Full text of The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review : July 1841, Vol. V, No. I

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H U N T ’S
•v

.

I

M E R C H A N T S ’ MAGAZINE.
JULY,

1841.

A r t . I.—T H E MISSISSIPPI SCHEME,

I n the spring of 1716, a few months after the death of Louis XIV., there
was established in the house of a Scotch banker in Paris, an institution
which lifted France from the distress which had arisen from a century of
w ar; and which, when a few months more were passed, cast her into a
bankruptcy which was only relieved by the destruction of the system that
induced it. In the Spanish wars of Louis XIV., which wasted the most
profuse taxation on foreign troops in a foreign country, may be found the
source of the complete prostration which was experienced under his suc­
cessor. The terrible revolution that followed, was hastened by the ruinous
expedients which were taken to conceal the debt which had been thus
created, and which doubled its principal under cloak of paying its interest.
The people were involved as stockholders or as note-owners in a bank,
which, as soon as it had sucked in their investments, shut its flood-gates,
and locked up in its basin the wealth which it had thus obtained. W e
propose at present to consider, in the first place, the rapid steps by which
the Mississippi Scheme achieved that wonderful victory over the laws of
credit and the customs of trade, which placed under the control of its pro­
jector the entire resources of the kingdom ; and in the second place, the
steps, even still more rapid, by which, after the victory was won, and the
capital of the state secreted in the coffers of the Scotch banking-house, the
fabric gave way, and involved those who had taken shelter under it in a
ruin from which they could only extricate themselves by the overthrow of
the dynasty under which it had been produced.
John Law was born in 1671, and before he was of age, had spent the
patrimonial estate which the prudence and thrift of his ancestors had
amassed. He sold his lands in Lauriston, though in a quarter from which
he afterward received them discharged of the incumbrances to which they
had been subjected, and entered, as soon as the restraint of his wardship
could be cast aside, into the whirl of London dissipation. The fondness
for game, which in the sequel of his life displayed itself still more destruc­
tively, led him into a series of embarrassments, which forced him at last to
leave the country as a culprit. He was involved in a quarrel which ter­
minated in his killing his antagonist, and as the circumstances were such
VOL. V .----NO. I.




1

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The Mississippi Scheme.

as could afford little palliation on the ground of passion or heedlessness, he
was found guilty, in April, 1694, of murder. As was usual, however, in
such cases, and as may have been anticipated by the jury themselves, his
connections found themselves powerful enough to secure a majority of the
privy council, and a petition for his pardon was presented to the king,
backed with influence which could not be resisted. But the family of the
murdered man were unable to appreciate the reasons which could be
brought in to stay the ordinary course of justice in a case so ripe for her
consideration, and an appeal, according to the forms of the old English
law, was lodged in the Court of King’s Bench, the necessary result of
which was that Mr. Law was carried back again to prison to wait till the
first judicial tribunal in the kingdom had pronounced on his case. But
finding that the exceptions to the proceeding which he offered to the court
were immediately overruled, he thought it better to avoid the doubtful
issue thus presented, and by the aid of gold within, and the intrigues of his
high-born friends without, succeeded in escaping to the continent, having
acquired all the lustre which a triumphant duel in those times could throw
around him, without running into the martyrdom by which it was so often
followed. In Amsterdam, where he first emerged, after the long obscurity
into which the circumstances of his escape had involved him, he officiated
for a time as secretary to the British resident, and through the advantages
thus opened to him, obtained an intimate acquaintance with the celebrated
bank there situated, which at that time exercised so mysterious an influence
on the monetary system. He returned to Scotland at the commencement
of the seventeenth century, at a time when the country was plunged in the
deepest commercial distresses, and when, through the suspension of the
banks, and the consequent scarcity of specie, the currency of the kingdom
was frozen in its channels. Under the support of the first Duke of Argyle,
of the Marquis of Tweeddale, and other powerful Scotch noblemen of the
day, he offered to the imperial parliament a plan which he styled “ a pro­
posal for supplying the nation with money.” In the work which was
meant to be the key to the scheme itself, he entered at large into the sub­
ject of banking and of the currency, and filled up with the most gorgeous
coloring the outline which he had previously laid down. The ancient
monetary system was to be abolished. Gold and silver must cease to be
the medium of exchange. How can they adapt themselves, he argued,
to the exigencies of trade 1 Our commerce extends every day, but if it is
stretched out and nailed down on a rack so contracted as that which is
afforded by a metallic circulation, how will it bring itself to bear on the
points where it is needed, and how will its resources be brought into the
necessary action ? Forgetting that as trade became wider, and the objects
of investment multiplied, the medium, whatever it might be, would increase
in value till the same proportion was maintained that had previously existed,
he assumed that the precious metals in the kingdom would become grossly
inadequate in another revolution to the purposes of circulation, and insisted,
therefore, that a medium should be sought which should be both more
intrinsically valuable, and more capable of adaptation. The objections
which bear against a metallic currency, he fancied would not operate
against a paper circulation based upon the landed credit of Great Britain.
The allodium of the realm remaining in the king, who was, in theory at
least, lord paramount, and the moneyed interests being represented by the
commons, it was proposed that parliament should appoint commissioners,




The Mississippi Scheme.

11

into whose hands should he thrown the kingdom in the shape of a vast
farm, on the credit of which they were to issue notes, whose circulation
was to be enforced by statutes which would make them the sole medium
of exchange. Being secured on landed property, and bound not only to
the credit, but to the actual existence of the country, he maintained that
they would speedily drive gold and silver from the market, and finally, by
running over the Channel, and becoming the basis on which the continen­
tal currency would be regulated, they would in the end secure to Great
Britain the entire command of the moneyed interests of Europe.
But the house of commons were not prepared for a measure which would
throw the property of the realm, by a general escheat, into the hands of
the crown. A resolution was immediately passed, declaring “ that to
establish any kind of paper credit, so as to oblige it to pass, was an impro­
per expedient for the nation.” The old whig party, which had not then been
wheeled from the vantage ground on which the revolution had placed it, refus­
ed peremptorily to consent to a scheme which would carry England two
centuries back, and place her in the midst of the feudal system. The old tory
party was looking from its high observatory to the green shores of France,
and there saw gathering a little army, whose progress they eagerly watched*
and whose advent they devoutly prayed for. But how could the Pretender,
leaning on his bare sword, conquer the moneyed colossus that would issue
forth to meet him 1 The tories, consequently* were unwilling to concur
in any measure which would throw the entire resources of the kingdom in
the hands of the ruling establishment; and both parties agreed in rejecting
a scheme which would be so equally prejudicial to the treason which the
first were nourishing, and the liberties which the others had obtained.
It is probable that Mr. Law became disgusted with the dulness of a
nation who were unable to seize upon speculations of such gigantic dimen­
sions with sufficient avidity to throw them into play. He felt that it would
require a warmer sun to ripen his plans, and constitutions more inflam­
mable to receive them. In the splendid scenes of a Roman carnival, he
found his mind wrought up to a pitch which adapted it for the construction
of those wild but splendid plans which a little while after, in the chivalry
of the Parisian court, he found dispositions sanguine enough to espouse.
To the king of Sardinia he is said first to have offered the benefits of the
panacea which was afterward brought to bear on the more cumbrous body
of the French empire; but that monarch modestly declined being made the
subject on whom the experiment should be tried, and recommended the
speculatist to turn his attention to a theatre more suitable to the execution
of such vast designs. Louis XIV. had just died, having left behind him a
kingdom impoverished by the empty schemes of personal distinction, with
which he had spent a reign the longest and the most auspicious which had
ever fallen to a French monarch. The provinces which he had spent his
treasury in conquering, had been snatched from him by Marlborough be­
fore he had paid from their profits a single year’s interest on the debt
which it had cost him to buy them. All industry had been checked, be­
cause the poor man’s wages were insufficient to buy the necessaries whose
price had been doubled by imposts; all manufactures were stopped, be­
cause the producer found that the demand for his staples had ceased; and
commerce was rapidly sinking, because the nation which could not raise
its domestic necessaries, could not find money to squander on foreign
luxury. The fields and the granaries of the kingdom were 'shorn and




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The Mississippi Scheme.

emptied, and were converted into one great poorhouse, in which the peas­
antry collected themselves in hecatombs to expiate, in a summary way,
the crimes of the great monarch who had just immortalized them. Under
the regency of the Duke of Orleans, in the minority of Louis XV., it was
proposed to suffer a national bankruptcy at once, so as to throw off at a
' toss, from the shoulders of the nation, the terrible load which was grind­
ing it to the dust. That vast crash of credit, which succeeded fifty years
afterward, when all means of alleviation had been tried and failed, was on
the brink of taking place at the beginning, when the desperation of the evil
was first discovered. The regent, however, in honor to a name which
would otherwise have little to recommend it, refused his assent to so grand
a fraud, and instituted at once a commission, or vista, for the investigation
of the demands against the state. A day was appointed on which all
claims were to be heard; and at once, from the office of every capitalist
in Europe, from the treasuries of the German principalities, from the dens
of the proscribed Jews, there started up creditors who pounced upon the
quarry with an eagerness which shook the whole fabric of the government.
The debt in gross was found to amount to two thousand millions of livres,
which at twenty-eight livres to the marc of standard silver, (two pounds
sterling,) was equal to one hundred and forty-two millions sterling. As
stated by Stewart in his Political Economy, (vol. II., p. 236,) seventeen
hundred and fifty millions of livres of the whole amount were settled in
various funds at four per cent interest; while the creditors of the remain­
ing two hundred and fifty millions were satisfied with what were called
billets d’etat, of the same interest. But the distressed condition of the
kingdom prevented the collection of a revenue sufficiently extended to de­
fray so vast a drain as the interest thus created, and the government found
itself in a position, in which, like that of King Charles before the revolu­
tion, it was obliged to resort to the most odious usurpations, and the most
refined frauds, to meet the current expenses of the day.
It was in France that Mr. Law found a stage opening of dimensions
sufficiently extended for his great designs. The old essay on money and
trade, which had first been used as a means of influencing the British par­
liament, had been translated, and spiced with illustrations which made it
more suitable to its new purposes, and presented to the consideration of
the French court. Assuming that the prosperity of a people increases in
proportion to the amount of the money circulating among them, he made use
of those great resources which his long acquaintance with banking had af­
forded him, to show that as specie can never be increased beyond a cer­
tain mark, it is necessary to resort to paper money, and to paper money
whose value should be arbitrarily fixed, to c an y the state onward in those
necessary improvements which the increase of its population and of its wants
would suggest. The Bank of Amsterdam, he argued, had increased its
circulation widely beyond the narrow limits of its specie, because it based
its emissions on its great landed estate, and its greater commercial securi­
ties ; and could not the government of France, by the erection of its trea­
sury into a banking capital, and its taxes into a permanent revenue, be­
come the master of its own currency, and create and model it as was
most beneficial to its interests ? What splendid prospects would then open
to the occupant of a throne, who by a single nod could double at once both
the currency and the prosperity of his kingdom, and, by the issue of a se­
ries of paper slips, buy, in the ordinary course of commerce, countries, to




The Mississippi Scheme.

13

which the provinces which it had striven for in other times through fire
and blood, should be trifles ? But loose and romantic as were the views
of the counsellors of Louis XV., there was something in the scheme of
the Scotch theorist which was too startling to admit of its immediate adop­
tion. The reasoning appeared to them very just, and the advantages very
striking, but the bait was so glittering that they suspected that a hook
must lay behind it. In the preamble of the letters patent of the French
king, dated 2d May, 1716, it is stated in sum, that Mr. Law had formally
proposed his plan to the government, and that they agreed on its entire
validity and advantage, but thought, under the advice of the most promi­
nent of their counsellors, that the present conjuncture was not suitable for
its development. Mr. Law, however, was allowed to set up a private
bank, in the Place de Louis le Grand, which was to be built entirely on
funds furnished by himself, and by those who should voluntarily enter into
the subscription, and from which he promised, in a proportionate degree,
those great results which he had sketched out as the consequences of the
erection of a national institution.
The constitutions of the first English joint-stock companies were formed
very much on the model of the celebrated institution which was thus es­
tablished. Had Mr. Law’s bank been allowed to sail as she was launched,
she would without doubt have made her voyage with safety, and greatly to
the advantage of those who were concerned in the adventure. We can­
not imagine a more safe construction, for an institution which must from
the want of a distinct charter be obliged to lean on its natural resources, than
that which was adopted by the Scotch banking establishment, before it was
taken under the fostering wings of the state. Its stock was to consist of
1200 actions, or shares, of 1000 crowns, or 5000 livres each, which amount­
ed, individually, according to the denomination then fixed by law, to
£ 2 5 0 ; so that the whole stock was worth £300,000. The liberty of
subscription was made general, and letters patent were issued by the gov­
ernment, at the request of the bank authorities, which declared that the
securities belonging to, and the funds deposited by foreigners, should be
exonerated from any confiscation or imposition whatever in case of war
between the nation to which they belonged, and that under which the
bank was constituted. Two general courts were to be held yearly, in
which an exposition of the state of the institution was to be given by the
officers, to be discussed and acted upon by the proprietors themselves.
The proprietors consisted of the stockholders of the bank, whose individual
influence was graduated according to the shares they held. Every stock­
holder who owned five shares was possessed of a vote, and for every five
more shares that he acquired, another vote was placed to his account.
The election of officers, the valuation of the dividends, the investment of
the funds, and the distribution of the surplus of the bank, was subject by
the constitution to the control of a majority of the proprietors, or in fact,
to the wishes of those who held the greater part of the stock. The ac­
counts were to be balanced twice a year, and as such published generally
throughout the market. The notes were intended to be issued only to
the extent of the specie or the landed estate in the possession of the propri­
etors ; and as they were made payable at sight, they obtained a rapid circu­
lation in a country which had been flooded with the irredeemable scrip of
government securities. The bank was excluded from all commercial




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The Mississippi Scheme.

transactions whatever, and was tied down, by rules which admitted of no
evasion, to the narrow provinces of circulation and of deposit.
Mr. Law did not hesitate to declare in public that a banker merited the
punishment of death, if he issued notes without an exact equivalent in his
vaults. The most favorable exposition was made at the first general court
of the prospects of the institution, and so great was the confidence excited,
not only by the warm expressions of the founder, but by his plausible
statements, that in the course of a few months the notes passed current at
one per cent beyond the value of specie itself. The taxes which formerly
were transmitted at great expense from extremity to centre, were sent
through post with little difficulty, in the shape of this newly stamped paper.
Paris had before drained from the provinces, by means of the royal reve­
nue, the entire amount of their specie, so that they were reduced to the
greatest distress by the annual requisitions of the collectors : under the
new economy, notes were passed to and fro without exhausting the one, or
throwing a diseased fulness into the other. The balance of exchange
with England and Holland, which had formerly been so depressed that
sometimes fifty per cent was paid for drafts by travellers going from Pa­
ris to London, changed so completely, that it came now to be four or five
per cent in favor of the French capital. It would seem that a sudden
thaw had broken up the icy chains which had till then bound up the com­
mercial system of the empire, and in a moment its channels become gay
with life, while on their bosoms floated to and fro, in sudden activity, ves­
sels whose movements restored at once its lost circulation.
But the Duke of Orleans, who as regent held the reins of the kingdom,
by no means relished the prosperity of an institution, whose failure he had
confidently anticipated. It had been usual in former times, whenever a
merchant became rich while the crown remained poor, for the public in­
formers to discover that the merchant was a Jew, and that therefore his
goods became a just confiscation to the Christian government under which
he lived 5 it became congenial to the policy of the regent to renovate the
exhausted vigor of his finances by a similar inoculation, and he at once
declared his intention of transferring the legers of the bank into the trea­
sury department of the state. By an act of council, bearing date 4th De­
cember, 1718, the stockholders were informed that the king had taken
Mr. Law’s bank under his protection; that his majesty had reimbursed to
the original proprietors their shares; and that he had assumed as a na­
tional debt the outstanding notes, amounting in fact to fifty-five millions of
livres, The same stipulations which had formerly been made, were re­
newed on the credit of the king, with the simple difference that then they
were made in the name of merchants whose estates were involved in their
good faith—notv, in that of a government who had become so habituated to
deception, that it was expected from them on all sides, and had been cal­
culated on by themselves.
It was as a government measure that was opened that great scheme for
colonizing the valley of the Mississippi, which a few years after made the
French people bankrupt. Mr. Law was continued at the head of the in­
stitution, but he found that he was no longer a private banker, who was
dogged in his motions by a band of cautious proprietors, but that he had
become the unlimited master of an establishment of boundless resources,
with the whole influence of the monarchy in his hands, and the theatre ot
both continents stretched out before him, As a first stroke, the bank




The Mississippi Scheme.

15

threw out two billions of livers in paper based on government credit, without even the hypothecation of a tax, or the establishment of a security ■
and on this gigantic basis, the comptroller-general commenced his move­
ments. He laid his hands upon the colonies, the revenues, the preroga­
tives of the crown, as a capital in gross upon which there was to be issued
a currency which should be in essence irredeemable. A five livre note
might be emitted on the basis of an obscure tax, or a distant fishery ; and
should it be presented at the treasury for redemption, the holder would
have been sent to the St. Lawrence for its realization. A commercial
company was erected, who became the shadowy representation of the
bank itself, or rather of the colossus who stood at its head, to whom was
granted the country of Louisiana, then described by the most exaggerated
limits, and embracing in its boundaries provinces which were painted as
the most cultivated and the most fertile in creation. The map was stud­
ded with gold mines, and the speculater who glanced over the scheme that
was hung up in the royal treasury, could no longer hesitate to advance his
capital on securities which were safer than the mint which they were to
supply. £00,000 actions, or shares, rated at 500 livres each, were at
once issued, and their value immediately increased in the most exorbitant
degree. They were looked upon as the titles of unlimited wealth, and
their price consequently was only limited by the amount of money in the
market. The valley of the Mississippi was surveyed into lots of the most
fantastic dimensions, so that the fancy of the capitalist was consulted as
to the proposed condition of his estate, and the diagrams of Euclid were
exhausted in furnishing patterns for the new investments. A square league
in Louisiana, even in its most unknown regions, could rarely be bought at
less than 30,000 livres; and sometimes the mineral productions of par­
ticular neighborhoods became so highly extolled, that they rose to a price
much beyond that of the most cultivated lands in France itself.
The Company of the Indies, as it was generally styled, finding itself at
a loss for money to defray its current expenses, determined to buy up the
mint, and the taxes by which it was fed. The consideration money was
to be drawn from a fresh creation of stock, and the institution found itself
therefore, by a simple vote of its proprietors, endowed with the entire di­
rection of the commerce of the nation, of the collection and management
of its revenues, and the territorial possessions of the crown. An annual
dividend was promised, which was to amount to 200 livres annually, and
the result was that the stock rose in the market 400 per cent above par.
The revenue of the company has been computed, even at this day, at no
less than 131 millions of livres, which was made up from 48 millions inte­
rest from the king ; 39 millions income upon the farms, the mints, and
the taxes ; and 44 millions profits from their trade. Possessed, therefore,
of such stupendous resources; dealing with money as if it were the chaff
which flew off in the process of its more substantial labors ; ranking as its
supporters the governments of the continent of Europe—it is no wonder
that the French people, unpractised as they were in such deception, should
have looked upon the Mississippi bank as the foundation on which the
kingdom was to be built up in the splendor of universal supremacy. In
November, 1719, the price of shares had arisen to 10,000 livres each,
being more than sixty times the sum at which at first they were actually
sold.
M. Chirac, who was at that time chief court physician, is said to have




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The Mississippi Scheme,

been called upon when the excitement was in its climax, to visit a female
patient of high degree, whose complaints were probably assumed in com­
pliance with the demands of some particular object of etiquette. He seized
her hand, and cried out suddenly with an oath which it is not necessary to
repeat, “ It falls, it falls !” The invalid, naturally ascribing the physician’s
horror to the extraordinary position of her pulse, rang the bell with all her
force to bring up the family confessor; and it was not until ghostly con­
solation had been offered, that M. Chirac recovered himself sufficiently to
state, that wrapped up as he had been in the evolutions of Mississippi
stock, his mind wTas unable to withdraw itself from the contemplation of the
invisible barometer that was thus placed before it. So great was the rage
displayed for dealing in the new investment, that all Paris was converted into
one vast gambling shop. There was no exchange in which the bankers
could meet, and the rue Quinquempoix, on which the first banking-house
was situated, became the spot in which its business was conducted. In
the narrow walls of the first banking-room, were woven plots in which
were involved the destiny of France, and the peace of Europe. After the
doors had been closed, and the setting of the sun had announced the time
in which the speculations of the day must cease, Mr. Law held in his pri­
vate apartments above, the council which decided not only the measures
of the bank, but the policy of the government. It was there that the Duke
of Orleans, at that time regent, was accustomed to spend the first half of
the night, in contriving with his chief adviser the schemes which were ne­
cessary to preserve his tottering power. The comptroller-general, for
such was the ministerial office to which Mr. Law had been raised, had
assumed as his province, not only the regulating of the trade, but the
graduation of the taxes of the kingdom. Where could there be a more
momentous task, and one more essential to the prosperity of the French
people, than that which was entered into by the ministers of the day, of
restoring France to the tone which she had possessed before the usurpa­
tions of Louis XIV ? If we look back a little further than perhaps we are
allowed by the limits of this paper, we will find, that at the period in
which the English kings had imposed the most arbitrary taxes at pleasure
on their parliaments, the French parliaments had maintained their su­
premacy with a firmness which reduced their kings to obtain their support
by the concession of their most lofty demands. But while the English
commoner had learned to refuse the calls of the crown when directed
against the liberty of the subject, the French civilian had gradually yielded
up privilege after privilege, till he contented himself with registering the
decrees of the government of the day. Louis XIV. came to the throne
with a possession more absolute than that which had been allotted to any
European prince. The crown of England was restrained by the freedom
of the subject, that of Spain by the usurpations of the church, but the king
of France found himself able to involve a well-nursed treasury, and a bro­
ken-spirited people into whatever crusades it suited his ambition to lead
them. The king absolved himself at once from the hereditary restraints
which the established officers of the treasury placed on the disbursements
of the crown. By an edict issued a short time after he came of age, he
declared that he was responsible in person for his administration to God
alone, and with so great a weight upon his neck, he was determined in no
instance to transfer his duties from the shoulders of one whom God has
selected for support, to others, who though they might share his labors,




The Mississippi Scheme.

17

could never lay claim to his office. Unfortunately, however, while he re­
fused the aid of the regular officers of the treasury, he was obliged to call
in a variety of subordinates to assist him in the more laborious parts of his
duties, who by their avarice alone, would have been able in a few years
to have disordered the finances of the state. Of the annual income, but a
small sum entered into the king’s coffers ; for every channel that it passed
through, absorbed a large portion of it on its passages; so that some of
the most profitable sources of revenue were sometimes lost in the marshes
and ravines of court rapacity, before they reached the borders of the trea­
sury in w’hich they were to be emptied. For every fresh campaign in
which the king was engaged a new tax would be raised, and for every
new tax a fresh number of sinecures were created, who employed them­
selves in sucking away the greater part of its productions before it reached
the troops whom it was to set in motion. It is said that when the herrings
are expected to make their annual visits to the north of Scotland, the
peasantry from hill and valley flock together, and lay listlessly on the
shore, with their nets stretched out, and their eyes uplifted, till the ex­
pected visiters are felt in their thread prison-houses, and the draw is made
that brings them in myriads to the shore. There were a series of idlers
in Paris, who made it their business to slide themselves in every commis­
sion that was issued for the collection of the revenue; and as one noble
army was struck down on the Rhine, or another melted away in the fevers
of the Pyrenees, the court fishermen would hurry to the spot from whence
the new impost should be extracted, or the spot where it was to be ap­
plied, and hang around it on its passage, till it was unfit for the object to
which it was to be applied. Louis XIV. might have looked back, when
stretched before his confessor on his dying bed, and recited a series of
crimes more serious and more destructive than any which it had been the
fortune of his princely predecessors to have achieved. He might have
passed over those trivial topics of repentance with which he amused his
ghostly counsellor—he might have overlooked the penance which would
he necessary for his omission to have persecuted Huguenots more thirstily,
or to have conformed more thoroughly to the outward decencies of eti­
quette—and when he made up his last account, have measured the degree
of good which had been achieved by his long administration, and the de­
gree of evil that was to be repented of. There were Spanish wars which
had been unsuccessful, he might have said, and which had drawn from the
south of France its food for the support of a foreign army. There were
wars in Germany, also, which were unsuccessful, and which laid waste
the provinces on which they bordered. From the first to the last there
had been crusades against the powers of England and of Austria, which had
finally exhausted the crusader himself, till he was obliged to retire nerve­
less from the field. Louis XIV. was in a state of ignorance of the great
debt he had created, it is true, because he refused to look into its accounts ;
but it was an ignorance which displayed the cowardice of his vanity,
rather than the indolence of his disposition. He left the crown to his
great grandson, mortgaged to an amount which it required a revolution
to redeem.
W e have gone, we fear, somewhat out of our path, in the consideration
of the causes which led to the extraordinary embarrassments of the finances
of France, on the opening of the Mississippi Scheme. It is necessary to
look more narrowly than a superficial glance, at the profligacy of the
VOL. V .— NO. J .




3

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The Mississippi Scheme.

time, to comprehend the entire prostration of the resources of the state.
France was actually insolvent; public creditors were starting up in all
quarters; capitalists in other lands, who had lent money to the French
king, were calling on their governments to support their claims ; the ne­
cessary movements of the administration were clogged from a want of
money to carry them o n ; and the same cloud of ruin which hung over
the commencement of the reign of Louis XVI., was hovering over the
advent of his predecessor. But suddenly, the sky brightened. Money
became again plenty—the taxes flowed without difficulty— the machinery
of state was placed in rapid motion—trade acquired an unknown facility—
adventures were fitted out to the remotest points of the globe—and the
nation seemed recovering, with a quickness which threw all precedent into
confusion, from the misery into which she had been cast by the childish
ambition of the great monarch whom she just had buried. A banking in­
stitution had been established, which had assumed the whole province of
commercial regulation in its hands—which farmed the taxes—which gov­
erned the colonies— and which finally reduced the value of money, and
raised that of wages, throughout the land, to an extent which realized the
wildest fables of the Troubadours.
If we look more close!}' into the management of the Mississippi Scheme
at the time of its highest prosperity, we will see at once the character of
the extraordinary advances which had been made. The bank had issued
notes in bales; but they were notes which represented isles in the Indian
sea, perhaps, or towns on the Mississippi, but certainly not the current coin
of the realm. The specie of the bank was vanishing, as if melted away
by some mysterious influence that diminished it without its guardians being
able to discover to what quarter it was carried. Some of the largest pro­
prietors of the company, who had prudence enough to preserve their
equilibrium in the midst of the extraordinary success which waited on their
speculations, had made a practice of converting their gains into gold and
silver, and remitting them abroad for security. In the splendid era also
which was about to dawn upon the country, men of wealth disdained the
homely utensils with which they had once been contented, and converted
the coins which came into their hands into the most gorgeous equipages.
We have heard of the hero of a German legend, who was cast, as the
consummation of all ambition, on the crest of a mountain which was com­
posed of the greatest luxuries which the palate could suggest. He passed
through a lengthened holiday of enjoyment, but in his self-gratification had
not calculated on the probable duration of the feast, and one morning he was
startled by an unusual motion, and found that he had eaten through the
mountain, and was sliding rapidly down the dusty plain that flanked it.
The proprietors of the Mississippi bank had miscalculated on the extent of
their magical possessions. They had seen them raised up with a rapidity
which had surpassed whatever their imagination could have suggested, but
as soon as they assured themselves of the reality of the wealth that was
spread before them, they entered upon it as if it could have no end.
Strangers from all quarters rushed to Paris to divide the quarry ; for, from
the peak of the London Exchange, or the peak of St. Mark’s, at Venice,
it had become visible to the eyes of distant speculators, who flocked like
birds of prey, to be present at its spoil. There were no less than three
hundred and five thousand foreigners in the capital in November, 1719,
who are said to have been drawn there by the prey in view. The films




The Mississippi Scheme.

19

of etiquette which had been for ages preserved inviolable by the social dis­
tinctions of the Parisian hive, and which till then had been able to dis­
tinguish its cells, and prevent their contents from mingling, were broken
through in their most tender places, by. the extraordinary confusion that
was thus produced. The doors of the peerage were opened to let in the
rich tradesman who had speculated in Mississippi stock. The regent
talked of creating a new order of nobility, who should derive their titles
from the Indian principalities which they laid claim to. There is an
anecdote told by a French historian of noble birth, which we repeat, in
utter scorn, we confess, of the little economy of etiquette whose validity it
was meant to enforce; but which serves to illustrate very well the social
revolutions which were thus put in motion. A Toulouse tradesman, who
had hit upon a lucky moment in the market, determined to provide himself
with a complete service of plate, and consequently went to a goldsmith,
and purchased, at a venture of 400,000 livres, the whole amount that was
exposed in his shop. His wife, to whom the new purchases were imme­
diately sent in order to prepare them for a supper which he was medi­
tating, was not versed in the distinctions of plate in general, and especially
of the remarkable specimens which thus chanced to be collected together;
so that when she proceeded, in arranging the table, to apply each article to
its proper use, she was at great loss to discover the purposes to which
some of them could be employed. Unfortunately, the lot comprehended a
complete church service, which had just been cast as a pious offering for
a cathedral then in progress, and the natural consequence was, that the
sugar was piled up in a censer, while the soup was held in one of the ba­
sins which were originally intended for the reception of holy water.
But it cannot be supposed that the founder of the system, who had
nursed it under its early difficulties, and who was thoroughly acquainted
with its resources, could have been blinded by the splendor of its sudden
success. Mr. Law made use of his influence with the government, which
was then entirely in his hands, to procure the promulgation of edicts
which strike us at once with surprise, at its own despotism, and of his
power. An order of council was issued as early as February, 1720, for.
bidding every person, and even every community, secular or religious, to
keep by them more than 500 livres in specie. The balance between the
issues and the specie of the bank being once destroyed, she was compelled
to resort to the most ruinous sacrifices in order temporarily to sustain her
credit. The notes in the market have been estimated, and it seems with
justice, as high as six thousand millions of livres, or about eleven hundred
millions of dollars. The funds of the company became wholly insufficient
to support so terrible a weight, and even if the gold and silver in the king­
dom could have been collected in a mass, it would have been able to meet
only about one third of their emissions. But even when the fact of the
utter insolvency of the bank must have been clear to all who recollected
that gold and silver alone formed the standard of the realm, the infatuation
continued to a degree that raised the stock, when it was on the brink of
destruction, to a pitch unequalled in its history. By the bolstering edicts
which were issued by the council, and which required that payments in
specie should be restricted to sums as low as 100 livres in gold, and 10
livres in silver—which declared bank notes to be ever invariable, but
which kept the standard of the coin in continual fluctuation—and which
ordered that all rents, customs, and taxes, should be paid in notes, and




20

The Mississippi Scheme.

threw the whole weight of the law in their favor—the people were forced,
under the severest penalties, to receive the paper, if they would not huy
the stock of the institution. The government had entered into a solemn
plan to liquidate the national debt in what manner it could ; and as the
debt had been assumed by the bank, the only difficulty was to shift the
ownership of the bank from the crown to the people. It was to this object
that the compulsory edicts of 1720 were directed. The regent stood whip
in hand at the Bastile, and significantly pointing to its dungeons, forced into
the hands of the crowds who were passed in review before him, the paper
which was to transfer like magic the debt which was resting on his royal
ward, to the people over whom he was to govern. The trap was success­
fu l; and between the 27th of February, and the 1st of April, 1720, 300
millions of livres were paid in specie into the bank, in exchange for its
notes. On the 1st of May succeeding, the emission of notes was stopped,
and in a little while after, a conclusion was put to the reimbursement of
the national creditors through their m eans; and the government securities
which had been previously granted out, having thus been supplanted by
the new currency, were withdrawn and cancelled. The policy was now
complete. The bank had been bolstered up till royal assistance could no
longer support i t ; and now, when its office was accomplished, the prop
was to be suddenly withdrawn, and a ruin occasioned which mocked at
the former sufferings of that unhappy country.
The notes in the country, according to the estimate most favorable to
the bank, were at least double in value of the specie, and as the crisis
was already passed, and a run was commencing at its counter, a council
was called for the purpose of deciding whether further aid should be ex­
tended. Louis XV. was still in his minority; and the Duke of Orleans,
who had held since the accession the regency, had obtained entire posses­
sion of the regal power. Stained with every crime which a prince of the
blood can commit, he labored still under the suspicion of having been the
murderer of three dauphins, and his royal ward was the only obstacle be­
tween himself and the throne ; the courtiers were prepared each morning
to hear and acquiesce in a tale like that which was told by the obsequious
attendants of King John, after the death of his brother’s child. But the
Duke of Orleans had seen that the crown of the murdering king had rested
uneasily on his head, and he consoled himself, since he could not take the
life of his royal nephew, to at least lay waste his heritage. There were
collected around the regent counsellors, who, in principle at least, were
rivals of their master. Cardinal du Bois, the most profligate of the ser­
vants of the church, in a day when profligacy was a title to her honors,
was, like Fouche, the master of the art of police control, though unlike
Fouche, he remained faithful to the prince who raised him from obscurity.
But Cardinal du Bois placed the regent’s aggrandizement as the sole aim
of his m inistry; and in defiance of the laws of providence, in disdain of
the rights of the people, scrupled not to connive at the most unnatural
crimes which might gratify his master’s passion, or execute the most scan­
dalous oppressions which his master’s ingenuity could contrive. The
minister had remained the firm supporter of the Mississippi scheme as long
as it answered the regent’s purposes, but as soon as its object was over,
he learned to change his countenance, and in conformity with the orders he
had privately received, to prepare in council the ruin which in secret had
already been concerted. Mr. Law, who as comptroller-general had a




The Mississippi Scheme.

