawrence.
Harry R. W. Hill.
James Brown.

The subscription price of the work, bound in handsome library cloth, is $5 ;
bound in library sheep, $6 ; bound in half calf, or half antique, $8 ; bound in
full Turkey, gilt, $12.




T h e B o o k T ra d e.

139

THE BOOK TRADE.
1. — American Eloquence; a collection of Speeches and Addresses by the most
eminent Orators of America; with Biographical Sketches and Illustrative Notes.
By P rank M oore. In two volumes. 8vo., pp. 576, 614. New Y ork: D.
Appleton & Co.
Two splendid volumes of American eloquence, furnishing a convenient and
popular library edition of “ the most celebrated speeches and addresses, forensic
and parliamentary, of the principal orators and statesmen o f America,” many of
which have never before been included in collections. Specimens of the elo­
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from the earnest and able discussions in the State Conventions, of the principles
involved in the adoption of the Federal Constitution, form no inconsiderable
portion of the work. The two volumes embrace sixty-one names, each prefaced
with a comprehensive biographical notice of the orator. We give the list in the
order of Mr. Moore’s arrangement, viz., James Otis, Patrick Henry, Richard
Henry Lee, William Henry Dravton, Joseph Warren, James Wilson, William
Livingston, Fisher Ames, John Rutledge, James Madison, John Jay, Edmund
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Witt Clinton, John Marshall, Rufus King, James A. Bayard, William Pinckney,
Albert Gallatin, James Hillhouse, John Randolph, Wm. B. Giles, Edward Liv­
ingston, Samuel Dexter, John Quincy Adams, Tristam Burges, Wm. Hunter,
Tecumseh, Daniel Webster, Joseph Story, William Wirt, John C. Calhoun, John
Sergeant, Wm. Gaston, Robert T. Hayne, and Seargent S. Prentiss. Mr. Moore
has evinced marked discrimination in the selection of speeches, &c., from each
orator or statesman, and we prize the work highly, and regard it as an invaluable
addition to the political and historical literature of the country. It should find
a place in every State, college, or other library in the Union.
2. —Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856. From Gales
& Seaton’s Annals of Congress; from their Register of Debates; and from
the Official Reported Debates, by John C. Rives. By T homas H art B ekton,
author of the “ Thirty Years’ Yiew.” Yolume Five. Royal 8vo., pp. 757.
New York : D. Appleton & Co.
This, the fifth volume o f Mr. Benton’s admirably prepared Debates of Con­
gress, commences in May, 1813, amid the stirring scenes of the second and last
war with Great Britain, and brings the history down to the close o f the 14th
Congress, March, 1817. It contains the interesting debates which preceded the
establishment of the second national bank, with the views of Calhoun, Clay,
Randolph, Webster, and other eminent statesmen, on that important subject. It
is well remarked, in a note from the publishers, that in a “ time like the present,
when financial disasters have spread so much suffering through the land, it is no
less interesting than it is profitable to pause for awhile, to take down from its
shelf the record o f the past, and from it to gather those lessons which shall
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calmness and intelligence the exciting questions o f the present moment.” It is
eminently a national enterprise, prepared with entire impartiality and fidelity to
truth of history. The index attached to each volume is satisfactorily full and
copious. It will form a complete and comprehensive history of the legislation
of the United States.




140

The Book Trade.