21

seat in the council, brought forward at the meeting, which the position of
the bank had thus rendered necessary to be called, a series of propositions
which he declared would be sufficient to place her on a substantial basis.
How should she be enabled to meet the extraordinary run to which she
was about to be subjected ? It was then that expedients were suggested,
which, we venture to say, can have no equals in the history of financial legis­
lation for their crudeness or their pernicious tendency. It was proposed by
Mr. Law, that by an edict which it should be made death to transgress, the
standard of gold and silver in the kingdom should be doubled, so that esti­
mating the paper to amount to double the specie, they could thus be equal­
ized in value. He supported his proposition by reference to the arbitrary
customs of the realm, by which the king was authorized, whenever it be­
came expedient to raise taxes or lower provisions, to suddenly raise or
lower as it might be the value of the common standard. Such a step was
necessary to the bank, for without some such equalization, she could not
maintain herself another month; and when she sank, she would drag with
her the new-born prosperity of the state. But the royal counsellors felt
little inclined to listen to such advice. They knew that sooner or later
the scheme was over, and they were not anxious to prolong it, when it had
answered their purposes. Cardinal du Bois proposed, as if in mockery of
Mr. Law’s suggestion, that the amount of the two currencies should indeed be equalled, but that it should be done, not by raising the specie, but
by lowering the notes. The cardinal’s advice prevailed ; and on the 21st
of May, 1720, was published a royal edict, which lowered the stock and
notes of the company, by a series of gradual but rapid reductions, to pre­
cisely one half their former value.
Before a day was passed, the whole fabric of the Mississippi Scheme,
like one of those beautiful snow castles which are raised in the northern
countries, to be the hunting lodge of an emperor as he passes, was melted
and vanished. The man with a million of its paper in his pocket, might
have laid himself on his princely couch, to awake to the life of a pauper.
The note holders, stunned in the midst of their intoxication, thronged to
the bank, and found it guarded by soldiers. If they pressed in fury to its
doors, they were driven back by pikes. In the distance, at the end of the
long avenue that was stretched out before them, they could see through the
windows the clerks transacting their usual business, with their mammoth
books before them, and their chests by their sides. For a moment the
note holders thought that there might be some momentary error, which
would soon be wiped out—that the military were there to protect against
some imaginary evil, and that in a little time the doors would open.
The doors in a little time did open, but it was to receive the investigators
whom the government had appointed to seal its papers, and stop its pay­
ments forever.
When the countrymen from the adjacent villages brought their produce
into the city on the next morning, they found that the circulating medium
was entirely at a stop. Specie had already vanished from the market,
and the notes by which it had been succeeded, which had become in fact
the basis on which business was conducted, were acknowledged by the
government which protected, and the bank which issued them, to be com­
paratively worthless. The capitalist, whose rent-roll was crowded with
wealth, might meet the merchant whose stores were filled with commodi­
ties, without either of them being able to pitch on a medium of exchange,




22

The Mississippi Scheme.

by which the wants of both could be supplied. The regent issued an edict,
which revoked the former enactments against the circulation of g.old and
silver, but it was easier to drive the precious metals from the market than
to force them back again. Specie was given out, as far as was consistent
with the resources of the treasury, to the commissaries of the different
sections of Paris, who were required to give it in change for small notes
that should be presented to them by such as were in greatest necessity of
relief. On the 10th of June, an arrangement was entered into by which
the bank was enabled to pay its notes of the denomination of ten livres,
which in fact constituted a very small proportion of its circulation ; on
the 11th, it was announced that notes of 100 livres, if singly presented to
the counter by single individuals, would be received ; and the 12th and
13th of the same month were fixed for the payment of the notes in ques­
tion. On the days which were mentioned, the poor and the rich seemed
to have crowded with one accord about the doors of the bank. Men who
held large qantities of the notes in demand, and who by the qualification
of the enactment, could only in their individual capacity present a single
one to the counter, hired prize-fighters and banditti to act as their proxies
on the occasion. The park before the bank resembled the precincts of a
camp. The guards in front of the doors managed that very few should be
admitted, in order that the press inside might not lead to confusion; but
such an arrangement was by no means pleasing to those who were encamped without. Stones were thrown by the more clamorous of the note
holders, and in return the soldiers on guard fired into the mob with con­
siderable effect. But the little army, who consisted principally of vete­
rans of the prisons, or peasants who had become infuriated by want, were
by no means discouraged by the thinning of their ranks, and holding their
notes before them, like standards which were to inspire them in their
march, they pressed forward in a dense troop into tlie place of those who
were admitted into the banking-house, or those who were trodden under
foot. No less than twenty persons were suffocated in one morning alone,
according to the official statement, which excluded of course the victims
of the cruelty of the armed police. To those who are accustomed to ex­
pend their sympathies on the atrocities that marked the conclusion of
the French revolution, the consideration may be of some advantage, that
at its commencement, under the most exhausting and complete despotism
which ever had been established, there was a tragedy of governmental
fraud and governmental blood-thirstiness exhibited, act by act,, which may
rival the most passionate excesses which were afterward displayed.
But the paper continued in undiminished circulation, notwithstanding the
measures which were taken to recall it. That the government had no se­
rious intention of paying specie for their notes is now very clear, though
they certainly were able to do so to a large extent. As a means of buy­
ing up their obligations far more profitably than could have been done by
their actual liquidation, there were constituted in June, 1720, twenty-five
millions of perpetual annuities, at the rate of forty years purchase ; and
four millions of annuities on lives, at twenty-five years purchase, for which
notes would be received. Under such, and similar means, it w’as supposed
that the paper would be rapidly drawn in ; but anxious as were the people
to get rid of their notes, they hesitated to part with them at so unjust a
sacrifice. On the 15th of August, the regent took the step which was in­
tended to perfect the system, and an et’ict was issued which declared that




The Mississippi Scheme.

23

the notes of 10,000 and 1,000 livres should have no currency, except for
the purchase of annuities or bank accounts; and by an edict which followed
immediately after, their circulation was prohibited on all conditions after
the 1st of November, 1720. The alternative remained, either to part
with the notes at a ruinous sacrifice, or to postpone them to a period when
the faith of the government was pledged to make them of no value what­
ever. There were many who preferred the latter; and as the government
in that respect at least continued faithful, they found themselves stripped
entirely of their ancient property, and reduced to the shadowy estate which
was afforded by a few slips of paper.
We shall pass over the succeeding edicts, both in relation to the East
India Company, and to the bank itself, which were directed exclusively
to the perfecting of the details of the scheme which the government had
so adroitly managed. A large portion of the debt which had been con­
tracted by Louis XIV., had been shifted, by the juggling of a foreign ad­
venturer, to the shoulders of the nation, from those of the king himself.
A commission, or visa, was established to take into consideration the de­
mands of the state creditors, who proceeded to receive and digest the
claims against the state, and to present them, after they had been reduced
within tangible limits, to the regent for liquidation. The government
placed itself in the position of an insolvent trader, who was unable to pay
his debts, and assigned his whole interest in his estate to others, who had
stipulated to obtain for him a release upon his entire surrender. The
visa occupied itself not so much in hearing, as in higgling with the state
creditors. A merchant who had lent his fortune in a former reign to feed
the warlike ambition of the king, when he presented the scrip which had
been given to him in evidence of his title, was taken aside, and plied with
all considerations of pecuniary advantage or personal safety, to induce
him to compound the debt. It was the king’s grace that conceded the
payment of any part of the demand, and the creditor should remain satis­
fied with the generous boon. Eight hundred clerks were employed in
subjecting the claims to the operation of the new ordeal. In the course
of a few months the claims wers reduced within limit, and the debt due by
the king diminished more than forty millions of livres yearly. In less
than a single year the Mississippi Scheme had achieved the stupendous
task of clearing one half of the obligations of the crown, by means which
impoverished the nation in their execution. More than 500,000 persons
are said to have been reduced from wealth to want by the depreciation of
the stock of the bank, and the dishonor of its notes. The victim of the
Mississippi Scheme might look to the replenished coffers of the govern­
ment, or the disencumbered estates of the princes of the blood, with the
consciousness that it had been through his own destruction that their reve­
nues had been built up. Private fortunes had been melted together by
wholesale, to create the estate of a minister or a favorite, like the ordinary
coins which are drawn from the usual purposes of circulation, and are
brought together in one great mass, to form a splendid, but unnecessary
article of plate. The grounds of Chantilly, which had been mortgaged,
and even alienated in part, during Ihe misfortunes of the family, were re­
covered by the Duke of Bourbon, through the means which his successful
speculations afforded, and built up in magnificence suitable to the condi­
tion of the most princely house of Europe. An English gentleman, by
the name of Gage, amassed so immense a fortune, that, in defiance of the




24

The Mississippi Scheme.

usual decorum of continental etiquette, he offered three millions sterling
to the king of Poland for his crow n; and the monarch is said to have been
so deaf to the voice of self-respect, as to have actually treated for the sale.
It would have seemed as if the wealth of the whole nation had been thrown
into the governmental foundry, and recast into colossal shapes, which as­
tonished not only from their grandeur, but their solidity. The face of the
country was reduced to a wilderness—its fields were dry—its laborers
starving—its trade confused— while here and there, on the shore, or in
the forest, might be seen a splendid palace, or a grotesque pagoda, which
had been built by the collected energies of the state. But who can esti­
mate the misery that was then suffered ? The eye of the traveller was
caught by the monuments of wealth which stood out in the distance before
him, and he forgot to notice the miserable hovel by their side. The
chronicles of the court of Louis XV., are too much wrapped up in the mo­
mentous weight of the intrigues which they relate, to bestow a thought
upon the silent sufferings that were endured by those who were not in­
volved in the masquerade. Madame du Barri says carelessly, that the
poor were found starved and frozen in troops, in the dreadful winter that
ensued ; but she relates it as a matter of speculative curiosity, in the same
way that almanac writers in our own day relate the extraordinary movements
among wild beasts, who were driven by the extremity of the weather to
the road-side to die. The princess Elizabeth wondered that people should
starve ; she asked whether they were too proud to eat bread. In another
reign the cup was full, and the princess Elizabeth was led to the altar, to
expiate the crimes of those from whom her honors were descended.
She might have looked to the other end of the street in which she was
sacrificed, and seen there, led on a similar errand to that in which she was
employed, a victim far more frail, but not less obnoxious to the execution­
ers. The daughter of king Louis XV., and the mistress who counte­
nanced him in his last atrocities, might have called to remembrance in that
solemn hour, the miseries which the one had endeavored to alleviate, and
which the other had aggravated till the moment of their revenge had
arrived.
The founder of the Mississippi Scheme found himself brought down in
the course of a few short months, from a pitch of honor second to that
alone which belonged to the king, to a point so low that there were none
in that great realm who would have done him reverence. In the desolate
retreat at Venice, in which he hastened to draw around him that obscurity
which could form his only shield, he might have looked back to a time,
only a year distant, when he stood in the highest pinnacle of the state.
The Earl of Ilay, in a letter written at the crisis of the speculation, says
that he found Mr. Law’s antechamber guarded by Swiss troopers, who
were placed there to keep out the crowds of suitors who pressed about its
door. Peers of France, and princes of the royal blood, were seen daily
waiting at his door, hoping by their hollow compliments, and their
humble attentions, to win the notice of the great financier. Mr. Law re­
tained his Scotch associations, if he had thrown off his British allegiance,
and made his house the home of his original countrymen, no matter what
might be the nature of their relations to their native land. The last Pre­
tender was then hovering around the skirts of Paris, and in the want to
which he was reduced, he found that the munificence of the Scotch banker
afforded him assistance more warm than that which was given to him by




The Mississippi Scheme.

25

the promptest of his adherents. The prince is said to have drawn up at
one time a paper ministry, in which Mr. Law was elevated to the post of
chancellor of the exchequer, and was invested at the same time with so
complete a supervision over the home department, as would place the Bank
of England under his control as fully in his new office, as the Bank of the
Mississippi in his old one. It became the prevailing belief in France, till
the fatal edict of 21st of May had suddenly prostrated the company, that
the power of its founder was unlimited, and the sycophancy of the specu­
lators towards him increased in proportion with the rage for speculation.
Schemes were laid by the reigning beauties of the day for the purpose of
drawing him within their power, which, if they were not successful, at
least deserved to be so from the ingenuity which was displayed in their
conception. We have heard of instances in which the cavaliers of a past
generation performed the most daring and laborious feats, in order to
bring them under the notice of the lady to whom they had devoted
themselves by a vow of consecration ; but there are examples which are
displayed by Mr, Law’s biographer, of chivalry under a contrary
manifestation, which can rarely be surpassed in the history of the Roc
minstrels. The wife of a debtor of the comptroller-general, having
sought in vain all other methods of rescuing him from his embarrassments,'
and despairing in any other way to attract the notice of the sovereign in
whose hand her fate depended, caused herself to be overthrown in his
court-yard, at a time when his carriage was passing by, and when, from
the prominency of her disaster, she might lay claim to hi3 favorable atten­
tion. The device was successful, and became popular; and the conse­
quence was, that Mr. Law for some weeks was unable to move out, with­
out being impeded by the flounderings of a wrecked carriage, or the way­
wardness of a dismantled horse.*
There was but one step remaining to place the comptroller-general at
the head of both church and state, and by a summary process that was
taken. In December, 1719, he appeared with his son and daughter be­
fore the altar of the church of the Recollets,- at Melun, and there did
penance for the heresy in whose shadows he so long had tarried. As a
sign of his sincerity, lie officiated as patron in his parish church of St,
Roch; and having endowed it with a magnificent donation, was constL
tuted its honorary warden, in place of a duke of the royal family, who'
gave way. A convoy of fish was ordered through his bounty to be brought
to Paris, and distributed to the poor during le n t; though,- unfortunately for
the appropriateness of the charity, the vessels were detained by contrary
winds, and did not arrive till after Easter. Lord Stair, who at that time
was British minister, was superseded by his court, because he had neglect­
ed at first to ingratiate himself with the ruling power; and the English
ministry hastened to redeem the error, by supplanting him by a represent-,
ative who could be more pliant in his demeanor. The whole of Europe
lay at his feet, while he, like the son of the Jewish patriarch, was waited
upon by those in whose lap he had been nursed, and under whose protec­
tion he had been fostered, as the statesman who controlled the destiny of
his adopted country.
As on the day of his highest exaltation, when every circumstance had
combined to raise him to a pitch of power unexampled in a subject, Mr,

VOL. V .— S O . I .




* Wood's Life of Law, p. 60.
4

20

The M ississippi Scheme.

Law proceeded, after the immediate business of his department was closed,
to hold the levee which the lateness of his employment required him to de­
lay till almost midnight, he might have seen, as the last visiter was de­
parted, or the last suppliant was dismissed, the first rays of a morning
which was to usher in his complete degradation. There was scarcely a
breathing time between his highest elevation, and his final ruin. He
seemed to have reached the pinnacle of a high mountain, and then, slip­
ping from his foothold, to have fallen with a violence which carried him
below the level from which his exertions had first been directed. A guard
was necessary on the day of the bank’s stoppage, to preserve his person
from violence, and even under its escort he was insulted by placards
brandished before his face, in which he was styled “papillot,” and “Jils
aine de Satan.” He had expatriated himself from his native land ; he
now was banished from that which had been the land of his prosperity.
We can follow him in his wayward course from court to court, from capi­
tal to capital, until at last, with a fortune which had experienced every vi­
cissitude, till its substance was worn away by its changes, and with a name
which was soiled with every blemish which in those dissolute times
could be won, he died in Venice, on the 21st of March, 1729, and in the
fifty-eighth year of his age. The traveller who sees the name of John
Law, of Lauriston, on a stone in the church of St. Marks, forgets that
under him lay the remains of the speculator who prepared for France the
bankruptcy under Louis XV., and the revolution under his successor.
It is our intention, at a future period, to examine the condition of the
commerce and the finances of France, in the various relations into which they
were thrown, by the changes of the French revolution. W e have made
use at the present of the Mississippi Scheme, as an illustration of the spirit
of financial ignorance, and of governmental despotism, which existed at
the commencement of the reign of Louis XV. We have seen a scheme
which bore on its face little beyond plausibility, snatched up by the gov­
ernment as a medium by which its debt could be paid, and palmed off on
the people by all the measures which fraud or violence could suggest.
When persuasions were of no more use, constraint was used; and the
capitalist who was unwilling to listen to the seductions of a messenger of
the court, was palsied into obediency by the bayonet of a Swiss grenadier.
One half of the national debt was thus avoided; but it was avoided by
throwing it from the king to the people, without a consequent diminution
of the taxes which had been previously drawn to support it. A period of
distress was produced which is unequalled in history, and which laid the
seeds of that deep and wide-spread rebellion, which overthrew in the next
reign the dynasty under whose auspices it had been fomented. It was
from the ruin of the Mississippi Scheme, that we can trace the rise of those
commercial institutions, which, after a century of uproar and oppression,
have assumed a power which bids fair to lift France to a pitch of prosper­
ity higher than has been imagined by the most sanguine of her chiefs.




The Theory o f Banking.

27

A r t . II.—T H E THEORY OF BANKING.
Q uestions of currency and banking have, during the few past years,
undergone much discussion in this country ; and are, at the present time,
•little less interesting to the people of England than to ourselves.
Our attention has of late been drawn to sundry publications that have
appeared in England, which express various views of the system of bank­
ing at present existing in that country ; and the remarks we propose to
make have been suggested by the perusal of them,
1. Report of the Directors to a Special Meeting of the Chamber of Com­
merce and Manufactures at Manchester, on the Effects of the Administra­
tion of the Bank of England upon the Commercial and Manufacturing In­
terests of the Country : December 12, 1839.
2. Analysis of the Report of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce,
with an Exposure of its Fallacies : no date.
3. A Letter to J. B. Smith, Esq., President of the Manchester Chamber
of Commerce; by Samuel Jones Lloyd: January 9, 1840.
4. Remarks on the Management of the Circulation, and on the Condition
and Conduct of the Bank of England, and of the Country Issuers, during
the year 1839; by Samuel Jones L loyd: 1840.
5. Report of the Select Committee on Banks of Issue, "with Minutes
of Evidence, & c .; ordered by the house of commons to be printed : Au­
gust 7, 1840,
In these different publications, various views are presented of the inter­
esting subject to which they refer. The report of the directors of the
chamber of commerce attributes the fluctuation of prices that is continually
occurring, and particularly the heavy fall of prices in 1837, together with
much physical and moral evil, to the mismanagement of the circulation by
the Bank of England. A different view is taken by the anonymous writer,
whose pamphlet is mentioned above as No. 2. Mr. Lloyd, an intelligent
banker, author of Nos. 3 and 4, is of opinion that the system is wrong, but
thinks the bank has done its duty, as far as it was able to do under the
circumstances in which it was placed.
The discussion to which these publications gave rise appears to have
caused the appointment of the committee of the house of commons, on the
19th March, 1840, to inquire into the effects produced on the circulation
of the country by the various banking establishments issuing notes payable
on demand. The committee held many sittings, called before them for
examination gentlemen engaged in various departments of business, of
great experience and extensive observation, and obtained much statistical
information, but came to no result. They reported the evidence they ob­
tained to the house, without expressing any opinion of their own.
And, it must be acknowledged by every one who reads the “ minutes of
evidence,” that for a large committee to agree upon a report founded on
the testimony of individuals who, in their views of the same subject, differ
so entirely from each other, would be a work of no small difficulty. In
fact, the witnesses can be said to agree in no one particular, except that
the present system is, in their opinion, defective, and requires amendment.
In respect, however, to the particular alterations in the mode of man­
aging the circulation necessary to remedy existing evils, each witness en­
tertained opinions peculiar to himself.




28

The Theory o f Banking.

This state of the case in England does not differ materially from the
state in which the same questions now stand in this country. Questions
relating to the currency, and our banking system, have been long under dis­
cussion, and without leading to any satisfactory result. All agree in one
thing, however, which is, that the currency of the country, and, as con­
nected with it, the banking system, are in a most unsatisfactory state, and
require thorough reformation.
The inquiry, therefore, that naturally suggests itself is this : what is the
true principle on which the banking system of the nation should be founded ?
Who of all the multitude of reasoners, that have treated the subject, have
given us correct views of it ? Or, does the true principle still lie hidden 1
To ask these questions is easy. To answer them is difficult. To answer
them satisfactorily to everybody is, perhaps, impossible. Yet, to look for
the answer may not be altogether in vain.
It is with reference to that branch of modern banking which consists in
the issuing of circulating medium, that all discussion is now carried on.
The great point to be settled is, to discover some system on which the is­
sues of paper money may be based, which shall combine the requisite
qualities of security and convenience, and at the same time guard against
the fluctuations that inevitably attend excessive issues.
W e consider it altogether too late in the day to discuss the question of
tolerating banks at all. That question has been conclusively settled by the
opinion of every enlightened commercial nation. Modern commerce could
not be carried on without them. The experience of centuries has proved
them to be indispensable to the prosperity of an active business people.
Even allowing the existence of banks of discount and deposit, we do
not admit it to be possible to devise a plan for issuing gaper money so free
from objection as can be devised and executed through the agency of these
institutions. However numerous the objections to the existing system, all
plans for its improvement, under whatever name proposed, when traced
out in detail, end finally in a bank of some sort. The great object, there­
fore, seems to be to devise a system of issues which shall combine the
economy and convenience of paper with the security of specie.
The system of banking at present existing in this country, is not founded
on any well-defined principle. The system works in accordance with laws
emanating from twenty-six different legislatures; and embodying, not only
the wisdom, but the theoretical notions and whims of some six thousand
legislators. In all the states, excepting New York, banks are established
under charters specially granted by the legislature, and the corporations
are subject to such restrictions as may be by those bodies imposed upon
them. They are subject to no limit in the issue of notes, unless some
limit happens arbitrarily to be fixed by the power that creates them. It
is directly for the interest of these institutions to push their issues upon
the public to the utmost amount possible, and therefore an irresistible ten­
dency in the circulating medium to become redundant; and when it has
become so, and their notes begin to return upon them for specie for ex­
port, that being the only portion of the currency that can be used for dis­
charging an unfavorable balance of trade, the banks in most of the states
meet the demand by a refusal to pay.
In England the system is more sound, yet in some respects exceedingly
defective. The currency is managed and supported by the Bank of Eng­
land. Notes are issued by the bank, redeemable in coin, and by all coun­




The Theory o f Banking.

29

try bankers distant sixty-five miles or more from London, who choose to
issue them, and redeem them either in gold or Bank of England notes.
Thus the whole burden of preserving the convertibility of the currency
falls upon the Bank of England ; and when the paper issues become ex­
cessive, the drain commences upon the bank. To counteract it, the bank
resorts to contraction; but, notwithstanding its utmost efforts at contrac­
tion, it is often so embarrassed by the continued expansion of the country
issuers, that it finds it exceedingly difficult to diminish the circulation, and
has within a few months been on the very verge of suspension.
The defects of these systems are apparent to all. In regard to the
remedy, no two persons can be found who entertain the same opinions.
It has been, of late years, supposed that a certain proportion between
the issues and specie should be ascertained and fixed ; and, this proportion
preserved, the convertibility of the paper circulation would be secured.
When the charter of the Bank of England was renewed in 1832, this prin­
ciple was adopted, and the proportion fixed was one third the amount of the
circulation and deposits, to be held in bullion. The recent parliamentary
inquiry has, however, shown that this principle has been rather the excep­
tion than the rule, in the management of the bank, since the time of its
adoption. Its directors have, in its management, under the influence of
circumstances beyond their control, been rather governed by considerations
of expediency; and, having no control over the country issuers, who are
also governed by notions of expediency, the community are subjected to
all the evils attendant upon excessive fluctuations.
To remedy these evils, it has been proposed, both in this country and
England, to establish a bank of issues, which should possess the sole power
of issuing notes. The leading feature of the plan appears to be to issue
a certain amount of notes, to be determined by law, upon securities, and
the rest only in exchange for bullion. Mr. Samuel Jones Lloyd, the pro­
poser and principal advocate of this plan in Eugland, states it as his
opinion that the issues of notes should correspond with the influx and efflux
of bullion from the country.
W e must declare that we see in this plan nothing more than an ex­
change of one evil for another. In the first place, the amount of the cur­
rency issued on securities must be left to the discretion of somebody. In
this country the men who administer the government are constantly chang­
ing. Legislators usually remain but a short time in office. Each new
one that comes in is desirous of trying his own experiments, and testing
his own theories, regardless of what Has been done by those before him,
and of what may be done by those who may come after him. This con­
stant liability to fluctuation in the management of the issues, would subject
the currency at times to greater danger. Besides, when bullion comes in­
to a country, the tendency of paper money is to diminish ; but a forced
issue of notes, at the time of an influx of bullion, would only tend prema­
turely to stimulate prices, bring on an immediate efflux of bullion, and
render the accompanying contraction calamitous in a corresponding degree.
It is also proposed in this country, to set up a great bank to regulate all
the little ones. But who is to regulate the regulator ? Who is to decide
when it is proper for the currency to be expanded, and when it is desira­
ble it should he contracted by the operations of the regulating machine,
and have the vibrations occur at precisely the right moment, and to the
right amount? The grand difficulty in the way of this mode of managing




30

The Theory o f Banking.

the banking system, is that all these movements must be left to the discretion of somebody. And experience has demonstrated that a board of di­
rectors of a bank, possessing a discretionary power over the currency, are
subject to influences, that, however honest their intentions, they find it ex.
tremely difficult if not impossible to resist.
We object decidedly to any such system. We object to any system
which leaves the currency to be fluctuating at the discretion of any body
whatever. We object to any regulation on the part of the government
beyond the exercise of its power of coinage, and the enactment of such
simple general laws as will secure the fulfilment of contracts made by issuers
of paper money.
We can approve no system that is not self-acting. The currency must
regulate itself. If the precious metals flow into the country, our banking
institutions must he so constructed as to admit of such an expansion as
the demands of business require. If the exchanges turn, they should at
once accomplish the needed contraction, and part with the coin necessary
to restore the currency to its proper equilibrium with the currencies of
other nations.*
If a system of banking can be devised which shall accommodate itself
to these vibrations of the currency which must unavoidably occur in com­
mercial nations, with ease, regularity, and certainty, we believe it would
be a perfect system.
We believe this can be done without interfering with the hanks now in
existence; that is to say, the solvent banks in existence may be incorpo­
* The precious metals being universally adopted as the measure of value, and there
being no restriction to their circulation, every commercial nation will, in the course of
trade, obtain its proper share.
Withdrawing from one nation any part of that proportion, adds to the value of the re.
mainder, and depresses the price of all other commodities.
Adding that amount so withdrawn to the currency of another nation, diminishes the
value of the precious metals in that nation, and raises the price of all other commodities,
The nation that has lost the metals, exports its other cheap commodities to the nation
that has gained them, where the other commodities have become dearer. They do not
receive commodities in exchange, because it is not for the interest of anybody to buy in
a dear market, and sell in a cheap one.
The process in due time creates what is called a balance of trade, and draws the me,
tals back again to settle that balance.
This movement in the metals causes a reaction in prices.
The object of government should be to let the currency work freely, and it will thus
keep itself on a par with that of other nations.
Paper is substituted for specie for the purpose of economy—but to answer as a substi­
tute, must perfectly represent it, and be convertible into it at will.
The instant it is issued in excess, it will, if left to work with freedom and without regu.
lation, be converted into specie and exported, and must be reduced in amount until the
equilibrium of the metals is restored.
All regulation of the currency in opposition to the course of trade, tends only to de,
rangement, as for example, an importation of specie is followed by a fall in the price of
other articles exported. Perfect freedom is therefore indispensable, that prices and cur
rency may preserve themselves in equilibrium among commercial nations,




The Theory o f Banking.

31

rated into such a system with ease. By solvent banks, we mean those
that can pay their liabilities in specie.
Banks that can yay any thing, can pay specie. If a bank has not specie,
it should have some kind of securities that will sell for it. If it has none
of these, its capital has too little vitality to be useful for banking purposes,
and the sooner it goes into liquidation the better. Under a sound self­
acting system, these institutions could not stand for a single day.
In order to explain the true principle on which a banking system should
be founded, in a country where the currency is a mixed one, we must first
point out the great defect in the present system.
The moment a bank in this country* issues its notes, such of them as
are not needed for payment of demands at the bank itself, fall a little in
value. The further they go from the bank, the greater their depreciation.
The tendency of bank notes is always towards some central point of trade;
and as most of these notes flow into this reservoir, they are at a dis­
count when they arrive there ; great enough to pay the broker who buys
them for the expense of sending them back for redemption, and a profit
on the capital he employs in the business.
In the commercial cities, the case with the banks is different; their
notes, issued at the centre of trade, are at par. If they travel away from
home to any distance, they are more valuable than the currency into
which they introduce themselves, and are caught up at once and returned
home.
If the currency becomes redundant, the demand for specie for export is
first felt by the banks in the commercial cities. The notes of these banks
instantly return upon them for redemption. That portion of the currency
which exists in the form of deposits, and which is identical with that part
of the currency in circulation in every thing but form, is drawn out, and
the banks are forced to a contraction.
But with the country notes, the case is different—they fill all the chan­
nels of circulation—no bank but that which issues them will receive them,
and they thus become the cheaper currency, and it is for the interest of
everybody to keep them from the channel through which only they can
return home, i. e. the broker.
Now if the contraction caused by the first demand for coin could be felt
immediately by all the banks in the country, the currency would be re­
stored to its equilibrium immediately.
But while the contraction goes on where the demand for specie is first
felt, there may be a continual expansion elsewhere. There often is such
an expansion which keeps the currency redundant, and prolongs the drain
of specie until the convertibility of the whole currency is seriously endan­
gered, if not entirely destroyed ; the mercantile interests suffering in the
mean time the entire action of the contraction necessarily going on at the
great commercial points.
The general circulating medium consists entirely of the notes of banks
of the second grade. The circulation of the really rich and sound banks
does not penetrate into the mass of paper afloat throughout the interior.
This circulation is made up of notes of distant banks— the more remote
the situation of the bank, the greater its circulation—the greater the dis­
* These remarks do not apply to the banks in New England, which we shall have
occasion to speak of hereafter.




The Theory o f Banking,

count on its notes, (provided it does not go beyond that point at which
people in general will submit to it, rather than refuse to receive it,) the
greater the certainty of its continuing in circulation.
Thus it is for the interest of every bank to push out its notes as fast as
possible. The surest way to keep them out, is to make them a little less
yaluable than the notes of other institutions.
The currency under this existing system of banking, is, if our view of
it is correct, constantly tending towards depreciation, and requiring at
regular intervals a convulsion of some sort to restore-it to a sound state.
The banking system is a machine constantly getting out of repair—now
breaking a wheel here, and a cog there—men constantly taxing their wits
to repair its defects, which are no sooner repaired in one place than they
show themselves in another. The people, through their legislatures, have
been at work for two generations, and the machine goes none the better,
but rather worse.
Let us state then what we conceive to be the true principle on which
the banking system of the country should be founded ; it is the principle
of making it fo r the interest o f everybody to send bank notes home fo r re­
demption,
This interest is not to be created by discrediting the paper—by causing
the apprehension of loss to operate as an inducement to the holders of the
issues of banks to force them back to the issuers, in opposition to their
considerations of convenience or necessity. Such a course would subject
the community to a loss of all advantages derivable from the use of paper
as a circulating medium.
Nor should it be done by arbitrary enactments to restrain circulation
from perfect freedom in its motions—nor to compel its return to the source
of issue by any unnatural way—or in a way to cause expense to its issu­
ers, or holders, This expense must in some form fall upon the public in
the end, and to its extent diminishes the amount of convenience and econo,
my of the circulating medium,
It is rather to be created in other ways which we will point out,
In the first place, the idea almost universally prevalent, that the point of
issue is to be the point of redemption, must bo given up. Banks are often
instituted in remote places, inconvenient of access; and as their issues
cannot be returned, except at heavy expense to the holders of their paper,
their notes under the existing system, as we have described it, are less
valuable, and thus displace the notes of banks nearer at hand ; thus weak­
ening the circulation, and rendering corrective measures more difficult in
case of a redundancy.
All banks should therefore be required to redeem their issues at some
point, which serves as a centre for the trade of the section of country in
which it is located, or as the centre of the trade of the whole country.
In this way, the course of trade, and the interest of the public, will carry
its issues to be redeemed, as natui-ally as a log of wood would float down
the Hudson from Albany to New York. Thus the banks in the state of
New York should be required to redeem their issues in New Y ork; the
state of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia; and other sections of the country,
at those points towards which, in the course of trade, they most naturally
(end,
In the second place, there must be freedom in the business of banking.
In advancing this proposition, we are well aware that we run counter




The Theory o f Banking.

33

to a deep-rooted prejudice in favor of a system of regulation ; but it is the
system of regulating that we strenuously oppose. We want a system to
act of itself, and upon general, sound, fixed principles, to regulate itself.
This it cannot do without entire freedom.
The system of chartering banks is radically defective. One state may
charter too few— and the whole emolument derived from the business of
a bank of circulation, is engrossed by a few rich aristocrats, who get hold
of the stock, and assume the entire control of i t ; and as they make cur­
rency plenty or scarce, so they raise and depress prices to answer their
own ends.
Another state may charter too many, or may burden the corporations
they create with troublesome restrictions, or undue taxation. Hence these
charters cease to be an object of desire to those who have real capital to
invest, and fall into the hands of speculators, who keep up a show of
capital where there is none in reality; and by means of the machinery of
the bank, furnish themselves with funds, to a small extent, from its limited
means.
The public, however, make no distinction between such weak banks and
the really sound ones. All put forth their issues under legislative sanc­
tion, and the public relying upon what is thus accredited, esteem all alike
sound—-in fact, surrender all judgment of their own respecting it, and
place full reliance in the sanction the public authorities have given to
its issue.
In this way, by means of legislative charters, bills emitted by banks
without capital enjoy almost equal credit with those of solid resources, until
something turns up to destroy the public confidence. A dozen men who
are not worthy of credit for a single dollar, and who individually could not
obtain credit for that amount, by some means become possessed of a char­
ter, and thus collectively obtain unlimited credit. By means of a charter,
a number of nothings are manufactured into something. The circulation
they obtain is palmed off upon the unwary and ignorant: after which
comes the catastrophe, involving loss to the public, and shaking confidence
in all banking institutions.
The state of New York has tried a system of free banking—how it will
work, remains to he proved. The system we think is faulty in principle ;
but it is certain that it requires more character and more credit to estab­
lish a free bank, than it ever required to set up a chartered bank. Men
of straw, and mushroom speculators, do not establish them, because the
public will not take their bills. Some such were started when the system
was first established, and the bills passed at distant points, because the
public was wedded to the idea that all bank issues were made by legisla­
tive authority: as soon as it was discovered to be otherwise, they dropped
out of circulation. A free bank now, without real capital, and honest
managers, cannot get bills enough into circulation to pay for their engraving.
There can be no reason given why the two branches of banking busi­
ness, lending money and receiving it in deposit, should not be left open
to a competition as free as is allowed to any trade or business whatever.
The issue of bills for circulation, is a branch of the business respecting
which the public have a right to say something; and while we would not
by any means wish it to say too little, we would not have it say too much.
The public use the bank notes as the representative of specie, and have a
right to say they shall be fully equal to specie in every respect. And as
v o t,. v . — n o . i,




5

34

The Theory o f Banking.

it is not convenient for a man in Providence to go to Hartford, Albany,
Portland, or Montpelier, to get his specie, and as others will not go without compensation, therefore these issues shall all be redeemed in Boston
or New York. Money in either of those places, is money everywhere ;
and whatever will command money in those places, will command it in
any part of the country that trades with them. The public have a right
to require security for their redemption, beyond the character of the issu­
ers for wealth and character, to be deposited at the place of redemption—
not in mortgages, requiring months or years for their conversion—nor in
stocks, half or the whole of which may evaporate in the day of trial, but
in real cash for a certain proportion to the circulation, and substantial se­
curities, of an active character, for the remainder.
The issues being redeemed at a fixed point, to which they naturally tend,
it becomes at once the interest of every bank to collect and send there the
bills of all other banks. They are wanted to redeem their own bills.
Each bank, having its own circle to supply, is jealous of any intrusion; and
no sooner does a foreign note cross the line, than it is instantly seized
upon, and sent on its way homeward, by way of the point of redemption.
The business of banking being free, the number of banks would some­
what increase in some sections of the country, and probably diminish in
others. Banks to issue notes would, as they came into existence, be addi­
tional watchers of the whole currency. Each bank would gain for itself,
if possible, a circle to be supplied by its issues. In so doing, it would, to
that extent, narrow the circles of all others ; while the public would watch
over all. The notes could only circulate in the circle where they were
well known. The moment they get out of it they fall into the track which
carries them immediately to the place of redemption.
The laws regulating the rate of interest must be repealed. It is not
enough to say they are useless. They are a positive injury to the whole
community. They restrict the natural flow of the currency, and promote
unsteadiness in trade. The sooner we do away with them the better.
Congress must enact a general bankrupt law, to apply not only to indi­
viduals but corporations—at least, to all banking institutions. The cur­
rency must be kept convertible, at every hazard. This principle must be
adhered to, and never deviated from, upon any consideration of expediency
whatever. Therefore, every institution issuing currency, to say the least,
should, on finding itself unable to keep in step, stand out of the ring, and
settle up its affairs.
Let the banking system be based upon these principles, and the currency
never could become redundant. The money market might become tight,
and money scarce. The rate of interest would test that. But the moment
the foreign exchanges, which are the test of the currency, began to rise, and
a demand for specie be made on the central point, it would be felt by every
bank in the country, redeeming there, as certainly as a touch of the heart is
felt through every artery of the system. And in the requisite curtailment to
reduce the currency to its level, every bank would bear its exact proportion.
Not, indeed, its exact proportion in the ratio the circulation of each bank
bears to the whole currency, but in proportion as the business of the bank
and the section of the country dependent on it, had been unduly extended.
An agricultural district would not be compelled to curtail much; some dis­
tricts, perhaps, not at a ll; while districts dependent upon commerce would
be drawn upon more heavily.




The Theory o f Banking.

35

Those districts of the country which contain the greatest amount of curreney in the shape of deposits would be subjected to the heaviest draft.
A contraction of the currency usually falls upon this part of it. The
amount of bank notes does not differ at different times so materially as the
amount of deposits. They are the same as circulation in all respects, ex­
cept form. The two are convertible into each other, at the pleasure of the
holder; and the possessor of one can do nothing which cannot be done by
the possessor of the other.
We are aware of much difference of opinion upon this subject among
well-informed m en; but, after careful examination and much reflection, we
can come to no other conclusion than what we have here briefly expressed,
which is, that they are the sam e; and that he would be an improvident
legislator indeed, who should attempt to manage a currency upon any other
theory.
The Suffolk Bank system, which prevails in New England, is founded
essentially upon the principles we have laid down. Whether it was set on
foot after a diligent examination of these principles, we know n o t; nor do
we know who was its originator: but certain it is that some Boston man
deserves the credit of bringing into existence the most perfect system of
banking ever yet devised. Experience for seventeen years has proved it
to be as nearly perfect as any system can probably ever be. It is self-acting.
It needs no regulator, for it regulates itself. Amid all the convulsions
that have occurred within a few years, New England has weathered the
storm better than any other section of the country. Banks in New England
seldom fail; and, probably, would never fail, if it were not for the charter­
ing system—if they were allowed to spring into being under some general
law, as the wants of the public required, and the public left to form their
own opinion of the character of their proprietors for honesty and ability.
The banks that have failed in New England since this system went into
operation have, in almost all instances, been established under authority
of charters granted to irresponsible persons ; or, if granted to men of
character, have been bought up and controlled by those who have used
them as mere engines for speculating on the community.
We gather from the returns of the banks in the New England states,
that have been published from time to time and have been within our reach,
facts that demonstrate our theory to be the correct one ; and, probably,
the only theory in the world fortified satisfactorily by an experience of a
series of years.
Were our country like England, with a central and independent govern­
ment, and our whole trade turning upon a common centre, like London,
the theory we have advanced could easily be put in practice. The Eng­
lish government might now save all further trouble, by requiring all the
banks in the kingdom to redeem at the Bank of England. Instead, then,
of inquiring how to construct a regulator for the banks, either by a govern­
ment bank of issue, or otherwise, they would have a perfect self-regulating
system. Were it not that they have approximated towards this system,
by allowing the country banks to redeem in Bank of England notes, the
English currency would long ago have been as “ deranged” as our own.
In our own country, the case is materially different. Our government
is of a character so mixed, and power is so divided between national and
state sovereignties, each claiming to possess powers in relation to the crea­
tion of banks, which, if exercised, tend to nullify the other, and the states




30

The Theory o f Banking.

differing from each other in their views so far, that any scheme requiring
the co-operation and assent of all, might at once be set down as one which
could not possibly be carried into effect.
The currency of the country is a currency of bank paper ; and, in its
present state, admitted by everybody to be sadly imperfect, in many
parts of the country irredeemable, and therefore such as the government
cannot possibly countenance by receiving it.
The government cannot, however, confine itself to metallic money only.
The experiment may be said to have been fairly tried ; and however easy
to be carried into effect in theory, in practice it has been found impossible
to receive and collect the public money and transact the public business
without the intervention of bank paper. A currency exclusively metallic
is found too expensive, and the necessity for economizing in the use of it
is absolute.
If the government must use paper, whose paper shall it use ? That of
state banks ? They have repeatedly proved dangerous depositories, and
ought never to be used again. Even if founded upon the credit of the
states, they have proved no better than banks under ordinary charters.
The funds of the government should not be trusted in individual hands.
There is but one alternative. The government will probably find it ne­
cessary to have a bank for itself.
Our remarks have reached an almost unreasonable length, and yet, to
go into the subject of a national bank would require more space than we
have already occupied. W e shall therefore content ourselves with giving
a general outline of such an institution as would comport with the princi­
ples we have endeavored to illustrate :
It would of course be so far owned and controlled by government, as
that the public, through the government, should have such a knowledge of
its concerns as could be given by the most regular and perfect publicity.
Yet it should be so far independent of the government that it could be
managed free from its control, and with all the skill and judgment that
could be introduced by a body of private stockholders.
It should be placed at the commercial centre of the country—New
York.
Its capital should be small, so as easily to regulate itself; and yet large
enough to inspire confidence in its stability—but not large enough to un­
dertake the regulation of other banks.
Its capital should be invested in solid securities for the most part, that
its means might not in a floating shape be perverted to advance the inter­
ests of a few individuals ; yet of a character which in times of pressure
would draw the money of capitalists to its aid in case of unforeseen emer­
gency.
Its funds derived from circulation and deposits, to be invested solely in
domestic bills of exchange and specie.
In its business of receiving and disbursing the government funds, and
selling and collecting its exchanges, it could receive the notes o f all solvent
hanks, and return them homefo r redemption.
By means of branches judiciously distributed at different points of the
country, it would in this way bring the currency into the most perfect
working. No banks would long continue to pay specie at home, when
they could redeem in the notes of other banks at some common point, and
motives of self-interest would, in a very little time, lead every bank in the




The Progress o f American Commerce.

37

country to redeem at the national bank, or one of its branches: the
branches turning upon their centre; and by this compound movement the
whole currency be brought into a most perfect system of self-regulation.
The large deposits made to effect these redemptions would be profitable
to the bank ; the regularity of redemption favorable to the state banks,
and a strong motive furnished every issuing body to continue its redemp­
tion, because of the instant discredit sure to follow a failure.
If the currency became redundant it would be instantly perceived, and
as quickly remedied. And the power to do so existing, it could not fail to
be exercised, for though money became scarce and the rate of interest
high, yet, as we have before said, the currency should he preserved, what­
ever might he the consequences.
Without entering into the subject at greater length or more minutely,
we submit our observations to the reader. W e do not pretend to have
presented any thing very new, but have merely endeavored to set forth
what we think a proper application of well-known principles. If in our
views we are right, the good sense of the reader will easily discover it, and
will as easily point out our errors if we are wrong.
We are well aware that when new views upon any subject are brought
before the public, or when old and established principles are illustrated,
so as to give them an application different from that which accords with
the current of public sentiment, the degree of attention paid to the views
of the writer corresponds almost exactly with the reputation he may have
acquired in the public estimation. For our part, as we wish in the present
case that our views may be tried upon their merits, and stand or fall as
they may prove to be well or ill founded, without reference on the part of
the public to the character or standing of the promulgator, we write
anonymously.

A r t . III.— T H E PROGRESS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE.
I n entering upon so wide and fruitful a subject as the commerce of the
United States, we are naturally led to go back to its original condition,
and to trace its progress, step by step, to its present state. Within a pe­
riod of less than two centuries, it has grown to an importance that is now
second to that of Great Britain alone; and its rapid advance exhibits, more
prominently than any other national interest, the extraordinary enterprise
of the American people, developed in great measure, and fostered by the
spirit of our government.
During the early period of our colonial existence, when the extensive
territory which now constitutes the domain of the United States was sub­
ject to the jurisdiction of foreign powers, it was controlled by that arbi­
trary colonial policy which formerly characterized the nations of Europe,
and more particularly the British empire. Although the country possessed
a fertile soil, prolific in all the resources of agricultural wealth, with navi­
gable rivers running from the heart of the country to the seaboard—thus
furnishing channels of navigation from the greater portion of the interior
to the frontier—and its shores were then, as now, washed throughout
nearly their entire borders by the ocean, that great highway of nations;




38

The Progress o f American Commerce.

the few feeble settlements which had been made by the English, the
French, and the Dutch, from Louisburg to Florida, and from Boston to
the banks of the Mississippi, were crippled by burdensome legislation, and
made tributary to the parent governments abroad. This was especially
true of the colonial establishments which were planted upon what now
comprises the territory of the eastern states, first colonized by England,
and those of the French, westward from the shores of the great lakes.
These establishments were themselves the dependencies of their respect­
ive mother countries, which viewed them with but little interest, excepting
so far as they contributed to the wealth of the parent government. The
English emigrants of the east, planted upon a soil uninviting for the most
part, were prohibited by the parliament of Great Britain from engaging in
those branches of industry which might compete with foreign labor; and
the French government, which it is well known, previous to 1760, held
the greater portion of the western states, confined the energies of the set­
tlers to the adventures of the fur trade, which poured its cargoes into the
port of Marseilles, instead of the cultivation of the soil. The policy of
the two colonial establishments was moreover controlled by royal govern­
ors, resident in the colonies, and linked to the interest of their respective
monarchs ; and with such encumbrances, it could hardly be expected that
either portion of the country should have made very rapid advances in the
national enterprises which might have contributed to the commercial
strength of those settlements.
With so sparse a population as the country then contained, being estima­
ted as late as 1700 at only 260,000, and pressed down by such legislation, it
is not to be supposed that the people should have advanced to any considera­
ble growth in the interest of commerce. The few provisions which were
raised from agriculture, and the product of the fisheries, together with the
lumber, and the tobacco of Virginia and Maryland, the principle staple of
those colonies, the last constituting nearly one third part of the total ex­
ports of the country, before the revolution, comprised the great bulk of
our trade. Had the emigrants indeed been disposed to supply the adja­
cent territories with the products of their industry, they would have been
unable to do so, in consequence of the commercial restrictions enforced
upon the manufacturing interest by the mother country. Yet notwith­
standing the despotic legislation of the parent government, we find the in­
dustry of the people early devoted, in some measure, to shipbuilding—an
interest which soon attracted the attention of the British crown. Manu­
factures had already excited their jealousy, and why should the colonists
be permitted to build ships that might operate as the agents of their com­
merce, since Great Britain had herself undertaken the business of supply­
ing the colonists with the products required from abroad ? But the emi­
grants who had settled upon the barren and rocky region of the New
England seacoast, cut off in great measure from the pursuits of agricul­
ture, were induced to direct their attention to commerce and navigation,
and soon manifested a remarkable aptitude for the art of shipbuilding.
The success of the colonists in this respect, soon awakened the jealousy
of the mother country, and as early as 1670, Sir Joshua Child declared,
“ Of all the American plantations, his majesty has none so apt for the
building of shipping as New England, nor none comparably so qualified
for the breeding of seamen, not only by reason of the natural industry of
the people, but principally by reason of their cod and mackerel fisheries ;




39

The Progress o f American Commerce.

and in my opinion there is nothing more prejudicial, and in prospect more
dangerous to any mother kingdom, than the increase of shipping in her
colonies, plantations, and provinces.” * But notwithstanding this jealousy
on the part of the British crown, the amount of colonial tonnage which
entered the provinces of what now constitutes the United States, from the
year 1770 to the year 1771, was 331,644, and the amount cleared at the
same time was 351,686. In this view of the early condition of American
commerce, it may be interesting to exhibit the several proportions which
were then owned by individuals. It is stated, that in order to save the du­
ties, light money, and expenses, the tonnage was put down at less than a
third of its actual amount; and accordingly the amount of tonnage em­
ployed in the colonial trade, may be fixed at about three hundred thou­
sand. In order to show the proportions which were said to have been
owned by different individuals, we here append the following table. It
will be recollected that this tonnage was owned partly by British mer­
chants, partly by merchants occasionally residing in this country, and
partly by colonists who were citizens, and in the following proportions:
Proportion belonging to Proportion belonging to Proportion belonging to
British Merchants re­ British Merchants oc­ native colonist inhab­
casionally resident in itants.
sident in Europe.
the colonies.

New England,
New York,
Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Virginia,
North Carolina,
S. Carolina & Georgia,

l-8th,
3-8ths,
3-8ths,
l-8th,
2-8ths,
2-8ths,

1-8th,
3-8ths,
2-8ths,
6-8ths,
5-8ths,
5-8ths,

6-8ths,
3-8ths,
3-8ths,
l-8th,
l-8th,
l-8th.

The amount entered and cleared in the several colonies, during the
same year, we here subjoin.
Ent’d tons. Cl’d tons.

New Hampshire,
Massachusetts,
Rhode Island,
Connecticut,
New York,
Pennsylvania,

15,362
65,271
18,667
19,223
25,539
50,901

20,192
70,284
20,661
20,263
26.653
49.654

Ent’d tons. Cl’d tons.

Maryland,
Virginia,
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Georgia,

30,477
44,803
20,963
29,504
9,914

33,474
45,179
21,490
32,031
10,604

The business of shipbuilding was indeed deemed a profitable branch of
industry in the colonies of New England, fifty ships being sold annually to
the parent country. The ordinary mode of proceeding was, to freight
these ships with lumber and provisions, and to send them to the West
Indies, at whose ports they were laden with W est India produce for Great
Britain, where they were sold, and thus became a profitable remittance for
British manufactures. During the following year, 1772, there were one
hundred and eighty-two vessels built in the colonies, whose total tonnage
was twenty-six thousand five hundred and forty-four; of which one hun­
dred and twenty-three, comprising eighteen thousand one hundred and




* See Pitkin, p. 344.

40

The Progress o f American Commerce.

forty-nine tons, were built in New England, fifteen in New York, one in
New Jersey, eight in Pennsylvania, eight in Maryland, seven in Virginia,
three in North Carolina, two in South Carolina, and in Georgia five. The
actual condition of American trade and commerce prior to the revolution
cannot be accurately ascertained. The regulations of the customhouse
had not been thoroughly organized, and were seldom published; besides
which, the returns that were sometimes made in London appear to have
been imperfect. We here subjoin, however, the best report which has
been furnished of the commerce of the New England colonies previous to
the year 1776, commencing with that of 1697. It could hardly be ex­
pected, where the population was so scanty and labor was so crippled, that
the amount of its commerce should have been very great, yet we
shall perceive that notwithstanding these disadvantages, the colonial enter­
prise gradually increased from year to year, until it broke forth like the
eagle, which hursts his cage and spreads his wings for the shores of the
remotest sea.
Value o f the exports and imports o f the colonies o f New England, prior to
the revolution :
Year.

Exports.

1697
1698
1699
1700
1710
1720
1730
1740

£26,282
31,254
26,660
41,486
31,112
49,206
54,701
72,389

bnports.

£68,468
93,517
127,279
91,916
106,338
128,769
208,196
171,081

Year.

Exports.

1750
1760
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776

£48,455
37,802
150,381
126,265
124,624
112,248
116,588
762

Imports.

£343,659
599,647
1,420,116
824,830
527,055
562,476
71,625
55,050

It will he perceived from the above table that the imports from Great
Britain into the colonies during the few years immediately preceding the
American revolution, were greater, to a considerable amount, than they
had been before that period, and Lord Brougham, in his “ Colonial policy
o f the European Powers,” attributes this fact to the probable occurrence
of the revolution. “ It appears from the customhouse books,” says this
writer, “ that the average exportation to the colonies, now forming the
United States, in the years 1771, 1772, and 1773, amounted to £3,064,843,
and in 1784 it was £3,359,864. Yet the Americans imported more
than their usual quantity during the years immediately preceding the
• rebellion,’ because they were preparing themselves for their non-im­
portation agreements, and during the first years of peace we cannot sup­
pose that the British capital, which had been seeking different employments
while the war lasted, should all at once find its way into the old channel.”*
The early staples of export from the colonies of the United States were
principally the furs and peltry which abounded in the forests, whale oil,
derived from the hazardous enterprise of that species of the fisheries which
was early carried on from the northern ports of New England, and also
lumber, rosin, tar, pitch, turpentine, derived from North Carolina, where
* See An Enquiry into the Colonial Policy of the European Powers.
Brougham, Jr., Esq., vol, X. p. 262.




By Henry

The Progress o f American Commerce.

41

they are produced to a great extent at the present time, and tobacco,
as well as naval stores. Besides these articles, ginseng, oak bark, and
other dyes, furnished important objects of commerce. Rice, which was
one of the early products of South Carolina, and formed the chief support
of its original settlers, was also shipped from its ports, to the amount of
one hundred and sixty thousand barrels, in 1770. The various kinds of
lumber wrought into the proper forms for ships and houses, as well as bar­
rels, formed materials of considerable value abroad, transported as they
were from a wilderness in which they were abundant; and during the
year 1770, the total value of this species of product exported, was
$886,588. The value of the exportations of tar and pitch was also deem­
ed so great, that in consequence of the attempt by the Pitch and T ar Com­
pany of Sweden, which had before supplied Great Britain, to raise the
price of these articles, by prohibiting their exportation except in the company’s ships, Great Britain was induced to encourage their production in
this country, by granting a bounty of £ 4 per ton on the importation of tar
and pitch, and £ 3 per ton upon the importation of rosin and turpentine
from the American colonies ;* and that bounty was so advantageous, that
during the same year the value of the export of these articles was $144,000,
that of furs and peltry during this year exported from the country, inclu­
ding Canada, was $670,000, while that of pot and pearl ashes was
$290,000—a society having been instituted in London, in 1671, which
offered large premiums for the production of the last-named articles, and
published treatises respecting the best mode of their manufacture, which
were widely circulated throughout the colonial settlements. A substan­
tial profit was also derived to the colonies from the cod fishery, which,
from the earliest colonization of the country, constituted an important ob­
ject of commerce to the provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts ;
a traffic, which, prior to the revolution, annually employed four thousand
American seamen, twenty-eight thousand tons of shipping, and produced
three hundred and fifty thousand quintals of fish, then valued at more than
a million of dollars. This fishery was prosecuted principally upon the
banks of Newfoundland, the French, and subsequently the English,
claiming the exclusive right of fishing in that region, in consequence of
their owning the adjacent coast. Nor was the whale fishery an-unimpor­
tant species of traffic, carried on as it was by a portion of hardy adven­
turers from the northern coast of New England, a kind of enterprise which
we have before described.
Such as we have endeavored to portray it, was the condition of our co­
lonial commerce previous to the American revolution, an event which cast
a gloom over the whole country, paralyzing the mercantile enterprise of
the nation, and converting the ploughshare into the sword, and the prun­
ing hook into the spear, throughout its length and breadth. It must natu­
rally have been supposed that but little of the foreign commerce of
the American colonies could have traversed the ocean, when its surface
was dotted by the ships of the most formidable maritime power of Europe,
with which we were then at w ar; or that much of domestic trade would
have been prosecuted when a foreign army of a powerful military nation
was invading our shores.
The return of peace, in 1783, found the commercial condition of the
* See the Statute of 3d and 4th Anne.

VOL. V.— NO. I.




6

42

The Progress o f American Commerce.

countiy in a disordered state. The contest with Great Britain, protracted
through the period of seven years, when the colonies were but poorly pre­
pared for war, left the nation in a state of deep and wide-spread suffering.
The national debt was estimated at $42,000,375, the annual interest of
which was $2,415,956. As no funds had been provided for its payment,
it became necessary that congress should organize measures for that ob­
ject. By the original articles of confederation, the power of regulating
the commerce of the country was lodged in the several states, and a re­
commendation of congress was made to the states, as early as 1781, that
the states should delegate to that body the power to levy a duty of five per
cent upon all goods, wares, and merchandise, of foreign growth and man­
ufacture imported, with the exception of certain articles, and the amount
thus raised should be appropriated to the payment of the principal and in­
terest of whatever debts had been contracted, or should be contracted du­
ring the course of the war ; but the recommendation was not complied
with. This suggestion was again pressed upon the attention of congress
upon the 18th of April, 1783, for the purpose of creating funds for the
payment of the national debt; and it was enforced by a cogent address,
drawn up by Oliver Ellsworth, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison,
and which advocated the payment of the interest, at least, of the debt.
But the recommendation met the same fate as the former suggestion.
Public and private credit w ee shaken. The requisition which was made
by congress upon the states to fill the public treasury was not satisfied,
on account of the public embarrassment; the public credit was destroyed,
and the original debt was at length sold for one tenth of its original value.
Upon the conclusion of the war, the country, unprovided with any wellorganized commercial system which might have furnished a solid revenue,
was flooded with foreign importations, which drained the nation of its re­
maining specie; and we are informed from an authentic source,* that du­
ring the two first years after that event, goods to the amount of six mil­
lions of pounds sterling were imported from England. Pressed down by
such embarrassment, the country impoverished by a debt of one hundred
and thirty-five millions of dollars incurred during the war, public credit
gone, private credit impaired, its commerce and shipping nearly ruined,
the dockets of the courts filled with the records of suits brought against
those who before revelled in all the luxuries of life, and who had been the
objects of forbearance while the war was pending, a dark cloud of com­
mercial disaster thickened with a settled gloom over the wan and ghastly
features of the nation; it was soon perceived that a systematic and effi­
cient course of financial policy was necessary to rescue the country from
the misfortune which had overcast its prospects. In consequence of this
state of things, a proposition was made from Virginia for a convention ;
and, in accordance with that proposition, commissioners from the states of
Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, met at Annapolis,
in Maryland, in September of 1786, to take into consideration the trade
and commerce of the United States, and to provide some uniform system
for its regulation. These commissioners did not proceed upon the imme­
diate object of their appointment, but drew up a report and address to
their respective legislatures, in which they suggested the propriety of a
* Pitkin’s Statistics, p. 30th; a work to which we haw been largely indebted for
the materials of the present paper, having often used its own language.




The Progress o f American Commerce.

43

meeting of commissioners from all the states, to be holden in Philadelphia
upon the second Monday in May, 1787, in order to take into consideration
the condition of the country, and to organize some effective system for the
protection of the national interests. This report, and also the address,
were forwarded to the assembly and the executive of the several states
not represented in the convention. A resolution of congress was passed
February 21st, 1787, to the same effect, which, together with the former
recommendation, induced the successful action of the people upon the sub­
ject. A general convention was accordingly held in Philadelphia during
the month of May, 1787, and during September of the following y e a r; a'
new constitution was assented to by the members of the convention, with
General Washington at its head, and being ratified by a majority of the states,
went into operation in March of 1789. With the spirit infused through
the whole circle of American enterprise by that instrument, which was
invested with the power to levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex­
cises, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the seve­
ral states and with the Indian tribes, every branch of industry began to
revive. The fields began to wave with harvests, manufactures began to
attract the attention of the country, and the snowy wings of commerce
were soon seen flying from our ports to every shore.
It would seem that before the adoption of the present constitution and
the establishment of regular customhouses, no accurate data were furnish­
ed of the commerce of the United States; but upon the return of peace,
this commerce was revived, and we have by the English customhouse
books the following account of the direct trade from England to the Uni­
ted States, from 1784 to 1790, according to the valuation of the English
currency.
Years.

Imports.

Exports.

1784
£749,345
£3,679,467
1785
893,594
2,308,023
1786
843,119
1,603,465
1787
893,637
2,009,111
1788
1,023,789
1,886,142
1789
1,050,198
2,525,298
1790
1,191,071
3,431,778
The first congress under the new government directed its powers to the
regulation of the national commerce, foreign ships were excluded from
the coasting trade, and discriminating duties on tonnage were estab­
lished, which gave a preference to our own ships; no regular system
having been established for this object under the old confederation. About
the same time, also, our commercial intercourse with China was com­
menced ; the first vessel for that country having sailed from the port of
New York, in February of 1784, and a complete monopoly of the China
trade was soon given to the American merchant, by the imposition of a
duty of from four to ten cents per pound upon all teas imported in foreign
vessels. The ships of the country now assumed a national flag. Aided
by such legislative assistance, the American tonnage soon swelled to a
great amount, when we consider the space of time, which has been
gradually expanding to the present period. The obvious cause of the
unwillingness on the part of Great Britain to establish a liberal com­
mercial policy towards this country, was the fact that no power existed in
the colonial government previous to the establishment of the constitution




44

The Progress o f American Commerce.

to organize any fixed and uniform laws of trade. The several colonies, al­
though they possessed articles of confederation in which were lodged certain
general powers, had no compact government which could enable them to
pass laws binding upon the whole country for the regulation of its com­
merce. But as soon as the establishment of the constitution invested these
powers in the general government, it was found advisable for our govern­
ment to conform its own policy to the improved political condition of the
country.
From the year 1783 to 1789, the period of the establishment of the
constitution, there are no means of estimating the amount of American
tonnage; but during the latter year, the registered, enrolled, and licensed
tonnage had grown to 201,652. Other circumstances soon occurred to
increase the profits of our national commerce, growing out of the wars in
Europe, immediately succeeding our own revolution. The French gov­
ernment, inflamed by the military genius of Napoleon, after the king had
been beheaded, appears to have set its mark upon the world; and pushing
its conquests into the neighboring territories, arrayed against it a consider­
able portion of Europe. It was the design of this ambitious conqueror
to enlist in his cause the sympathies and the aid of this country ; but the
firm spirit of General Washington took ground against it, and, backed by
the support of the people, successfully maintained a neutrality. In conse­
quence of the neutral stand which was taken by our own government, the
country became the carriers of the greater portion of the world; a fact
which not only increased the shipping of the country to a great extent,
but was the source of a large amount of profit to the nation. The neu­
trality of the country, preserved through successive administrations down
to the year 1807, during which period the old systems of colonial monopoly
were abandoned, threw into our hands the commerce of a considerable
portion of the world; and the spices and sugars of the south, and other
portions of foreign trade, found their way to Europe in American bottoms.
Besides, the extension of the agricultural resources of the nation contrib­
uted in no small degree to that result, as most of our agricultural pro­
ducts commanded at that time a high price in the foreign markets, and the
British colonies were also in the same mode supplied with American pro­
duce. In order to judge correctly of the advance of our commercial interests
at this period, an advance consequent upon that event, it may be stated, that
the increase of the tonnage of the country within a space of fifteen years,
namely, from 1791 to 1807, was unexampled; having reached within that
time the amount of 480,572.
But the commerce of the country occasionally received its checks, not
ofily from the French orders, but also from those of the British, in 1793, which
prohibited the transportation of provisions to any port of France, and re­
stricting our trade with the French West Indies; a policy which would
have at that time created a war, had not the administration of General
Washington effectually brought about a pacific treaty in the negotiation
of Mr. Jay, in 1794, by which the merchants of our own country received
about ten millions of dollars from the British government, in consequence
of the depredations upon our commerce by ships of that nation. The
treaty thus made with the British government, was regarded by France
with much jealousy, insomuch that on its ratification, in 1796, a general
seizure was made of American ships by the decrees of the French direc­
tory ; a measure which brought us into a partially belligerent attitude to­




The Progress o f American Commerce.

45

wards France, a difficulty wliich, however, was soon adjusted by a treaty
made in 1800 with Napoleon, the first consul. During the hostilities
which succeeded, France, Holland, and Spain were driven from the ocean,
and the supplies to these countries were furnished by the neutral ships of
the United States. The part thus borne by our national commerce in the
neutral trade, termed by Great Britain “ an interference,” was naturally
regarded with jealousy by the British monarchy, inasmuch as it prevented
that government from bringing these nations to terms, as had been antici­
pated. The interference certainly threw formidable obstacles in the way
of the British power, being denominated “ war in disguise;” and it was
the boast of a pamphleteer of the day, whose avowed object appears to
have been to inflame the popular passions against the neutral trade, that
“ not a single merchant ship under a flag inimical to Great Britain, now
crosses the equator or traverses the Atlantic ocean.” Under a rule of
1756, it was originally claimed by the British government, that no neutral
could carry on trade with any nation during war, which they were prohib­
ited from prosecuting in time of peace ; and deeming the previous neu­
tral commerce of the United States a mere relaxation of that rule, it was
considered expedient, under existing circumstances, to revive it. Accord­
ing to that determination, an American vessel was, in the month of May,
1805, condemned ; a condemnation that was soon succeeded by that of
others which had been engaged in the same service.
During the succeeding year occurred those well-known Berlin and Mi­
lan decrees by the Emperor Napoleon, in which he declared war against
the commerce of Great Britain, a policy denominated the continental sys­
tem, designed to grasp the dominion of the ocean. They proclaimed the
British islands in a state of blockade, prohibiting all commercial inter­
course with them, ordering the seizure of all British letters in the post-of­
fices which were written in the English language, all British subjects
found within French jurisdiction to be made prisoners of war, all property
belonging to Englishmen lawful prize, condemning all vessels and their car­
goes which had been to England or any of her colonies, and prohibiting
their entrance into any port; “ for,” said the emperor, “ Britain must be
humbled, were it at the expense of throwing civilization back for centu­
ries, and returning to the original mode of trading by barter.” Into this
continental system he soon brought the continental powers to co-operate.
He determined that all neutral and commercial nations should give him
their aid, by uniting with France against Great Britain; and the United
States, he declared, should be his ally or his enemy. This policy, it is
seen, would directly involve the neutral position of the United States ; but
in 1807, the accredited agent was informed that the Berlin decree would
not affect the American commerce, which would be regulated by the ex­
isting treaties subsisting between the two nations. But the decree was
soon extended to this country, the cargo of an American vessel having be­
come confiscated. In opposition to the decree of the French emperor,
the British orders in council were issued, declaring foreign ports in a
state of blockade; and in consequence of the dangers to our commerce
upon the high seas, an embargo was enforced by our government; and
here commenced that series of commercial disasters in which our ships
were seen locked up at our wharves, and the prospects of many of our
merchants became involved in one general wreck. But in 1809 the em­
bargo was raised, and in its place was substituted a non-intercourse law,




46

,

The Progress o f American Commerce.

both with France and Great Britain. Thus affairs continued without any
uniform and settled arrangem ent; the decrees of foreign powers being
from time to time established and revoked, and our own vessels decoyed
into French ports by the policy of Napoleon, until the war of 1812,
which effectually checked, for a time, the commerce of the nation.
On the return of peace, a new era opened upon the auspices of Ameri­
can commerce, by the passage of what may be called the American navi­
gation act, in 1817, modelled somewhat upon that of Great Britain; and
attended with like advantages, conferring important benefits upon the coun­
try. This act established, that after the 30th of September, 1817, no ves­
sel or boat engaged in the fisheries should be entitled to the bounties al­
lowed by law, unless the officers, and at least three fourths of the crew,
should be citizens of the United States, or persons not the subjects of any
foreign prince or state ; and that every vessel employed in the coasting
trade, “ except those going from one state to an adjoining state on the seacoast, or on a navigable river or lake, or going from Long Island, in the
state of New York, to the state of Rhode Island, or from the state of
Rhode Island to Long Island,” should be subject to a duty of fifty cents
per ton, unless three fourths at least of the crew were American citizens,
or persons not the subjects of any foreign prince or state. This act also
declared, that after that time a duty of fifty cents was to be paid upon
every American vessel entering from a foreign port, unless the officers,
and at least two thirds of the crew, should be of the same national charac­
ter during the voyage, with the exception of sickness, desertion, &c., in a
foreign country.* Aided by such a law, together with the increase of
the number of seamen of the country, and the extending population and
enterprise of the nation, our commerce has advanced to its present state."j"
On the termination of the war of 1812, new vigor was infused into every
department of commerce. The colonization of the new states of the west,,
the increase of new subjects of cultivation, especially that of the cotton,
and the augmentation of our population, together with the firm establish­
ment of a compact and well-organized government, affording free scope
to national enterprise of all sorts, tended to advance with rapid strides, not
only the agriculture and the manufactures, but the commerce of the coun­
try ; and it was soon expanded to the principal ports of Great Britain and
France, Cuba and Mexico, Spain and China, Brazil and the Hanse Towns,
Russia and Denmark, Hayti and the Argentine Republic, Sweden, Neth­
erlands, Columbia, Peru, Malta, and Italy, adding large sums to our na­
tional wealth, and augmenting our general comforts. The extent to which
what might have been formerly considered extravagance has been intro­
duced among us, has also tended to benefit the carrying trade of the coun­
try, whatever may have been its influence upon the national wealth; for
it will be remembered, that every article which is used in our own country,
and which is not produced at home, must be imported from abroad. The
obvious tendency of this luxury, doubtless, is to draw from the wealth of
the country in the same proportion that it increases our commerce.
W e have thus taken a rapid view of the political history of American
* See Holt’s Navigation Laws, vol. 1, p. 104, article, “ Navigation Laws of the
United States.”
t See Merchants’ Magazine, vol. 3, 1840, pages 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, and
453 ; also, vol. 4, 1841, pages 193 and 194.




The Progress o f American Commerce.