3.— The New American Cyclopedia: a popular Dictionary of General Know­
ledge. Edited by G eorge R ipley and C harles A. D ana. Vol. I. Royal
8vo., pp. 762. New York: D. Appleton & Co.
Notwithstanding the “ hard times,” the first volume of the American Cyclo­
pedia has made its appearance, and promises all that we were led to anticipate
from the learning and ability of the accomplished editors, and the liberality of
the publishers, who have secured the best names in Europe and America to con­
tribute to its pages, not excluding real talent and learning which may not yet
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machines, law, political economy, grammar, and music. The natural sciences
are to form in the successive volumes a leading feature, with all the new discov­
eries in physiology, anatomy, and hygiene. In history we are to have, not mere­
ly a catalogue of barren dates, but a copious narrative, under their appropriate
heads, of the principal events in the annals of the world. Biography, not only
of the gifted dead, but the distinguished living, written by personal acquaintance
or special research. “ The industrial arts, and that practical science which has
an immediate bearing on the necessities of daily life, such as domestic economy,
ventilation, the heating of houses, food, etc., will be treated of with that thor­
oughness which their great importance demands.” The article on agriculture is
copiously and comprehensively discussed in the first volume. In the foregoing
notice we have done little more than give an abstract of the plan of the work.
But we are willing to risk our reputation on its successful completion. The
work is published exclusively by subscription, and will form, when completed,
fifteen large octavo volumes, each containing some 700 two-columned pages.
The second volume is announced for the spring of 1858, and the successive vol­
umes at regular intervals of two or three months.
•4.— Young America in Wall-street. By G eorge F rancis T rain, author of
“ Young America Abroad.” 12mo., pp. 404. New York : Derby & Jackson.
The first half of this volume consists o f the letters written by Mr. Train to
th&Merchants' Magazine in 1857, and published as “ European Commercial
Correspondence,” in volumes xxxvi. and xxxvii. The latter half consists mainly
o f fresh articles, prepared for the volume itself after his return from Europe in
October last. Our readers are familiar with his style, which is always graphic
and entertaining ; and many o f them will readily obtain this volume. It will be
remembered that many of his predictions concerning the financial revulsion of
1857 proved true, thus evincing a remarkable sagacity for a young merchant and
financier. Some may deem his remarks on “ old fogyism ” as too severe, but
these are chiefly directed against the “ ism,” and are not made an occasion for
personalities. An appendix embraces several statistical tables of permanent
value, and facts and figures are everywhere presented throughout the volume.
5.— Sketch of the Life and Ministry o f the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. From Orig­
inal Documents. Including Anecdotes and Incidents of Travel; Biographical
Notices of former Pastors; Historical Sketch of Park-street Chapel; and an
Outline of Mr. Spurgeon’s Articles of Faith. 12mo., pp. 141. New York:
Sheldon, Blakeman & Co.
Although a hastily written hook, the author enters into the spirit of the sub­
ject of his memoir, and has given us what appears to be a graphic and glowing
sketch of his brief but popular ministry. We confess we have no great admir­
ation of the genius of the man or the preacher. He appears to us as an actor,
rather than a sound, logical, and rational Christian. The portrait affixed to the
volume does not strengthen our faith in the high moral character or purity of
the man. We may be in error, but such are our convictions.




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6. — The Life and Times of Aaron Burr, Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army of
the Revolution, United States Senator, Yice-President of the United States.
By J. P arton, author of “ Humorous Poetry of the English Language,”
“ Life of Horace Greeley,” etc. 12mo., pp. 694. New York: Mason &
Brothers.
The story of Burr’s “ strange, eventful life ” is now told by one who seems
to have studied his character with the mind of a philosopher. No American
statesman was ever more universally denounced. John Neal, some twenty years
ago, published a paper in one of the periodicals of the day, entitled “ The Man
of One Virtue.” That man was Aaron Burr, and that virtue was self-reliance.
The author of the present memoir has availed himself of every accessible source
of information, condensing the “ trial for treason,” which covers more than three
thousand pages, consulting the literature of the period, the correspondence of
Jefferson, Hamilton, and Adams, the newspapers of that day, which he found in
great numbers in the library of the New York Historical Society, and finally
Aaron Burr himself, through his surviving friends and connections. Mr. Parton
is apprehensive that some of his readers may think “ the good in Burr’s charac­
ter is too conspicuously displayed, or his faults too lightly touched. To such
he would say, that it is the good in a man who goes astray that ought most to
alarm and warn his fellow-men. To suppress the good qualities and deeds of a
Burr, is only less immoral than to suppress the faults of a Washington.” In
either case, the practical use of example is lost. He thinks, moreover, that
Aaron Burr has been most cruelly and basely belied, by men far beneath him in
moral respects. “ Aaron Burr,” says the author, “ was no angel—no devil; he
was a man and a —filibuster.” The opinion of the author, near the close of the
volume, that “ Burr was, upon the whole, a better man than Hamilton,” will
strike many strangely; but the graver errors, the radical vices of both men be­
long to human nature, and will always exist to be shunned and battled. Aside
from the views of the author, which the reader may accept or reject, the volume
contains more facts connected with the eventful life and times of Burr and his
cotemporaries, than can probably be gathered from any other single source.
7. — The New York Speaker: a Selection of Pieces designed for Academic Ex­
ercises in Elocution. By W arren P. E dgarton, Professor of Oratory and
Rhetoric, Hudson River Institute, Claverack, N. Y. With Introductory Re­
marks on Declamation, by W illiam R ussel, author of “ University Speaker,”
“ Pulpit Elocution,” “ Orthophony,” etc. New York: Mason Brothers.
This volume comprises a selection of pieces, in prose and verse, suited to the
practice of academic elocution. The introductory remarks on attitude and ges­
ture, as connected with the exercises in recitation and declamation, were pre­
pared by Mr. Russel, a highly accomplished elocutionist. The selections are
made with marked taste and discrimination.
8. — The California Stale Register and Year-Book of Facts for the year 1857.
Published Annually. 12mo., pp. 352. San Francisco : Henry G. Langley &
Samuel Matthews.
The plan o f this work, which has been carried out with singular fidelity in
this first volume, is to furnish statistics, full and reliable, concerning each branch
of the resources of the State, and a complete exhibit of the finances thereof,
including the different county and municipal organizations, carefully prepared
and arranged, from information through official and other reliable sources. It
contains nearly as much matter as the “ American Almanac,” and, as a State
work, will not suffer by comparison with that useful book of reference. The
commercial, civil, and other relations of California with all our large cities can­
not fail of securing for it a circulation beyond its locality. We regret that our
limited space prevents us from giving even an outline o f the table o f contents.
W e commend it with confidence to all who would be well informed in regard to
the “ Golden State.”