47

commerce, for the purpose of entering more understanding^ into its present
state ; and it is obvious to remark, that the staples of our commercial ex­
port are wholly derived from agriculture, the forest, the sea, and from
manufactures. As agriculture is the most important branch of our do­
mestic industry, we propose in a brief way, first, to treat of this subject
in reference to the carrying trade. Of late years this interest has grown
upon us to a very great extent, from various causes, to which we shall re­
fer. In the first place, the cultivation of cotton, which has been but re­
cently introduced into the United States, and now constituting a consider­
able part of our foreign exportations, has been spread through a consider­
able portion of our southern states. Besides this important staple, the
source of the greatest wealth to the country of any other of our agricul­
tural products, wide tracts of new land, especially in our western states,
have been brought under cultivation ; and that portion of our territory is
pouring in upon us an immense amount of wheat and other grain, which
are there produced, and either consumed at home or exported abroad.
We may add to this the rice and tobacco, which are supplied by the south
and the southwest, together with the vegetables furnished by the orchard
and the garden, beef, horses, mules, butter, sheep, and other articles which
are derived from stock husbandry and the dairy. Another important
item of our foreign exports, is the products of the forest, the principal
of which are lumber, skins and furs, dyes, bark, pitch, tar, rosin, turpen­
tine, and ginseng, and which comprise the main bulk of our products de­
rived from this source. The fur trade, which formerly prevailed to a
great extent upon the northwestern part of our continent, along the shores
of the great lakes and the Mississippi, and now prosecuted, not only by
individual traders, but by the Hudson’s Bay, and the American Fur Com­
pany— the latter of which now possesses an office in the city of New
York—has been diminished in its profits, we believe, as also in the amount
of the furs which are obtained ; but even at the present time it contributes
no inconsiderable a part to the amount of our American freights, notwith­
standing an extensive quantity is annually shipped by the Hudson’s Bay
Company, from the Columbia, as also from the port of Quebec.
Another source of domestic exportation is derived from the sea, and
among the articles of this character which are furnished for foreign com­
merce, may be mentioned those of whale and spermaceti oil and candles,
cod, mackerel, herring, shad, and salmon, salted and packed in barrels,
which are furnished to foreign countries, besides those which are required
for the home consumption. The whale fishery, to which we have before
alluded, and which was early carried on from our own ports, has of late
years grown to great importance, and has already become as lucrative an
enterprise as is furnished by the country, occupying the shipping of many
of our northern ports. The extent to which the oil is now consumed, and
that, from the increase of our population and the numerous forms of mechan­
ical enterprise which are beginning to be extended among us, is likely to
be augmented, would doubtless furnish a profitable sale to the ship-owners
of this branch of commerce, were it not required abroad. Besides the
oil, which is thus used to a great extent, it is deemed a sufficient object to
export the whalebone, which is used in various forms of manufacture.
The products of our manufacturing enterprise also constitute another
grand branch of our domestic exportation; and by manufacture, we mean
not merely the cotton and woollen cloths which are derived from our fac­




43

The Progress o f American Commerce.

tories, but all the articles wrought by the trades. Although the manufac­
turing interest of this country is but yet in its germ, still, considering the
period in which our attention has been devoted to this subject, we have
certainly made advances in this interest which are unequalled by those of
any foreign nation. A period of fifty years has scarcely elapsed since
the attention of the country has been seriously called to that object, or the
nature of the government would permit any effective legislative action for
its protection ; and yet we have arrived to so great perfection even in this
respect, that we have already not only furnished foreign nations with a
considerable portion of its products, but in those which were of the great­
est practical utility, we have supplied models even for England, being
second to that country alone in the amount of our manufacturing enterprise.
W ith such a territory as we possess, containing agricultural and manufac­
turing resources such as are enjoyed by no other nation, and settled by a
people who are by our political constitution invested with a scope and mo­
tive for action that are furnished by no other nation upon the earth, we look
forward with certain hope of a glorious destiny for our commerce. The
resources of the soil, the character of our people, marked by a genius for
trade, and our navigable advantages, all point to the period when our com­
mercial flag shall wave in all parts of the earth, thus carrying to every
nation the blessings of religion, liberty, knowledge, and civilization.
We turn from this view of the exports of the country to a consideration
of the various articles which are imported from abroad, and it must be
admitted that there is ground for amazement at the amount that is required
by the growing extravagance of the people. Indeed, the influence of
commerce, while it has been in many respects beneficial, has brought with
it a taste for those luxurious habitudes of life which may perhaps more
properly belong to an older nation, and that were unknown to our fore­
fathers. This extraordinary extravagance which has thus crept in upon
the country, outrunning the means of the people, has been expanded to
greater extent according as money was abundant, and infusing itself into
all the departments of pleasure and business, has been witnessed in various
forms, not only in our domestic establishments, but also in our equipage,
dress, and amusements. We have decorated our houses with all the
adornments of taste gathered from foreign commerce, and proportioned
our other expenses to a scale which the former facilities of credit would
permit. And what has been the necessary consequence of this state of
things? It has been just what may always be expected, in the end, of
those who live beyond their means. Pay day comes sooner or later.
The claim is lodged with the attorney, and either the property of the
debtor must respond to the judgment which is obtained, or be assigned
in mass to pay the debt. We doubt not that such has been the career of
hundreds during the mercantile revulsions of the last few years, which have
swept away in one general wreck thousands of our most enterprising citi­
zens. The importer has sold to the jobber, the jobber to the retail mer­
chant, and the retail merchant to the purchasers scattered over the country,
each successively dependent upon the other for payment. But as the
time has never arrived in which this payment could be made, the result
has been that the articles purchased, although they are consumed, have
not been paid for to this day, if we are rightly informed.
We have entered into this view of the subject for the purpose of touch­
ing a question incidental to that of importations, namely, the measure of




\

The Progress o f American Commerce.

49

luxury in our own country inducing so great an amount. Even in the
articles of silks and satins, laces, velvets, merinoes, and other fabrics of
that kind, what a vast quantity must be annually expended, as well as in
those finer broadcloths which are worn here by the other sex ! Now we
do not mean to maintain that the use of such articles is not to be encour­
aged, as we hold that every matter of taste should be. No person, cer­
tainly, could be a friend to labor, who would wish to see all arrayed in
homespun ; because it is the consumption of the various articles of manu­
facture which furnishes the market for its productions : but it is equally
true, that, while in dress, as well as in other species of expenditure, we
have as a nation gone beyond our means, we should endeavor to preserve
that golden track, which we hold in all opinions and all action ever lies
between the extremes ! While we indulge in those elegancies and inno­
cent enjoyments which throw a charm over the barren track of this work­
ing-day world, ought we not to avoid the excesses of expenditure which
have sunk many thousands of families in ruin, and many a stout heart in
the darkness and despair of blasted hopes ?
In taking a broad survey of the domestic commerce of the country, we
are impressed with the beautiful variety of resources which is unfolded
by the soil and climate of its different parts. What an animating pros­
pect is spread before the mind in the contemplation of the commercial
industry which is acting upon the different portions of our wide empire,
and what a vast amount of physical force is now operating in furnishing
the materials of trade, as well as in its prosecution ! We turn to the north,
and we find the manufactures of that section of the territory supplying
with its fabrics not only the south and west, but furnishing foreign coun­
tries with their products. The west, from its broad resources, returns in
exchange its cargoes of wheat and other grains, which are sent down
through the western rivers and lakes, supplying the wants of those who do
not enjoy the advantages of so fertile a soil. The unbroken wilderness
stretching towards the Pacific is sending its freights of rich furs and pel­
try to our own ports through the same channels, or packing them in the
vessels which are from time to time moored in the Columbia and other
streams of the Pacific, in order to their transportation abroad. The fields
of the south and southwest are burdened with the abundant harvests of the
cotton and tobacco plant, the sugar cane, and the rice field, which are
transported to the north or to foreign countries, annually augmenting the
amount of our national wealth. The seacoast is sprinkled with the ships
which levy tribute upon the ocean for its aquatic tribes, from the mackerel
that flashes in its depths like a bar of silver, to the whale that lashes it like
the tempest. The ports which stud our Atlantic frontier are made the
great reservoirs of commerce, through which are distributed to every part
of the nation the comforts and even the luxuries of distant climes, all con­
tributing to adventurous industry, and all adding to the grand aggregate
of human power.
Turning from a consideration of our domestic trade, we look abroad
upon the ocean, and there we find our commerce floating from the ice­
bergs of Greenland to the burning sands of the African desert— from the
marble pillars of the Acropolis and the walls of China, to the wigwams of
the remotest savage upon the north Pacific and the snow huts of the Es­
quimaux. Its sails are filled by the blasts of the polar sky, and the zephyr
that breathes upon the sunny fields and crumbling columns of Italy. It
VOL. v.— n o . i .
7




50

Maryland, and its Resources.

stoves its freights in the ports of Liverpool and Marseilles, or takes in its
olives and maccaroni by the side of the Venetian gondolier; everywhere
increasing the amount of human knowledge, and acting as the agent of
that liberty which is destined ultimately to brighten upon the world. The
commerce of our own country, advancing with such rapid growth, and to
such an influence as it now exhibits, is destined to perform an important
part in those benevolent plans which mark the present age. It has been
nurtured under the auspices of sound principles, which are interwoven
with the structure of our American society; and while it seeks wealth by
fair and honorable means, we doubt not that it will in the end give back
'' by a bountiful Providence,
te condition of mankind.

A rt. IV.—MARYLANDTMfB-HFTS RESOURCES.
T hat which is esteemed an article of merchandise in one country is by
no means such in another; and such is the case in reference to different
sections of the same country. Commercial men are aware of these truths,
without their being specified. Whenever an article is available, and can
be transferred to market upon such terms as will cover the expense of
transportation, however small may be the profits, realized, it then consti­
tutes an article of merchandise, and becomes one of the resources, either
naturally or acquired, but in either case commercially, of such place. And
such resources are denominated great, in proportion as the demand for
them exists, and as the expense becomes inconsiderable in getting them to
market, compared to the great profits realized. Such resources as are
indispensable to subsistence are usually considered, as in fact they are, of
paramount importance among all other classes of merchandise; and if in
making up a cargo luxuries can be safely introduced, it is sometimes of
advantage : for merchants prefer generally consigning their cargoes
where they are the more likely to have their orders filled with as little
delay as possible ; and such districts usually have communication opened
with points in the interior, from which such supplies as vvill constitute a
return freight for the merchant are received, or the trade is incomplete, or
not mutual.
Baltimore is the only port of entry of note in the state of Maryland, and
is situated at the head of an estuary of the Patapsco river, from twelve to
fifteen miles west of the Chesapeake Bay, and about one hundred and
eighty miles southeasterly from Cape Henry. The port is approachable
at all seasons; and even in winter the navigation is kept open by the aid
of two powerful steam ice-breakers and tow-boats, which are always in
readiness for active service; and ships of the largest class, as the charts
will show, can enter the harbor, and load or unload alongside the wharves,
the water being twenty feet, and off the wharves at Canton twenty-six feet
deep. The internal improvements of the state are of great importance,
as tending each successive year to develop new resources, and attach to
them a real value which previously existed only in a warm imagination.
The canals and railroads will, ere long, it is to be hoped, have reached
the mineral and forest regions, as they are already approximating them,




Maryland, and its Resources.

51

insomuch that companies and individuals are already incited to acts of en­
terprise, as will be shown in the course of this article.
The soil of the state, except in a few portions of it, is well adapted to
agriculture; the numerous never-failing streams, with gradual falls at
suitable distances, particularly in the vicinity of Baltimore, for manufac­
tures ; and for commercial pursuits, having reference to the advantages
before enumerated, Maryland is not excelled by any state in the Union.
The great American Mediterranean sea, whose borders she skirts, will be
a wall of defence about her in time of war, as an invading foe would
scarcely dare withdraw himself so far from the ocean-field, in this im­
proved age of invention, lest his retreat might be intercepted when he
found it necessary to “ about ship
and the bosom of that sea will in
early after-time waft treasures upon it, that whether in the character of im­
ports or exports, they will add to her riches. Nature has incontestibly
provided for this result; and the founders of Baltimore, not that any thing
like prescience is to be ascribed to them as regards the state of improve­
ments as they exist even at -present, so located it, that it becomes, a point
of concentration, from whence again all the travel diverges, if economy
as to distance be considered, whether the direction be from north to south
or east to west, and vice versa. The near proximity of the seat of the na­
tional government is no drawback upon, but adds to her value ;—and
should congress in its wisdom authorize the establishment of a national
bank, where is there a city, all matters in reference to other banks and
places considered, more eligible and safe for the parent, than Baltimore ?
Nearly all the great prominent agricultural productions of the United
States are grown in Maryland, except cotton,* sugar,j- and rice, and each
year further developments are made in reference to some exotics. If
there were agricultural societies and fairs held, as in some of the eastern
states, where the choice productions of the earth could be exhibited, and
competent persons appointed to pronounce upon them, and award premi­
ums, it would act as a great stimulant to enterprise, aside from the profits
immediately resulting to the grower. So with live-stock of all descrip­
tions : but these subjects are somewhat neglected by the present tillers of
the soil, and those of politics have to too great an extent usurped their
places. Some fifteen or twenty years since, when Maryland was luxuri­
ating in a more palmy sunshine of favors than at present, such exhibitions
were then not unfrequent, and •politics slept; there may be a recurrence
of a similar prosperous period. Corn, wheat, and oats thrive kindly in
every county ; but the crop of wheat did not exceed an average one last
year. Rye is not so generally cultivated, and the western counties appear
more congenial to its growth, although the yield in two or three of the
southern was respectable in the year 1839. Buckwheat, barley, and pulse
are not so specially attended to. The yield of flaxseed is only middling,
* Some efforts have been made to introduce the culture of cotton, but their continu­
ance will probably be found a waste of time.
t A company has been formed, and a year or two since preparations were made-to
commence operations in making sugar from the beet, as the land is very favorable in
many places for its culture, and particularly along some of the shores of the Chesapeake
Bay; but recently the enterprise appears to have been suspended. It may possible be
resumed next year. Small parcels of maple sugar are made in Allegany county, say 30
to 40,000 pounds annually, but not probably as an article of merchandise.




52

,

Maryland and its Resources.

compared with that of other grains. Potatoes are of excellent flavor, and
the crops fair, but not sufficiently large to supply the consumptive demand.
Small parcels of the sweet are to be met with in the Baltimore market,
brought chiefly from the southern or eastern shore counties. Hay is the
growth of the western shore counties, and consists chiefly of timothy,
with some clover ; but the quantity made never exceeds the home demand.
The same counties are better adapted to the growth of fruit—apples and
peaches in particular ; some of which are very fine and most deliciously
flavored. Melons, in their greatest varieties, are grown in all the counties.
Tobacco, one of the principal staples of export of the United States, is
cultivated in eleven counties of the twenty of this state; but mostly in
Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s, Anne Arundel, and Mont­
gomery—in the first-named county over 9,000,000 pounds in 1S39 ; and
in the latter five, over 12,000,000. Each county is more or less favor­
able for raising good stocks of horses, mules, neat cattle, sheep, and swine.
Of any of the other counties, that of Frederick excels ; the returns by the
marshals amounting to 11,259 horses and mules, 24,933 cattle, 26,309
sheep, and 54,049 swine. [Here it may not be out of place to remark,
that the bacon cured in this county will generally command from one
quarter to one half cent per pound more in the Baltimore market, than the
same description of any other western.] All the counties contribute proportionably the yield of wool, which is not large ; the stock of the state
not exceeding 500,000 pounds per annum : of' this quantity, however, as
well as of butter and cheese, Frederick is the largest contributor, that of
wool amounting to 59,000 pounds. All the counties are well wooded
and timbered, with descriptions peculiar to the middle states. Of the
most conspicuous for fuel, are the various species of oak, hickory, beech,
and dogwood—the first selling usually in the Baltimore market, in all sea­
sons, from $4 to $5 50 per cord ; and the three latter at $5 to $7. Pine
abounds plentifully ; but the white and pitch, the first well known in the
eastern states, and the latter in North Carolina, are not among the species
here. In the western parts of this state terminates, except a small portion
of the Allegany mountains in Virginia, the boundary on the south of the
growth of the hemlock tree, so common in the New England states, where
its bark is use for tanning. There is no better oak timber for shipbuild­
ing, aside from the live-oak, than this state produces ; and much of it is
easy of access. The celebrated dam across the Kennebec river at Au­
gusta, in Maine, was built of oak timber cut from lands in Baltimore
county, near to one of the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, through
which a canal to connect Havre-de-Grace, the head of tide water in the
bay, is now much needed, and to obtain a charter for which efforts are at
this time making, or were at the last session of the legislature. Cedar
and locust are likewise abundant in some portions of the lower counties;
where they are purchased, and with the oak taken to the eastern states,
and used freely in shipbuilding. Considerable parcels of cedar and locust
are also shipped to different points to aid in the construction of railroads.
The shores of the Chesapeake Bay are well indented with navigable
streams, extending back, some of them, to a considerable distance, inso­
much that great facilities for coastwise navigation are afforded ; in this
manner much wood, lumber, bark, grain, live-stock, &c., the growth of the
state, are taken to other markets, of which not a correct estimate can be
formed, and therefore none will be hazarded.




53

Maryland, and its Resources.

The coal region is at present one of the unproductive portions of the
state, and the most prominent adverted to about the commencement of
this communication. It lies principally in Allegany county, and is mostly
of the bituminous description. The expense already incurred in providing
means for bringing it to market, by opening a canal from the Potomac
river, at Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, denominated the Chesepeake and Ohio canal, having exceeded the estimates of engineers previ­
ously employed in the service ; and a yet further heavy expense to com­
plete it to the coal beds being ascertained to be necessary, before a profit
can be realized, have placed the prospects of the party prosecuting very
far in the background; at such a distance that, under existing circum­
stances, it is quite uncertain when this work of internal improvement will
be completed. The distance yet to be opened is about fifty m iles; and
unfortunately, being the western terminus, the site is more than ordinarily
broken, rocky, and even mountainous. That which is denominated the
Frostburg Coal Basin, is particularly noticed by Prof. Ducatel, the state
geologist, and his remarks in reference thereto will show in part the char­
acter of the region to which it is intended the canal shall extend. This
basin is forty miles in length, and five miles in width, and contains
86,847 acres ; which, at 4,840 square yards to the acre, and fifteen yards in
depth, as it is known the bed of coal is, gives 6,305,137,287 cubic yards:
and as one ton of coal occupies by estimation one cubic yard, there is in
the basin named the number of tons of coal as expressed by the aforesaid
figures ! By a similar process, the quantity of iron ore ascertained to be
imbedded in what is termed the Lonaconing section, in the same county,
amounts to 3,237,576,144 tons ; enough to yield, as demonstrated by ac­
tual practice, 1,079,191,714 tons of crude iron.* Notwithstanding the dis­
tant prospect, in reference to time, of making this portion of Maryland
productive, or in other words, converting the minerals of it into merchan­
dise, there are twelve incorporated companies already within its limits,
with a chartered capital of $6,700,000,f ready to make a demonstration,
whenever an opportunity shall present, either by the canal before men­
tioned, or by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which will have reached
within about ten miles of the nearest coal bed in the course of next year,
1842. One of the prominent companies, which has already performed
much in exploring, testing, analyzing, &c., the different minerals, is the
Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company, whose capital is ade­
quate to the enterprise in which the company is engaged. And another,
the George’s Creek Coal and Iron Company, have carried their plans so
far into operation, for the purpose of testing the qualities of the material,
expense of operating, &c., that they have erected a furnace and foundry;
the former 50 feet high, with boshes of 4 j feet; and when in blast, the
consumption of coal was 1,200 tons per month. The campaign was nearly
of four months’ duration, during which 900 tons of iron were made; the
highest yield per week being 92 tons. The lump coal at the opening of
the drift cost 50 cents per ton, and the iron ore $2 50 per ton.i
In other counties, which include Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil, Fred­
erick, Harford, and Washington, there are furnaces, foundries, rollingmills, &c., established, at which some of the best and heaviest work in the
United States has been executed. Two shafts for the Russian steamer
Ducatel, Gcolog. Report, 1840.




t Ibid.

t Ibid.

54

M aryland, and its Resources.

Kamschatka, noWin progress of being finished in New York, were wrought
at Ridgely’s forge, on the Gunpowder river, about seventeen miles from
Baltimore, each shaft being 22 feet 8 inches in length, 18J inches in di­
ameter, and weighing 18,000 lbs. The ore known as the Elk Ridge
Hone,* is of superior quality; it is used much for the better and finer
descriptions of casting; and large parcels are shipped weekly, mostly to
New York. This and the other ores in the vicinity of Baltimore yield
from 35 to 50 per cent. There is an ore denominated the bog-ore, which
is found in Worcester county, on the eastern shore of the state, which
was worked a few years since, but the furnace is probably not in operation
at this time. The ore yielded only 29 per cent.f
Copper ore is found in considerable quantities in Frederick county,
principally near the village of New London, in mines belonging to Isaac
Tyson, jr., of Baltimore. In 1839, about forty tons of pig were obtained
from this ore, which yielded about thirty per cent of pure metal ; and the
lot was taken by a manufacturer in Baltimore at the same price of the
best Peruvian, and was found on working it to be equal in quality to any
other description. Another mine is worked on a small scale in the same
county, near Liberty, which is not quite so rich a vein, it is thought, as
the first-named; but either might afford more profit to the parties inte­
rested, if they were worked with more energy ; in such case, however, a
considerable outlay would be previously necessarjr, and this again would
probably make the formation of a company requisite, which event would
be likely to check operations sooner than if the whole devolved upon an
individual with ample means, which he could employ as best comported
with his views.
The other minerals of the state consist of anthracite, granite, marble,
quartz, soapstone, limestone, flint, sandstone, slate, potters’ fire and pipe
clay, asbestos, ochres of various kinds, chromes, aluminous earth, & c .;
and on analyzing one or more springs, in several of the western counties,
the waters were found to possess sulphate of magnesia, muriate of soda,
sulphate of lime, muriate of lime, and carbonate of lime.
In reference to manufactures, it has already been stated that they are
one of the characteristics by which Maryland is distinguished ; it was so
meant in part, because of the great water privileges which exist, and
might be made productive ; and because to a certain extent they are im­
proved, as will be shown in the sequel. An examination of the water
power, particularly in the vicinity of Baltimore, was made some years
* The authorities of Harrisburg, Pa., in constructing the works necessary for supply­
ing that city with water, procured their pipes from the iron works of the Messrs. Ellicott of Baltimore. These pipes they pronounce to be “ the best manufactured in this
or any other country.”
A New York paper, speaking of the extensive water works going on near that city,
alludes to the excellence of the pipes manufactured by the Messrs. Ellieott, and says—
“ The Common Council of this city have contracted with these gentlemen for a large
supply-. W e lately saw a cargo of their pipes, of various sizes, landing on the wharf,
and being somewhat of a judge of the article, do not hesitate to pronounce them beauti­
ful castings. The iron, made from the Maryland ore, is celebrated for its strength, and
acknowledged by mechanics to be as well, if not better, calculated for the purpose than
any other manufactured in the country.”
t l . H. Alexander, Top. Eng. Rep., 1840.




Maryland, and its Resources.

55

since by an engineer, for the purpose of imparting information to gentle­
men in an eastern section of our country ; and those who read the report,
now speak of it as very favorable, as well on account of their never-failing
sources, as from their elevated courses, healthy climate, and the moderate
expenses of labor. Some of the sites have since been improved, but there
is yet room for hundreds more. It is no longer ago than last March, that
a gentleman who had visited Baltimore and its environs, and informed
himself, it would appear, pretty correctly of the spirit which he found ex­
isting, wrote, after his return, to the following effect: “ There is another
subject which I should like to see ably handled, the unrivalled advantages
of Baltimore and its neighborhood fo r the purpose o f manufactures..............
There is not on the continent a location more favorable for manufacturing
enterprise. Every thing is cheap; and ready access can be had to all
the markets in the Union. Nothing is wanting but enterprise and indus­
try to make the whole nation tributary to your city. I am surprised at
the apathy which seems to prevail on the subject. There appears not
even sufficient interest in it to lead to the investigation of the facts.” The
foregoing extract comes so near to the truth, that it will be in vain to at­
tempt a diversion : but the object at present is, not to show solely what
may be done, but what has been done; and this will be shown in the tables
at the conclusion of this article. It may not be amiss to remark here, in
reference to the silk business, that no official report having been 'made on
the subject, the inference is, that it is left to take care of itself pretty
much, under the auspices only of a few private families. The mania
appears to have died with the morus multicaulis.
Agricultural Productions, Stock, <f-c., and Value on the Farm.
Wheat .
bushels. 3,541,433 .
. $2,655,075
Corn . . . .
.
. 8,356,565
3,133,613
Oats . . . .
. 3,579,950 .
. . 919,988
Rye . . . .
.
.
784,303 .
. . 392,151
Buckwheat .
.
. . 47,858 .
. .
35,894
Barley .
.
. .
3,614 .
. . . 1,450
Potatoes .
. 1,058,901 .
. . 211,780
Tobacco .
lbs. 21,916,012 .
1,095,800
Hay . . . .
. tons. 110,816 .
1,100,000
Hemp
.
. . . 117 .
. .
14,140
Cotton .
.
,
.
lbs. 7,108 .
. . .
700
Hops
. . 2,368 .
. . .
473
Orchards
• • •
• • •
. . 114,238
Market Gardens .
•
• •
.
. . 133,197
Nurseries
•
• • • . •
. .
10,591
Horses and Mules
No. 94,054 .
.
4,000,000
Neat Cattle .
.
.
238,827 .
2,000,000
Swine
.
.
419,520 .
1,252,000
Sheep
262,807 .
. . 394,210
Poultry
. . 218,243
Wool
.
lbs. 502,499 .
. . 100,500
Dairies .
Beeswax
lbs.
3,684 .
. .
921




56

Maryland, and its Resources.

Manufactures, Spc., and their value.
Mills, Flouring
.N o . 212 bis. flour 460,220*
do Grist
• 433 4
do Saw
$61,000
do Oil
.
.
9S
do Powder
5
.
669,000
73,590
do Paper
.1 6
. . .
195,100
Paints, Drugs, &c. .
80,050
Factories, Cotton
.1 5
. . .
2,348,580
do
Woollen
.2 9
. . .
235,900
Goods manufactured at home
182,530
Furniture
305,360
Potteries
.2 2
. . .
61,240
Machinery
•
, t %
348,365
Hardware and Cutlery
15,670
Carriages and Wagons
336,672
Printing offices
. 47)
Binderies
. 15 t
Soap
lbs. 1,857,416
. . .
92,870
Candles, tallow .
722,355
. . .
93,903
do
sperm and wax
35,000
. . .
14,000
Distilleries
No. 73
gals. 342,813
68,562
Breweries
. 11
529,640
105,928
Wine
7,610
7,610
Furnaces, Forges, and Rolling mills
. 30
Castings
tons. 11,370 > .
637,900
Bar Iron .
9,900 )
Glass manufactory
• .
.
1
40,000
Tanneries
159
Sides, sole
No. 189,965 > , , 1,142,500
do upper
291,867 )
Shipbuilding
tons. 7,890
• • 279,771
Cordage, Rope walks .
.1 3
61,240
Bricks and lime .
.
. (bricks, no. 31,000,000)
.
384,356
Granite and marble, manufactures of
.
155,750
Tobacco, manufactures of
. . 232,000
Sugar refineries
.
. 6
. . . . . .
. 176,000
Chocolate
. . .
. . . .
. .
11,400
Confectioneries
. . .
. . . . . .
.
68,400
Estimated proceeds o f Mechanical labor, including the raw material, in
some o f the leading branches, viz:
Of 2 Copper M i l l s ....................................................................$500,000
3 Shot T o w e r s ................................................................
250,000
Carpet Factories
........................................................
300.000
Blacksmiths’ w o r k ........................................................
450,000
Tinners and Sheet Iron w o r k e r s ....................................
250,000
Plumbers and Coppersmiths
100,000
Coopers
200,000




Already estimated in the wheat, before grinding.

Maryland, and its Resources.

5

?

Basket makers
.............................................................. $18,000
Hat and Cap m a k e r s .................................................
680,000
Boot and Shoe m a k e r s ...................................
1,500,000
Tailors, Habit and Dress m a k e r s ............................ 4,500,000
Saddlers and Harness makers
840,000
Morocco and Skin dressers
....................................
25,000
Others, m is c e lla n e o u s ................................................ lj000,000
Inspections in, and Shipments from, the Port o f Baltimore, o f certain ledding articles fo r the year 1840;
Tobacco inspected, Maryland,
hhds. 31,225
Ohio,
8,436
Other denominations,
977
Total, hhds. 40,638
Portion of previous stock, 3,574
Exported
44,212
Flour inspected, received from va624,815
rious places,
bis. 780,770
do
435,783
Wheat,
do
bush.
1,816,952
Corn,
do
do
394,614
Oats and Rye,
do
do
F ish—Herrings, inspected, (caught in Maryland waters,) bis. 72,370
10,937
Shad,
do
(small part from N. Carolina,)
Oysters, amount sold in Baltimore estimated—For;
warded to different places, by wagons, in the
shell,
bush. 170.000
320.000
Forwarded after being opened and pickled*
220.000
Consumed in Baltimore .
.
;
;
Total,
Commercial.
Total number of vessels built in the state,
do amount of tonage,
.
.
.

bush. 710,000
129
116,204||

do amount of imports for the year 1839, .
.
< $6,995,285
do do
exports
do
;
<
; 4,576,561
do number of barrels of flour, inspected in the city of
Baltimore for ten years, ending June 30th, 1840,
5,179,628
Averaging 517,962 barrels per year.
------------ The Population o f Maryland, according to the last census,
consists of—
White males,
157,926
White females.
158,645
29,114
Free colored females, 32,823
Free colored males,
43,749
Slave,
do
45,970
Slave,
do
Total females, 235,217
do males,
233,010

233,010

Maryland, grand total,
Vol . v .— no . I.




8

468,227

58

Free Trade.

Of the above, Baltimore contains—
White males,
Free colored males,
Slave,
do

38,825
7,292
1,166

White females,
Free colored females,
Slave,
do

42,496
10,688
2,046

47,283

Total females,
do males,

55,230
47,283

Baltimore, grand tofal,
102,513
The number of primary and common schools in the state is
562
do
Scholars .
.
.
.
.
.
.
16,321
do
do
at public charge .
.
.
.
6,621
Number of white persons over twenty years of age who cannot
read and write,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
11,580
In the city of Baltimore, one male child, on an average, out of every
26f children under five years of age, lives to the age seventy-five years;
and one female out of every 15f reaches that period of life. But the dis­
parity is greater in the following counties; which are selected as the
greatest antagonists in the state :
In Carroll county,
1 male child out of every lOf reaches 75 years.
do
do
In Queen Anne’s co. 1 do
51
do
In Harford co.
1 female do
do
7
do
In Calvert co.
1 do
do
do
39
do

A rt. V.—F R E E TRADE.
W hen I furnished an article a few months ago for the Merchants’ Magaazine, under the head of “ Free Trade,” I had no thought 6f pursuing the
subject any further: but the tone of the reply which appeared in the May
number, seems to demand a few remarks. In making them, I shall be
as brief as the nature of the subject will admit, and shall confine myself
entirely to the matter at issue, without attempting to answer the discour­
teous language of my opponent’s article.
I.
The first position of the “ remarks,” is that “ government may often
confer a vast benefit on the whole nation, by extending to the struggling
infant [any new business] its fostering, protecting aid, by means of a dis­
criminating duty on the importation of the foreign article.”
The author has furnished in another part of his “ remarks” a reply to
this position, which will relieve me from the necessity of repeating the
arguments by which it was fully met in my former article. He says :
“ Undoubtedly there are imposts, levied by this or that nation, which oper­
ate injuriously, and ought to he taken off.” Now here he is undoubtedly
right. All governments are composed of men, and frequently of very
weak and selfish men ; consequently, they are far from being infallible.
If any thing is proved by experience, it is that governments are quite as
likely to extend their “ fostering, protecting aid” to a branch of industry
to which the country is not at all adapted, as to one for which it has a
natural capacity.




Free Trade.

59

Take, for instance, the culture of beet-root sugar in France. This
business was introduced into that country about,the year 1811, and the
government immediately extended to the “ struggling infant its fostering,
protecting aid.” It laid a duty on all foreign sugar of about nine cents a
pound,* and also taxed the sugar of its own West India colonies in such a
manner as to extend the greatest possible aid to the producers of France,
Under this forcing system a considerable quantity has been annually pro­
duced ; but, after an experience of thirty years, it is still impossible to
produce sugar in France as cheaply as in the West Indies, and a high
duty is required to preserve those who are engaged in the culture from
loss. A writer in the Edinburgh Review, some years ago,- calculated the
annual loss of the French people, arising from this mistaken protection,
at over six millions of dollars, which, in thirty years, would amount to the
very convenient sum of one hundred and eighty millions of dollars, the
interest of which would, probably, supply France with all the sugar she
consumes.
The corn laws of England are equally in point. It so happens that the
landed interests have long held the power in the British government, and
have, consequently, taken care to extend their “ fostering, protecting aid”
to the producers of grain. The duty commonly amounts to a prohibition,
and is, therefore, of little advantage to the revenue; while the monopoly
enables the landholders to exact large rents from their estates, the con­
sumers being taxed to sustain the imposition. “ If,” says Mr. Hume in
his testimony before the committee on import duties, “ I am made to pay
Is. 6d. by law for an article which, in the absence of that law, I could
buy for Is., I consider the 6d. a tax, and I pay it with regret, because it
does not go to the revenue of the country.”
In our own country many articles have been fostered and protected
after the same fashion. That of sugar is a conspicuous example. The
Louisiana sugar planters have been fostered and protected for a long'series
of years, by a duty of about one hundred per cen t; but to this day sugar
cannot be produced, to any great extent, without the aid of a tariff. If
this be so—if the protective policy is thus uncertain in its action—if gov­
ernments are about as likely to inflict an injury as to confer a benefit—
then, surely, for these reasons alone, even allowing there were no others,
it would seem to be the part of wisdom to hesitate long before enacting
Jaws which must unsettle the course of business, change large investments
of capital, and urge men into enterprises which must lean on the crutch
of the government for their support.
II.
Under his second head my opponent contends, that “ the high, in­
vidious, protecting duties of other nations, and of nearly all the countries
of the civilized world, absolutely constrain us to take care of our own pro­
ducing interests.”
This is an error which has been often refuted, and which lies at the
foundation of much false reasoning on the subject of trade. It may be
true that the high duties of other nations inflict an injury on u s ; but it by
no means follows that we should neutralize that injury, or in any way
better our condition, by adopting a similar policy. This is shown, by the
very example which Mr. Greely has brought to prove the antagonist
position.
* The duty was, in 1829, fifty francs per quintal.




60

Free Trade.

“ I will,” he says, “ take the case of two islands which, isolated from the
rest o f the world, have been accustomed to trade largely with each other.
One of them produces grain in great abundance ; the other has a soil pri­
marily adapted to grazing, and its surplus productions are cattle and butter.
But the former [the grain island] for reasons of its own, imposes a duty
of fifty per cent on all imports, and now cattle can be reared on her soil
much cheaper than they can be imported. She takes no more from
abroad. But the cattle-raising isle, unheeding the change in her neigh­
bor’s policy, or profoundly enamored of that system of political economy
which assumes the designation of ‘ free trade,’ still buys her grain where
she can buy cheapest—that is, abroad. What will be the necessary
result ? Who does not see that all the specie and other movables of the
‘ free trade’ settlement, will be drained away to pay the constantly in­
creasing balance of trade in favor of its protecting rival ?”
The effect which is here set down is by no means that which would
follow. If the islands were really isolated, that is, if they had no inter­
course with any other part of the world, then, of course, they consumed
between them all their own productions, making such exchanges under a
system of “ free trade,” as they found to their mutual advantage. Byand-by, however, the grain island prohibits the importation of its neighbor’s
cattle, and takes the production into its own hands. What follows ?
1. The inhabitants of the wheat island, deprived of their neighbor’s cat­
tle and butter, will convert some of their wheat fields into grass for the
purpose of producing these articles : consequently, they have no Jonger
any wheat to sell.
2. If they have wheat to sell, their neighbors cannot buy; for ’this
plain reason—they have nothing to buy with. They formerly had cattle
and butter, but these are now refused, and they have nothing else. The
trade must, therefore, cease ; and the grass-growers, like their neighbors,
convert some of their fields of grass to the production of grain.
But, says my opponent, they have something else ; they have “ specie
and other movables.” T ru e; and if their neighbors are willing to sell,
and they can thus carry on the trade till their island undergoes the changes
which their altered circumstances require, the inconvenience and suffer­
ing which would otherwise ensue, will be greatly diminished. But how
would their condition be bettered by a retaliatory duty ? They now want
wheat. They cannot buy it with cattle and butter, because these are re­
fused. They muster up some “ specie and other movables,” which they
can hardly part with, and just as they are about to accomplish a bargain, the
government steps in with its “ fostering, protecting care,” and imposes a
duty of one hundred per cent. “ Gentlemen,” says the customhouse
officer, “ you are welcome to buy this wheat, but for every dollar that you
pay for the wheat, you must also pay over a dollar to me for the use of the
government.” I ask if, under such circumstances, the condition of these
islanders would be materially improved by the retaliatory duty ?
The whole position is clearly a fallacy. Allowing that the “ high, in­
vidious, protecting duties” of other nations are a great annoyance to us,
yet let it be remembered, that they are still more injurious to themselves,
and to adopt them, in order to retaliate their wrongs, would be like seizing
an enemy, and jumping with him into the river, in order to give him a
ducking. For a more full exposition of this point, I refer the reader to




Free Trade.

61

the “ Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons of Great
Britain on Import Duties.”
III. The third proposition of the “ remarks” is in these words : “ Pro­
tection contends that the simple facts, that an article, if produced in this
country, is sold at a certain price, while its foreign counterpart is sold at
a lower price, do not by any means prove that the imported is, in truth
and essence, the cheaper.” What he means is, I believe, that the bless­
ings of protection are so great, that we can better afford to pay five or six
dollars for a yard of cloth under its auspices, than four dollars under a
system of free trade. In order to prove this position, he has introduced a
table, showing that in Londonderry, near the town of Lowell, the price of
apples, cider, wood, potatoes, turkeys, and other heavy produce, have risen
one hundred per cent, and that the inhabitants can, consequently, pay an
advance of twenty-five per cent on the few yards of cloth which they con­
sume, and still be the gainers.
I cannot suppress a feeling of surprise at this argument. Allowing it
all to be true, and what does it show 1 Only that men in certain locations
are benefited by the tariff. This position I acknowledged and met most
fully in my former article. Surely the readers of the Merchants’ Magado not need to be told, that wherever a village or a city springs up
rise, and the farmers find a better market for their heavy produce.
Ijl the farmer in Pennsylvania, who has to pay an additional dollar
ry yard of cloth which he consumes, in order to sustain the price
leys and cider in Londonderry, thank my opponent for this arguDoes his Lowell village raise the price of apples and wood in
Of what paramount benefit is it to South Carolina and Virginia,
pay so largely for its support ? It is, in fact, a mere local benefit,
lting from the accident of^a village which has been forced into exist­
ence by taxes drawn ffom:iT,6ij0$OO: of'people. . It. js. Joy such specious
reasoning as this that protection? has pdbp. suitable^:.* I.tell*jlppyirient
that high, discriminating duties are, injurious *fo*
o&thi.nctlion;
and he replies, that it cannot be, Itec’ailse it* ha^'qtfidt! Ite -farmers prosper
around the village of Lowell. I contend lhat*.tfiey.eycv]5tejudicial to the
general interests o f production; and he says, noj. see how "it has raised the
price of cider and turkeys in Londonderry !t f t rparvel (to use an expres­
sion of his own) that any one reasoning thu3, should talk to others about
“ schoolboy flippancy.”
IV. Under his fourth head the author of the “ remarks” takes the
broad ground that neither discriminating duties nor any other duties are
injurious to the general well-being of mankind. He does not however at­
tempt to sustain his opinion by any argument; and as it is pretty gener­
ally understood that expensive governments and heavy taxes are not among
the choicest of Heaven’s blessings, I shall not undertake further to con­
trovert his views on this head. In the course of his remarks, however, he
makes some observations which are better deserving of notice. For ex­
ample—“ I hold it demonstrable,” he says, “ that even real, genuine free
trade* between a barbarous and an enlightened, a rudely agricultural and
a refined manufacturing and commercial people, will almost infallibly im­
* Mr. Greeley supposes “ free trade” in its proper sense to mean a trade equally taxed
in all countries, and not free on one side of the Atlantic and taxed on the other.




62

Free Trade.

poverish the former and enrich the latter.” This position is sustained by
the following argument:—
“ Let us suppose a settlement, equal to the state of Missouri, were now
in existence in the Oregon— its rude, half-civilized inhabitants engaged
wholly in agriculture, clearing, building, &c.—and a good road led from
St. Louis to its capital. Trade is brisk enough in one direction; silks,
jewelry, spices, finery and foolery of all kinds are sure to be constantly on
the way over. But what is there to come back ? They have mountains
of grain, beef, wood, and all the substantiate of life ; but none of these will
pay a tenth of the cost of bringing them to St. Louis. The settlement is
constantly plunging deeper in debt and embarrassment. Eventually, through
revulsion, calamity, and depression of prices, it will arrive at the manu­
facture of whatever it shall w ant: but if it would have reached this end
more directly by the imposition of a strong tariff, it would have avoided
much disaster and suffering.”
Now plausible as this seems, it is most certainly incorrect. A young
mechanic, a young merchant, and a young country are all liable to get in
debt, but their debts are often the very cause of their prosperity. How
frequently does it happen that a mechanic reaches his majority without a
shilling! He has, however, a good character, and.under such circum­
stances is trusted for a chest of tools with which he goes on to make his
fortune. It may be that the merchant who thus furnished his outfit has
charged him exorbitantly, but he has, nevertheless, done him a substantial
kindness ; for without the tools he must long have struggled on in poverty.
The parallel holds.good with other pursuits, and especially with the new
country.
Take the case of this very Oregon settlement. I will not, however,
trouble the writer for his great St. Louis road, which seems to have been
invented for the very -purpose of' making; transportation impracticable. Lay­
ing this ingenious •cflfitriwance aside/ what is the actual condition of things
in the new Settlement ? The Oregonians are, of course, poor, for all new
countries must necessarily he do. They are without what political econo­
mists call fixed- pafiUp.P- 1‘without shbstantial houses—without factories—
without ships. Every thing as to be done : the forests must be cleared, the
crops put in, saw-mills add grist-mills must be built; and although they
have not the means of manufacturing them, yet they must have ploughs,
rakes, cradles, knives, axes, cloths, cotton goods, powder, shot, muskets,
and a host of other things which are absolutely necessary to their well­
being. To make these things is impossible in the nature of things. A
country so rude has neither the skill nor the capital. It would, besides,
require ten-fold more time than it would require to fabricate them in another
country, and time too, every moment of which is needed for other purposes.
How then are they to be obtained ? Anybody besides my opponent would
have said, suffer them to be brought from abroad—let the shipping which
trades to the Pacific and wants your supplies furnish them from other coun­
tries—barter your “ mountains of grain and beef” which you cannot con­
sume for those articles which you so pressingly need—burn your wood
into potash, and trade it for cotton and woollen goods—exchange those
things which you do not want for those things which you do want.
No, says my opponent, keep them out by a strong tariff. As sure as
you exchange what you do not want for what you do want, it will make
you poor and only enrich others. Close your ports, and see to it that




Profits o f Marine Insurance.

63

nothing is brought from abroad, for depend upon it these exotics will be
your ruin. Strange doctrine indeed! As if in all fair trade both parties
were not the gainers. Is the Indian who trades away his cartload of skins,
which are of no earthly use to him, for a keg of powder and a gun, im­
poverished by the trade ? ' Is a new country which has “ mountains of
grain, and beef, and wood,” which it cannot use, and does not want, im­
poverished by a traffic which supplies to it the essentials of its existence ?
Is the farmer who pays his ten bushels of wheat, which are a drug in his
granary, for a plough, on which his well-being depends, impoverished by
the bargain ? This policy of my opponent would not only tend to make
savages and barbarians of the Oregonians, but would greatly retard their
accumulation of wealth.
But I am told, in another place, that to advance the price of the domestic
product is not the end of protection. This, my opponent attempts to show
by the case of France and England, on page 433. But his argument dis­
proves his own position. The duty being taken off, he informs us that
“ the heavy British importation and forced sale at once knocks every thing
down fifty per cent.” What was it that “ knocked” every thing down
fifty per cent ? The want of protection ? Restore the protective duty and
the price rises. What other purpose is the duty required to serve ? Nor
does it by any means follow that the removal of the protective duty in the
case cited would be the destruction of the French manufactures. If, ac­
cording to the terms of the argument, the goods could be produced equally
cheap in both countries, then the moderate duty required for the support of
government would prove a sufficient protection, and give the advantage to
the home producer.
But I am weary of answering positions which seem to me so obviously
erroneous. In conclusion, I may say that I am as strongly desirous that
our country should improve and develop all its resources as any advocate
of the tarriff can possibly be. I am, of course, not opposed to manufactures,
to the production of silk, or to any thing else which will aid in giving em­
ployment to our industry. I believe, with my opponent, that “ the great
end of all political economy, is to provide each individual constantly with
the employment best suited to his capacities, and secure to him an ade­
quate reward.” But all this, I hope, will not commit me to the logic, that
it is either justice or sound economy to tax the seventeen millions of con­
sumers throughout this vast empire, in order to benefit the farmers and
manufacturers of Londonderry, or even of all New England.

A rt. VI.—PROFITS OF MARINE INSURANCE.
THE MUTUAL SYSTEM OF INSURANCE.

A n article from a practical insurer in Boston appeared in the “ Merchants’ Magazine” for the month of May, which seems to require a pass­
ing notice, as its reference to the mutual system of insurance, and com­
parison of the claims of that system with those of joint-stock companies,
to the public favor and confidence, form the prominent subject of discus­
sion ; and, as might be supposed from the position occupied by its author,
pre-eminence is claimed for the latter.




Profits o f Marine Insurance.

64

It may be sufficient, in the outset, to state in brief wherein consists the
whole difference between the rival systems ; and it is confidently believed
that the mere enumeration of these particulars will at once establish, and
beyond controversy, the far higher claims of the former, as well as the
ground of greater security to the insured, as on that of a more equitable
division of the profits. They are these :
1st. No part of the profits of those institutions is ever paid out until
the winding up of the concern, but accumulates from year to year, thereby
in the same progression adding to the security of the insured ; and,
2d. The profits, instead of being divided among stockholders, revert to
those who paid them in.
To provide security for insurers when commencing business, is a
measure of just policy, and, as will be shown hereafter, was fully adopted
by the institution presumed to be referred to. Having thus, as we con­
ceive, demonstrated the superior advantages of the mutual system, we
proceed to consider the general subject of the profitableness of underwriting.
The business of insurance, like every other, can only be supported by
adequate means; by which we mean, in relation to insurance, that the
premiums must be sufficient to pay expenses and losses, and leave a profit:
and if such an equivalent is obtained, the mutual system must succeed—and
without it, it cannot; neither can the joint-stock companies. The indi­
vidual that spends more than his income, will not be long in ascertaining
the result of his financial operations; and upon the same principle, a
company that will underwrite, or assume risks, at rates that are below an
equivalent, and continue to do so in spite of bitter experience, cannot fail
to realize the fruits of its mistaken policy.
We presume it will be readily admitted that joint-stock companies are
instituted chiefly with a view to benefiting the holders of the stock;
and consequently, should they cease to yield a profit, the owners, stimu­
lated by their own interests, investigate the causes, and provide, if practi­
cable, a competent remedy. And we propose to show, and think we can
demonstrate the proposition, that if joint-stock companies can sustain
themselves, and yield a profit to their stockholders, so can those doing bu­
siness upon the mutual system, and by the same means.
As an evidence of the insufficiency of the mutual system, the writer of
the article in question presents the following statement, as the result of
the business of fifteen companies, in Boston, from 1830 to 1839, inclusive.
Amount i n s u r e d ,.................................................... $344,661,909
Nett premiums thereon,
..........................................$5,701,582
Actual l o s s e s , .....................................................
5,778,288
Showing a clear nettloss o f ........................................ $76,706
This we take to be conclusive testimony that the premiums were too
low, and in fact, they were much below the present rates. If the premi­
ums had been increased but ten per cent on the business of 1830 to 1839,
it would have increased the aggregate $570,000; from which deduct the
actual nett loss of these years, viz, $76,706, and it will be perceived that
there would remain nearly a half million o f clear profit. And this addi­
tion could have been readily obtained, had the insurers insisted upon its
necessity, not only as an indemnity for their labor and risk, but ultimately
for the security of the insured.




Profits o f Marine Insurance.

65

This difference, it will be seen, is predicated on an addition of ten per
cent only ; whereas the rates now charged are much nearer to an equiv­
alent for the risk, than they were during the nine years in which the
Boston companies suffered. Yet it must be apparent to every experienced
insurer, that the rates for annual risks are not now, nor have they ever
been, high enough to render the business, as a distinct branch, desirable, and
more especially on vessels of low value. It seems, too, to be inequitable to
exclude this latter class of risks, as the owners are generally persons of com­
paratively small means, and who cannot afford to take the risk themselves ;
and therefore we think that insurance companies should be ready to name
a premium for any and all sea risks that may be offered them. We have
known the premiums on vessels by the year, without distinction of class or
value, as low as four per cent, and to and from ports east of the Cape of
Good Hope, at two and a half per cent for the voyage; and to Cuba, one,
and to American ports in the Gulf of Mexico, at one and a quarter per
cen t; while at the same time it was ascertained, by comparing the losses
of several consecutive years, that six per cent could barely cover the losses
to the last-mentioned ports, leaving nothing for expenses and profits. This
was about twenty years ago. The vast increase of business to those re­
gions, and the better quality of the vessels traversing the Gulf, and the
improved knowledge of the navigation, have tended to lessen the losses,
although it is morally certain that the recent reduction of the premiums to
ports in the Gulf will be found inadequate to sustain the business; and
prudence, if not self-preservation, demands that the recent rates should be
re-established.
The writer of this has been engaged in the business of insurance up­
wards of twenty years, and during that period has witnessed the ruinous
effects of a competition having for its object the' prostration of a rival, or
the senseless effort to make a profit for stockholders on reduced premi­
ums, when they have failed to realize it at what others have found only
an equivalent.
The institution over which the writer of the article we are considering
has presided for a long period of years with great skill and ability, and a
success that has experienced but little interruption, furnishes in that suc­
cess conclusive proof of the utility of the mutual system, which we confi­
dently believe is destined to supersede that of joint-stock companies.
That institution went into operation some twenty years since, with a
capital of $150,000, which was subsequently increased to $300,000, and
it has added to that, by an accumulation o f profits, $200,000, and now ad­
vertises* a schedule of its investments, in securities of the highest order,
$570,000, of which $500,000 is denominated capital. During the period
it has been in operation it has paid out, in dividends, upwards of $600,000.
We may have underrated the sum, but do not think that we have overrated it.
Had the sum thus paid out been funded, as it would have been under the
mutual system, and as the sum of $200,000 of profits was, its capital now
would be nearly $1,200,000, instead of $300,000, as it was originally.
Take another illustration of this accumulative system, which we find
stated in the same publication, at page 471, of the operations of a com­
pany in this city for ten years, being the period of its existence. In that
time it “ has divided two hundred and forty-nine and one half per cent,
* See Merchants’ Magazine Advertiser for June, 1841, page 1.
vol.

y .— no. i.




9

66

Profits o f Marine Insurance.

and has a surplus now on hand of one hundred and fifty per cent,” (proba­
bly intended for $150,000,) “ which, if divided, would give the stockhold­
ers their capital, $350,000, and three hundred per cent; and if the interest
were added, the sum would be much larger.” Three hundred per cent is
1,050,000, which added to the capital would be $1,400,000.
And there are other companies which have been in operation for a much
longer period that would, had their profits been funded and added to the
original capital, have amounted severally to 1,500,000 or 2,000,000. If
any of these capitals have been impaired, it is owing to their having paid
away all their profits, instead of funding them, as the mutual system pro­
vides, and which cannot fail, under ordinary good fortune, to furnish ample
and unexceptionable security to the insured.
The charter of the company established in this city upon the mutual
system, required as a condition precedent to its issuing policies, that it
should have received application for insurance to the amount of $500,000;
but the trustees being desirous of placing the institution at once upon a
basis that would entitle it to confidence, adopted the- plan of taking notes,
to the amount of $200,000, of individuals or houses that contemplated in­
suring with the company, in anticipation of the premiums, which notes
were to be paid in any event. They were therefore pledged as capital, and
the pledge was honorably redeemed at maturity.
On the 18th of December, 1839, one year from the date of its first poli­
cy, it declared its first dividend, payable in scrip, amounting to $47,287,
which was 14 per cent upon the amount of earned premiums for the year
ending on that day.
The aggregate of premiums for the year was
$517,808
Losses, return premiums, and expenses,
290,478
Terminated premiums on the business of the year,
337,765
On the 18th December, 1840, it declared its second dividend, payable in
scrip, amounting to $90,757, which was 19 per cent upon the amount of
earned premiums for the year ending on that day.
The aggregate premiums for that year were
$603,702
Losses, return premiums, and expenses,
382,392
Terminated premiums on the business of the year,
473,149
And the same day it declared a dividend upon the scrip of the year 1839,
of six per cent, payable in money.
The scrip is not redeemable during the existence of the charter.
Every person doing business with the company is entitled to all the pri­
vileges of a stockholder, and at the end of the year receives in scrip his
proportion of all the profits derived from its business, thereby obtaining
liis insurance at its cost, and is free from all liability whatever from any loss,
beyond the premium he had paid, or secured to be paid.
So ver.y favorable a result naturally induced the inquiry, whether a sys­
tem that proposed to return all the profits of its business to the parties in­
suring with it, was not to be preferred to any other ; and the consequence
has been, that from the 18th of December, 1840, to 18th of May, 1841,
the premiums have amounted to $364,280, showing an increase over that
of the corresponding period of 1840, of $123,345, or over 50 per cen t;
and it has now entire the profits of 1839 and 1840, $138,044, and premi­
um notes deposited for collection and to be deposited $450,000, making
an aggregate of $588,000. These facts, with a constant increase of busi­
ness, we take to be a sure indication that those who are most deeply inter-




/
Question o f Average.

67

ested in the stability and security of the institution, are satisfied that ample
means exist for every contingency likely to arise.
Had all the joint-stock fire companies in this city been incorporated up­
on the plan of that of which we are now treating, and the profits been re­
tained and funded, and the interest derived from the investment only dis­
tributed, and “ the sufferers by the great conflagration which took place in
New York in 1835, had been insured by mutual insurance companies,” with
such “ capital, instead of those which then existed,” how many “ l e s s ”
insolvencies would have taken place ! How many “ l e ss ” bad debts would
have fallen on the merchant and the banks! W e quote the language of
the author, simply transposing a portion of the text, and substituting the
word less for more,— a liberty which we trust will not be deemed a cause
of offence, but rather as a compliment; for we are free to declare, that we
should have found it difficult to have originated any other that would have,
satisfied us so well as the illustration he has afforded, and which we have
used, as we believe, both decorously and respectfully.
In closing, we would'remark, that the company in this city established
upon the mutual system, is not the borrower of a dollar; that all its assets
are under its sole control; and that the excess of profits over and above
all known or anticipated claims, and after a season of severe losses—only
paralleled, within the memory of the writer, by those of the winter and
spring of 1831 and 1832—would enable it this day to make a handsome
dividend upon its earned premiums since December 18th, 1840.

A rt. YII.—QUESTION OF A V ER A G E*
Zebedee Cook, J r ., E sq.
President o f the Mutual Safety Insurance Company, N . Y.
Dear Sir ,-—I enclose herewith my opinion on the case stated, as to the
adjustment of an average for detention to refit.
I am very respectfully, yours, &c.
W illard P hillips.
Boston, March 23, 1841.
The following case has been stated to me for my opinion :
A vessel on her voyage from New Orleans to New York, parted her
fore-peak halyard block-strap, main-boom topping-lift, main-peak halyard
block-strap ; carried away her main gaff and the leach rope of her foresail,
split the bonnet of her jib, and split her balance-reef and foresail, and split
to pieces her foresail ; her false keel worked off, and came up alongside—
it was found to have been fastened by four long spikes only; and she had
stranded her jib-stay. These different injuries happened at different
periods of her passage. She had not touched ground on the passage. She
did not leak either in her bottom or her upper-works. The vessel being
thus in a crippled condition, and the master being fearful of losing the
masts, bore away for Savannah, as a port of necessity, for repairs, on the
* Furnished for publication in the Merchants’ Magazine, by Z ebedee C ook, J r ., Esq.




63

Question o f Average.

23d of November. It is admitted that the master acted properly in bear­
ing away for Savannah. He sailed thence on his voyage on the 16th of
January, after making the necessary repairs, and having taken on board
additional cargo for New York, without any detention for this purpose
over the time taken for repairs. The vessel was hove down at Savannah,
a new false keel was put on, and she was caulked and painted. She would
have required a thorough overhauling on arrival at her port of destination,
and her bottom must then have been examined, and she must have been
caulked and painted, had she not put into Savannah.
The questions raised on the above case are :
1st. Whether the whole expense of delay is to be put to general
average.
2d. Whether the freight of the cargo taken at Savannah is to be credit­
ed to general average.
The questions presented will be decided in the same way, whether the
vessel was or was not insured. It is settled in our jurisprudence, as I un­
derstand the law, that if, without any fault of the owners, or any fault of
their agents, which is imputable to them, the vessel, by reason of injuries
from the perils of the seas, justifiably puts away for a port of necessity,
the expense of her detention is general average. Lord Ellenborough
says : “ It is not so much a question whether the first cause of the damage
was owing to this or that accident, as whether the effect produced was
such as to incapacitate the ship, without endangering the whole concern,
from further prosecuting her voyage, unless she returned to port and re­
moved the impediment.”— 3 M. & S. 432, Plumer v. Wildman. This is
the doctrine generally, and I believe universally, adopted in this subject.
Whether the injury to be repaired is such as underwriters are answerable
for in the ordinary forms of policies, or is for the owners to repair at their
own expense, without any recourse to the cargo or to underwriters. Pro­
vided the necessity arises from perils of the seas, without the fault of the
assured or his agents, the expense of putting in is a subject of contri­
bution.
The present case states that there was a necessity for going in, and no
fault is imputed to the owners or their agents. There is, accordingly, no
question that the expense of going in is a subject of general average con­
tribution.
The only question in this part of the case then is, whether the expense
for the whole delay, or if not, for what part of the delay, is the subject for
contribution ? To answer this question we must inquire, what was the
object of making a port of necessity, and how long the vessel was detained
by those objects ? And it is evident that the object, as far as the cargo
is concerned—that is, as far as the general average is concerned—is
limited to the voyage— that is, in this case, the passage to New York.
The shipper has, of course, nothing to do with any wants, injuries, defects,
or repairs, other than those connected with and necessary to the prosecu­
tion of that voyage. If the ship delay for other repairs or objects, the
shipper is not liable to any contribution for such delay.
It may not necessarily follow that the master is in fault for longer delay
than merely for the purpose of obtaining the necessary repairs for the par­
ticular voyage. At least I will assume, for the present purpose, that he
may, under some circumstances, delay a longer time, and that in the pre­
sent case, if he did in fact delay such further time, he was justified in so




Question o f Average.

69

doing. But though he may be justified, still the cargo is not liable to con­
tribute for any thing not connected with and essential to the prosecution
of the pending voyage or passage.
The case as stated suggests a question of the seaworthiness of the
vessel, by reason of the imperfect mode of attaching the false keel. If
the vessel was not in a suitable condition to prosecute her voyage without
a new false keel, then she was not seaworthy when she sailed from New
Orleans with a false keel insufficiently fastened ; and the owner cannot
claim a contribution from the shipper for delay for the purpose of putting
on a new false keel, which, by his implied stipulation of seaworthiness, he
was bound to have put on before commencing the voyage. And whatever
is done at the port of necessity, which the owner was bound to have done
at the port of departure, gives no ground for claim on the cargo for con­
tribution for the delay on this account. The only question in this respect
is, whether the owner is liable to the shipper for damage on account of the
unseaworthiness of the vessel. If such a keel is not essentially necessary
to the safe prosecution of the voyage to New York, then the cargo is not
liable to contribute for the delay in putting it on. And I am told by per­
sons skilled in shipbuilding and navigation, that the circumstance of the
false keel coming off in the manner stated in the case, would not, of itself,
be a reason for bearing away from the course of the voyage.
The ship did not leak before bearing away, and, accordingly, from the
case as stated, I do not see any ground for demanding of the cargo contri­
bution for delay for the purpose of caulking.
Undoubtedly no such claim could be made for any delay merely for the'
purpose of painting.
The object then of going in, as far as the cargo is concerned, were the
necessary repairs wanted for the sails and rigging or upper-works, for the
purpose of safely proceeding on the voyage. And the cargo ought to
contribute towards the expense of the delay necessary for those repairs,
and those only.
2. As to crediting to general average the freight of goods taken in at
Savannah, it is a novel, and certainly a very interesting question.
Suppose part of the cargo to be spoiled in consequence of the delay at
the port of necessity, (as in case of the claret wine spoiled by delay at
Jamaica,) so that the freight upon such part is lost to the owners of the
ship, and the goods themselves to the shipper, could the loss of this freight,
and the goods also, be brought into the general average ? Such a loss has
sometimes happened in case of a cargo of fruit. If the goods on freight
are lost in direct consequence, and as the immediate result of the voluntary
act of the master, done with the deliberate intention of making a sacrifice
for the general benefit, this is a subject of contribution. But in all re­
spects, except the voluntary sacrifice, including, of course, its direct con­
sequences, the parties interested in ship, freight, and cargo, respectively,
still maintain the same mutual relations, during the seeking of a port of
necessity and delay there, as during the other parts of the voyage. The
bearing away is not the commencement of a new partnership and commu­
nity of risks and profits between the respective parties during detention.
In all other respects, excepting the voluntary sacrifice, the voyage is still
proceeding, during the detention as well as before and after. The under­
writers on either of the interests for the voyage, are still liable during the
detention for the same risks as before, and the stipulations of the charter




The Law o f Contracts in Missouri.

70

party or bills of lading still hold during this period as before and after, and
each insurable interest has its separate risks, and separate profits and
losses, in all other things whatsoever, excepting the specific voluntary
sacrifice. If the ship is accidentally wrecked during the detention, and
the cargo saved— or if the ship is captured and condemned, and the cargo
restored and freight paid, there is no community of interest in this good
or bad fortune ; though it might appear that if the master had not volun­
tarily borne away for a port to refit, or had borne away for a different
one, ship and cargo might perhaps have arrived safe. In such case it can
only be said they might perhaps have arrived, for it is not possible to know
what would have happened in the pursuit of a different course. It can only
be said that there is a possibility, or at most a probability, that this or that
result might have followed. It can be known what actual sacrifice has
heen made, or expense has been incurred, purposely for the general safety*
and this must be made good by contribution; but if we go beyond this,
and inquire what collateral and incidental good or bad fortune has arisen
to either of the parties, by reason and as remote consequences of the
measures taken for the general safety, we shall soon be bewildered in
vague speculations and conjectures.
The shipper may find a better market for his goods at the port of neces­
sity than at the port of destination; and if all the incidental advantages
and disadvantages of putting in are to be included in the adjustment of the
general average, the profit thus made should be brought into account; but
no example is to be found of such a claim being made, and much less of
its being allowed.
If the original shipper is to he a partner in the freight of the goods
shipped at the port of necessity, he ought, as a consequence, to be jointly
responsible with the ship-owner on the stipulations of seaworthiness, and
the expressed stipulations in the bill of lading, to the shipper of goods at
the port of necessity. This would be a plain consequence of the doctrine
of a joint interest in freight. This is a very grave objection to any such
joint interest.
For these reasons it appears to me that the freight of the goods shipped
at Savannah in the case stated, ought not to be credited to the general
average,
w. p.

A rt. VIII.—T H E LAW OF CONTRACTS IN MISSOURI.
As the trade of Missouri, now the largest, in extent of territory, of any
of the states of the Union, is constantly increasing and becoming of more
importance, as the population of the .country west of the Mississippi in­
creases, a more extended account of the law of contracts, and the methods
of enforcing them, than appeared in a former number of the Merchants’
Magazine, may be thought worthy of notice.
And first, the law of contracts. By the revised statutes of 1835, all
contracts which, by the common law, are joint only, shall be construed to*
be joint and several. And in case one of several joint obligors or promissors die, the joint contract or debt shall survive against the heirs and rep­
resentatives of the deceased obligor or promissor, as well as against the




The Law o f Contracts in Missouri.

71

survivors, instead of compelling the plaintiff to prosecute the survivors to
insolvency, as at common law. When all the obligors are dead, the
action survives against the heirs and representatives of all the deceased
obligors. In all cases of joint obligations or promises of copartners, suits
may be brought and prosecuted against any one or more of those who are
so liable.
In the case of bonds and notes, which are made payable to any person,
or order, or bearer, and signed by a party or his agent, such bonds or
notes shall import a consideration. All bonds and promissory notes shall
be assignable, and the assignee may maintain an action thereon in his own
name, for so much as was due at the time of the assignment, in the same
manner as the obligee or payee might have done. The nature of the
defence of the obligor is not changed by the assignment, and every just
discount and set-off must be allowed, unless it be expressed in the bond or
note that the sum therein specified shall be payable without defalcation or
discount. The assignor, after assignment, cannot release any part of the
demand, nor can the assignee ever obtain any greater title or interest in
the bond or note, than the assignor had at the time of the assignment.
Every promissory note for the payment of money, expressed on the face
thereof to be for “value received,” negotiable and payable “ without defal­
cation,” has the same effect, and is negotiable in the same manner as
inland bills of exchange. Negotiable notes, and notes made payable to
bearer, are placed on the same footing with inland bills of exchange.
Notes made payable to the order of a fictitious person, and negotiated by
the maker, have the same effect against the maker, and all persons cogni­
zant of the facts, as if payable to bearer. The assignee of a bond, or of a
note not expressed to be for value received, and payable without defalca­
tion, can maintain an action against the assignor, upon failure to obtain
payment from the obligor or maker, only in the following cases.
1st. If he use due diligence in the institution and prosecution of a suit
at law, against the obligor or maker, for the recovery of the money or
property due, or damages in lieu thereof. 2d. I f the obligor or maker is
insolvent, or is not a resident of, or residing within the state, so that a
writ would be unavailing, or a suit could not be instituted.
The law concerning the acceptance of bills of exchange is very similar
to that of New York.
Bills, where the parties reside in this state, if protested for non-accept­
ance, draw four per cent damages on principal sum specified in the bill.
If drawn upon persons not residing in this state, but within the United
States, ten per cent on the amount of the bill; if out of the United States,
twenty per cent.
Bills accepted, and protested for non-payment, draw the same damages
as if protested for non-acceptance. The damages in all these cases, how,
ever, are in lieu of interest, and all charges of protest, and other charges
incurred previous to the time of giving notice ; but after notice the holder
can claim and receive legal interest on the principal sum expressed in the
bill, and damages.
2d. As to the mode of enforcing contracts.
In the case of bonds and notes, the method of enforcing the contract is,
probably, shorter and simpler in Missouri than in any state in the Union.
By the statutes of 1835, regulating the practice at law, any person being
the legal holder of a bond or note for the direct payment of money or




72

T he L a w o f C o n tra cts in M is s o u r i.

property, may sue thereon in any circuit court having jurisdiction thereof,
by petition in debt. The circuit court has original jurisdiction in all suits
upon bonds or notes for more than one hundred and fifty ($150) dollars
exclusive of interest, and concurrent jurisdiction with justices of the peace
in all cases under one hundred and fifty, and above ninety dollars.
The petition in debt may be in the following form, which must be
strictly followed, or it will be liable to special demurrer.
To th e --------- Circuit C ourt: -------------- plaintiff, states, that he is the
legal owner of a bond, or note, (as the case may be) against the defend­
ant ------------ , to the following effect— (here insert a copy of the instrument
sued upon;) yet the debt remains unpaid: therefore, he demands judg­
ment for Ins debt, and damages for the detention thereof, together with
costs.
If the plaintiff be the owner of the instrument sued upon, as assignee
thereof, the fact of assignment shall be stated in the petition, and the state­
ment thereof may be in the following form : “ On which are the following
assignments, (here insert the assignments) by virtue of which the plaintiff
has become the owner thereof.” The petition, together with the instru­
ment sued upon, and the assignments, shall be filed in the clerk’s office,
and a writ of summons may be sued out, executed, and returned, in the
same manner, and with the like effect, as upon a declaration in the ordi­
nary form.
If the defendant is personally served with process, he must plead to the
merits on or before the second day of the term, and the suit shall be deter­
mined at the same term, unless continued for good cause. A suit institu­
ted in the form prescribed, shall be proceeded in to final judgment and
execution, as if instituted in the ordinary form, and every defendant served
with process twenty days before the return day thereof, shall appear to the
suit at the return term of the writ.
The action of petition in debt is a legal action, and the general issue
nil debet.
A suit by attachment can be commenced, when the debt is more than
fifty dollars, upon an affidavit of the defendant, or of some other person,
filed with the declaration, that the defendant is justly indebted to the plain­
tiff, after allowing all just credits and set-offs, in a sum (to be specified in
the affidavit,) and also stating that the defendant is not a resident of, nor
residing in the state, or that the debtor has absconded or concealed him­
self, so that process cannot be served upon him, or that he is about to
remove his property out the state, or that he is about fraudulently to re­
move, convey, or dispose of his property, so as to hinder or delay his
creditors.
Any person having goods or chattels of the defendant, or being indebted
to him, may be summoned as garnishees, to answer such questions as may
be proposed to them by the plaintiff, concerning their indebtedness to the de­
fendant ; and if they have such goods or moneys, they must be paid to the
sheriff after execution issued.
A party imprisoned for debt, upon a written application to any judge of
the supreme court, circuit court, justice, or clerk of the county court of the
county in which he may be, by surrendering all his property to the use of
his creditors, and presenting a schedule containing a list of all his credi­
tors, the place of residence if known, the sum due and on what account,
and an inventory of all his estate, real and personal, and by making afft->




Mercantile Lavl Department.

73

davit as to the truth of the facts stated, may be discharged from imprison­
ment, until the end of the next term of the circuit court, when, if the facts
alleged be proved, he may be finally discharged, and is exempt from impri­
sonment for all liabilities which he was under at the time of his application*
Judgments and decrees rendered by the circuit and county courts, are a
lien on the real estate of the person against whom they are rendered,
situate in the county for which the court is held. Liens commence on the
day of the rendition of the judment or decree, and continue for three years,
subject to being revived, under a scire facias, by the plaintiff or his legal
representatives ; and real estate includes all estate and interest in lands,
tenements, or hereditaments, liable to be sold under execution.
By the statute of limitations, no action can be maintained for the reco­
very of lands, &c. after the lapse of twenty years, subject to the excep­
tions common to the laws of most of the states. All actions of debt,
founded on any writing, whether sealed or unsealed, and all actions of as­
sumpsit, founded on any writing for the direct payment of money, must be
brought within ten years. Actions for debt, penalties, trespass upon per­
sonal or real property, account, detinue,- trover, trespass on the case, must
be brought within five years. Actions upon accounts for goods, wares,&c., store account, assault and battery, and false imprisonment, must be
brought within two years after the cause of action accrued. Judgments,
and decrees, and sealed instruments of writing, are presumed to be satis­
fied after the lapse of twenty years ; but the presumption may be repelled
by proof of payment of part, or by a written acknowledgment of the in­
debtedness within that time.

ME RCA NT I L E LAW DEPARTMENT.
RECENT DECISIONS IN THE UNITED STATES COURTS.
COFYRIGHT—TRANSFER OF BANK STOCK—IMPORT DUTIES.

[W e have taken measures to procure accurate statements of decisions ren­
dered from time to time in the United States Courts for this district, and we
hope to be enabled to present some of them in each future number of our pub­
lication.
In cases of great interest or novelty, we shall endeavor to obtain the opinions
of the judge in extenso: but ordinarily we shall limit ourselves to a succinct and
clear statement of the questions raised in a case, and the points adjudged by the
court. Except to professional readers, this will be probably all that is desirable.
Others may thus learn sufficiently, for general purposes, the tenor of adjudica­
tions in those courts upon the multifarious and important subjects falling within
their jurisdiction. The decisions will themselves indicate the diversity and
importance of the topics acted upon by those tribunals ; and we are persuaded
they will be found instructive and interesting to most classes of our readers.
Independent of subjects of jurisdiction at law and in equity, common to them
and to the state courts, it more particularly devolves upon the courts of the
United States to discuss and determine questions arising under treaties, and
the statute laws of the United States—points of maritime law, touching liens,
bottomry, salvage, wages, the liabilities of ships and ship-owners, navigation
and imposts—questions respecting copyrights and patents—trespasses, seizures,
or torts upon the high seas—and international questions, affecting foreigners,
or citizens and foreigners.)
VOL. v .— NO. i.
10




74

Mercantile Law Department.
COPYRIGHT.