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9. — The Poets of the Nineteenth Century. Selected and Edited by the Rev.
R obert A ris W illmott, Incumbent of Bearwood. With English and Amer­
ican Editions, arranged by E vert A. D uyckinck, author of the “ Cyclopedia

of American Literature.” Square 8vo., pp. 616. New York : Harper & Bros.
This volume covers a period of about eighty-five years, and embraces the
choicest gems o f nearly one hundred and twenty poets, from Beattie to Wm.
Allen Butler, the author of “ Nothing to Wear,” which closes the volume. It
is illustrated with one hundred and thirty-two engravings, drawn by eminent
British and American artists, executed in the highest style of the art. Printed
on fine tinted paper, and beautifully and substantially bound, it forms altogether
one of the best specimens of elegant book-making we have ever seen, it in­
cludes the entire work of Mr. Willmott, the “ loving and judicious English critic.”
Mr. Duyckinck, whose taste and judgment are abundantly exhibited in the “ Cy­
clopedia of American Literature,” has increased the original work from four
hundred to six hundred pages, and a proportional addition has been made to the
engravings. The work of Mr. Willmott was confined to the writers o f his own
country. In the present volume, a liberal share has been given to American au­
thors, illustrated by American artists. It is, taken as a whole, the most beauti­
ful gift-hook of the season.
10. — Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million: containing four thousand five hundred
and forty-five Receipts, Facts, Directions, etc., in the Useful, Ornamental, and
Domestic Arts, and in the conduct of Life; being a complete Family Direc­
tory. By Mrs. S arah Josepha H ale. 12mo., pp. 721. Philadelphia: T.
B. Peterson.
We have known Mrs. Hale for more than a quarter o f a century, and we have
always admired the sound common sense of the woman and the authoress. Her
experience as a house keeper in early life, combined all the excellent qualities of
the good wife and the devoted and intelligent mother. Notwithstanding the
many cook-books that have been published within the last few years, Mrs. Hale
was, after examining the subject, convinced of the need of another work on do­
mestic economy, or directions how to guide the house. The present treatise
embodies rules and receipts such as never before have been brought together for
the help and instruction of a household. The alphabetical index is very com­
plete. If purchasers of the work will apply the sound common sense of the
compiler in its use, they will find it a perfect rade mecum. What more can we
say?
11. — The Family Circle Glee Book: containing about two hundred Songs,
Glees, Choruses, &c., including many of the most popular Pieces of the Day.
Arranged and Harmonized for Four Voices, with full Accompaniments for
the Piano, Seraphine, and Melodeon. For the use of Glee Clubs, Singing
Classes, and the Home Circle. Compiled by E lias H owe. Oblong 4to., pp.
240. Boston: Russell & Richardson. New York: Mason Brothers. Phil­
adelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co.
This volume contains a liberal number o f “ glees,” &c., and is to be followed
by a second volume, which will contain not only many of the most popular
songs and glees o f the day by American authors, but also many from celebrated
English, German, and Italian composers, with a large number o f choruses from
the popular operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Balt'e, Verdi, Auber, Bellini, Meyer­
beer, and others who are almost equally eminent in musical literature.
12. — Elements o f L ogic: designed as a Manual of Instruction. By H enry
C oppee, A. M., Professor o f English Literature in the University of Pennsyl­
vania, etc., etc. Philadelphia : E. H. Butler & Co.
The author of this volume was for several years a teacher of logic in the
Military Academy at West Point, where the subject was thoroughly studied by
the aid of Archbishop Whatelv’s masterly text-book. The present manual is
brief, the arrangement simple, and it explains all the difficult points which are so
often left to confuse a student. Its aim is, in short, to teach the young learner
the elements of logic as the foundation o f all reasoning.




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13.— The Progress of Slavery in the United States. By G eorge M. W eston.
12mo., pp. 301. Washington, D. C .: Published by the Author.
The design of this work, as stated by the author, is to describe the past pro­
gress of slavery in the United States, and to consider the circumstances which
will probably control its movements hereafter. He discusses the economy,
morals, and effects of slavery incidentally, and so far as such discussion was un­
avoidable. The main purpose of the author, it seems, is to “ deal with the pro­
gress of slavery as a matter of fact, accomplished in the past, and to be discerned
in the future, by the aid of such lights as experience and reason may afford.”
It is one of the objects of this work (we quote from the preface) to show “ that
the past multiplication of slaves in the United States, instead of having been an
unavoidable calamity, was the foreseen and intended result of that territorial ex­
pansion of slavery, which has been dictated by those who breed slaves.” Mr.
Weston is a strong and vigorous writer, and those who, from education or other
circumstances, may be disposed to differ from the conclusions at which he ar­
rives, we feel quite sure they will not attribute to him other than an honest con­
viction of what he deems the truth. The readers of this Magazine of 1856-7,
may recollect two papers, one on “ Labor,” and another on “ Commerce,” con­
tributed to its pages by the author of this work.
14.— Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, the Backwoods Preacher. Edited by
W. P. S trickland. Twenty-third thousand. 12mo., pp. 525. New York:
Carlton & Porter.
In this work the writer gives, in his own peculiar style, a narrative of his per­
sonal experience as a traveling preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church for
more than half a century in the West. It abounds in interesting anecdotes and
thrilling incidents of the “ border warfare” of this church in establishing its
strongholds in the Western wilds. Peter Cartwright was no mealy-mouthed
minister, but a plain, pointed, and powerful preacher to an equally plain people.
From this work we may learn the secret by which this denomination of Chris­
tians has, within a century, arisen from obscurity to opulence, prosperity, and
power. Methodist preachers were not learned in theology or metaphysics, but
they understood human nature. The autobiographer met and mingled freely
with all classes, traveled and preached incessantly, and exercised a great and
good influence in the capacity in which he labored. This work will be particu­
larly acceptable to that large class of readers whose religious sympathies har­
monize with those of the author, and is not without interest, as containing some
historical account of the establishment of Methodism in the Western States and
Territories.
15. — The Heiress of Greenhurst. An Autohiography. By A nn S. S tephens,
author of “ Fashion and Famine,” “ The Old Homestead,” &o. 12mo., pp
430. New York : Edward Stephens.
Mrs. Stephens, the author of this volume, which we should have noticed “ long
ago,” is, in our judgment, the most talented and gifted “ female ” (we dislike
the term novelist) in the United States. It is “ too late” to speak of the pres­
ent work critically, but it is the last effort of her pen, and equal to her “ Fashion
and Famine ” or “ The Old Homestead.” Mrs. S., besides being an authoress,
is a true woman. We have seen her washing the windows of her husband's
office, with as much zeal and zest as, we presume, she sits down to pen the cre­
ations of her womanly imagination.
16. —Rivers’s Manual: or, Pastoral Instructions upon the Creed, Command­
ments, Sacraments, Lord’s Prayer, &c., collected from the Holy Scriptures,
Councils, Fathers, and approved Writers in God’s Church : with Prayers con­
formable thereunto, for the use of those who wish to be Instructed in the
Principles and Duties of the Christian Religion. 12mo., pp. 432. Boston :
Patrick Donahoe.
The title explains the character, and gives an outline o f the contents of this
little manual. As an evidence of our appreciation of its merits, we have pre­
sented it to a good Catholic domestic in our family.