United States Circuit Court.— In Equity: William Gould & David Banks
vs. Hiram P. Hastings.—April term, 1840 : before Judges Thompson and
Betts.
The bill was filed in this case by the complainants, as assignees of Esak
Cowen and John L. Wendell, and proprietors of nine volumes of Cowen’s Re­
ports, and seventeen volumes of Wendell’s Reports.
It alleges in substance that the above volumes were composed and duly
copyrighted by the reporters; that the complainants, as their assigns, have
sole right or exclusive privilege of printing, reprinting, publishing, or vending
the said reports ; that the defendant has publicly declared his intention to pub­
lish, and is proceeding to publish, nine volumes of condensed reports, to em­
brace all the cases contained in the said twenty-six volumes of complainants’
reports; that he has already published and prepared for sale a part of the
ninth volume of his proposed condensed reports, which contains the same
matter published in the sixteenth volume of Wendell’s Reports, and is a viola­
tion of the said copyright; that the defendant is preparing to publish the resi­
due of the said ninth volume, and the antecedent eight volumes, to the great
injury of the complainants, and they pray an injunction, &c. An injunction
was accordingly granted, to continue to the end of the succeeding term of the
court, and at the same time an order was made, referring it to a master to col­
late the two works, and report to this court whether the defendant’s publica­
tion was a copy or colorable transcript of the sixteenth volume of Wendell,
(except the opinions of the judges,) or whether it was a fair abridgment
thereof, or whether it was compiled by the defendant from the materials sup­
plied by the complainants’ publication. This order of reference was, by con­
sent of parties, executed by William Kent, Esq., who made a detailed and clear
report upon the matters of reference; upon filing which, and on his answer,
the defendant moved to dissolve the injunction issued in the cause.
The defendant, in his answer, admits his acts and intentions as charged in
the bill, but denies many facts upon which the complainants rest their title and
rights, and alleges in bar various objections, spread out at length in the an­
swer, and which may be comprised under three general heads.
First. It is asserted that the reporters are public officers, performing a duty
assigned by the legislature, for which they are compensated by salary ; that
the publication of the reports is the essential part of their public service, and
that they cannot appropriate to themselves by copyright an exclusive property
therein.
Second. That these law reports cannot be made subjects of copyright, the
reporters not being authors in the composition or compilation of such works,
in a sense to authorize them to acquire any exclusive right or privilege to pub­
lish them.
Third. That if the copyright be valid, the defendant’s publication is no in­
fringement of it.
It is not important to the present history of the case to present a more ample
statement of the pleadings or report of the master, or to notice various inter­
mediate applications to the court, upon the one side and the other, to enlarge
the time for proofs, to dismiss the bill, &c. &c.
The cause was fully and ably argued by Mr. Bidwell for the defendant, and
by Messrs. Paine and O’Connor for the complainants. The court after advise­
ment decided, that the complainants could not secure by copyright an exclu­
sive right or privilege to publish the opinions of the judges of the Supreme
Court, or members of the Court of Errors, delivered by them in writing in the
cases decided in those courts respectively, and that, accordingly, no injunction
would lie against the defendant in respect to that part of the publication in
question.
The court further remarked, that the decision of some of the other important
points in the case depended upon facts at issue between the parties, upon which
the proofs were not yet fully completed; and that the master not being directed to




Mercantile Law Department.

75

take proofs, his report was not definitive upon other points that might have
an important bearing on the final decision, and therefore the court would defer
pronouncing any opinion upon the question, whether these law reports are sub­
jects of copyright—and if they may be so to any extent, what parts are to be
regarded original matter entitled to be so protected ; and. also, whether the de­
fendant’s publication is to be regarded a fair abridgment or a copy or colorable
transcript of the complainants’ work* or whether the defendant is entitled to
claim any part of his publication as an original composition or compilation,—
until the Cause should be brought to a hearing upon the pleadings and proofs.
The court further ruled that the complainants were not bound to resort to a
suit at law and establish their right in the first instance, and that if they are
entitled to the privilege of copyright, the remedy at law is not adequate to the
defence and protection of such right; and that, accordingly, injunction, as an
appropriate and secure remedy, will be retained until the cause is disposed of
upon the merits.
TRANSFER OR BANK STOCK.

Amos H. Hubbard vs. The Bank of the United States and Others.—June,
1840— In Equity: Judges Thompson and Betts present.
The parts presented by the pleadings and proofs are, in substance, that
James Lanman, of Norwich, Connecticut, had invested funds belonging to the
separate estate of his wife, in the stock of the Bank of the United States, in­
tended to be reserved for her separate use, but for convenience of transfer and
drawing dividends, the shares and scrip were taken in the name of James
Lanman and his wife jointly.
That on the 1st of September, 1834, the complainant purchased of Lanman
and wife one hundred and fifty shares of said stock, at Norwich, paying
$119 per share therefor, and received the necessary power of attorney and.
authority for having a transfer made to him on the books of the bank. Appli­
cation was made the next day at the agency of the bank in New York, to have
the transfer perfected ; but some slight informality in the papers required their
being sent back to Norwich and rectified, before the bank would act upon
them, and they were not presented in due form until the 6th of September,
on which day 125 shares were transferred to the complainant; but the scrip
for the remaining 25 shares not being found in the agency where it was sup­
posed by the complainant to have been deposited with the 125 shares, the
bank deferred the transfer of those shares until the scrip should be produced.
It was subsequently found, on search, in possession of Lanman, at Norwich,
and was immediately transmitted to New York, with intent to complete the
transfer.
On the 6th of September, 1836, an attachment was sued out conformably to
the laws of the state, against the property of James Lanman, as a non-resident
debtor; and, at two o’clock in the afternoon of that day, notice thereof was
served on the bank, and the said twenty-five shares of stock were claimed
under the attachment. The trustees, when appointed, demanded the assign­
ment of the stock to them ; but the bank declined making it, because it was
claimed by the complainant under his purchase; and on the presentation of
the scrip, subsequent to the attachment, the bank declined making the transfer
on the books to the complainant, because of the pendency of such attachment,
Messrs. Goddard and Staples insisted, for the complainant, that the sale of the
stock was complete, and vested the property in the complainant before the
attachment issued. That if the sale was insufficient to pass the property,
without being accompanied by a transfer of the shares on the books of the
bank, yet that it was not subject to attachment for the debts of Lanman, having
been purchased with the separate funds of the wife, and held for her use under
her marriage settlement.
Mr. Bonney, for the trustees, contended that the stock was the property of
James Lanman, and subject to the claims of his creditors prior to the first of
September, and that the alleged sale to the complainant on that day did not




76

Mercantile Law Department.

pass the property so as to prevent the attachment arresting it for the benefit
of all his creditors—a transfer on the books of the bank being an indispensable
requisite to the completion of a sale. That the sale was palpably a family ar­
rangement, (the complainant being Lanman’s son-in-law) with a view to res­
cue this fund for the use of Lanman and wife, and was therefore fraudulent,
as against his creditors. The court remarked, that there was no proof to sup­
port the allegation that the purchase by the complainant was collusive or
fraudulent with respect to the creditors of Lanman.
The controversy, then, was between a bona fide purchaser and the attach­
ment creditors, and it turned exclusively upon questions of law. The rights
and interests of proprietors or stockholders in banking companies pass by as­
signment, and no other formality is requisite to vest the full property therein,
in a purchaser (2 Cowen, R. 770—11 Wendell, 627—6 Pick. R. 324—8 Pick.
R. 90—9 Pick. 202—10 Pick. R. 422.) The existence of by-laws of the bank
prohibiting any transfer of stock, except upon the books of the bank, affects only
the corporation or individual corporators, and cannot control the rights of third
parties. An assignee becomes absolute owner of the stock without observing
that method of transfer, and notwithstanding any prohibitory by-law. The by­
law will be allowed to operate no further as against third parties, than to pro­
tect liens of the corporation upon the stock existing previous to its sale or as­
signment. Although the purchaser acquires the full property of the stock by
sale and assignment, yet to give him every beneficial enjoyment of it—(the
right of a corporator, for instance)—it may be necessary that it should be trans­
ferred to his name at the bank, and if the bank refuses to give him that benefit
of his purchase, a court of chancery will compel it to open its transfer books
and register the assignment in his behalf. (1 Peters, R. 299—16 Mass. R. 101.)
These two considerations determine the case in favor of the complainant,
and entitle him to the decree he prays for. And the court observed it was not
therefore called upon to decide whether the stock is protected from attachment
as the sole property of Mrs. Lanman ; but that it saw no reason to doubt, upon
the proofs, that Mrs. Lanman had a right to hold this property exempt from
the debts of her husband, or that a court of chancery might, in the form of pro­
ceeding, interpose its guardianship over her interests, and preserve them from
the attachment of his creditors. (5 Johns. Ch. R. 464—6 John. Ch. 25—ibid.
178—ibid. 222.) On the question of costs, the court observed that the defend­
ants did not stand in the relation of naked trustees, seeking the direction of the
court or submitting themselves to i t ; but were litigant parties contesting the
complainant’s right, and maintaining the permanent right of creditors. Whether
they are personally interested in these debts would not vary the case, because
they must be regarded as acting under a guaranty, or as assuming this adver­
sary attitude at their own hazard ; and it is no less meet in equity than at law,
that they should bear the expenses created by a resistance to the rights of the
complainant, found on examination not to be well founded.
Decreed accordingly—that the Bank of the United States transfer to the
complainant the twenty-five shares of stock mentioned in the pleadings, and
that the trustees of the attaching creditors pay the complainant’s costs.
TARIFF—IMPORT DUTIES.

Circuit Court, United States.—Armstrong vs. Hoyt.—Judges Thompson and
Betts—April, 1841.
This is an action against the collector, presenting a question as to the con­
struction of the second section of the tariff act of 1832: by this act, “ wool, un­
manufactured, the value w^hereof at the place of exportation shall not exceed
eight cents per pound, shall be imported free of duties if of greater value, it
is subject to duty.
The invoice is relied on by both parties. If the charges and expenses at the
place of exportation are added to form the value, then the wool would appear
to have cost more than eight cents per pound—otherwise to have cost less : and




The Book Trade.

77

the question is whether these charges are to be taken as forming part of “ the
value at the place of exportation,” in the meaning of this law. The fifteenth
section of the act is referred to as explanatory of the term actual value. By
that, the ad valorem rates of duty are to be computed on actual cost or actual
value, and this phraseology appears—“ to the actual cost, if the same shall have
been actually purchased, or to the actual value, if the same shall have been pro­
cured otherwise than by purchase, at the time and place when and where pur­
chased or otherwise procured, shall be added all charges, except insurance.”
Now “ the charges” are not expressly mentioned in the second section, as
constituting part of the actual value: but in the fifteenth section, the actual
value is treated as a thing to which the charges are to be added : as something
distinct from the charges, and of which, of course, the charges are no part. The
words “ actual value” in each section must mean the same value. If it is exclu­
sive of charges in the fifteenth section, so it must also be in the second section;
and the charges therefore must be left out of view in determining if the actual
value of the wool was eight cents per pound. Judgment, therefore, is rendered
for a return of the duties.

THE

BOOK T R A D E ,

1. — The Nestorians; or, The Lost Tribes. Containing evidence of their identity ;
an account of their manners, customs, and ceremonies; together with sketches of
travel in ancient Assyria, Armenia, Media, and Mesopotamia, and illustrations of
Scripture Prophecy. New York: Harper and Brothers. 12mo. pp. 385. 1841.
The first edition of this interesting book was all disposed of in a few days
after publication. Few works have procured a more uniform testimony in
their favor. In the opinion of the most learned and judicious, the proposi­
tion has been fully sustained, that the Nestorian Christians of Persia are truly
the L ost T r ib e s of the house of Israel. But independent of the great disco­
very, interesting alike to the scholar and the Christian, the book possesses in
itself intrinsic merits. The narrative part leads the reader through scenes of a
romantic character, and over places consecrated as the cradle of the human
race. We go with the traveller through a region where the footsteps of the
European have not trodden, and among a people who for nearly two thousand
years have maintained their independence and their individuality. We enter
with him the churches built at the time or soon after the preaching of the
Apostles, and worship with a primitive people in their sanctuaries, surrounded
and protected by the lofty barriers of rocks. We commend this interesting
volume to the readers of the Magazine. It throws new light upon the move­
ments in Asia, and may indicate that the day of the redemption of the chosen
people is near at hand.
2. —Psychology; or, a View of the Human Soul; including Anthropology. Adapted
for the use of Colleges. By Rev. F r e d er ic k A. R auch , D. D., late Presi­
dent of Marshall College, Penn. 2d edition. Revised and improved. New
York: M. W. Dodd. 8vo. pp. 401. 1841.
“ Know thyself” was the inscription on the temple of Apollo, a precept at once
the most necessary, and yet the most difficult to be obeyed. The principal
object of the author in writing this book, was to render the noble “ science of
man” accessible to all classes of readers; for as the inscription on the temple of
Apollo was not only intended for some, but for every one approaching it, so the
knowledge of human nature is desirable for every one, and not for a few only.
The author flatters himself that he has effected this purpose by using plain
language, by following a simple course of thought, by taking all his illustrations
from nature, and by comparing constantly the activities of mind with those
analogous to it in nature. With the exception of a few divisions, it is believed
therefore that the present work may be read with advantage by all.




78

The Book Trade.

3__The Progress of Democracy; illustrated in the history of Gaul and France
By A le x a n d e r D u m a s . Translated by an American. New York: J. H
Langley. 12mo. pp. 376. 1841.
This work appeared in the original simply under the title of “ Gaul et
France but the translator, in presenting it to the public in English, has given it
a different name, which, though not that of the author, is, nevertheless, descrip­
tive of the work itself. Its chief value to the general reader consists not only
in tire vast amount of historical facts which it embodies in so small a compass,
but in the democratic principles that are set forth with remarkable ability and
clear-sightedness, which cannot fail to interest all who sympathize with, and
have confidence in, the progress of political and social freedom. The author, in
the conclusion of his work, offers various considerations on the present political
condition of France, and contends that the period is not far distant when she
will not be content with her existing aristocratic representation, but that the
present form of government must fall, and another will be established in its
stead corresponding with the wants, the interests, and the wishes of her peo­
ple. How far his views are correct as to the past, and precient as to the fu­
ture, the reader and time must severally determine.
4.—Tuio Hundred Pictorial Illustrations of the Holy Bible, and views in the Holy
Land, together with many remarkable objects mentioned in the Old and New Teslaments/ representing sacred historical events, copied from celebrated pictures,
principally by old masters: the landscape scenes made from original sketches,
taken on the spot, with interesting letter-press descriptions, chiefly explanatory of
the engravings, and of numerous passages connected with the history, geography,
natural history, and antiquities of the Sacred Scriptures; compiledfrom the London
Pictorial Bible. Second Series. New York: Robert Sears. 8vo. pp. 383.
The copious titlepage quoted, ftirnishes a very good index to the design and
character of the work. The sale of the first volume, published several months
since, is almost without a precedent in the history of the book trade, having
rapidly passed through nine or ten editions, so that in less than a twelvemonth
more than sixteen thousand copies were sold. The contents of the volume are
mainly derived from the London Pictorial Bible, a work in high repute with all
biblical students. The second volume is in every respect an improvement on
the first. Through the spirited efforts of the publisher, the highest encomiums
have been bestowed upon the work ; and on the whole, we consider it valua­
ble, as serving to illustrate the sacred text, and confirm the faith of the Christian
in the truth of the volume that reveals to him the glorious hope of immortality.
5. —Family Secrets; or Hints to those who would make home happy. By Mrs.
Ellis, author of the “ Women of England,” “ Poetry of Life,” &c. New
• York: D. Appleton.
This is the first of a series of tales, with the above general title. The volume
before is designed to portray the dangers of dining out. It is in harmony with
the temperance movement of the day, and Mrs. Ellis has not only described
with fidelity some of the various forms which intemperance assumes, but
would lead the attention of the reader to its only remedy; as well as to en­
force the truth, that for all moral evils there is no certain cure but in the exer­
cise of Christian principles.
6. —Disee Mori. Learn to Die. By C h r is t o p h e r S u t t o n , D. D. Late Pre­
bend of Westminster. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 18mo. pp. 310. 1841,
The volume before us is the fifth of the “ Devotional Library,” in course of
publication by the Appletons. They are reprints of old English writers, lately
reproduced at Oxford. Each volume is printed on the finest paper, neatly
bound, and uniform in size. To the serious and devout Christian, these pub­
lications must prove an acceptable offering, particularly to those who admire
Jhe religion and. literature of the English Episcopal Church.




The Book Trade.

79

7.—Historical Sketches of the Old Painters. By the author of the “ Three Ex­
periments of Living.” A new edition, enlarged. Boston: Hilliard, Gray &
Co. 12mo. pp. 350. 1841.
Were there any thing ephemeral or trashy about this, it would he late in the
day to notice it But this work is really a permanent contribution to our most
valuable literature, in a department now just rising into notice among us. To
those who are acquainted with the larger works on the subject, by Vasari
Lanzi and others, these graceful dialogues could afford no instruction, though
they might much pleasure. But to the mass of even the best informed readers,
these sketches will bring vividly before them most interesting portraits of men,
now nearly unknown, yet rapidly rising into transatlantic favor and fame. The
book is truly a gem. The exhibitions of character and sentiment which fill its
pages, enrich the heart as well as refine the taste. Its basis is historical fact;
but Mrs. Lee’s fine imagination has given a richness to the picture that must
always charm, particularly the young.
8.— The Poetical Works of Howitt, Milman, and Keats: complete in one volume.
Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. 8vo. pp. 520. 1840.
In selecting from among the recent poets of Great Britain, two whose works
had not been hitherto presented collectively to the American reader, to be pub­
lished with the lamented Keats, the editor gave his preference to those which
he conceived would be most acceptable to the public—most popular; and in
selecting Mary Howitt and Henry Hart Milman, he has, in our opinion, obeyed
the dictates of a correct judgment, as to their merits, compared with those of
their contemporaries. Each has a peculiar beauty, such as may render them
counterparts to each other, and not inappropriately are they grouped opposite
to each other in this volume. No pains we are assured have been spared to
render the respective collections complete and accurate. The volume is neatly
printed, and done up in a substantial binding for private or public libraries.
9. —A

Summer Journey in the West. By Mrs. S t e e l e , authoress of Heroines
of Sacred History. New York: John S. Taylor. 12mo. 1841.
This unassuming volume embraces a sketch of all that passed before the ob­
servation of the author, during a summer tour of four thousand miles, through
the great lakes, the prairies of Illinois, the rivers Illinois, Mississippi, and
Ohio, and over the Allegany mountains to New York. Mrs. S. has adopted
the epistolary form, and conveys to the reader a considerable fund of amuse­
ment and instruction in an easy and agreeable style. She has collected, from
authentic sources, since her determination “ to print,” many facts regarding
the western states, as to distances, prices, and conveyances, throughout her
route, which must render the book useful to future tourists and emigrants.
We have passed over a portion of the route occupied by the writer, and can,
therefore, as far as our observation extends, bear testimony to the general ac­
curacy of her descriptions.
10.— Old Humphrey’s Addresses. By the author of Old Humphrey’s Observa­
tions. New York : Robert Carter. 12mo. pp. 252. 1841.
These “ Addresses” embrace a great variety of subjects, social, moral, and
religious, and all of them are deeply imbued with the Christian sentiment.
The every-day events of life furnish the material for the writer, from which to
educe a moral or a maxim. They are written in a plain, unaffected, senten­
tious style, and are evidently designed to engage the attention of the miscella­
neous reader, who has little time and less inclination for the more elaborated
treatise or discourse. It is, on the whole, a very readable book, and one that
must prove useful in calling forth the reflective faculties.




80

The Book Trade,

11.—Incidents of Travel in Central America, <$-c. By J ohn L, S tevens. 2 vols,
8vo. Harper and Brothers. 1841.
The note of preparation which has gone before the publication of these vol­
umes, and the glimpses of insight into their character afforded by the lectures
of Mr. Catherwood, have created great expectations in the public mind; but
we suspect that the public will be astonished at finding how slight is the ap­
proach made by the expectation to the fulfilment. An idea has gone abroad,
at least to some extent, that Mr. Stephens’s volumes were to be filled with noth­
ing but descriptions and drawings of Palenque and its wonderful ruins ; Palenque, by the way, being only one, and that not the most wonderful, of six
ruined cities visited and explored by Mr. Stephens. But these descriptions and
drawings, although constituting a rich portion of the curious and interesting
contents, form only a part, and that by no means the major part of the extra­
ordinary matters with which the volumes are freighted. There are many
“ incidents of travel” besides. Mr. Stephens went to Central America at an ex­
citing and eventful time; he was there during the progress and at the close of
the civil war, in which Morazan and Carrera were the rival leaders; he came in
contact with both, by reason of the official character in which he visited the
country, and but for which he might never have returned to give the history
of his journeyings; certainly but for that official character he could not have
accomplished them to any thing like the extent in which they were performed.
As it was, official character and all, he found himself more than once involved
in dilemmas and dangers which it is more pleasant to read of than to share.
He travelled some thousands of miles—fell in with all sorts of curious people—*
had adventures many, of all sorts and qualities, serious, ludicrous, and odd-observed strange manners and customs—and in short, gathered up abundant
material for two of the richest volumes that traveller could make, even with­
out reference to the ruins. But with these, and the wonderfully curious and
beautiful drawings of them made by Mr. Catherwood, the volumes are not only
rich, but unrivalled—we may say unequalled, longo intervallo, by any travels
we ever read. Of these drawings there are nearly a hundred, admirably en­
graved, on steel most of them, by the most skilful artists we have ; represent­
ing the marvellously sculptured idols, altars, bas-reliefs, hieroglyphics, &c., of the
unknown people who once inhabited the great cities of Central America, and
whose origin and history are now lost—perhaps forever. A remarkable race
they must have been ; but who, or what, or whence 1 We trust that the pub­
lication of Mr- Stephens’s most admirable work will give an impulse to inquiry
which may end in obtaining an answer to these questions.
12. —The Tyrolese Minstrels, or Romance of Every-day Life. By a Lady. Bos­
ton : Geo. W. Light. 18mo. pp. 200.
The writer of this narrative has happily succeeded in delineating character
with great individuality, without any of those offensive exhibitions of personal
feeling which too often excite the displeasure of the community. The conver­
sational style, in wiiich most of the narrative is cast, is well sustained and
lively. There are occasional gleams of wit and humor, and poetic feeling,
that lead one to desire a further acquaintance with the authoress. The litho­
graph of the “ Fair Tyrolese,” which fronts the title, is pronounced by many a
correct likeness of the favorite singer, on whose history rumor says the tale is
founded.
13. —The Merchant's Widow, and other Tales. By Mrs. Caroline M- Sawyer,
New York: P. Price. 18mo. pp. 192. 1841.
In these excellent tales the most fastidious will detect nothing that militates
(against the interests of morality or religion. They are written in a simple, un­
ostentatious style, and convey lessons of instruction well calculated to strengthen
the social virtues, and render the doirfeStic fireside the abode of purity and
peace,




Commercial Regulations

.

81

COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
REGULATIONS ESTABLISHED BY T H E BALTIMORE BOARD OF TRADE.
COMMISSIONS.

The following rates to be charged, if no agreement to the contrary e x i s t s JDom. For.
On sales of merchandise,.......... ....................................... ...................per cent. 2 4
5
“
stocks,............................................................................................
1
4
Bills of exchange, if endorsed,................................................................... 2£
24
24
do.
do.
not endorsed,....................................... ,.........................
£4
4
24
Purchases of merchandise, in funds,....... ............................, , , .................. 2£
24
5
do.
do.
in advance,................................., , .................. 2£
24
Purchases of stocks and bills of exchange,.............................................
£4
1
Accepting or endorsing, without funds,.................
2£
24
24
Collecting freights,......................................................................................... 2£
24
24
Procuring freights,............................
2£
24
24
Disbursements of vessels,............................................................................. 24
2£
24
do.
do. without funds,............................................
5
24
Effecting insurance, when the premium does not exceed 10 per cent,.........
\i
4
do. do. if the premium is above 10 per cent on the amount of premium, 5
5
Adjusting and collecting losses insured, if not disputed, or litigated,.......... 14
24
5
do.
delayed or litigated accounts,.............................. ....... ,................. 24
Entering and forwarding goods, on the amount of duties and charges,....... 2£
24
24
Advancing money on letters of credit, or otherwise,............................ ,......., 2£
24
24
On consignments of merchandise withdrawn or reshipped, full commission to be
charged on the amount of advances, or responsibilities incurred; and half commission on
the residue of the value.
The above commissions are exclusive of guarantee for sales on credit, auction duty
and commissions, storage, brokerage, and every other expense actually incurred.
F R E IG H T AND F R E IG H T IN G .

If a vessel is freighted by the ton, and no special agreement is made respecting the
proportions at which each article shall be computed, the following shall be the standard
of computation, and either parcel deemed equal to a ton, viz :—
2,240 lbs. pig and bar iron, lead, copper, logwood, fustic, and other heavy dyewoods.
2,000
Nicarague and Brazilletto wood,
2,240
nett, sugar and rice, in casks.
1,830
“ coffee, in bags.
1,600
44
do.
in casks.
1.300
44 cocoa, in bags or bulk.
1,120
44
do.
in casks.
1,110
44 pimento, in bags.
952
44
do.
in casks.
800
44ship bread, in bags.
700
44
do. do. in casks.
1,120
44 dried hides.
900
44 weight, green teas, and China raw silk.
1,120
44
44
bohea, and other black tea.
1,500
44
44
Virginia tobacco, in hogsheads.
1.300
44
44
Kentucky do.
in
do.
1,000
44
44
Maryland do.
in
do.
8 bbls. flour, of 196 lbs. nett.
6 44 beef, pork, and tallow.
7 44 naval stores and pickled fish.
200 gall, wine measure, estimating the full contents of the cask of oil, wine, brandy, &c,
22 bush, grain, peas, beans, &c., in casks.
40 44
do. do.
do.
in bulk.
40 44 Liverpool blown salt, in bulk.
34 44
do.
ground salt.
31 44 St, Ubes, Cape de Verds, &c., in bulk.

VOL. V.— NO. I.




11

82

Commercial Regulations

.

30 bush. W est India salt, in bulk.
30 44 sea coal, in bulk.
40 cubic feet of plank, boards, timber, bale goods, packages, and boxes.
In estimating the contents in cubic feet, of various packages and goods, the following
shall be the standard:—
A flour barrel,................................................................. 5 feet.
A tierce of rice,.............................................................. 15 44
A hogshead of flaxseed,................................................. 12 44
A hogshead of Virginia tobacco,...................................45 44
A hogshead of Kentucky, Georgia, and Carolina do. 40 44
A hogshead of Maryland and Ohio do...................... 35 44
5 bushels of grain in bulk,............................................ 5 44
In computing boxes of candles and soap, kegs of butter and lard, hams and bacon, and
generally all similar articles, 200 lbs. nett weight shall be considered equal to a barrel of
5 cubic feet.
All goods brought to this port on freight, must be delivered on a wharf, at the expense
of the vessel bringing the same. A delivery, after due notice, on any good wharf at Fell’s
Point, during business hours, is a delivery in the city and port of Baltimore. Hides and
articles prohibited to be landed in the city at certain periods, may be landed where the
public authorities may direct.
In all cases when vessels are obliged (by the quarantine regulations, or city authorities,)
to discharge their cargo in the stream, the expense of delivering the same east of Jones’
Falls, will be borne by the carrier only. But when requested by the consignee to be de­
livered west of Jones’ Falls, then the expense shall be equally borne by the carrier and
consignee, (each one half.)
If a vessel is chartered for a voyage out and home, each shipper shall be entitled to his
fair proportion-of the whole homeward freight, pro rata, of the bulk or space occupied by
each shipper on the outward voyage.
In all cases where a vessel is chartered or freighted for a voyage out and home, the
freighter, or charterer, is bound to furnish sufficient cargo, to enable said vessel to return
safely home, and the same from port to port, where the charter provides for more than
one port. Provided, no agreement to the contrary is made by the parties.
sto ra g e.

Hhds. of sugar, tobacco, molasses, rum, oil, and pipes of wine, brandy, and gin,
Hogsheads of coffee, copperas, codfish, andtallow,.............................................
Tierces of sugar, rum, molasses, and half pipes,.................................................
44 rice, coffee, flaxseed, alum, &c.............................................................
Barrels of rum, whiskey, sugar, beef, pork,fish, cheese, oil, and ^ casks wine,
44 flour, coffee, and other dry articles,......................................................
Boxes of Cuba sugar,..................
44
fish, wine, oil, lemons, and oranges,.....................................................
44
soap, candles, cheese, tin, raisins, and drums of figs,........................
Bags of coffee, cocoa, pepper, and pimento,..........................................................
Bales of cotton and hempen yarn, about 300 lbs.................................................
44 India piece, and other similar goods,.....................................................
Indigo, in ceroons, 4 cents; in cases,...................................................................
Tea, in chests, 3 cents; half do., 2 cents; boxes,.............................................
Kegs of butter, lard, tobacco, nails, raisins,..........................................................
Hides, dried,.............................................................................................................
Hemp, per ton,.........................................................................................................
Cordage, per do........................................................................................................
Iron and lead, per do.......................
Dyewood, per do......................................................................................................
Hampers of bottles, & c................................................................
Crates of earthenware,............................................................................................
Grain, per bushel,.....................................................................................................
Salt, per bushel,.......................................................................................................




p er m o n th .

25 cents.
20 44
16 44
12£ 44
6 44
3 44
8 44
3 44
1 44
2 44
12£ 44
10 44
10 44
1 44
3 44
1 44
50 44
30 44
20 44
25 44
10 44
20 44
h “
I “

Commercial Regulations.

83

The owners of goods to be at the expense of putting them in store, and delivering
them. All goods stored to be subject to one month’s storage, if in store ten days. If
less than ten days, to half a month’s storage. The risk of loss by fire, robbery, theft,
and other unavoidable occurrences, is in all cases to be borne by the owner of the goods;
provided, usual care be taken for the security of the property.
W EIG H TS AND T A R E S .

Sugar, copperas, alum, brimstone, shot, lead, iron, steel, hemp, dyewoods, and all other
articles heretofore sold by the cwt. of 112 lbs., or ton of 2,240 lbs., shall in future be
sold by the decimal hundred of 100 pounds, or ton of 2000 pounds.
Tares shall be allowed as follows:—
Sugar, in hhds. or tierces, 12 per cen t; in Cuba boxes, 15 per cen t; in flour bbls. 22 lbs.
each; do. in linen bags, 3 per cen t; and in all other packages the actual tare.
Coffee, in linen, single gunny, and grass bags, 2 per cen t; in flour bbls. 20 lbs. each; in
all other packages the actual tare.
Cocoa, in bags, 2 per cent.
Pepper, in linen or single gunny bags, 2 per cent; in other packages the actual tare.
Pimento, in linen or single gunny bags, 3 per cen t; in other packages the actual tare.
Rice, in tierces and half tierces, 10 per cent.
Copperas, 10 per cent, in hogsheads.
Teas, green, whole chests, 20 lbs.; half do., the Canton tare ; do. black do. do. 22 lbs.;
do. three quarter chests, 18 lbs.; other packages the actual tare.
Cassia, in mats, 9 per cen t; boxes, and other packages, the actual tare.
Indigo, in ceroons, in single hides, 11 per cent; in all other cases the actual tare.
Alum, brimstone, ginger, nutmegs, mace, cloves, almonds, figs, cheese, soap, candles,
chocolate, currants, prunes, starch, and all other articles not before mentioned, the
actual tare.
No charge shall be made for casks, barrels, boxes, or other packages whatever.
Drafts, as follows:—
On all weights, even beam, \ per cent to be allowed of draft.
T A R IF F OF T H E PROVINCE OF N E W BRUNSWICK.
The following schedule, showing the amount of duties to be imposed on foreign arti.
cles, passed the late session of the legislature, and continues in force for one year from
the 1st of April, 1841.
SCHEDULE OF A R TIC LES SU B JE CT TO D U T Y , AND A R TIC LES EX EM PTED FROM D U T Y .

£ s.
Spirits, videlicit—brandy, per gallon,.................................................................
Rum or spirits, per gallon,....................................................................................
And further, for and upon all rum or spirits stronger than of the proof of 26
by the bubble, for every bubble below 26, an additional, per gallon,.........
Being of foreign production, a further and additional, per gallon,...................
Geneva, gin, hollands, or cordials, per gallon,...................................................
Whiskey, per gallon,.............................................................................................
Shrub, santa, lime juice, per gallon,.....................................................................
W ines, videlicit—hock, constantia, malmsey, or tokay, per gallon,................
Champagne, burgundy, or hermitage, per gallon,.............................................
Claret, called lafitte, latour, margeaux, or hautbrian, per gallon,....................
Madeira and port, per gallon,..............................................................................
Sherry wine, of which the first cost is .£20 or upwards per pipe, per gallon,
Other claret wines, barsac, sauterne, vin de grave, moselle, and other French
wines, and lisbon and German wines, per gallon,.........................................
All other sherry wines, teneriffe, marcela, Sicilian, malaga, fayal, and all
other wines, per gallon,.....................................................................................
All wines the product of the Cape of Good Hope, (except constantia,) per
gallon,...................................................... .........................................................
S ugar, videlicit—Muscovado or brown, per cwt......................................
And on foreign sugar, an additional, per cwt............................ ................
Loaf, lump, or refined, per pound,..............................................................




0 0
0

0

0 0
0 3
0 2 10
0 2 7
0 2 4

0 2

1

0 1 10
0 1 3
0

1

0

2

84

Commercial Regulations

.
X

C offee, per pound,......................................................................................................
D ried F ruits, per cwt...........................................................................................
M olasses, per gallon,.................................................................................................

s.

0
0
0
0
0

Being of a foreign production, an additional, per gallon,.................................
T obacco, videlicit—manufactured, (except snuff and cigars,) per pound,
Snuff and cigars, for every X I00 of the true and real value thereof,.............. 10
C attle , for and upon every foreign h o rse,...........................................................

5

For and upon every foreign ox,...................... ....................................................
For and upon all other foreign homed cattle,....................................................
For and upon all foreign dead fresh meats, per pound,...................................

1 5
1 5
0

0
5
0
0
0

d.

1

0

1
1
1
0 0
0 0

0
0
0

1

For and upon the following manufactured articles, when not imported from the United
Kingdom, videlicit:—chairs, or prepared parts of or for chairs, clocks, clock cases, clock
movements or machinery, watches, household furniture, pictures, mirrors, looking-glasses
—for every X I00 of the true and real value thereof, £25.
And for and upon all soap and candles, India-rubber shoes, and all other foreign arti­
cles, manufactured or not manufactured, not otherwise charged with duty, nor hereinafter
declared to be free of duty—for every X100 of the true and real value thereof, X10.
Silk, and for all manufactures of which silk shall form a component part—for every
X I00 of the true and real value thereof, X5.
And for and upon all articles the manufacture of the United Kingdom, imported or
brought into this province, whether by sea or inland carriage or navigation, or which may
be saved from any wrecked or stranded ship or vessel, or not otherwise charged with
duty, nor hereinafter declared to be free of duty; also all manufactures of cotton of the
British East India possessions, pepper, and all other descriptions of spices, for every X100
.of the true and real value thereof, £ 2 10s.
Colonial leather, and malt liquor—for every X I00 of the true and real value there­
of, X5.
For and upon all foreign wheat flour imported from Nova Scotia—for each and every
barrel of one hundred and ninety-six pounds, 5s. 10d.
exceptions.

T o all foreign articles, manufactured or not manufactured, videlicet:—agricultural im­
plements (axes excepted,) barilla ashes, beeswax, bristles, books (printed) and pamph­
lets, beans, bricks, bread, cotton wool, cows, cordage, canvas, dyewoods, felt, flour and
meal of all kinds (buckwheat flour excepted,) fresh and green fruits of all kinds, grass
seed and all other kinds of seeds and plants, grain of all kinds, ground gypsum, hay, hides,
horsehair, horns, hemp, hops, indigo, iron, India-rubber, lumber of all kinds (cedar, pine,
spruce, and hemlock shingles excepted,) leaf tobacco, lignum-vitse, looking-glass plates,
and picture and plate glass, mahogany logs, boards and veneers, meats dried and salted,
mill saws, palm oil, pitch, peas, pot ashes, rosin, rice, salt, tar, turpentine, tallow, vine­
gar—duty free.
To all articles the manufacture of the United Kingdom, videlicit:—Agricultural im­
plements, anchors, barley, pot or pearl, beef, bacon, books (printed) and pamphlets,
bread, bunting, bricks and tiles, coals, copper, bolt and sheet, copper spikes and nails,
canvas, coal tar, cordage, duck, felt, patent fishing nets, hooks, lines and twines, flour
and meal of all kinds, globes, iron, bolt, bar, pig or sheet, iron block bushes, lead, bar
and sheet, mineral salt, and salt of all kinds, malt, machinery for mills and steamboats,
mathematical and musical instruments of all kinds, and philosophical and chemical ap_
paratus, hydraulic engines, maps, oakum, pork, printing paper, steel, spikes and sheath­
ing nails, ship tackle and apparel, sheathing paper, tin in sheets and blocks, zinc—
duty free.




Nautical Intelligence

.

?5

TEXAS CUSTOMHOUSE REGULATIONS.
A lden A. M. J ackson, collector at Galveston, has addressed the following note ta

John H. Brower, Esq., Consul of the Republic of Texas at New York. W e publish it for
the information of shippers and others engaged in the trade with Texas. It is dated
Galveston, May 18, 1841.
“ For the information and government of persons shipping merchandise to this port,
you will please to make known that all invoices presented for entry at this customhouse
are required to be made in duplicate, giving the marks and numbers of the several pack,
ages, with the contents and value of each, and accompanied with the original invoice
of purchase or consignment; also, that the same rules and regulations are observed oil
the importation of merchandise into this republic, as are now in force and observed in the
importation of merchandise into the United States.’*

NAUT I CAL I NTELLIGENCE.
CHANGES IN T H E SEA MARKS BEFORE DRAGO.
W ulff , Commander, and Chief Pilot for the District of Zealand, publishes over his

signature, agreeably to his majesty’s resolution of the 23d of July, 1840, the following
changes which have recently taken place with regard to the sea marks and their location in
the passage before Drago, and in the outer road of Copenhagen, from the time they shall be
put out in the year 1841. These regulations are dated “ Copenhagen, November 3,
1840.”
1. The Drago Buoy will retain its place, but the float and staff near it will be removed
and placed in three fathoms water, on the western extremity of Holmetungen, and the
float and staff near the South Rysse be placed in three fathoms water, due east of this
ground. Both these floats and staffs will remain out the whole year.
2. Large top-floats, with brooms on staffs from nine to ten feet long, will be placed
before the southeast hook of North Rysse Ground, in three fathoms water, the northwest
edge of Littleground in from four to five fathoms, the northwest edge of Broadground in
from four to five fathoms, the east side of the Ravenschicks from three to four fathoms,
about the stone called Rasmus Mulles.
The float and staff by the wreck on the Middleground will exchange place with the
buoy now situated before the old Probestone, which will be removed to the wreck on the
Middleground, and be supplied with a broom on a staff.
3. The top-floats and staffs on the old Probestone, the North Rysse, the Ravenschicks,.
the South Rysse, and the Drago Sandshoaltong, will each be provided with a broom
tied upwards on a black staff; while, on the contrary, the floats and staffs on the wreck
of the frigate Cronenborg, the Middleground, the Holmetong, and the Littleground, will
each be provided with a broom tied downwards on a white staff.
The float and staff on Broadground will, for the purpose of being distinguished from
the one on Littleground, be provided with two brooms, the upper one tied upwards and
the lower one tied downwards, on a staff painted alternately white and black by the foot
measure.
4. The North Buoy of the Middleground will be removed from its place before the wreck
of the line-of-battle ship Indfodsretten, back on the northern extent of said ground in
twenty-three feet water, and another mark, consisting of a small barrel, or buoy, painted
green, placed in lieu of it on the wreck.
The bottom of the various buoys will be marked with the following number, viz
Drago Buoy with I., Kastrup Buoy with II., South Buoy with III., Middle Buoy with IV.,
North Buoy with V., Stubbe Buoy with VI., and the Buoy on the Crown with VII.




60

Nautical Intelligence.

The land mark on Norderhoi (a rising ground) will be provided with a piece of board,
one fathom square, painted white, and placed upon the mark immediately underneath the
Top Buoy, and so as to face with its square surface towards the Dutchman’s Deep (HoL
loenderdybet.)
5.
The sea marks will, in general, be put out and taken in at the same time or simuL
taneously with the floating light in the passage before Drago; not, however, unless it
can be done with perfect safety, or without risk of their being lost or displaced by float­
ing ice*
The floats and staffs on the Sandshoaltong, the South Rysse, and the Holmetong, will
remain out the whole year. On the site occupied by the Drago Sandshoal Buoy, will be
placed on its removal in the autumn, a float and staff* of the same description with the
rest placed on Westvallen.
SA ILIN G DIRECTIONS FOR PORT LINCOLN.
The following sailing directions for Port Lincoln, were officially laid before the gov-*
ernment, and published in the South Australian Register, by Thomas Sipson, harbor­
master. They will be found useful to mariners bound to Port Lincoln, or Port Adelaide,
In Flinder’s chart there is a rock marked between William’s and Smith’s islands, said to
be breaking at times. The harbor-master (Sipson) had a most favorable opportunity, and
took every pains to discover it, but saw nothing of the kind. The master of a French whaler,,
lying in Memory Cove, who was fishing there the last season, said he had been through
in that direction, and did not believe there was any rock between the above-mentioned
islands.
North by west, one mile and a half from the north end of Thistle Island, is a large
flat rock, that may be seen two or three miles from a ship’s deck; and north three miles,
(where there is a rock marked in the chart,) is a reef with six feet of water on it at half
tide, and does not show above water. It is therefore necessary to be very cautious, and
not take the rock that is seen above water for the one on the chart, as passing that at
what would be considered a safe distance, would lead a ship on the reef.
Mr. Sipson passed through the ripple marked by Flinders, between Little and Hopkins
islands, where it is supposed he lost his boat’s crew. Small vessels must avoid going
through it. In bad weather the sea must be tremendous; it is occasioned by the tide and
the sudden change of soundings, (from eighteen to twelve, ten, and nine fathoms,) but'
quite clear otherwise.
About three miles from the entrance of Thorny Passage is Memory Cove, where six
or seven ships of the largest size may lie sheltered. The water is seven fathoms within
a few yards of the head of the cove.
There is also an extensive fine bay between Taylor’s Island and the shore, where any
number of ships may anchor; indeed, there is sheltered anchorage anywhere, if required,from Taylor’s Island to Cape Dorrington, at a fair distance from the shore.
Ships coming from the westward should run to the lat. 35 deg. 35 min., until they make
Kangaroo Island. If bound for Port Lincoln, and going through Thorny Passage, shape
their course for William’s Island, leaving Neptune’s Island a berth, which may be seen
four or five leagues; leaving William’s Island on the starboard hand, proceed on to the
east point, and enter the passage between it and Smith’s Island; making the fair way up,by keeping the shore aboard, which is steep close to, leaving all the islands on the star­
board hand, except Taylor’s Island, which will make a fair course by leaving it on the
larboard hand. W hen to the northward of Taylor’s Island, proceed along shore for Cape
Dorrington. Off the cape is a small island with a very good channel (though narrow) be^
tween it and the cape, with five fathoms. In going through it, borrow towards the island,-




Nautical Intelligence

.

87

In proceeding to Boston Bay, the south end of Boston Island may be rounded pretty
close; but in going through the north passage, give the north point a berth of half a mile,
as the water shoals off it in a northeast direction.
All around Boston Bay the soundings are good and clear; ships leaving Cape Dorrington, and bound to the westward, will find a southeast course carry them well between
the shoals until they see the wedge, which they had better leave on the larboard hand,
and give it a good berth, as the peaked rocks run some distance off.
In running up Investigator’s Strait, make Point Marsden and the high land about Cape
Jarvis, and keep it aboard, which will insure a berth from Troubridge Shoal; as it is im­
possible to say, having Blackstair’s Passage open, what may be the influence of the tide, pro­
ceed up the gulf in ten and eleven fathoms. Holdfast Bay is due west of Mount Lofty; near
the beach is a flag-staff, rigged as the mast of a ship, this staff bearing east or opposite to it,
in five fathoms, or two miles and a half from the beach, is the best anchorage for ships.
Ships bound for the port must run twelve miles higher up, taking care not to come
within five fathoms, as the water shoals some distance off above Holdfast Bay. The pilot
station is between the bay and the bar, where there is a staff with a flag on it. When
opposite this, will be seen a large beacon buoy, with a ball on it, pointing the fair way
to the passage over the bar.
If it should be dark, or any other circumstance prevent the pilot getting on board, they
may anchor, but not in less than five fathoms, which will be about two miles and a half
from the beach. W hen at anchor in any part of the gulf, it is highly necessary to give
a great length of chain in good time, and if the gale comes on, give all the chain possi­
ble, and keep from letting go the second anchor, which confines the ship in a ground
swell, and makes her strain. Ships not drawing more than fourteen feet may then pro­
ceed to the pilot station.
MADELINE AND CHA RLO TTE ROCK, OFF BONA VISTA.
A letter has been received in New York, by Charles King, Esq., the editor of the
American, from the United States Consul at Cape de Verd islands, dated St. Jago, May 4f
1841, showing the existence of a rock among the Cape de Verd islands, which has never
been laid down in the charts. On the 18th of April, the British ship Charlotte, of Alloa,
(Scotland,) Capt. Forester, struck on a rock in latitude 16 deg. 17 min. N., longitude 22
deg. 21 min. W ., heeled over in about ten minutes, filled, and sunk. The rock is 300 feet
in length, under water, in the shape of a crescent, opens to the northward, and the sea
breaks only at particular times of tide. The rock bears from the outer end of Hartwell
reef, off the island of Bonavista, N. E. by E., distance 22£ miles per compass, by Vidal &,
Mudge’s chart, Leton’s survey. It is in the direct route for all vessels bound to New Hol­
land or India. Vessels are advised to sight Isle of Sal, run down close to it either on the
E. or W . side, and pass to the westward of Bonavista, and Leton’s rock; by doing so^
they clear this rock, (which has been called Madeline and Charlotte Rock,) and the reefs
on the eastern side of Bonavista.
LIGHTHOUSE A T GIBRALTAR.
Under date, Trinity House, London, April 6,1841, J. Herbert, secretary, has furnished
the Department of State, at Washington, with the following notice to mariners :—
“ The lighthouse which, for some time past, has been in the course of erection at Gib­
raltar, being now nearly completed, notice is hereby given, that the light therein will be
exhibited for the first time on the evening of the 1st August next, and thenceforth con­
tinue every night, from sunset to sunrise. Mariners are to observe that this lighthouse is
situate upon Europa Point, and that a powerful fixed light will be exhibited therein, and
will bum at an elevation of 150 feet, or thereabouts, above the level of the sea.”




88

Nautical Intelligence<

LIGHTHOUSE A T HOBSON’S BAY, PORT PHILIP.
The following notice to mariners has been transmitted to Lloyd’s by the harbor-master
at Melbourne, Port Philip:—
“ After the 1st of August, 1840, a plain stationary light will be shown from sunset to
sunrise, from a lighthouse erected on the extremity of Gillibrand’s Point, Williamstown,
Hobson’s Bay, visible five leagues in clear weather from any safe position to the south­
ward. The bearings by compass are as follow:—From the north end of the western
channel the anchorage at Williamstown bears N. 14 deg. E. From the north end ol
Symond’s Channel, the anchorage at Williamstown bears N. GO deg. E. From the north
end of the pinnace channel the anchorage at Williamstown bears N. 5 deg. E. From
the north end of the south channel the anchorage at Williamstown bears N. 4 deg. W .
The courses indicated will give vessels a fair berth from the shoal off Gillibrand’s Point.
Care must be taken after bringing the lighthouse to bear N. 22 deg. E. to N. 7 deg. E.
1J mile. After rounding the light, and bringing it to bear about S. 14 deg. W . 1 min.y
the anchor may be dropped in four fathoms water, in good holding ground of stiff clay
and mud.
“ N. B.—The south channel is unnavigable, its north end being filled up, having but
2 i fathoms of water at half flood, and extremely narrow.
“ Harbor-master’s office, Port Philip, June 26, 1840.”
W ESTE R L Y E N TRA N CE OF TH E RIVER W ESER.
The following translation of a notice to mariners has been transmitted to the Depart­
ment of State, by the United States Consul at Bremen. It is dated at Oldenburg, De­
cember 24th, 1840, and signed by the Grand Ducal Oldenburg Government of the Duchy
of Oldenburg:—
“ On the island of Wangeroog, at the westerly entrance of the river Weser, the state
of the navigation of said river in regard to ice will be signalized to mariners as correctly
as the same can be ascertained there, in the following manner.
1. A ball of about 4J feet diameter, affixed to a pole or staff projecting about 25 feet
out of the west side of the church steeple of Wangeroog, and about 125 feet above the
surface of the sea, signifies that floating ice is in the Weser, and that great precaution
must be taken on entering the same, but, with a fair wind and other favorable circum­
stances, it is practicable to reach Bremerhaven or Fedderwarden; namely, the former
with a fresh breeze from east to northeast, and Fedderwarden with the like wind from
the northwest to west southwest.
2. Two balls hanging perpendicularly under each other at a distance of 6 feet, signify
that a large quantity of floating ice is in the Weser, that the light vessels have left their
stations, Bremerhaven cannot be reached, and therefore the entering of the Weser ought
not to be attempted.
Said signals can best be seen from on board of a vessel when bearing south southeast
to southwest by south, by compass.
LIGHT ON CARYSFORDS REEF.
It is stated on good authority that the light on Carysfords Reef, on the eastern coast of
Florida, is not correctly laid down on ah of the charts, some of them placing it eighteen
miles out of the way. Mr. Bacon, the American eonsul at the port of Nassau, New Pro.
vidence, has been furnished by Commander Barrett, of her Britannic majesty’s surveyingship Thunder, with a statement of the exact position of this light, as follows, viz:—lati­
tude 25 deg. 12 min. north; longitude 80 deg. 16 min. 20 sec. west.
Owing to this error in the existing charts, one of the Philadelphia packets, while lately
passing the reef, was nearly lost.




Statistics o f Agriculture.

89

S T A T I S T I C S OF A G R I C U L T U R E .
LIV E STOCK O F T H E ST A T E O F N E W YORK.

1. A Table, showing the number o f horses and mules, neat cattle, sheep, swine, and esti.
mated value of poultry o f all kinds, in each county o f the state, as ascertained by the
census of 1840.

C O U N TIES.

Horses and
Mules.

Neat
Cattle.

Sheep .

Swine.

Albany,..................................
Allegany,...............................
Broome,..................................
Cattaraugus,..........................
Cayuga,..................................
Chautauque,..........................
Chemung,..............................
Chenango,..............................
C inton,..................................
Columbia,..............................
Cortland,...............................
Delaware,...............................
Dutchess,...............................
E rie,.......................................
Essex,.....................................
Franklin,................................
Fulton,...................................
Genesee,.................................
Greene......................... .
Hamilton,...............................
Herkimer,...............................
Jefferson,................................
Kings,.....................................
Lewis,..........................
Livingston,.............................
Madison,................................
Monroe,..................................
Montgomery,.........................
New York,.............................
N iagara,.................................
Oneida....................................
Onondaga,.............................
Ontario,..................................
O range,..................................
Orleans,..................................
Oswego,..................................
Otsego,...................................
Putnam ,.................................
Queens,..................................
Rensselaer,.............................
Richmond,.............................
Rockland,...............................
Saratoga,................................
Schnectady,...........................
Schoharie,..............................
Seneca,............................
St. Lawrence,........................
Steuben,.................................
Suffolk,...................................

9,937
9,378
4,110
6,099
13,276
11,306
4,667
8,329
5,723
9,870
5,734
8,073
10,120
10,848
5,224
3,373
4,335
17,042
5,528
322
9,484
17,319
3,019
3,931
10,859
9,388
16,871
9,948
7,797
5,324
16,455
15,082
11,928
9,245
6,639
9,688
12,332
1,962
6,517
9,493
912
2,658
10,394
3,949
8,907
10,913
11,088
10,412
5,473

25,780
46,174
23,546
36,226
45,516
93,515
21,206
65,322
21,013
32,818
33,759
56,982
44,247
29,734
22,017
17,802
19,982
55,598
22,385
2,056
55,437
77,930
5,948
31,130
29,849
42,191
35,335
26,806
3,395
20,544
92,669
127,020
104,300
54,799
18,123
35,369
65,035
14,971
14,181
32,184
2,517
6,695
40,809
10,808
37,633
21,281
61,458
30,351
22,236

57,491
131,864
50,669
66,525
188,232
136,315
37,975
198,046
55,555
121,053
98,760
119,843
215,950
81,342
79,835
38,824
32,525
154,393
37,906
3,263
80,182
163,669
48
36,665
163,395
186,616
133,060
36,588
282
38,919
177,070
709,650
126,190
50,219
69,563
63,842
223,009
14,945
26,477
134,864
136
17,392
96,656
18,094
71,258
43,824
125,898
136,933
46,751

49,068
29,993
12,880
22,533
63,153
42,225
18,201
27,310
17,795
54,911
19,043
27,758
65,777
37,018
14,658
12,213
14,042
48,792
19,337
1,034
33,957
59,352
8,360
18,076
37,856
30,657
59,399
29,108
13,642
28,340
66,543
61,733
45,837
47,084
31,933
39,239
45,647
12,868
21,618
27,918
3,180
11,511
51,601
13,063
31,865
25,980
41,889
33,287
20,534

V O L. V .— NO. U




12

Poultry
o f all
kinds ;
est. value.
25,650
14,160
9,875
10,368
69,917
29,125
17,403
9,749
12,306
29,606
12,798
13,812
42,758
15,825
9,430
7,254
8,052
24.685
13,439
865
18,915
22,781
7,864
5,293
13,234
16,584
26,758
15,155
4,220
12,417
37,609
21.305
20,277
24,536
21,082
17,576
25,781
12,172
62,186
30,315
8,001
49,392
34,121
10,951
16,588
101.880
12,552
13,028
40,191

$

Statistics o f Agriculture.

90
L ive S tock

of the

S tate

of

N ew Y ork.—Continued.

Poultry of
all kinds;
est. value.

COUNTIES.

Horses and
Mules.

Neat
Cattle.

Sheep.

Swine.

Sullivan,..........................
T ioga,.................... .........
Tompkins,......................
Ulster,.............................
W arren,..........................
W ashington,...................
W ayne,...........................
Westchester,...................
Yates,...............................

2,514
4,120
7,572
9,521
2,528
8,818
11,242
6,385
12,134

18,179
21,576
28,908
38,459
9,826
39,159
33,298
26,131
150,220

19,524
43,220
86,525
50,630
22,875
245,999
100,986
20,143
103,752

9,860
14,987
23,772
46,328
8,153
27,668
44,130
155,287
36,950

24,550
9,279
10,526
66,495
7,129
25,178
1,072,754
56,646
20,430

o t a l , ...........

476,115

2,202,438

5,381,225

1,916,953

$2,373,029

T

CEREAL GRAINS PRODUCED IN T H E ST A T E OF N E W YORK.
2. A Table, showing the number o f bushels o f wheat, barley, oats, rye, buckwheat,
and Indian corn, produced in the state o f New York, as ascertained by the census
o f 1840; from official documents.
COUNTIES.

A lbany,.........
Allegany,.......

Bushels of Bushels of Bushels of Bushels of Bushels of Bush, of
Wheat.
Barley.
Oats.
Eye.
Buckwheat. Ind. corn.

Cattaraugus,...
Cayuga,.........
Chautauque,...
Chemung,......
Chenango,.....
Clinton,.........
Columbia,......
Cortland,.......
Delaware,......
Dutchess,.......
E rie ,...............
Essex,.............
Franklin,.......
Fulton,...........
Genesee,........
G reene,..........
Hamilton,......
Herkimer,......
Jefferson,.......
Kings..............
L ew is,...........
Livingston,....
Madison,.......
Monroe,.........
Montgomery,.

21,008
172,461
66,369
127^665
601,824
216,902
157,826
99,701
75,293
28,249
100,765
54,884
171,619
207,492
60,454
64,414
25,162
911,596
17,677
3,021
84,723
395,066
24,964
85,191
823,050
200,242
1,074,220
34,281

Oneida,...........
Onondaga,.....
Ontario,.........
Orange,..........
Orleans,..........
Oswego,........
Otsego ...........

47,935
238,159
467,699
770,235
94,774
680,202
138,602
149,880

157,102
22,742
10,134
81,440
24,789
26,358
10,451
13,289
1,924
29,935
7,604
2,540
13,366
3,158
4,084
22,879
85,832
2,368
497
127,200
74,023
760
20,276
84,276
135,625
61,827
193,530
100




98,531
384,615
117,060
1,879
30,708
11,061
116,115

653,794
351,674
184,185
258,339
526,938
339,311
203,184
394,031
145,226
1,107,621
277,381
464,715
1,360,623
424,489
170,396
89,194
245,708
691,672
309,282
13,697
580,738
436,798
72,460
144,880
305,519
343,207
523,655
422,415
1,105
216 103
657,792
538,751
462,266
417,701
179,581
215,179
689,979

144,941
4,567
26,443
1,112
3,321
1,671
19,513
27,092
30,972
323,896
2,730
129,053
175,551
5,539
29,121
15,017
33,573
4,699
86,840
789
15,835
17,849
8,537
2,473
3,624
3,255
3,447
40,868
84
6,064
3,593
6,162
326,668
472
1,676
70,222

100,492
20,068
31,259
8,368
40,669
9,157
62,590
25,603
39,429
97,633
18,015
63,842
86,983
19,593
25,610
22,685
31,011
19,247
57,662
2,843
29,035
36,291
3,933
8,498
26,524
5,996
37,024
38,312
50
13.908
30,241
14,420
16,964
112.883
10,057
41,618
45,079

127,154
60,331
84,033
81,202
568,011
235,788
120,732
159,203
110,431
411,032
85,344
46,654
710,473
173,057
78,662
55,537
59,886
220,776
109,772
3,660
160,920
444,430
81,824
48,984
184,730
171,204
406,621
90,374
2,525
158 270
364,165
401,293
246,018
410,194
208,098
189.327
122,382

91

Statistics o f Agriculture.
C ereal G rains P roduced
COUNTIES.

Rensselaer,....
Richmond,....
Saratoga,.......
Schenectady,..
Schoharie,.....
Seneca,..........
St. Lawrence,
Steuben,........
Suffolk,...........
Sullivan,........
Tioga,.............
Tompkins,.....
Warren,.........
Washington,..
W ayne,.........
Westchester,..
Yates,............
T

o t a l , ...........

in the

S tate

of

N ew Y ork.— Continued.

Bushels of Bushels of Bushels of Bushels of Bushels of Bush, of
Rye.
Buckwheat. Ind. Corn.
Barley.
Oats.
Wheat.
12,250
97)741
21,454
18,989
3,650
72)001
13,113
72,871
350,804
277,897
389,475
105,778
8,763
107,002
377,202
57,877

3,593
9,488
5,819
17,005
91,524
217,478
15,819
24,128
23,543
9,460
151
1,058
9,104

49,189
571,083
35,267
705,628

1,207
9,569
18,087
1,181
61,988

11,853,507

2,498,170

l l '8 6 8

86,421
48^447
810,332
33,793
47,055
496)089
216,968
497,953
213,826
341,910
397,305
258,218
117,382
180,867
288,695
223,235
23)633
466,064
476,900
449,090
324,966

35,367
105,399
247,703
8,865
35,120
162,450
52,278
126,342
5,526
23,571
14,919
79,023
70,496
4,987
4,479
168,804
17,567
136,510
4,460
99,574
4,204

20,728,738 2,984,913

86,679
336,401
329,193
36,347
41,119
328,631
62,597
67,790
178,674
206,014
101,804
355,314
50,245
117,449
216,515
161,905
63,476
297,405
338,356
328,008
208,132

37,099
64)027
54,767
4,238
34,111
85,974
41,218
70,609
19,798
34,312
59,502
42,707
51,815
17,181
71,122
107,907
24)647
32,642
38,062
57,226
41,782

2,244,438 11,085,142

VARIOUS CROPS OF TH E ST A T E OF N E W YORK, 1840.
3. A Table, showing the number o f pounds o f wool, hops, wax, bushels o f potatoes, tons
of hay, and of hemp and flax, produced in the state o f New York, as ascertained by
the census o f 1840.
COUNTIES.

Cattaraugus,...
Cayuga,.........
Chautauque,...
Chemung,......
Chenango,.....
Clinton,..........
Columbia,......
Cortland,.......
Delaware,......
Dutchess,.......
Erie................
Essex,.............
Franklin,.......
Fulton,...........
Genesee,........
Greene,.........
Hamilton,......
Herkimer,......
Jefferson,.......
Kings..............
Lew is,...........

96,877
198,880
78,365
109)939
335,475
265,638
75,996
405,155
108,968
239,783
182,408
235,033
413,638
139^900
162,639
67)584
61,583
312.912
67,268
4*070
168,348
356,842
150
68,173




24,021
411
4,520
99

1,388
1,069
294
789
2,423
2,284
1,331
732
872
377
699
644
128
510
906
40
454
1,288
730

289
2,905

1,162
52,253

5,460

00
T
*1
r—

Albany,.........
Allegany,.......

Pounds of Pounds of Pounds of Bushels of
Wax.
Potatoes.
Wool.
Hops.
373
2,224
1,050
2,615
7,177
1,044
6,774
1,434
50
181

540,582
583,942
303,812
452)453
687,305
778,219
269,233
572,671
484,325
560,819
575)406
722,424
594*136
556 382
470,235
468,706
402,954
612,788
302,882
45 264
850,865
1,156,741
95 805
694.316

Tons of
Hay.

Tons of
Hemp
df F lax.

47,342
64,723
28,214
48)752
70,144
85,372
28,481
108,531
35,048
57,052
59)562
84,007
55 115
42424
24)904
26,372
80,070
47,047
3 130
96)854
171,228
5 437
43,284

5,407*
37

9
5

3,492
41.536
13
105
7,839
13
24*
lfiJ j

417 306
'

e ) i6 5

144
19
2 041
1 154
214
1!

02

Statistics o f Agriculture,
V arious C rops

COUNTIES.

of the

S tate

of

N ew Y ork.— Continued.

Pounds of Pounds of Pounds of Bushels of
Potatoes.
Wool.
Hops.
W ax.

Living ton,....
Madison,.......
Monroe,.........
Montgomery,.

273,163
370,024
265,363
69,600

637
117,270
16,761

Niagara,........
Oneida,...........
Onondaga,.....
Ontario,.........
Orange,...........
Orleans,.........

10
38,724
7,907
14,523
4,545
1,533

8
2,673
39
789
2,282
1,194

68,605
2
4
2,500
101

93
144
239

2,961
155
91
200
53
620
1,248
806
426
820
547
1,850
603
798
1,307
780
4,163
809
355
2,055

Y ates,.............

82,337
320,858
316,139
364,553
108,876
110,916
136,739
4,512^264
28,868
43^200
324,054
172
7,132
217^201
18,849
134,257
166,354
239,274
406 346
84,008
34,018
77,924
163,485
117,660
45,721
407.515
184,697
52,805
233,148

5,500

T otal,........

14,073,134

362,762

Otsego,...........
Queens,.........
Rensselaer,....
Richmond,....
Saratoga,.......
Schenectady,..
Schoharie,.....
Seneca,...........
St. Lawrence,
Steuben,........
Suffolk,...........
Sullivan,.........
Tioga,.............
Tompkins,.....
W arren,..........
Washington,...
W ayne,...........

2,298
1,089
967
720

Tons o f
Hay.

694

318,369
676,649
721,470
559,829
18,585
284^881
1,572,109
800,317
395,829
359,563
303,319
599,237
1,293^039
142,564
214,121
759,342
47,712
48,117
1,019^632
239,535
600,396
203,393
1,423,172
652,588
170,836
234,301
368,198
339,557
264,648
22U 24
861,545
512,710
620,920
340^636

46,884
65,749
52,258
69,270
747
19,985
178,256
64,145
52,954
75,368
33,010
47,666
106’862
21,897
3M 37
72,026
3,610
20,917
49^890
17,742
33,612
38,163
100,216
69,984
42,891
24,682
34,050
46,991
69,239
H ^O l
83,514
38,428
76,873
55^136

184,021

30,000,508

3,160,916

5,949
29
320
1,203
3,560
312
1,834
331
6,876
2,100

Tons o f
Hemp
df Flax.
ii

10
2i

112
7,388
2,482
4,446
8,441
3
30,032
1

31
2
87}
3
30
13,788
29}
2,958}
16,639
18,346}
3
6
16
1

32 £
6,857
8,400
20}
1
7}

In addition to the above, there were gathered in the counties of Allegany, Hamilton,
Livingston, Monroe, Otsego, Schenectady, Seneca, and Washington, 6567 pounds of
tobacco.

A lbany,.........
Allegany,.......
Broome,..........
Cattaraugus,...
Cayuga,.........
Chautauque,...

25
45
60}




Pounds of Cords o f
Sugar
Wood
sold.
made.
24,366
571,727
62,054
559,235
206,545
841,022

17,491
1,904
4,625
3,135
31,489
25,930

Value of Value of
the Pro­ the Pro­
ducts of
ducts of
the Dairy. the Orch’d.
126,343
114,666
60,554
96,680
187,937
267,220

33,012
10,090
6,745
13,357
47,365
49,515

Gallons
o f Wine
made.

C OUNTIES.

Pounds of
Silk
Cocoons.

COTTON, SUGAR, SILK, &c., 1840.
4. A Table, showing the pounds o f silk cocoons, pounds o f sugar made, cords o f wood
sold, value o f the products of the dairy, gallons o f wine made, and the value o f homemade goods, o f the state o f New York, as ascertained by the census o f 1840.

15

6

Value o f
Home-made
or Family
Goods.
60,386
87,791
36,354
101,851
103,430
13,183,522

&3

Statistics o f Agriculture.

COUNTIES.

Clinton,..........
Columbia,......
Cortland,.......
Delaware,......

Pounds o f
Silk
Cocoons.

C otton, S ugar, S ilk , 1840.— Continued.

2
2
6
10

Genesee,........

230

Herkimer,......

20

Pounds of Cords of
Sugar
Wood
made.
sold.
74,926
334,618
184,734
839
429,690
398,967
334,320
113,357
227,049
80,127
531,633
150
35,156
311,13S
501,158
257,476
119,436
215,619
177,919
51,691

Livingston,,...
Madison,........
Monroe,.........
Montgomery,.

124
12
396

Oneida,..........

96

Ontario,.........

19

Oswego,.........

5
5

Rensselaer,....
Richmond,....

60
5

30,545

Saratoga,.......

100

Schoharie,.....
Seneca,...........
St. Lawrence,
Steuben,........

Tompkins,.....

i
8
10
38
31
4
10
200

20,910
4,423
133,776
25,845
847,812
341,946

Washington,..
W ayne,.........

14
254

Sullivan,........

340
T otal,.......

41,101
286,502
178,520
183,273
150,786
284,780
350,747
73

45,359
116,760
88,747
30,845
43,821
4,246
159,554
78,768

13,605
5,923
26,225
11,262
10,917
4,763
15,527
21,764

20,688
5,416
8,334
15,538
9,898
116
21,941
47,002
4,187
13,919
21,286
44,808
12,071
40
26,822
78,624
50,842
21,328
20,910
8,089
52,215
17,761
72,612
9,787
16,171
485
20,022
30,955
9,577
5,484
16,332
16,468
8,114
66,023
3,249
8,261
11,284
33,036
10,323
8,772
34,654
8,315
6,674

Value of
Value of Value o f
«2 SJ
Home-made
the Pro­ the Pro­
ducts o f ducts o f J g 1 or Family
Goods.
the Dairy. the Orek’d.
§62,648
256,394
81,519
202,036
137,367
279,205
643,834
84,661
94,827
79,290
81,173
157,830
157,103
11,976
676,351
373,622
245,230
137,177
95,079
193,670
172,944
120,236
22,400
48,291
847,391
164,289
72,499
669,866
95,180
133,997
383,123
149,232
142,412
272,716
25,506
12,927
157,403
85,059
86,808
51,522
260,517
105,518
148,537
99,251
83,410
110,110
238,383
14,647
171,395
136,882
356,957
150,232

§21,820
17,525
20,203
30,511
6,308
13,615
49,046
24,971
17,004
8,387
4,925
59,845
23,636
687
29,646
19,507
8,208
2,820
33,768
26,857
70,896
16,507
800
20,103
78,506
35,333
40,285
137,991
103,767
26,911
41,441
17,122
38,504
45,053
6,148
26,879
31,859
13.171
17,629
27,267
14,823
16,969
28,560
11,152
12,936
18,443
37,309
5,671
24,554
41,078
204,891
40,426

10
34

4,221
24
3,230
46
34

32

20

167
2
16
25
4,350
60
1,026
1,155

10
227

§32,576
76,097
49,327
32,372
87,945
68,146
43,024
75,878
55,155
13,528
25,812
105,160
26,394
4,972
67,271
121,087
1,699
25,253
58,745
55,279
81,559
39,435
42,532
124,162
97,236
62,064
36,188
68,124
81,745
118,507
8,654
2,857
69,942
1,279
2,400
95,926
17,781
60,260
24,629
136,697
92,379
49,488
21,763
37,370
57,855
93,669
25,582
41,041
88,051
45,770
310,896

21034 10,093,991 1,085,048 10,497,032 1,732,357 14,710 16,535,075




94

Statistics o f Agriculture.
HORTICULTURE, GARDENS, NURSERIES, 1840.

5. A Table, showing the value o f produce o f market gardening; also, the value o f pro.
duce o f nurseries and florists, number of men employed in the same, and capital in­
vested, o f the state o f New York, as ascertained by the census of 1840 ; derived from
official documents.

■V
S

|§

COUNTIES.

Albany,....... $69,503 $5,700113 $35,150
Onondaga,...
300
75

$2,620

Orange,........
1,550
12,506 Oswego,......