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17 . — Wisconsin and its Resources; with Lake Superior, its Commerce and Nav­

igation. Including a Trip up the Mississippi, and a Canoe Voyage on the
St. Croix and Brule Rivers to Lake Superior. To which are appended the
Constitution of the State, with the Routes of the principal Railroads, List of
Post-offices, etc. With Illustrations and authentic Maps of Wisconsin and
the Region of Lake Superior. By James S. R itchie. 12mo., pp. 312. Phil­
adelphia : Charles Desilver.
Whatever relates to the development and resources o f the Western States is
pregnant with interest to every citizen o f this Republic. The first part of this
work treats of Wisconsin and its resources, and contains a sketch o f its early
history, a description of the face of the country, its agricultural advantages, its
mineral resources, its immense lumber regions, together with a description of
the principal cities and towns, their manufactures and trade. Part second o f
this work relates to the commerce and navigation of Lake Superior, and the un­
told mineral resources of that region. Accurate maps of the State and of Lake
Superior, together with valuable statistical tables, greatly enhance the value o f
the work.
18. — Wells’ Pocket Hand-Book of Iowa ; Past, Present, and Prospective.
19. — Wells’ Pocket Hand-Book of Nebraska; Past, Present, and Prospective.
Each of these small 16mo. volumes, published by John G. Wells, New York,
is represented, according to its title-page, to comprise a concise delineation o f
the State and Territory described—its history, soil, climate, productions, rivers,
lakes, railroads, institutions, government, etc., with ample descriptions of th«
towns and counties, including their population, resources, etc.; to which are
prefixed the pre-emption laws relating to the public lands, a copious synopsis o f
all United States land laws, and blank forms of documents, indispensable to
settlers or their representatives. The volume on Iowa contains 136 pages; that
on Nebraska 90 pages, and each is accompanied by maps.
20. — The Gentleman’s Hank-Book of Homoeopathy : especially for Travelers and
for Domestic Practice. By E gbert G uerksey, M. D., author of “ Domestia
Practice. Second Edition. 12mo., pp. 255. New York: William Radde.
The professed object of this work, designed especially for gentlemen, is “ to
make plain those laws of their being which will enable them to ward off disease,
and shunning vice and its fearful consequences, harmonize their passions, and
make them not alone healthier, but better.” Irrespective of the school of med­
icine to which the author belongs, the volume contains valuable suggestions for
those who entertain different views in regard to medical treatment. The author
has introduced some important facts upon the subject of marriages.
21. — The Mechanic's Bride; or, the Autobiography of El wood Gordon. By
W illiam G. C ambridge, author of “ Henri; or, the Web and W oof of Life,”
“ Glenwood,” etc. 12mo., pp. 302. Boston: Shepard, Clark & Brown.
The design and execution of this story will command the sympathies of every
true heart. It has especial reference to the marriage relation. The author dis­
cards the common idea that marriage is a mere business-like arrangement, and
forcibly and truly illustrates the evils of parental authority, which so often seeks
to separate congenial souls, and inflict wounds that never can be healed this side
of the grave. The sordid parents, who regard the nuptial tie as a consideration
of dollars and cents, of family rank, of influential connections, instead of true
hearty affinity of soul, will not, probably, be benefited by reading this book.
The strangest part of the narrative, we are told by the author, is true, and the
work is not a fiction, but based upon actual events.
22. — The Columbian Spelling Book. By J oseph B. T ully. 12mo., pp. 209.
New York: P. O’Shea and Leavitt & Allen.
A s an introduction to orthography, orthoepy, and etymology, and as an easy
method of teaching spelling, pronunciation, meaning, and application of difficult
and irregular words in the English language, this little manual will be highly
prized by those who have the onerous duty o f teaching the young idea.