1,900
312
890

Cattaraugus,.
Cayuga,.......
Chautauque,.

560
11,477
30

Columbia,....

900
9,000

E rie ,.............

9,670
15^645

4,484 6
1,764 47
120
100
1

1
1
6

2,120 35

N U R S E R IE S .
rT3

-2
s

2
7
6
6,000 10
$400

600

Capital in­
vested.

"s*
o
Hi

GARDEN S.

Value o f Pro­
duce o f Mar­
ket Gardeners.
Val. of Prod,
o f Nurseries
and Florists.

Value o f Produce of Marl ket Gardeners.
VaL o f Prod.
1 o f Nurseries
and Florists.

COUNTIES.

Capital in­
vested.

N U R S ER IES .

GARDEN S.

$500
95
23,000

9

605

2
140
Queens,....... 104,721 15,540 23
550 17
100 Rensselaer,... 20,471
17,029
1,000

44,700
60,000

3,500
12^200 Schenectady,

278
1,550

5

445

4

960

79 3
80 10
3
200 2
330 3
850 7
40
25 i
500 13
200 4

300
1,345

68

30
Greene,........

1,085

Herkimer,....

400
3,095
80^050

Kings,..........
Livingston,...
Monroe,.......
Montgomery,
New York,..
N iagara,......

400

4

2
286 7
3,450 10

Steuben,......
1,020 Suffolk,........
130
9,400

535
39,297
155
50

100
750
475

3,357
180
9,389
28 19
1,440 Washington,.
2,952
W ayne,.......
3,274
90
980
1,000
6,315 7,975 32 16,425 Westchester,
162
10
1
62,640 24,650 106 26,350
600 T o t a l , ........... 462,308 76,550 525 258,608
1,930
7

AMERICAN BUTTER.
Considerable shipments of butter, mostly of inferior quality, have been made this sea.
son, from Philadelphia and also from New York, to England. In referring to a public
sale of some of this butter, the London Journal of Commerce, of March 97, says:—
“ At a public sale of American butter at Liverpool, it fetched, for best sorts, 84s.; se.
conds, 79s. to 74s., duty paid ; while inferior only sold at 43s. to 44s., in bond, of which
the parcel chiefly consisted. The quantites arrived at the London market show the
same results, the principal part being sold for grease purposes. The American makers of
butter are very far behind the Irish, English, or D utch; from the first operation to the
last all seems to be done without system or care : the same materials would, if managed
by experienced hands, fetch in this market 95s. to 30s. more money. There is no atten­
tion paid to the making, salting, putting down, or packing.”




65

S ta tis tic s o f M a n u fa c tu re s.

S T A T I S T I C S OF M A N U F A C T U R E S .

Herkimer,......
Jefferson,.......
Kings..............
Lewis,............
Livingston,....
Madison,.......
Monroe,.........
Montgomery,.
New Y ork,...

38
30
1
16
13
40
21
16
1

Oneida,........... 61
Onondaga,..... 43
Ontario,......... 20
Orange,.......... 28
Orleans,......... 10
Oswego,........ 25
Otsego,........... 47
Putnam,.........
6
Queens,.........
5
Rensselaer,.... 22
Richmond,....
1
Rockland,.....
5
Saratoga,....... 27
Schenectady,..
4
Schoharie,..... 32




4,025
7,791
3,930
3^911
19,823
13,415
2,872
6,545
4,740
5,790
5,673
7,229
11,620
27,373
2,340
5,355
10,330
13*230
19,416

29,658
10,166
4,360
1,110
90,047
11,922
5,800
4,729
2,000
2,695
41,692
6,822
1,985
6,154
3,230
40,265
48,253
965
1,400
12,320
38
1,750
9,869
1,655
82,028

31,784
21,540
100,000
3,633
130,510
11,685
16,074
19,139
3,500
680
100,831
13,955
11,530
10,912
4,898
12,465
20,146
13,500
1,450
27,430
65
2,250
15,870
15,180
20,250

11*
4

Capital
invested.

*

80
10

142 $210,700
61
38,100
26
16,770
70
15,650
94
81,050
179
75,275
38
25,650
64
80,750
47
25,460
155
37,700
36
29,750
120
141,510
179
37,750
105
56,000
26
21,700
28
18,700
69
20,375
74
61,850
341
377,200

32
107
93
22
52
62
19
34
44
64
60
42
26

198
143
19
24
33
117
328
57
407
5
256
79
274
82
25
89
143
24
9
103
2
23
63
28
145

120
26
20
61
86
872
53
8
173
37
171
118
74
100
38
19
102
19
11
96
21
18
37
11
23

171,600
84,200
30,000
5,600
26,150
81,610
49,582
42,550
26,400
4,800
256,900
67,300
21,600
84,800
21,800
102,300
152,800
24,800
10,800
123,580
1,000
10,800
42,102
21,000
88,600

79
16

Value o f ma­
nufactured
articles.

43,300
2,980
1,591
2^552
12,733
8,149
2,780
10,816
2,019
1,200
3,027
68,548
4,200
31,463
1,607
1,198
2,447
5'550
271,161

8

A ll other ma­
nufactories of
leather, sad­
dleries, &c.

Sides of Upper
Leather
tanned.

20
30
14
Cattaraugus,... 24
Cayuga,......... 23
Chautauque,... 46
Chemung,...... 12
Chenango,..... 30
Clinton,.......... 21
Columbia,...... 10
Cortland,........ 17
Delaware,...... 28
Dutchess,....... 18
Erie,................ 26
Essex,............. 14
F ranklin,....... 15
23
Genesee,........ 34
Greene,.......... 29
Albany,.........
Allegany,.......

Sides o f Sole
Leather
tanned.

COUNTIES.

Number of
Tanneries.

LEA TH ER, TA N N ERIES, SADDLERIES, &c., IN N E W YORK.
A Table, exhibiting the number o f tanneries, sides o f sole and upper leather tanned,
number of men employed, and capital invested; also, all other manufactories of
leather, saddleries, the value o f manufactured articles, and capital invested in each
county of the state o f New York; derived from the official report, as ascertained by
the census o f 1840.

Capital
invested.

$329,450 $149,665
58,280
69,320
10,800
5,200
37^551
8^900
102,005
48,135
84,099
36,050
39,660
10,800
52,496
31,201
36,950
37,250
49,700
33,500
49,270
23,025
39,875
19,555
127,645
32,488
140,120
23,570
60,600
22,880
23,230
7,910
27,450
12,760
194^336
32,'590
30,528
10,650
90,360
97,700
162,600
42,111
105,884
105,950
339,396
17,230
1,522,156
66,951
264*486
161,190
135,020
276,600
68,630
108,692
81,659
57,000
8,850
276,320
13,294
12,844
47,410
15,000
25,250

36,375
72,704
30,000
16,090
48,691
36.250
79,625
7,420
526,330
26,570
117^761
80,603
64,560
193,775
24,750
23,460
48,774
5,310
3,450
125,925
20,015
8,024
17,415
6,200
14,801

S ta tis tic s o f M a n u fa c tu r e s

11

16

Numb, o f Men
employed.

Tioga,.............
Tompkins,.....
Ulster,.............
W arren,.........
Washington,...
W ayne,..........
Westchester,..
Y ates,.............

8
27
31
16
23
15
27
33
9
19
25

Sides o f Upper
Leather
tanned.

St. Lawrence,
Steuben,........
Suffolk,...........

etc., in the

Sides o f Sole
Leather
tanned.

CQUNTIES.

Number of
Tanneries.

L eather , T anneries, S addleries,

4,170
3^058
5,520
712
132,135
2^611
4,927
123,889
30,892
4,140
14,321
3,850
3,364

13,710
7J25
8,960
2,988
10,900
5,715
9,950
71,529
1,905
6,423
8,955
12,185
4,800

36
69
48
44
149
33
56
353
50
66
55
50
272

S tate

of

N ew Y ork.— Continued
V

Capital
invested.

IlfeS

14
27,450
59
47,400
46
20,580
48
385,998
19^461
66
36
35,425
151,850
23
3
102,860
54
25,010
37,850
50
41,250
48
36,500 4,400

1,231,823 949,830 5,811 3,892,598

T o t a l , .......... 1 ,2 1 2

.

7,993

Value o f ma­
nufactured
articles.

90

Capital
invested.

$31,100
" 52^650 $23,113
42,148
12,070
28,485
19,520
15,100
4,820
2 l ’349
5ljj30
42,787
17,450
14,182
9,590
2,800
1,800
104,410
21,640
46,495
7,000
118,600
28,250
139,370
51,950
6,286,685 2,477,874

DISTILLED AND FER M E N T E D LIQUORS IN N E W YORK.
A Table, shoioing the number o f distilleries in the state o f New York, and gallons produced; number o f breweries, and gallons produced; number o f men employed, and
capital invested, in each county. Derived from the official report, as ascertained by
the census o f 1840.
COUNTIES.

Number of
Gallons Number of Gallons No. of Men Capital
Distilleries. produced. Breweries. produced. employed. invested.
8
2
1

2 , 007,500

2
2
20
15
8
2
1
10
14

357,000
4,000
2,000
500
29,000
39,530
8^400
2,000
2'000
38,000
5,600

130

$

Chemung,......

4
7
3

11,500
40'000
800
140,250
94,506
2<200

Columbia,......
Cortland,.......

2
1

15,800
12,060

E rie ,...............

6

211,000

1
13
1

400,000
365,552

40
36
1

203,000
37^500
2,000

Genesee,........

3
2

34,000

1

35,600

9

17,500

Herkimer,......
Jefferson,.......
Kings,.............

6
9
9
1
8
7
7
G
11

210,660
313,344
3 , 256,000
3,000
105^612
468,708
265,470
279,000
2 , 973,278

1
8
1

28,800
64,000
90,000

28
31
181

83,250
37,500
557,000

2
1
5
2
15

42,450
54,410
214,960
90,000
1, 205,490

19
38
55
42
274

17,300
50,850
80,000
55,500
575,076

Cattaraugus,...
Cayuga,..........

Livingston,....
Madison,........
Monroe,.........
Montgomery,.
New Y o rk ,...

i




1

45,000

1
1
1
1
1

4,000
12,800
15,000
47,050

97

S ta tis tic s o f M a n u fa c tu re s,
D istilled

and

F ermented L iquors

in

N ew Y ork.— Continued.

Number of Gallons Number of Gallons No. o f Men Capital
Distilleries. produced. Breweries. produced. employed. invested.

2

Niagara,........
Oneida,.........
Onondaga,—
Ontario,.........
Orange,..........
Orleans,.........
Oswego,........
Otsego,..........
Putnam,.........
Queens,.........
Rensselaer,....
Richmond,.....
Rockland,..... .
Saratoga,.......
Schenectady,..
Schoharie,.....
Seneca,...........
St. La’rence,..
Steuben,........
Suffolk,...........
Sullivan,........
Tioga,.............
Tompkins,.....
Ulster,.............
Warren,..........
Washington,...
W ayne,..........
Westchester,..
Yates,.............
T

o t a l ,..

12,600
716,797
591,456
187,345
65,018

11
7
14
41

45,200
204.000
10,000
17,000
558.000
3,000

$ 22,200
194,800
103,700
58,900
147,100
8,000

827,804

19,200

17

16,600

202,500
200,000

667,550

3
47

20,000
125,000

4
6
9

12,000

1,886
181,704
128,000
17,360
25,600

581,300
35,517
27,675

10,000

2

1,000
110,000
8,500
4,200

63
5
4
3

3,730
35.000
83.000

22,600

18

4,000
16,000

357,000

31,000

12

21,250

12

’27,020

1,486

3,214,776

6

140,590
206

14
82
39
44
128
5

86

8,710,110

6,471,122

D ISTILLERIES IN TH E UN ITED STATES.
A Table, showing the number of distilleries in the United States, and the number o f
allons. distilled in 1840; copied from the records of the Department of State, at
Vashington, by the Hon. William Slade, o f Vermont.

f

ST A T E S .

Maine,................
New Hampshire,
Vermont,............
Massachusetts,....
Connecticut,........
Rhode Island,.....
New Y ork,........
New Jersey,.......
Pennsylvania.......
Delaware,............
M aryland,..........
Virginia,..............
North Carolina,...
South Carolina,...
Georgia,..............

Number Gallons
of Distil­ Distilled.
leries.
3
5

2
37
71
4
38
219
707
3
73
1,450
2,798
251
350

31,244
3,500
5,177,910
215,892
855,000
4,008,616
356,417
8,784,138
39,500
342,813
882,516
1,038,741
102,288
528,393

ST A T E S .

Number Gallons
o f Distil­ Distilled.
leries.

Alabam a,.....................
Mississippi,...................
Louisiana,.....................
Tennessee,...................
Arkansas,.....................
Kentucky,....................
Missouri,......................
Illinois,.........................
Indiana,..................... ..
Ohio,............................
Michigan,.....................
Iowa,............................
District of Columbia,...

185
15
5
1,381
47
890
215
150
322
373
59
2

1

127,261
3,150
291,520
1,080,693
17,215
1,700,705
328,898
1,429,119
1,786,964
466,357
544,066
4,310
6,000

T

9,657

36,343,236

o t a l , ...........

If the population of the United States be correctly estimated at 17 millions, the above
quantity of distilled spirits will furnish each person with 2 14-100 gallons nearly.

VOL. V.--- NO. I.




13

\

98

C o m m e rc ia l S ta tis tic s .

COMMERCI AL S T A T I S T I C S .
COMMERCE, TRADE, AND NAVIGATION OF TH E UN ITED KINGDOM
OF GREAT BRITAIN, IN 1840.
A document of great importance to those interested in trade and navigation has been
prepared and laid before parliament, by Mr. Porter, in charge of the statistical department
of the board of trade. The following abstract of this interesting document is derived from
the London Journal of Commerce. It exhibits the extent of our trade with Great Britain,
and its vast importance.
The returns show that the quantity of foreign wheat imported in 1839, to make up for
the deficient harvest of 1838, was 2,634,557 quarters, which, calculated on an average
of 60s. per quarter, gives £7,903,671 as the price, which may be said to have been paid
to foreigners in hard bullion. The duty received on that amount was only £631,698,
while for less than two millions of quarters the duty received last year was £725,045.
The duty on sugar has also fallen off,, notwithstanding the increased amount of foreign
sugar entered for home consumption. In 1840, 4,031,913 cwts. of sugar were imported,
against 4,678,219 cwts. in 1839. The quantity of foreign sugar imported in the former
year was 806,073 cwts., against 722,777 cwts. in the latter. Of this foreign sugar 2,444
cwts. were entered for home consumption in 1840, against 51 cwts. in 1839.
The following are the particulars of the importations:—
Of British possessions in America,..........................................cwts.
Of Mauritius,.......................................................................................
Of East India,.......................................................................................
Of Foreign,...........................................................................................

1839.
2,823,931
612,586
518,925
722,777

1840.
2,198,746
544,767
482,327
806,073

The gross amount of duty received on sugar since 1840 was £4,465,020, against
£4,628,355 in 1839.
In coffee there has been a considerable increase of duty, which in 1840 was £922,862,
against £779,853 in 1839. The importations were in 1840, 69,534,071 lbs., against
41,003,316 in 1839, and were thus made u p :—
1839.
1840.
Of British possessions in America, and Africa,...............pounds 11,469,600 12,780,080
Of Cape of Good Hope, and the East Indies,............................
4,260,095
8,261,503
Of Foreign Indian,.......................................................................... 20,802,086 35,815,815
Of other foreign,..............................................................................
4,471,535 12,726,673
In tea, the duty has fallen off; in 1840 it was £3,473,951, against £3,660,053 in
1839; the quantities imported were, in the former year, 27,462,893 lbs., against
38,158,009 lbs. in the latter.
The duty on foreign spirits has also decreased. On rum there was received, in 1840,
£1,154,544, on 2,510,668 gallons, entered for home consumption, against £1,273,765,
on 2,830,612 gallons in 1830. The quantity actually imported was, in 1840, 4,310,101
gallons, against 5,447,669 gallons in 1839. In brandy, the duty in 1840, was £1,259,769,
against £1,309,201, and the quantities imported 3,389,861 gallons, against 2,271,172
gallons.
The duty paid on unmanufactured tobacco, in 1840, was £3,525,956, against £3,431,908
in 1839. The quantities imported were in 1840, 35,637,826 lbs., against 35,605,223
lbs. in 1839.
The duty paid on foreign wines, in 1840, was £1,872,110, against £1,915,364 in
1839 ; the quantities imported were, in 1840, 9,316,650 gallons, against 9,909,056 galIons in 1839.




C o m m e rc ia l S ta tis tic s .

99

The duty on cotton wool, in 1840, was £650,635, against £417,045 in 1839. The
whole quantity imported, in 1840, was 592,965,504 lbs., against 389,396,559 lbs. in
1839, and was thus made up :—
1839.
1840.
Of British possessions in America,................................pounds
678,125
430,435
Of ditto in India,........................................................................
47,233,959
76,703,295
Of United States......................................................................... 311,567,798 488,572,510
Of Brazil,................................................................
16,971,979
14,888,464
Of Egypt,.....................................................................................
2,864,748
6,423,414
Otherwise imported,..................................................................
10,049,950
5,950,386
The duty on raw silk shows an increase for last year of £2000, and that of manufac­
tured silk has also improved to the same amount. The India silk trade exhibits a serious
falling off, the duty having diminished from £17,000 to £13,000.
The duties received for deals and deal-ends from British America has improved last
year by £20,000, in comparison with the year preceding:—
The total declared value of our exports for the year ending January 5,
1840, w as............................................................................................................. £45,307,409
Year ending January 5, 1841,............................................................................ 43,924,958
Less in 1841..............................................£1,382,451
The cotton manufactures in the first named year was £17,692,183, against £17,561,711
in the last; cotton yam £6,858,193, against £7,099,468 in the last; hardwares and
cutlery £1,828,521, against £1,345,881; linen manufactures £3,414,967, against
£3,305,545; metals, iron, and steel, £2,719,825, against £2,508,526; woollen manu­
factures £6,271,650, against £5,336,275.
The produce of the customs was—
Gross receipts inwards, year ending January 5, 1840,..................................
Duties outwards,..................................................................................................

£23,278,089
127,182
£23,405,271

Year ending Jan. 5, 1841, the gross receipts inwards were...£23,466,117
Duties outward,...............................................................................
118,287
------------------

23,584,404

Increase in the year ending Jan. 5, 1841,.......................... £179,133
The nett receipts were, year ending Jan. 5, 1840.............................................£23,681,680
“
“
year ending Jan. 5, 1841,............................................ 23,271,848
The ships employed in the foreign trade were—
Entered Inwards.—Year ending 5th January, 1840:—ships, 23.114; tonnage,
3,957,468. Year ending 5th January, 1841:—ships, 22,725; tonnage, 4,404,207.
Cleared Outwards.—Year ending 5th January, 1840:—ships, 18,424; tonnage,
3,085,752. Year ending 5th January, 1841:—ships, 19,710; tonnage, 3,392,626.
Ships employed in the coasting trade:—
Entered Inwards.—Year ending 5th January, 1840:—ships, 130,254; tonnage,
10,610,404. Year ending 5th January, 1841:—ships, 133,299; tonnage, 10,706,056.
Cleared Outwards.—Year ending 5th January, 1840:—ships, 142,895; tonnage,
11,266,073. Year ending 5th January, 1841:—ships, 146,127; tonnage, 11,417,901.
The following tables distinguish the countries to which the vessels employed in the
foreign trade respectively belong. The greatest tonnage so engaged, we observe, is that
of the United States, which, last year, was 432,486 tons inwards, and 396,566 outwards.
Prussia is next in rank, and Norway follows:—




100

C o m m e rc ia l S ta tis tic s .

NAVIGATION OF G REAT BRITAIN.—YEARS ENDING 5 th OF JAN.
I.— E ntered I nwards.

1840.

1841.

BELONGED.

Ships.

Tonnage.

Ships.

Tonnage.

United Kingdom and dependencies,.........

14,348
259
207
969
1,557
1,165
1,171
731
313
1,508

2,756,533
73,012
28,257
134,449
110,727
222,258
83,267
61,923
42,141
102,123
7,732
6,872
40,026
286,658
1,290

14,370
275
236
936
1,440
1,186
1,207
669
239
1,045
72
87
72
1
887
3

2,807,367
79,445
33,913
14R689
114,590
218,403
90,842
56,952
32,648
60,063
8)312
8,983
18,878
250
432,486
386

3,957,468

22,725

4,105,207

68

63
168
1
579
7

Other states in America, Africa, or Asia,..

23,114

200

II.—C leared O utwards.

1840.

COUNTRIES TO W H IC H T H E VESSELS
BELONGED.

Ships.

United Kingdom and dependencies,......... 11,952
131
Russia,............................................................
151
Sweden,.........................................................
265
Norw ay,.........................................................
1,255
Denmark,.......................................................
556
Prussia,...............................—..
Other German states,
N
757
Plolland,................. •/'£ -' • •
•>............ V ; \5 1 3
Belgium,................. f.O./l..
P
) 359
1,671
France,................... L. ..Vv' 7..;................ .1. y
/
52
'
55
Portugal,............................................
119
Italian States,................................................
Other European states,................................
5
United States of America,..........................
579
2
Other states in America, Africa, or Asia,..
T

otal,

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

18,424

1841.

Tonnage.

Ships.

Tonnage.

2 , 197,614
36,828
17,287
24,768
86,864
98,517
55,051
48,830
52,567
136,923
6,221
6,021
26,633
1,024
291,586
418

12,934
94
167
295
1,210
560
801
628
297
1,705
59
76
67
2
813
2

2 , 408,792
25,903
18,650
28,153
85,249
94,475
60,324
58,592
44,367
136,614
6,916
8,914
18,346
289
396,566
476

3 , 085,752

19,710

3 , 392,626

Export of plain and printed calicoes from England, during the last nine years.
B R IT IS H W EST IN D IE S .

Year.
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840

Yds. plain.

FOR EIGN W E S T IN D IES.

UN ITED ST A T E S .

Yds. printed. Yds. plain. Yds. printed. Yds. plain.

5,213,700
8,460,600
7,895,000
12,626,600
12.672.700
11.408.700
14,616,800
15,740,400
17,032,200




7.214.700
7.168.700
9,449,500
13.797.200
13,363,600
11,230,700
13.377.200
21,155,900
22,081,000

10,556,000
9,273,600
5.923.300
6.712.300
20,981,700
5,131,100
8.281.300
6,876,200
7,080,700

9.463.900
11.223.500
10,987,400
8,533,800
10.205.500
7.933.900
10,205,000
12,844,300
10.428.500

13,599,300
15.852.200
12.406.900
23,875,100
17,065,000
5,554,100
11.389.200
11.194.900
7,439,500

Yds. printed.
12.435.600
12 290,600
19.713.300
43.980.300
32.028.300
13.902.600
22,662,200
22,439,800
17.775.600

M e rc a n tile O b itu a r y .

101

M E R C A N T I L E OB I T U ARY.
JOSEPH MAY, E sq.
The subject of this obituary notice was generally known, and extensively revered, at
the east. A native of Boston, his eighty-one years were so spent, that few men ever
went more truly lamented to the grave. His judicious benevolence, his noble elevation
of sentiment, his unimpeachable purity of purpose, his many years of public usefulness,
his joy in advanced years, and happiness at the approach of death, may well fasten upon
him profitably our passing thoughts. Educated a merchant, suddenly arrested in the
midst of a profitable business, obliged to fail, and lose a well-earned fortune,—he passed
through the trial of adversity without a stain,—nay, admired for the conscientious honesty
which moved him to give up all, even the ring upon his finger, to his creditors. Dis­
appointed in his first hopes, he resolved never again to seek for riches, acknowledging
that he had been too eager in the pursuit. Refusing several advantageous invitations to
partnership in business, he devoted the residue of his life to the secretaryship of an in­
surance office. But this proved to him no idle station. The public confidence continually
called him to the charge of most important public institutions, and to private trusts of the
most delicate nature, to the guardianship of children, the administration of estates,
and the oversight of the widow and the orphan. In all, we may say of him, what was
recorded of the afflicted patriarch in the scriptures, “ he sinned not” even “ with his
mouth.”
By a small and limited income he did great good. Many orphans were educated by
him, and brought forward into life ; many in active life were saved by his counsel from
pecuniar}' or moral harm ; many widows were rescued from suffering, and encouraged
to maintain themselves honorably. He seemed to five by the good emperor’s maxim,
“ never to leave any interval between one benevolent act and another.” He never
hastily dismissed the claims of a n y ; his presence was a blessing to them a ll: he was a
“ father to the poor; and the cause he knew not, that he searched out.” It was the
crown of his advanced years that many children, of those he had befriended, gathered
around him to express their gratitude.
He was a delightful chronicler of the olden time ; no fact of the past seemed to lose
its fresh interest with him. At the same time he never became a repeater of legends.
He devoted some hours every day to a wisely-selected course of reading. And among
the classical authors of English literature he was always quite at home.
His views of wealth were not peculiar to himself, but such as are rarely put in prac­
tice by any one. He believed that what are called splendid prospects wrere often most
pernicious in their influence upon the young; and while he despised avarice himself, and
was happy in a very moderate competency, he told his eldest son on leaving college,
that “ he thanked God he had not property to leave him which could hold him up in a
place among men where he did not deserve to stand.” “ He knew many,” he used to
say, “ who were stinted in life by feeling there was no necessity upon them to labor be­
cause of an expected inheritance ; many, who, by this ill-judged kindness, were exposed
to habits pernicious and disgraceful.
Thus died, on the 27th February, 1841, one whose passing away far more deserves
our careful heed than that of envied opulence, or the most successful commercial enter­
prise. For we can learn of Mr. M., if no more, how to live happily and honorably in
limited circumstances, go to our rest lamented by all men, and enter heaven attended
by the blessings and supplications of the wretched and the poor.
r. w. n.




102

M e r c a n tile M is c e lla n ie s .

ME RCA NT I L E MI SCELLANI ES.
TH E DECIMAL SY STEM IN W EIGH TS, ETC.
T o F reeman H unt, E sq. :—
S ir ,—The May number of your valuable magazine contains an article under the head

of “ Coins, Weights, and Measures,” in which the writer informs us that the whole sys­
tem of measurements in Great Britain is about to be modified by introducing the decimal
notation; and, very ably and judiciously, takes occasion to urge a like improvement in
this country. Having at hand a few facts which bear upon this subject, I have thought
that the offer of them might be agreeable to yourself and some of your readers, espe­
cially to the author of that article.
1. The decimal system, in our national coinage, was introduced with the coinage it­
self. Robert Morris, financier of the confederation, made a report upon the subject in
1782. That report, (which is stated to be due to the assistant-financier, Gouverneur
Morris,) recommended a decimal nomenclature of coins. It, however, devolved upon
Thomas Jefferson to perfect the proposition, who made the Spanish dollar his normal coin,
and therefrom deduced the various divisions and multiples which make up our catalogue
of gold, silver, and copper coins. The following extract is from his report:—“ The most
easy ratio of multiplication and division is that by ten. Every one knows the facility of
decimal arithmetic. Every one remembers, that when learning money arithmetic, he used
to be puzzled with adding the farthings, taking out the fours, and carrying them o n ; add­
ing the pence, taking out the twelves, and carrying them o n ; adding the shillings, taking
out the twenties, and carrying them o n ; but when he came to the pounds, when he had
only tens to carry forward, it was easy and free from error. The bulk of mankind are
schoolboys through life.” The report was adopted in 1785; and, seven years after, was
put in practice, upon the establishment of the mint.
2. The decimal system, in weights, has been in use at the mint (and its branches)
since the passage of the monetary law of January, 1837. It was not, indeed, provided
for by that law ; but the director (Dr. Patterson) saw that the opportunity was favorable
for a change in that respect, and embraced it. The unit is the troy ounce; and its divi­
sion is into tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. All the standard weights, and all entries,
are conformed to this style. The old system of pennyweights and grains is used only in a
conversational way, to express the weight of a very small quantity, such as a single coin.
3. The decimal system, in fineness, has been used at the mint since January, 1835.
W hen it became embodied in the law, two years after, the coins of gold and silver
being established at the fineness of nine parts in ten, its convenience and simplicity, as
contrasted with the old style, were very striking. Thus, the fineness of our gold coins,
from 1792 to July, 1834, was 22 carats, that is, § f ; from the latter date until January,
1837, it was 21 carats, 2
car. grs. So the silver, from 1792 to 1837, was 1485
parts fine in 1664. A t the mint, it was customary to use the British formulary, and call
it 10 oz. 14 dwts. 4/3- grs. fine, per pound troy.” The change from this to “ nine parts
in ten” was very sensibly felt, in all the calculations and accounts.
4. To get rid of the awkward Spanish parts of the dollar, (12J and 6J cents,) still so
much in use among us, the writer of the article in question proposes to value the real and
its half at 10 and 5 cents. Six years ago, it was ascertained at the mint, that the piece
of 12J cents, on an average, as found in circulation, was worth l l y y cents; the piece
of 64 cents was worth 5y5- cents. As these coins are not sustained by new emissions
of full weight, and are so much worn as to be almost worn out, they may be very pro­
perly estimated at the rates proposed by your correspondent. Indeed, nothing but the
exigency of the times seems to sustain them, at their nominal rates.
D. B.




M e r c a n tile M isc e lla n ie s .

103

MEXICAN DOLLARS.
*
Dr. Hort, the assayer of the United States Branch Mint at New Orleans, informs such
persons as are in the habit of depositing Mexican dollars at the mint, under the impres­
sion of realizing some profit from the recoinage, that there is at present in circulation in
New Orleans a large amount of Mexican dollars, of a depreciated standard, and varying
considerably as to the extent of the depreciation. From the results of repeated assays
made during the three last years, he has discovered four descriptions of the above cur­
rency, of the following respective values:—
Of the 1st description the dollar is worth................62 22-100
Of the 2d
do.
do.
do.................................7222-100
Of the 3d
do.
do.
do.................................8350-100
Of the 4th
do.
do.
do.................................9633-100
At the present time the dollars of the third description, worth 83£ cents, are by far the
most abundant in circulation. They are so well executed that very few persons, even
the most experienced, can detect them. The letter “ D” is stamped on them, intimating
that they come from the mint at Durango. He further observes, that the Mexican gold
coins have hitherto, on an average, sustained their legal title and estimated value.
IM PO RTA N T TO MANUFACTURERS OF FLOUR.
Several manufacturers of flour send their flour to the New York market without pro­
perly tareing and branding the barrels, and thereby causing much extra trouble and ex­
pense. The provisions of the New York law are—that the tare shall be marked on the
head with a marking iron; they shall likewise be branded with the weight of the flour,
and with the initials of the Christian name and the sirname of the manufacturers, at full
length; and the quality of the flour shall also be branded. There is a provision that the
name of the manufacturer may be painted, but the weight and quality of the flour must
be branded with a hot iron. If the barrels are not tared by the manufacturer in con­
formity to the law, they are subject to the charge of six cents per barrel for tareing by the
inspector ; and the charge for branding is one cent per barrel in additon. If the flour be
found light in weight, or the tare undermarked, it is subject to the expense of six cents
per barrel for weighing, besides being liable to a penalty of five dollars for each barrel
so found light or undermarked.
PO RTRA ITS ON ROMAN COINS.
It is stated in “ Akerman’s Numismatic Manual” that, in the earliest and more simple
days of Rome, the portraits of no living personage appeared on the public money ; the
heads were those of their deities, or some personage who had received divine honors.
Julius Ceesar was the first who obtained express permission of the senate to place his
portrait on the coins; and his example was soon followed by others. The heads of Lepidus, and of Antony, appear on their denarii; and even the money of Brutus, with the
two daggers and the cap of liberty, bears on the obverse the head of the man who killed
his friend because he had assumed the regal power and authority. W e have no evi­
dence, however, that this money, which is of great rarity, was struck with the knowledge
and sanction of Brutus; and it is possible that it is a posthumous coin.
N EW YORK BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
Mr. J. Doggett, Jr., has published a new mercantile directory, on an improved plan.
The classification of professions and trades, which forms part of the volume, is a most
important and valuable requisite in a directory designed for the business community.
It is arranged in alphabetical order, and the names of firms are given in full. It is evi­
dently prepared with care, and reflects great credit on the industry and taste of the enter­
prising proprietor.




104

,

M e r c a n tile M is c e lla n ie s etc.

.
TOBACCO SUITABLE FOR EUROPEAN M ARKETS.
The description of leaf tobacco most suitable for the London market, is that of a light
red, copper, or cinnamon color, with a large, thick, tough leaf, free from blisters and
pieces of waxy dark tobacco, and without any mixture of broken-off short leaves. A
most essential point to be observed in the assortment, is the dry condition of the tobacco,
without which it will not keep, but gets mouldy and heated. The casks should be uni­
formly packed, so that there be no bad and heated caps at each end, weighing about 10
to 10£ cwts., and the tobacco lightly pressed when packed, as by too great pressure it
becomes sticky, and the color, which it is important to preserve, is liable to become
darkened.
Stemmed tobacco, or strips, should be lightly pressed, in order to allow easy inspection
of the length and quality of the leaf itself; and it is desirable that the color should be
bright, and the stalk uniformly well stripped off.
For the north of Spain and Germany, dark, rich, long, sweet, leafy tobacco is required.
In Flanders, the commonest description is taken, the lowness of price being in that
quarter the main consideration.
AM ERICAN COMMERCIAL EN TERPRISE.
A regular trade is kept up between Pittsburg, (Penn.,) and the Santa Fd country. A
merchant there, a Mr. Beeler, ships goods in a steamboat for Independence, Missouri,
which are taken thence in wagons to Santa Fd, a distance of 897 miles by land. Goods
are also consigned to him for the American Fur Company, from the eastern cities, to be
sent on steamboats to St. Louis, and then be loaded in steamers to the Yellow Stone,
3960 m iles; there reloaded into keelboats, and taken to the very head of the Missouri
river to the company’s fort and store, in the Rocky Mountains, 600 miles farther. The
whole distance to which, from the eastern cities, is about 5640 miles. Such is the spirit
of trade and commerce.

T he article in the present number of this magazine on “ Maryland, and its Resources,”
prepared, at our request, by W . G. Lyford, Esq., editor of the Baltimore Commercial
Journal and Price Current, is a continuation of the series of papers on the resources
of the several states, which was commenced in the April number by an article on the
“ Commerce and Resources of New Hampshire.” W e call upon our friends, and all
who are interested in the subject in the United States, to aid us in our purpose, either by
furnishing us with articles, or the materials for their preparation. It is our plan to render
the “ M erchants’ M agazine” truly national in its character, and to develop, as far as it
may be in our power, the commercial resources of our whole country; but, to do this,
we must rely upon the aid of the patriotic and intelligent citizens of the different states.
E rrata to Professor Tucker’s article, in the Juno number of this magazine, on “ Im­
port D u t i e s —
Page 507, 25th line from the top, for 44 about four per cent,” read th irty ; and for
“ thirty,” read four.
44 516, line 25, for lifero tali,” read pro tali.
44 520, tenth line from the bottom, after “ either,” insert first.
14 520 , 44
44
44 for 44second,” read secondly.
44 520, ninth line from the bottom, for “ third,” read thirdly.
44 522, line 22, for 44that,” read then.
44 522, 44 23, for “ producers,” read consumers.
44 522, seventeenth line from the bottom, for 44which” read what.
44 524, line 12, for 44benefits of trade,” read benefits o f free trade.